who had revolted from Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Jeroboam was a wicked man, who from selfish motives made two golden calves, and set them up, one at Dan and the other at Bethel, for his people to worship; thus teaching his subjects to break God's commands, and gaining for himself this sad title- "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." But this king had a son who was not at all like himself, and this child fell sick and was ready to die; when his father, anxious to know whether he would recover, sent his wife to enquire of Ahijah the prophet if their son should live or die. But he bade her disguise herself so that no one should know her as the queen of Israel, (and since she so readily consented to the deception, we may conclude that she was no better than her husband.) So, in the dress probably of a farmer's wife, she set out on her journey, taking with her ten small loaves, a few cracknels or biscuits, and a pot of honeya present which a farmer's wife might offer to a prophet; but which would be altogether too mean a gift for a queen to tender. The Lord, however, revealed the fact to the aged prophet, and, to her astonishment, he greeted her with, "Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam, why feignest thou to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings." And then, without being able to deliver her own message, the sad mother heard God's terrible threatenings against Jeroboam and all his family, except the child on whose behalf she had now come; to him the Lord was gracious, yet his favour did not comfort her; for she was assured that when her feet entered the royal city, her child should breathe his last. He was taken from the evil to come, "because in him there was found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel. This, Mr. H. observed, is the great text for our little sermon this afternoon, and if you were preacherswhich I trust by the will of God some of you may one day be—what do you think you would say on this subject? Well, I think one thing would be this, that in our text we have true religion defined. What is true religion? It is some good thing found in a sinner's heart towards the good Lord God of Israel. And this good thing makes the person who has it a good child, a good man or woman, and renders him a little like the Lord from whom the good thing came. Abijah was not like his father and mother, or the wicked Israelites who surrounded him; he loved and worshipped God, he prayed to him for himself, for his parents, and for the nation. Perhaps he was very young, and his prayer may have been as simple as this, "O Lord, bless my father and mother, and put it into my father's heart to destroy those golden calves that he has made;" but whether a child or a youth, we are sure Abijah prayed, and that he was known to be a God-fearing lad. For the good thing within him was found; it is a very sad thing when people think they are religious, and no one finds their religion; if it is real, God will be sure to find it, because it is his own gift, Satan will find it, the child or man himself will find it, and other people will discover it too; for men take knowledge of Christ's disciples that they have been with Jesus. ܙܪ܂ And this good thing connects good people one with another, as well as with God himself. Abijah was united to all who in his day loved and served the true God, though he was a prince and heir to the throne of Israel, and some of them were very poor. And you, my little errand boy, and working girl, though you earn so little every week, yet if you possess this heavenly treasure, you belong to the royal family of God, and are among princes, even the princes of his people. This good thing, too, is connected with a good providence. Abijah came to the grave in peace; he died lamented and beloved, and was honourably buried: his was "An honoured life, a peaceful end, Next you will see that our text shows us that good children may have wicked parents. Not from father or mother did young Abijah learn about the God of Israel, but the Lord himself taught him; and though we should not have looked for a child of God in Jeroboam's wicked court, yet this good thing was found in the young prince's heart and life. Dear children, if you love the Bible and the ways of God, and your parents do not, pray for them that God would have mercy upon them; but if they are Christians, be thankful that you are thus favoured, and love and honour them as you should. Many other lessons might be drawn from our subject; but lest I should weary you, I will hasten to a close, and only mention one or two things more. One thought is this, that true religion generally wins the esteem of all parties. Abijah was young, and unlike the rest of his family or the bulk of the nation, yet not only did his parents weep when he died, but listen to what the Lord said, "All Israel shall mourn for him, and shall bury him;" whatever they were themselves, they admired and honoured him. And the last point we shall notice is this, that what is a mercy to one is a judgment to others sometimes. To Abijah, early death was a mercy; for he passed from scenes of care and sorrow to eternal bliss and perfection; to Jeroboam and Israel his death came as a judgment from the Lord. The few godly ones in the land had, no doubt, hoped for brighter, better days, when the good prince should take his father's place; but the people at large were bent on idolatry and evil, and the godly youth who would have reformed the country was called away. Wonderful and strange, yet always righteous, are the ways of God, and blessed are all those who put their trust in him. And if it be his gracious will, in every one of you may there be found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. BIBLE EXERCISES. 