POETRY. PARAPHRASE OF A SENTIMENT IN A SERMON DELIVERED BY THE REV. H. HEAP, SUNDAY EVENING, JAN. 25, 1829. WITH more than stoical neglect, With holy scorn would I reject The prize of popularity, Its blaze would be no lure to me, Its loud applause would censure be; If for its charms I must resign The principle of grace divine. The meanest wretch that e'er was born: Its glittering rays could ne'er controul, In that blest land beyond the skies, I'd rather grovel in the dark, Endow'd with learning's wond'rous lore, A rich, unfailing, mighty store; And yet, when I shall cease to be, Oh! what a paltry recompence The fleeting things of wit and sense, And tell how far God's grace divine, February 8, 1829. B. S. S. "THY MAKER IS THY HUSBAND." AWAKE each waiting heart and sing, Who from his throne beyond the Lov'd and espous'd the chosen race, From everlasting he betroth'd, His church in love's peculiar ties; Nor shall she from his heart be mov'd, Though Sinai's curse upon her lies. Down from the world of bliss he came, To bear her dreadful guilt away; His love in life and death the same, Tho' she from him had gone astray. By love and blood his church he claim'd, Woolwich, Jan. 6. 1829. Nor was his rightful suit denied ; For in his word he is proclaim'd, The husband of his ransom❜d bride. Let doubts and fears be heard no more, Nor sin thy trembling faith remove; Since now 'tis known from shore to shore, Thy husband is the God of love. Sweet name; in which my spirit boasts, For all my needs shall be supplied; My tongue shall sing the Lord of Hosts, The husband of his favour'd bride. Thee would I sing, Immanuel, God! 1 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." "Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." 1 John v. 7. Jude 3. OCTOBER, 1829. (For the Spiritual Magazine.) THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST. THE church of Christ will be under everlasting obligations to the great Head of the church for the ministry and epistles of the apostle. Paul. The glad tidings which he proclaimed have very often cheered and refreshed the Lord's distressed children; and the unsearchable riches that he preached, have enriched the Lord's poor people. He received a special commission to preach these riches among the gentiles, Eph. iii. 8. Jehovah, who possesses all riches and blessedness in himself, determined to reveal and bestow them upon creatures; a royal council is held in heaven-a plan devised- -means ordained to convey, and persons appointed to receive these riches. And we may accommodate that beautiful text in Deuteronomy xxxii. 34. to our subject: "Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?" Jehovah the Father has appointed his beloved Son, in whom he is well pleased, the great bank or magazine to hold or contain all the riches he ever will bestow; out of his fulness the saints receive. We read of the rich mercy of God, how very suitable to those made miserable by sin, which is a plague, yea, a perpetual plague, which gives pain the most distressing, and produces poverty the most deplorable; and will end in torment inconceivable, unless this rich mercy intervenes and prevents. But it is the essential riches of the Lord Jesus Christ, as God over all for ever blessed, (and who makes all blessed who are complete in VOL. VI.-No. 66. R him) which makes all his mediatorial acts so rich and so efficacious. And we may begin with the love of Christ, which appears to be the moving cause of these riches being developed-they lay hid in God; and as riches denote abundance, and these being so immense and infinite, wisdom infinite was employed, and most admirably displayed, in forming the heavens, the earth, all the beauties of nature, the wonders of creation, and the blessings of providence, as preparatory to the great unfolding of mercy's magazine. The ponderous platform of this globe is erected by power boundless, and to be peopled by numbers infinite, brought on at appointed periods, in a vast variety, and placed on spots selected, either in clusters or remote from society; but are all in one degraded mass-they are, without exception, through union to a parent fallen, most awfully fallen, which drove him, and all succeeding him, to a distance dreadful. Oh! what a revolution we here see produced by one act of man, made happy and holy, but now miserable and sinful!— a friend becomes an enemy inveteratecreation convulsed--the beauties of paradise all blighted, and Jehovah's image—man, a complete wreck! But now the rich river—that water of life, begins to flow from the throne of God and the Lamb; its first stream is to flow to Eden, and brings brighter blessings to man than he had lost. The riches that rolled down this river are, 1. abundant in quantity-2. everlasting in duration-3. far superior in enjoyment to all earthly good-4. and all lead to God, from whom they all originated. 