die destitute of an interest in the salvation of the Son of God, they perish in their sins, and have themselves to blame, their blood is upon their own head; and the resistless conviction of this will be one of the bitterest ingredients in their cup of woe. The delusion that in the matter men have nothing to do, and under which it is to be feared many take refuge, we cannot otherwise characterise, than a refuge of lies and a hiding-place of falsehood. The prophets and apostles, who we are told preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, never told men that in the matter of their soul's salvation they could do nothing. They never told the careless and the unregenerate, as a certain class among us have long done, to sit at the pool of ordinances and wait God's time; but whilst with earnestness and purpose they proclaimed the gospel of God,-the good news "that Jesus Christ had come into the world to save sinners," and told them of a fountain opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness, in the language of authority they said unto them, "Wash you, make you clean;""the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin." "O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" "Repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out whilst the times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord." "Enter ye in at the strait gate." Lay hold on eternal life." Except ye repent ye shall all perish.' It was thus they addressed men on the business of religion, which was with them a practical matter. They knew that, although in the death of the Son of God a foundation sure and safe had been laid for the hopes of guilty men, it would do them no good if they did not take their stand upon it; they knew that, although a refuge had been provided for those exposed to the hand of avenging justice, it would avail them nothing if they did not flee to the hope thus set before them; they knew that although a way had been opened for the return of the sinner to God, it would avail such nothing, if they did not in this the day of their merciful visitation, embrace that way, and through it return to the enjoyment of his reconciled favour and love. Hence, as Lot and his family were commanded to flee from the ruin which threatened the cities of the plain, sinners are enjoined to flee from the wrath to come, and lay hold on the hope set before them in the gospel. And as Jonah, whilst sleeping on the verge danger, was aroused by the shipmaster, saying, "What meanest thou, sleeper, arise and call upon thy God," so would we say to those who are sleeping the sleep of death, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee life." "It is now high time to awake out of sleep." "Awake to righteousness, and sin not." of It is a truth that should never be lost sight of, and a truth we would deeply impress on the mind of every reader, that in reference to his soul's salvation, man is not a mere passive being. If he were so, what were the use of all the solemn warnings and pressing invitations of the book of God? What the end to be answered by the gospel ministry? What by all the diversified appliances, by which, in dependence on the Divine blessing, we seek to enlighten, convince, and persuade men to believe the gospel? The fact is, that in no part of the matter is man a passive being, but in every part of it an active and responsible being, and to imagine that it is otherwise is all delusion. Whilst by his death the Son of God made full atonement for sin, and by his one offering hath brought in an everlasting righteousness, and perfected for ever them that are sanctified; whilst, to use the words of holy writ, "he gave himself a ransom for all," and "tasted death for every man, statements, which, let the advocates of a starched and frigid theology cavil as they please, evidently teach us, that, in the words of the apostle Paul, "he died the just one in the room of unjust men," and, therefore, for all men; and hence, to adopt the words of Robert Hall, by his death "all men have thereby been placed in a salvable state;" yet the interest, the personal, the saving interest of every man in the blessings of his death, depends on the reception or belief of the record which God hath given concerning him. In offer, the blessings he hath secured by his death are to all men without exception; but in realization and enjoyment, they are limited to them that believe. Hence, as he said to the Jews, notwithstanding all he had done for them, and "he died for that nation," "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.' "He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting life; he that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Falkirk. W. M. THE SUSTAINING POWER OF GRACE. For the Christian Witness. BY JOHN CLARK, BAPTIST MINISTER. THE subjects of the present article, William Jarvis and his wife, were people in humble circumstances of life, and had long maintained an honourable and consistent character as members of the church at Park-street chapel, in the village of Thaxted, Essex. For many weeks they had both been the subjects of severe affliction, and confined to their beds, and during this time it was my privilege to visit them as members of my church, and to hear the happy and grateful testimonies which they bore to the power of Divine truth to sustain and comfort