ness of sins. We have the name of Jesus, and no other, to meet together in. It is the name of Jesus, and that only, that we have given us, to plead before God in prayer; and what a plea His name must be, when we think that there is no name that God ever has or ever will so exalt. Let us not estimate our prayers according to their length, or their correctness of expression, but according to the simplicity and faith with which we plead the name of Jesus. Well, then, may we sing, "Oh! plead His name, His precious name, Will surely be our own." x. to Judas going out, we may partly see the condition of His heart. In Isaiah xlix. 4, He says "I have laboured in vain," &c.; but He goes on to say, "Though Israel be not gathered, I shall be glorious." Still He knew there would be a gathering-though rejected as the light and life by Israel, yet there would be another gatheringeven the gathering going on now. This brings into prominence that our Gospel commences at the Cross. So Paul speaks (1 Cor. xv.), “I declare unto you the Gospel, that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, that He rose again." We get the same thing in John xii. 24-"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground," &c. "I if I be lifted up will draw all men unto me." The attractive power is the cross. The question often before my own mind is, whether all our failure is not from want of keeping this is view. I think we may always be prepared for low practice when the Cross gets obscured. There must be low communion unless it springs from the Cross. If we want new communion, we must study "Jesus Christ and Him crucified." If drawn to Him it is as lifted up. The Cross has a double action, drawing to Christ, and gathering together in one. If gathered there, it must be in one. In the latter part of Eph. ii. we get the Holy Ghost's exposition of this gathering. The double action of the Cross of Christ and hindrances removed. We have access with confidence, also the point of peace one with another-Jew and Gentile one new man, one body. The Cross, the attractive power to gather one another. The moment we get away from it our gathering is no longer one. Many other things may be precious, but if they are added to the Cross of Christ as terms of communion, there cannot be this gathering together in one. The moment we add to it anything else we frustrate the end of Christ's death. In Hebrews x. 25, we have the gathering together. are to provoke unto love and good works. We have known another kind of provocation, "contention so sharp." May we bear this happier kind of provocation! We are exhorted not to forsake this gathering together. Because it is one of God's ways of teaching us. The pains of isolation are very great; kindred spirits long for the assembling in the upper chamber-not the stately temple-but out of it, may be from old associates and kindred; not pleasing ourTHERE is evident connection between these selves, but valuing the Cross whether, as that passages. Our Lord occupied a transition which we start from, or afterwards for which we position. He had been rejected as the Light-stand, we must be prepared to hold it fast. We now in John xi. He is rejected as the Life. Then comes His death. In John xii. 13, down to Judas going out, He is in a transition state; then, after Judas had gone out, the Lord let out His whole heart to His disciples. From chapter "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, It makes the wounded spirit whole, Gathering Together. NOTES OF AN ADDRESS. John xi. 52; Heb. x. 25; 2 Thess. ii. 1; John xvii. We all remember 30 years ago the Tracts for the Times. We had to contend against formalism. The last 10 years there has been more danger from the restlessness of men's spirits. The attack has not been on one side, but many sides. 66 Chaff." the Man Christ Jesus." One Still all has been against the person of Christ. I would exhort young evangelists and young Christians never to give way one inch. The VARIOUS symbols are used in the Scriptures, grand point is, Justification by blood. Remember to shew the way in which God will pour out this will be the gathering point in glory. We His wrath upon those who refuse to listen to the shall never forget in eternity that we are sinners loving accents of redeemed by blood. The same thing that meets of those symbols is the manner in which chaff our need here will be our study through eternity. is disposed of. Accordingly in Ps. i. 4, it is Some hearts have been broken by the divisions written, "The ungodly...... are like the chaff they have witnessed; who can say how much which the wind driveth away; therefore the uneach individual has contributed to division. godly shall not stand in the judgment." There What a relief is the prospect. (2 Thess. ii. 1.) the ungodly, or wicked, are likened to chaff. It is the same word as in Heb. x. 25-not for- We are also told that there is a day of judgment, saking the gathering; our prospect is gathering or winnowing, coming, when sinners shall not be together unto Him. Nothing will satisfy Him able to stand, but shall be as helpless as the but, "where I am, there ye shall be also." The chaff, which is driven away by the wind. And Holy Ghost is working in the present testimony as the separation of the grain from the chaff is to exalt the person and finished work of Christ. for ever, so shall it be with the children of God, The new converts speak of a living person shall enjoy eternally the presence of Him who and with the children of the wicked one; those each going direct to Him. Suppose a year hence some of us should be taken out of the loved them, and gave