upon his head. So they set a fair mitre | realization of salvation brought down to upon his head, and clothed him with the most simple points; only claim your garments. And the angel of the Lord adoption, and then are you introduced stood by," consenting, ordering, and to all the glorious results-"If chilrejoicing in this hallowed change. Ah! dren, -a step higher," then heirs,”—a well may David exultingly say, "He step higher, "heirs of God,"-a step raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and higher, "joint-heirs with Jesus Christ; lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; and then the full burst of hallowed realthat he may set him with princes, even ization of an inheritance which fadeth with the princes of his people." The not away. change is all the Lord's work; no power can accomplish it but His omnipotent grace and divine command; hence was inscribed upon the mitre which the high priest wore, Holiness to the Lord." And then, 66 And now notice, beloved, 4thly, The angel's charge-"If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts; and I will give thee places to walk among those that stand by." "There now, would say the freewiller, "you high doctrine men talk of there being no conditions in the Bible; what is this but one ?" Ah! but, friend, it is a condition after the change of raiment has been effected; and we glory in such a condition as this, because it brings us to the throne with the cry, "Lord, undertake for us:" and we are prepared to prove that all the conditions of God's Word, as addressed to His people, are based upon the salvation already procured, and are accompanied with power to perform them, and a promise to sustain while under them. the apostle Peter, in addressing those that have obtained "like precious faith," puts it in this way; "Now having this faith, "give all diligence to add to your As 3rdly. What was the cause of this mighty change? It was sovereign electing love; for if you notice, before the change was effected, it is written, "And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire ?" Now do mark this gracious fact, beloved; Satan goes up before the angel with the greatest confidence and effrontery, to make his charge against Joshua: but after the angel says the Lord hath chosen Jerusalem, we hear nothing more of Satan, he slinks away before this blessed assertion. And my sin-perplexed brother, my soul-distressed sister, take it as an axiom for thy practice in the divine life; if you want to know an effectual way to get rid of that vile tor-faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; mentor, tell him of sovereign electing and to knowledge temperance; and to love: he detests this doctrine, because temperance patience; and to patience he knows its truth. Do not attempt to godliness; and to godliness brotherly argue with him upon your sins of omis- kindness; and to brotherly kindness sion and commission, grant it all; but charity." And what shall be the result? tell him thy God hath said, "I have Why, "If these things be in you and loved thee with an everlasting love, abound, they make you that ye neither therefore with loving-kindness hath He be barren nor unfruitful in the knowdrawn thee" out of the world to Him-ledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he self: and he will back out of your presence, at all events for the time being. And then no doctrine is calculated to comfort the soul more than this precious doctrine of covenant electing love. "My life, and strength, and joy, and peace, My hope of bliss above; My union with the Prince of Peace, All flow from cov'nant love." "If children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ," of an inheritance which fadeth not away. And how we see the great and glorious that lacketh these things is blind." And we all know that a blind man, groping about in the dark, will soon fall into some danger, or get into some difficulty; so that we glory in such conditions as these, which are a means to bring us to the throne of grace, and to Him who hath said, "I will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do this thing for them." And surely, beloved, such hallowed conditions, under such circumstances, cut down that man who, folding his arms in presumptuous security, says, "Oh, I am a chosen vessel; and if I am | he is a marked man, for a sanctified to be saved, I shall be saved, no matter spirit and a contrite heart regulates his how I live." He who would affirm this actions; so that though there may be must certainly be the most presumptu- silence, yet the world, wise as a serpent, ous hypocrite that can be imagined. detecting soon the difference, gives the Sure we are that such is not the lan- cold shoulder and the scornful look. guage of a poor broken-hearted sinner; Well, be it