NO. 11.] FOR NOVEMBER, 1825. [VOL. 8.

DIVINITY.

THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST WITH HIS MINISTERS,

From Lawson's Magna Charta Ecclesiæ Universalis, 1687.

THE presence of Christ with his ministers is signified in these words," Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world;" (Matt. xxviii, 20;), which implies, 1. That he will not be against them, nor absent from them; for there are enemies who are against us, and there are friends who are far from us; but Christ will not be an enemy, nor will he be a friend at a distance. 2. It is Christ that will be present-"I am with you ;" and that is more than if all men and angels should be for us, and ever present with us. 3. This presence is not bodily, for Christ was, just after this promise, taken up into heaven; and the heavens must contain him till the restitution of all things. 4. It is a spiritual presence, and is far more excellent than that of the body; for though a body may at several times be present in many places, yet it cannot be present at more places than one at the same time. But Christ, by his Spirit, can be with his servants in all places, and at all times; for he promised before his death and passion to send the Spirit, who should comfort their hearts in his absence, and lead them into all the truth; and upon the day of Pentecost he sent down that Spirit upon the apostles, who hath continued in the church, and will continue for ever. 5. This is not a bare presence; for in this sense the Spirit is present in all places, and at all times: neither is it a presence with some general power; for so he is present with all things to preserve them: but it is a special presence, with a special active power, for spiritual ends, and to produce spiritual and supernatural effects. It is a presence not only to comfort, strengthen, assist, and deliver them; but also a powerful presence, to make their ministry effectual for the eternal salvation of souls. By this Spirit all the members of the church are sanctified, the ministers of Christ qualified for their office, and the word and sacraments rendered effectual. Take away the Spirit, and you take away the life and soul of the church, the power of the ministry, the efficacy of the word and sacraments; for without it, all the preaching, praying, and other works of the ministry, will not be able to convert or comfort one soul. It is said, "I will be with you;" that is, "with you, my apostles, and your successors in the ministry, to assist, and VOL. VIII. November, 1825. -52

bless, and guide you in the discharge of your trust, and in the execution of your office. Dispense the word and sacraments, and, by the faithful observance of my mandate, endeavour to save souls; and in that work I am with you." Those who are the most faithful and diligent are the most certain of his gracious presence. Here is no promise made to any particular church or ministers, more than to others. Here is no express mention or intimation of the bishop or church of Rome, or Jerusalem, or Antioch, or Constantinople. The promise is made to the church and its ministers in general; especially to such as are most faithful in their place and office.

SANCTIFIED AFFLICTIONS.

Extracted from Mr. John Howe,

1. AFFLICTIONS, when sanctified, engage to much prayer. In their affliction they will be submissive, and lie at my feet, saith God they will seek me early, from whom, otherwise, I should never hear all their life long. O that you would understand the matter so, when God afflicts so that his hand touches your very bone and flesh! This is the design of it: to make you pray; to bring you down upon your knees; to put you into a supplicating posture. If he can, upon any terms, hear from you, though you seek him for bodily ease, it may be a means of the greatest advantage to you. When once he hath brought you to a more tractable disposition, there is hope in your case. If thus he open your ear to discipline, and be to you an interpreter, one of a thousand, to show you his righteousness, he may seal instruction upon you, and "save your soul from going down to the pit."

2. Affliction puts several graces upon exercise, and, by being exercised, they grow. It tries our faith, and improves it. In such a case as this, faith is necessarily called forth into act, if there be the principle; and as it acts, it grows, and becomes more and more strong and lively. Our patience is exercised by it, and perfected: and that has a great influence upon universal perfection. "Let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect." There will be a universal languor (as if he had said) upon your spirits, if you be impatient, if you cannot suffer, if you can by no means endure without tempestuous agitations, or sullen despondency. But if patience have its perfect work, that will infer a universal healthfulness, and a good habit in your whole soul. Our love to God is, in such a case, eminently tried and improved. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation," (trying affliction,) "for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown which the Lord hath promised to them that

love him." It is a great trial of love to God, a very improvable opportunity of discerning its sincerity, when, upon a long affliction, we can appeal to God, and say, "Thou knowest that I love thee though thou smite and kill, I will still love thee."

3. Affliction also causes us to live much on the borders of eternity and those souls will prosper that have so unspeakably more to do with the other world than with this. It is in this way that the afflictions of the present state work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, as they direct our eye forward, while we look, not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are unseen. Life and spirit, strength and vigour, enter, as through our eye, which is prompted by the horror of frightful spectacles in this scene of things, to look to another, where all things appear lightsome, pleasant, and glorious.

BIOGRAPHY.

MEMOIR OF THE LATE MR. ROBERT SPENCE, OF YORK. BY THE REV. A. E. FARRAR.

(Concluded.)

