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ye shall die in your sins? Can these two mysteriously glorious words, be truthfully applied to any mere man?

11. Man is a recipient of life, and will be totally passive in the resurrection! how, then, is the Lord Jesus' the resurrection and the life, and yet, according to the Unitarian creed, only a man?

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MAN'S STATE BY NATURE AND GRace.

OUR liberty is gone; our will, a captive to the flesh; death has entered in at our windows; and sin eats away our sacred resolutions like straw and chaff. Our heart by nature, is like a waggon laden with corruption, unhappiness, and death; the horses that draw it are our sinful propensities and lusts. The driver, who whips, spurs, and goads the horses forward, so that they have no rest, or intermission, is the devil; the way is the broad road that leadeth to de

12. Do not the Scriptures of truth assert the Godhead of Christ as often, and as clearly, as fully, and as unmistakably as they do his manhood? Which was the Son of David, which was the Son of God;' will not arguments against the first clause of this quota-struction; and the place to which the fiery tion bear equally on the second, and amount to a total denial of Emanuel, God manifest in the flesh?

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Gleanings from the Vintage.

DEAR MR. EDITOR-I was exceedingly pleased with the extracts forwarded, and thought you might be able to find a place for them in the Vessel some time or other. They are on subjects which are seldom mentioned, either in the pulpit or press; especially the second. How little we hear of "The Divinity of Christ' in these days, and yet our faith is all in vain without it, which the extract fully proves. We hear of men who are very anxious to have the word 'entire' depravity left out; I greatly question whether they know anything of the warfare which is daily carried on in the souls of all God's regenerated family, or they would not wish to make depraved nature any better than it is. May the Lord preserve us from the awful heresies of the day, in which we live is the fervent prayer of, Your's in gospel bonds, T. GARNETT.

April, 1847.

wheels are rolling, is called Gehenna. It is impossible to cause delay or restrain the career, unless Almighty grace interfere, and create a new thing in the land; the heart then becomes a heavenly car; its load then consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Three heavenly coursers draw it-faith, love, and hope. The Comforter from on high attaches them to the car, feeds them and keeps them in good condition. The road is the narrow way which leadeth upwards, and the end of the journey is Jerusalem.

THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST.

THE apostle calls the mystery of God manifest in the flesh,'' the pillar and ground of truth.' By which he means, without this article there is no gospel. The whole fabric of our light and truth, rests upon this basis. Deny that the Man Jesus is God, and thou hast trodden under foot the gospel, and hast made of it a shell without a kernel; the stars of all the essential doctrines of our faith are then extinguished. The tree of life, whose leaves serve for the healing of the nations, stands bare and barren. There is no longer any atoning blood, no sacrifice for sin; no merit to counterbalance our guilt; for the blood of a mere creature, even of the most excellent of created intelligencies would not Christ has, suffice to ransom the sinner. then only suffered for himself, wrought out a righteousness for himself; for one who was nothing more than a creature could not stand in the breach for others. then, no longer be said that death is slain, hell overcome, the head of the serpent bruised; and the sweet doctrine of justification is then a delusion; since the obedience of Christ can only be ascribed to me, when it is the obedience of a man who is at the same time God on high; and with respect to his own person was subject to the law. Nay, mention one fundamental article of Scripture which is not overthrown immediately thou removest the supporting beam of the incarnate God from under the edifice of the Scriptures. KRUMMACHER.

It must,

A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE HAPPY ESTATE OF

Poor Lazarus and the Dying Thief

AFTER THEY LEFT THIS WORLD.

"From Luke xxiii. 43. 'And Jesus said unto him,' the penitent thief, then suffering death; ' verily I say unto thee,' which being thus solemnly affirmed might be depended on, 'to-day thou shalt be 1. By paradise is meant the third heawith me in paradise,' in heaven! for,ven, into which the apostle Paul was caught, 2 Cor. xii. 2, 4, the seat of the divine Majesty, and the dwelling-place of angels and glorified saints: so called in allusion to the garden of Eden, that earthly paradise, for the delight, plea2. Hither sure, and happiness of it. Christ himself, as soon as he expired on the cross, went; not into limbus patrum, to deliver the Old Testament saints from preach to, and convert the spirits there, thence; nor into the prison of hell, to as say the papists, upon the mistaken itself, having commended his spirit, or sense of 1 Pet. iii. 19, but into heaven

happiness promised the thief, upon his request to him, to remember him in his kingdom, is, that he should be with him in paradise; should enjoy all the happiness of that place, and his presence in it, in which the happiness of it lay. And, 4. He assures him, that his happiness he should enjoy immediately, that very day; "This day thou shalt be with me,' &c. To put the stop after to-day,' and read it as connected with what goes before, 'I say unto thee today,' is a mere shift, and gives a most trifling and jejune sense of

