ye have now been the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it." Precisely accordant with this view of the subject is a passage in the book of Nehemiah, where the Levites, speaking to Jehovah of his conduct to the Israelites, before their captivity in Babylon, say, "Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in the prophets; yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands." Reader! hast thou really been brought under the influence of the Holy Spirit, or art thou still cherishing the sin of unbelief? THE TRIAL OF FAITH. THIS state is one not merely of trial, but one designed to produce our virtues. When disappointment comes, what is the design of the trial, but to teach us that we have no control over events,that "the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing of it is from the Lord." It is allowed in order to counteract the tendency of our nature to selfishness and independence, and thus to teach the lesson that without Him we can do nothing. Implicit faith in God's government is what God requires, and when this principle is in exercise, disquietude is checked, and the mind kept in perfect peace. The end of our being is preparation for the next state; and to conquer every sinful notion, as well as desire, must be a daily conflict. In such an evil condition as we are placed, the great contest must be with vicious principles, and hence we have need to put on the whole armour of God, not as an occa sional defence, but as a perpetual one, to keep us in the fear of the Lord, and to enable us to bear up amid all the difficulties and trials which meet us in the way. Holiness is only obtained with constant struggles against our selfish principles. To attain the dignity of the sons of God, the old man must be crucified in every part. We must die to live spiritually. To perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord demands constant attention to the state of our minds. If we look on holiness as the indispensable characteristic of the Christian to walk with God here, and as essential to his perfected state hereafter, we shall not be at a loss to perceive the gracious designs of the Almighty in sending afflictions, in order to detach the earthly tendency, to curb unruly desires, to bring down lofty imaginations, to counteract selfish purposes, and to lead us to feel that our entire happiness depends on doing and suffering the Divine will. How often have we offered the prayer, Thy will be done on earth,"-how little have we watched the answer to our prayer, when God in his own way, in his manifold wisdom, has condecended to assure us that we have not asked in vain! He will increase our faith, by putting it to the test, by making a trial of it, according to the purposes of his own will; and this, too, just in proportion to our wants. The purity of the metal is only ascertained by exposure to the heat of the furnace; and shall the 66 gold which is destined to shine in the crown which adorns the Saviour's brow not undergo the refining process in the crucible in order to its purification and fitness for the bright and heavenly glory? Christians are variously tried. Parents have to mourn over children whose hearts are not surrendered to the Lord. They have watched the rise and progress of the plants in the garden committed to their charge; they have prayed for the sunshine and the early rain to fall on the branches, as they have begun to spread and increase on every side; they have patiently toiled, and laboured, and waited for the answer, but the heavens have been as brass, and no little cloud has begun to appear in return for the heaving sighs, and oft-repeated outpourings of their hearts before God. It is then that faith is tried; it is precious faith alone which can sustain the mind amid all its breakings, its sorrows, its distress; and here it is that Christian parents have had to stand still, and behold the work of the Lord. It is in the season of deep and heartfelt agony, when prayer has been long continued,-when example and precept have failed to have their influence,-when kindness and love have tried in vain to win and persuade, when solemn admonitions uttered with all the pathos of thrilling emotion, have been met in silence, contempt, or cold indifference,-when appeals to the conscience, the understand ing, the judgment, in reference to the future account at the bar of the great Eternal, have been despised, that parents require to stand by faith as seeing Him who is invisible, to stagger not at the apparent difficulties, but to exercise the most entire confidence in all his providential dealings, in perfect assurance that he will perform his righteous will. "All these things are against me," said Jacob, when, to all appearance, he lost his children, and wept and prayed, giving vent to the sorrow of his heart, when contemplating their condition, and writing bitter things against himself. The cloud long overhung his mantled brow, as he went on his way mourning, dejected, and forlorn, little supposing that the seemingly adverse dispensation was in fact the very path to a happy and joyful home. It is even so with the tried