"I would to God that the partakers of like precious faith in Great Britain, especially preachers, would take this question into their solemn and prayerful consideration for a similar end, viz., whether the elevation of the 'pre-existence of Jesus Christ's soul before the world was formed,' 'The law as a rule of life,''The law not a rule of life,' 'Experience of corruption a criterion of divine life,'Soundness of doctrine a proof of interest in everlasting realities,' 'Strong faith against weak faith,' &c. &c., doth not, to a certain extent, restrain, impede, hinder, or as our text hath it, quench the Spirit in many precious souls, who without doubt are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ?" Can you call it quenching the Spirit for a minister to testify against the preexisterian doctrine, against the law as a rule of life, against "soundness of doctrine being a proof of interest in eternal realities ?" and must a faithful steward, who is to take forth the precious from the vile, be silent or neutral on such important points? And is it not a most important part of his office to show how far experience of corruption (in other words a deep sense of guilt and misery) is a criterion of divine life? Is he not bound to preach the gospel, and the blessed deliverance from the shackles of the law as a rule? And is he not called upon to trace out the workings and exploits of strong faith, as well as the struggles and wrestlings of weak faith? See what silence or neutrality on these important points reduces a man of God to. He must not condemn error, however his soul has been racked by it. He must not say a word about experience of corruption as a proof of life, that is, he must not drop a sentence to the tried and tempted, to the mourner, the seeker, the groaning backslider, the weary and heavy laden, nor encourage them to think groans and sighs a proof of divine life. This cuts off at a stroke two thirds, if not, what is more probable, nine tenths of all who have ears to hear. He must not say the law is not a rule of life, nor show how the believer is delivered into a glorious liberty from its entangling shackles. This cuts off all preaching to the remaining third, or tenth. He must not trace out strong faith; therefore give no meat to men: he must not describe weak faith; therefore give no milk to babes. And when he has taken all this away, what has Mr. D. left us? bones, dry bones, from which all meat is scraped, and all marrow scooped. He had better seal up the Psalms, Job, the Lamentations, much of Jeremiah, a great part of the epistle to the Romans, and the twelfth chapter of Hebrews. Hart's hymns he must throw into the hog trough, Huntington's volumes into the coal hole, Warburton's experience into the scavengers' cart, Gadsby's "Perfect Law of Liberty" over dung gate, and all the cries, sighs, groans, and tears of the tempted and afflicted into the hands of the spoilers, who will want something in return for the precious jewels he has rescued from them. There is little use his rescuing texts from Arminian robbers, if he takes the children's bread away too, and, in his hurry to seize a thief, pushes honest men into the kennel. And now, friend Drawbridge, we have told you frankly our mind, and not to give all blame, we will extract two short passages, which, with due limitation, we quite approve of, and wish they were generally acted upon. "Redeem the time from all unprofitable and vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers. Don't imitate the 'Gracious Gods,' 'Heavenly Fathers,''If it might be thy wills,'' If not awfully deceived,' 'O Lords,' and all the rest of such awful mockery, which grey heads, in what are called prayer meetings, gabble and chatter over in solemn insult to God, Christian wisdom, and common sense: I beseech you if you value your time, redeem it out of the hands of all such wanton time killers, who desire to be heard in their irreverent harangues for thirty or forty minutes, to the great grief of all wise men in divine things, the great waste of precious time, and the great disgrace of religious profession. But pray ye with the spirit and with the understanding also. (1 Cor. xiv. 15.)" "Beware of a canting imitation of hackneyed speeches in conversation and prayer; even though grey-headed ministers and heavy-pursed deacons, in their proud bigotry and bloated ignorance, may set you the example." The Character of a Notorious Criminal, &c. By J. Packsmith.J. Philo, Wymondham. This small pamphlet is a brief relation of the natural death and spiritual life of the thief on the cross, and the circumstances connected therewith. It notices the character of the person, the extraordinary change produced in him, and the transcendent effects displayed in his death. It is written on the side of truth, but there is nothing very remarkable in it besides the case itself. We think eight small pages dear at 3d. EDITORS' REMARKS. Mr. Gad Southall has written us a letter, couched, we think, in somewhat haughty language, demanding an explanation of our conduct in inserting a letter from "J. T." in our September number, in which Mr. S. was indirectly accused of countenancing a minister who called the Gospel Standard, from the pulpit, "the Standard of corruption," whilst we refused to admit letters from "Geo. I." and Last but One," which would have exculpated him. We have mislaid, or destroyed, with a number of others, the letters he wishes to be inserted, or would willingly admit them into our present number. Nor have we a distinct recollection of their contents. We would wish, however, to ask Mr. Southall a question or two. On Thursday, July 18th, Mr. S. was present in the chapel when the objectionable expression, as well as others of the same import, were used from the pulpit. On August the 7th, Mr. S. preached in the same pulpit. Did he, in any part of his sermon, bear testimony against the expression he had heard? We don't ask him his private sentiments, or what he said out of the pulpit about it. We want to know, did he honestly and boldly condemn the expression, and stand up for experimental religion against all such bush-rangers and sharpshooters, who aim their arrows against the life of God in the soul, under the flimsy pretext of censuring "corruption preaching?" If he did, we fully exculpate him from countenancing the minister who uttered the objectionable expression. If he did not, we cannot hold him guiltless; and decidedly think he should, as a friend, not so much of our periodical as the principles it advocates, either have declined preaching there at all, or, if he accepted the invitation, should boldly and publicly have declared his sentiments on the subject. ERRATA. -In our last No., page 43, line 2 under the head "Old Letter," the name Toger, should be Tozer. Page 44, line 4 from the bottom, Triggs should be Trego. 