"That as soon as the body is dead, the soul immediately enters into a separate state of happiness or misery, is plain from Luke xvi. 22, 23. And it came to pass that the beggar died,' &c. The scope of this parable is to be attended to; which is to set forth the immediate state of men after death, whether good men or bad men; for though it may have a principal respect to Christ, and to the Pharisees of his times, yet holds true of all good men, the members of Christ; and of all wicked men, whether under a guise of religion, or openly profane. 1. The beggar, the good man, upon his death, is represented as under the care and convoy of angels, and by them seated in Abraham's bosom, a phrase used by the Jews, expressive of soul, into the hands of his divine Father, the heavenly happiness; alluding to aby whom it was received, And, 3. The feast, at which, according to the custom of the Jews, the guests lay upon beds, or couches, about the table; so that he who lay below another, and next to him, leaned, as it were, on his breast, and lay in his bosom; and this denotes the intimate communion of the saints with each other, in the enjoyment of God. 3. The rich and wicked man, he is said upon his death, to be in hell, where he lift up his eyes, and saw the poor good man in great felicity and comfort, whom he had treated with neglect and contempt; which served to aggravate his misery; and where he found himself surrounded with the flames of hell, and filled with inward torments and horrors of mind. 3. The state of both these is summed up in a few words, (verse 25,) 'But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented;' even now, immediately after the death of both. And, 4. That this respects the intermediate state between the death of the body and the resurrection of it, is clear, from what the wicked man petitioned, on the behalf of his brethren in his father's house, in the state of the living, and having the means, the law and the prophets; only he thought if one was sent from the dead to them it would strike them with greater conviction; when he was told they would not be persuaded though one rose from the dead; which shows the parable respects the state of men before the resurrection, and as taking place immediately upon death.

the words."

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"Much of the employment of souls in this separate state, lies in converse with angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. Angels have some way or other of conversing with each other; we read of the tongue of angels;' not that they speak any particular language, and with an articulate voice; but they have speech among themselves, which they understand; they can can communicate their thoughts to one another, and be happy in their mutual converse; see Dan, viii. 13. and xii. 5, 6, 7, and angels can convey their sense to the spirits of men; and the spirits of men can communicate their's to them; such an intercourse between angels and the souls of men has been carried on in dreams and visions, even in this imperfect state; and much more are they able of conversing together in a more perfect one."-Gill.

Luther at Worms.

"AT length the doors of the hall being opened, Luther entered, and many persons not belonging to the Diet, made their way in along with him. Never had man appeared before an assembly so august:-The emperor Charles V., whose dominions embraced the old and the new world; his brother, the archduke Ferdinand; six electors of the empire, whose descendants are now, almost all, wearing the crown of kings; twentyfour dukes, the greater part of them reigning over territories of greater or less extent, and among whom are some bearing a name which will afterwards become formidable to the Reformation, (the duke of Alva and his two sons ;) eight margraves; thirty archbishops, bishops, or prelates; seven ambassadors, among them those of the kings of France and England; the deputies of ten free towns; a great number of princes, counts, and sovereign barons; the nuncios of the Pope; in all, two hundred and four personages; such was the court before which Martin Luther appeared.

"Luther having appeared before this august assembly twice, on the second and last occasion, after making a noble confession of his faith, the following question was asked by the Chancellor of Trêves:-'You are asked to give a clear and definite reply, will you, or will you not retract?'

"Luther then replied, without hesitation, 'Since your most serene Majesty, and your high Mightinesses, call upon me for a simple, clear, and definite answer, I will give it: and it is this:-I cannot subject my faith either to the Pope or to councils, because it is clear as day, that they have often fallen into error, and even into great self-contradiction. If, then, I am not disproved by passages of Scripture, or by clear arguments; if I am not convinced by the very passages which I have quoted, and so, bound in conscience to submit to the Word of God, I neither can, nor will retract any thing, for it is not safe for a christian to speak against his conscience.' Then looking round on the assembly before which he was standing, and which held his life in its hands-'Here I am,' says he, GOD HELP ME.

CANNOT DO OTHERWISE.
Amen.'"-D'Aubigne.

