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POETRY.

THE FRUITS OF ADOPTION.

"Thou art my portion, O Lord."-Psalm

cxix. 57.

How sweet the portion which my God
Gives me to feed upon below,
On which I rest through all the road,
As onward I to glory go.

'Tis better far than all the world,
Could I its boundless wealth possess ;
This must to ruin all be hurl'd,
But mine is Jesus' sov'reign grace.
Yea, greater far, 'tis Christ himself!
He is my portion, safe, secure ;
Better than all the worldling's pelf,
Though e'er so bounteous be the store.

In Him I've riches great and good,
Food for the body and the mind;
On him I thrive, He's precious food,
To cheer my fainting soul design'd.

Though darkness here my way attend,
He is my light-bless'd Morning Star!
And as my sun,
his rays descend

To warm my soul and banish fear.

He is my way to worlds of light,
Where mourning shall for ever cease.
His presence puts my foes to flight,
And“ keeps my soul in perfect peace.”

He is the truth, on which I rest,
He cannot fail his words to prove;
In him I am supremely blest,

For all his speech abounds with love.

He is my life, nor will I fear,
Though Satan would my soul destroy;
In Christ I live, He's ever near
To lead me on to endless joy.

He is my ALL! below, above;

On earth, in heaven, my God and King;
My blessed portion, full of love,
Of Him my soul shall ever sing.

Sing while on earth (though oft annoy'd)
Of his great love who died for me;
Through Him I ne'er can be destroy'd,
For Jesus rose and rescued me.

Through all eternity I'll sing
Of his abounding, sov'reign grace;
Christ is my Portion, Priest, and King,
My Safety, Shield, and Hiding-Place.

Clift House, Bristol. J. HARDING.

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"Thy Kingdom come."-Matt. vi. 10. COME, Saviour, with the sceptre and the crown, And all thy regal dignity, and in my heart, If thou canst stoop thus low, erect thy throne, Set up thy kingdom, and do thou controul My every thought, and word, and action: Let them as in thy presence be performed. Oh! I would never cease this prayer, until I feel and know assuredly thon art

My King, my God, my Saviour! then my prayer

(Should it extend till then?) shall likewise pray, That o'er the nations which are wrapped in gloom,

My King, whose coming brought me bright

ness, may

Arise, scatter their darkness, and his sunshine give.

Then will I pray, patient yet wishfully,

The coming of that kingdom which thy word
Describes so glowingly, and which shall last
A full millennial year: let me not ask,
Too curious, if that day, thy visible throne
Filled by thee visibly, a conquering King
Shall deck this worn-out earth; enough for me
Earth's other glories shall all paltry seem
Likened to that, when with thine ancients
Thou

Shalt reign most gloriously. At the thought
This breast seems over-filled with fervency,
And even now, the unpremeditated prayer
Breaks every barrier," Thy kingdom come!"

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Each soul that comes I will receive,
Who comes for Jesu's sake;
I've said, that thee I ne'er will leave,
No, never will forsake.

Ask, and it surely shall be given,
Seek ye, and ye shall find;
Knock too, at mercy's door and there
You'll have a welcome kind.

For ye that come I'll ne'er reject,
Your Father-God will give
His Holy Spirit; then expect,

That asking, you shall have.
To you, a Father I will be,
Ye chosen little ones;
And saith th' Almighty, ye shall be,
My daughters and my sons.
You in this vale of misery,

Shall tribulations bear;
But as thy days, thy strength shall be,
Then what have you to fear.
He will direct thy path-and why?
If thou acknowledge him;
Thy God shall every need supply,

Thro' Christ the atoning Lamb. The sheep that wanders from the path, I will in mercy heal; I'll love him freely and my wrath,

Deserved, he shall not feel.
In trouble ye shall call on me,

Ye shall present your prayer,
And my unchangeable decree
Is pass'd, that I will hear.
I give to them eternal bliss,

Not one shall e'er be lost;
Emmanuel bought them, they are his,
His precious blood the cost.
O cast thyself with all thy care,
Upon the Lord thy God;
And he with mighty arm will bear,

And will sustain thy load.
He has engaged, and he will keep
The feet of every saint;
Ye mourner! cry, from troubles deep,
He will hear thy complaint.

