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was not the bliss of earth. He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God; I cannot tell you my love, nor describe the faith that works by love.'

"These are not all the expressions he uttered; but from that day Providence took away his reasoning faculties. Mr. I. always had a strange fear of death, a nervous apprehension of it, and it seems to have been a wise provision of the unsearchable God that his thoughts should not be influenced by this fear; for he died without being aware of it, gently, and without a groan."

The Precious Blood of Christ.

dead, loathsome creature by nature. O Lord, thou mightest have said of me, as Abraham said of Sarah, “bury the dead out of my sight." But glory, glory, glory to rich, free, eternal, sovereign love, thou saidst live, live" And that I might live, thou saidst to the Father, “ I will die for him; and all mine elect, my spouse; that they all may live, though they are more loathsome than Job, or Lazarus, with boils and sores, or any dead carcass, with vermin." O love that passeth knowledge! O, all heaven sing, sing loudly the high praises of our glorious, precious, dear and ever to be adored Jesus! My soul praise, praise him, for ever and ever, amen and amen!

My dear Brother :-May the good Lord bless you, is the prayer of your ever affectionate, but unworthy brother in Christ, Hull, August 28, 1848. D. WILSON.

THE

To the Editor of the Earthen Vessel. DEAR SIR,-Allow me to submit to the consideration of your readers, a few things which appear to me to be of vast importance in reference to a sinner's first receiving Christ revealed in his soul by the Holy Ghost.

MY DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD:-I have been led to meditate upon the precious blood of Christ, this morning. O what heights, and depths, what lengths, and breadths, of love, there is in this all precious blood! What sweetness and bless-Receiving of Christ by the Holy Ghost. edness to the soul renewed by grace! What infinite wisdom is manifested, in the bloodshedding of Jesus, for such guilty, hell-deserving creatures as we are! Who but the eternal God, could have found out a way to reconcile justice and mercy; and satisfy both their demands so that we might be saved? No created being could ever have devised the plan. But glory for ever, to the Most High; his infinite wisdom has discovered a way, to satisfy both justice and mercy; to punish sin, and yet pardon the sinner; to maintain the honor of the law-giver, and to give life to the law-breaker. Hereby mercy is manifested in sparing, and pardoning the rebel, and at the same time glorify justice more, and make sin to appear more odious than if the sinner him

O

self had been eternally damned for it. what riches of grace and glory, are seen in the blood shedding and dying, of the only begotten Son of God! This blood being the blood of God, (Acts xx. 28) hath an infinite virtue in it, by which the church of God is purchased. This precious blood hath unspeakable effects-it pleads for the guilty, and obtains pardon of sin, peace with God, nearness to, and fellowship with the Father. It cleanses, heals, satisfies, and beautifies the soul; it overcomes our enemies, liberates the prisoners, opens heaven's gates, and gives boldness to enter in; it protects and covers from wrath. Exod. xii. 13; Rom. v. 8-11. This blood can help in all straits, deliver from all fears, and is able to save to the uttermost. It hath saved many, who have been brought, (under the Spirit's teaching) to see, and feel themselves unworthy of salvation; it hath given relief to their consciences, when the terrors of the Almighty have made them afraid; it hath extracted the sting of death, and carried them safely through its dark valley, and landed them triumphantly on the glorious shores of heaven. Oh, amazing love of Christ Jesus! What am I, that thou shouldst die for me? A vile, ugly, diseased,

As I find that some of high standing in the church have described this matter in such a way as (in my view) to puzzle and perplex many sincere and upright souls. The few extracts enclosed are to this end, that others may judge for themselves. On this subject I beg to offer a few remarks, which are these:

Although the characters speaking in these dialogues may not be intended to mean any two persons in particular, yet, presuming that the name of Instructor or Senior is to be applied to the author of the dialogues, and that he is supposed to be one who can go before and explain to Junior the way of God more perfectly, then is it plain that this is Samuel Eyles Pierce's Experience. But I am somewhat like Junior, "I am very dull of understanding, and I want a more clear views of the subject." For if a sensible sinner groaning under the burden of condemnation in his conscience can pass from this miserable state of soul into a state of peace, pardon and salvation, without experiencing any sensible comfort when brought to believe in Jesus, I confess I am at a loss to account for that deliverance which I trust the Lord the Spirit wrought for my soul some years ago, when I was first freed from a state of guilt and condemnation by an application of the peacespeaking blood of Christ. But as I conceive that the state of a convinced sinner, prior to his receiving Christ, is a state of felt guilt, and apprehended condemnation, I cannot receive that for christian experience which knows of no comfort and consolation

at the time when he is first brought to hear | I have heard many say it is as hard a work and to receive the good news and glad tidings to believe as to make a world.