Himself for them, while world-what is the point? "Absent from the these shall be punished with everlasting destrucbody, present with the Lord." To the thief the tion from the presence of the Lord, and from Lord said, "Thou shalt be with me." May our the glory of His power. (2 Thess. ii. 7-10.) hearts now be lifted up to Him. In John xvii. With the fan in His hand Jesus will, in that latter part, I have been struck with the expression day, "throughly purge His floor, and gather His "perfected in one," not opinion, not doctrine, wheat (saints) into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff (wicked) with unquenchable fire." (Matt. iii. 12.) This is an allusion to the practice that prevailed amongst the Jews in ancient times. After the threshing of the grain, the chaff and other refuse were gathered together, and taken to the first convenient place and burned. (Is. v. 24.) but the essential oneness of children. Lines on the Close of 1863. THE The year has flown; And as it flies, the saints with joy are learning, They know not what the opening year is bringing: That He who tunes the angels' voice for singing, And known to Him is all their future walking; And will dispense in love their every blessing Oh! how their doubting hearts would faint at seeing But step by step His hand is gently leading, New blessings lie before them, and new sorrow, But soon will reach the glorious to-morrow, Then trust Him-trust Him for He knows the road; And all He giveth thee is for thy good: He lets thee see the daylight in His love, Try not to see the road but look above, But ere the great day of His wrath come, all who now "Bow the knee, and kiss the Son," shall be first gathered together unto HIMSELF in the air, and shall afterwards be seen coming forth with HIM at His appearing to thresh the nations, and to tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (1 Thess. iv. 13-18; Jude 14, 15; Rev. xix. 11-21.) Alas! for the chaff in that day! Driven from the face of the Judge, who shall describe its portion? Who can portray the burning with unquenchable fire? With all his boasted learning-with all his amelioration of the world-with all his scientific pursuits-with all his religious pomp and splendour-man, without God in the world, -with all these and many more-will be dealt with, in that day, as so much chaff. Can chaff resist the mighty wind? If it can, then shall sinners be able to stand in the judgment. That there will be a day of judgment is certain, because it is treated of in the Scriptures of the living God. (Jno. v. 28, 29; Acts xvii. 31; 2 Tim. iv. 1; and Rev. xix. 11-21; xx., are a few scriptures speaking of judgment. Many more not His only Son, but freely delivered Him up, and made Him sin, and dealt with Him as such, that all who believe in HIM might be made God's righteousness in Him. Since God, who is holy, and cannot look upon iniquity, loves the sinner, and delights in his forgiveness and then communion with Himself, He must first put away his sins in a way that shall exalt His holiness and righteousness, before that the sinner can be happy in communion with Him. This He did at the cross, because of the sinner's utter inability to do so. There sin was judged, and the sinner saved. might be added.) Both the commencement and close of Christ's reign upon earth, will be with judgment; and He reigns a thousand years. (Rev. xx. 4.) Consequently the day of judgment ranges over a wide period, and is not (as it is commonly supposed by many) a day of twentyfours hours only. At the appearing of Jesus, the living wicked will be judged; and during His reign there will be judgment, and at its close there will be a resurrection of the wicked dead, small and great. These shall stand before God, and shall be judged each according to his works. None who are then judged will be saved. Eternal perdition must be the result of It is not belief in doctrines that saves the sinGod's judgment of man. How could it be ner, it is faith in Jesus, the Son of God. "I otherwise with chaff? Yet, alas! it is feared know wном I have believed," said the Apostle many are deceiving themselves with the thought | Paul, writing to Timothy. The Philippian jailor that probably they may not be found worthy of the second death. What place, then, do they hope shall be theirs? Surely not heaven! Is chaff needed there? No. It is worthless every where. 66 was not told to believe certain important doctrines; he was told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that he might be saved. All who believe in Jesus have everlasting life (John vi. 47); they are no longer dead in trespasses and sins, nor can they come into judgment; but they have passed from death unto life. (John v. 24.) They belong to God's new creation, of which a risen Christ in glory is the beginning. (Rev. iii. 14.) They are planted in resurrection-soil, beside rivers of blessing. Turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, their only proper attitude is waiting for His Son from heaven, even Jesus, who has delivered them from the wrath that is coming. (1 Thess. i. 9, 10.) To be robed in the glory of resurrection with Jesus, to see Him as He is, and to be like Him, and with Him for ever,-this should be the earnest longing of the hearts of God's dear blood-bought children. Ye who are deceiving yourselves, or, more truly, are being deceived by the devil, flee from the coming wrath. Escape ere the storm bursts upon an astonished world. Escape to Calvary. Take refuge in the death of Jesus, the Saviour of sinners. Faith in Him who died, was buried, but is now risen and glorified, saves the vilest sinner. He is the only way to God. By His precious blood sinners are brought nigh to God. In Christ the sinner is safe; out of Christ he is exposed to everlasting ruin. Blessed are all they that take refuge in Jesus. God has provided for them a home, where enjoyment of the highest order will prevail-where their happiness will be as full and as lasting as eternity itself." Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Oh! what it has cost God to provide this home for sinners, even the richest gift heaven could produce. To this home, Eden is what a drop of water is to the ocean. Return, O wanderer, to thy home; Yes, return by Jesus, who is the only way to Rally round the Banner. MY friends, the time has come! The trumpet sounds. The coming of the Lord draws nigh. Let the people of God unite all their strength for the present crisis; and more, let them concentrate themselves with energy upon the point attacked by the enemy. The fierce conflict which raged some years ago around the tower of the Malakoff, showed that that fortress was the key of the war, and that upon it depended defeat or triumph. In the same way, the multiplied attacks directed in our day against the Bible indicate, that in the eyes of the enemy, the Bible is the tower which must before all things be abolished. Let none, by a fatal mistake, range themselves with those who would shake the edifice of our revelation. Holy Scripture and the Cross are the positions and the arms with which God furnishes us to carry the day. D'AUBIGNE. The Ten Lepers. LUKE xvii. 11-19. A LITTLE WORD FOR AN ANXIOUS SOUL. BELOVED reader, will you carefully consider this beautiful little story? It fits your case. It sets before you the gracious ways of Him who is love; and it gives you a pattern of the faith in Him that saves. The Lord Jesus is still seeking sinners (Matt. ix. 13); and His one business with the sinner, for the present, is to save him (1 Tim. i. 15.) He exercises no judgment yet; His mission just now is purely, simply mercy. And no thought could be more foolish, or more untrue, than to think that He who came as Jehovah's servant, to shew the Father's grace, will cast out a single soul that comes seeking mercy. Not to dwell on minor details, all of which are full of blessed encouragement to you, let us look at verse 14. They had cried for help to Jesus, and when He saw them, instantly He answered. Note this. WHEN? Not a moment's delay, "for He shall deliver the needy when he erieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper." (Ps. lxxii. 12.) These lepers knew little of the Saviour. Faith cometh by hearing, and outside the camp they could not have heard much. One of them is not even a Jew. So they call Him, not Son of God, nor even Son of David, but only "Jesus, Master." No matter: it is not the amount of knowledge, nor the depth of conviction, that obtains the blessing; but if a soul know enough, and be convicted enough to send it in fact To JESUS, the grace of Jesus and the faithfulness of Jesus will meet him in mercy. Anxious soul, it is not Jesus that is keeping you knocking so long at his door. The moment a prodigal starts on his journey homeward, the Father sees him, and meets him, and kisses him a GREAT WAY OFF. Note specially the very words of Jesus to the lepers, "Go, shew yourselves to the priests." They are to go to Jerusalem, fifty miles or more away; they are to shew themselves as healed lepers to the priests, and claim to be officially declared clean. would have taken offence at His word, and so they would have lived and died as lepers. But they believed, however feebly; and so, with many doubtings, perhaps, they started on their journey. It was quite enough; Jesus made the word, He bade them speak a truth, and so it came to pass, that AS THEY WENT, as they were in the very act of going, THEY WERE CLEANSED. Beloved, anxious reader, Is not this your very case? Are not you too a leper? and have not you too raised your cry for healing? And has not Jesus too, with equal readiness, bid you go into the Father's presence, and shew yourself as a healed leper whom He hath cleansed, as a poor lost soul whom He hath washed white in His own blood, and whom He hath bidden to take its place among the Father's children? But though He bid you do this, unlike these lepers, you have not done it, and just because you have not done it, you are at this hour still an unhappy, seeking, uncleansed leper. Alas, beloved, unlike these lepers, you stumble at His word. You keep looking at your unhealed leprous sores, and feeling that if He would heal them first, you would gladly go and shew yourself afterwards. But it may not be. Jesus says, "Go!" and if you persist in staying back till you are first healed, then, let me in love say it plainly, you will live and die a poor unhealed leper, and be finally cast out among the unclean. Go at once! go because He bids you, go just as you are, as cold, as dead, as distant as ever, go into the Father's presence, and in the name of Jesus, take your place among the Father's forgiven and blood-washed children; and in your case too, as in that of these ten lepers, it shall surely come to pass, that AS YOU ARE GOING, you shall be cleansed. The Coming of the Lord for His NOTES OF AN ADDRESS ON 1 THESS. IV. 16-18. OUR subject this evening is--The Coming of the Lord to receive the Church to himself. God's love, dear friends, is the source of all our blessedness. God's love has been manifested in Christ. Jesus crucified for sinners shows what God's love is to sinners. That precious blood is How very trying! What! go and announce the mighty lever which lifts us up into God's that