1. What is meant by "Kings and Priests" in Rev. i. 6, and v. 10. 2. Explain the word "Comforter" in John xiv., and the word "consolation" in Luke ii. 25. 3. What is the difference between the " one offering" in Heb. x. 14, and the "spiritual sacrifices in 1 Peter ii. 5. 4. There are twenty passages in the Bible wherein the words "I have sinned" occur: point out two or more in which they indicate a godly sorrow for sin. PRIZE ESSAY. An old contributor to the pages of this Magazine offers a five-shilling volume as a prize for the best essay on the character and reign of King Josiah. The age of the writer not to exceed eighteen years, and the essay to be his or her unassisted composition; satisfactory attestation as to these facts to accompany the MSS., which are to be sent to Messrs. Briscoe & Co., Printers, 28, Banner-street, London, on or before the 20th of next month, (February.) The successful competitor will be allowed to choose the prize book from any approved list. THE Answer to the Enigma given in the last No. of Pearls from the Golden Stream is HEART (EAR.) Correct answers, some of which are very creditable to their writers, have been received from Miss Isabel Bramwell, Cambridge-street, St. Pancras. Life in Christ.* THE result of our prayerful study of God's Word is, that by the phrase, "Life in Christ," we understand that blissful condition into which a soul already immortal is privileged to enter, as it is brought into the enjoyment of a spiritual participation with Christ in all the blessings of the New Covenant. This phrase we therefore consider as being necessarily most comprehensive in its nature. It includes the life of faith, with all its distinguishing features, privileges, and belongings, which commences when in our regeneration we become vitally united with our Lord. It also comprehends the life with Christ, upon which we shall enter, when absent from the body we shall be present with the Lord,-together with all its glorious associations and enjoyments. And it further embraces the triumphant resurrection life, which ultimately we shall realize, all resplendent with the enstamped glory of our risen Lord, and ever pregnant with the full fruition of eternal bliss. For, in fact, all these are but different phases of the believer's one life in Christ; that life but developing and manifesting itself at different times, and under different conditions. And here we would remark, that as the death which results from man's sin is an enforcement of the penalty of the law he had transgressed, so the believer's spiritual life is one enjoyed in strict harmony with the demands of Divine Law. By virtue of the obedience of Christ, he is legally entitled to this life. No principle of Divine Government is dishonoured in its bestowal, but every such principle magnified. Death reigns, as the result of Adam's disobedience. But the fruit of the second Adam's obedience is, "that they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life." Thus, over abounding sin, grace superabounds, "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign, through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord." [See Rom. v. 15-21.] While therefore it is true, that there is now "no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus;" this, after all, is only the negative aspect of their privileged state. Realizing "Life in Christ," not only are they shielded from the curse of the Law; but every blessing comprehended in their new life is enjoyed under its sanction, and with its approving smile. The title of their blissful inheritance has in it no legal flaw. It is unimpeachably substantiated by the complete obedience of their Substitute. The free gift, which is theirs *From the "Circular Letter of the Suffolk and Norfolk Association" for last year. Some of the readers of this Magazine will have read the Letter in its complete form; many others have not. To all the above extract will be profitable, to read with the interested attention such an all-important subject should command from everyone who lives "in hope of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." In fact, the circulation of such testimonies to the truth of God, from united bodies of the churches of Christ, should be made as wide as possible, for it cannot be told how much good the Spirit of God may be pleased to effect by them. The writer of this note well remembers how a godly man, some fifty years ago, testified in his hearing of the profit and pleasure the reading of the Circular Letters of the Norfolk and Suffolk Association afforded him and his friends. The good man referred to had been a member with the late Samuel Eyles Pierce; the "Letters," as they appeared from year to year, were transcribed into the pages of a monthly magazine of the day, where these lovers of the truth met with them; this would be about the period from 1824 to 1830. No. 566.