cated to me. On the 7th of August, 1844, at eight o'clock in the morning -memorable day, happy year, never-to-be-forgotten moment-while beseeching the Lord to bless me, he brought those words from my heart in real feeling, "Lord, thou hast said, cast thy burden upon me; I cannot manage it, I will have no more to do with it; Lord, take it, for I am a cypher." Be astonished, O ye heavens, and wonder, O earth, at his answer THY SINS ARE ALL FORGIVEN THEE. I started and said, Lord, is it not a delusion, is it not the workings of the flesh? No, no, was his gracious reply. O my friend, I scarcely know how to go on when I think of the mercy. Why was I not suffered to remain in the flesh-pleasing system with which I bolstered myself up in pride and impudence? Why was I not suffered to join the ranks of infidelity with my young friend? Why, with him, am I not at this time a Christ-despising, Bible-ridiculing sceptic?-because his mercy endureth for ever, and his compassions fail not. Why hath not the wickedness of my heart been suffered to break out in open acts of debauchery and iniquity, even since the Lord has called me by his grace? because he is faithful that hath promised. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Permit me to say a word or two to some of your readers, who, like myself, have been much exercised about the pardon of their sins. Beloved, it is not enough to tell you that your sins are pardoned in the mind of God. A sensible, heart-broken sinner can only be satisfied by the communication of the mercy in demonstration by the Spirit. Now is it not a boundless mercy that you cannot rest satisfied with anything short of this? I know, with you, that my anxiety about the manifest pardon of my sins gave me no comfort; but it demonstrates that you have that within you of and to which you were once a perfect stranger: and however long you may have to wait panting and crying unto the Lord, the set time shall come to favour your soul. I thought it never would arrive, and many times resolved after about four years experience of my own heart in its wickedness, to ask the Lord no more, for I was sure he did not listen to my cry. But bless his precious name, he did, and answered me to the joy of my heart in the words I had so often wished to hear his voice in, "Thy sins are all forgiven thee." Why should you doubt, beloved? Think not your sins too many. The worthless worm that has found this has a heart full of murders, envyings, strifes, rebellion, and every abomination; for while in outward practice, both before and after called by grace, I have mercifully been preserved, yet methinks no heart could have more decided proof of its native inward depravity than mine. I have often thought myself the greatest monster on the earth; and sure I am, that if I dare tell the hidden evils of my heart, I know not a human being that would speak to me. No less a power than God's omnipotent arm could have preserved me from both temporal and eternal ruin, and yet amidst it all "a sinner saved.” Beloved, may the Lord hasten his time to bless you with the same mercy. May the Lord abundantly bless you in your work and labour of love, and spare you many years as Editor of the GoSPEL MAGAZINE, and finally gather you in peace with all the ransomed throng to shout the glories of the Lamb, unto whom, with the Father and the Eternal Spirit, be endless praises ascribed. Amen. Yours very truly in Christian fellowship, Chelsea. W. W. CONTRADICTIONS HARMONIZING; OR, THE CHRIS- BELOVED SARAH, The Lord's way is a right way, though there appears many turns in it, and we experience many crooked things, yet no better way can be devised; it is a safe way, and the only true way where at the close all will say, "I, being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master's brethren." And be it observed, that the same Lord that led us from our way into his, is the same Lord that leads and holds us up through all the way; and though we at times seem to stumble, yet he holdeth our souls in life, and will not suffer our feet to be moved. We seem to be environed with mountains, yet he removes hills and mountains though we feel enveloped in darkness; he maketh darkness light before us, and teaches us to know and believe that darkness and light are alike to him, and he it is who maketh crooked things straight, and saith, "these things will I do unto them, and will never forsake them." The righteous shall hold on his way; nor did ever one that walked in this way ever perish or fail of the end, that we should be to the praise of his glory. There are riddles to learn in this way; we are told to stand still when we cannot move, to go forward when there is no way open; in this way we learn the nature of hell, and in this way we live higher than the heavens; in it we have heaviness to make the heart stoop, and in it we are lifted up; in it we weep for sorrow of heart, and in it we sing for joy of heart; and we walk on faint yet pursuing. Sometimes we try to lie down, and keep on running; sometimes feel like a dead log, yet soar on eagles' wings; dying daily, yet shall never die; always fearing, yet having nought to fear; for if God be for us, who can be against us? Always empty, yet living in all fulness; always weak, yet always strong in the Lord; surrounded by foes, yet out of their reach; hearing the curses of others, yet living without a curse; black as sin can make us, yet whiter than snow; experiencing day and night, yet living in eternal day, and there is no night there-we number hours, and days, and years, yet have but one year, and that is