they are healed, when in truth they are not presence-that precious blood is the foundation healed at all. And not only announce it, but, of all our hope. There is no hope for any soul in proof that they are really healed, they are to not resting on the blood of Christ. By that hold up their poor rotting limbs, as leprous and blood we have peace. By that blood we are as loathesome as ever. Only think of it! And justified. By that blood we are sanctified. By Jesus, bidding them do this, without explanation, that blood we have boldness to enter into the goes and leaves them. Ah, what a sharp trial holiest. All these blessings, and more, we have of faith! But Jesus ever, EVER tries the soul now. We are spiritually alive. We have exHe blesses. perienced a spiritual resurrection. We have If these men had had no faith in Him, they passed from death unto life. The same Jesus who hung on the cross, entered heaven, and makes intercession for us, is longing to come again. I have met some who say His coming is a spiritual coming; but that we have already-" Christ in you the hope of glory." Others look upon His coming as death; but Paul "We which are alive and remain." says, Others again look upon it as judgment; but there is not a word about judgment here. It is CHRIST HIMSELF. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven." Beloved friends, when He rose from the grave He took particular pains to teach His disciples it was himself. He said, "Handle me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have." Feeling and seeing Him ought to have been enough; but He said, "Have ye any meat?" and more than that, He began at Moses and all the prophets, and expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. He led them out as far as to Bethany, and lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came to pass while He blessed them, that He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. Even after He had passed behind the cloud, the gazing disciples were told by the heavenly messengers, "He shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Can anything be more plain? Can anything be more simply proved? that Jesus has personally and visibly gone into heaven, and is so coming. 66 Jesus, we should long to go higher, and higher, "The Bride eyes not her garment, But on my King of grace. Of Immanuel's land." "He prepares a place for us." (John xiv.) He does everything for us. He went into the grave for us-rose for us- -will come again for us. We are now waiting for Christ's return from heaven. May we abide in His love. If our hearts forget His love, we shall not be able to say, Come, Lord Jesus! God does not Forget. MANY years ago, an old man, (says Dr. Taylor, who vouches for the truth of the whole of this remarkable narrative,) a devoted Christian commenced a prayer-meeting, which is still continued, having resulted in many and glorious fruits. As a pastor, it was my privilege often to be with him, particularly during his last illness. In several visits made to his house, I found him on the Mount, looking over to the land of promise. Finding nothing seeming to mar his comfort or interrupt his joy, I determined to satisfy myself whether there was nothing that gave him any trouble of heart. On entering his chamber, I asked him in simple terms, "How are you this morning?" "O, sir," he said, “I am well. Why should I not be well? I am near home. Yes, I am near home; near hea The first point here is, "the Lord himself shall descend;" the second point is, we shall be caught up to meet Him. It is a common mistake to think we must all die. The Word of God says, we shall not all sleep;" "we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord inven." I took the opportunity to ask him, "My the air." Nothing can be more certain than that dear sir, has there been nothing of late resting some believers will be living when Jesus comes. upon your heart as an occasion of trouble?" He We may fall asleep ere the Lord comes. When spoke not a word, but turned his face towards Jesus comes, those who have fallen asleep in the wall, and lay so between five and ten minutes; Him will be raised and changed. "This cor- then he rolled his head back upon his pillow, with ruptible shall put on incorruption, and this his face towards me; and I saw the tears streammortal shall put on immortality." We know ing down his cheeks. "O, yes, sir," said he, that the departed spirits which are now with" there is one great trouble." What is it?" I Jesus, are waiting for their glorified bodies, to inquired, "speak your whole mind to me freely." meet the Lord at His coming. Oh! it will be a "Well," said he, "I have ten children, and I have glorious thing, when these bodies of humiliation prayed to God for more than thirty years, that I shall be changed-changed and fashioned like might see some of them converted before I died; unto His glorious body. but He has denied me. They are all grown up as you know, but are not yet Christians." do you get over that trouble?" I asked. "Ah!" he replied, "I get over it as I get over all other troubles; by rolling it over upon Christ. I know that God means to answer my prayers. He will do it; I know He will; my children will be converted." And mark-it is Christ himself who is coming for us-not a mighty host of angels-but Christ himself. We look not for glory, or beauty, or blessing apart from Christ himself. He himself bare our sins-He himself intercedes for usHe himself shall come again. Nothing but being with Christ can satisfy us. If we were transported to the third heaven, and did not see 66 "How This man has been in his grave for fifteen |