They cry, but there is no voice, nor any that regardeth. When they knew thee, they did not glorify thee, but worshipped the work of their that they cannot see, and their hearts, that they own hands. Therefore hast thou shut their eyes, cannot understand. O Lord, plenteous in goodness and truth, open thou their eyes, that they may see thee; take away the heart of stone, and given them a new and contrite heart; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that there may be one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ the righteous. For his dear sake, blot out as a thick cloud their transgressions, and as a cloud their sins. Pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. Breathe thy Holy Spirit upon thy seed, and overshadow thy offspring with thy blessing. Then shall they spring up as the tender and grass, this, O heavenly Father, for the merits and righteflourish as willows beside the water-brooks. Grant ousness' sake of thy beloved Son's sake. Amen. man into the same blessed union with Christ, and into the same holy, happy brotherhood? O for the apostle's large and generous heart! Of him it was said that, "become winged as it were through love, he went continually round to all, abiding no where, nor standing still." He felt it ever (they are his own remembered words of his adorable Lord) "more blessed to give than to receive." He sowed beside all waters. He was not ashamed to own himself a debtor, not only to divine mercy, but to every creature. He made himself a servant to all. He had no sympathy with the fear of being called upon to do too much in the cause of Christ and of his church. Let it be seen that we have the same large and generous spirit. Let us one and all, each in his own sphere and measure, take up the words of the apostle: "I am debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. So, as much as in me lies, I am ready to preach the gospel to shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the you that be at Rome also." SABBATH MEDITATIONS. No. XXIX. JANUARY 12.-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPI PHANY. Morning Lessons: Isa. xliv.; Matt. x. MORNING. "He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside."-ISA. xliv. 20. Meditation.-"God hath promised great things. He hath not intended that the vast blessings of redemption should, even in appearance, remain limited to certain sections of the family of man. Though, for wise ends, he hath permitted a long struggle between darkness and light, he hath decreed the termination of that struggle, having given assurance of a time when all shall know him, from the least unto the greatest,' when the kingdoms of this world' shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and his Christ.' He requires of us that we exert ourselves for the spread of Christianity; and he requires of us that we entreat of him the accomplishment of his gracious declarations" (H. Melvill). Prayer. O Lord of hosts, the Redeemer, the King of Israel, thou art the first and thou art the last, and beside thee there is no God. Thou dost call and declare and set in order the things that are coming on the earth. Thou, O Lord, art not a man, that thou shouldst lie; neither the son of man, that thou shouldst repent. Hast thou said, and shalt thou not do? or hast thou spoken, and shalt thou not make it good? Thou hast given thy well-beloved Son to be a light unto the Gentiles: yet, how long, O Lord, holy and true, how long shall it be ere thou take away the veil that is spread over the heathen? Woe is them: they know not, neither do they understand. "They feed upon ashes: a deceived heart hath turned them aside." Their graven images are all of them vanity their delectable things profit them not. EVENING. S. H. "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and dead, thou shalt be saved."-ROM. x. 9. Meditation. "Awake, my heart! arise, my tongue! Prepare the tuneful voice: In God, the life of all my joys, ""Tis he adorned my naked soul, “And, lest the shadow of a spot Should on my soul be found, "The Spirit worked by faith and love My robe of righteousness." Prayer.-O Lord my God, what shall I render unto thee for thine unspeakable love in revealing to thy fallen creatures the precious and life-giving doctrine of justification by faith in thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! I beseech thee, enlighten my understanding by the teaching of thy blessed Spirit, that I may not be ignorant of thy righteousness, or vainly seek to establish my own. But, knowing how sinful and miserable I am in thy sight, may I, praising and blessing thee with my whole heart, thankfully embrace the redemption and justification which thou hast freely and mercifully offered to every one that believeth. O Lord Jesu Christ, who of God wast made unto thine elect and chosen people both wisdom and righteousness, I come to thee, not trusting in mine own merits, but in thy mercy. I lay my hand upon my mouth, and offer