not merely that I may be holier, but that I may be a partaker of His own holiness.; The widowed heart, alone and desolate, feeble in body and oppressed in mind, may hear a whisper-Is this love? But what is to be the reply? If in the sanctuary, there is but one-a firm and decided Yes! -Yes! the feeble one replies, this is love-God's perfect love, that seeks, not the gratification, but the good, of its object. Thus the shield of faith is raised, and the fiery dart falls powerless to the ground. But supposing for a moment that the wicked suggestion were entertained, and the bereaved one were to begin and reason why God should thus afflict her; and begin to speculate as to what she had done, what she had neglected, and how she had not valued and improved her privileges; we venture not to say what the misery of that soul would be. The shield of faith is lowered, for the moment, and the whole soul is exposed to the fiery darts of the wicked. But should we, some may still inquire, under every trial, even such as we may have brought on ourselves, take refuge in the perfect love of God? Most assuredly! Flee at once to the sanctuary! Say of yourself what you please, but say of God that He changeth not-His love is the same. I have brought this on myself, I richly deserve it, you may say; but never forget that His love rules; and dishonour Him not by unbelief. Wave after wave may come; and when you have felt your feet touching the shore, and thought you were near to land, another wave has come and rolled you back into deeper and rougher waters than you had ever known before; still you can say, though well nigh over whelmed, It is the way of His love, the moral fitting of the soul for the "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," of which it will be the happy sharer for ever and for ever. And when you know that God is dealing with you in perfect love, and for the perfecting of your instruction-whatever the trial may be--you will rest in Him, and be happy, though suffering. "He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous" is surely a word of the deepest consolation to the bereaved or suffering one. Oh, child of affliction, think of that eye, benignant, sleepless, watching over thee! Restless, weary, suffering thou mayest be, but He cannot take His eye off thee. Thou art the object of His complacent delight, even as Christ is; and when thy day of suffering is past, thou wilt find more material for praise than days of health could have given. And even now we are brought into greater nearness to Him. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, and the written word, a medium of communion is opened between the soul and the sanctuary which seems to have annihilated distance. These are the realities of faith, through the presence of an ungrieved Holy Spirit. The ear is now prepared to listen to Christ, not to the tempter, for it knows His voice. The Spirit only reveals Christ, as our Lord Himself says, "At that day [the Spirit's day] ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." What nearness !—I in my Father, ye in me, I in you! And this we are given to know, not merely to believe, but to have a present conscious enjoyment of the blessed reality. Drawn aside, separated from the outer world, in a very real way, by suffering, what lessons to be learnt of His nearness to us, and our nearness to Him; and what consolation and strength may be found in these sweet whisperings of His love! And He would have us, blessed be His name, to be ever feasting on His love. It is pressed upon us without measure. "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love." What a portion for the soul in its solitude! As -so; as-so; and, "Continue ye in my love." John xiv. 20; xv. 9. Let this be thy sanctuary, O tried and afflicted one! Thy Lord invites thee to dwell in His love, to make it thy hiding-place from the gathering storm, or the sweeping tempest; when all seems to be gone, His love remains unchanged amidst the ever-changing scenes of time. But, oh! on thy part, let patience have her perfect work. To have no will of our own is the perfect work of patience. Think not His answer to thy prayer is long in coming. He will not forget thee; it will come at the right moment and in the right way. We fail to realise His deep interest in us. How deeply moved His heart is when He sees thee suffering! but He would have us not to forget that He suffered in our stead. "Did not I give my life for thee?" we hear Him say; "and did not I suffer shame and agony on the cross for thee, that I might wash thee in my precious blood, and fit thee for the sanctuary above?" Thus the soul is brought into sweet communion with the Lord? and it will soon find many chambers in the sanctuary of His love. But venture not, I pray thee, to trace His footsteps in the sea, there thou couldst only be overwhelmed in deeper waters. Leave all in His hands, trust all to Him in uninquiring confidence; but ever abide in the sanctuary of His presence, where all His love and glory are revealed to thy faith, through the teaching and power of His Holy Spirit. At the same time, may we never forget that there is as much love in the sea as there is in the sanctuary. ALONE WITH GOD. ALONE with God! what says that word to me? Of sweet communion, holy liberty, Of shelter from the storms of life's wild sea. Alone with God! 'tis there my soul finds rest Alone with God! obtaining, day by day, Alone with God! learning my Father's will, Alone with God! close to my Father's breast, 'Tis only while on earth that I can be, Soon in yon home of love, earth's wanderings done, Clapham. E. 137 CORRESPONDENCE. 28. "T. P.," Wigan. We have written, more than once, on the subject of eternal punishment, in the pages of "Things New and Old," and we must refer you to those papers, some of which have been reprinted. We have not read the pamphlet sent by you. Indeed, dear friend, we deem it right to tell you that we never read any books, pamphlets or tracts in which the truth of eternal punishment is denied; or any infidel publication; or any in which the Deity or the perfect humanity of our adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is denied; or such as deny the plenary inspiration of the holy scriptures, given of God in the Hebrew and Greek languages, or any in which the Lord's dear people or His beloved and honoured servants are spoken against. We put all such into the fire, at once, believing it to be the best thing to do with them. We do not feel it to be our business to reply to those books; we leave that for other and abler hands; but we are most fully persuaded that they all emanate directly from the father of lies; and we are not going to read anything of his. Being, by the mercy of God, fully convinced of the truth on all the above subjects, we are determined, by His grace, never to read anything in opposition thereto, but to deal with it in the manner aforesaid; and we make this statement for the information of all whom it may concern, in order that they may spare themselves the trouble and expense of sending us any of the above-named publications. 29. "A. F.," New Barnes. We believe that Matthew xviii. 10-14, furnishes the foundation of the precious truth of the salvation of infants. Do you not believe this? Are you not fully persuaded that all who die in infancy are saved? That inasmuch as their little bodies undergo the penalty of Adam's sin, their precious souls partake of the benefit of Christ's atonement? Well, if you believe this, why should your |