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WNJ - ."^Vs^^-/' w ~ - - ^ ^. . 1S52 As years progress, increased admiration of the Lord's divine faithfulness and mo-t jrrariou-* d";ilings Review of the past, 'as to its i rials and temptations Contem- plations of the future Jehovah's covenant engagements holding good for the future, as well as in the past. 75 1853 Illustrations from the Sacred Word in proof that " the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong " No ground whatever for human pride or crea- ture-boast Believers congratulated upon the fact of the distance already traversed in the wilderness, and they so much the nearer home England's folly in her so fraternizing with Rome. ... ... ... 83 1854 Notwithstanding the trials of the departed year, no failure in regard to divine support The church called to suffer, in some small measure, with its once suffering but now everlastingly-triumphant and glorified Head Appeal to the reader, upon the ground of daily and diversified experiences Hath aught failed of the great and gracious promises, notwithstanding? Editorship; its pains and its pleasures: the Lord alone the Sustainer. 90 1855 "Your fathers, where are they ? the prophets, do they live for ever? 1 ' their present testimony, as among the glorified, in contrast to that when sojourners in the pre- sent sin-steeped world How sti m til ating and encouraging would be their counsel to their followers on pilgrimage through a vale of tears A word of remonstrance with such as, though professing godliness, have their hearts too much set upon the paltry and the perishing of this poor dying world The many ways in which men may be of service in their day and generation. ... 100 1856 Enemies, as well as troubles, essential in the economy of salvation No store in temporals, as well as no stock in grace Difficulties and deliverances invariably united So little able to trust where we cannot trace The brevity of time : how near home we may be, ere long how near home we must be Word of exhortation The proposed attack upon the Irish Church A treacherous assault upon the British Constitution. ... ... 110 1857 The prophet Daniel's confession ours: " To us," said he, " belongeth confusion of face " Who, in retracing the Lord's wonderful forbearance and marvellous deal- ings but must say the same ? The retracings of His boundless love What an astounding fact that, in the counsels of eternity, He should set His heart upon such worthless worms of the earth as His people, in and of themselves, are The blessing of trial, the boon of ene- mies ! The love-whispers of Jesus ! " Let them curse, but bless Thou !" His marvellous provision in the very presence of enemies The wisdom from above that is CONTENTS. needed for conducting a Magazine Encompassed by dangers : personally repeatedly threatened with assas- sination : the subject of unutterable peace and conso- lation, nevertheless. ... ... ... ... 118 1858 A. precious love-whisper, "Thou shalt see greater things than these " The seeming impossibility of rea- lization, the gracious promise fulfilled, notwithstanding Pleas and entreaties for the spiritual welfare of one's children Ardent desires for usefulness in the ministry The "greater things" in reserve, when "He that shall come will come, and will not tarry " What ground for "following on to know the Lord," and ' casting off the works of darkness." ... ... ... 131 1859 'I'he blessedness of proving and testing the Lord : His divine c impassion, all-sufficiency, and never-failing faithfulness The certain security and unchangeable blessedness of. the Church in her Beloved JSolenm as- pect of (he times Remarkable testimony by a writer in Blackwood's Magazine Sundry other quotations from the Record and other journals The belief of the Times newspaper, that we are upon the eve of a most momen- tous crisis. ... ... ... ... ... 138 1860 The covenant and what it contains : its comprehen- siveness and certainty Our personal knowledge of it, in regard to its time-operations: its bearing upon eter- nity, in all its rich and blessed developments, already seen and rejoiced in by faith. ... ... ... 148 1861 Review of the past a call for increased gratitude, as years advance The testing and proving of divine faith- fulness, The ministry, involving suffering Our short- sightedness, as creatures, a claim for childlike trust and dependence upon an unerring Guide and Preserver. 157 1862 Changing scenes necessitating a confiding in an un- changing God The conflict severe, the conquest by no means uncertain, nevertheless Fresh developments in proof that the last days are upon us The increased hos- tility of men in general to the truths of divine reve- lation The apostacy of the Bishop of Natal Our early companion, the late JOHN DOUDNKT LANE and his re- monstrance with Dr. COLENSO The children of God should be seeking to be believers, not reasoners. ... 