from an unenviable spot to one of safety and repose. See! "Deliver us from evil" (Matt. vi. 13). This is a Divinely taught prayer for freedom from the power of Satan, sin, and self. Turn to Romans xv. 30, 31: "Strive together with me in prayers to God for me; that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea." This is a Spirit-wrought desire for separation from unbelieving professors. Come with me to 2 Cor. i. 10: "Who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver: in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us." You see that God's deliverances are so many pledges of future and full deliverances. Turn to 2 Tim. iv. 16-18: "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all forsook me: notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me: that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work; and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

May He add His blessing. Amen.

HYMN SUNG AFTER THE SERMON.

SOV'REIGN grace o'er sin abounding,
Ransom'd souls the tidings swell;
'Tis a deep that knows no sounding,
Who its breadth or length can tell?
On its glories

Let my soul for ever dwell.

What from Christ that soul shall sever

Bound by everlasting bands?

Once in Him, in Him for ever;
Thus th' eternal covenant stands;
None shall pluck thee

From the Strength of Israel's hands.

Heirs of God, joint heirs with Jesus,
Long ere time its race begun;

To His name eternal praises,

O what wonders love hath done!
One with Jesus,

By eternal union ONE.

On such love, my soul still ponder,
Love so great, so rich, so free;
Say, whilst lost in holy wonder,
Why, O Lord, such love to me?
Hallelujah,

Grace shall reign eternally.

JOHN KENT.

GROVE CHAPEL PULPIT.

"THE MASTERS OF ASSEMBLIES."

A Sermon

PREACHED IN GROVE CHAPEL, CAMBERWELL, ON SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 13TH, 1879, BY

THOMAS BRADBURY.

The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the Masters of assemblies, which are given from one Shepherd."-Eccles. xii. 11.

T is a covenant mercy, and a distinguishing favour from the

treasures of spiritual and heavenly instruction, which are to be found in the deep couching beneath the letter of God's written Word. To some this gracious privilege is granted, from others it is withheld. To the wise and prudent of this world blindness and hardness of heart is given, while to the babes, weaklings, and little ones in God's family, those who feelingly and experimentally have no wisdom, and who can cry from the depths of their sorrows sincerely unto Him, "Lord, we are fools," He is graciously pleased to reveal Himself as their Wisdom and their All. Apart from Him they are destitute of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge; but in Christ Jesus they have Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification, Redemption, and Glory. Into the hands of His tried and tempted, scattered and peeled ones, He puts His blessed Book and engrafts its gracious and glorious contents in their hearts. In the written Word His mind is declared, in the engrafted Word His life is deposited. Yes, He deposits His will in a God-given, Spirit-enlightened, and graciously opened understanding, and we are led to see and speak of the glory of God's grace, which is hidden from the worldling and mere professor, in a manner which causes them to look on and wonder whether we have the same Bible as they possess. The genuineness of my Bible has been called into question many times, but it has been my mercy to know that the Bible I possess is the old one written by holy men who wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. It contains a Father's

No. 124.-PRICE ONE PENNY.

gracious message of love and salvation to His elect children, the heirs of grace, the heirs of a kingdom which can never be moved, the heirs of God. Upon its title page may well be written without doing violence to its contents,

"FOR GOD'S ELECT."

It may be asked, Why then distribute it indiscriminately throughout the world? I answer, Because it is not ours to judge who are God's elect and who are not. We can only light upon certain here and there in whom the truth of God has graciously wrought and brought to a saving knowledge of Himself, to whom He has shown tokens for good, and from whom He has drawn gracious evidences of their election and redemption. Therefore we circulate the Scriptures and preach the Word at every opportunity, knowing that it pleases Him through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Let us notice the design of the Holy Ghost in this book of Ecclesiastes. What is it? What is it? It is to set forth the utter ruin, total depravity, and universal corruption of fallen humanity, and that everything apart from the Lord Jesus Christ can yield nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit. In the contemplation of a ruin so vast we may well sing,

"Change and decay in all around I see :

O Thou who changest not abide with me."

A characteristic phrase of the book is, "under the sun." If we lose sight of the truth which the Spirit conveys in these three words, we must fail to apprehend His mind throughout the whole Book. In it He is pleased to reveal the folly, madness, and vanity of man, and show unto His own that nought but the fulness of Christ's grace and glory will truly satisfy their waiting hearts. "Under the sun." What sun see we here but that set forth in Mal. iv. 2?" But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings." In a spiritual and heavenly manner the saints are in this Sun, the beams of which dart light, health, comfort, and consolation to them while they remain here below. In Him we have life eternal, love unchangeable, light unsullied, and liberty inalienable. In Christ Jesus we have blessings which can never be forfeited, and bounties which can never fade, while out of Him is nothing but "vanity and vexation of spirit." Mark you; if there is a man in all God's creation who has greater cause than another to live a life of unceasing gratitude and thankfulness, I am the man. There is not one in this congregation can see greater cause for constant praise than I; yet, where am I? In my feelings ofttimes "under the sun," mourning and murmuring, with no sweet enjoyment of the presence and preciousness of Him who is my All in all.

