Anon he attempts some good works to perform;
Poor webs! they all vanish before the first storm;
With shame and confusion he covers his face,
And wrestles and cries for salvation by grace.
His spirit oft faints from the toils of the way,
A thousand sad griefs fill his mind with dismay;
Yet, onward he keeps, though uneven his pace,
Till made to rejoice in salvation by grace.
He finds true religion is more than a name;
By faith he communes with the Saviour, the Lamb,
Who cancell'd his sins with his peace-making blood,
And gives him access and acceptance with God.
Well may gospel truths be so dear to his heart,
Election, redemption; in them he has part.
With holy contrition and wonder, he cries,
"O why was my life so esteem'd in thine eyes?"
He knows God is faithful, and will not remove
His cov'nant of peace from the Son of his love.
The Holy Ghost shows him his interest there,
And Christ says, "My righteousness makes thee all fair."
"Now," says the poor soul, "I'm o'ercome with delight;
Of Christ and his work I shall never lose sight;
His name is so precious my heart leaps with joy,
And to walk in his ways is my sweetest employ.
No trial shall make me disquieted now;
Let death itself come, and I'll willingly go.
All heaven shall hear the glad anthems of praise,
That I to his glory for ever will raise."
Thus judging by feeling, he makes a mistake;
For thinking his confidence nothing will shake,
Perhaps he slips down ere he can be aware,
And finds himself caught in a terrible snare.
Enveloped with darkness, his mind is distrest;
His prayers and his tears can afford him no rest,
Till Jesus returns with the light of his face;
Then O how he prizes salvation by grace.
Sometimes he is suffer'd from God to depart,
And hosts of corruption arise in his heart,
So foul and so base that they cannot be named;
And to look up to God he is truly ashamed.
No tongue can express the sore conflicts within
He feels while contending with indwelling sin.
"Strange mystery!" he cries, "O how can it be true
That the thing which I hate is the first thing I do?"
Now Satan against him puts forth all his power;

He knows this dark season is his suited hour;

But no fiery trial, or pain, or distress,

Shall ever prevent his salvation by grace.

And though hard beset by world, Satan, and sin,

The Christian at last shall the victory win;

Since Christ is his Saviour, his Husband, and Friend,

He must and he shall persevere to the end.

Then, poor, tried believer, thou need'st not despair,
The faithful Jehovah still makes thee his care;
His love hath prepared thee in glory a place,
And there thou shalt sing of salvation by graces

SARAH.

THE

GOSPEL STANDARD,

OR,

FEEBLE CHRISTIAN'S SUPPORT.

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled."-Matt. v. 6.

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."-2 Tim. i. 9.

"The election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."-Rom. xi. 7.

"If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.-And they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.-In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."—Acts viii. 37, 38; Matt. xxviii. 19.

No. 56.

AUGUST, 1840.

VOL. VI.

A LETTER ON SANCTIFICATION.

Dearly Beloved in the Holy One, the Sanctifier of the body elect,According to your request, I give you my thoughts on sanctification, a subject that has often perplexed the minds of the Lord's family. I have looked at the pieces you refer to, and do not wonder at your being startled. Progressive sanctification, and the law of God as the rule of sanctification, may well alarm a soul conscious of what it is in the sight of God. We will look at the subject scripturally and experimentally. The church was eternally sanctified by the will of God the Father; (Jude 1;) "Before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee;" (Jer. i. 5;) electively holy, chosen in him, "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love;" (Eph. i. 4;) and relatively holy in its union with the Son of God, who of God is made unto us sanctification. What he is, we are; all the holiness of his person, both God and man, is for the benefit of his church; all the holiness of the acts of his holy life, his perfection of obedience, was for the church; "He was made sin for us, and we the righteousness of God in him.” We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ; "Jesus, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate." It was an atoning offering; his meritorious blood carried all the filth and vileness of sin away. He loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it, and present it unto himself without spot, so that she is pure in the blood of the Lamb; his bride is cleansed from every stain, and he calls her his love-his undefied; therefore, Jesus has perfected for over them that are sanctified,

H

We are holy in the Holy One. When the high priest went in before God, on his head was a golden mitre, with this inscription on the front"Holiness to the Lord!" Bear it in mind, then, beloved; it is Christ who is seen instead of thee, for he is the head of holiness to the whole family.

