that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on my name, and I will hear thems I will sa say, It is my people, and they shall say, The Lord is my God."

As a specimen of the manner in which the Lord deals with his spiritual Israel, let us consider the precious truths here declared. He brings them through the fire. Severe afflictions are frequently exhibited under the emblem of fire, because of their intensity, and the effects designed to be produced. "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee" (Isaiah xliii. 2). And the apostle Peter thus writes, " Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you" (1 Peter iv. 12); referring to the fiery trial of persecution, which overtook those in the primitive age, who were reminded, that through much tribulation they should enter into the kingdom of God." Whatever may be the peculiar trials which the Lord appoints for his people from whatever source they may flow of all who undergo this discipline it is said, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." He it is who determines the severity, the measure, and the duration, of the evils through which they pass. Disappointments cannot wound, anguish cannot depress, personal or relative suffering cannot come, and death cannot bereave, without the will and operations of Him "who is wise in counsel, and excellent in working." All are under His guidance and direction. He wounds and heals,-He kills and makes alive." This prerogative He claims to himself. "And I will bring them through the fire." And all his people, when the days of their tribulation, terminate, shall have occasion to acknowledge his hand and say, "Thou broughtest us through fire and water unto a wealthy place."

But what is the design of God in bringing his own through the fire? It is their purification and trial. "I will refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried." Though painful to endure, the end is altogether beneficial; for "He afflicteth not willingly, nor grieveth the children of men."There is here a reference to the process of fusion, through which those metals pass at the hands of the refiner, as also in Malachi iii. 2: "But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness." The refiner takes care that the heat is neither too great nor too limited. In the one case, the silver would be consumed; in the other, its dross would not be cleansed away. So is the merciful intention of the Lord in taking his people through the furnace of fiery trial. It is to refine their souls-not to destroy them; to subdue the remnant of corruption that still opposes the renewed principles implanted by the gospel of the grace of God; to humble, and sanctify, and elevate the mind to heavenly things, and so to make us partakers of his holiness." "As the eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings" (Deut. xxxii. 11), so the Lord is said to lead his children. The scene of this world's comforts is disturbed, the nest in which we are prone to repose is stirred up, that our souls may be quickened, and ascend on the wings of divine love and power, to unseen and heavenly things. Where is the believer who has not felt the tendency to rest in earthly delights, and who will not readily acknowledge, that growing purification of heart, and an increased susceptibility of holy

blessedness, more than compensates for all the tribulations endured in the furnace of affliction? Let but the image of the blessed Jesus be more borne and enjoyed, and true believers will count it all joy that they have fallen into divers trials, and that the Lord "has refined them as silver is refined."

He brings them

But it is also for the probation of his people that through the fire. "I will try them as gold is tried." Gold is the most precious of all metals. When cast into the fire it stands the ordeal. It loses only its alloy. So it is with genuine christians. "Wood, hay, and stubble are consumed; but those designated by "gold and precious stones," or such as have real principle, who truly believe and love the Lord, come out of it unscathed and purified. Hence the apostle Peter, directing those who were in manifold trials to the great end intended to be subserved by their heavenly Father, writes, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter i. 7). The existence of faith has every blessing attached to it,—the comforts and hopes of the gospel of Christ, and its future unutterable joys. Trials prove its reality, brighten and exalt it, and shall be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ. We know not how strong or weak our faith is, until it be brought to this test. It is one thing to theorise in the hours of health, when enjoying the cup of ease, of prosperity, and friends; and another to manifest unshaken trust in the character and promises of God, when visible and earthly objects of dependance are swept away. Thus, when Abraham's confidence was severely tried by the command to offer up his youthful and beloved son, his faith was highly approved. "Now I know, said the Lord, that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me" (Gen. xxii. 12). It is to make manifest, and exercise, and brighten, the faith and graces of the spirit, that God tries his people "as gold is tried," that the advantages may be enjoyed by us, and the glory redound to him.