Now look at the conclusion of this inspired argument which you find in the thirteenth verse of the last chapter, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Duty! Do I love it? Yes, in its proper place. Can I do it? If I were to say I could, I should be a Pharisee. My desire is to act in perfect accordance with the mind and will of God as revealed in His blessed Word; but imperfections and failures are mine. Look at this command: "Fear God, and keep His commandments." To whom is this addressed. To all mankind? No; for the mind of the reprobate is void of judgment in Divine things, the understanding is darkened, the will perverse, and the whole nature enmity against God. To give such a commandment to these would be utter folly and contrary to the wisdom and omniscience of JEHOVAH. In our day there are thousands with an open Bible before them, but the spiritual meaning is hidden from their view. With all the ramifications and efforts of missionary societies there are yet millions who have never heard the glorious sound of the Gospel, nor even a missionary's voice. This is proof sufficient that the command is not for all mankind. It is for all those to whom God will speak His glorious command set forth by the pen of Solomon, "My son, give me thy heart" (Prov. xxiii. 26). This is a portion of God's Word from which wondrous capital has been made in Arminian communities and free-will fraternities. Perverters of God's truth address indiscriminately whole congregations and call upon them to give God their hearts. These see not that the command flows from covenant relationship. Look at the address, "My son." Now notice the demand:" give me thy heart." The question with me is, Have I such a heart as God can accept? We read, "They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord" (Prov. xi. 20); again, " He that hath a froward heart findeth no good" (Prov. xvii. 20). Here we see that a man who possesses only a froward heart cannot be he to whom this command is addressed, and that indiscriminate commands, invitations, exhortations, or entreaties by a minister to a congregation are contrary to the mind and will of God. The command of God issuing from the pen of Solomon simply means, "My son, give me thine undivided attention while I reveal to thee the mysteries of My love, and the riches of My grace." When the Father speaks to us by the power of the Holy Ghost after that fashion, don't you think our ears and hearts are all attention? Ay, indeed they are. Compliance with, and obedience to, the commands of JEHOVAH can only be found in the person and work of the God-Man, the Surety of the covenant, and the Saviour of His people. "Fear God." According to the mind of the Father, none ever did this fully and perfectly but the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to Heb. v. 7: "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up

prayers and supplications with strong cryings and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared." Christ, as the Covenantee and Representative of His people, feared God without intermission from first to last. "And keep His commandments." Who has ever done this? Can you find one mortal in all God's creation, who, invariably, in thought, purpose, imagination, desire, look, word, and act, keeps God's commandments? You cannot; but God has found one perfect Man in the person of His own dear Son who kept all His commandments for all the members of His mystical body. "This is the whole of man." The word duty you will see is in italics. Satan knew what he was doing when he made that interpolation through our translators. Fearing God and keeping His commandments, thus working out a glorious righteousness, is the whole mind and desire of the God-Man for elect men in Him. Let us look at that word duty for a moment or two. It is an elegant word in some places, but a very ugly one here. It is a word utterly at variance with that glorious liberty of the Gospel with which Christ makes His people free. Our Gospel of free and sovereign grace knows nothing of the creature's duty. Some of you may be ready to say, "You renounce the word duty in connection with the Gospel and yet you find it in your 318th hymn." Yes, and I thank God that we have it in that precious hymn by Dr. Watts,—

That justly condemns me; but this graciously justifies me,

"But in Thy life the law appears,

Drawn out in living characters.

Tell me it is my duty to pray, repent, and believe? I reply, 1 can neither pray, repent, nor believe on that ground. Turn to Luke xvii. 10: "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." Mark the order. Duty, unprofitableness, death, damnation.

It is ours now for a little while, in humble dependence upon the guidance and grace of God the ever-blessed Spirit, to seek His mind in the precious portion I have read by way of text. I.-THE WISE-Who are they?

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II.—THEIR WORDS-What are they? Goads and nails. III. THE WORKERS-Who are they? The Masters of assemblies."

IV. THE COMMUNICATOR-Who is He? "The One Shepherd."

I. THE WISE-Who are they? In Job xxviii. 12, the question is asked, "But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?" Again, ver. 20: "Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding?"