164 1863 The Remembrances of the Bochims, the Bethels, and the little hills Mizar, as known on pilgrimage Divine all-sufficiency a changeless feature of the entire course The dangers and the deliverances blessedly combined Exhortations to brotherly love and forbearance The testimony of an aged minister The mercy that the morrow is hidden from our view Jehovah f "I will" and "they shall" the ground of a sacred stillness. 157 CONTENTS. 1864 The Lord's method of dealing, in order that His children should relax their hold upon the world All He does is in wisdom and love The Saturday night of time probably much nearer than we imagine The Lord's command that His people be not terrified The momentous question, " How shall I stand in that great day?" 183 1865 Completion of the one hundredth volume of the Gos- pel Magazine The psalmist's review of his eventful career Kept so dependent as to be perpetually looking to and leaning upon the Lord Zeal for the divine honour upon the part of His children Blessing and praise to His great and ever-adorable name. ... 190 18Q6 The rapid development of events in these last days God's righteous judgments abroad in the land : a rebuke to the pride and luxury of the age Our rulers fostering Popery The remark of a foreign Count upon the fact of England's aiding the Papacy, whilst other countries were seeking to throw off its yoke The Bishops at fault, in common with our Statesmen, in frittering away our national privileges The true Protestant zeal and stead- fastness of good old GEORGE the THIRD A LUTHER and a KNOX wanted in these days of compromise and ex- pediency Worldliness and formality among the Non- conformists ... ... ... ... ... 196 1867 A wish to contemplate in silent awe, rather than to offer an opinion upon, the present state of things Faith's province to bow to the Divine will of Him "who ruleth in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth" The mind stayed upon the Sacred Word The 46th Psalm recommended as the believer's watchword. 203 1868 The assimulation of the destruction of Jerusalem with the end of the world The signs of the times, as betokening the fulfilment of prophecy, failing to arouse the carnal and indifferent Political Dissenters aiding and abetting Popery, in their antagonism to the Church of England : a suicidal policy The testimony of one of the old correspondents of the Gospel Magazine. 206 1869 If a day or an hour adds to the vast list of incon- ceivable wisdom, love, and compassion, what does a whole year witness? a becoming consideration for the closing year The patriarch's exclamation at hearing that Joseph was yet alive, a stimulus for the like tes- timony to the goodness and faithfulness of Jehovah The great fact that "ALL things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called ac- cording to His purpose" Debtors to rich and free and sovereign grace from first to last. ... ... 210 1870 Amid the ever-varying circumstances of the time-state, satisfaction only to be found in the covenant verities CONTENTS. of an unchanging and all-sufficient Jehovah The con- fession* and the pleadings of the prophets of old Flesh and faith ever at variance The battle not the creature's, but the Lord's The rapid development of the Divine Will in the times in which we live The spread of Romanism and serai-Romanism only subservient to the Divine purpose Editorial appeal, in the probability of its being our last Annual Address. ... ... 217 1871 The prophet's and the apostle's lamentations over the waywardness and the wantonness of their fellow- men Personal, parental, and ministerial sorrow, upon the part of parents and ministers The men who lack this sorrow by no means to be envied As a rule, what is the bearing of the children of the present day towards their parents? Do they not regard them as holding the crude ideas and entertaining the prejudices of a bygone and unenlightened period? The popular cry, " Where is the promise of His coming ?" only a con- firmation of the prophetic Word The additional ac- countability of the present age, because of the rapid record of events, in contrast to the delay of such records in past times The Laodicean state of the Churches at the present time ; Romanism, Ritualism, and Rationalism, in the Church of England; Formality, coldness, and disaffection among the Dissenting communities How little brotherly love and true spiritual harmony and oneness of heart in operation. ... ... ... 