cloud in the day of rain became the visible token of Jehovah's covenant to Noah. Circumcision was the manifest token of that covenant to Abraham. And the Seed of David, Christ the Lord, is the richest token of all of the self-same covenant, into which Jehovah has entered with Himself in His Trinity of Persons on behalf of His elect: insomuch that the Father, addressing the Son, declares, "I will also give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house" (Isaiah xlii. 6, 7).

And can we not say, beloved, that Jesus by His Spirit has sent us forth from the prison-house of nature; that He has loosed the yoke of Satan, under which we served divers lusts and pleasures, and were bringing forth fruit unto death? And what is all this, but a sure token that His "invaluable blood" was shed for us? for only by the blood of His covenant can such a deliverance be effected, and only through its all-prevailing medium does the blessed Spirit work both regeneratingly and sanctifyingly. When the Psalmist says, "O Lord, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid: Thou hast loosed my bonds" (Psalm cxvi. 16), what is it, but an acknowledgement of that saving work wrought in his soul, to which Paul alludes when he says, "Being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life" (Rom. vi. 22). The soul, Divinely begotten, and plucked from the grasp of Satan, is newborn for Heaven. Never shall it renounce the yoke of Christ for the renewed bondage of "the god of this world."

"Not all the delusions of sin

Shall ever seduce him to death;
He now has the witness within,
United to Jesus by faith.

This faith shall eternally fail

When Jesus shall fall from His throne,

For hell against both must prevail,

Since Jesus and he are but one."

"Show me a

For as the

To apprehend this by the sealing witness of the Spirit is the chief desire of all who are interested in its blessedness. token for good," becomes the personal appeal of each. Lord is jealous of His people, so are they of His love. hear of others favoured to claim Him as their covenant God, and

To see and

able to speak of the Lord's love-visits, whispers, and secret bestowment of sovereign favour, and to be left destitute of all these vital privileges, is not to be endured without complaint by any who have "passed from death unto life." It begets a holy coveting of these best gifts. We trace the feeling in the Spouse when she says, "Tell me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of Thy companions?" To know nothing of desire for the presence of Christ, the kisses of His mouth (in the heart-spoken promises and assurances of His love); to be content with a profession that has no tender feeling in it, but rests entirely in the creature, is no mark of Zion's Heavenborn children. A felt death, darkness, and subjection to vanity often indeed prevail for a season, but they never reign permanently in a true believer. Legal elements and carnal frames, attended with mistrust of the Lord, and total want of access at His throne, all the Lord's people have not seldom to suffer from. But they are taught by the thorns and briars of the wilderness that without Christ they can do nothing; that the Lord has not given them a foot of Moab's or Edom's land for their inheritance (Deut. ii. 5, 9). No; all praises to His Name! Himself is His people's part and their inheritance, as the spiritual tribe of Levi, the kingdom of priests (Num. xviii. 20).

And what mercy is in this! Without this arrangement of infinite love we should, in spiritual matters, settle on the lees of a dead profession, and in worldly matters, amid the cares of life and the deceitfulness of riches, we should lightly esteem the Rock of our salvation. Hence the Holy Spirit is from time to time stirring us up, as an eagle stirreth up her nest, and by the pressure of many and diverse circumstances, and the arising of divers events, He is pleased to bring us to thirst, aspire, and cry after the Lord's incomparable "tokens for good :" as did Zion when she exclaimed, "Yea, in the way of Thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for Thee." And to show the personal feeling of all her quickened offspring, the plural is immediately changed to the singular, and it follows: "With my soul have I desired Thee in the night, and with my spirit within me will I seek Thee early" (Isaiah xxvi. 8, 9).

It is thus on the eve of the New Year we stand with our editorial and ministerial work before us, and with our exercises, hopes,

and fears about us, and looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, we cry, "SHOW ME A TOKEN FOR GOOD.” Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us; and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it" (Psalm xc. 16, 17). Fain would we so clearly perceive His wisdom and love in all His dealings with us, and be so persuaded that all things shall work together for our good, that in all our ways we may acknowledge Him, and behold Him directing our paths: even as our beloved poet saysMay we all our wills resign,

Quite absorbed and lost in Thine;
Make us walk by Thy right rules;
Lord, direct us-we are fools."

And seeing that from Eternity Jehovah has planned and ordered everything in Grace and Providence relative to His people's salvation, and amply provided for all their needs in their pathway, though by the most mysterious ways and means, can there be anything more consistent than to submit our choice and judgment in all things to Him, saying, “Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory" (Psalm lxxiii. 24).