eternal. Sometimes we stand quite still, yet we are the subjects of perpetual motion; we are in ourselves all unrighteous, yet made the righteousness of God in Christ the Lord our righteousness; alway the subjects of wounds and bruises, and sicknesses, yet are we sound and whole, and in perfect health: full of foolishness, but made wise unto salvation; having envy, we envy not; being proud, yet possess humility; sinful, but cannot sin; having daily fightings, yet being in perfect peace; we are of the earth earthy, yet from heaven heavenly; carnal, sold under sin, yet spiritual, purchased by blood; corrupted from head to foot, yet perfect and complete in Jesus. Aliens and strangers, yet friends and children of God, and alive in holy acquaintance with him; deserving everything bad, having all things good; fearing all things are against, knowing all things work together for good; tempted, tried, and vexed by Satan, but the wicked one toucheth us not; children of wrath even as others, yet heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ; lost in ourselves, saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation; enemies to God by wicked works, yet he declares we are his friends, and reconciled to God by the death of his Son; once afar off, but now made nigh by the blood of Christ; wę sold ourselves for nought, he redeemed us without money; we are always poor and needy, yet have unsearchable riches, "and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus ;" always in want, yet never want any good thing; sorrowful, yet always D rejoicing; as unknown, yet well known: and what shall I say more, but we are nothing, and Christ is all and in all; who said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Therefore all that are in Christ the way, do, must, will, and shall come to the Father, though they have fightings without and fears within, from real foes and false brethren-persecuted, tried, tempted, buffetted, spoken evil of, cursed by men, and Satan tempting them to curse God. Yet they are kept by the power of God, preserved in Christ Jesus, whose eye is upon them for good. He counteracts all the evil designs of their enemies, waters them every moment, and lest any hurt them, he keeps them night and day -preserves them from all evil, and saith he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. O the depth of the riches! He will preserve us unto his heavenly kingdom; and it is written, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy; to the only wise God our Saviour be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever, amen." Thus, beloved, I have sent you a few truths that I have learned by experience, they having been demonstrated in my heart by the Eternal Spirit; and with you, I am assured we shall not be disappointed of being included in the closing up sentence of our most glorious Christ, saying, "Here am I and the children God hath given me." Of this I cannot doubt, however dark the path may be, and however I may be perplexed and vexed with a continued series of afflictions, growing infirmities, increasing age, and am in myself all that a sinner can be; yet I rejoice in the Lord, and sing from my heart, Jesus is mine and I am his, in whom I live in all the fulness of eternal life and all blessedness, joined to the Lord and one spirit; partaker of a divine nature, and have salvation in him with eternal glory. "He cannot love me more, nor will he love me less." These truths being familiar with us, as we are living in the knowledge of Jesus our all, I know you will sing with me, "The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted." Thus I have given you a little of the old fashioned experience of the church of Christ, and no man shall stop me of making my boast in the Lord on account of the same, whilst from corrupt experience the black heart traders go on speaking bitter words, saying all manner of evil of me falsely; but for this I am exceeding glad and rejoice, knowing that my reward is great in heaven. And though the Lord hath given me to know what it is to want bread, yet I have been the means of feeding many, having been the text and subject for many to keep up their reputation, and to fill up their time in the pulpit, or they would have appeared as dumb dogs; but their barking increased their greatness in the minds of the people who were filled with something worse than the east wind. But I leave them, and go on preaching peace by Jesus Christ, for he is Lord of all. May he bless thee and keep thee, my own daughter,— ameu. This morning I was melted down and humbled before the Lord, refreshed and strengthened by his Spirit in the inner man, comforted and encouraged by the sacred contents and divine properties of the following holy testimony of the Lord," Bless the Lord, O my soul" (Ps. ciii. 1-6); and I could and did say freely, “Bless the Lord, Ó my soul, and let all that is within me praise his holy name;" and again I say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul; for he doth execute righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed." Afterwards I turned to Ezekiel xxxix., and had a second benefit from the 28th and 29th verses. O how precious is the word of the Lord! when dropped thus into our heart it distils like the dew, and as the small rain on the tender herb. In this way the Lord gives us to understand his mind and will concerning us; we thereby experience love, blood, and salvation; we rejoice in Christ Jesus, having no confidence in the flesh-and as the poet writes so we find it,— "And all their hard cases are lost in a song." I