of the Lord, when they see no bow in the cloud, no gleam of light breaking on their rugged path, no response to their cry for help, that they are apt to yield to desponding fears, as if they should never see the salvation of their own, their beloved children, for whom they have yearned and sighed before God day and night. Oh! the depths of God in reference to his dealings with his chosen people. They are often brought into straits, and plunged in the deep pit of adversity, in order that he might show his glorious power in their deliverance, and bring them out of the furnace, as gold seven times purified. As there is an appointed time for man on earth, so there is an appointed portion of suffering and trial for believers, a cup of mixture, every drop of which must be drank according to his foreknowledge who ordains that not a sparrow shall fall to the ground without him. As tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and then hope, as the result of the working of these graces, it is good under all these severe trials of faith to ascertain how far these operate within the heart. Too often, it may be, a spirit of impatience, unbelief, and gloomy fears prevail, as if the Lord had forgotten to be gracious, or as if he would shut his merciful ear to the cries of his own chosen Israel. By the keen edge of trial, the spots and blemishes of God's children are laid bare, nor could they imagine that so much rust lay on their spiritual armour, until the furnace brought it to light and exposed its hidden deformity. of her daughter, and although at first her petitions seemed all in vain, yet she persevered, until her faith gained a triumph, and secured for her the object sought. And shall the Christian parent have less faith than this poor heathen woman, who, knowing the character of the adorable Jesus, could not, would not, depart from the attitude of fervent supplication until she had obtained her request? Thus He who taught us that "men ought always to pray and not to faint," will not fail to reward the prayer of faith when presented in His name: "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." How many for years have mourned in secret over the condition of their children, who have agonised in prayer for their salvation, yet have lived to see them brought into the fold of Jesus as members of one family, partakers of the heavenly inheritance. Thus Abraham believed against hope, that God was able to accomplish the great and gracious promises he had vouchsafed to him, and reaped the reward of his faith and patience. It is no easy lesson to acquire to wait, and hope, and expect the salvation of the Lord, where parental solicitude and anxiety are so deeply awakened on behalf of their children. How great, however, is the encouragement to stedfast and continued prayer to Him who is able to deliver, and who" never said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain." If God's glory be the end of the prayer in their conversion, will it not be granted? The promises are both copious and assuring. In Matt. xviii. 19, we read, "Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." Here we have the object to be agreed upon, then the prayer, and its acceptance without fail. Faith secures the petition presented, for it rests purely on the word and testimony of God for its fulfilment. Faith knows no other conditions, but a gracious reception of the prayer, and secures quietness and peace of mind, as it springs from God as its Author, and glorifies him by calmly waiting and expecting the result: "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering," says the Apostle James. In Mark vii. 26, we read the fact of the Syro-pheni-ings and contempt, because they dare cian woman coming to Christ on behalf to be singular, in opposition to the Many of the Lord's people have to endure the trial of faith by bereaving providences, or in suffering the will of God in languishing in the sick chamber, under the stroke of heavy and accumulating afflictions; others are prostrate by reason of manifold temptations, arising from mental or physical infirmities, and spend their days in bitterness of soul, under a heavy cloud which no ray of light would seem to penetrate. Some have to endure persecution arising from the maintenance of conscientious views in matters of religion, being subject to cruel mock common maxims of the world. Amid all these various trials, common te Christians, may be enumerated the temptations of Satan, which are grievous to be borne, and are a fruitful source of disquietude and anguish to the chosen of the Lord. Then, again, we see many under the pressure of solemn responsibility and obligation, struggling with a reverse of circumstances, smarting under the apprehension of anxious forebodings, fearing lest a stain on the hitherto spotless character should be inflicted, and which no foresight could have prevented. In all these trying dispensations we hear the still small voice of the Lord, "the just shall live by faith." We cannot comprehend the vast machinery of the Divine government in all the minute and complex arrangements of his providence, in the ordinary