so; rejoice, beloved, that you no, his earnest desire will be to honour are hated by the world; it is a sign of Christ, and to show by a life, walk, and discipleship; better be a door-keeper conduct, that he is in very deed an heir in the house of the Lord, than a dweller of glory. Therefore we rejoice in the with them in the tents of wickedness. charge given to Joshua after the removal And then, of his filthy garments, and believe that by such means shall the soul become expanded; and, as the angel said, places given to walk in among those that stand by." And then, lastly, there is the inevitable consequence-" Ye and your fellows will be men wondered at." Yes, beloved, ye must be told the certain result of this mighty change; for depend upon it, it is no easy matter to be a follower of the Lamb of God as our dear Redeemer said to His disciples in His farewell sermon-"These things have I spoken unto you that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." Yes, ye must in this world have tribulation, and will be men wondered at; "but be of ye good cheer, I have overcome the world.” And who wonders at the children of God? 1st. Satan wonders at them. This fact we may draw from the prophecy before us; for doubtless Satan went up before the angel of the covenant, with all the confidence he can so well master; and though we are not told what was the direct charge of this vile accuser of the brethren against poor Joshua, still there can be no doubt it mainly referred to his uncleanness and pollution: so that when the angel ordered his filthy garments to be taken away, and spoke of him as an object of sovereign electing love, Satan did wonder to think that God should choose the vilest of the vile to represent His Church. And then, 2ndly. The world wonders at them, and pointing the finger of scorn at them, says, "They have turned Methodists;" and as they advance it wonders still the more and though, on the part of the Christian, there may not be any great outward demonstration, yet 3rdly. Angels wonder at them. Those angelic spirits who wait for the manifestation of the sons and daughters of Zion, they wonder at the mercy and goodness of the Lord in arresting such rebels, in saving them from yawning destruction, and making them trophies of sovereign grace. "Are they not all ministering servants, sent forth to minister to them that are heirs of salvation ?" And as they fulfil their gracious offices, doubtless they wonder with holy admiration and joy at the wonderful ways of a Triune, covenant God. 4thly. The professing church wonders at them, and thinks it a pity they have gone to such extremes. They might very well have gone half way Religion never was designed To make our pleasures less," they say, and truly so, but not in the sense in which they mean it. And the fact of great professors thus wondering at them, will at first be a stumblingblock to them: but by-and-by they will be brought to cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, and trust only in that unfailing Friend, "who knows no change, neither the shadow of a turning. And then, lastly, they are a wonder to themselves. "What has God wrought!" will be the language of their hearts. Oh! when they think of the pit from whence they were hewn; of the mighty and strong hand that brought them out; and of the revelation of the purpose of a covenant God in Christ since, they are astonished, and gaze, and admire the goodness of the Lord with overwhelmed feelings. And then, beloved, while these are several time consequences of the mighty transformation that has been effected by the power of the Holy Spirit in their experience, there is, in conclusion, the eternal consequence. especially who have so lately testified And this is a most blessed and soul- that the Lord is at work in your souls, comforting consideration. What is all we congratulate you with all our hearts this mighty work for? Why this mar-upon the blessed change, and upon the vellous change? Why plucked as a fact that you are brands plucked out of brand from the fire? Just to prepare the fire. May the Lord bless these few you and me, beloved, for our Master's use hints to your souls' encouragement and in yonder realms of never-ending joy. profit, and His own dear name shall Therefore, my dear friends, and you have all the praise. Amen. THE LORD'S-DAY SCHOOL.