FROM the time that Mr. Spence began business, he was blessed with almost uninterrupted prosperity. He proceeded cautiously and gradually. One of his first steps of much importance was the publication of a quarto Bible, with notes by Counsellor Parker. As his way opened, he ventured into the wholesale trade, specially careful to see the cloud moving before him.Seldom, indeed, did he take any new step without solemn consultation with his friends, and setting apart a day of fasting and prayer, to seek direction of God; and his opinion was, that most of the mistakes which people make are owing to the omission of such prudential measures. He frequently adverted to one particular case, in which he had been remarkably guided— his partnership with Alderman Wilson. To this connexion, not less honourable in its formation and continuance to the principles of Mr. Wilson, than creditable to the abilities and conduct of our deceased friend, Mr. Spence owed an independent fortune; and it is due to both these gentlemen to add, that during a verbal partnership of twenty-one years, not a wrong word, and it is believed not a thought, transpired to interrupt their mutual confidence: a rare instance, it is to be feared, of such longcontinued commercial harmony. He was now chosen one of the sheriffs for York, but preferred the payment of the fine of one hundred guineas to the acceptance of that honourable distinction. Mr. Spence was not singular in regarding civic offices

as unfriendly situations for spiritual-mindedness; nor in the opinion, that where a man is not called to them as a sphere of usefulness, he does well to avoid them as scenes of trial.

A rise into worldly respectability is often attended with great moral hazard, especially endangering a man's humility; and yet this was one of the most prominent excellencies of Mr. Spence's character. Self-annihilation he considered to be one of the most certain evidences of perfect love. His elevation in society he frequently reviewed with grateful wonder; thanking God, with allusion to the site of his native cottage, that he had been born on the outside of the park wall; and his Christian enjoyments he laid, in deep self-abasement, at the foot of the cross. His favourite topic was "salvation by grace." "Religion," he often said, "is simply receiving all in God's own way;" and, aware of the insidiousness of temptation, especially to spiritual pride, he would, in a manner peculiarly his own, pray, "Lord, save me from that great man, Robert Spence."

While he "abode with God" in his calling, he permitted not opportunities of doing good to pass by him unimproved. His instructions as a leader were made peculiarly serviceable to two large classes, by whom his faithfulness, and the unction with which he spoke and prayed, will not soon be forgotten. His sabbaths were frequently consecrated to the service of his fellow creatures, as a local preacher; in which capacity, without any pretensions to eloquence, he was highly acceptable; his sermons being a clear, devout, and energetic exhibition of gospel truth. The poor in general, especially after independence and leisure afforded him the means, were the objects of his unwearied attention. With him chiefly originated the Benevolent Society in York, supported by Methodists and their friends, for the relief of the distressed of all denominations. The management of this society, of which he was upwards of thirty years the treasurer, probably first turned his attention to the study of medicine, which he gratuitously administered; and partial as the writer of this memoir may be to professional science, especially when it involves the care of human life, it is due to Mr. Spence to say that his skill was only exceeded by his caution. He had a peculiar tact in distinguishing amongst the prognoses of different diseases, and was possessed of the medical recipes of a gentleman who had been an eminent practitioner. He was one of the committee of most of the local institutions of the city; and, in cases of difficulty, his piety and prudence often pointed him out to his fellow citizens for advice and instruction. In various instances he had offers of testamentary disposals of property in his favour, which he uniformly declined. One circumstance, connected with such an offer, deserves publication. To prevent importunity, he named a poor industrious woman, with a large family,

who, previous to her marriage, had distinguished herself by faithfulness in his service, as a person who might be materially benefited by a small bequest. This poor woman, at her next confinement, during the period painfully recollected in Yorkshire as the barley times, was surprised with the legacy of ten pounds from an unknown benefactor, conveyed to her through the medium of her old master.

To Methodism, as a work of God, he felt ardently attached, and uniformly laboured to promote its interests. This attachment appeared to strengthen with age, and after sixty years was invested with all the vigour of youth. His mind perfectly harmonized with the shades of varying form, which Methodism, so far as it is a system of Christian accommodation, has taken; and even his early ecclesiastical prejudices retired before those indicatory providential movements that designated the position it was to assume for the ultimate attainment of the ends of its Divine appointment. Good men are not always steady in their regards; and while the records of Methodism offer the name of many an individual, who, after having risen in life by his connexion with it, has ultimately discharged his obligations by withdrawing from its communion, and charging upon his early friends his own pitiable tergiversation, it has not unfrequently occurred that even old and respectable professors, attributing to scenes and times more impressive to them an excellence derived from the feelings under which they were passed, have expressed their conviction that the former days were better than the present.Much certainly may be said in apology for this sentiment. Many of our fathers, wise and good as they were, apprehended rather than hoped respecting the piety of times they were not gladdened to see, and died boding that Methodism would only last during "the days of the elders that should overlive their Joshua." Every religious society is liable to declension; and that ours has maintained its primitive glory, is to be ascribed solely to its being God's work, most immediately under his care. One expression of the views and feelings of our deceased friend upon this subject, the writer will not soon forget. It was made at a love feast in the New-street chapel, York, at a period when such a testimony was peculiarly seasonable. Having related his experience with some minuteness, under an idea that it might be his last opportunity of doing it, he proceeded: "Some say Methodism is fallen; or, if not fallen, falling. I am of opinion it is neither the one nor the other: no, brethren, it grows better and better." Then pausing, and addressing an aged member in the body of the chapel, "Brother R." said he, "you have been connected with it above fifty years: what say you?" "I am quite of your mind," was the reply. Then turning to an aged female in the gallery, who had been nearly sixty years in the society,