POETRY. THE SOUL'S DEPARTURE TO HEAVEN. But soon the throbbing pain has past away, To greedy worms. O wondrous change! beyond a mortal's ken, Freed from earth's cumbrous load, th' unfetter'd soul, Ere a vain wish have pass'd across the breast, Blazing on high amidst a royal seat, To all around. Our Father, who in heaven art still the same, That men, For thine's the kingdom, where there's joy in store, B. S. S. W. C. O. THE Spiritual Magazine; OR, SAINTS TREASURY. << There are Three that bear record in heaven, the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST: and these Three are One." "Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." SEPTEMBER, 1828. (For the Spiritual Magazine.) 1 John v. 7. Jude 3. SUBSTANCE OF A SERMON PREACHED BY THE LATE REV. W. HUNTINGTON, SEPT. 29, 1811. "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them."Isaiah xli. 17. DEAR FRIENDS, WITHOUT any introduction I shall come to my text. A poor man, first, is one that is, as we say, over head and ears in debt, and hath not a mite to pay his creditors, therefore is exposed to a prison, there to remain, unless he is forgiven by his creditor, or a surety steps in to release him by paying the debt. So all. sinners are debtors to God, owing a debt of perfect obedience to the holy law of God, and have not wherewithal to pay; and our debts run very high. We are disobedient, miserable offenders, poor debtors; and unless the Surety steps in, the Day's-man between the offender and offended majesty, justice binds the sinner over to punishment. And when the Holy Ghost, as the light of life, shines into the sinner's understanding, that he may behold the dread commands which he is unable to answer, and God's holy law which he has broken, the danger he is exposed to and punishment due to him, he is pricked in his reins, which makes him tremble, and his heart is wounded within him. Acts ii. 37. Psalm cix. 22. Isaiah lxvi. 2-5. But no hardened sinner trembles; though devils believe and tremble, they do not confess their sin to God, nor cry for mercy; but when the arrows of the Almighty stick fast in a sinner's conscience, he quickly feels the poison drink up his spirits, because life is given, and the light shines in to discover our deplorable state of soul-poverty. So VOL. V.-No. 53. N we see life and light is the cause of trembling, more or less. Those tremblers, sore broken and wounded in spirit, are the very persons to whom the promises are made in Christ Jesus. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise," Psalm li. 17. "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Ps. xxxiv. 18. "I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made." Isa. lvii. 16. Those promises often encourage the poor to beg for mercy: "forgive us our debts," Matt. vi. 12.-" forgive all my sins," Ps. xxv. 18. The Jews were the fifty-pence debtors, and we poor gentiles the five hundred; " and when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." Luke vii. 42. Secondly. A man that is hungry, and hath not bread to eat, must be a poor man; and the prodigal was one, "I perish with hunger," Luke xv. 17. But he could not rest or remain there, for he was hunger-bitten, real necessity drove him forth, "I will arise and go to my father." Although he was a great way off, yet he went and confessed his unworthiness; and we see he not only received bread and unexpected bounty at his father's table, but was also clothed, shod, and ornamented. And that person whom God hath quickened by the gift of eternal life, hath an appetite for heavenly food for his soul, and cannot live satisfied without Christ in his heart by faith. This is "the true bread," of which if a man eat he shall live for ever; nor is there any motion of life in a quickened soul without it. We know corporeal bread among us is called the staff of life, and for this the poor must beg; and the blessing is already upon them that hunger and thirst after righteousness. "Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."- -"Behold my servant shall eat," Isa. lxv. 13.-"Blessed are ye that hunger now; ye shall be filled." Luke vi. 21. Thirdly. A poor man is one compelled to beg or starve, therefore, obliged to ask, seek, and knock, importuning much. And thus it is with every spiritually poor soul, it cannot cease begging, more or less. It is true some do relax until necessity pinches them again, and fearing they shall die by the worm, the guilty conscience gnawing, this under the influence of the Spirit of life will keep them begging, until God gives them Christ Jesus, the bread of heaven, believing they must starve and perish in hell to all eternity without it. But Christ stands forth, saying, "I am the true bread;" and he invites the hungry, "ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Fourthly. He is a poor man that hath no clothes to cover himself. And so is every unconverted soul under heaven, through the fall. His soul is naked before God, Gen. iii. 7. It is plain the bodies of Adam and Eve were naked before, but there was no sin to make them ashamed. Gen. ii. 25. And all men are naked and bare, God knows, and he will make us know it too; and as our first parents sewed fig leaves together, so we will