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[The following is an extract from a work entitled, "The Riches of Divine Grace Unfolded and Exemplified, in twelve Dialogues." By Samuel Eyles Pierce. Junior. I could wish to request you in the most simple and clearest manner to give me an account how you received Christ.

Senior. I most certainly will, and with the greatest pleasure. You are to know that the Lord had wrought effectually on my soul some years before I knew Christ, as he is set forth in the everlasting gospel of the blessed God. When I was permitted, through his good pleasure, to hear the everlasting gospel, it was under the ministry of the truly excel

lent Mr. Romain.-When I first heard him

I was exceedingly struck with the subject. He was at that time constantly speaking concerning the covenant of the Eternal Three. He used to express how the Father had laid on Christ all sort of sin-that Christ had offered himself as the sacrifice for them that his offering had perfected for ever the putting away of sin. That the Father was infinitely and everlastingly well pleased with the life and death of his co-equal Son, and well pleased with that sinner who was well pleased with Christ. That the Holy Spirit bore testimony to the truth of all this in the word and that there was now nothing to be

done for salvation.

I used to be all ear in hearing these important sentences: and my whole attention being most powerfully arrested with a consideration of the importance of what was contained in the subject; my mind was led secretly and imperceptibly to believe on the righteousness and most precious blood-shedding of the Lamb of God and the Father's infinite and everlasting delight in him, and acceptance of his work, without any thought about faith or interest in the subject. This is the way in which the Lord the Spirit led me to receive Christ. It was thus Christ was formed in my heart, and hereby I was led to rest and centre in Christ for my whole

salvation.

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Senior. I have nothing to do with what you have heard or with what others say. can but speak according to my own knowledge and experience thereof.

Junior. My good sir, I dare say nothing against what you have said. I know not but it may all be truth. All I say is, it seems to make no difficulty of believing:-it appears to me from what you have said, that you found no difficulty in believing on Christ for salvation.

Senior. My dear friend, I have said all you suggest, and it pleases me well that you have so clearly perceived what I have delivered. I have made no difficulty of believing-it was not in all my thoughts whether I had interest in Christ or not; so that you have clearly understood my words.

Junior. But did you not feel some very sensible comfort in your soul when you first

believed?

Senior. No. Christ was the object of my faith. His salvation was the subject my faith was exercised on. I was therefore taken off my self entirely. I was not led to think concerning myself. It was no subject of importance with me what I was or what I was not; but who Christ was and what he had done. These, in my view, were the only subjects I had any concern with. Junior. It may all be very right; yet if it be, I am confident I want a more clear view of the subject.

It

Senior. Possibly so. I can only inform you how I was brought to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to the saving of my soul, and what I believed concerning him. may be, were I to tell you all I believed regarding him, and what the substance of my faith is or what it consists in, you would think still less of my faith.

We will not enter upon this subject nowonly advise our friends to read Bunyan and Huntington on the same.-ED.]

John Bunyan says, "There is a faith that men may have; and yet be nothing like the saints of God."

time ago, written by a very great man who Huntington says, "I read a book some seemed to cast all law-work aside; and said it ought not to be regarded; but I trust I shall be enabled to set that forth in a scriptural point of view. We know there must be a beginning, and a labour too, before there can be a birth; and so it is with God's children; there is a labour, sooner or later, more or less, to bring them all forth; as it is written, they are begotten "with the word of truth," James i. 18; they Micah iv. 10; are born again of the Holy are "in pain, and labour to bring forth," Ghost, John iii. 5; and then "perfect love casteth out fear," and glorious liberty from bondage takes place."

Mr. Skelton's Farewell Sermon at Aldringham.

(Concluded from our last.)

