the "dwelling places of Zion" may be furnished, this would be especially acceptable, and tend to promote the interests of the Magazine. Moreover, in the present day of religious excitement, when remarkable revivings of the spirit and power of religion are witnessed, and reported from various parts of the United Kingdom; the genuineness of whose character is attested by many eminent servants of the Lord,-sober-minded and trust-worthy brethren; it is felt that the interests of the Churches generally demand that the Periodical Press should not stand aloof from such unwonted manifestations of the Spirit. It must be earnestly desired, [whatever may be deemed questionable, or even positively objectionable, in relation to those "Revivals,"] that with all that is good, holy, and truthful pertaining to them, all our churches may be speedily leavened. A baptism of fire is greatly needed. A frigid and apathetic indifference to the wants and woes of the outside world, in most of the churches, is painfully visible; and that an extensive and powerful revival of true godliness and apostolic fervour may be witnessed, characterized by hearty and united efforts to promote the salvation of sinners, and a corresponding zeal in the maintenance and defence of those great truths of the gospel, which constitute the basis of all true spiritual power and religious progress, together with a holy jealousy for individual and social purity and godliness;-is devoutly to be desired and prayed for. Those truths, it is to be feared, do not much enter into the composition of modern revivals, they are notoriously eschewed by most churches of all denominations. Yet it is believed that those eternal verities form the staple of the ministry of many Baptist churches; and cherishing the revered memory of one, who, in his day, stood high among the ornaments and the ablest advocates of the of the gospel of distinguishing grace, the late Mr. John Stevens, of Meard's Court, Soho, the Editors have had great pleasure in occasionally giving insertion to the rich effusions of that great and good man in the present volume; and it is with equal satisfaction that they will be enabled, in their next issue, January, 1875, to present their readers with a fine portrait of that eminent servant of Christ, with a sketch of his life, and the substance of one of his unpublished sermons. They hope also to give from time to time more of the valuable papers and letters of their late beloved friend, the estimable Mr. George Wright, of Beccles. as November, 1874. THE EDITORS. 1 Expositions and Essays. THE CLOSING AND THE OPENING YEARS. A word to bring to remembrance with counsel and hope. BY THE LATE MR. GEORGE WRIGHT, OF BECCLES. THE almost imperceptible flight of another year, solemnly reminds us that the date of our pilgrimage is drawing to its close. Soon-very soon, will these bodies be sleeping in the dust, and the unimprisoned spirits shall soar to worlds unknown. Impressed with this awakening and affecting truth, we desire to be in habitual preparedness for our great change, with loins girded and lamps burning. In the prospect that opens to us as we advance towards the verge of time, we feel that it is not principles of sound truth professed, nor the consciousness of duties performed will sustain our hope, or assure us that when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, we have a building of God, "A house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Dearly do we indeed value the inestimable and precious doctrines of our most holy faith which we have long avowed, but the truth as it is in Jesus must be incorporated in the heart by the ministering unction of the Holy Spirit, to give reality to a life of faith, and make us triumph in expectation of seeing the salvation of God with eternal glory. And ten thousand praises to his discriminating and super-abounding grace, He hath in many favoured seasons caused us thus to triumph. From time to time during the past year, he has blessed us with the tokens of His love in sweet and gracious manifestations, and the sealings of the Spirit of promise, and has given us to experience with joy unspeakable, the rest and liberty of soul that arise from Calvary's atoning blood, and the imputed righteousness of Jesus, our Surety and our Redeemer. Our confidence is this-that His obedience unto death is His people's salvation, and that salvation is ours by free gift and covenant settlement, as it is also by faith of the operation of God. Believing in Him-He is precious to us, yet we constantly feel that we have not yet attained to the fulness of a life of faith. Far-very far, are we from it. We are too much disposed to rest in something short of Jesus. We have not yet fully hated our own life, and so are not fully his disciples. In a thousand instances we are carnal, not spiritual. This is our burden and conflict from which we desire to be delivered. Oh that sin were quite subdued, and the life of our risen Lord made manifest in our mortal flesh. We watch and pray for this grace, and trust that it will be given us, and not to us only, but to all the churches of the saints. Well, our earthly pilgrimage will soon end, when, as the redeemed of the Lord, we shall for ever quit the scene of our trials and fears, and enter into the rest which remains, the rest which our weary souls long to possess. It has been given us to know that it is through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom. To