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. 52. APRIL, 1840. SEPARATION. VOL. VI. "All that are with me salute thee."-Titus iii. 15. Dear Brother M-, Grace be with thee. May the Spirit of the Lord exhort thee by me to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. I am fully persuaded from internal and external testimony, that thou art set for the defence of the gospel. (Phil. i. 17.) I understand thou art shut out of the pulpit at Cfor speaking the truth in love, and contending earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. Dear brother M, this day I leave our dearly-beloved sister M. C., and she informs me she has been brought through fire and water, yet she has been neither burned nor drowned. The Lord Jesus Christ hath been made precious to her immortal soul; hath said unto her, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee" out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, out of the hands of Satan, and as a brand out of the fire, from under the law and its curse into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Our dear sister informs me she heard on Lord's day last a glorious voice of inquiry, thus, "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" And the blessed Spirit of the Lord led her to search the large town of Cirencester, upon the ground of her inquiring text, that she might find some of the despised and rejected of men; and she found, shut up in a small room, about seven poor people, yet rich in faith and heirs of eternal glory, and a servant of God ministering unto them the finest of the wheat. The wine and the D things, the great waste of precious time, and the great disgrace of religious profession. But pray ye with the spirit and with the understanding also. (1 Cor. xiv. 15.)" "Beware of a canting imitation of hackneyed speeches in conversation and prayer; even though grey-headed ministers and heavy-pursed deacons, in their proud bigotry and bloated ignorance, may set you the example." The Character of a Notorious Criminal, &c. By J. Packsmith.— J. Philo, Wymondham. This small pamphlet is a brief relation of the natural death and spiritual life of the thief on the cross, and the circumstances connected therewith. It notices the character of the person, the extraordinary change produced in him, and the transcendent effects displayed in his death. It is written on the side of truth, but there is nothing very remarkable in it besides the case itself. We think eight small pages dear at 3d. EDITORS' REMARKS. Mr. Gad Southall has written us a letter, couched, we think, in somewhat haughty language, demanding an explanation of our conduct in inserting a letter from "J. T." in our September number, in which Mr. S. was indirectly accused of countenancing a minister who called the Gospel Standard, from the pulpit, "the Standard of corruption," whilst we refused to admit letters from "Geo. I." and Last but One," which would have exculpated him. We have mislaid, or destroyed, with a number of others, the letters he wishes to be inserted, or would willingly admit them into our present number. Nor have we a distinct recollection of their contents. We would wish, however, to ask Mr. Southall a question or two. On Thursday, July 18th, Mr. S. was present in the chapel when the objectionable expression, as well as others of the same import, were used from the pulpit. On August the 7th, Mr. S. preached in the same pulpit. Did he, in any part of his sermon, bear testimony against the expression he had heard? We don't ask him his private sentiments, or what he said out of the pulpit about it. We want to know, did he honestly and boldly condemn the expression, and stand up for experimental religion against all such bush-rangers and sharpshooters, who aim their arrows against the life of God in the soul, under the flimsy pretext of censuring "corruption preaching ?" If he did, we fully exculpate him from countenancing the minister who uttered the objectionable expression. If he did not, we cannot hold him guiltless; and decidedly think he should, as a friend, not so much of our periodical as the principles it advocates, either have declined preaching there at all, or, if he accepted the invitation, should boldly and publicly have declared his sentiments on the subject. ERRATA.-In our last No., page 43, line 2 under the head "Old Letter," the name Toger, should be Tozer. Page 44, line 4 from the bottom, Triggs should be Trego. 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. 52. APRIL, 1840. SEPARATION. VOL. VI. "All that are with me salute thee."-Titus iii. 15. Dear Brother M-, Grace be with thee. May the Spirit of the Lord exhort thee by me to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. I am fully persuaded from internal and external testimony, that thou art set for the defence of the gospel. (Phil. i. 17.) I understand thou art shut out of the pulpit at C- for speaking the truth in love, and contending earnestly for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. Dear brother M, this day I leave our dearly-beloved sister M. C., and she informs me she has been brought through fire and water, yet she has been neither burned nor drowned. The Lord Jesus Christ hath been made precious to her immortal soul; hath said unto her, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee" out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, out of the hands of Satan, and as a brand out of the fire, from under the law and its curse into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Our dear sister informs me she heard on Lord's day last a glorious voice of inquiry, thus, "Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?" And the blessed Spirit of the Lord led her to search the large town of Cirencester, upon the ground of her inquiring text, that she might find some of the despised and rejected of men; and she found, shut up in a small room, about seven poor people, yet rich in faith and heirs of eternal glory, and a servant of God ministering unto them the finest of the wheat. The wine and the D |