I COME now, secondly, to call your attention | in heaven. And here I would bear solemn to the holy, solemn, and comprehensive testimony to the most awful fact our mind avowal standing in the text-'I am pure can reflect upon: namely, that every testifrom the blood of all men.' And here, be- mony declared by any man in the name of yond doubt, the apostle was reminded of Jesus Christ, which makes not, or sets not the solemn fact, that the Lord had made forth the Lord Jesus Christ as the first and him a watchman on the walls of Zion; and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the great was forcibly arrested in the consideration' all and in all' in the matter of the salof the responsibility attatched to, and con- vation of lost sinners, and thereby fails to nected with the holding of such an im- set forth fallen man as being utterly desportant office, concerning which we have a titute of will and power in the matter of full account in the chapters we have read the salvation of the never-dying soul, such this afternoon in the service of the Lord; a statement, or testimony, renders such a (the second and third chapters of the book man (as far as his testimony is concerned) of Ezekiel's prophecy) in strict accordance chargeable with the blood of all his hearers with which the Holy Ghost has declared in who give heed to, and are deluded by his Hebrews xiii. 17, when speaking of the sent uncertain, and therefore, his erroneous servants of Christ, Obey them that have the sound. And so in the consideration of this rule (that is the guide) over you, and submit solemnly awful truth, we may conclude yourselves for they watch for your souls as that every free-will preacher, every prothey that must give account, (and herein is pagator of the universality of the atonethe office and its responsibility set forth) ment, every promulgator of the so-called that they may do it with joy, and not with 'universal scheme of redemption,' and grief, for that is unprofitable for you. And every teacher of the base and anti-scriptherefore Paul speaking of himself as one tural error that Jesus Christ died for the whom the Lord had made a watchman whole race of mankind, and so put, or among them, and in reference to his hav- brought mankind into a mere salvable ing for a time sustained and filled such an state, leaving the advantages or blessedoffice immediately among them, in the ness of his death to be realised according most solemn manner declares, I am pure to the casualty or caprice of man's prefrom the blood of all men ;' seeing that as a sumed free-will either to choose or refuse; watchman, in the execution of my office, I such a man, (be he who he may,) is under have given a certain sound; have not failed the very curse of God; for the Holy Ghost to blow the trumpet of alarm; and withal, saith in Paul, and by Paul- Though we, or have not ceased to warn and to caution you an angel from heaven preach any other gosagainst whatever evil has presented itself pel unto you than that ye have received, and to my view. And, therefore, as far as my which we have preached, unto you, let him be office character is concerned, and inasmuch accursed.' Secondly, in such declaration of as while sustaining the same among you, the whole counsel of God he had unceasa solemn and important responsibility de- ingly pointed out and shewed the real and volved upon me, 'seeing I have not shunned awful state of the sinner before God, as he to declare unto you the whole counsel of is found, cursed by his law, he having God,' 'I am therefore pure from the blood failed to continue in all things written in of all men.' There were three things in the book of the law to do them,' and that which the apostle felt an honest and a living and dying in an unregenerate state, clear conscience, and which enabled him whether professor or profane, whether thus to acquit himself before the people, openly immoral, or touching the rightand in the sight of an heart-searching God. eousness which is in the law strictly First, he had declared the whole gospel of moral, yet it was utterly impossible that Christ, preached salvation in the name of unregenerate characters could enter into Jesus Christ, as having been eternally pro- the kingdom of glory. And thirdly, in the vided for God's elect in the person of Christ course of his ministry among the church at Jesus according to the sovereign, free, un- Ephesus, he had not ceased to warn them, alterable grace of Jehovah; and that Christ and that with a real gospel feeling of love had in his own person, and without human for their soul's sake, he being not ignorant or angelic co-operation fully and com- of satan's devices in his own heart, nor of pletely made atonement by the blood of his the crafty workings and deceitfulness of cross for the sins of all his elect family; sin in his own flesh, ceased not to warn and by his righteousness, as the righteous- them against its subtle workings, its preness of the God-man, the same being imputed vailing influence, and consequently its unto him had completely, perfectly, and just-baneful effects; for although he well ly justified those whose sins he bore in his own body on the tree, and that he having finished the work which was given him to do on the earth, was gone to prepare a place