Let us look, before we close this brief paper, at the effects and privileges of sanctified affliction. There result from it the spirit of prayer and gracious answers. "They shall call on my name, and I will hear them." How comparatively formal are the prayers of christians apt to become; and how can we, in such a case, expect to be heard? "Ye ask," says James, "and ye receive not, because ye ask amiss:" not with sufficient earnestness and importunity, or singleness of heart. But by traversing the thorny path of tribulation, we impressively feel our own need and emptiness, and are led truly to call on the name of the Lord. Hence the encouraging injunction, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me” (Ps. 1. 15). And the promise specially made to the Lord Jesus, the man of sorrows, but in which all his suffering people are interested: “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation" (Ps. xci. 15, 16). The gracious promise is realized, "I will hear them." His ears are ever open to their cry. "While they are yet speaking, I will hear." This is attested by the experience of true believers, who have wrestled with God at the throne of grace. Have you gone there discouraged? You have felt the sweet balm of heavenly comfort. Burdened ? Your soul was lightened. Heavy and perplexed? You have realized his grace as sufficient for you; and the joy of the Lord was your strength. The song of the Psalmist became yours: "I love the Lord, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live."

But we have here the Lord's recognition of them as his own. They are often afflicted, and, therefore, are a refined and a praying people, holding devout intercourse with him. "I will say, It is my people." Full of tenderness, he surveys his praying children, the dear people of his everlasting love, and on whom he smiles with that favour he bears to his own. “Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face." "I have hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I gather thee."

As the effect of their experimental acquaintance with Him who is the hearer of prayer, and speaks peace to their souls, "They shall say, The Lord, or Jehovah, is my God." There is a felt consciousness of being his children, the objects of his eternal mercy. It is the language of appropriation. "Jehovah is my God;" and if mine, what can I want? All sufficiency is his. Boundless in power, in wisdom, in love. Do earthly prospects fail? We can adopt Habakkuk's joyful strain, "I will rejoice in the Lord; I will joy in the God of my salvation." Do friends pass away from the stage of time? We can say, "Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted." Those heavens and this earth shall vanish away. But He is eternally the same, and "his years shall not fail." A portion rich, satisfying, and everlasting. Happy are the people whose God is Jehovah, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in him. Edinburgh.

In our last number we observed, that the deviation from apostolic arrangements, of appointing but one individual as the president, pastor, and teacher of the church, could be defended only on the ground of expediency; also, that the necessity, in our day, of division of labour, combined with the state of general education, and the importance of retaining and instructing our congregations as well as the church, appear to render it desirable to select some suitable individual as the regular instructor. We may add, that the press, especially, necessitates considerable effort to sustain the interest of the oral teacher. So numerous, cheap, and good, are the publications accessible even to the poorest, that the greater part of our members are made acquainted with a higher standard than can well be reached by those who are distracted much with the ordinary business of life.

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It will, however, doubtless, be observed, that the above remarks apply exclusively to the office of the teacher, and, in regard to him, are founded in great part upon the importance of interesting our partially christianized congregations, those who are as much believers, intellectually, as the church itself, and whose hearts, also, rise in various degrees under the influence of christian truth. Probably all, at least in our congregations, who in apostolic times would rather have suffered for their faith than renounce it, would then have been accounted as belonging to the church, since we have no record whatever of any formal mode of admission, similar to what is practised now in our churches. They believed and were baptized, we read of nothing more; and were no more required now, probably our churches would gain much more upon our congregations.

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If, then, looking at our churches and congregations as they assemble on the Lord's day, it should seem expedient to retain unaltered our system

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of Sunday teaching, does it interfere with the free government, and with the edification, of the church recognized as such, thats one individual should be its stated president, pastor, and instructor? Now, without the slightest inclination to defend things as they are, just because they are, we would

gence and free does not this depend almost entirely upon the intelli

spirit of the church itself? Whether the president exercise his office but for a day and by lot, as in the assembly (church) at ancient Athens; or for four years, as now in the American Republic; or in perpetuity, as in England; does not seem to affect materially the liberty of the many, provided they are sincere lovers of liberty, and steadily main tain their rights. Congregational ministers, in point of fact, hold their office now as long as they conduct themselves satisfactorily to those who chose them. The vote of a single church-meeting (so far as our principles are concerned), would displace them. Practically, therefore, they hold office by a continuous election, and while this is the case, it is not easy to see how the liberty of the assembly can be seriously infringed upon. But, further, in the government of the church, the deacons now are, to a great extent, equivalent to the plurality of elders formerly. They differ more in name than in fact; they are in reality associated with the minister in rule of the church. Generally most of the more intelligent and trust-worthy of persons are in that office (and if not, as things are, they ought to be, either by rotation or otherwise); and hence the minister is actually surrounded by an official body, comprising the ablest men in the church. Nominally, it is minister and deacons; actually, it is a presiding elder, and a plurality of elders united with him; which latter add the duties of primitive deacons to those of elders. If this statement is correct, our churches differ from the apostolic model, so far as government is concerned, nominally more than really.