-No. 2. وو "A"-the " one set up by Jehovah as His. " Shepherd ;"--to go before His sheep, to remove hinderances and difficulties; to shield them from danger; protect them from enemies; seek them when they go astray, and provide suitable and necessary pasture for them. WHEN the Lord the Spirit is graciously | "Like"-similar, in comparison of. وو If the reader will bear with me, I will paraphrase this verse thus :"He"-The Messiah; Jesus; Immanuel; God with us; God manifest in the flesh; who is revealed in the Word of God under a vast variety of titles, names, characters, offices, and relationships, in which His elect are individually interested. "Shall "-without doubt, or fear, or uncertainty. Feed"-nourish, provide for, sustain. "His "-own, peculiar, personal property. Flock "-given to Him by God the Father; redeemed by Himself; and regenerated by the Holy Ghost; therefore "His" by gift-by purchaseand by the conquest of grace. "He shall "--surely, and at all times. Gather "-find and bring to His fold. "The lambs in His arms, and carry them in His bosom; and shall gently lead those that are with young."-Young believers, keeping them close to Himself, and encircling them with His tender care and love; and carefully, cautiously, wisely dealing with older ones, suiting His mercies to their need. Here is a brief view of this blessed 11th verse of the 40th chapter of Isaiah's book; but let us, as the Lord shall enable, consider its contents more at large, and in connexion with concomitant or illustrative passages of the Word of God. That Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, was frequently revealed under the character of a Shepherd, in the Old Testament Scriptures, must be well known to every attentive reader of the Bible. But as line upon line" is continually required, we shall do well to search out a few of them. Jacob and David spake of Messiah as "the Shepherd of Israel " (Gen. xlix. 24 ; Psa. lxxx. 1). Ezekiel calls Him " one Shepherd " (Ezekiel xxxiv. 23). By Zechariah He is said to be "My Shepherd, saith the Lord of hosts"> (Zech. xiii. 7). Under the New Testament dispensa tion we have full proof that this appela- I shall any man pluck them out of my tion belongs to the Lord Jesus hand. My Father that gave them me is Christ. He speaks of Himself as the good Shepherd" (John x.) greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." Beloved, let us inquire, Are we of the flock of Christ? that "beautiful flock which God the Father gave Him before Can you and I say, as David did, "The Lord is my Shepherd ?" If so, we can add in faith, “I shall not want; yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me (Ps. xxiii. 1-6). Paul calls Him "the great Shepherd of the sheep" (Heb. xiii. 20); and Peter (1 Pet. v. 4) the chief Shepherd And in Matthew xxvi. our blessed all worlds? Lord applies the prophecy of Zechariah (already noticed) to Himself, saying, All ye shall be offended because of me this night, for it is written " (and He quotes the latter part of the verse), Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered;" which was literally fulfilled but a few years after our Lord's return to glory, as we find from the 8th of the Acts, where we are told that the disciples were all scattered abroad, except the apostles. Both Testaments, then, prove that the Lord Jesus, in an especial manner, is the Shepherd of the sheep in a spiritual sense, in relation to Himself and His people; and hence it is that we read in Ezekiel xxxiv. 31, "And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God." دو Our Jesus feeds His people with the wholesome pasture of His own blessed Word, by the hands of His ministering servants. He gathers His children out of nature's darkness, and brings them into marvellous light. He leads them into His fold-His visible Church; being members of His body-the invisible "Church of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven.' And whether babes, young men, or fathers, all have a portion sealed to every individual. "Great," What a glorious "One," "Good," Chief Shepherd is Jesus! Oh! may the inquiry thrill from heart to heart-Am I of the flock of Christ? and may the Triune Jehovah give to every one such a kind answer of peace, as to one of old, saying, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." How applicable is the term sheep to the people of God! For although redeemed by Jesus, as His special property, having His Father's name upon them, yet, like sheep, they are prone to wander; like sheep, also, they are apt to stumble upon mountains of sin, to be snared in holes of Satan's making, until released by their glorious Shepherd, and brought into His fold. To drop the figure, the people of Jehovah's choice and love from eternity, while in a state of nature, often sin with a high hand, are the slaves of Satan, and friends with the world. But Jesus hath redeemed them by His blood. His mark is upon them. "I know my sheep" (He declares), "and am known of mine." When He hath poured out His Spirit upon them, then they know Him and follow Him. They hear His voice through the written Word, by the application of that same Almighty Lord the Holy Ghost to their hearts. And our Lord adds, "I give unto them" (I admire the words, "I give unto