knew, and rejoiced in the holy belief of the fact and truth that no child of God could possibly sin himself into hell, yet he well knew that a child of God may and did E e

through the prevalency of that inbred sin | to follow, and enabled to take, on his leav

and corruption which abounds in his flesh, sin an hell into his conscience, which nothing short of a fresh application of atoning blood could possibly remove; and therefore in the midst of a felt sense of his own infirmity, and with an holy zeal in the cause of Christ's gospel, and being actuated through the power of the Iloly Ghost, by a fervent desire to see in the walk, life, and conversation of his holy brethren the fruit of the Spirit exemplified, he ceased not to warn them against all innovations or inroads of error either in doctrine, principle, or practice, taking occasion at all times to expose its Goddis-honouring prevalency, its baneful influence and tendency, and withal, its destructive effects, as being eventually the cause of the wrath of God coming on the children of disobedience, and intermediately (the same being followed after and stood in) destructive to all the comforts and consolations of God's living family. And so according to the third thing as standing in the text, and proposed for our consideration, he took the elders of the church at Ephesus, and by, and through them, took the whole church over the which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers, to record, or to bear witness to the truth of his assertion, 'I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God, and in so doing, I am pure from the blood of all men;' and he now made such solemn assertions in the sight of God, and in their hearing, that they all fell on his neck, and kissed him, and wept sore sorrowing, most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more; thus establishing the fact of their giving full assent and consent to the solemn truths contained in his most pathetic and affectionate farewell address.

O brethren, facts are stubborn things; and the great truths of God, and the declaration of them will admit of calling God, and angels, with the whole hosts of men and devils, and a man's own conscience to witness to them, and for them. And wherever there is a man sent forth to minister in these holy things among the people of God, in the name of the Almighty and Omnipotent Jesus, he having received his message and mission from the Lord himself, such a man shrinks not from an investigation of all the things he has been found preaching in the course of his ministry, while a consciousness of the purity of his motives, the integrity of his heart, and the holiness or uprightness of his pursuit, inspires him with such boldness that he is enabled to rejoice that the glorification of Christ in connection with the edification of the church, was, and ever will be, the great object he aims at.

I come now, in conclusion, to the fourth proposition, as proposed in my discourse; which was to follow the same line of things on my leaving you, as a church of Christ, at Aldringham, as the apostle was prompted

ing the church of the Lord Jesus Christ at
Ephesus. And though I cannot say with
the apostle, in the verse preceeding my
text, "And now behold I know that ye all
among whom I have gone preaching the
kingdom of God, shall see my face no
more,' yet circumstances have transpired
and taken place among you, according to
which, it has been settled upon by you that
I am requested to resign my pastoral office
among you; since which conclusion I have
this day finished my three months (warn-
ing) service, according to the original com-
pact between us. This being, under present
circumstances, the last time of my occu-
pying your pulpit, so that a kind of ne-
cessity is laid upon me publicly to refer to,
and state things which have taken place
among you, relative to my coming to you,
and hitherto remaining among you in the
office I have hitherto sustained in your
midst. And of this, one thing I am posi-
tively assured, that the hand of the Lord
was evidently displayed in the case of my
coming to you, as has been generally, al-
most unanimously, acknowledged. Well,
after my having been with you in the
ministry by the space of six months I was
invited by seventy-two of your members to
accept your call to the pastoral office; the
which, in the name of the Lord, I accepted,
and consequently I became your acknow-
ledged and recognized pastor. But a few
months had elapsed after these things, and
an eruption broke out among you, said to
have arisen from personal quarrels between
some of you, so that some of your members,
(headed by one who had been for many
years considered a prominent man among
you) wholly deserted your ranks by with-
drawing their attendance, and proceeding,
as a divided party, to assemble themselves
together in a separate place, to hold prayer
meetings, the principal man among them
undertaking, at times, to expound the
scriptures; these all declaring the reason
of their so acting was on account of my
ministry; since which period some of such
party have been separated from your com-
munion as a church for various reasons,
well known to God and to us, and all the
others by the reason of their acting con-
trary to the order of this church, and in
my soul's judgment, according to the order
of the gospel, they have been adjudged to
be under your censure for disorderly con-
duct, and consequently have been sus-
pended from your communion as a church,
until an acknowledgment of their error be
made manifest unto you. Now in the
midst of all these things, the one party
has been laying the blame and the fault
upon the other in vice versa manner, while
in the main, it is generally represented
that it is on my account the absenting
party continue to absent themselves. But,
to come to the point, some of your members,
still in full communion, being fearfully
apprehensive that the congregation has
fallen off, as to numbers, since my coming