no plea, no sufficiency, no work, but thine all-atoning sacrifice and precious blood-shedding. Be gracious unto me, O my Saviour, and open mine eyes, that I may see and understand the riches and fulness of thy love to thy lost and perishing creatures. O be gracious unto me, that I may know and believe that thou wast wounded for my transgressions and my sorrows. CHURCH OF ENGLAND MAGAZINE. burised for my iniquities; yea, that my heavenly strength, that I may not only receive thee in Father laid upon thee my sins, my stripes, and faith, but that I may confess thee before men, and As the imputation of thy righte-witness, both in my life and conversation, that I am redeemed and justified and sanctified by thy power and free mercy, O holy, blessed, and undivided Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen, and amen. ousness resteth upon every one that believeth, so do thou help mine unbelief, and let it rest also upon me. Thou, O Lord, art rich in mercy unto every one that calleth upon thee. O give me grace and S. H. TREES AND SHRUBS. No. XII. THE WILD PALM. "Midst rocks and sands and barrenness, The wild palm in its desert dress, THE cultivated palm tree, with its various important uses, has been described in a former paper. The following illustration is that of the wild palm in its natural state, for which we are indebted to the kindness of the secretaries of the Church Mis sionary Society. The engraving is copied from M. Laborde's work on Arabia Petræa. He thus writes concerning the palm tree in question: "What appeared to me most worthy of notice was a palm tree in its natural state, which we found at Onadi Seleh. The palm tree is always represented with its summit pointed, its leaves bent back and spreading over its head, from whence gracefully hang dates as bright as corals; and we never imagine that all this elegance is produced by art, and that nature, less refined, has only attended to its preservation. Before us we saw the palm tree as it had grown for many a year, forming a rampart of its perishing leaves, and again coming to life, as it were in the midst of its wreck. Neglected by the Arab of the desert, who considers all attempts at cultivation beneath his dignity, the palm tree, at times, forms impenetrable forests: more frequently, however, it is found isolated near a fountain. It presents itself to the thirsty traveller like a friendly lighthouse, pointing out to him the spot where water is to be found to quench his thirst, and a charitable shade in which to repose." descendants of Abraham; in which case, they would have immediately denounced him to the governor, as a teacher of sedition. But, although this was their primary object, there cannot be a doubt, from their conduct upon other occasions, that, if Jesus had given to their insidious question a direct answer in the affirmative, they would have represented him to the Jews as a pusillanimous yielder to the Roman yoke, and therefore a traitor to the commonwealth of Israel. We are informed that the Pharisees sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians." Who were they? Many believe that they were a distinct sect, differing in their tenets both from Blessed, indeed, and gratefully thankful were the children of Israel when, in their passage through the wilderness, they came to Elim, where there were twelve wells of water and three-score-the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and partaking and-ten palm trees, and they encamped there by the waters. "They could not drink of the waters of Marah until God had sweetened them," by instructing Moses his servant to cast in a tree; but at Elim all was sweet. Reader, may the palm branch be in your hand when you shall drink of purer streams even than that of Elim, when the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall lead you unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from your eyes. more of the nature of a political than of a religious body; but that, though very indifferent about matters of faith, their attachment to the person and principles (if he could be said to have any) of Herod, made them ready to unite in crushing any one who was suspected, as our blessed Lord was, of aiming at the sovereignty of Judea. We are of opinion that this view of the matter is erroneous, and that the Herodians and Sadducees were one and the same body; who, nuntering Herod among their converts, and being proud of the acquisition, were at this period some BRIEF COMMENTS ON CERTAIN PASSAGES times called by his name, though more frequently OF SCRIPTURE. BY RICHARD HUIE, M.D. No. III. "Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man; for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, re hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render there fore unto Cæsar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way."