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tread over the barren regions of controversy; nor have we been free from the attacks of some, who finding they could not make our Magazine a pinnacle to raise themselves to undeserved popularity, have assailed us with all the virulence of disappointed animosity.

We have had in the Review department of our work, regretfully in some few instances to express disapprobation, and to point out what we believe to be unscriptural sentiments in publications, for whose authors we entertain feelings of brotherly esteem. We have endeavoured to do this affectionately, while we do it fearlessly. Our work, in this department of it, is intended to be a beacon for the guidance of christian readers, and he would be worse than a traitor who would hold out a false light.

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We have invariably (and we shall continue to do so) rejected all communications from those political declaimers, who say in direct opposition to the word of our Lord, that their christian character doth not make them less citizens of the world.' Such shall never, in our pages, rail at dignities, nor strive to pull down national institutions. We are conscientiously dissenters from a form of worship, but we do not dissent from the truths contained in that form of worship; and therefore we will continue to pray for the welfare of our country in connection with a national church, in whose hemisphere hath shone many distinguished stars, eminent servants of Christ, whose writings, after their departure into rest, still continue to teach and encourage the children of God. Nor is our national church without witnesses for God now; amid a multitude of wolves in sheep's clothing (and such are to be found amongst all sects), there are still many who boldly proclaim God's truth, and whose ministrations the Lord doth bless. May their numbers greatly encrease. Let the humble disciples of the Lord, be no party to the schemes of these infidel agitators : let them turn a deaf ear to their sophistries, and recollecting that here we have no continuing city; that we are sojourners and pilgrims as all our father's were; be thankful for the quietude so long enjoyed, and look forward to that city which hath foundations whose Builder and Maker is God; and where all sects and partizanships shall be dissolved, in the fruition of the vision of Christ.

But we must not close, without tendering our best thanks to our esteemed correspondents, for their kind assistance: we shall enter upon the new year depending on their continued aid, and do thou, Oh! our Heavenly Father, be pleased still to smile upon our undertaking, and make it a blessing; let it be a means in the hands of the Holy Spirit, of leading thy children into more enlarged views of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and into more intimate acquaintance and fellowship with thee, and to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; three persons in one undivided Jehovah, shall be ascribed all the praise. Amen.

Nov. 26. 1838.

THE EDITORS.

THE SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE,

ZION'S

AND

CASKET.

"For there are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST: and these Three are One."- John v. 7.

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Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints."-Jude 3.
Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience."-1 Tim. iii. 9.

JANUARY, 1838.

A SERMON, PREACHED AT BROADWAY things for himself, yea, even

CHURCH, WESTMINSTER,

BY THE REV. R. HAWKER, D. d.
Aug. 7, 1826.

NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED.

"Go through, go through the gutes; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord and thou shalt be called, sought out, a city not forsaken." Isa. lxii. 10, 11, 12.

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THERE can be no spiritual knowledge and true apprehension of God, but what is wrought by the Eternal Spirit; whose great design in regeneration is, to bring us from death unto life; from the power of sin and Satan to the living God; and the Spirit of God has shewn us, that, from first to last, the whole of the acts of God have been for his own glory.

This is the leading design for which he came forth from the invisibility of his nature, to manifest himself to us in his Trinity of Persons; in which the Holy Three in One had been enjoying mutual happiness, mutual glory, power, blessedness, and delight, from all eternity.

With regard to the creation, the whole was prepared for the Lord, or, to glorify himself, according to Prov. xvi. 4., "The Lord hath made all Jan. 1838.]

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wicked for the day of evil." When Jolin was favoured with a view of the hierarchy of heaven surrounding the throne of God, which was designed Christ on earth, he was permitted not to represent the spiritual church of only to hear their joyful song, but to remember, write, and hand it down to us, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure, (mark that) for thy pleasure they are and were created." Thus the whole is summed up in the glory of God. But we must not stop here. The church of the living God is in a very gracious and blessed manner designed for his glory: this we are expressly told by the Holy Ghost, Eph. i. 5, 6. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

My brethren, hear what I am going to say to you. The Holy Three in One can look with complacency and delight on none, but those who are beheld as in union with Emmanuel. God can view nothing out of himself as an object of his love. Now this is enough to lift up our souls out of ourselves, far above all the dying cir

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cumstances of a dying world: and we should ever view ourselves as redeemed out of the hands of sin, Satan, death, and hell; the objects of God's everlasting love. When I think of this, I often forget all the circumstances in which my life is involved, or even that I was born in the Adamfall transgression. I now behold all as in the person of my glorious Head and husband in him I possess that holiness, happiness, righteousness, and honour, which not all the world, no, nor any thing in time or eternity, neither angels, nor devils can take from me.

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Not only is man destitute of beauty or excellency in the sight of God, but there is not an angel in heaven that can be otherwise regarded, as it is written, Job iv. 18. Behold, he putteth no trust in his servants, and his angels he chargeth with folly." And again, "the heavens are not clean in his sight." Nothing created, therefore, can be purely clean, so as to be looked upon with complacency and delight; consequently it is a very blessed thing to view every thing in Jehovah, as issuing from himself.

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The church was virtually taken into union and communion with himself from all eternity; but in order to effect her redemption from the Adam-state of the fall, the Son of God was pleased to take our nature into union with his divinity; and he, being the head of the church, through him, in him, and by him, Jehovah will behold her for everWe had in Adam a natural holiness, and lost it; but in the Lord Jesus Christ, our glorious Head, we have that holiness, righteousness, and perfection of nature, which is altogether super-natural; and we stand as holy as he is, in that super-creation holiness, which nothing can ever violate. Being perfect, it cannot be added to, or taken from, nor is it affected by any works or acts of our own. In Isa. xliii. 21. it is said, "This people have I formed for myself, they shall shew .orth my praise." Angels have no more than a

created holiness; and were they not upheld by the power and sovereignty of God, they would soon be lost, and they are therefore said to be elect angels; but we are, in union with Christ our glorious Head, as much above the circumstances of elect angels as heaven is higher than the earth. God having formed us for himself to shew forth his praise, he has given us that super-creation holiness in Christ our Lord, which is infinitely superior to all that of creation; and which no devil can take away, no sin of our's can ever affect or alter. Indeed, it is like himself, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever."