firming that' Except a man be born again, of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God; and, concerning the Lord's living family among you, I have not ceased to warn you day and night, not concerning a liability of your falling into endless hell, or the danger of your falling from the grace given and secured unto you, as by the oath of each divine Person in the Godhead in the Person of Christ, who is your eternal living head, and ye members in him, but I have warned you against all the inroads of error, not shunning to point out the evil of those things, into the which, if permitted to fall, brings mind, leanness into the soul, and woe into the feelings. And therefore, in the words of my text I conclude my present ministrations among you-'Wherefore, I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God.' And may the Lord add his blessing, for his name and mercy sake. Amen and amen.

W. SKELTON, S.S.

Spiritual Desires.

among you, have considered that by my removal the congregation would increase, and a returning of others would be seen, to their satisfaction, they have upon these considerations, by a majority of two, three, or four, signified their request and desire that I should resign my pastoral office; which, according to their request, I now do, beseech ing the Lord, that if in his holy eye-sight, I have been the means of causing discord or division among the people, by any contrariety on my part to his truth, either in my ministry, in my public, or private life, to make it manifest in my removal. And if the wishes of a majority of the members of this church has been inspired by him-guilt into the conscience, darkness into the and if his glory be the chief object they have in view, in my removal-may he abundantly bless their undertakings by filling this chapel with crowded congregations, and bringing back absenting members with weeping and with supplication, and restoring them to the communion of this church; and may he add continually to your numbers daily such as are saved in the Lord Jesus Christ with an everlasting salvation. And here, in the discharge of an honest conscience, I testify to the satisfaction, joy, and comfort of my heart, that I feel happier in leaving this church, under existing circumstances, by a dismissal than to have been permitted to fall into the trap and snare which many a man in the ministry has fallen into; that is, to have gone about to seek out, or to look up, either in a direct, or indirect manner another place and people, and having secretly settled and arranged matters to the gratifying of the flesh, then tender in what I call a canting, lying, hypocritical resignation to the church among whom they have been, therein stating that they see the hand of the Lord in such matter, and that it appears to them to be the mind and will of the Lord that they must so resign. Now, bless the Lord, I have been blessedly preserved from such a deceptive line of things, in the midst of all my temptations; and having come to you honest, through the good hand and grace of my God, I shall leave you honest in the sight of God and of men. But enough of these things; perhaps some will say, too much. But in the midst of these things, I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God,' having had but one object in view, in the whole tenor of my ministry, from the first day until now, and that has been to declare the whole counsel of God in preaching the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

But to conclude, having not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God, I take this church and congregation, this day, to record, and to bear witness that 'I am pure from the blood of all men;' having fully and constantly declared the state, condition, and danger in which the dead in sins are found whether professors, or openly profane, moral, or immoral, constantly af

One sight of thee, dear Lord,
Destroys the love of sin,
Do thou that sight afford,
And keep the conscience clean.

Oh draw the heart above,

To find its all in thee;
Fix, fix it in thy love,
And say abide in me.'

As branches in the vine
Themselves can nothing do,
So they who, Lord, are thine,
This feelingly must know.

Teach, teach the secret, Lord,
What 'tis to abide in love;
Thou living, quick'ning Word,
Let us the mystery prove.
Turn thou our souls away

From self, the world, and sin;
And say, oh Jesus! say,

My word hath made you clean.

Preserve us, Lord, from all
That would our souls beguile;
We at thy footstool fall,
In mercy, on us smile.

Oh, let thy joy remain !

Our hearts, Lord, with it fill,
We would thee, Lord, detain,
Give strength to do thy will.
Fruit, fruit's the proof of life,
It glorifies the Lord;
Purge, purge us with thy knife,
Thou circumcising Word.

Unfruitful souls, ere long,

Thou, Lord, wilt take away;
Then keep our souls among
The few who watch and pray.

G. H.

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