1. Their abundance. The many millions that have received, and are now enjoying them in heaven and upon earth, prove they are unsearchable. What many and mighty sinners have found salvation through a Saviour's life and death!-what dreadful deep-dyed guilt has all been taken away by Jesu's blood alone! Complete atonement Christ has made, and all the outward and inward iniquity of the land was removed in one day. When Christ, the great gospel sacrifice, put out the fire of heaven's wrath due to man's sin, all the wounds made by man's wickedness are healed here by this royal remedy. And out of these riches so abundant, the saints of God not only find salvation for their immortal souls, peace with God that passeth all understanding, the removal of all guilt, and redemption from the curse, but they find themselves wrapt up in the rich righteousness of a rich God. And here no condemnation nor curse can reach them in their resplendant dress; outshining all the angels, they draw nigh to Zion's Sovereign, and touch his golden sceptre; claim the high privilege of sinners saved-of princes pardoned-of promises proclaimed-of ancient alliance-of grace union- the marriage bond-earnests often givenCalvary's transactions-God the Holy Spirit's former witnessing, with all he has done in working all that glorious work within; the prospect they have had by faith into heaven, with the saving and overwhelming sights of Bethlehem's blessed babe, wrapt up in types, and promises, and ordinances, all to prove, and do prove, these riches are abundant -they are unsearchable. 2. Everlasting in duration. What a contrast to all the riches of earth and time! Look at Adam's pristine paradise, with all its unpolluted pleasures, its various beauties-all earthly good combined! grand and delightful it must have been, as the production of a God; majesty marked on every flower, perfection in every plant; innocence and order reigning in and over all :-no bitter root to spread its bitter bane, nor serpent's sting to poison or to pain-nor sin in any frightful form to disease or to distress; but harmony, happiness, and holiness abounding. But how soon all dashed, by one dreadful deed of rebellion!-scarce a week had rolled on, ere all these earthly beauties were blighted. The curse comes down from heaven's Judge, with all its dreadful consequences, and mar's creation's comforts for ever. All earthly pleasures are poisoned now by sin, and happiness here is but of short duration. Isaac's one hundred fold profit, resulting from the blessing of the Lord, Genesis xxvi. 12. and all the greatness and stores that his covenant God gave him, must be succeeded with something painful. The philistines envy him-stop up the wells, and desire him to depart. Then the Lord appears again with a sweet word, to cheer his fearful heart: "I am with thee." Then he builds another, pitches his tent, and thinks about happiness and home. But no; he is annoyed again; his domestic peace disturbed; and he finds that he must look beyond time, and far away from this world, for pleasures per manent. The royal psalmist, David-Israel's sweet singer, had a large share of worldly wealth allotted him; favoured with the faith of God's elect; often enabled to read his interest clear in his heavenly Shepherd's care and great salvation; frequently drank a draught of mercy's river on his way home, and lifted up his head. But many days of darkness, domestic discords, mental miseries, awful backslidings, and national broils, made up the sad mixture in his cup, and he had to cry, with many a mourning pilgrim, "The sorrows of my heart are enlarged; Oh! bring thou me out of my distresses." That holy monarch, Hezekiah, was abundantly blessed in his basket and store, 2 Kings xx. 13. he had houses containing precious things, treasures of gold and silver; but he is told he shall not possess them, but all to be pillaged, and carried into an enemy's country, and a messenger sent with this message, "Thus saith the Lord, thou shalt die and not live." But not only do all our earthly flowers fade and riches rust, but our spiritual enjoyments, our most elevated frames, soon droop, and almost die, and only the unsearchable riches of Christ are of eternal duration. The rich and precious blood of Jesus will never lose its virtue-abundant to pardon, and purify, and make peace. It will never lose its power. The rich revenues of Immanuel's power will at all times be sufficient to defend the followers of the Lamb from all the attacks of sin and Satan; and the rich intercession of the Son of God, heaven's High Priest, will ever be all-sufficient to make the poorest pilgrim and all his poor services truly acceptable to his holy and heavenly Father. |