But what of edifying the church by teaching and exhorting? In regard to this it will be conceded on all hands that usuage alone, in any case, not principle or rule, interferes at all with the "liberty of prophesying." In many indeed of our churches, not even usage can be said to repress the wish to teach. Still, in this aspect of the question, we have already in "The Church" advocated a greater use of an acknowledged right, and a greater attention to our acknowledged duty. We ought to have more numerous meetings, in which none should blush to speak as becomes christians; whether in the way of question, mere brief remark, or earnest enforcement of what they deem important. Meetings in which the order of an assembly should be combined with the freest brotherly discussion, advice, and admonition. Meetings where, if indiscreet speakers arose, whom the church could not allow to repeat their folly, yet being church meetings only, religion would not suffer in the eyes of the world, by that trial of gifts which is necessary in every free assembly to develop merit and ability, and to silence self-conceit and incompetency; since the church, in this imperfect state, could no more expect to be free from these annoyances, than our British Houses of Parliament.

We have always maintained, as some of our earlier readers especially will remember, the desirableness of much more frequent church meetings, the desirableness, unless thereby Sunday school teaching or the instruction of a large congregation were sacrificed, of some part of the Lord's day, when all enjoy comparative leisure, being set apart for a meeting of the church as a church; and that the meeting should be for prayer and for mutual exhortation of the freest kind. We regret, indeed, to have known of instances in which the attempt has failed; we do not think much however of this. It has been practised so little in many churches, that the members have neither inclination nor taste for it. Probably it

would take a generation to give a better tone to our churches in this respect. We cannot, however, conceal from ourselves, that the want of it dismisses our members from their worship, more with the mutual un concerns of persons quitting a public lecture, than with the feelings of sociality, and fellowship with which we quit a friendly party, where all have borne their part in the conversation as far as they pleased. It is not easy to see how our churches can awaken that spirit of mutual interest and fellowship which is so desirable, unless they associate frequently in such a manner as to become interested in each other. Odious as we deem the Conference tyranny at the summit of Methodism, we as decidedly approve of that frequent free intercourse in class meetings and love feasts, which so strongly unites their members to each other. It is this, and we think this almost alone, which has sustained the existence of the system as a whole. Not merely did the superincumbent Conference press on and consolidate the base by a most unchristian despotism, but the base itself was cemented together by love-cherishing arrangements, which permitted only some fragments to be detached from it. Could we but combine these frequent brotherly meetings with our free and christian church government, we should probably find our churches the most united, and at the same time the most energetic, in the christian world.

As the subject is just now of particular interest, our readers will, we trust, prefer that, we should return to it once more. Let our brethren, however, remember, that love is at least of equal value with truth; and that he who in seeking or in defending truth, gives real occasion to angry passions, has evoked the very feelings first engendered by the father of lies, and banished that brotherly love, by which incarnate truth and love has characterized and established his kingdom.

**We have often admired the beautiful and eminently instructive example of the Jewish lawgiver, as furnished in his treatment of Hobab, the Midianite."We are journeying," says Moses, "unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you; come thou with us, and we will do thee good, for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel." He was anxious that Hobab should forsake his country, unite himself with the people of God, and share in their happy destiny. He desired to prevent bis return to the idolatry of his own land; and hence, in the spirit of true friendship, and not less that of piety, he said to him, “Come thou with us."

Suppose the members of the christian church were to imitate this example; suppose it were the stated practice, not of a few, but of all christians, often to address the impenitent with the invitation of the gospel, saying to them, "Come thou with us; we should then have a widely diffused as well as powerful system for making proselytes to the Son of God. Thousands upon thousands of lips would be glowing with the gospel theme, advertising and sounding out the word of the Lord. Christians would not merely give their money for the support of religion, or offer up their prayers for its success, but they would add the personal efforts of winning souls to Christa Manya Moses would be found in the society of the saints And can we hesitate as to the propriety of such a practice? Was not this the course pursued by the apostles, and to a great extent by the early christians? Has it not always been one of the cardinal secrets, in the life of those who have been eminently successful in turning, men t

to