I will redeem thee by my blood,
From guilt will set thee free;
I will be unto you a God,
My people ye shall be.

Jehovah is your sun and shield,
He will give strength'ning grace;
You, to your foes, shall never yield,

But all shall end in praise.

All that the Father gives to me,
In time shall surely come;

Their guide and guard I here will be,
I will conduct them home.
From the sure promise of thy Lord,
Christian, take courage then;
While here, your God will help afford,
With him, you soon shall reign.
Southwark.

R. R.

THE SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE,

AND

ZION'S CASKET.

"For there are Three that bear record in heaven, the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST: and these Three are One."-1 John v. 7.

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

THE VISIT AND

FEBRUARY, 1839.

OFFERINGS OF THE

MAGI.

The substance of a Sermon delivered at Elstow Church, on Lord's-day Morning, Jan. 6, 1839. By the Rev. JOHN WING, A. B., Incumbent.

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for

we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him."-Matt. ii. 1. 2.

It is beautiful to observe how all the rays of divine truth converge to the centre of our everlasting wellbeing-CHRIST.

Jehovah had arranged in his infinite wisdom, that the course of the world should be adapted to Messiah's coming. The Greek language had spread Alexander's conquests, and the Hebrew scriptures having been translated into Greek about 250 years before Christ, certain indistinct and inferior notions of the appearance of some great person, as the Benefactor of the human race, had been by that means propagated. The Jews, as a nation, were eagerly looking, under the most erroneous and unworthy conceptions, for their expectation and “ Desire:" a remnant only were looking for spiritual redemption in Jerusalem." February, 1839.]

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But the Father will not send his Son to redeem his church, and in consequence to stand out for a time of the glory that is due to him (for He must undergo personally al Ithat sin intended against the Deity), without causing some chosen ones, like Simeon and Anna among the Jews, and these wise men from the Gentiles, to among acknowledge Him, under the veil of his infancy and poverty, as the "Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel." Yet from a few only shall Jesus receive this homage at his incarnation. His miraculous origin must be obscured, by being reported to be the Son of Joseph, and his essential almightiness and all-sufficiency, by his poverty and helplessness. The Holy Ghost, however, whose it is to take of the things of Christ and shew unto his people, will reveal the Everlasting Father in the new-born child, and the Wonderful Counsellor in the babe that cannot articulate. From the east" there shall come wise men unto Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him,"

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We entreat the children of light to observe, first, the star by which these magi or wise men were led; and,

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secondly, the worship with the offerings which they paid unto Jesus.

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It is very remarkable, that the Lord should have inclined the wise men from the east to visit "the King of the Jews," by the appearance of a star or meteor, because it shews the Lord's wisdom in the modes he chooses for the revelation of Christ to his people. First of all, the Messiah himself is spoken of [Numb. xxiv. 17) as a star that shall come out of Jacob," to throw his divine light on his church, and reveal Jehovah's everlasting purposes of grace to his elect, in contrast with the sin, death, and ruin of his creatures. Christ also speaks of himself in the Apocalypse (xxii. 16.) as the Bright and Morning Star;" and to him that overcometh, he saith, "I will give the Morning Star" (xi. 28); in allusion, perhaps, to the resurrection of his saints at his coming, which is spoken of as "" the morning," in which "the upright shall have dominion," Psalm xlix. 14. And lastly, perhaps, the Lord inclined the hearts of the magi to set out on their visit to Jesus, by the medium of a star, that the gods of the heathen might serve him. The sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven were the objects of worship in the east; therefore, by causing a heavenly body of extraordinary brightness to shine in the firmament, as a token to the wise men that their expectation was come, to accompany them on their journey, and actually to point down its speaking rays upon the very house where

the young child was, the Lord effected, that, in the bowing down of the magi to worship Jesus, they declared their gods to be but effects, and Himself in Jesus the Great First Cause.