close, saying Jesus and his salvation are increasingly precious unto me, and I am fully satisfied with Jesus only; to whom be glory and honour, tor ever and ever. Amen. Yours in our precious Lord Jesus, 20, Laura Terrace, London. A. TRIGGS. THE LAW OF MOSES. To the Editor of the Gospel Magazine. MY DEAR BROTHER IN THE LORD, My time has been so fully occupied, partly with private arrangements and partly with ministerial duties, that for the last month or two I have only been able to give a hurried glance at the GOSPEL MAGAZINE. About a month ago a friend pointed out to me the letters of "W. F." and "Onesimus," in your July number. Ever since then I have been waiting for a few leisure hours wherein to pen some additional remarks on the law as a rule of life. I have waited in vain; a leisure hour is a luxury I never expect to enjoy in my present path. I am content that it should be so; Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel." My times are not my own. Like Nehemiah, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down." I hope, therefore, that my unknown friends, "W. F." and "Onesimus," will kindly excuse my rudeness in not replying sooner to their inquiries. I wish it was in my power to answer them fully and satisfactorily; but it is not. When I sent you the papers to which they refer, I had no intention of ever writing a systematic dissertation on the subject. I could only do so at present by neglecting more important engagements. I hope that my inability may lead some abler and more experienced correspondent to turn his thoughts to the subject. I frankly confess that "W. F." has started an idea which never yet entered my poor head, and which is not likely to have any settled abode in it. Paul told his Gentile converts, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." I have no doubt the apostle meant the law of Moses; and if the Galatians were never under that law, how could Christ Jesus redeem them from its curse? The law of Moses is called the law of Moses, as given by Moses, but Moses was not its author; it was older than Moses, older than the patriarchs, yea, older than Adam himself. It is a mirror in which we behold the purity and perfection of Jehovah; it is an inspired transcript of the mind of God. Though not a Jew, I am sure I was once under the law; and I rejoice in it, for the Lord Jesus came to redeem them that were under the law. May the Lord the Spirit show "W. F." and " Onesimus," the good and the right way, and give each and all of us a sound judgment in all things. I cannot close this hurried note without begging an interest in your prayers, dear Editor, and in the prayers of all who feel for a brother, who, young and inexperienced, is placed in a large and arduous sphere of minis terial labours. A great door and effectual seems opened unt ome, but there are many adversaries; my congregation appears to be a congregation of the dead, and I have a striking proof of the lamentable corruption of human nature in my own coldness and listlessness in my Master's work. Pray that grace may be poured into my lips, that utterance may be given me, and my poor feeble ministry blessed to the conversion of the unconverted, and the establishment of God's people in their most holy faith. Ever faithfully yours, DE M. To the Editor of the Gospel Magazine. QUERY. Can it be scripturally said Christ's blood was spilt? Should it not rather be, shed? DEAR SIR, Having read in your Magazine for May, 1845, some verses written by "Obadiah," on Praise, in which are contained the following lines: "For me a wretch, immersed in guilt, - I cannot express the overwhelming sensation with which my mind was impressed at the moment on reading them. The thought has ever since followed me while travelling hundreds of miles, nor can I divest my mind of the distressing, yea heart-rending idea of Christ's blood being spilt. I have consulted Cruden's Concordance, and can find no text which in my humble opinion can justify the expression. I find in 2 Sam. xiv. 14, "We are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. In Mark ii. 22, and Luke v. 37, "No man putteth new wine into old bottles," &c., and the wine is spilled; which are almost the only places where the words spilt or spilled are used. But I find invariably the word shed used in reference to the blood of Christ; as in Matt. xxvi. 28, "For this is my blood of the New Testament which was shed for many for the remission of sins." And when I hear my beloved Lord himself say his blood was shed, I dare not say nor admit that it was spilt. I likewise find the same expression used in reference to the effusion of the Spirit, Rom. v. 5, "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost." And Acts ii. 22, "He hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear." And Titus iii. 6, "Which he shed on us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour. And also in a punitory sense for a violation of the law, Gen. ix. 6, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Hence, and from further researches, I conclude that the common acceptation of the verb to spill, is to lavish, scatter, destroy, or waste accidentally; and to shed, is to effuse, send forth, pour out, atone for intentionally. After very mature consideration, therefore, I cannot bring my mind to coincide with the expression being in accordance with Scripture. The blood of Christ was too precious, too meritorious, and efficacious to be considered as spilt, and thereby rendered nugatory. It was shed intentionally and prophetically (Lev. xvi. 27–30), as a propitiatory atonement for sin, |