God shall graciously supply our need, because he will. His good will is towards all redeemed children; therefore puts a necessity on his great power to do great and glorious things for all his people. The great and wonderful things of salvation grace and glory, that God hath done for his elect in and by Christ Jesus, prove to a demonstration that he will withhold no manner of thing that is good from his saints, but will "supply all their need." He will supply because he hath taken counsel with his will so to do; therefore in all soul tribulations and providential wants or need God will supply, and that according to his rich good will. Our God, and glorious lover, is rich for our need, and hath riches for every need, and will most graciously supply all our need; " according to his riches in glory.' Now all the sweet and precious supplies of love, grace, and strength, and providential good, that comes from God the Father, all comes freely through the Lord Jesus Christ, with a precious glory upon them who are loved with an everlasting love, and have their sure standing in him. All things are ours who are the objects of election love, and blessed recipients of gospel grace: all things are ours through our Lord Jesus Christ. In regard to his incarnation, we have all in Jesus (namely) in our union with him; and in regard to the dolorous passions of the Saviour, we have all the precious and blessed fruits of his sorrow and death; and with respect to donation, we have all spiritual blessing in him and with him. That is the Father's giving us Christ in spiritual marriage, according to an ancient immanent union settlement before the foundation of the world; therefore, with him as the unspeakable gift of the Father's love, the precious subjects of discriminating favour, shall freely receive all things, and shall be helped to say with humble confidence, Christ and all his spiritual blessings are mine. Heaven-born souls have assurance and sweet experience that their covenant Father will fully supply their need, according to his glorious riches through Christ Jesus. The true believer's view of interest in God, the supplier of the need of his children, makes them humbly bold and confident, so as to say, my God shall supply all my need, according to his glorious riches, through the most glorious and precious medium Christ Jesus. Souls born of God know him as their Father in Christ Jesus, and view all streams of mercy and goodness flowing from the eternal ocean of love, through Christ their adorable Mediator; hence all the springs of life and love, which the redeemed spouse experiences in this low-land state come from Jehovah the only original, through Christ the only medium. God, the great and grand source of all good, has opened his all-wise and loving heart to his dear children, and he has now opened his kind and liberal hand to supply their need. The power of our covenant God is infinite; therefore above all our difficulties, and his goodness above all our unworthiness. The love of our covenant God is incomprehensible, and his works of providence past finding out; yet is the heaven-born soul interested in both, and shall glory in both, and shall have his need supplied out of both, while he is continued in pilgrimage; and at seasons shall be comfortably persuaded of the gracious hand of God being ever towards him for good; and therefore shall be helped to say, God is mine, not only in providence and preservation, but in delivering the soul from the power of sin, and the dreadful temptations of Satan. Again, the subject of grace shall be helped to say, God is mine by promise, for he hath said for the comfort of his saints, "I will be your God, and you shall be my people." Now the faith of a real saint is a craving faith, likewise a growing gift. Faith, under the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit, draws down precious blessings from the Lord Jesus Christ into the soul; for faith is a gift that works by love, and carries the affections up to Christ, with, "My beloved is mine, and I am his;" and also proves the sweetness of Paul's cordial, (viz.) "But my God shall supply all your need." Now it appears to me, that all things are made for God's use and end; therefore he will so supply our need as may fit us best to serve him. God will fill and replenish every vessel of mercy, and ballast every one of them with his grace, so that they shall outride every storm. When the true believer is helped to look up to his covenant God with confidence, as a loving and faithful God, he can then say, "I have enough," for I have my Father's promise, my Father's faithfulness, and my Father's fulness; therefore, my wants or needs shall all be supplied in the way that will bring good to my redeemed soul, through the precious medium of my Jesus and my Lord. Dear soul, art thou longing to say, my God? Art thou longing to throw thyself into the arms of Jesus, and to feel thy heart say with glowing love," My Beloved is mine?" Dost thou wish to be in his arms, and lean on his bosom, and live in and upon his heart of love? Dost thou pray for increase of grace to thy soul from God through the Lord Jesus Christ? O, my beloved brother in Jesus, (for as such I address thee) all thy desires shall be crowned with gracious answers, for thy God will supply all thy wants, and Christ shall be thy all in all. Again, what are thy wants, or what is thy petition? Dost thou want riches? Well," the blessing of the Lord maketh rich." Dost thou want a comfortable habitation? Well, the Lord is the dwelling-place of his saints in all generations." Dost thou want peace in thy soul? Well, thy God is the God of heaven. Dost thou want a hiding-place? Well, divine power, love, and union, shall be thy chamber to hide in; yea, thy bridal chamber to rejoice in. Dost thou want a true friend? Well, thy Jesus loveth at all times; he is not a changeable, but a constant lover. (To be concluded in our next.) POETRY. LINES, Written after Reading a Communication in the Spiritual Magazine. THE saints shall rejoice, and their tongues they shall sing The praises of Jesus, their Saviour and King: Arminians may boast how good they are grown, Saints know they have nothing to boast of their own. Born naked, and sinful, polluted with Cast out and expos'd to the justice of Mount Sinai may thunder, but can. For Jesus hath borne all its curses for them. How rich are the stores of that Which shone upon them in their The plan of redemption was fixt ere And Jesus hath died to redeem them from hell. Free grace is