some of us has been assigned the outward and lighter cross of sickness or adversity in some of its varied forms; to others have been appointed sorrows of a full cup, composed of manifold temptations, the secret rebukes of God, and the apparent low and fruitless condition of the visible professing church. Often JANUARY, 1874. A have we hung our harps on the willows and sat down joyless as the captives by the rivers of Babylon. The Comforter that should release our souls has been far from us. Our troubles have been aggravated by an evil heart of unbelief, or rather this has been the chief source of all, and we find no difficulty in tracing our errors, sins, and mental sufferings to this fruitful root of bitterness. But if we speak of bitterness, we would not complain. It is better to be broken with breach upon breach, it is better to be cast a thousand times into God's refining furnace, though the fires be increased sevenfold, than be at ease in Zion, having a name to live while we are dead. The fiery trial is ordained to purify-not consnme; and if our names be written in heaven, and we have the evidence of it in the sealing of the Spirit of promise, we may wait in the full assurance of hope, that when he hath tried us, we shall come forth like gold. In our favoured moments, when grace reigns within, we glory in tribulation, knowing that this "worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us." By faith we connect all things with God; in His hand and counsel, in every event submit cheerfully to his will and wisdom, take hold of His covenant, saying, "All is well," and learn that in confidence and quietness shall be our strength. We would be careful for nothing, but to be in our right place, while the Eternal fills His throne and doeth as he will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. It is our blessedness to be under His dominion, and contemplating in the light of His own word, the purpose and plan of His predestinating love, we fear no evil, but wait the final issue with joyful anticipation. Sin and hell have done their worst, but cannot touch the life that is hid with Christ in God. The burden of indwelling corruption, abominable and loathsome as it is, makes our spirits groan, but we rest in the perfectness of our Lord's redeeming work and worth, believing that we are complete in Him, and that by His all-sufficient grace we shall join the everlasting song of triumph over sin, and death, and hell. Our object in making this recital is to shew that our ever gracious God is teaching us by various means, that vital experimental Christianity, with all its blessedness and fruits of holiness consists essentially and entirely in a life of faith. A GRATEFUL RETROSPECT. BY THE AUTHOR OF "TEARS OF THE PILGRIMS." A review of past mercies should excite our thankfulness. We should never forget in the retrospect of the past year, by whose rich grace and almighty power we have been preserved during the passing months. Moses urged this: "Remember all the way the Lord hath led you." Paul urged this-"Having obtained help of the Lord, we continue until this day." Let this fact deeply impress us. We are here to-day through divine preservation. How prone we are to for get this! How very seldom it enters seriously into our calculation! We give a cold intellectual assent to the proposition that "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." Yet we do not ponder it enough to excite our thankfulness! But should we not do this? From how many dangers we have been preserved! From how many diseases exempted! Death has visited our neighbour's house, but it has spared us. Death has just entered into one of our palaces ༩༥ and another crowned head is laid low, while a humble and pious cottager who lives near, lives on in hope and faith. Some have had to struggle in poverty, we have been in "fatness," and our cup has run over. Some homes have been quite broken up during the past year, either by death, or bankruptcy; we have been permitted "to hold on our way." Some have seen Him come down upon them like a dark storm-cloud; and we indeed have had our clouds; but the "bow of promise"-bright emblem of that around the throne of the Eternal One, (Rev. iv. 3)-has shone forth on its dark bosom. Some have perished in their sins, and are to-day in "outer darkness;" we are still under the "shadow of the cross." Some are near hell! We are nearer heaven! Oh, then, let your review of His mercy excite your gratitude to Him. This should also strengthen our faith. We have had another year of experience of the Lord's faithfulness! "Goodness and mercy have followed us." And what is our testimony? Have we discovered any breach of full fidelity_in Him? Has His promise failed? Has His goodness been mutable? Has His mercy been deficient? Has He at all violated His truth? Broken His covenant? Betrayed your confidence? Or disappointed your hopes? No; not one of all these! But with all your heart you can adopt the beautiful testimony of dying Joshua: "And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof." Yes, it is even so. Now what should be the practical outcome of all this? Should it not strengthen our faith? Why, we have more reason now than ever to trust Him. Look what He has been to you during the past year: a Father, Friend, Shepherd, Counsellor, Guide-"All in all !" Look at his mercies—their number, magnitude, value, constancy! Then, too, it should foster contentment. There is too much of the