224 1872 The present state of both Church and nation only the natural outcome of circumstances; The Act of '29 the precursor of subsequent declension The fallacy of supposing that the Papacy is changed in its character: withdraw restraint, and Rome will again appear in all her true colours Protestant England given over to a judicial blindness The Jesuits aided and abetted to England's destruction The charge of the Prime Minis- ter being a Papist never contradicted Dissenters fail- ing to see that, having obtained equality, the Church of Rome will never be satisfied with aught less than absolute supremacy The Bible virtually excluded by our national system of education ; no official examination in Scripture A "grand concert" announced from the pulpit of a large dissenting chapel, as the prelude to the sermon Jehovah's purposes must stand, in spite of all opposition The Lord's people safe, come what may ... 233 1873 Some who read the Preface of last year now before the throne! Their happy and blessed estate If the Lord had need of them, He hath equal need of us, if so be we feel our need of Him, and if He be "all our salvation, and all our salvation and all our desire" . Heart-clieering contemplations these '. If, from time to CONTENTS. time, we rejoice in the fact of "being a day's march nearer home!" how additionally blessed the thought of that day being multiplied by 365! The present the only period in which we shall have the opportunity of "shew- ing forth the praises of Him who hath called us out of darkness into His marvellous light.'' How great the wonder that the Lord should accept the services of such poor ever-erring mortals as we are The tender love, the gentle appeal, the loving persuasion, so effective Remarkable testimony of a converted Roman Catholic priest His appearance before the Inquisition and fear- less yea, most glorious defence ... ... 242 1874 The fourth chapter of the Second Corinthians and its precious teaching The remarkable "yet," as a con- necting link between sadness and satisfaction difficulty and deliverance Physical prostration morning by morn- ing, daily renewing, notwithstanding "Day by day the manna fell, Oh, to learn this lesson well !" How true the promise, in its rich and blessed fulfilment, "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy days so shall thy strength be " A time for fasting, as well as for feasting, in the experience of the Lord's dear children How many a day of anticipated desertion, if not destruction, has become a red-letter day in the pil- grim's note-book Would that we could ever feel that precious truth, " the battle is not your's, but the Lord's, What becomes of the threatening Sennacheribs and Rabshakehs with whom the Lord's "Jeremiahs" are, from time to time, brought in contact ? Mark how the Lord comes to the relief of His poor affrighted child, and substitutes the "Me" for the "thee" The brethren exhorted to take their stand upon their watch-tower. 261 1875 The flight of time "Men counting all men mortal but themselves" Men's minds so entirely engrossed with the attainment of wealth, or name or fame, and yet summoned hence as in a moment ! The present state of unrest, nationally, commercially, socially The spread of infidelity The experimental more profitable than the controversial writings of men of God Exhorta- tions to brotherly kindness and forbearance Essentials one thing, non-essentials another The dead-lift from on high which poor sensible sinners, from time to time, stand in need of. ... ... ... ... 259 1876 The flight of time ! each passing year leaving one the less Could we foresee the future, how much would it detract from the operations of a simple child-like trust and dependence Did we know the trials or afflic- tions that awaited us, how depressing would be the consequence How sweet to repose upon a Father's CONTENTS. bosom, and to fall into a Father's arms Christ's per- sonal ministry and His cheering and encouraging illus- trations from human relationships and familiar objects The more we are enabled to contemplate covenant union, the greater our contentment and the more child- ilke our repose The blessedness of a mind stayed upon God. ... 269 1877 Suffering for the Word's sake Contentment there- with greatly to be desired Well satisfied to be deemed " fools for Christ's sake " No escaping the cross whilst the "will" and the "shall" of Jehovah stand good The Lord's jealousy for His Word Every question or scruple or objection, in regard to the Sacred Word, be- tokens a spirit of hostility against its Divine Author The need of a " get thee behind me, Satan," with the " It is written " God, in His own good time, the Inter- terpreter of His own Word The debt of gratitude due to Him for His continued goodness and mercy. 