O, what a sight! O, what a viet'ry faith here
Beholds ! A sight at which truth leaps for joy,
While all aghast grim superstition weeps,
And trembles to its inmost centre, hell.
O, ye who cavil at God's book divine!
And dare to sneer at heaven's best gift to man,
Point to the historic page and shew a
Scene like that pourtrayed above:-name but one
Champion, that with life in hand, stood forth
Prepared to seal his doctrines with his blood;
Yield life, than creed which he had taught.

I

O, happy day, for truth, and righteousness, and
Man enslaved, when Luther heard the voice of
Quick'ning grace, and truth, like a barbed arrow
Reached his soul, and rent the veil of darkness
From his heart :--when, like a giant 'mid Rome's
Pigmy sons, of doctors, cannons, priests, and
Cardinals, he raised his head by truth made
Bold and strong when, like a Samson strengthened
From on high, he burst the fetters ignorance
Had forged; and walked God's earth enfranchised
by the
Truth, a free-born son, and citizen of heaven.

A voice was heard, a voice from Wittemberg,
Feeble at first, awhile it gathers strength.
The apostate vicar starts, and shakes the
Triple crown; monks, priests, and cardinals stare.
Presumptuous mortal! Who thus dares disturb
Our reign, or sacriligious breath a note
Dissonant those strains we love to hear, of
Fulsome adulation and volupt'ous ease.
Up! inquisition, tortures, faggot, flame,
Kings, princes,-all! Remove this heretic!
Ah, Rome, 'tis vain! Again the voice! And lo,
The thick dark clouds, which, like a gloomy pall,
Hung o'er the face of christendom, begin to
Move, and light once more revisits this sad earth.
Now, view this monk start from his cell, whose voice,
Like a reviving breath, but erst o'erspread
The earth, bade the long torpid mind to think.
And view the chains in which by priest-craft bound.
Behold him now, amid that august throng
Of earth's great princes, king, and potentates,
To answer for the truth he dared proclaim.
A burning and a shining light he stands,
In that dark age preeminent, alone.
His weapon's truth, his strength and refuge God;
The pomp and glare of human pageantry
And sacerdotal pride, affright him not.
Firm as a rock, by grace divine upheld,
He stands, and in the face of Rome's fierce vassals,
Emperor, prince, and priest, declares that simple,
God-exalting truth, that far above all
Councils, creeds, or pope, God's truth must stand,
A rule infallible, and arbiter supreme.
Happy for Luther, that while thus he spake,
And, single-handed, dared the wrath of Rome,
The arms of mercy round her child were cast;
And love divine a sleepless vigil kept,
To shield her charge amid these rav'ning wolves
Thus weak and helpless cast. What though the proud
And haughty prince, before whose throne he stood,
This humble monk despised; yet from his lips
Had heaven ordained such words should fall, as
Clothed with energy divine should reach the
Hearts of men, and there set up a kingdom
That should stand when earthly thrones lie crumbled
Into dust. 'Tis not by human courage,
Strength, or skill, that truth divine prevails; the
Bold reformer served a King this tinsled
Court knew not; who, when he speaks, e'en mon-
Must obey, He, who when on this earth he
Walked, the great sanhedrim passed, nor chose
His followers from colleges or kings,
Now bade a miner's son go forth to break
Rome's iron yoke, and set the enslaved free.
Old Mother Church arrayed her faithful sons
In silks and velvets, mitre, hood, and cowl,
A motley tribe, like princes some, others
Like beggars dressed; her ancient arsenals
Bade them ransack, for musty weapons. Lords,
Tradition-made monks, councils, schools and popes;
Christ dressed his soldier in his spotless robe,
l'laced in his hand the two-edged sword of truth,
Which speedily mowed these puppets down in scores.
'Twas not the eloquence of human art,
Scholastic strength, or wit, made Luther's words
Like fire, run thro' the earth; 'twas truth, the pure
And simple truth, which like a battering

archs

Ram, beat in the walls that fenced the harlot's seat,
Tore up its base, and shook the seven hills.

Yet, not to Luther would we give the praise

scurvy in his face, which spread from ear to ear, and from his forehead to his bosom.

