crying after Jesus. She was constantly heard in snatches of ejaculatory prayer, calling upon the Lord to appear-to speak-to deliverto save. It was her one anxiety; nothing seemed to affect her but her state as a sinner dying without Christ. Things went on thus till life had nearly closed. A few hours before her death the doctor again saw her, and her reply, when asked "What about your hope?" was, "I have none I have no comfort." But the Lord's eye and heart were upon her, and He who had begun a good work in her, kept His best blessing for the last. A few moments before she expired she cried out with glad surprise," Jesus is come! Jesus is come!" and so He took her home to be for ever with the Lord."

L.

Sermons and Notes of Sermons.

OUTLINE OF A SERMON BY THE REV. J. A. WALLINGER,

LATE OF BRIGHTON.

"And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God." EZRA ix. 8.

THIS passage of Scripture treats of the Lord's gracious interference on behalf of His people Israel, by which they again enjoyed favour, and light, and prosperity at His hands. The temple had been built, the walls raised, the people restored, and Ezra was brought from Persia to set in order all things relative to the temple; and when he came he found much disorder and confusion. But what most affected him was that God's Israel had formed marriages with the heathen nations around, and this became a snare to them, and was a cause of grief to Ezra, who seems to have been much blessed in bringing about a change in this thing, as you may read in this chapter, where he laments the matter, and expresses how much mercy the people had received from the Lord in bringing them back to their city, rebuilding their temple, and planting them in their own land. In reference thereto we have the words of our text: "And now for a little space grace hath been shewed us from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape." Oh, what language is this, and how remarkable when applied to the Church of God! Now, let us look a little into the terms brought forward here, and see how far they suit the case of the Israel of God in a Gospel day; and so realize a precious Christ, and taste a little of His grace and love upon our souls. Perhaps there are some present careless and indifferent to these things. What if you should die in this state? But you who know Jesus can remember when you were in this very case-when you were a stranger to the love of Jesus; and yet at that time He said unto you, "Live." You had a precious Christ revealed to your soul, which is an earnest of all the glory that shall follow, when you are brought out of a wretched body of sin and death. But let us come to the terms used. The first precious term is grace. Israel had experienced grace in deliverance, grace in restoration, in prosperity, in peace. Their captivity was ended; peace was enjoyed. And now let me draw your attention to the words employed— "For a little space." Oh, yes; it was but for a little space, for a moment, for a short time; and what does this indicate to God's Israel, but the brief moments given them by the Lord of cessation from trouble and

you

trial. "Then had the churches rest." When? After Saul's persecution-after he had been made a subject of divine grace-after he had been changed from Saul into Paul, through electing, sovereign, discriminating grace. "Then had the churches rest;" but it was only for a moment, a short space, because the Lord had said, "Through much tribulation ye must enter the kingdom." This is not your rest; it is polluted. You must not expect peace and quiet long. The devil will not let you alone; the world, the trials of time, crosses, sorrows, and cares, will not let you alone long. You may have a little truce, a little intermission, but there is no discharge during the time state. We need the whole armour of God, that having done all, we may stand. Aye, let us bless God if we do stand; for it is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed: for the Lord's people must be made sensible of what they owe Him, and what debtors they are to free grace. Has He showed you this? I ask you not, does He give you a calm now and then, in the midst of storms and tempests; but I ask you, has He made you a partaker of grace? Said the Apostle, "Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." As if he said, I do not speak of a thing you do not know; I am speaking of a thing you know experimentally, not intellectually. No; it is heart-work. My friends, is this true of you? Do you know the grace of God? If so, what effect hath it had upon you? Oh, hide your face for shame that it has had so little effect upon you! If indeed know the sovereignty of His grace, the efficacy of His grace, the power of His grace, the extent of His grace, should it not have a constraining effect upon you? The law humbles, truly; but nothing, my friends, humbles like the Gospel. Oh, when we know the grace of Jesus, then is it the soul abhors itself, and feels the bitterness, the evil, the vileness of sin. Do you know this grace? And what a grace was it! Though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor. Now to taste and realize and enjoy this grace, is to have the promise of all that is in store, of all the glory that remains; for whom Jesus loves He will keep, even to the end, and then come again and receive unto Himself; then shall you enjoy eternal peace, quiet, and freedom from sin. But guilt, misery, the hidings of His face, the terrors of the law, the trials and sorrows of the way, belong to our time state. Yes, friends, in a little while it will all be over; for Jesus will come and fetch you home. But, in the meanwhile, be sure if you are a child of God the devil will not let you alone; and you may be left to feel sometimes as if you had no standing, no shelter, no comfort, no peace; but as if the pit opened, and you were ready to fall into it. But, blessed be His name, as He was to Israel of old, even so is He now-a Deliverer still, a Saviour, a Helper; and peace and blessedness shall be enjoyed again. One great attempt of Satan against the Church of God is to interrupt communion with the Lord, to bring in guilt, and draw down the rod of God's wrath upon His dear children; but, though he draws down the rod, yet there is no wrath in it: it is the rod of a Father that chastens in love. Oh, have you been brought to this sweet point, to cast your all into His hands? Have you tasted of grace, and so been brought to feel all He does is in love to your soul? Fear not; the Lord will help and deliver you. But