peevish, murmuring, discontented spirit about most of us; we have need to check and restrain this; and one of the best means is, to review our mercies. By this means we shall see how much more reason we have for contentment than for murmuring. We shall see the reverses, trials, sorrows and adversities of others; and by contrasting their losses and misfortunes with our more favoured lot, we shall obtain a disposition to be content. We shall see some richer than ourselves made poorer; some more healthful laid upon beds of languishing some more likely to have lived on, laid in the cold grave! All this will make us gratefully contented with our Father's all-wise appointments. ON PASSAGES WHICH APPEAR TO TEACH THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE ATONEMENT. ful servants of the Lord Jesus, give much prayerful consideration to systematic theology. It is to be regretted that many commence their investigations by studying the nature of various branches of the salvation of God: such as the extent of the atonement; the character of the intercession of the enthroned Redeemer; or the subjects of the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit; instead of first seeking to gain a clear and comprehensive view of salvation in the abstract. This we hold to be a very serious mistake. The candid inquirer's first step should be to discover from the Bible for whom divine salvation is designed; then, with this as a starting point, to pursue the study of those other subjects which are included in the broad question respecting which his mind is decided. Believing the Bible to be our sole, sufficient and supreme directory in all matters of faith, we are at the onset of all religious inquiries compelled to admit four important facts. (1.) The existence of God, who is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. (2.) Some of our fellow creatures are saved; that is after living for a longer or shorter time at peace with God, they pass at death into His presence and abide with Him in perfect happiness for ever. (3.) Some men live and die unsaved, and after death are banished from the presence of the most High into untold and endless misery. (4.) God is the author and accomplisher of the salvation of men. Such as go to heaven, owe their bliss to his grace. This admitted, a question craves solution. Is the salvation of God designed for all sinners, but made available for some only? or, is it designed for some sinners only, and made available for all for whom it is designed? One of these must be true, the other false. If it be true that He designs to save all, but succeeds in saving some only, I must amend my definition of God; for if he is unable to accomplish his designs he can neither be infinite in wisdom nor in power. Omniscience cannot miscalculate. Omnipotence cannot be thwarted. It may, however, be urged that he designed to save all, and made the necessary arrangements for so doing; but finally decided to reject some on account of their obdurate impenitence and continued resistance of his will. Then again, our definition of the great first cause, must be materially altered. We called him unchangeable. It is suggested that he can make most material alterations in his purposes. We described Him as infinite in power. It is suggested that creatures who owe their existence to Him, can resist his will. We characterized him as infinite in wisdom. It is suggested that He has made all arrangements that He deemed necessary for the salvation of all sinners, but that His arrangements are insufficient in the case of thousands of obdurate impenitents, whom, confessing His failure, He unwillingly consigns to the eternal punishment from which He would fain have delivered them. From these considerations we unhesitatingly deny the truth of the first of our two questions. We are therefore, compelled to admit that salvation is designed by God for some sinners only, and made available for all for whom it is designed. A serious difficulty here, however, confronts us. The above proposition has been stated to represent the most High as acting in a partial manner; and partiality, it is contended, is unworthy of a just and holy God. This objection, however, involves what we wholly deny. We defined Him as infinite; and finite beings are not therefore competent to criticise his conduct. That a being of infinite justice may act in rigid equity towards some of his creatures we dare not question; and that a being of infinite goodness may without compromising his justice, act in mercy toward others we gladly admit; but the rationale of his proceedings we cannot discuss, not being in a position so to do. This however, the above objection does. It applies the offensive term "partiality" to a course of conduct, the motives and ends of which we know no more about than God is pleased to tell us, and he assures us that He is holy in all his ways. The real theological difficulty is stated in our third opening proposition, and consists of the presence of sin in a world which God created, and in which He reigns. It is peculiar to no system of divinity. It is unanswerable, let our views of truth be what they may. Let not this therefore, be brought against the proposition we have found to be true; but let it be our sole inquiry whether it necessitates any amendment in our definition of the God of our salvation. We fearlessly assert that it does not. Two portions of scripture may, however, be thought to contradict the propo |