275 1373 Increasingly solemn the aspect of the times, as year succeeds year The Scriptures foreshowing this Such as "sow to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption," whilst " he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting " The sower in tears the reaper in joy Scoffers in the last days foretold The present state of Christendom clearly foreshown in Holy Scripture Faith, as a rule, set aside in the present day : the Senses pandered to Mere ceremonial indulged in, to the exclusion of the spiritual and supernatural Men pre- sumptuously assuming the office of the priesthood, and blasphemously pretending .to supplement or perpetuate the sacrifice once and for ever offered The doom that awaits such daring pretenders The positive certainty of Jehovah's will and purpose in due time being accom- plished As in the sequel the Lord Christ came, as the long-promised Messiah, so in like manner shall He come, according to 'His promise, "the second time, without sin, unto salvation." ... ... ... ... 281 1379 Grateful review of a well-nigh forty years' Editor- ship The forbearing way in which the Lord Jehovah hath borne with one's manners in the wilderness The plea at His footstool, " for Thy name's sake " The ar- guments of both Moses and Joshua, when importuning the mercy-seat on behalf of Israel The patriarch's plea, on the ground of Jehovah's covenant promise The psalmist's comfort, in the midst of all his anxious sur- roundings The Lord's servants dying in faith, in the absence of sight and sense Jehovah's covenant pledge, come what may, " My people shall never be ashamed " 291 1830 Review of a forty years' Editorship : astounded in the contemplation of the Lord's marvellous mercy and CONTENTS. superabounding loving-kindnesses Did men in general only know Him, in a personal and experimental way, how different would be their conclusions as to both Je- hovah's character and dispensations The worldling's strange opinions of the Christian easily accounted for, upon the ground of his want of knowledge of the two- fold character of the child of God, what he is as the son of a fallen and corrupt head, and what he is, in his new creatureship, as the adopted son of the Second Adam, Christ, the living Head of His own redeemed mystic body, the Church Light thrown upon the believer and his earthly course, by a consideration of the character and wanderings of Israel of old, detained as they were in the wilderness, in order that they might know what was in their hearts, and what the patience, forbearance, and long-suffering of Him who had undertaken their desperate cause, in rescuing them from their captivity in Egypt, and conducting them and preserving and providing for them, during their forty years' wilderness wanderings. ... ... ... ... ... 298 1881 The aspect of the present times clearly betokening the fact, that, as a nation, we are rapidly tending towards some tremendous crisis Jehovah, in His word, govern- ment, and authority, set at nought The solemn re- sponsibility devolving upon such as, in their families, friendships, and associations, have personally seen the operations and issue of true and vital godliness, in those who have been sustained by the God of all grace under trials and afflictions, losses and crosses, and have at length left their dying testimonies in support of the goodness, loving-kindness, and mercy of Him who has finally "brought them off more than conquerors through Him that loved them " The grave responsibility of such personal knowledge insisted upon, as leaving the pos- sessors of such knowledge without excuse, in the event of their in the least wise yielding to any of the wily arguments, or delusive and treacherous sophistries, of the men who reject the solemn verities of God's moat holy Word, and whom that Word declares shall be " brought into desolation as in a moment, and utterly con- sumed (even) with terrors." ... ... ... 303 1882 The Apostle Paul's earnest exhortation to his son Timothy touching the signs and tokens of the last days Appeal to the reader in proof of the signs of the times confirming the apostle's testimony Is not the re- ligion of the day, as a rule, " the form of godliness, but destitute of the power." Paul's counsel to Timothy, under the circumstances, " Preach the Word " The Apostle Peter's testimony harmonizing with that of his brother-apostle One's deepened belief that great and CONTENTS. solemn events are at hand; yea, at our very doors The Church of England tottering as a national estab- lishment; and those outside her pale, in a species of infatuated blindness, aiding and abetting in her down- fall, ignorant of or indifferent to the great fact, that Rome will at once rise, and, in her tyrannizing spirit and characteristic audacity, assert her right to absolute supremacy and dominion Some of the leading and most prominent of Nonconformists of past days testifying to the changeless character of Romanism A personal trembling in the contemplation of the legacy which is about to be left to the rising generation. ... 