II. They are called a remnant; they were but as a part left, a remnant of the whole, that had escaped from Babylon, Persia, Assyria, and brought back to the holy city. So Ezra could say, as Paul did, "Even so now there is a remnant according to the election of grace;" even as you

read in Jer. xxxi. 2. The Lord's people are described as the left, the residue; and let me ask you this solemn question, How will it be with you in that solemn day, when the remnant shall be gathered above, and the sword of justice shall execute God's vengeance upon sinners? Ah, how will it be with you then? Shall you be visited with the sword of His wrath, or wrapped in the bosom of His love? Shall you hear Him say, "Come, ye blessed," or, "Depart, ye cursed"? Then you will appear as a goat or a sheep; a vessel of wrath or a vessel of mercy; to show forth His anger, or glorify the harmonizing of all His attributes. Can you realize this now? Poor sinners! this day may be very near to some of you. Some here may realize the end before the week is out, and stand before God in all your sins. Oh, such solemn thoughts show us that we must not trifle with eternity. Poor sinners! dropping out of time into eternity, what are you living for? Self, sin, the world, the devil? Or are you living for Christ, as a child of God, receiving the droppings of the Cross; and arrived at this spot, If I perish, I must perish there? But, blessed be God, none ever did; and you never shall, if you have been brought to this: for it is written, "Verily, it shall be well with thy remnant;" and all the Lord's chosen ones shall be taught this sooner or later, and live to prove they shall never perish. But what I want to know is, are you living upon Jesus now? for there is a present escaping, which is an earnest of that final deliverance. There must be an escaping, from the fangs of the devil, from the tyranny of sin, the love of the world, and a tasting that the Lord is gracious; so that those "who have lain among the pots must be covered with silver, and their feathers with yellow gold." But shall those who have been delivered from the pots be found there again, besmeared and befouled thereby? Alas! that it is so with God's people sometimes. See that you are not found there; see that you are not caught there doing the devil's work.

The third term is a nail; and this is a very precious thought-" to give us a nail in His holy place." And what is this, but an interest in covenant love, in redeeming grace, enjoyment in a sense of pardoning mercy. In the margin it is pin, which may allude to the tabernacle, as in Ex. xxxviii. 20: for, "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty," &c. Now, who has got this nail but he who can say, "The Lord is my portion;" that is, "the nail in a holy place"? A nail is to hang something on; and this is to make use of Jesus to hang our wants, cares, sins, and sorrows upon Him. Said Paul, "I know whom I have believed." Here was a deposit made-a committal of something to Jesus; as John_says, "We have an Advocate," one we can hang our cause upon; and faith says, "Fear not," it shall succeed. Mr. Huntington used to say, "A very precious name for God's people was an Exchanger." Oh, there is a 'Change that God's family can run to; bring their evils, and barter them for God's mercies. Now, what did you bring here to-day? You brought a body of sin and death. Well, you cannot exchange that till you are done with a time state. But what did you bring besides? Many sins, much guilt; sins of the week, and also the sins of the day, crosses, burdens, griefs, fears, cares, strifes, tumults, difficulties, temporal wants, perplexities, wrath, murmuring, discontent; you have brought all these. But for what? Why, to exchange, say you, I have nothing else; these only belong to me. Well, the Lord give you to find them exchanged away; bartered for divine things, for the peace of God, trust in the Lord,

and a quiet surrender of all to Him; and so come with the devil, and go away with Jesus; come in sorrow, and get joy-find Christ, who brings light, life, liberty, love, peace, pardon, salvation. So when troubles inward and outward press, when sin distresses, when sorrows thicken, when trials increase, run to Jesus with them all, and see if He will not give you a blessed exchange; and so realize you have a nail in His holy place; you have a blessed portion in Him, and you are walking in the footsteps of the flock, and in yet a little while shall be with Him for ever. The Lord bless His word.

"WHOSOEVER WILL.”

