swept away, and as a guilty culprit he has no reason to show why he should escape hell, such an individual thinks no more of being saved by his best works than by his worst; he discovers pollution in every thing he thinks of, says, or does, he has such a sight of the greatness and holiness of Jehovah, that his amazement is called forth as to whether the Lord will save such a vile wretch; he would feign believe, but cannot; he tries to hope, but dare not, and the more this spiritual life expands, the more the trembling recipient of it weeps, until God, in great mercy, gathers the agonizing captive to the feet of Immanuel, and applies the healing balm to the tortured soul. A spiritual man is taught of the Spirit." Learn of me," saith Jesus. All thy children shall be taught of God." The father of mercies will train up the family beloved in Christ. They are to know him who sustains them upon his heart; a spiritual man desires instruction, and shall not perish for want of it; the tuition is painful, but profitable, to put off self is no easy work; we shall be pupils in this science all our days; to be weaned from men and things will require our whole lifetime below, but our teacher is infallible, he leads us into these things as we are able to bear them, for with the discovery he imparts strength, thus whilst sin is condemned in the flesh, the sinner is saved from despair. "Oh, who is a God like unto thee?" A spiritual man is guided by the Spirit." As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." He, the Comforter leads from self to Jesus, he conducts the loathsome leper to the blood of atonement, he brings the sin-bound captive to the feet of Jesus, he give us adoring views of the Saviour's person and work, he directs poor sensible sinners into communion with Christ by a living faith; to the sacred Comforter we are indebted for all melting frames, for all humbling discoveries, for every re newed manifestation of grace; it is his to correct, restore, and console. It is thus we apprehend that for which we were apprehended, herein we discover how precious a Redeemer we have, one who can remove the guilt and fit the guilty for himself, whose indefeasible right it is to justify, sanctify, and glorify, all the given millions delegated to his trust and care, by the deed of the everlasting covenant. A spiritual man is a man of prayer; -not that dead form of words so often mistaken for supplication. The most spiritual have to regret the awful formality of their petitions; but a quickened soul can no more live without breathing after God, than a natural man can exist without animal respiration. Though the heir of heaven is opposed by self, men and devils, yet his God is with him, and thus he perseveres; dying, yet behold he lives; chastened, but not killed; cast down, but not cast out; faint in the way, but not weary of it; weakness in himself, but strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. A spiritual man is a tried man.— Many of the heaven-born are peculiarly tried in their circumstances, but all the quickened family are exercised in their feelings, and not unfrequently do they make their feelings a test of their state, this is unwise, the good man is hereby tried in this matter, he is often tempted to cast away his confidence, but he cannot give up, and for this gracious cause being held by the arms of mercy, and defended by the bulwarks of salvation, he stands fast in the evil day to the glory of Jehovah's distinguishing favour. The spiritual man is heaven-bound. -On earth he finds no continuing city; as a pilgrim he cannot take up his abode below; in his best moments he feels a vacuity, the world can never fill, he has a treasure.in heaven, and his best pledge of an inheritance laid up, is that his heart often soars above. To his view, emptiness seems stamped upon all created good, and the only fulness that delights him is the plenitude of mediation-worth; by a glimmer of heavenly light he keeps the narrow way, and thus he waits for the full light of heaven when he arrives at home. A spiritual man lives upon Christ. "He that eateth me, even he shall live by me," thus the immortal mind is nourished by heavenly bread, such a soul is satisfied with living water, by drops of mercy the heart is kept soft, and by the sun-light of heaven the conscience is warmed. Upon such an one the token of paternal love is inscribed, and the seal of redemption evident, around this favoured subject of the King of Zion, are the everlasting arms of incarnate majesty, and heaven is opened to receive this trophy of redeeming love. A spiritual man is subject to gracious chastisement.- Whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; thus sings that blessed man of God, Mr. Hart : "Know whom the Saviour favours much, 'My son, give me thine heart," is the language of true wisdom; where Jesus dwells he will reign supreme, thus there is a warfare in the newborn child of God, sin is his plague, corruptions hurt his tender conscience, temptations press him sore, but greater is he that is in his church, than those that are against her. A believer wants to live spiritually, to walk by faith, to act in the fear of his Father, and to have a conscience purged from dead works; now to keep him humble and in conscious dependence, the good Spirit often reproves, and shows up in the light of eternal truth the hollowness of all human schemes, and the impurity of those fleshly motives that sometimes prompt the children of God. It is a good thing to be preserved from trusting in our best frame, lest we lose sight of the great object of our dependence; thus the Lord, in tender mercy, exercises the faith of the adopted family with the gracious design of training his children to live in his truth, press forward in the way, until they come into that element where pride cannot exist, carnal reasoning cannot breathe; in a word, where the spiritual man will be all spirituality, and eternal satisfaction delight the glorified church for evermore. Lastly, a spiritual man loves to worship in the Spirit. He knows "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." The new born mind, cannot rest in dry forms, in merely