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church at duties

Union;" and W. Taylor (Stoke), on “Baptist | resigned the pastorate of Hope Chapel, has Union." The proceedings were altogether of a l acceded to the request of a number of frionds to · very interesting character.

form a new English cause. On Sunday, May 3rd, WALSALL.-On Monday, April 27th, the third

· Mr. Bailey commenced preaching in the Market

Hall, where a large congregation assembled ; and anniversary of the settlement of the Rev. W. Lees

on the subsequent Sabbaths the hall has been was celebrated by a public tea-meeting. After tea

crowded with attentive hearers. A Sabbath-school the chair was taken by the pastor, who stated in his

has been commenced with every prospect of opening address that about 160 persons had been

success. added to the church during his three years' pastorate, forty-six of whom had been added during the · MINISTERIAL CHANGES.-The Rev.J.H. Hinton present year. There were also present & number of has resigned the pastorate of the church at candidates for baptism. The meeting was after Devonshire Square, London. Mr. Hinton's minis. wards addressed by the Revs. G. Dunn, from Scot. try will terminate on the 12th of July, after which land; J. P. Carey, Wolverhampton; J. Major date he will be open to invitations. The Rev. J. and R. Bruce, Netherton; and J. Dixon (Inde. Sella Martin, & fugitive slave, and late pastor of a pendent), Wednesbury.

flourishing Baptist church in Boston, U.S., bas

accepted & cordial and unanimous invitation to VERNON CHAPEL, LONDON.-On Monday evening,

become the pastor of the church at present meet. May 11th, a deeply interesting meeting of the

ing for worship in the Lecture Hall, Bromley, near church and congregation, of Vernon Chapel was

Bow. -- Mr. 'E. W. Pegler, of King-Stanley, held ; and after fervent prayers had been pre Gloucestershire, having accepted an invitation to sented to Almighty God for his blessing upon the

take the pastoral office over the cburch at KimRev. Standen Pearce (who has resigned the pas.

bolton, Huntingdonshire, commenced his duties torate), and earnest pleading that he would gra there April 19th.-The Rev. G. Veals, of Braun. ciously send # suitable minister to build up the

ston, Northamptonshire, has accepted the unani. church and congregation, Mr. Williams, one of tbe

mous invitation to the pastorate of the Baptist deacons, presented to Mr. Pearce & purse of

church in Battle, Sussex, and commenced his money, contributed by all the members (even the

labours on the 24th ult.-The Rev. J. W. Webb, poorest), as a wark of their affection and

of Campden, Gloucestershire, has accepted : esteem.

cordial invitation from the church at Dolton, PROVIDENCE CHAPEL, COSELEY.-On Sunday.

North Devon, and has commenced his labours.May 10th, the Sabbath-school anniversary was

The Rev. C. 0. Munns, late of Regent's Park held in the above-named cbapel. The services

College, has accepted the cordial and unanimous were conducted in the morning and evening by

invitation of the Baptist church, Bridgewater, W. Heaton, Esq., of London, and in the afternoon

Somerset, to become their pastor, and commenced by the Rev. J. J. Brown, of Birmingham. The

his labours amongst them on the 24th of last three discourses were highly instructive and

month.-The Rev. D. Jennings, of Bridgnorth, bas deeply impressive, and the attendance was un.

accepted a cordial and unanimous invitation to the usually large in the morning, and afternoon, and

pastorate from the Baptist church, Lyme Regis, densely crowded in the evening. The collectious

Dorset, and hopes to commence his ministry there were unusually liberal, and amounted, including

on the first Lord's day in June.-The Rev. J. few small subscriptions, to the handsome sum of

Jones, late of Bala, has accepted an invitation £46.

from the church at Brymbo, near Wrexham, and CANTON, CARDIFF.—The Rev. J. Bailey, having ' May.

commenced his ministry there on the 3rd of

Editori

· We bave much pleasure in presenting our readers, this month, with what will we hope be considered a very excellent Portrait of the Rev. WILLIAM LANDELS.