-MATT. xxii. 15-22. ELIPHAZ, the Temanite, in recounting the perfections and attributes of Jehovah, reminds Job, that "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness" (Job v. 13). Never was this truth more strikingly exemplified than in the passage before us. The Pharisees, with all imaginary cunning, as they supposed, contrived a scheme for involving the Saviour in a dilemma, from which they fondly thought it impossible for him to escape; little imagining that their shallow device was known to him, even before they themselves conceived it; and that he, who was able to foresee the plot, would also be ready and capable to defeat it. The folly of man laid a snare for infinite wisdom; and, as a matter of course, was most promptly and signally discomfited. The object of the Pharisees, it appears, was to "entangle" the Saviour "in his talk." What the ulterior purpose of this entanglement was, we are expressly informed by St. Luke. It was, "that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor" (Luke xx. 20). They hoped that, in his desire to ingratiate himself with his countryman, by crowds of whom he was continually surrounded, he might be entrapped into the expression of an opinion, that the Romans, as Gentiles, had no right to impose a tax on the by that of their original founder. We are strengthened in this persuasion by the fact that, although both the Sadducees and Herodians are described in various passages of the New Testament, as conspiring with the Pharisees against our Lord and his disciples, they are never once mentioned in the same passage as doing so. And we are confirmed in our belief by comparing the parallel texts, Matthew xvi. 6, and Mark viii. 15. Both evangelists are relating the very same incident; but, while the former describes the Saviour as warning his disciples to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees," the latter represents him as cautioning them to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod!" Properly schooled by their respective leaders, and doubtless considering themselves perfect in their task, the emissaries of fraud and dissimulation come to the Redeemer; and, regarding him as a mere man, equally open with other human beings to flattery, they address him in a style of compliment as fulsome as it was dishonest. They tell the meek and holy prophet, whom they had uniformly contradicted and opposed, that they know him to be true, and to teach the way of God in truth; and they publicly commend him for that independence of spirit and boldness of rebuke which had so often excited their keenest malice and most deadly hostility. At length they put the ensnaring question, "Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not?" and then pause for the Saviour's reply. Full of holy indignation at their dissimulation and treachery, Jesus at once charges them with meanness and hypocrisy; and, having shewn them that he knew what was passing in their hearts, as well as what had brought them thither, he vouchsafes no direct answer to their artful interrogatory, but demands a sight of the coin in which they were in the habit of paying the tribute in question. Awed by his manner, and perhaps curious to know what he was going to do with the money, 66 they brought unto him a penny;" that is to say, a Roman coin bearing that name, but equal in value to seven-pence half-penny of our currency. Taking the coin in his hand, and holding it up in the view of all, he inquires whose image and superscription it bears; and, having compelled them to admit that both the profile and the legend were those of Tiberius, he tells them, in plain terms, that, by using the coinage of the Roman empire, they virtually acknowledged themselves its subjects; and therefore were bound, in equity as well as in duty, to pay any tribute which the will of the sovereign or the exigencies of the state might require at their hands. Having thus, with the calmness of wisdom, and at the same time with the severity of truth, exposed and defeated the snare laid for him by his enemies, our blessed Lord embraced the opportunity to give their messengers an admonition of which they stood very much in need, but were not seeking at his mouth. "Render," said he, "unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Pay to your lawful sovereign that tribute which is his due; but withhold not from the King of kings that allegiance and service which you also owe to him. His image is stamped upon your features: his law is written on your hearts. Render unto him, therefore, a holy and perfect obedience; or if, from your sinful natures, you feel that to be impossible, then seek his forgiveness in the way which he has appointed, and escape whilst you yet may "the wrath to come!" And what was the effect produced upon his hearers by the language of the Redeemer? We are told that "they marvelled." Yes, they marvelled; but they did nothing more. "They left him, and went their way;" not to ponder on his words, not to profit by his warning, but to devise new schemes to accomplish his ruin. Solemn lesson! Let it