Of this great work; 'twas through the man God spake | ing an inveterate scorbutic humour of leprous
To renovate his church. The time was come,
Yea, the set time to favour Zion,' come;
In vain does earth and hell oppose; from out
That fallen and apostate church-that sink
Of filth and sin, will Jesus fetch his bride.
Hence, Luther must arise and blow the gospel
Trump-yea more;-behold a miracle, ye
Saints! This feeble man-this man so hated
And despised, within the jaws of Rome,

That cruel beast, drunk with the blood drawn from
The veins of Jesu's flock ;--still lives! and in
Her teeth, while thirsting for his blood, proclaimed
Those glorious truths, which, shall at last, like
Pointed javelins, drink her vital blood.
O! watchful Shepherd! King of Israel's host!
Almighty lover, faithful, gracious, true,
To thee we owe that Luther lived,
By thee preserved, to shed abroad thy fame.
To thee belong the victories of thy cross
Dear Lord, thy voice is stronger from a poor
Monk's cell, than sword or spear, than curse or ball,
Though from the pontiff's chair. Rome's wily legate,
Skilled in courtly arts, dissimulation,
Lies, sophistry and craft, must bite the dust,
Slain by the lip of truth. Hail, pearless truth!
Thou art omnipotent! Blest armour! Wrapt
In which, unscathed, a monk could stand, amid
The venomed shafts of hell: secure, serene,
When all around, heaved like a troubled sea.
Thou mighty lever! grasped by Luther's hand,
Made strong by heaven, to lift the pond'rous stone,
By priest-craft rolled upon the well of life.
Sweet voice! that bade the hidden sons of love
Come forth to praise and worship thee alone:
And from her throne, tear superstition down
To her right place, beneath the feet of men.
O, blissful, hallowed, day-spring from on high!
May thy sweet beams from Britain ne'er withdraw.
And thou, intrepid monk! O, may the thought
Of thee, thy saint-like courage, steadfastness
And truth, thy faith heroic, great success,
Inspire each servant of thy faithful Lord
To trust, as thou didst, on his arm alone,
To fight his battles with the sword of faith,
The words of truth, and all-conquering prayer.
JUVENIS NERFLAB.

He was remarkably patient under all; yea, in the end, he was strengthened unto all long-suffering with joyfulness, which text he had noticed to his brother, Mr. S. Crowhurst, about two years before his death; and said that he could not say that he had been strengthened to all long-suffering with joyfulness; but this was truly the case for twelve months before he went home, as many of his friends and myself can testify. On February 20, he said to his brother, Mr. S. C., and others who went to see him, 'The Lord has been pleased to afflict me in all my senses,' for his eyes were weak, his hearing bad, and his taste was gone. But he said, 'I have not one pain too many; I am fully satisfied with the Lord's dealings.' With respect to the state of his mind, he was exceedingly happy; for the Lord was pleased to give him a sweet assurance of his love to him, and care for him, in comforting him on every side, and not suffering the enemy to distress his mind; his remarks on various texts of Scripture were so experimental, that it rejoiced my heart, and I seemed, (while with him,) to be on the suburbs of heaven. He rejoiced in the belief that he was a son, and that Jesus was his brother; he said-'He is my Saviour, my Friend, my husband;' and he said, 'he was quite ready and waiting, whenever the Lord should be pleased to call for him.' He gave his brother directions for his funeral. He said he wished to be buried on the right hand side of the path in front of the chapel; and his four brothers to follow him; and he wished this on account of his wife; as the family is numerous, that if there were more it would be more than she would be able to bear at such a time. After making other arrangements, he said he did not wish them "Dear Brother :--I herewith send you some furto mourn over his mortal remains; for,' ther particulars of the illness and death of our dear said he, while you are mourning over me, I brother E. Crowhurst, with a brief outline of two shall be waving a palm before the throne. sermons I preached at Hadlow Baptist Chapel, and three letters he wrote to his brother, Mr. S. Crow- On asking him what he should like to have hurst, New Cross. One you will see was written just put on a stone over him, he said he should before his death. Likewise a letter sent to me by like to have something that would strike the brother Crundwell, of Tunbridge, giving a most pre-eye of those that passed by, that might be

A FURTHER ACCOUNT OF THE ILLNESS AND
Death of Mr. Edward Crowhurst.
Late Minister of the Gospel, Hadlow, Kent.

cious account of his triumphs over the great enemy.
If you can find room for them in the Vessel for
July, you will oblige your's to serve in the gospel,
"JOHN BUNYAN M'CURE."'