309 1383 If*, as Editor, forty years ago and upwards, we took up our pen with hesitation, what may well be our feel- ings now that we have long passed the allotted period of threescore years and ten ? The comforting consider- ation of " our times being in His hand," and under the gracious control of "a covenant ordered in all things and sure" In spite of all fears and apprehensions to the contrary, the FUTURE must be as wisely and as well planned and provided for as the PAST No knowledge, experience, or attainments of the creature can suffice to supersede the ever-constant need of wisdom, grace, and strength, as day by day imparted from on high A grate- ful review of the past the " Ebenezer " again set up Rejoicing on behalf of those that have "finished their course," and reached their eternal inheritance Satisfaction in contemplating the fact, that " they with- out us should not be made perfect " Tbe signs of the times yet more and more confirmatory of the last days The superficial and unreal character of religion (so called) of the present times The church and the world united The lamentable lack of union and brotherly for- bearance among those who have a scriptural hope of spending a blessed eternity together, and unitedly join- ing in the one all-glorious song of "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father ; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." 317 PREFACE. IT has occurred to the Writer of the following pages, that, in the course of their perusal, such readers as are familiar with the GOSPEL MAGAZINE may think that the Editor has taken somewhat higher ground than what he is wont to occupy in his papers, from month to month, in that periodical. Hence they may probably conclude that the contents of this work are so much the less cal- culated to " strengthen the weak hands, and to confirm the feeble knees," and to "say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong; fear not." The Author, however, would remind the reader, that these addresses have been written at intervals, not of a month merely, but of a whole year! Therefore, they present, from time to time, a summary of the preceding year's mercies and manifold benefits and lovingkindnesses ; and these call for " Ebenezers," or stones of help, to be bet up as pilgrims arrive at a fresh stage, or halt- ing-place, in his wilderness course. At which seasons they have indeed abundant reason to " thank God and take courage." These halting places may be regarded as ports at.which the ship, on its homeward-bound voyage, calls to replenish her stores, and of which stoppage the passengers avail themselves for a little change of scene and recreation on shore, so that they may pursue their after-course with revived hope and expectation. Again, these halts by the way may be compared to the travel- ler's attaining some height or eminence on his journey, from which he is enabled to retrace the track by which he has come, and to catch at least a glimpse of the path he has yet to traverse. Hence such spots must at once be both satisfactory and stimulating. When the proportion of a whole year is considered as bearing upon a life which the psalmist emphasizes as limited to "three-score years and ten," or occasionally PREFACE. "four-score years" how much does that year embrace! What motives for thankfulness does such a period sug- gest, as having absorbed so large a proportion of the trials and afflictions inseparable from life, and which will never have to be re-encountered. Fresh there may yea, there must be ; but the same never ! Well, there- fore, may the pilgrim take high ground the ground of gratitude and hope and expectation as he reaches each mile-stone on his journey onward and homeward to " that city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God" that " inheritance which is incorrupti- ble, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." At such pauses and periods, he may well exult in the mercy, "Now is our salvation nearer than when we [first) be- lieved." So much of the journey has been accomplished, and so much the less remains! Ah, this may well stimulate and encourage ! In the course of this work here and there will be found similar statements, or the same Scriptures quoted. This may be accounted for from the fact, that the Au- thor has given expression, from time to time, to what has there and then been pressing upon his own mind, as suggested by passing scenes, or the aspect which events, in their progress and development, assume. In thus recording his impressions at the time of writing, he has very rarely turned to a past annual address, with a view of refreshing his memory. But, as the reader pe- ruses these annual addresses, as now brought within the compass of the following pages, if the Writer mistakes not, each reader will perceive a uniformity in the Au- thor's belief, not merely as to the perfect security of the Lord's own eternally- chosen and redeemed family, and of the positive certainty of "all things working to- gether for their good," but the