them. Some weeks since I carried the husband a small sum of money, which had been collected at the Lord's table; he thanked me for it, and said with great earnestness, "I am much obliged to you, sir, and to the people, and I hope you will tell them so; but if this is the only portion I have in the church it will be a poor part indeed, but I hope and trust I have a better one; I trust I have, if I do not deceive myself, and I would not deceive myself, if I knew it, for a thousand worlds.' I spake to him of the mercy of God in opening the eyes of his understanding, and in leading him to embrace Christ as an all-sufficient Saviour; he answered, 'Yes, sir, I know it must be all of the Lord's grace; 'Why was I made to hear thy voice,'" &c. He continued, "What can the Lord see in us? nothing but sin, though we know, if there's a good thought he puts it in the mind-it would not come of itself." In conversing with him on another occasion, he replied, "Yes, sir, there are many blessed promises in the Bible; turn where you will, there are promises to the righteous.' After I had prayed with him that whether he lived he might live unto the Lord, or whether he died he might die unto the Lord, he said as I rose from my knees, "That's just what I want, sir; the very thing that I desire, that whatever happens I may feel satisfied, and be willing to do either." On another occasion, he turned to me and said, "I do hope," repeating the words twice," that I may meet all the members of the church in heaven, and you too as my minister: I pray the blessed Lord that it may be so. I have seen him in the extreme stages of exhaustion, when about to partake of some food, raised on the pillows; he would close his eyes and lift up his hand, and audibly thank God for his mercies, accompanying it with an earnest prayer that they might be sanctified to God's glory. "I have had another nice meal," was his language, "I feel ever so much better, bless the good Lord for it." Another time he turned to his wife, who was lying on a separate bed close to his own, and weeping, and addressed her in these words, "Don't distress yourself, why should you? see what the Lord has done for us; we have wanted for nothing; if I wanted meat I have had it; if I wanted a little wine or brandy, when I felt so bad, it has come, and God has promised that he will be a husband to the widow, and a father to the fatherless; and the children will be better provided for than we could provide for them, and I do not doubt his word, I do not doubt him at all." I had an interesting conversation with him on the last occasion on which he was able to converse much, the impression of which is still vivid and glowing. When I entered the room, he had not opened his eyes or spoken to any one for five or six hours, his breathing was hurried, and his departure was evidently at hand. I conversed with his wife for a few minutes, and in a short time I perceived that he opened his eyes at the sound of my voice; his consciousness returned; he took hold of my hand and said, "I did not know you, sir." I said, "The Lord Jesus is able, I trust, to support you still." "Yes," he replied, with increasing energy; "I never thought I should have had such comforts as I have got; I did not think it was possible." I spake to him of the rest which remained for the people of God; he appeared pleased, and replied, “I pray God that I may soon enter into that rest, that happy world." One of his sons, who had remained in the room some time, was about to leave to return to his work, overcome with grief, without speaking to his father: his mother addressed him, "Won't you bid your father good bye, William ?" the dying man turned his head to his son, and said, "Good bye, Willey, good bye; and if we do not meet any more on earth I pray God that we may meet in a happier state." In the course of conversation, I repeated the words, Why should the children of a king Go mourning all their days?" and part of the hymn, "There on a green and flowery mount." When I had finished the verse, he opened his eyes again, and repeated the lines very distinctly, "See the kind angels at the gates, I repeated again part of the verse, the first two lines, "There shall I bathe my weary soul My utterance was choked, it was a solemn scene; but when I stopped he concluded the verse himself, "And not a wave of trouble roll "What a blessed state must that be!" he said. I waited a short time lest I should excite or exhaust him; after a few minutes, he opened one eye and nodded. I was at a loss to understand what he meant. He then said, "Go on; how I love to hear those hymns, and always did love to read them." I complied with his request. "A few hours more," he said, "and they can be but few at most, and I shall be with Christ, I do not doubt." He repeated, "I do not doubt it," three times. The next time I saw him he could only say, "We do not know, when we wake in the morning, sir, how the Lord can support us through the day; I must wait his blessed time, sir, and I hope he is preparing me for his heavenly kingdom. I hope I am prepared for that blessed world." The hour of death drew near, and the last account I heard was that when his brother came to sit up with him at night, to the surprise of every one he requested to be raised, and while they were supporting him upon the pillows, he rallied for a few minutes, and