hearing the word, and attending ordinances only as a duty, spiritual religion rises above all these things. A true disciple of Jesus desires to see the Saviour in the word, to feel union to the Lamb, a freedom from condemnation, and the cleansing of the conscience from dead works; such an one thirsts for the fellowship of the gospel, and hungers after that righteousness of which the Saviour saith he shall be filled. Thus the child of grace waits as a pensioner on the bounty of heaven, longs to trace the smile of a covenant God in the means of grace; he sees reflected in ordinances, the worth and triumphs of the cross, and hopefully looks forward where worship will be perfected, and praise be complete for ever and ever. But we now observe, that the society of a spiritual man are those who wear the Saviour's image, " he that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him." It is a real love of them in Christ, which is herein intended, not a mere warmth of natural affection too often substituted for the love of Jesus. It is love that unites the nobleman and the beggar, that pays no regard to the coat worn, or the property possessed, that looks at hidden realities, not at external excellencies, that can join its desires with a prisoner in a garret, and that will extend the hand of real friendship to the almost unknown follower of Jesus. In a word, we love the spiritual church because born of one Father, brought up in one school, living in one house, wearing one robe, and anticipating one eternal home in the blissful regions of eternal day. Of the spiritual man it is said, "he judgeth all things." This must chiefly be understood of spiritual things, though it is true that the heaven-born have certainly a right judgment of the things of nature, for in proportion as divine teaching expands in the living soul, in the same degree does the emptiness of natural religion appear to the view of the mind; yet a judicious attention to the connection in which these words stand, will help us to believe that the apostle refers to the great things of the gospel kingdom, "the things that accompany salvation,' " -"the things that God hath prepared for them that love him." In a word, the things of Christ's work, worth, conquests and triumphs, things that embrace the choice of a church in Jesus, redemption by the blood of God's Lamb, deliverance from a lawcurse, and a meetness for the worship of God in both worlds: of these things a spiritual man is a judge, "For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." But we must trace this judgment in its first secret workings, in every subsequent confession, and in all ultimate triumphs: a man born of the Spirit judges himself, he finds no fault with his God, he judges of the Most High as a righteous being, of himself as a vile apostate sinner, worthy of naught but hell, and can justify the Lord in his condemnation. Thus, by a knowledge of the law, he views himself undone, every act comes to be tried by this standard, so that what previously appeared good, now seems to be pollution itself, and thus it is that the sentence of death passes in the conscience, and the sinner approves the declaration of the judge, these things are hidden from all who are dead in sin, or in a false profes sion, but they are feelingly known by those whom the Holy Spirit convinces of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. It is thus the spiritual man rightly judges of the gospel, and of the way of salvation by grace alone; he is constrained by an inward agony, to admire the vast compassion of a God, in the gift of a Saviour; seeing his own righteousness to be filthy rags, he judges that righteousness cannot come by a law, which condemns for a sinful thought, he therefore apprehends, with heart-felt pleasure, the righteousness of God's dear Son; being effectually convinced that he can as soon create a world, as to cleanse his guilty soul, he looks with cheerful confidence to that fountain opened in a Mediator's work. Having learnt by heavenly tuition that he is perfect weakness, he admires the strength put forth in Immanuel; thus his judgment approves the doctrine of sovereign election, since human deserts are at an end, he glories in free and full redemption which has broken his bonds, he sighs for the renewing power of the Spirit, and judges that a promise-making God will fulfil all that concerns him, and that from a finished work upon the cross will arise a perfected kingdom through grace, to the praise of his name, who hath accepted his church in the beloved head. He has a right judgment of his Father's will, and desires to do it from the heart, he sees his afflictions are needful to keep down the fever of self, that his cross is as requisite as his comfort, the one to keep humble, the other to save from despair. If he murmurs he cannot justify himself, but only adds bond to bond. The spiritual man is a judge of the word; as the Holy Ghost shews him more of Christ, he reads and meditates with satisfaction, he thereby enters into a spiritual conception of the suitability of the things of God, to his case. He peruses his Father's will to trace his legaey, and often does he find the statutes of his gracious sovereign to be his delightful song in the house of his pilgrimage. But it is added, "Yet he, himself, is judged of no man," that is, of none dead in sin; such neither know him nor his master. The elements of spiritual mindedness are what a carnal man can have no conception of, and even thousands, who call themselves christians, deem such statements to be the very acme of folly. The world knoweth us not, saith John. It not denied that the ungodly will pass their severest judgments upon the followers of Jesus, but this is an ignorant and corrupted opinion they form of the real christian, they know not his cause of grief, nor his source of joy, they see not that he lives in another world whilst dwelling in the present one, they are totally unac quainted with the believer's repast, they imagine such to be gloomy mortals, and whilst the christian weeps, tne Christ-less sinner laughs. An enemy to God's truth can prefer no charge against the saint with effect, his