weave spiders' webs, but they shall not become garments. Therefore, this useless labour of sewing, and patching, and weaving, must be laid aside, and God's counsel taken; but if not, you will be found naked at last, and your shame appear at the judgment. But the obedient ear attends to God's counsel:- “ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see," &c. Rev. iii. 18-22. Which is, coming to the Lord our righteousness, for righteousness is obedience, and is receiving him and to them he gives power to plead with and overcome him. But the righteous in their own eyes are disobedient, therefore remain naked in the sight of God, whether they know it or not. And the wise in their own conceit are ignorant before God, and will not submit to him; "for they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." Rom. x. 3. Heb. iii. 12. Fifthly. We call a man poor, having nothing of his own; not a stick (as we say) hath he belonging to him; or as Job i. 21, he has lost all. And every sinner convinced of sin by the Spirit of God, will be taught, sooner or later, that he is insolvent; he hath lost all good in Adam; he hath no bed to rest upon, though he is weary; all his supposed goods are become dung, dross, death. Hear Paul speak in faith, "I count all things but dung and dross, that I may win Christ," the chief good, for that which I thought was unto life, I found unto death. There is much soul-travail, labour, crying, and praying, attends it; and being weary and heavy-laden in soul, we want rest; but having lost all the goods, we have no bed of our own to rest upon. So that all the poor in spirit come to Christ Jesus, in whom all goods are treasured up; the graces of the Spirit, these are the best goods I ever saw or had possession of: such as, light, life, filial fear; faith, hope, love; gratitude, humility, meekness, patience, knowledge, temperance; brotherly-kindness, peace, rest, joy, praise. And my blessed Saviour, Jesus Christ, is the substance of the whole; in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and fulness of grace. He is the resting-place-our bed-our rest. He gives himself, and we find rest in him. "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest: take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls: for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." "For we which have believed do enter into rest,"-do rest, believing in Christ. "This is the rest, wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest." the Lord himself chooses Zion for his rest: "Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; for the Lord hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation-this is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread." Ps. cxxxii. Here is provision and all necessary goods laid up at our gates. And Sixthly. We call him a poor man who hath no house, or home, or dwelling-place; he wanders about destitute and afflicted. So do we in a spiritually poor condition. “They wandered in a wilderness, in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them: then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by a right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.” Ps.cvii. 4-7. And this is where they shall find a sure dwelling, doing his commandments. “And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in Him: and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.” 1 John iii. 23, 24. “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name, the "He that upright shall dwell in thy presence." Psalm cxl. 12, 13. eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." Although they were led captive, I have led captivity captive, "and I will bring Israel again to his habitation.” “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." "The Most High thy habitation, neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling." "Psalm xci. Thus we see a little of the habitation or dwelling for the souls of believers; and there is a dwelling-place or home for their bodies until the morning of the resurrection. The grave is to be a bed, or resting-place: "For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living," Job xxx. 23. "Man goeth to his long home," Eccles. xii. 5. “There the wicked cease from troubling, and the are weary at rest," Job iii. 17. And we have a comfortable hope of the glory of God: "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven." Christ is the sure house, the dwelling-place. "Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit." 2 Cor. v. 1—5. Thus we have seen a little of the poor, and the riches treasured up in Christ for them, in time, and to eternity. But there are many poor, yet they are not needy: that is, they do not feel their need. And this may be seen in the Revelations iii. 17. "Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Here we see the Laodiceans boasted of their works and goods, although they were destitute of every real good. hath his eyes anointed to see himself, and is quickened to feel his need, acts like a poor honest tradesman, who examines his books and finds himself in debt, and he cannot see any prospect of being capable of paying them, therefore he frets, and cannot rest day or night: But he that |