SER MON PREACHED IN BANK STREET PREACHING-ROOM, WARRINGTON, BY REV. JAMES JOHN EASTMEAD, MINISTER OF TYLDESLEY CHAPEL.

"And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."-REV. xxii. 17. How cheering to know that, throughout the Scriptures, encouragement is given to the weak, timid, and anxious soul. Many in God's family are in this condition. While the Apostle John, by the guidance of the Holy Ghost, writes to fathers and young men in Christ, he also writes to little children, i.e., those who are already begotten of God, but are not yet brought into full Gospel liberty. And mark what care he takes to instruct them: "And now, little children, abide in Him, that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming (1 John ii. 28). Thus, as little children, they are not to look to themselves, but to continue looking to Christ. "Abide in Him." All their confidence and assurance of faith are derived from Christ; therefore, to Him, and to Him alone, as the one object of faith, must they look. And then, what precious promises are contained in the Scriptures for the comfort of the weaklings in God's family! Take one promise: "A bruised reed shall He not break, and the smoking flax shall He not quench (Isaiah xlii. 3). "A bruised reed" represents a poor sinner so weak and so helpless in himself that he is unable to stand upright on the legs of faith, much less to come to the Lord Jesus. It might be said, If a sinner have not faith strong enough to come to the Lord Jesus, surely he has no faith at all, and is without grace, and, therefore, only fit to be broken in pieces and used as fuel, being dead and useless; but such a sinner has grace. Christ's voice of mercy says of him, "Destroy him not, for a blessing is in him" (Isaiah lxv. 8). Thus Christ will not break the "bruised reed." "The smoking flax" represents a poor sinner in whose heart love to Christ has been implanted by the new-creating power of God the Holy Ghost, but it is so feeble that he dares not think he has any love; he has never felt his heart to glow or burn with love to Christ, yet he wants to love Christ, and he has a desire to love Christ. It may be said, Surely such a one has no love at all, and is therefore without grace, or why does not the smoke of Divine grace break forth into a flame? Such a sinner, however, has grace, and "Christ will not quench the smoking flax." In His own time He will make the work of grace manifest. Many other passages might be quoted to show that the weaklings in God's family are encouraged. One more passage shall suffice: "He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom " (Isaiah xl. 11). Thus, what care the Lord Jesus takes of the lambs-the weaklings in God's family. Now, the

words of the text are intended to encourage such. In the context an invitation is addressed to "him that is athirst," and, lest the poor sinner should think that spiritual thirst hardly meets his case, the Lord Jesus graciously condescends to come down to the lowest possible sign of spiritual life in a sinner; He says, "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." We propose to consider three things, and oh that the Holy Spirit may guide our thoughts, and enable us to express ourselves so clearly and simply, that all may understand, and may the poor, weak, timid, yet anxious, soul be encouraged! The three things of which we ask your prayerful consideration are

I. The character-" Whosoever will."

II. The gracious invitation addressed to the character-" Let him take the water of life freely."

III. The effect, as seen in the sinner who takes the water of life freely.—The effect will be seen in his outward life and conduct before the world.

I. The character referred to.-To understand the Scriptures, we must first have a clear idea of the character referred to. One great source of erroneous teaching, is not discerning the characters referred to and addressed in the Scriptures, and therefore, religious teachers (so called) make such a muddle of their teachings, and quite perplex the poor anxious inquiring soul. But God's sent ministers will be qualified by the Holy Ghost to open up the word of the Lord as Jeremiah was commissioned and qualified to do, when the Lord said to him, "If thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth" (Jer. XV. 19). The character referred to in our text is described by the words "whosoever will." Here let me ask what is meant by the will in a man? It is that faculty of the mind which determines to do what the understanding approves. When man was in a state of innocence, the understanding was enlightened by the Spirit of God to see and know that which is good and pleasing to God. But, when he sinned, his understanding was darkened by sin, and, consequently, his will from that time had a bias to that which is evil and displeasing to God. All men have a will, either to do good or to do evil. Man, in his natural state, has a will to do evil. Why? Because the understanding which governs the will is darkened by sin. Some tell us that, when man fell from his state of innocence, he did not become totally ruined. They will tell us that little children, born of sinful parents, are as innocent and pure as Adam was in Eden; that they become sinful by coming into contact with sinful objects. But how different from all such teachings of men is the teaching of God's Word! Of the wicked it says, "They are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies" (Psalm lviii. 3). Mark, too, what David says: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm li. 5). Mark, again, what the Holy Ghost says by the pen of Paul: "There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes "(Rom. iii. 10-18). Such is God's teaching of the natural state of man. Now, as the under