OUR brother Edward Crowhurst was laid aside from his work about one year previous to his death; the last time he preached was in April, 1846, It was apprehended that the Lord was about to remove him to his eternal home, as his complaint had been thirty-six years upon him; it first broke out in the spring of 1811; almost everything that was proposed as a cure had been tried, but nothing would eradicate it; it be

useful to some poor souls. Perhaps this,
said he, Looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Saviour, Jesus Christ.' He said, 'when
I get to heaven I shall not be a stranger, I
shall know them, and they will know me.
He looked upon death not as death; only
as a shadow, his blessed Lord had swallowed
up the substance in victory.
[The following is a brief outline of two ser-
mons preached by Mr. John Bunyan
M'Cure;] he says-

When I heard of the death of our dear brother, my mind was solemnly impressed

Y

with the testimony recorded in Ps. cxvi. 15. | Concerning the saints of God, their death, and their entering through the dark valley of the shadow of death, into their father's kingdom, as living monuments of the love, blood, and grace of a Triune Jehovah: to this end they were ordained; and are kept by the power of God. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.' From these words the Lord enabled me to preach two solemn sermons to the dear people at Hadlow; the presence of the great Head of the church was realised, and I hope his precious name glorified. From the above words we noticed two things, First, the persons spoken of. Secondly, the Lord's testimony concerning them.

First, The persons spoken of, are called saints; to be a saint is to be the workmanship of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. From all eternity they were set apart; being the objects of divine love; loved with the highest love of God, before the world began; with an everlasting love before they fell in Adam; after they were fallen, even when dead in sin, and at all times, in all places, and under all circumstances; they are God's beloved saints.

Secondly, They are in union with the Lord Jesus Christ; a part of him, and one with him; he received them from the hands of the Father; holy, without spot, and undefiled My dove, my undefiled is but one, there is no spot in her;' he married her to himself, and on the ground of this marriage union, the glorious relationship, the eternal oneness between the lover and the loved, the husband and the wife, the head and the body, the Saviour and the saved, the Sanctifier and the saints, He engages in an everlasting covenant, and becomes responsible as the Almighty Surety of his hody, the church; and after having suffered, bled, and died, to present the whole of the saints to himself, a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy, and without blame.

Thirdly, They are quickened by the Holy Ghost, and so brought to experience their sinnership, and then to know they are saints. And the experimental knowledge they have of themselves as lost, ruined, and black sinners, is the effect of that love that made them saints before time, and manifests them to be such in time.

The next thing our text speaks of, is, that they are precious; precious in his sight; costly, of great price, and precious to each divine person in the glorious Trinity.

First, they are precious to God the Father, being his dear children, related to himself in love, whom he will never disown, he is not ashamed to call them his sons and daughters; he will never give them up; nor suffer them finally to give him up; he will

never leave nor forsake them; he says he will spare them as a man spareth his only son, who serveth him; he is their everlasting Father, consequently, it is an everlasting relationship, they are his everlasting children, and are precious to him as such.

Secondly, they are his Jewels; more precious than gold. Jewels are precious to men, but God's church is infinitely more precious than the richest jewels in the world, they have his name upon them, they are all glorious within, their clothing is of wrought gold.

Thirdly, they are the apple of his eye; what a precious member the eye is to the head! how we love it! what care we take to preserve it! But who can tell how much more precious the saints are to God our Father, than our eye is to us? Mark what he says, 'He that touches them touches the apple of mine eye;' they are so near and dear to him; he suffered no man to do them harm; he reproved kings for their sake.' They are also precious to God the Son. His covenant engagements, his divine substitution and responsibility for them, his life, his sufferings, his death, his resurrection, and all he endured, proves them to be most precious to him; and this great truth is demonstrated in the experience of the heaven-bound child of God. When the Lord Jesus met with us in a way of grace, what was our state and condition before this? Enemies in our minds; the same as the man among the tombs, living among the dead, with an whole legion of devils in us; our conduct was devilish, our objects and pursuits were devilish; our lives and conversation were devilish; and while in this state, the Lord Jesus came to the place where we were, not in anger, but in love; not to punish us for our sin, but to save us; not to send us to hell, but to take us to heaven; his heart was flowing with love, his words were compassion, his eyes were grace, his hands were mercy, his work salvation, and his balm was blood. What did he say? Did he say we ought to be sent to hell? That we were vile wretches, too filthy for him to save ? Oh, no; we were too precious; and he was too much in love with us, not with our sins, nor our sinnership, but with our persons as the saints of God; he said, 'My son, give me thine heart; wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good; and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me, hear and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you; even the sure mercies of David.' And what has been the conduct of his grace since then? Reader! do you know? If so I am sure you will join with me and sing a song of praise to him who

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