not be lost upon us. What effect has the glorious gospel of the Son of God produced upon our hearts? Have we only marvelled at it? Marvel, indeed, we might; for, although the plan of man's redemption is so simple that a child can understand it, there is sublimity enough in it to satisfy the most fastidious philosopher. But have we only marvelled? Have we been struck, pleased, melted perhaps, by the powerful preaching of God's word; and then gone away to our farm, or to our merchandise, postponing for an indefinite period the concerns of eternity? or have we, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, embraced with our whole souls the truth as it is in Jesus, surrendered our hearts and affections to him who gave his life for us, and resolved, with the aid of divine grace, to be his now, his only, and his for ever? These are questions of unspeakable importance. Let every reader answer them for himself. The Cabinet. APPARENT DISCREPANCIES OF SCRIPTURE. If between some truths there appears to be a discrepancy which we cannot satisfactorily remove, we must resolve this into our ignorance; but we may not therefore mutilate the declarations of God, in order to render them in our view more consistent with each other: we must remember we cannot make a system of the scriptures. The glorious truths of revelation are scattered over the pages of the book of God, like the constellations on the face of the blue heaven: they are grouped together so as to give us light; yet you cannot so disentangle them from the maze of rich confusion in which they are presented to us, as to reduce them to that systematic arrangement in which the hand of God has doubtlessly disposed them. The tendency of man is to make a system of the scripture; and, in attempting to do so, he is almost certain to reject one or another truth, which does not adapt itself to his conceptions; and thus he loses some of the precious particles of the revelation of God. One, lest it should interfere with human effort, rejects the sovereignty of grace; another, in admitting the latter truth, reduces man to antinomian sluggishness. If one conceives that to be humbly assured we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ is incompatible with our giving all diligence, another, presumptuously reposing himself on the secret purposes of God, forgets that a holy perseverance in the obedience of faith is the appointed means in which salvation, the end of faith, is to be attained, and that, as the apostle tells us, it is "after we have done the will of God, that we are to receive the promise" (Heb. x. 36). How a promise may be positively given and unconditionally pledged, and yet the diligent use of means be essential to its accomplishment, is beautifully illustrated in Acts xxvii. When, driven about by a prolonged and fearful tempest, the vessel in which Paul and his companions sailed appeared to be doomed to inevitable shipwreck, so that all hope that they should be saved was taken away, the angel of God appeared to Paul saying, "Fear not, Paul: thou must be brought before Cæsar; and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee." Nothing could be more explicit than the promise; yet that it did not preclude the employ, ment of every effort that human prudence could devise is evident from the circumstance that, when the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved."-Ridgeway's Sermons. Poetry. THE MAGDALEN. (For the Church of England Magazine.) SILENT she stood, trembling with fears, And bathed her Saviour's feet in tears Of joy and anguish, hope and shame, Wiping them with her raven tresses; And, as she thought of his dear name, Embracing them with fond caresses; While, like a spirit mourning for the dead, She poured her perfumed incense on his head. Wounded in heart, she meekly bends In deepest penitence, and tends Her ministry of love behind Her Master's couch, heedless of scorn From all, save where she sought to find Rest for her soul weary, forlorn; What cared she for the haughty now, With passion's false idolatry? Once more she clasps the fluttering dove Devauden. Miscellaneous. of all new things, especially in religion, to have this effect. But that is a very unsafe way of judging. For I have known those who, having gone through several ways of religion, have been almost ravished with the pleasure of every new way at first, and after a while have cast off that and taken another, because the pleasure of its being new could not continue long. Madam, if you value the peace of your own mind, keep yourself free in what God hath left to your choice; never think that God is better pleased with us for any crotchets of our own, than with doing what he commands us. Value his word and precepts above the directions of all men in the world. Do what he he commands, and forbear what he forbids, and no doubt you shall be happy. Let no man carry you beyond the bounds God hath set you, nor make you believe that he hath found a plainer or more certain way to heaven than Christ hath given you. Think nothing necessary in order to the pardon of sin but what God hath made so; and suspect those guides that would carry you beyond this infallible rule of scripture; which alone is able to make us wise unto salvation.Misc. Dic. pp. 306-309). THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY AND THE SPIRIT OF SLAVERY.