eternal verities, we are called upon to hold fast: we must by no means give them up. No. Not a single tittle or iota of them. All believers are concerned in this, and are included in this exhortation. It is expressed in the plural number: "Let us hold fast our profession." There was never more need of this exhortation to be given, nor greater need for the practice of it than in the present day: when many under a profession of all the truths of the gospel, and the holy and solemn ordinances of the same— baptism, church fellowship, the Lord's supper, and in various offices in the house and church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, set up something of their own, which they call experience, and substitute it in the very room and place of Christ, and actually make more of it than of Christ. Few in the present day build on Christ alone: few receive the knowledge of Christ which they profess, from the gospel itself. Hence it is that so many different persons who profess Christ, have so many different creeds. They all profess Christ in their own way. Let it be ever so ignorant a one, yet they will not depart from it. They are ready to say, God forbid we should; yet it ought not to be dissembled, that many of these, and very many such as these, stumble at Christ, the stumbling-stone. This is most awful, yet we must not conceal the truth, nor speak lies in hypocrisy.

(To be continued.)

RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE.

ON Friday, September 15th, 1837, Mr. W. ALLEN, from the Particular Baptist Church, at Cambridge, in the County of Cambridgeshire, was publicly recognised as Pastor of the Baptist Church, at Cave Adullam, Stepney. Mr. WELLS, of the Surrey Tabernacle, engaged in prayer, and stated the nature of a gospel church; Mr. FRANCIS, of Snow's Fields, asked the usual questions; Mr. NICOLLS, stated the dealings of providence with them as a church; Mr. W. ALLEN, gave a statement of the Lord's dealings with him, his call to the ministry, and of the articles of his faith; Mr. GADSBY, of Manchester, gave a very pointed and affecting charge to the minister, and concluded in prayer; Mr. SILVER, preached to the people in the evening. The place was very much crowded; the presence of the Lord powerfully felt, and the prospects of the church very encouraging.

FRAGMENT,

Most unconverted people are mighty fond of these two words, "good works." A believer will love them too, because they are scriptural; but there is a wide difference in their estimate. The real christian desires to have a single eye to God's glory, in every work he does; he examines his heart as to his aims, motives, ends, principles; whereas the formalist has no other idea of good works, than that they are certain external acts performed for the relief of the body, and if they are but done, no matter from what root they grow. Yet these works may be in great abundance, where there is not a spark of vital godliness, or true holiness in

the heart.

THE

Spiritual Magazine ;

OR,

SAINTS' TREASURY.

1 John v. 7.

"There are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST: and these Three are One." "Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."-Júde 3.

NOVEMBER, 1837.

THE BENEFITS OF A MERCY-SEAT.

“And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat."-Exod. xxv. 22.

IN the chapter preceding my text, we have an account of Moses being called up into the Mount to have converse with the Lord, and he was there forty days and forty nights; and during the time he was there, he received orders from God about the tabernacle that was to be erected in the wilderness. And in the beginning of this chapter, it is said, " and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart, ye shall take my offering." And the things they were to offer, and what Moses was to accept of them, was GC gold and silver, and brass, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goat's hair, and rams' skins dyed red, and badger skins, and shittim wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for sweet incense, onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate;" and with these materials there was to be a sanctuary erected for the worship of the Lord; and the first thing that Moses had orders about was the ark.

This ark was made in the form of a chest, it was about four feet and a half long, and about two feet nine inches in breadth and in height; it was made of shittim wood, a very valuable wood which grew in the desert of Arabia; it is smooth, tough, beautiful, very hard and durable; it was covered with gold within and without, and upon the top of its edge there was a VOL. XIII.-No. 167.] 2 T

crown of gold. Upon the four corners of it there were to be four rings of gold; two on one side, and two on the other. And there were to be two staves of shittim wood, covered over with gold, to be put through these rings, and they were to be fixed into the rings; and the tribe of Levi, Aaron and his sons, were to bear the ark upon their shoulders, and carry it from place to place. By these two staves, in the next place, there was a lid or cover to the ark, which was to be called the mercyseat; it was made of solid gold, and out of this lid or cover, called the mercy-seat, there were to be two cherubims made or hammered out, and they were to face each other, and rather to look downward, as if they were prying into the arkthe mercy-seat was laid upon the ark.

-so that

The ark contained the two tables of the law; and there was a repository by the side of it, I believe, where the golden pot of manna was, and Aaron's rod that budded, and also a copy of the five books of Moses; according to what Paul says to the Hebrews, in his ninth chapter, verses 3-6. Now this ark being made, and the lid of it called the mercy-seat, and the cherubims on the mercy-seat facing each other, God promises to meet with them, and to bless them, and to commune with them from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubims; and this accounts for the Psalmist's prayer: "Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth," Ps. lxxx. 1. The ark was a very sacred vessel, and it was death for any to look into it but the priest; hence it was carried under a cover. Exod. xxxvii. 1-9. Numb. iv. 5, 6, 20.

