may despise him; but, "Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee." This poor servant who has escaped, who expected so little except condemnation, finds that the Lord to whom he has come, is all-merciful; he asked for life, and the Lord has given him long life, yea, for ever and ever. He is loaded with tender words and promises, which he never expected or had the least idea of. The Lord found him in the waste howling wilderness; the good Samaritan has passed by and taken him up, and given commands concerning him; and he will pay all demands. All that justice requires is fulfilled. None can condemn him; if they attempt it, they condemn themselves. "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." And if Christ make intercession for us, "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." He will perfect that which he has begun; he will have a desire to the work of his hands. Though we be unprofitable servants, the Lord will not leave nor forsake us. Our sins and iniquities he will remember no more. E. W. W. Rotten If God's Spirit has stripped you of your own righteousness, he has not stripped you in order to leave you naked, but will clothe you with change of raiment. He will give you a robe for your rags; the righteousness of God for the rotten righteousness of man. indeed we shall find it, if we make it a pillar of confidence. I will say of it, as Dr. Young says of the world, "Lean not upon it;" lean not on your own righteousness; if leaned upon, it will pierce you to the heart. "At best a broken reed, but oft a spear. On its sharp point peace bleeds and hope expires." -Toplady. The principal efficient cause of the conviction of sin, is the Holy Ghost. He it is who "convinceth of sin." (John xvi. 8.) He works indeed by means. He wrought in David by the ministry of Nathan, and he wrought it in Peter by the look of Christ. But his work it is. No man can work it upon his own soul; it will not spring out of men's rational considerations. Though men may exercise their thoughts about such things as one would think were enough to break the heart of stones, yet, if the Holy Ghost put not forth a peculiar efficacy of his own, this sense of sin will not be wrought or produced. As the waters at the pool of Bethesda were troubled but when an angel descended and moved them, no more will the heart for sin, without a saving illapse of the Holy Ghost. -Owen. "SAW YE HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH?" Dear Sir,-In your letter you seem to speak of travelling in the valley; but it is a blessed thing to know that God traces out such characters in his holy word, and declares they shall be exalted. He also commands us to take up our cross daily, and follow him; but it is a painful cross to have to travel in this dark path alone. It is the darkness of the valley and the dreariness of the wilderness, and seeing neither bud nor blossom, that cause the grief in our souls. But he declares he will "lead the blind by a way that they knew not." God's ways in leading and teaching, I find often, dear Sir, are very grievous to my soul; for I should like a little light that I might see, and a little of his presence to comfort me while passing through these dark valleys. But he tells me plainly I want those things that would cause the cross to cease, as was the grief of the church of old, when she said, "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?” It is the loss of our Beloved that makes the cross, causes us to groan, and presses out sighs and cries after him. I have known something of what this is, dear friend, since I last wrote to you. I have had to come away many times from hearing our dear friend, without getting anything to satisfy my poor soul, which has caused me to hang my head like a bulrush; and I have had hard work to keep from bursting into tears for the want of a word from "him whom my soul loveth." One Thursday evening my grief was so great that I scarcely knew how to bear it. I said, it was of no use, I must go into the fields to seek him whom my soul loveth, and tell him all my complaint, for I knew it was he alone that could ease me of my pain. And I believe if ever I did besiege the throne of grace, it was at that time, when strong cries, groans, and supplications went out of my poor broken heart and grieved spirit to him. It began to rain; but I did not mind the poor body getting a little moisture, if I did but get a little unction, a little dew to my poor soul. I felt as if I could have stayed there all night, if I could but believe the Lord would bless my soul. I stayed till between 10 and 11 o'clock. I began to feel weary, and my hope of any mercy reaching my case at that time began to decline; and so I came away. Dear Sir, I continued in this state for some time. I had a hope that he would appear, but when and in what way I knew not. I awoke one morning about 5, when I thought I would get up and read a portion of God's word before I went to my employment, but little thought at the time that it was my Beloved who had called me up after being tossed to and fro in this dreary wilderness. The time of love was sweet to my soul. I arose and bowed myself down before the Lord; and to my surprise I spent an hour in this way. But I can assure you, Sir, the time seemed very short, when I had got the ear of my Beloved, to tell him all my wants and diseases; and he appeared to heal my diseases, and to take away my filthy garments, and give me a change of raiment. All my enemies. were fled and gone, the world was beneath my feet, and I could hold sweet communion with a thrice-beloved three-one God. I could sweetly sing that blessed hymn where it says: "The dark designs of hell are broke. Sweet is the peace my Father gives." Dear Sir, I found this sweet peace to be with me during the following week. I was favored to hold sweet communion every morning, and continued to do so for several weeks. It is a great blessing when we are favored to supplicate the throne of grace; for I know it leaves a sweet savor more or less throughout the day. It is here we understand what Paul meant when he said, "These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, werk out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." I believe in my heart that the blessed Spirit here means not the afflictions of the body, but of the mind. These words were applied when I was travailing in the bitterness of my soul. Lord, help me to think of thy name, for I cannot. Whatever we do with singleness of eye for God's glory in mortifying our affections and lusts, shall work out for us a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Then we come to the mind of the blessed Spirit, where he says, "to be spirituallyminded is life and peace." The Psalmist declares, by the Holy Ghost, that "goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Dear friend, it is a hard matter to believe this, when, like a woman in travail, we are crying out with darkness, deadness, and lamenting our wretched state, which you seem to complain of. It is not the dead that cry out; there must be life in that soul which is thirsting and crying after a living God. We know that it is "of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed;" and all these things, he declares, work together for our good, not because we have loved him, but because he has loved us with an everlasting love. Let the devil and our devilish nature, which is every bit as devilish and full of malice and enmity against God and godliness