prayed aloud with great energy and simplicity; he prayed for all who were dear to him, and for the church of Christ, and then sank into the bed again, and in a few hours breathed his last, and was gathered to his fathers. His wife, whose death had been expected for many months, was enabled to bear a happy testimony to the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ on many occasions on which I visited her. In the lifetime of her husband, on visiting her one day she told me, "I had a beautiful day yesterday, sir; verses and hymns were constantly coming into my mind, and I cannot tell you how I felt; I felt that they were all my own, just as if they belonged to me; I did not want any food till quite late at night, and then I felt so faint that I was obliged to have some." She referred with feelings of great pleasure to the last sabbath on which she came to the chapel, and said, "Oh! it was a beautiful day, sir; I did find that it was good to wait upon the Lord then, if I never found it so before; I thought of it for several weeks afterwards with pleasure; the hymns and chapters, and prayers and sermons, all of them were, I thought, meant for me." She said, "I ought to bless the Lord every day that I ever came to the chapel. I do not know how I came to go first, but if ever my eyes were opened to see my sins it was there." It was necessary some days before her husband died to remove her from his room, as she had been so anxiously watching him, and could get no sleep. She told me that the last night which she passed in his room, she perceived that he was restless, and heard him say that he wanted a Christian friend to pray with him. Anxious to administer some comfort, she sat up in the bed, and her words were, "I prayed with him as well as I could, sir; he had often comforted me in trouble by praying with me; I prayed a few words, I could not pray much; but there was nothing wrong in that, I should think, sir." She spoke of the pain which she felt on leaving the room in which her husband lay, and particularly of the kindness of her son, as he carried her down stairs into a lower room. She said, "I cannot tell you what I felt, sir, in coming away, when I knew I should never see him again on earth. I could not help feeling as if my heart would break, but in the midst of it all I said, 'Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.' I could not help loving the Saviour then, and I cannot tell any one how much I love him." A short time before her husband's death a friend came to see her, and she said to him, "I am so glad to see a Christian friend; they are all I wish to see now," and asked him to pray with her. To another visitor she said, "This is the time to seek the Lord; do not put it off till a death-bed. You will never be sorry that you have sought him, unless it is to think that you did not seek the Lord before." On the day of her husband's funeral, I called a few minutes after the mourners had left, as he was buried at the church. She was asleep when I entered the room; her features were calm and composed. I did not enter again until her cough awoke her. She then told me that her mind was in perfect peace. She said she heard the arrangements which were made, she knew when the body of her husband left the dwelling, and told me in a whisper, for she was too exhausted to speak, "I never felt anything, sir; I heard them all talking, and knew what they were doing, but the Lord did not let it hurt my mind at all. I did not wish," she said, "to see the two little children in black, as I was not used to see them dressed so, and they did not let them come in. The Lord comforted me, for it could not be any one else." I carried her on another occasion a sum of money which had been collected for her in the chapel. She appeared to be surprised and delighted. She said, "I hope you will thank the people from me, sir, for what they have done; I hope they will not be angry, sir,” she said; "first of all I must thank the Lord for it, for he put it into their hearts." She repeated her thanks four times at intervals, and urged me to be sure and not to forget to thank them. Afterwards she told me that her husband's death did not disturb her at all now, as she felt that it would not be long before she joined him. She was quite satisfied of his safety. On the last occasion but one on which I visited her, she said, "I had such a beautiful afternoon yesterday; one hymn kept coming into my mind after another so strongly, that I was not a single minute without a text of Scripture or a verse to think of, such as these: 'Show pity, Lord; O Lord, forgive;' then, 'Jesus, lover of my soul;' then, 'Rock of ages, shelter me;' and then, 'O could we climb where Moses stood.' I can tell nobody how much I love the Saviour; I do love him every hour of the day, when I think of what he has done for poor sinners; and I should think I could not love him so if I was one of Satan's.' To her sons, before they retired to rest, she said, "I want to see you both kneel down and pray. I hope you will never forget this, night or morning." She requested one of them earnestly to pray for her, that the Lord would support and comfort her. "I hope," she said, "when it is the Lord's will to take me, I shall be found prepared." The last time that I saw her, her mind appeared to be in perfect peace. Like David, she strengthened