:

2

This ark was a grand type of Christ as our Mediator; and the mercy-seat too: the wood it was made of being valuable, may set forth the value of Christ to poor sinners; the beauty of it, may set forth the glory of Christ in his person and work, so that he is the fairest among ten thousand, and the altogether lovely its being tough and hard, may set him forth as the Son of Man made strong for God's own self, Ps. lxxx. 17.; and its being durable, may set forth the durableness of his merits and work, Prov. viii. 18, 19. "Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold; and my revenue than choice silver." Its being overlaid within and without with gold, may set forth the precious grace, that the Holy Spirit adorned him with as man within, and the perfection of his life without, so that he was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners," Heb. vii. 26. The four rings that were at the four corners, set forth the harmony of the divine perfections in him as Mediator, as David says, Mercy and truth have met together," in him " righteousness and peace have kissed each other," Ps. lxxxv. 10. The staves that went through the rings, to bear the ark, that were to

be put upon the priests' shoulders, may set forth the gospel ministers carrying Christ to poor sinners, or as Paul says, "Bearing him among the gentiles;" for the tidings that gospel ministers carry or bear, is Christ crucified; as Paul says, "We preach Christ crucified:" and says he, "I am determined to know nothing else among men." And writing to the Hebrews, he says, "Remember them that have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation: Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."

And that none were to carry the ark but the tribe of Levi, is very plain from many passages of holy writ, one proof of which I will bring. Just before the death of Eli, there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel, and Israel took the ark of God into the field of battle with them, as it is recorded, 1 Sam. iv.; and Israel was smitten, and the ark of God was taken. All the time the Philistines were in possession of the ark, they had nothing but troubles or plagues; and they did, in a curious way, send it back to Israel again, as you see in the sixth chapter of the first of Samuel. When it came to Beth-shemesh, fifty thousand and seventy persons looked into it, contrary to God's order, and the Lord smote them, 1 Sam. vi. 19. The men of Beth-shemesh immediately send it away to Kirjath-jearim, and it was fixed in the house of Abinadab, and there it remained a long time, until the days of David. At last, David consulted with his captains and leaders, and determined to fetch up the ark from Kirjath-jearim, and bring it to his own city, and fix it in a tent that he had provided for it.

Now observe, instead of its being carried upon the shoulders of the priests by the staves that were in the rings of the ark, David had a new cart made to put it upon, a yoke of oxen to draw it, and two men to drive it. As it was going along, the oxen stumbled, the ark upon the cart shook. Uzzah, one of the drivers, puts forth his hand to stay it, God strikes him dead; this breach fills David with slavish fear, and he was afraid to bring the ark home; hence he leaves it at the house of Obededom, God blesses the house of Obed-edom for the sake of the ark; it remains there three months. God's blessing the house of Obed-edom appears to stir up jealousy in David; and he being convinced of his error in not putting it upon the shoulders of the priests, consults with his great men, and tells them that none ought to bear the ark of the Lord, but the Lord's own priests. And, says David, "the Lord made a breach upon us at the first, because we sought him not after the due order;" and then in harmony they all unite, and with great joy and solemnity the ark is brought into the city of David, and pitched in tent appointed for it, 1 Chron. chapters xiii. xv. xvi. Some years after this, it was, by Solomon, fixed in the temple, in the innermost

part thereof; and there it was until the temple was destroyed by the Chaldeans. The ark was wanting in the second temple; and as it was a symbol of the divine presence, the loss of it presaged the approaching abolition of the whole of the ceremonies. It was called the ark of the covenant, and the ark of the testimony, because the law of God was in it, or his testimony, or that covenant he made with Israel. It was called the ark of his strength, where he rested, Ps. cxxxii, 8.; so that, according to the above account, it was unlawful for any to bear the ark but the Levites, the Lord's ministers; and so it is the same to this day as it regards the antitype, Christ. And the Levites were to be chosen, called, washed, clothed, sanctified, consecrated, and anointed, before ever they were ceremonially fit for such an office. Exod. xl, 9—10.

Now the word Levi, signifies joined; and all that are fit to preach Christ to poor sinners are joined to the Lord. First, in God's purpose. And, secondly, though by the fall they have a corrupted will, yet being one with Christ in covenant love, they shall be made willing to leave the world and its wretched practices behind, and the spirit of it, and human wisdom, and self-righteousness, and all supposed strength; and in a word, all things that stand in opposition to Christ; and be truly willing to come as poor, needy, empty handed sinners to Christ, for all: and when this is the case there is manifestly a joining; and then it pleases God to reveal his Son in the heart, the hope of glory; and the blood and righteousness of Christ is felt in the conscience; and the love of God in some measure believed in, so that the soul is filled with joy and peace in believing; and this makes it clearly known to the sinner that he is joined to the Lord, and one with Christ, the covenant head. Such a man is a Levite, joined; such a one is chosen in God's purpose in Christ; manifestly chosen out of the world in time; called by a divine power out of darkness into light, washed in the blood of Christ from all his filthiness, and cleansed from all his idols by divine love: clothed without by the righteousness of Christ, and within by the sweet adorning of the graces of God's Spirit; sanctified by the Holy Ghost, and set apart from this vain world, consecrated to God's service, and anointed with the oil of joy: such a soul, if God gives him a door of utterance to speak of what he has felt, tasted, and handled of the good word of life, is a proper person to bear or to carry our spiritual ark, Christ.

Further, the ark was a type of Christ, inasmuch as it contained the law, or the two tables of stone upon which the law was written; so that the law of God is in the heart of Christ; and he undertook to fulfil it as man's surety, and in time he did obey it; and it never can condemn a soul that trusts his all in Christ. And as the ceremonial law was deposited in the side of the ark, it might be to shew that the blood and water that came