affairs of life. Every feeling must be silenced, every thought brought into obedience, every murmur arrested, when we hear the words of the sacred writer uttered in all its force: "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" The sparrow falls not to the ground without him, and insignificant as this does appear to the human mind, it is recorded that nothing, however minute, is considered trivial to Him who governs all things. It affords a lesson to us, illustrative of God's superintending care over all the trials peculiar to the Christian in the journey of life. God is present, not as a common spectator, but as one deeply interested for the happiness of his creatures, watching the conflict, witnessing the struggles of light and conscience with the natural darkness and enmity of the heart, imparting patience to endure and power and strength to enable the smitten and bruised to triumph over all their temptations. He who is touched with a feeling of all our infirmities, is at the same time the Refiner of his people, and chooses for them the furnace to carry forward that process, painful as it is, which is designed to purify them as fine gold, to present them faultless and complete before God with exceeding joy. Deep may call unto deep, all the waves of trouble may roll onward in their course, multiplied and incessant causes for anxious care may be the lot of the tried of the Lord, yet amid all that is heart-rending and painful to endure, the angel of mercy, clothed in the rays of heavenly light, the messenger of consolation appears, to strengthen and unfold the glorious truth, that "all things shall work together for good unto them who love God, who are called according to his purpose." Were it not for the precious consolations contained in the revealed word, how many would faint in the day of adversity ?-how many would sink beneath the load of bitter and intense sorrow?- how many would believe they were forsaken, forgotten, isolated, without one beam of light to illumine their darkened path? What reason, then, for assurance and calm repose in the all-sufficiency of God's promises, amid the conflicts and vicissitudes of this changing life, to know that God is faithful, that he is the Rock and Salvation of his people, that he is a stronghold in the day of trouble, a place of defence, a sure refuge, an everlasting portion, and that nothing, however dreadful, however severe, however overwhelming, shall be found at the great day of account, other than one com plete plan of perfected wisdom to ac quel of this statement will demonstrate. The writer of this account took a small part in this business; therefore, the matters herein recorded may be relied on as facts; but "the Soldier's Friend" was the mainspring; and to her, under God, the praise is due. And I think she is not unworthy of being complish His glorious purposes in the be outcasts, and beyond the mercy of work of salvation. He may chasten God itself. Hence, both the priest and sore, he may bind his people in fetters, the Levite pass them by as unworthy he may long try their faith and pa- of their notice. The good Samaritan tience, even as gold is tried in the seldom comes their way; but, thank crucible, he may disappoint their fond- God, seldom as it is, he does not enest hopes, he may keep them languish-tirely neglect them, as I trust the seing on a bed of sickness, he may mingle their cup with bitter ingredients, yet he will not forsake them, he will not take from them his loving-kindness, he will not fail in his promises, he will guide them with the eye of his love and boundless compassion, he will bring them at last to his glorious inheritance, and make them to know that nothing but good-ranked amongst the good Samaritans. ness and mercy had followed them all their days, and that the painful, the rugged, the stormy path was the strait, the narrow road which led direct to the city of the new Jerusalem. The days of their mourning will then be ended, the sorrows of life changed for joys that will never fade away, and faith exchanged for sight. The Soldier's Friend lived in the city of D- —; she was a pious devoted female,-one who cared for precious souls generally; high and low, rich and poor, all shared in her pious efforts to bring them to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus; even the poor soldier's best interest was not overlooked by her. Attending to them, some of her best friends thought, was a duty unbecoming her sex; and consequently strove to persuade her to give it up, but all to no effect. She believed God required it, and that was to her a sufficient warrant to persevere in the work. For some time she did it almost single-handed. In time, she prevailed upon a few Christian friends to join her in this labour of love. They now began to visit the barracks, to invite the soldiers to go with them to a place of worship to hear the Gospel preached; also to attend prayer-meetings, &c.; they succeeded in getting a few to attend. They had not long persevered in this duty, before they saw fruit, in a few being savingly converted to God. The change was visible to all who had known them before, |