But O what Grace is needed to accomplish this subjection of self to Him! Satan, the accursed slanderer-as his name, Devil, implies-is ever ready to suggest that it can only be wrought by a blast coming upon everything we hold dear. This is a gross calumny on the character and dealings of the God of everlasting love. It is true He doth often severely try the righteous; but so impossible is it to define many of His dispensations in their operation on individuals that to attribute them to any human cause is to widely err from the mark. Of this we may be assured: He will be King; He will ever hold the reins of government; His counsel shall stand, and He will do all His pleasure. Therefore may it be our privilege, by the Spirit's grace, to be daily crying, if spared through the year, "Show me a token for good," and doubtless the promise will be ratified in our experience, "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." Brethren and sisters in the Lord, may the grace of our Beloved rest richly upon us all.

THE EDITOR.

A NEW YEAR'S THANKSGIVING.

"Now in a song of grateful praise
To my dear Lord my voice I'll raise;
With all His saints I'll join to tell,
My Jesus has done all things well."

AY this be the language of many of the Lord's children on this New Year's morn, 1882,-a song of praise ascending from their hearts to Him Who hath called them by His grace, and revealed unto them the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour-they being brought to believe that, "as far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed their transgressions from them," and that being clothed in the all-perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, they appear in the sight of the Father all fair, without spot or wrinkle-comely through that comeliness which He hath put upon them.

"A sinner clothed in this rich vest,
And garments washed in blood,
Is rendered fit with Christ to feast,
And be the guest of God."

Oh, what can compare with a good hope in these rich blessings; to know that for time and for eternity it must be well with us; being one of that happy number chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, to be "an heir of God through Christ."

in com

"The Lord

How trivial do all the things of time and sense appear parison with these stupendous blessings! "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.' hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.” But with some of God's children their harps may be hung upon the willows; and in reading the above they will be ready to exclaim, "How shall we sing the Lord's song?" With such I would most feelingly sympathise, well knowing the bitterness of soul which is experienced when the Sun of righteousness withdraws His bright shining, and we are called to do business in deep waters. At such a time we are tempted to say, "Is His mercy clean gone for ever, and will He be favourable no more ?" But, blessed be His name, He is ever faithful to His word, "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice."

your com

Therefore, I would say to such, Encourage yourselves in the Lord your God, pour out your hearts before Him, tell Him all plaints; wait upon Him, and hear what He will say unto you. It may be that He has some precious word in store for you this New Year's Day, and that He but delays to make you importunate. His exhortation is: "Let Me see thy countenance; let me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely." But alas !

how apt we are to be slothful in prayer; to be contented with walking at a distance from God; and when aroused from our sleepy state, and we rise to open to our Beloved, we find He is gone. "I opened to my Beloved, but my Beloved had withdrawn Himself and was gone; I sought Him, but could not find Him; I called Him, but He gave me no answer." May we in such a time of trial seek the Lord earnestly, confessing our manifold iniquities, and beseeching Him to grant us a fresh application of His pardoning love; to arise for our help, and enable us again to rejoice in Him, as our all in all, and in the language of the spouse to exclaim, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His."

My brothers and sisters in the Lord, will you bear a word of exhortation? Be diligent; be vigilant. "The diligent soul shall be made fat." "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour." Do not be satisfied with what you have already attained, but seek earnestly after great and still greater things. If we have any pursuit in which we wish to excel, or any art or science we desire perfectly to comprehend, are we not very diligent in the use of all means to attain these ends ?-not simply devote one day in the week and an infinitesimal portion of the others to the study of it. But, alas! how small a portion of time do we devote to the contemplation of high and heavenly things, to the reading of the Word and good books; to Christian communion, conversation and prayer with one another; and to the worship of God either in public or private. How then can we expect to go on our way rejoicing in Him Who "loved us and gave Himself for us," if we do not cultivate acquaintance with Him; or to walk in that peace "which passeth all understanding," if not led to seek a growth in grace and in the knowledge of Him Whose legacy was, "in Me peace."

Oh, that it may please the Lord so to blow upon His garden this first day of another year, that the spices may flow out abundantly; and we wrest a blessing from God for the ensuing year.

"He loves our importunity,

And makes our cause His care."

Is there not cause in looking back upon our pathway thus far for each one of us to testify,

"My Jesus has done all things well ?"

It may have been through fire and flood, through sunshine and storm, through prosperity and adversity, through sickness, sorrow, and suffering, much rejoicing in God and deep temptations: but in the midst of all, to the honour of Him, we must acknowledge He has sweetly sustained, comforted, and blessed, revealing Him