But pass we on to consider, secondly, their worship and their offerings. And here we must pause, to reflect on the discriminating grace of our God, Who of his kinsman after the flesh went to visit and worship the child Jesus? Who of them

bowed the knee to the Consolation of Israel? But can we think that these wise men could have discovered the formless Infinite in his infant form of manhood, without the revelation of the Holy Ghost? There can be no worship of God without a correct knowledge of him. Who could have taught them that this little child, whom hard-hearted creatures caused to be brought forth an outcast in the stable (thereby indeed unwillingly effecting his pre-determined humiliation), was their Saviour, their Prince, their God? He who warned them in a dream not to return to Herod, but to depart into their own country another way, doubtless revealed to them who the infant was, and somewhat at least of the purpose for which he was born, Their act of worship, which must have been one of knowledge, proves Jesus to be God; for Jehovah will "not give his glory to another," and he will have all men to honour the Son, even as the Father." Sin being a transgression against an infinite being, can only be atoned for by an infinite satisfaction: there must be, therefore, an absolute equality between the person satisfying, and the person to whom satisfaction is made, to constitute true grounds of reparation. If Jesus were not the living JAH, would not the Father have forfeited his own essential glories by suffering this worship to be paid to him? And would not Jesus, in receiving adoration on after occasions whilst upon earth, have been guilty of deifying the creature?

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But in contemplating the offerings the magi presented unto Jesus, of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh, I see the essential divinity of his person, and the perfection of his work, involving their glories in each other. Far be it from me to give any fanciful interpretation of Holy Writ; nothing I fear or abhor more: but can we consider this offering as a mere present of the products of their country? Was it no further than this, that the

Holy Ghost by the Psalmist looked, when he declared, The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts," Psalm lxxii. 10. Is not the whole east a land of figure? Have not its very flowers and fruits a language? Above all, was not the temple supplied with her incense, that never smoked but as a shadow of good things to come? And does not this offering of gold set forth the work of our Emmanuel? this frankincense the perfection of his intercession? and this myrrh the bitterness of his sufferings, and their sweet savour unto God? But myrrh is not only fragrant and bitter, but has also anodyne properties. Blessed Jesus! did not thy crucifiers give thee" to drink wine mingled with myrrh," and thou "receivedst it not?" No wine to strengthen thy fainting spirit! no myrrh to assuage the intensity of thy pains. Thy Father hath mixed the cup and thou must drink it. No abatement of thy sufferings can consist with the salvation of thy people. The cup of wrath emptied by thy precious lips is turned into the cup of salvation. O Lord! give thy people grace to present unto thee, in holy worship, the gold of their first and latest thoughts-the incense of their gratitude-the myrrh of their sufferings. May their bitterest trials be accompanied with the fragrancy of thy Spirit on their souls! Oh! that the Lord's people may fall down and worship Jesus, for

1. He it is who alone has brought us back all the way we had gone from God. His humiliation, rejection, and "cutting off," are alone commensurate with all the indignity, affront, and ruin, sin devised against God. In Jesus the Father is satisfied: you and I are satisfied too, for through him we have peace with God. Let us fall down and worship him!

2. In him we are complete. Himself is our salvation. Creature-attainments cannot increase, nor creature

inferiority lessen our interest in him. As we live upon him, subsist upon his mercy, and make him our Christ (and may the Lord grant us this favour); so are we, comparatively, and no longer, strangers to the fear, guilt, rebellion, unbelief, and atheism of our nature. Let us, therefore, fall down and worship him! And,

3, The dew of his birth shall be as the womb of the morning." Not a few only called to the knowledge and love of our glorious Emmanuel, compared with the vast mass that know him not; but numerous and bright as the pearly drops of dew, shall be the subjects of God's everlasting love, when, in the sublime language of the prophet, "It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it," Isa. xi. 2.; when "the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound" xxx. 26.: when, to add no more, "the sun shall be no more thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon give light nnto thee; but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory," lx. 19. Let us, therefore, fall down and worship him. Amen.

GOD'S CHRIST.

"Christ is God's "-1 Cor. iii. 23.

Christ is God's Christ, coequally and covenantly.

First. Coequally. The notions of men are always contrary to the scriptures of truth, and the reasoning powers of men are, if grace prevent not, continually being employed to interlope the doctrines of the gospel with human tradition and poisonous heresy. Thus we are constrained

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