their motto, saints cannot be wreck'd, The promise of God is to all the elect; The chosen of Jesus of every degree, Predestined joint-heirs of his glory to be. Time never can alter God's purpose of grace, What is, was ordained, and shall surely take place'; His love remains firm, and can never grow cold, His saints are his chosen, the sheep of his fold. He, he is their Shepherd, he always will keep; He chose them, he bought them, and calls them his sheep : Not one can be lost, though they often times stray, And wander, alas! from his footsteps away. His eye strictly marketh the path that they go, And now they're entangl'd by Satan their foe; Then to them he oft doth the same messenger send, And brings them at last to his sceptre to bend. Like Ephraim, backsliding, they feed on the wind, Forgetting their Saviour, their wonderful friend; Yet sooner or later they all shall be brought To Jesus their surety, by whom they were bought. His work is all perfect, 'tis sealed He died to redeem poor lost sinners to And now intercedes for his purchased And mansions of glory doth for her provide. Till each elect vessel of mercy's brought home, To yonder bright regions no longer to roam; He'll still intercede for the souls whom he loves, For his love never alters, decays or "And this is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I shall lose nothing."-John vi. 39. JESUS, how dear thy children are, Not one of them shall fall; Tho' sin may rage, and hell engage, THE Spiritual Magazine; OR, SAINTS' TREASURY. There are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST; and these Three are One." 1 John v. 7. * Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."--Jude 3. FEBRUARY, 1837. AN OBJECTIVE REASON OF A BELIEVER'S HOPE. "And be ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."-1 Pet. iii. 15. (Continued from page 8.) posses 8. IN the sovereign work and unhinderable energy of God the Holy Ghost my hope is stably raised amidst all the opposition that arises to impede my way, or ever can arise to prevent my final arrival at the gates of everlasting day. He came in a supreme and voluntary manner at the first, unsolicited and unwished. He came with all the majesty of a God to take up his residence in my heart. He imparted spiritual and eternal life to my dead soul, and what creature power can destroy it? He dwells in me as the earnest of my inheritance, and who can hinder my coming into the full sion of it? His gracious indwelling, or work in my heart, is a meetness for the society of God, angels, and the saints in light. What will heaven be, but the perfection of that I now in part enjoy? Who is to cut me off from it, while the Almighty is my defence? "He that has wrought us for the self-same thing is God." He is the witness of my adoption-shall the Father and the child be everlastingly separated? He seals all the saints to the day of final redemption. He marks them to be redeemed from the power of the grave at the last day. He is also to quicken our mortal bodies. It is here my hope eagerly grasps for security and abounds, while I rest on the Almighty perfections of him who has begun the good work, a work He is able to carry on, being Omniscient, all-wise, all-powerful, all-gracious, and infallible. He is the mighty God-and who is to baffle his wisdom, paralyze his arm, hinder his conveyance, or upset his determinations? He is under economical engagements to bring all the objects of VOL. XIII.-No. 158.] F I infinite love and redemption purchase to the mansions of bliss. Has the Father loved the people eternally into an interest indissoluble-has the Lord of glory paid down the ransom price, and honourably obtained their liberty-and shall the Holy Ghost be deficient in performing his mighty part in the stupendous plan? Are the people to perish for want of divine energy? Is all the plans of heaven to be nonplussed, and the redemption of Jesus to fail for want of ability to gather home the family beloved? nay, the Holy Ghost will bring up and consummate all the vast purposes of eternity. He undertook in the covenant the care and guidance, the instruction and preservation of the church in her passage through the limits of time; all their security and welfare rests in his Almighty hand, and where could we be placed better for safety. It is on this weighty thought, faith rejoices, and hope abounds. firmly believe, were it possible for me to perish-a believer in Jesus, his word would be falsified, and the declarations of it proved to be notorious falsehoods; but it is a mere supposition. For while he is the Spirit-Jehovah, I rest with placid confidence and holy stillness of soul my everlasting safety on his omnipotent arm, his never-failing energy, his unstained faithfulness, and unceasing regard. But above all, the declarative honour and praise of the Holy Ghost is an invariable ground of support to my hope. Is all his glory to arise out of my complete salvation? Then will he let the devil triumph-will he let sin conquer-will he let ungodly men be victorious-will he let the plans of heaven be frustrated— the covenant be void? Yea, all that has been done for the church come to nought? and this would be the case, if my sin-hating soul was finally lost; but perish the thought, I am environed in his almighty perfections, encompassed in his everlasting arms, secured in the honors of his name, and wrapt up in the expressions of his covenant faithfulness world without end. 9. Another ground of the certain hope of arriving at the realms of blessedness is, that I am not under the law but under the reign of grace, being delivered from a natural state under the Eden covenant, into a new relation under the dominion of grace, therefore no more exposed to condemnation, because under the reign of immutable favor I am no more liable to degradation; I am not now under the law of God as my Maker and the Governor of the world, but as the God of all grace in a fatherly establishment in Christ Jesus; no curses nor punishment threatened now attend the precepts of his gracious lips, but it is He that loveth me, keepeth my commandments: there is no mandate issued forth in this spiritual kingdom, "He that sinneth shall die," because my Elder Brother has endured the curse, and borne the punishment of all my sins; so that nothing can arise in Zion but has been atoned for; so that over the gates of this kingdom is written, "There is no more curse." He is our peace; it is so established it can never be broken again. We are delivered from the wrath to come into a state of |