It will be seen, from anadvertisement on another page, that the new volume of THE BUNYAN LIBRARY is now ready. It is “ An Essay ou the Improvement of Time : with other Literary Remains." By Joun Foster. The volume, which is one of universal interest, will be an imprrtant addition to the Library of which it forms a part.

THE CHURCH.

“Built apon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the

chief corper.stone."

JULY, 1863.

GOD'S HELP TO HIS PEOPLE.

BY THE REV. T. R. STEVENSON.

“ It is I; be not afraid.”-Matt: xiv. 27. TAE Saviour's parables are miracles. They are miracles of intelligence. Full of meaning, it is difficult to exhaust their significance. No words are more suggestive. You may read one of these pictorial sermons, meditate on it, and think that you have derived from it all that it contains. But when you recur to it again, on some future occasion, you are compelled to alter your opinion, for you discover something new in it. And so is it if you study them again and again. They are miracles of wisdom. Men are more easily interested and instructed by the concrete than by the abstract. Truth in a bare, naked form will fail to lay hold of them, when truth “clothed and girt about” secures their affection. Anecdotes have greater attractions than assertions. Hence the wisdom of the Redeemer in speaking in parables. All the facts, arguments, and persuasions that could be used to show us the love of our heavenly Father would not so readily and completely teach it as the one well-known and glorious parable of the prodigal son. The anxious parent, who has a heart full of affection for his child, in spite of that son's wickedness, watching for him day after day, thinking of him month after month, and at last, with streaming eyes and outstretched arms, running forward to welcome him home, makes us realize, better than the most elaborate abstract dissertation, the forgiving love of God. The parables are, moreover, miracles of power. How they lay hold of one's thoughts! How vividly does imagination sketch the scenes depicted in them on one's mind! What an influence they have had in restraining men from sin, strengthening them under trial, and aiding them to conquer in the battle of life! Just think how many a guilt-burdened penitent has given vent to his emotions of repentance in the words of the publican, “God be merciful to mé a sinner." How many an earnest Christian has been led to renew prayer in the face of giant difficulties by calling to mind the unjust judge. How many a careless, godless one has been arrested in a course of sin and unbelief by the diverse fates of the five wise and five foolish virgins. Need it be added, that the parables are miracles of love! Inasmuch as they were employed that men might be brought into those “ways " which “are pleasantness” and those “paths" that "are peace," they evince the large benevolence of Him who spake them.

Now, just as Christ's parables are miracles, so are all his miracles parables. They are full of instruction. Although their immediate object was, as a rule, the deliverance of men from physical or social suffering, they had, over and above this, a higher end in view. Not one is without its moral significance. It is quite true that some good people, in their zeal for the Bible, have sometimes verged on the borders of absurdity, and sometimes on that of profanity, by attempting to force a doctrine or a lesson out of everything. But while they go into one extreme, that is no reason for our going into the opposite one. Let us try, by God's aid, to discover the “happy medium " between this over-straining and a careless reading of the Scriptures which leaves it only partially understood.

The miracle from which these words, “ It is I; be not afraid,” are taken is pregnant with instruction. Let us, however, on this occasion, look at it in an allegorical point of view. We may fitly regard it as a sort of parable illustrating this important and consolatory subject-God's help to his people.

1. God puts his people into such positions as to need his help. We are told that“Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a sbip, and to go before him unto the other side,” which seems to imply that it was with reluctance that they departed. Perhaps they wished to remain with him that they might listen to his wonderful and welcome teachings. They did not like to leave one so dear to them. Or may be, they already saw some prophecies of a coming storm. Perhaps the sky was leaden, the clouds were heavy and low, the hollow moaning of the wind, which foretells an approaching tempest, might have been detected by their experienced ears, and therefore, out of fear, they were reluctant to raise the anchor and depart. But Jesus “ constrained” them. Why? In order that they might more than ever feel their need of Christ; in order that they might, when the furious tempest was raging, become conscious of their dependence on him. This was, surely, one of the ends in view, though not the only one.