"In him the Father never saw

The least transgression of his law;
In him perfection then we view,
His saints in him are perfect too."

Let your eye be fixed upon the frontlet of your great High Priest, who is gone into the holiest of all. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, be all the glory of our complete and everlasting sanctification.

We come now to the sanctification of the Spirit in the heart, and the effects of his indwelling in discriminating the vessels of mercy from the world, by setting them apart for the Owner's use. Regeneration is spiritual life implanted in the dead sinner; "It is the Spirit that quickeneth." It is being in Christ vitally; "And if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." It is the Landlord come to dwell in his own premises; "Holy is his name." He brings entirely new furniture into his own apartments; we are his temple; we are made partakers of the divine nature -are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. The Holy Ghost imparts all his graces and fruits, and sets apart him that is godly for himself. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, addresses them, "To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus ;" and, after describing characters who cannot enter into the kingdom of God, says, "And such were some of you, but ye are sanctified." The holy principle of spiritual life is entire, and all its actings will be of the same nature and tendency. Grace reigns and has the dominion, but the evil principle in our fallen nature is the same; hence arises conflict and warfare; but the elder shall serve the younger, and evil, and vileness, and corruption will become exceedingly hateful and loathsome, because of the holy principle dwelling within. Through the power and prevalence of sin in the old man, we do the things we ought not to do; "For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." (Rom. vii. 19-23.) So then, till our last hour in the desert, we shall often be compelled to cry, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"? (Rom vii. 24.) Beloved, the consciousness of the law being spiritual, and the struggle lying in the mind, can any one experimentally and scripturally know this, and talk about progressive sanctification? I can look at my justi fication in the perfection of my Lord with growing pleasure, and feel my soul devoted to God, and the members of my body become "as instruments of righteousness unto God." (Rom. vi. 13.) There is nothing progressive in the man being devoted to God, because, when the law enters the man's conscience, and he is awakened to a discovery of his ruin, he is cut off from outward sinning; and when his soul is set at liherty, by the discovery of a bleeding Saviour and a dying Substitute, and he sees in the wounds of Jesus everlasting forgiveness, he will hata

sin with a perfect hatred, vow vengeance against his damning iniquities, and will flee from evil as from a viper.

We find the man in his first love early in the house of God, and strict in his attendance at the ordinances, &c. He treads the world beneath his feet; the things of Christ's kingdom are the theme of his conversation, and heaven is his anticipation. To all obstructions he says, "Hinder me not;" his heart being in the worship of God, he soon finds the way; but we often see an alteration in after days, and are constrained to say, "Where is the blessedness ye spake of ?" Many of the saints have fallen grievously through the power of the devil, and through the prevalence of indwelling corruption. What child of God does not often fall in his mind? Where, then, is the progressive sanctification that men talk about? It is only calculated to distress the weaklings in Zion, encourage the legal workings of their minds, and set them looking at themselves instead of Christ, in whom they are everlastingly complete. The more a man knows of himself, the more sensible is he of his vileness. Instead of believing he is advancing, he is wondering whether God can dwell in such a monster of iniquity. I am not talking of outside matters; we look for that as the result of the grace of God. Believers who live in the fear of God, will assuredly walk uprightly. I am referring to conscience matters-as things are experienced within. I know of no increase or progress of holiness from the day of my espousal to Christ to the present moment, which is twentyfive years ago, only as I feel the holiness of Christ applied by the blessed Spirit; nor do I expect that my fallen nature will be one whit better, should I live another twenty-five years. As I have received Christ Jesus my Lord as all my holiness and sanctification, therefore I desire to walk in him, and to be found in him; and this, on the part of all Christ's children, will constrain us to manifest that we are sanctified by Christ in our walk and conversation, and, under the influence of it, we shall live to his glory. By growing in a discovery of what we are as fallen sinners, we are made more to prize his heart-purifying blood, and become better acquainted with him as our salvation. There is an increasing knowledge of the person of Christ, of the fulness and freeness of his grace, of his suitability, of the vastness of the benefits of his redemption, which bring joy and peace in believing. Thus we grow

