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SIN AND SORROW INSEPARABLY CONNECTED.

served from error? The way is plain: "Call no man master upon earth" in religious matters; but, "search the scriptures," and "ask for the Spirit ;" and "if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God or not." That you may enjoy the Divine teachings, guidance, and preservation, is the earnest prayer of your affectionate friend in the gospel,

Clonmel, County Tipperary,
May 10, 1817.

S. D.

SIN AND SORROW INSEPARABLY CONNECTED;

OR,

SPIRITUAL DARKNESS For the most Part produced by Religious Declension.

THE mind of the writer has often been alleviated by the declaration of the patriarch, who, when enveloped in the thickest gloom that providential circumstances could shed, exclaimed, with a holy reverence, "I have sinned; what shall Iįdo unto thee, O thou preserver of men," &c.; and while reflecting upon this devout and penitential acknowledgment, I have been ready to inquire, that if strains so melting were excited by the frowns of Providence alone, from one who had the testimony of Jehovah clearly expressed, as to his integrity of heart, what ought the acknowledgments of such to be, who, by their want of watchful ness and prayer, have not only to weep over the adverse dispensations of Providence, but also to lament, with bitterness of soul, the hidings of his face, whose favour is better than life, with all its vain embellishments, or most substantial joys? Such, however,

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is the condition of the writer; and, from an experimental conviction of the truth of the above title, he cannot forbear requesting your indulgence, to give place to a few plain remarks on the subject, by way of caution, for the benefit of others. And, surely, if there is a mixture of awful beauty, and of solemn anguish, in the request of Dives in the gloomy regions of despair, I may take encouragement to say to readers in general, and the youthful part of them in particular, beware"lest you also come into this place of torment." 1st, Beware of temptation: the world we inhabit is full of it, it meets us in every shape and in every place, at home and abroad; and unless our hearts are savingly renewed by Divine grace, and living beneath its daily and powerful influence, we shall but too easily yield to the fatal charm, make shipwreck of the profession of our faith, be called to walk in darkness the most gloomy and distressing, and, in addition to the dishonour of God, we shall incur his divine displeasure, if not the risk and ruin of our immortal souls. Let your faces, therefore, be set as a flint against the works of darkness, and be anxiously concerned to watch against the first appearances of evil, in all its various and alluring forms, lest in departing from God, you should hear him exclaim," Ephraim is joined to idols-let him alone;" and have to mourn over the loss of his favour, and the withdrawment of those consolations which, while living near to God, filled you with joy and peace in believing.

Beware, secondly, of neglecting social duties.-Ah! my friends, when the closet, the Bible, and the sanctuary, testify

REFLECTIONS

ON JOB, Xxvi. 11. “The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof."

from the low thoughts they have GREAT injury arises to men of God. Their mean ideas of him, their little apprehension of his amazing grandeur, sink them very low, and tends to degrade and deprave the human mind.

The majesty of Jehovah is incomprehensible and undescribable. "With him is terrible majesty;" "He is a great King;❞—« Who, by searching, can find out the Almighty?" &c.

His reproofs-the words of his wrath are more terrible than

against us, it is indeed high time to awake out of sleep, lest we sleep the sleep of death, and awake to feel our misery in a future state. Let me entreat you, therefore, as you value that peace which passeth understanding, and which it is the happy privilege of those to enjoy who are found in the diligent and faithful discharge of Christian duty, to pause when you are tempted to such neglect, and inquire, what will be the effect on your future peace and religious progress; and from the experience you have of the past, let a holy dread of the future excite you to the fulfilment of every good word and work, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. Suffer me to add, Beware of indulging vain peals of thunder! Who, among hopes: Satan no doubt will sug-indignation? The wicked shall the mighty, can stand before his gest that there are future pardons be dashed in pieces as a potter's for present sins, and a sincere repentance in future will cover vessel. Ah! miserable men, all the past. But is he not a liar ungrateful mortals, who provoke from the beginning; and have the anger of an almighty Being! not his deceitful wiles beguiled One who can lay a universe prosinfatuated thousands down to trate by the stroke of his hand, those dismal abodes, where "hell or consume it to ashes by the and horror reign?" Beware, then, flash of his eye, the terror of his I beseech you, of presuming frown! What resistance can miupon future penitence and grief; serable mortals make, or whither when conscience even now strugcan they flee, when he shall rise gles for the mastery, and suffers up in his wrath? How precious an unholy martyrdom in the viois the name of Jesus, when we lation of its dictates. Sin has reflect on these things! no countenance in all the word of God, and presumption is a daring sin indeed; let me, therefore, entreat you, to ponder these things in your hearts, and continually resort to the fountain of wisdom, the altar of mercy, and the God of all grace, that you may be enabled to quit yourselves like men-to stand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.