It is often so now. God sends men into storms on the ocean of life that they may experience their deep and urgent need of his aid. He deals with humanity individually as well as collectively. It is true that this is a doctrine opposed to much of the semi-sceptical teaching of the present age. It seems to be the ambition of some to put God as far off all connection with our personal concerns as possible. John Howe, in his great work, “ The Living Temple," says, “ Great care is taken by some to set the Deity at a distance remote enough. He must be complimented out of this world as a place too mean for his reception, and unworthy such a presence. We are not obliged to worship him as one with whom we have any concern, and do owe him no more homage than the Great Mogul or the Khan of Tartary, and, indeed, are less liable to his severity, or capable of his favours than theirs; for of theirs we are in some remote possibility capable, but of his not at all.” The reader will not have to go far for proof that the quaint and satirical words of this divine are appropriate to some now. They reverse the Biblical statement, and in effect say that God is not "nigh at hand," but “afar off.” The whole of the Bible is opposed to such a view. It represents the infinite Father as dealing with his children not simply as a huge multitude, but in their individual capacity as well. And in the course of his dealings it teaches us that, ever and anon, he causes his people to set sail and steer their barques into troubled waters, that they may realize more than ever their need of bim. How many have never felt their need of the “Friend that sticketh closer than a brother" until the tempest of bereavement has burst upon them and robbed them of some beloved earthly kindred or associate! How many have never felt their need of “ treasures in heaven "until the storm of misfortune has stripped them of their worldly riches! How many have never felt their moral malady until the storm of suffering has robbed them of health! Blessed be his name, God loves his children too well to let them always have a fair sky, a quiet sea, and a prosperous voyage, and for their good he "constrains" them to enter the storm.

2. God's help is bestowed through a Saviour who prays for, speaks, and comes to his people. When Christ had commended his disciples to depart, and had watched the little ship growing smaller and smaller to the eye as it gradually disappeared in the dim distance, he went up into a mountain,

6Still near the lake, with weary tread,

Loiters a form of human kind;
And from his lone, unsheltered head
Flows the chill night-damp on the wind."

Why did he linger behind? “To pray." And for whom and for what did he pray? This is a question which can never be fully, answered. Surely, however, we cannot err in believing that the disciples had a share in those mystic supplications. He who once said, “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not," may well be supposed to commend his followers to God now. At the very time, then, when they perhaps thought he had forgotten them, and left them a prey to the angry billows, be was praying for them. And this is one of the ways in which the Lord of Hosts helps his people still-through a Saviour who prays for them. “He ever liveth to make intercession for us." He is spoken of as our High Priest who presents our prayers and plaints, with his own, to Him who is the hearer and answerer of prayer. What a solace was it to the ancient Jew to feel that he had a priest who could and would intercede with God for him. With what a sense of relief did the multitude go back to their near or distant homes, when the priest had entered beyond the sacred veil, and come forth from thence with the welcome message of pardon and acceptance. Hearts beat high with joy, faces beamed with new pleasure, voices rose to higher strains of praise when, by the mediation of the priest, favour had been found in Jehovah's sight. Christian voyager ! tossed on many a restless wave of trial, look with the eye of faith above, and rejoice to see there a Saviour who "ever liveth to make intercession for us."

Christ spoke to the disciples. “It is I; be not afraid.” When they first saw him they were alarmed. They did not recognise him. Their hearts still quailed with fear. Weather-beaten mariners though some of them were, they were unnerved with terror.

“ Fear was within the tossing bark,

When stormy winds grew loud,
And waves came rolling high and dark,
And the tall mast was bowed."

The voice of Christ, however, set them at rest. As it has been well said, " The Master's form they had mistaken in the lowering darkness, but the voice was well known to them; just as the sailor when, owing to the dense fog, he is unable to descry the beacon in the lighthouse, hears the sound of the bell, swung on its top, by the force of the tempest.”