up in our Living Head, while we grow down in our own stem. To have fellowship with him is to walk in the light; and, walking in the light, though we shall have a discovery of our own deformity, we shall rejoice in heart, knowing that "the blood of Jesus Christ, God's dear Son, cleanseth us from all sin." Each time we have communion and fellowship with God in his pure truth and holy doctrine, and in his ordinances, we are sanctified by it. Sanctifying influences and operations we at times enjoy, and they have their holy effects on the mind, conscience, and conduct. We are sanctified by every spiritual opening of truth to the mind; we rise above the world, sin, and self under its operations. "Be ye holy," saith Jehovah, "for I am holy." How are we so? Our Lord says, "Abide in me; from me is thy fruit found." The reception of God's truth in the mind, by the light and unctuous power of the Holy Ghost, is holy, sanctifying truth. It raises indignation at evil in every form; it elevates our souls above the world, and sets our hearts in heaven, having access to God and holy familiarity with him. When we conversé with saints on spiritual subjects--when Jesus and his great salvation drop from the lips, and his love, blood, and righteousness occupy our thoughts-it sanctifies the heart and mind; and we breathe in an atmosphere that is delight

ful. But after the sweetest of these seasons, how easily has the mind been diverted; and we know, by painful experience, that scarce has Satan laid a bait for us, than we have been entrapped, and all the savour of heavenly intercourse has evaporated; so that we have felt carnal, stupid, and sensual, by which we have discovered that grace must uphold us every moment, and that we must build upon something more firm than our comforts. Under such circumstances, we have felt doubly condemned, and have wondered at the extent of pardoning mercy that has reached so vile a case. This has been my feeling of shame, so that I can never look at my acts of experience, without the blood-fountain being doubly endeared. I have no progressive sanctification to look at, nor do I understand it; but I know that the more we have to do with God in his word, with Christ in his truth, with the Holy Ghost in his teaching and glorious leadings, we feel sanctifying effects on the mind; so that all my sanctifying springs are in the Holy Ghost, who dwells in me as a well of living water, springing up unto eternal life. I have nothing to glory in but what I have in Christ and what he is to me. The holy principle of spiritual life in my soul must be acted on; the revelations of Jehovah, and his grace and truth, must be given by the Holy Ghost, and then I enjoy all the sanctifying effects of his operation. The blood of my Lord becomes infinitely more precious every day that I live, and a greater glory appears in his wondrous salvation.

I have felt a desire arising in my mind for some time to write to you. I am persuaded, through the blessed teaching of God the eternal Spirit made known to such a poor hell-deserving sinner, that nothing but God the Holy Ghost could ever give to any pcor cast down soul, vitally and experimentally, to know that he is lost, ruined, and undone; and unless quickened of God, and made alive in Christ, and washed in his most precious blood, which cleanseth from all sins, even to the very uitermost, I believe I should be in hell; for, even since the Lord, in his infinite mercy, I trust, quickened my soul, I do feel such rebellion in my carnal mind, such devilish thoughts, and such unbelief, that I sometimes stand astonished that the Lord does not cut me off as a cumberer of the ground; but, bless his dear name, having obtained help of him who is a friend at all times, and sticketh closer than a brother, I still continue; sometimes hoping, sometimes longing, sometimes crying, and sometimes, according to my feelings, hardly thinking that I have a desire; but, bless his precious name, he has, through the teaching of his Spirit, fulfilled his precious word in my soul's experience; "When the poor and the needy, (and this I daily feel,) seek water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, the Lord their God will open rivers in high places," and cause the word to drop as the rain, so that my soul has been as a well watered garden, for I have been enabled to say, "My beloved is mine, and I am his."

Having felt a sweetness in reading your magazine, which I can say, when the Lord has opened my poor mind to receive the blessedness contained therein, answereth to my heart as in water face answereth to face, so it has enabled me, through the Spirit's teaching, to trace my own features, and go on step by step with some of you. By the help of my God, (for I have known by precious faith that he is my God,