Of these three things, my youthful friends
beware,

Vain hopes, temptation, and neglect of prayer.
London.

E. D.

Let us oft reflect on the greatness of God; how high and how holy is this Being! Heaven is his throne, earth is his footstool, and blessed is the man who trembleth at his word. Philosophers, in their vanity and pride, the silly moths flit about the may dispute about the Deity, as candle, till they are suddenly scorched and consumed. Presumption is dangerous; unhumbled wisdom is perfect folly. However, I remember to have read of one philosopher, who

they shall be my people." Is heaven a glorious place? Is it a blessed state? So is the church; a relation to it, and a connection with it is heaven begun below. In the church are glorious truths, glorious ordinances, glorious pro

seems to have been wise, at least, herein, for he actually gave up his researches touching the nature of God, with a professed acknowledgment that the more he considered the subject, the more he found himself overwhelmed with its immense mag-mises, glorious privileges, and nitude!

The

glorious company. Do the high praises of God resound in heaven, and delight all the holy and blissful inhabitants? So is it in his church, for he is the head over all things, and the creator of the human voice; and all the affecting melody which the harmony of instruments can produce. Hallelujahs and hosannas are to be heard the Sabbath through in every consecrated temple, in every spot of earth devoted to his praise, whom angels praise on harps of gold. In the church the smiles of heaven prevail, and the love of God is shed abroad in the heart. Acts, xx.

"I have been there, and still would go, 'Tis like a little heav'n below."

The passage now selected, tends to show us, in a strong light, the uncommon terror of the divine Majesty, and how confounding are the tokens of his awful anger. Some passages of sacred writ may with safety be treated in a way we call accommodation; we may accommodate the words to particular and sacred ends which we may have in view. I confess, if this be done, it ought to be done with much judgment, and not very frequently. The word of sacred truth is not to be worked into froth by the mere play of a fertile imagination. Holy ground must be trodden with holy care. sense and meaning of the word must not be suffered to evaporate through the fumes of a sportive fancy, or a daring transformation. In venturing to treat this subject in a way of accommodation, observe, 1. By heaven we may under-on account of their abilities and stand the church of God.-I will zeal. Pillars in an edifice answer assign my reasons. The church two ends, they are designed for is a faint resemblance of heaven, ornament and use. When Samand is sometimes in scripture son bowed the main pillars of the denominated heaven, and the Philistian temple and theatre, the kingdom of heaven." Does the whole erection fell to the ground, high, immortal, omnipresent God, occasioned the destruction of dwell in heaven, i. e. by a more 3,000 lives, and became one illustrious display of his perfec- hideous mass of ruins! The tions? So he dwells in the church, failing of pillars produces wretchand manifests himself to his dis-edness, ruin, and terror. God ciples in a manner he does not upholds the pillars of the uniunto the world. His own words verse. I remember to have read accord with this statement: 66. I of a pillared colonnade in the city will dwell in them, and walk in of Palmyra, (built by Solomon,) them, and will be their God, and more than a mile in length. What

2. Taken in this view, the pillars of Heaven may refer to its prime ministers and chief supporters. You will observe, that St. Paul had this exact view of James, Cephas, and John, "who seemed to be pillars," no doubt

numerous pillars must have been arranged here! But the church of God will reach farther in length than from Palestine to the frozen shores of Lapland! And Almighty grace and power goes forward in the work now, and new pillars are seen. Are you a pillar, the workmanship of God, and a monument of his love? Where do you stand, and what graces do you exhibit?

3. The reproofs of God must be next considered." The pillars of heaven tremble, and are astonished at his reproofs." Yes, in the moral view, to which I accommodate the words of the text, do but look at Moses; how did this pillar tremble! "Moses said, 1 exceedingly fear and quake!" Look at Elijah; see! he felt to the very centre of his soul; he wrapped and hid his face in his mantle. Look at Job, hear his words (in chapter ix.) "How should man be just with God! He removeth the mountains, and overturneth them in his anger. He shaketh the earth, and the pillars thereof tremble; the proud helpers do stoop under him: if I speak of strength, lo! he is strong, I am afraid. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me."