Here is another method in which God vouchsafes his aid. He helps us through the words of Jesus. It is a remarkable thing that the good old book which infidels have so much maligned, and which the world so grossly neglects--the good old book that so often lies forgotten on the shelf, while the magazine and the newspaper are eagerly perused, is the one book that men are compelled to come to for strength and solace in the time of trouble. One can hardly begin to speak words of comfort to another without involuntarily falling into the language of Scripture. By the bed of pain, in the house darkened by death, and at the mouth of the envious tomb, the language that heals the heart and dries the eyes of the mourner is that of " the Consolation of Israel.” Hundreds of bereaved ones have been comforted by the words, “I am with you alway, even to the end of the world;" hundreds of doubting ones by the words, “If any man will do the will of my Father he shall know of the doctrine;" hundreds of tempted ones by the words, “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” A perpetual spring of consolation, and an inexhaustible armoury of strength are his words.

Jesus came to the disciples. Treading the waves as if they were a pavement of adamant, walking on the rough ocean as if it were solid ground, he drew nigh,

them and entered the ship. Does he not do the same now? Is there a vessel on the ocean of human life which he does not enter? He is with us still. Ours is an ever-living and an everywhere-present Christ. We cannot be where he is not. The Redeemer who sat at meat with Simon is present at our social board. He who taught in the temple is present in our sanctuaries. He who walked the streets of Jerusalem is in the streets of London, and the inbabitant of Nazareth is the inhabitant of every village in our own and other lands. It was the remem. brance of the Master's presence that enabled the “noble army of martyrs" to fight victoriously with death, and do successful battle with persecution in its darkest guise. Ridley and Latimer went to the stake with psalms of heroic trust; Bunyan endured the gloom and solitude of prison life; the noble two thousand clergy, expelled from the church of their affections by the cruel Act of Uniformity, "went out, not knowing whither they went”—why? How came they to endure it? Because Christ was with them. Brethren in Jesus, let us ever remember this great fact. In all our trials Christ is with us. Not nearer was he to his followers when he stepped on to the wet and slippery deck of their storm-driven craft than is he to every one of us.

« Oh, where is He that trod the sea ?
My soul! the Lord is here :

Let all thy fears be hushed in thee.
• To leap, to look, to hear,

Be thine : thy needs be'll satisfy.
Art thou diseased, or dumb ?
Or dost thou in thine hunger cry?

'I come,' saith Christ, • I come." 3. God's help is opportune.-It is worth while noticing when Jesus came to his disciples. “In the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them.” It was about six o'clock in the evening when they set sail, it was “the fourth watch," or three o'clock in the morning, when the Saviour appeared. Nine long hours were they without him. See the wisdom of this. Ohrist left them long enough to make them feel their need of him, and he left them long enough to find that their own efforts (“ toiling in rowing,” as another evangelist says) were futile ; but he did not leave them too long; he did not leave them long enough for the storm to shipwreck them. In other words, his aid was opportune.

Nor is this an exceptional case. The help of God is always regulated by a kind and wise regard to the ultimate interest of his creatures, and this is seen as much in the period as the method of his aid. As one of our modern poets has put it

“ God never is before his time,

And nover is behind." Think of Abraham and Isaac. Everything is ready. The wood is laid in order. The altar is reared. The son of many prayers and hopes is bound hand and foot, and laid prostrate on the pile. The patriarch casts one last look at him, and, behold! the knife glitters above the helpless form of the victim, when the voice of God is heard rescuing him. That aid was indeed opportune. Think of the poor widow of Sarepta. She goes forth to gather a few sticks that she may prepare her last meal. Famine threatens her and her child. Death stands at her door. But just then, when all hope was gone, the prophet appears, and the memorable miracle of the cruse of oil occurs. It was opportune aid. Think of the Psalmist. Displeased and envious at the prosperity of the wicked, he wellnigh made a “shipwreck of faith.” “As for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped.” But in his hour of urgent need he found help. “I went into the sanctuary, then understood I their end : thou shalt guide me with thy counsel.” Ever be it ours to recollect that “ man's extremity is God's opportunity.” Let us seek him in the day of need, and he will be found of us.

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