reader will likewise dis- cover, that there has been an equal uniformity in the Author's conviction as to the solemn events which await both the church and the world. It was the strength of this conviction that led to the reiteration of the Lord's own soothing and encouraging words, " When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh." PREFACE. Moreover, with respect to repetition, the Author would remind the reader of the apostle's words, when he says, " Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by put- ting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover, I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance," (2 Peter i. 12 15.) Deeply convinced as I am that most momentous events are at hand, I am the more anxious to leave behind me words that, under God, may strengthen and encourage those who may live to be the eye-witnesses of those events. May such have grace given them to take heed to the word of the Lord, as expressed by the prophet Isaiah (chapter xxvi, 20th and 21st verses.) "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee : hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the in- dignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity : the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." The Author cannot close, without recording h is deep sense of indebtedness to the Most High for His marvellous mercy, in that he hath, by His good and gracious hand, been strengthened and sustained for so many years in the arduous and responsible work of Editorship. The pre- sent volume, as the reader is aware, embraces a period of four-and-forty years. The fact of a periodical having been conducted solely by one and the same person for such a time, is at most, if not altogether, unprecedented. Hence, such fact calls the more forcibly for the recognition and acknowledgment of the good and gracious hand of the Lord God Almighty. The mind of the Writer is the more deeply imbued with the conviction of what a debt of gratitude he owes to the Lord, for His marvellous loving-kindness and mercy, when he remembers the extreme weakness and heart-and- flesh failure under which his labours have been pursued. PREFACE. No sooner was his first Number issued nearly four-and- forty years ago than his heart so sank within him as to suggest, as his most appropriate subject, the words, " FAINT, YET PURSUING." This was the title of his second article. Notwithstanding this fact, however, he has been so won- derfully strengthened and helped from on high that, during the aforenamed lengthened period, he has never omitted writing the leading paper, in the GOSPEL MAGAZINE, but in one solitary instance. This fact is the more remark- able, and renders the Editor the greater debtor to divine goodness and mercy, when it is considered that his own personal health has been most variable, and that, during the course of the many years to which he has referred, he has not only undergone various changes, with respect to position and circumstances, but he has likewise been called to encounter distressing trials, family sicknesses, and heart-rending bereavements. Amid all, however, it is the Author's happy privilege, through the forbearance, the faithfulness, and the divine all-sufficiency of a covenant God, to set up his with its " HITHERTO," (1 Sam. vii. 12; 2 Sam. vii. 18 :) and its " HENCEFORTH," (Ps. cxxv. 2 ; cxxxi. 3.) ST. LUKE'S, BEDMINSTER, MARCH 8, 1884. FOUR-AND-FORTY YEARS' ANNUAL EDITORIAL ADDRESSES, 1840. THE EDITOR of the GOSPEL MAGAZINE to his Headers and Correspondents, greeting, That the Lord hath in mercy brought us to the termination of another year, having strengthened and supplied us, and conducted us another twelvemonth's journey onward, through this barren wilderness, towards the heavenly Canaan. That amid the error, infidelity, and number- less departures from the simplicity of the Gos- pel, with which the present dark day abounds, we have been kept stedfast and unmoveable in and by the truth as it is in Jesus. That amid bodily and relative affliction; losses, crosses, and disappointments ; domes- tic trials, worldly trials, and church trials ; the workings of unbelief and sin ; the temptations of Satan and soul desertion; "no storm hath hurled us out of our place." That, encouraged by what the Lord hath done for us, both in body and soul, we bless 10 FOUR-AND-FORTY YEARS' His dear name ; thankful for the past, grate- ful for the present, we here raise our Ebe- nezer of praise and thanksgiving 1 , and still ask for more more of His grace, love, and mercy, to attend us all our journey through, until we arrive where He is, to behold His face in righteousness, and dwell with Him for evermore. Happy, happy day ! THE EDITOR. London, Dec. 1840. 1341. (Jo the one (Church of the ever-living Jehovah (gather, (Son, and (Eternal (Spirit; chosen in