her heart in the Lord her God. I asked her if she was happy in the near prospect of death. She whispered, "I have no doubt, no fear;" and placing her hands together, and directing her eyes upwards, she said, "The Lord has been very gracious to me." A fit of coughing interrupted her, and she told me she was afraid to talk much, as it made her cough. She said she suffered much, "but I am willing to suffer now, if it is the Lord's will, before I go. I do not want to go one moment before his time; but when he pleases, sir, I shall be glad to go." In a few hours her great change came, and in the arms of a kind and devoted son she quietly breathed her spirit into the hands of that Redeemer on whose faithfulness and grace she had so fondly rested, and with her departed husband joined, we trust, the general assem bly and church of the first-born in heaven. I cannot refrain from accompanying this relation with an account furnished me by a woman in this neighbourhood. She said, "Some years since, Mrs. Jarvis and I were going to work together in the fields; she asked me to call at her house at seven o'clock in the morning to have a cup of tea before we went to work; I went, and she had got the table spread, and everything ready, but first of all she opened the Bible and read a chapter; she then kneeled down and prayed; we two were alone in the house. She prayed that God would make us thankful for his mercies, and that we might have strength to go through the labours of the day; that we might be kept from every sin. We were both of us very poorly at the time, sir, but I do not know how it was, I never went through a day's work so comfortably in my life, and I shall never forget her as long as I live." "The memory of the just is blessed." TRAVAIL OF ZION. From a MS. of the late Dr. Boothroyd, furnished by his Son. "FOR as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children," Isa. lxvi. 8. It I. Explain the term Zion. 1. Zion, a mount on which David built a new city. Hence we often find it denominated Mount Zion, 2 Sam. v. 7-9. embraced several hills, on one of which Solomon, after the plan of David, erected the temple. David brought the ark into some part of the new city, and hence this became the centre of the Jewish worship. 2. The site, beauty, and strength of Zion are celebrated; but especially as the place which God had chosen for his residence, Psa. xlviii. 1, 2. As Zion was the place where prayer was offered, God's praises rehearsed, sacrifices presented, by an easy metaphor it is used to denote God's people, or the spiritual church, both in the Psalms and prophets, Psa. cii. 13; lxv. 1. Zion is represented as complaining of desertion, Isa. xlix. 14. We read of God "returning the captivity of Zion," Psa. cxxvi. 1. The Redeemer was to "come to Zion," Isa. lix. 20. The new law of the gospel was to "go forth from Zion," Micah iv. 2. 3. The text may be justly regarded as a prophecy, which refers to the times of the gospel, when the church should be suddenly increased and multiplied. The first verse in the chapter refers to the temple erected by Herod, John ii. 20. The hypocrisy of the people is reproved, verses 3, 4; the righteous are addressed, verse 5; and the destruction of the temple and of the wicked is foretold, verses 6, 7. But amidst this ruin Zion, or the Christian church, travails and brings forth, which leads us to show, II. In what sense Zion travaileth. The metaphor is easily understood, and may refer, 1. To the ardent desires of the church for the Redeemer's glory in the conversion of sinners. This was the feeling of Paul towards the Galatians, chap. iv. 19. He most earnestly desired their spiritual welfare, that they might be recovered from error, might enjoy Christ by faith as their hope, and might be devoted to his service. And is not this the desire of all God's people? Do they not long for men's souls, as in the bowels of Christ? His honour and glory are what they desire to see advanced. And are they not advanced when the wicked are converted and changed? Does not the Redeemer then "see of the travail of his soul?" &c. Every true penitent is the fruit of the Redeemer's love and grace; his "workmanship, created anew," &c. This desire for the Redeemer's glory in the conversion of men, as it is characteristic of his people, is excited and cherished by the Spirit. 2. It may refer to the strong cries and fervent prayers presented to God for this blessing. The church not only desires, but prays. Her prayer is, "Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!" Psa. xiv. 7. As God hath no still-born children, but it is said of every one, "Behold, he prayeth," so the whole church continues to pray. The precept and example of her Redeemer enforces this duty, Luke xviii. 1. He" withdrew to a mountain to pray." The disciples on his ascension gave themselves to prayer, Acts i. 12-14. They have not only their personal wants to be supplied, but they pray for the "peace of Jerusalem," for the prosperity of the church. They have ground of encouragement in the predictions and promises. And when God intends to do great things, he pours on his people the "Spirit of and grace supplication." Hence they plead, they wrestle with God. 3. They travail as to labours and active exertion in the Redeemer's cause. Animated with a holy zeal, they are not content with ardent desires and fervent |