Advocate lives, and it is the glory of Immanuel to plead the cause of the trembling defendant. Reader, hast thou a spiritual life? Dost thou agonize in soul to enter into rest? Be not dismayed at the sneer of the scorner; treat with contempt the taunt of the foe; thou hast a name in heaven, a portion laid up, a passage paid for, nor shall thy place be taken by another; thou hast a garment fit for the heavenly court, and the king's promise of sitting with him on his throne; live in him, hang upon him, look to him for all, he will fulfil the desire of them that fear him. So believes and hopes your willing servant in the gospel of grace, Boston. W. FELTON. LITERARY NOTICE. E. Palmer and Son beg to announce, that they have in the press, a second edition of the Rev. Henry Erskine Head's Volume of Sermons, on the First Principles of the Oracles of God. 8vo. Price 10s. 6d. SERMONS ON THE EPISTLES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF ASIA. LATE REV. SAMUEL EYLES PIERCE. (Never Before Published.) SERMON VII. if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”—Rev. iii. 20, 21, 22. "Behold I stand at the door and knock: WE have taken a brief view and survey of the state of Christ's church upon earth, as represented to us in these epistles; and it may not be amiss to recapitulate it. The church of Ephesus represents the state of Christ's church in the apostolic age, and as immediately succeeding it. The church of Smyrna represents the state of Christ's church immediately following that, and as under the Roman Emperors, or during the ten persecutions which befel the church. The church of Pergamos represents the state of the church of Christ as emerged out of these grievous afflictions, and her case is set forth from the time of Constantine and onwards. The church of Thyatira represents the church of Christ in the darkest and most superstitious times of popery, until the reformation. The Church of Sardis represents the state of the church of Christ from the time of the reformation down to the Philadelphian church state, which church represents the spiritual reign of Christ, and which will be succeeded by the Laodicean church state; and we are now, by the good hand of God upon us, brought to the last of these epistles, and which is, by our most judicious divines, supposed to represent the state of Christ's church as succeeding the Philadelphian church state, and as immediately preceding the Day of Judgment. And it is argued, that this epistle cannot be meant of local Laodicea, because that is reported to be swallowed up by an earthquake in the time of Nero, before the writing of this epistle; and it is that state of the church which shall be before the day of judgment, and therefore fitly put in that term of Laodicea, which signifies in the Greek, the people's judgment, or the judgment of the people, for this church state at the end of it, will bring on the general judgment. As it was not our professed design to consider these epistles in a prophetical view, any farther than as it might serve to explain some expressions in them, and to show the connection and harmony of them; we shall therefore principally apply ourselves to explain this epistle, and open the promise, as the Lord shall be pleased to assist, in such a manner as may be most for our spiritual profit. And, first, let us consider the titles and characters, which Christ, the author of this epistle, takes unto himself. Secondly,What Christ has, and does say unto this church. And, Thirdly,The grace contained in the promise made to the faithful members of it. This epistle, as were all the former, is directed unto the angel, or minister, of the church; and the members, and it may be the ministers of this church, are represented as lukewarm, indifferent and regardless of divine things; so, that Christ addressing them in the following manner, may be with an intent to stir them up, and to put them in consideration of their state and case, to put them upon lamenting it, to repent of it, and to take the counsel and advice which he, in this letter, gives them. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." And, First, let us consider the titles and characters which Christ here assumes. These things, saith the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." The word amen signifies, so let it be, or, so it shall be; it is of the nature of an asseveration, that so it shall be. Christ is amen, true and faithful. The truth itself. Who is yesterday, to-day, and for ever, the same, The God of truth, and he is the sum and substance of all truths and doctrines, from whom they all come, and in whom they all centre. It is expressive of the immutability of Christ, in his nature, person, and offices. And that there is in him an infinite fulness of grace, to communicate unto his church and people, of power to support them, and to bring them off everlasting conquerors; of blood to cleanse, purge, and sanctify them; of righteousness to cloathe, adorn, and fit them for eternal bliss. And that, as his nature as God is invariable and unchangeable, such is his love, and the purposes of his grace towards his chosen ones; so that the living members of this church are hereby reminded, that Jehovah Jesus is a rock that rock upon which his church and people are built, and in which they dwell, and who is the rock of ages that will endure for ever, as the saviour of his people, and the foundation of their faith and hope. And Christ here assumes this title," says Dr. Gill, "being about to give the finishing stroke to all covenant engagements, and to all promises and prophecies." So that he hereby re minds his church of his truth and faithfulness; that he had, according to covenant engagements, finished the work of salvation. And that as all the promises in him were yea, and in him amen, so he had, and would make them all good unto his people. And that he was now speedily about accomplishing all his purposes, and fully fulfilling all prophecies. Another title, Jesus takes unto himself, is, “the faithful and true witness; Which he is, for with the utmost fidelity and clearness, he declared in the days of his flesh, and still does in the ever |