-FEBRUARY, 1880. by virtue of that obedience, is not simply unto life; but as Paul declares, unto "justification of life." Again, as this life is enjoyed in harmony with the all-perfect requirements of Jehovah's moral government, so it is in itself a life of true holiness. Holiness is its essential character. From sin it instinctively shrinks. It is, in fact, that sacred principle-"the fear of God"—which according to His own Covenant promise He implants in the hearts of His people, that they should depart from evil. Its possession is the secret of that unceasing conflict of which the believer is daily conscious. Brought into contact with an evil heart of unbelief, prone to depart from the living God, it bestirs itself to check the wanderings of that heart, and though having no complicity in those wanderings, it grieves over them with such bitterness, that nought can console it except the prospect of ultimate deliverance from the body of sin and death. It ever seeks its nutriment from things consonant with its own nature. Its only streams of satisfaction are those which flow from the pure Fountain whence it had its being. And, though delighting in every Divine communication, no heavenly whisper imparts to it such rapture as the loving intimation of the still small voice, that its Lord is about to welcome it to the full enjoyment of the holy, holy city. To such an invitation, its glad response is, "Even so; come, Lord Jesus, come quickly." It is a life peculiarly sensitive. The atmosphere of worldliness oppresses it. It pines under prolonged temptations. In groans but partially utterable, it expresses its deep-felt abhorrence of prevailing evil. But only let the balmy gales of Divine love blow upon it, or the precious dew drops of Divine grace silently fall upon it, or the fragrant hand of its Lord caress it, and then, even in this world, its beauty is as the olive tree, its smell is as Lebanon, and its fruit as the grapes of Eschol. Who, then, can imagine what shall be its glory, when for ever it shall flourish amidst the all-congenial influences of the heavenly Paradise. Still, whatever its different phases, this life, as already observed, is essentially the same. Just as the newly-planted acorn contains in miniature the gigantic oak of the future, so when the incorruptible seed of spiritual life is first implanted in the soul, it includes within itself all the germs of its future glory. Marvellous indeed may appear the development, but it is only development. No new faculty is imparted. No new graces are superadded. The life so gloriously expanded, is essentially the same, as when first it manifested itself in the feeble breathing of the contrite sinner's first prayer, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Jehovah has but magnified His power, and displayed His grace and glory, in bringing forth, in all their beauty, from the implanted seed, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear; thus unfolding latent graces, and calling into play astonishing capabilities of life, which at first lay concentrated and concealed. Evidently, then, this life is truly described as a hidden and obscure life. Not simply because it can never be understood by those not in possession of it; but, because even those who partially experience its sweetness and its power, are themselves utterly ignorant of its full capabilities. Enjoying it, they are warranted to say, "Now are we the sons of God." But as they endeavour to anticipate its future development, all they can say is, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." We question whether even the heavenly host can at present have any adequate conception of the exceeding and eternal weight of glory in which this life is at last to manifest itself, when in their resurrection bodies the saints shall be glorified together with Christ." Jesus Himself has assured us, that this life is eternal (Jno. x. 27, 28.) It may appear to decline. It never shall decay. Constantly fed by His own Divine communication, this heaven-lit flame shall never be quenched; but, brightly and for ever shall it display the glory of Him by whom it has been enkindled. Necessarily this must be so, since he that is a partaker of this life is a partaker of the life of Christ. Not only is Christ its author, its centre, and its food; but it is peculiarly His life. All orders of life, it is true, have been created by Him, are ever sustained by Him, and are pregnant with His glory; for "of Him, and through Him, and to Him (who is Himself the Prince of life), are all things, to whom be glory for ever and ever.' But, no other creature delighting in the life imparted to it, can with the same propriety, and in the same sense, assert as can the believer, "I live, yet not I; but Christ liveth in me.' 99 Twofold is the condescension of our Lord. He has stooped to take upon Himself our nature, and has even condescended to make us partakers of His nature. Created anew after His image, His Spirit has actually breathed into us His own life; and He, by that Spirit, so lives in us, that He is our Life. Opposed and oppressed then, as at times we may be, by a host of combined influences directed against us in apparently an overwhelming manner, yet, thus vitally united to, and identified with, our Lord, the din of the battlefield shall not prevent our hearing and heeding His loving declaration, "Fear not, I am the first and the last; I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." SEEING, AND NOT PERCEIVING By W. J. STYLES. Edward. Another Scripture difficulty and one presenting features that really embarrass and distress me. A. Will you tell me what it is? E. With pleasure. It is not an apparent doctrinal discrepancy, or historical contradiction; but certain words of Jesus, the meaning of which appears plain and unmistakeable. They are as follows. (He opens a pocket Bible and reads from Mark iv. 313.) "Hearken; behold, there went out a sower to sow: and it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth: but when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit, that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred. And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable. And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they |