Look at David, mark his expressions in the 51st Psalm. How wet with the dew of his penitential tears, is every syllable in that bleeding psalm. See another pillar, Isaiah; do. but mark the tremor of that holy man! When awed by the Divine presence he cried out, "Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips!" "The pillars," &c. Look at Hezekiah, see in him another pillar trembling; look at Peter, another; "He went out and wept bitterly." Mark the nature of his reproofs,

and their awful variety. When he hath a controversy with the nations, he unlocks a thousand magazines, and war, famine, pestilence, and storms, break forth upon a guilty world, and the pillars of heaven tremble! Did not righteous Lot tremble, when the fire of God's wrath fell upon Sodom, and the forked lightning ran along the ground! Sometimes he reproves in words of anger, which penetrate the soul as burning oil; as when he reproved Hezekiah, Pashur, Herod, Felix, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, and that generation of vipers, the proud Pharisees. The very hiding of God's countenance makes his children feel.

IMPROVEMENT.

1. God oft

times speaks in a figurative, parabolical way; he has his "dark sayings." Perhaps his design herein is to nonplus the selfconceited, to confound the worldly-wise and the wicked. (See Matt. xiii. 11, Prov. iii. 32.)

2. Pillars should be strong, well-jointed, well polished, and uniform. God's pillars are his gifted servants, officers in his church, and those of leading influence. There are many stones which are useful in different parts of a building, they are good and proper in their places, but they will not do for pillars, they are not strong enough, will admit of no polish, are but illjointed, and shapeless. In the church of God many are ornamental and useful in a private capacity, which yet, if placed in public functions, would weaken and disgrace the whole superstructure. "The way to betray the truth is to procure it a weak defender." Things look well as they are well suited and uniform. For important work a good preparation is necessary.

3. Wicked men are reproved in | wrath, in God's anger; but good men in love, and for their benefit. "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness. God is angry with the wicked every day." If they pray in their distress, their forced prayers are not like to be heard. "The Lord abhorreth the covetous;"- "On the wieked he will pour out fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest;"- "The wicked will be turned into hell," &c." The wicked shall be destroyed by the breath of his mouth, and shall be consumed by the brightness of his coming." Then where will your swearers, your drunkards, your fornicators, and adulterers, appear; and with what suffused eyes will they weep in vain at his appearing!!!

must reason thus: I have now so much of my Master's treasure, what are the objects, if he were personally present, on which he would be most likely to employ it? Not in personal indulgence, not in domestic splendour, not in worldly glory; all of which are transient as the dew, and worthless as the dross; nor in hoarding it in accumulating heaps till it could be grasped and counted no longer. What was the great feature of his life? this line of beautiful simplicity expresses it," he went about doing good."

If our stewardship was of an inferior nature, we should not revolt at the command, "Occupy till I come;" nor should we think of appropriating to ourselves our employer's due. Under the Jewish dispensation, this

But the Lord loveth the righte-spirit was checked, a tenth was ous; he will bless his people, he required by God: and it were will feed them, and lift them up better with some, to think the for ever. He corrects them in command still imperative, than to mercy, and reproves them in abuse the liberty of the gospel,

love.

L. L.

CHRISTIANS STEWARDS FOR GOD.

and live to ourselves. "As God hath prospered you," seems to be the rule of benevolence to the Christian church: it was the direction of St. Paul to the Corinthians.

NOTHING can be plainer than Of all the periods of the world, the scriptural representation that the present affords least excuse men are stewards for God: a for a life of inactivity, and the truth that should be welcomed as fostering of a covetous disposiaffording a high privilege and an tion. Appeals to our philanhonour, but which is slighted, thropy are perpetually made, as being repugnant to our pride, various as our diversified dispoour self interest, and gratifica- sitions. The kingdom of Christ tion; or overlooked, almost from is coming, and the question is, habit, being seldom the subject what will you do for its advanceof our contemplation, our inquiry,ment? Can you dare to bury one or discourse. We assume an talent, knowing your approaching awful empire over the talents accountability? Say you, I have we are entrusted with, partinone? In your present concerns cularly our wealth. If we tho- you would not make this excuse; roughly believed the Divine tes- you would be offended with him timony, and unreservedly surwho should pronounce you so rendered ourselves to God, we useless.

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