them") "eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither W., near Plymouth. Read the blessed verse again, "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the lambs in His arms, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." If the allusions to our readings in the Lord's-Day School at W sult in the least degree of comfort or instruction to any child of God who may read these lines, the labour of the writer and the attendance of the reader, will not be "in vain in the Lord.” shall re May God add His blessing, and daily apply His own words to our souls, "Fear not, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom;" which may He of His infinite mercy grant to each of us, for Christ's sake. Amen. G. H. C. A. That minister is worth nothing who cannot make the devil roar.-Ryland. MEMORIALS OF MARTYRS IN THE INDIAN REBELLION.* BY THE REV. W. OWEN. THIS work shows the power of the gospel when received in the heart by faith. We should like to hear of its being in the hands of our young friends, for whom it would form a valuable present. We are glad to have this opportunity of showing its quality, and, at the same time, of transferring to our pages the following extracts. Our first quotation relates to the Martyrs in Pagan Times:-" The numbers who have submitted to death as witnesses to the faint glimmerings of truth, or as victims to the delusion of error, bear no comparison to the multitudes of all ranks and ages who have died in the faith, and for the faith of Christ. In the first three hundred years of its history, Christianity was summoned by the Jewish hierarchy, and by the power of Pagan Rome, to yield up its martyrs, and they came forth with a noble courage wherever their testimony was demanded. Their blood was poured out like water, but it proved the seed of the Church.' Jerome complains that there was no day in the year, except the 1st of January, to which five thousand martyrs could not be ascribed. The laws that defended the life and liberty of the Roman citizen were suspended, to the damage of all who acknowledged Christ as their king. The furious cry, 'Christiani ad Leones,' whenever raised by the enraged Roman populace, never failed of its response in the supply of victims, hoary-headed sages, venerable matrons, delicate virgins, and noble youths, who, to save themselves from beasts at Ephesus' or in the Roman circus, would not refrain from the noble testimony, I am a Christian.' The courage of the female martyrs filled their persecutors with astonishment and perplexity, and often awoke the suspicion that the new faith allied its possessors to the celestials. And who can read their good confessions without perceiving how powerfully they were adapted to the results they began to produce? Hear the language of the martyr Julietta; when put into the fire, she thus encouraged the other women who were suffering with her: Cease to accuse the fragility of the female sex. What, are we not made of the same matter that men are? Yea, after God's image are we all made as well as they. God did not use flesh to make women of in token of infirmity; we are bone of His bone, in token that we must be strong in the living God.' Let us add the name of the lady Blandida, and Ponticus, a youth of only fifteen. The youth being requested to deny Christ by acknowledging the heathen deities, refused, and at the cry of the enraged multitude, was subjected to a circle of tortures until he expired; and Blandida, having been scourged, and placed in a hot iron chair, was put into a net and exposed to a furious bull, by which she was tossed, until at length she was despatched by a sword. Such was her unswerving fortitude, that the spectators acknowledged they had never before seen such female courage." The work makes a faithful protest against the corruptions of the truth, and, as in the following passage, describes, the Martyrs and Confessors in Papal Times :- "When in later times those who built the tombs of the prophets departed from their faith, and in their turn became persecutors, there always stood up a number of faithful witnesses to the truth in its uncorrupted purity. Before the glorious Reformation, these confessors and martyrs arose in the valleys of the Pyrenees, the Albigenses of the Garonne and the Rhone, the Catherists of Germany, the Paterines of Milan, the Brethren of Bohemia, and the Wickliffites and Lollards in England. During the dark medieval night when Rome revived her ancient power, and used it for the perversion of the gospel and restoration of Pagan superstition, the lamp of truth was not permitted to expire; it was sedulously watched and fed with fresh oil, until the darkness had passed and the true light returned. There were many who heard the voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of * Simpkin and Marshall. |