Nothing, therefore, can ever infringe upon the original settlements of eternity, when at that council of peace, Zech. vi. 13. the persons of the Godhead ordained the salvation of the elect. One of the old writers alluding to this, calls it, "the most sacred sitting of the most Holy Trinity." Coming down to the language of man, it was, as it were, a consulting, planning, and executing the will, purpose, counsel, and pleasure of Jehovah, in the salvation of his people; and so he says himself, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure," Isa. xlvi. 10. You that know what it is to enjoy fellowship and communion with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, may the Lord enable you to think of these things continually; and when I am laid in my grave, may they be the ground-work of all your faith, enjoyment, and love.

Let me make one observation more to you, before I begin my sermon, which is well calculated for your consolation. There is a wonderful difference between creature love and Creator love. The love that we bear to each other, arises from something we behold in each other: civil ties and relationships, or something very amiable and lovely may draw out our affections; but not so with God. Before him all of this nature has no meaning. His love to his church is

not for her deservings, but purely emanates from his eternal mind, will, and pleasure. Thus, it is said of Noah, "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord," Gen. vi. 8., and in Exod. xxxiii. 17. we find the Lord speaking to Moses, "Thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name." And again, in the 19th ver., "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy to whom I will shew mercy." And this is repeated by Paul, who thus speaks, "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy," Rom. ix. 16, 17.

This, therefore, is the love of the Creator, which cannot be moved; can neither be restrained nor constrained, by any thing in you or me. Let then every poor sinner consider, what encouragement it affords to hope in the divine mercy. "Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption," Psa. cxxx. 7. "He is of one mind, and who can turn him?" Job xxiii. 13. God looks at the person of Christ, and views the church as united to him, covered with his righteousness, and washed in his blood, that all may be "to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. You, therefore, who are perpetually poring over your own difficulties, and wondering how such a poor wretched sinner as you should ever partake of these blessings, you would do well to change the scene-Invert the glass, my brother, which you have been looking through, for you have been viewing yourself from the wrong end; but you will find that it is to the glory of our Christ to receive all out of his fulness. It is his great end to advance his own glory; we should therefore come empty to him to be filled.

I have found it good to speak of this in my own parish, when I may

have met with some who were afraid, as it were, to magnify the grace of the Lord. It is putting the crown of glory upon the head of our Christ, when we ascribe to him salvation from all our unworthiness and all our sins.

My text is a beautiful illustration of this: there is not an atom of human merit in it; and yet if you consider the beginning of the chapter, you will find it greatly abounding with expressions of grace and consolation, "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake will I not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah; for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married," 1-4. Hephzibah signifies, "the delight of Jehovah;" and Beulah signifies, ried"-married to our Jesus, and one with him.

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But now, how is this church to be gathered from her Adam-fall transgression, from her natural state of darkness and misery? My text explains it: "Go through, go through the gates, prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people (all this is the work of God, and not of man). Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto. the end of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.' And then we have the name by which the church is called: " They shall be called, the holy people." Who made them so? Jehovah chose them in

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Christ, that they should be holy, and without blame before him in love," Eph. i. 4. "The redeemed of the Lord:" the Lord Jesus bought them with his own blood. They shall also be called, "sought out, a city not forsaken.' They are sought out by the Lord himself; "I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, behold me, behold me, to a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts," Isa. lxv. 1, 2.

We will again run over a few outlines of these words, "go through, go through the gates." Now what gates are these? Why, the gates of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, which John saw coming down from God out of heaven, from the sovereign will, pleasure, counsel, and decree of Jehovah, in his Trinity of Persons.

There is nothing therefore, of man's work that has to do with it. "Every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," James i. 17. And I do admire that expression of Paul, 2 Thess. i. 11, 12,, "Wherefore also, we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power." And all this is to glorify his own name, "That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ."

You see it is not only the pleasure of God, but the good pleasure; not only the will, but the good will of him that dwelt in the bush." I do not know whether you follow me, or not; but I feel a degree of rapture in this consideration, which I cannot express. Oh what signifies the circumstances

in which I am involved in a time-state! all that I am in the first man, is earthy, and will all pass away; but what I am in the second man, the Lord Jesus Christ, will last for ever.

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It is said, Isa. lx. 11., Thy gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought." This corresponds exactly with the gates of the city that John saw, of which I have just spoken, although the period that elapsed from the time the former was written to that of the latter, could not be less than seven hundred and fifty years. And then follows an awful sentence against those who do not enter these gates, “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted," ver. 12. When we consider the Christdespising generation in which we live, are we not justified in saying, that we have reason to tremble for our British Israel? for how few there are whose sole aim is to serve the Lord.

But how are the people of God to go through the gates? "Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people: cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people," &c. All this is explained, Micah ii. 13. "The breaker is come up before them; they have broken up and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it, and their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them.” The Breaker-who is this, but the same that is spoken of by the Psalmist? "Thou spakest in vision to thine Holy One, I have laid help upon one that is mighty," Psa. lxxxix. 19., the glorious Head of his body the church, the Almighty Breaker that came up in the council of peace from all eternity.

He is spoken of in Prov. viii., indeed he is himself the speaker: "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I

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