-Soon after the close of the long French war in Europe, a boy was standing on one of the bridges that cross the Thames at LonLondon, with a number of small birds in a cage for sale. A sailor, who was passing, observed the little prisoners fluttering about the cage, peeping through the wires, and manifesting their eager desire to re UNCALLED-FOR Vows.-That, says bishop Stillingfleet, in his letter to a lady about vows of virginity, which God hath no where forbidden us, is lawful for us; and therefore the forbearing, and much more, the vowing against a thing lawful in itself, can be no part of religion, nor acceptable to God. For how can God be honoured by our refusing to do a thing which he hath allowed us to do? I do not deny but that it may be the duty of a Christian sometimes to forbear things in themselves lawful; but I can only say it is a duty, when that is the means to bring us to something which is unlawful; otherwise I may use my liberty, and not offend God. It is lawful for me to forbear any one kind of meat or drink as long as I live; but why should I think it again their liberty. He stood for some time looking part of religion or a thing pleasing to God for me to do so, or to vow against the eating or drinking such a thing? The case is the same as to virginity and marriage; this latter being in itself lawful, and no where forbidden, and sometimes commanded; and why should any person think it a thing pleasing to God to vow against it, when no one can foresee in their own case whether they may not fall into such circumstances wherein it may be required, rather than be exposed to great temptation? I confess I cannot understand how such a thing comes to be lawful, much less commendable, and least of all a great instance of offering ourselves up to God. I deny not but it is in the power of any person to choose which state will suit best with their conveniences for this life or a better. But it is one thing to embrace one state before another, where we are left at liberty, and another to vow against another state, when our circumstances may in all respects make that afterwards more eligible than the other. By this, madam, you may understand what my opinion is of such a vow of virginity as you mention; and in the general, I think that vows against things in themselves lawful, prove great snares to the consciences of those who make them; for we strongly desire liberty when we have abridged ourselves of it; and temptations ofttimes prove more troublesome on the account of such VOWS. We have one great vow upon us already, viz., our baptismal vow; if we perform that, we need not trouble or perplex ourselves with others. I wonder not at all to hear persons speak of great pleasure they took in the fancy of such things; for it is the nature at the birds, apparently lost in thought. At length, addressing the boy, he said, "How much do you ask for your birds?" "Sixpence a-piece, sir," was the reply. "I don't ask how much a-piece," said the sailor; "how much for the lot? I want to buy all hands." The boy began his calculations, and found they came to six shillings and sixpence. "There is your money," said the sailor, handing out the cash, which the boy received with evident satisfaction at his morning's trade. No sooner was the bargain settled, than the sailor opened the cage door, and let all the birds fly away. The boy, looking quite astonished, exclaimed, "What did you do that you," said the sailor," why I did it: I was shut up for, sir? You have lost all your birds." "I'll tell three years in a French prison, as a prisoner of was, and I am resolved never to see anything in prison that I can make free." Soon after the occurrence of the little incident just recited, I met a young French gentleman with whom I was acquainted, the son of the count de la Chabace. He came into a jeweller's, and asked for some small brass chains, observing that he wanted to chain some birds in a cage. "What!" said I," Frederick, is it not enough to keep them in a cage, but must English took me prisoner, in my privateer, they shut you chain them too?" "O," said he, "when the me up in prison, and now my birds shall have a taste of a prison as well as myself." Tell me, my young friends, which appears most lovely, the spirit of liberty, or the spirit of slavery ?-Youth's Cabinet. London: Published for the Proprietors, by EDWARDS and HUGHES, 12, Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; J. BURNS, 17, Portman Street; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country. FRINTED BY JOSEPH ROGERSON, 24, NORFOLK-STREET, STRAND, LONDON. |