as the devils themselves, say what they will, it must be so; for I know these things by painful experience. In these things we come to the mind of the blessed Spirit, where he says that a man's foes are those of his own house. I have felt many times as if I should have liked to run away and leave it, but am obliged to carry it about with me and feel the plague thereof. Nothing can remove guilt, heal a wounded spirit, nor cleanse the conscience and make it white, but an application of the peace-sprinkling blood of Jesus. This is the blessed balm to heal sin-sick souls. He does this because he has loved us. I need not mention that I have been afflicted and laid aside, but will go on to tell you something of the fruit of the affliction. In many cases they are very bitter; they produce malice, rebellion, and enmity against a holy God, thinking we are harshly dealt with. I am not going from home when I am writing to you of this, for to my shame be it spoken, I have passed through these things in soultravail. These are the fruits of nature. But now I will show you the fruits of grace. If we be trees of God's right hand planting, we shall bring forth different fruit than nature produces. These words were sweetly brought into my mind: "SAW YE HIM WHOM MY SOUL LOVETH?" I Dear Sir,-In your letter you seem to speak of travelling in the valley; but it is a blessed thing to know that God traces out such characters in his holy word, and declares they shall be exalted. He also commands us to take up our cross daily, and follow hinı; but it is a painful cross to have to travel in this dark path alone. It is the darkness of the valley and the dreariness of the wilderness, and seeing neither bud nor blossom, that cause the grief in our souls. But he declares he will "lead the blind by a way that they knew not." God's ways in leading and teaching, I find often, dear Sir, are very grievous to my soul; for I should like a little light that Í might see, and a little of his presence to comfort me while passing through these dark valleys. But he tells me plainly I want those things that would cause the cross to cease, as was the grief of the church of old, when she said, "Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?" It is the loss of our Beloved that makes the cross, causes us to groan, and presses out sighs and cries after him. I have known something of what this is, dear friend, since I last wrote to you. have had to come away many times from hearing our dear friend, without getting anything to satisfy my poor soul, which has caused me to hang my head like a bulrush; and I have had hard work to keep from bursting into tears for the want of a word from "him whom my soul loveth." One Thursday evening my grief was so great that I scarcely knew how to bear it. I said, it was of no use, I must go into the fields to seek him whom my soul loveth, and tell him all my complaint, for I knew it was he alone that could ease me of my pain. And I believe if ever I did besiege the throne of grace, it was at that time, when strong cries, groans, and supplications went out of my poor broken heart and grieved spirit to him. It began to rain; but I did not mind the poor body getting a little moisture, if I did but get a little unction, a little dew to my poor soul. I felt as if I could have stayed there all night, if I could but believe the Lord would bless my soul. I stayed till between 10 and 11 o'clock. I began to feel weary, and my hope of any mercy reaching my case at that time began to decline; and so I came away. Dear Sir, I continued in this state for some time. I had a hope that he would appear, but when and in what way I knew not. I awoke one morning about 5, when I thought I would get up and read a portion of God's word before I went to my employment, but little thought at the time that it was my Beloved who had called me up after being tossed to and fro in this dreary wilderness. The time of love was sweet to my soul. I arose and bowed myself down before the Lord; and to my surprise I spent an hour in this way. But I can assure you, Sir, the time seemed very short, when I had got the ear of my Beloved, to tell him all my wants and diseases; and he appeared to heal my diseases, and to take away my filthy garments, and give me a change of raiment. All my enemies were fled and gone, the world was beneath my feet, and I could hold sweet communion with a thrice-beloved three-one God. I could sweetly sing that blessed hymn where it says: "The dark designs of hell are broke. Sweet is the peace my Father gives." Dear Sir, I found this sweet peace to be with me during the following week. I was favored to hold sweet communion every morning, and continued to do so for several weeks. It is a great blessing when we are favored to supplicate the throne of grace; for I know it leaves a sweet savor more or less throughout the day. It is here we understand what Paul meant when he said, "These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." I believe in my heart that the blessed Spirit here means not the afflictions of the body, but of the mind. These words were applied when I was travailing in the bitterness of my soul. Lord, help me to think of thy name, for I cannot. Whatever we do with singleness of eye for God's glory in mortifying our affections and lusts, shall work out for us a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Then we come to the mind of the blessed Spirit, where he says, "to be spirituallyminded is life and peace." The Psalmist declares, by the Holy Ghost, that "goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." Dear friend, it is a hard matter to believe this, when, like a woman in travail, we are crying out with darkness, deadness, and lamenting our wretched state, which you seem to complain of. It is not the dead that cry out; there must be life in that soul which is thirsting and crying after a living God. We know that it is "of the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed;" and all these things, he declares, work together for our good, not because we have loved him, but because he has loved us with an everlasting love. Let the devil and our devilish nature, which is every bit as devilish and full of malice and enmity against God and godliness as the devils themselves, say what they will, it must be so; for I know these things by painful experience. In these things we come to the mind of the blessed Spirit, where he says that a man's foes are those of his own house. I have felt many times as if I should have liked to run away and leave it, but am obliged to carry it about with me and feel the plague thereof. Nothing can remove guilt, heal a wounded spirit, nor cleanse the conscience and make it white, but an application of the peace-sprinkling blood of Jesus. This is the blessed balm to heal sin-sick souls. He does this because he has loved us. I need not mention that I have been afflicted and laid aside, but will go on to tell you something of the fruit of the affliction. In many cases they are very bitter; they produce malice, rebellion, and enmity against a holy God, thinking we are harshly dealt with. I am not going from home when I am writing to you of this, for to my shame be it spoken, I have passed through these things in soultravail. These are the fruits of nature. But now I will show: you the fruits of grace. If we be trees of God's right hand planting, we shall bring forth different fruit than nature produces. These words were sweetly brought into my mind: |