ters, from time to time, be sent here to labour; and when he shall come, who is to be your pastor, may he prove to be a gospel "Ox, strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out, and no complaining in your streets." Psalm exliv. 14. "Happy the people in such case; yea, Happy is that people whose God is the Lord."

66

Lord of all; Maker of all, and "over all God blessed for ever." The injunction to Cry yet," &c., is not from an earthly throne, nor from an earthly monarch, but "from the Lord of Hosts," from an eternal throne, and from the great Monarch of heaven and earth, the eternal God. "Cry yet." God's ministers are public criers. O, let us not cry unscripunsound tural commodities, nor wares !

MR. STRINGER'S SERMON.

"Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts: My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem." Zech. i. 17. In the preceding verse the Lord says by the propbet, "I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies;" so that if he absents himself for a time from his people it is for some wise end, and when he comes again, manifestively, it is sure to be "with mercies," not with frowns, wrath, and vengeance. And when these mercies are realised in the souls of his people, they exclaim, "It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed." He will not finally turn away from them to do them good, and he will put his fear in their hearts that they shall not finally depart from him. "My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of Hosts;" meaning the second temple which was built therein; and so shall the spiritual temple in the church of God be built up for ever; "And a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem;" an architectural phrase, relating to the certainty of the matter, in carrying on, carrying out, and completing the building. Some ministers who profess to be workmen in the spiritual building, do not take, nor make use of the line at all; so that they put all in the building, without exception, whether God will have them or not. But since I see the line of demarcation run through the whole Bible, between the church and the world, I am determined never to work without it; and I believe the ministers present are of the same mind. God keep us, brethren, "faithful unto death." We have in our text four things to consider,

L-The injunction.
II. The proclamation.
III-The consolation.
IV. Election.

I. The injunction: "Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts." I think the prophet Zechariah uses this phrase, "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts," more than any other of the prophets; and it is well for us always to have a "Thus saith the Lord of Hosts' for the whole of our sermons; for without it they are spurious and short weight. Lord of Hosts! what a sublime title! belonging to Deity alone. Hosts of angels, hosts of devils, hosts of human beings, hosts of stars, and all planetary worlds, hosts of finny tribes in the deep, hosts of feathered fowl in the expanse of heaven, hosts of valuable materials in the bowels of the earth, hosts of animalcule and of beasts, from the smallest mite (discoverable only by the microscope) up to the huge elephant. He is Lord of Hosts;

66 Cry yet." Go on to tell out, make known, and sound abroad, the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

Mark the little word "yet," which stands connected with each department of our text. Though much in all ages has been said, or cried, and much is said in our day about Jesus Christ and his finished work, yet comparatively little is heard or known of it. Therefore, saith Jehovah, "Cry yet." The subject is not exhausted; there is much more to say; much more to know; much more to realise-" Cry yet."

Isaiah was one of the criers. "The voice said, Cry; and he said, What shall I cry ?" It is well to ask God for a sermon; getting it from him it is sure to be genuine. The substance of his cry was, the entire nothingness of the creature, and all creature doings. "All flesh is grass, but the word of our God shall stand for ever." O, for grace to imitate this noble, faithful crier!

He also received orders to

"Cry aloud, and spare not. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet," &c. Chap. lviii. 1. To whisper out the truth looks as though we were afraid and ashamed of it. Brethren, let us sound it out, as with the thrilling, sonorous notes of a trumpet.

John the Baptist also was a crier; and a noble one he was, too. He was the great Redeemer's herald, messenger, and forerunner. "I am (saith he) the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord," &c. His crying, and the things he cried, were despised by thousands. So it is now when the crier-the preacher-is faithful and uncompromising. Both the crier, and the wares he cried, are rejected and disdained by thousands. Still, the Lord knoweth them that are his."

II. " My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad." Here is a proclamation of Zion's increase and extension. The margin renders it, through good. O yes, beloved, through good-through the good hand of God, the good word of God, the good work of God, and the good Spirit of God. And when these good things are not in operation there is no good done, neither is there any real prosperity. There will be none in the new chapel, nor anywhere else. The Psalmist understood this doctrine well, and cries to God, "Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity." Psalm cxviii. 25. True Zion may appear to be, and in the present day is, truly small. How few preachers are decided for God! how few professors are decided for the whole truth! faithful, full-weight ministers, and pure gospel truth, lie in a small compass; but enlargement is to come. "My cities through

prosperity shall yet be spread abroad." I be hieve the period will arrive when every place where Popery and free-will are now extolled will have proclaimed within them the gospel of Christ, and be filled with living, loving people of God. I also believe that prior to that glorious time the great Armageddon battle will be fought between truth and error, the result of which will be the everlasting destruction of Popery, Puseyism, and every other God-dishonouring system of men and devils, and the perpetual establishment of the church and truth of God upon its ruins. "My cities shall yet," &c. By cities we may understand churches are meant. The church is but one city; but cities (plural), in its diversified state. "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God." And some of them are in our text. The church is called mountains in many places, yet but one mountain in the aggregate; seven golden candlesticks, yet but one collectively. We read of the churches, still all are one in Christ Jesus. The citizens are all free of the city; they are all "free-born." Much spiritual wealth is in these cities. The citizens are like the merchant ships; they bring their food from afar; they trade and traffic by spiritual negociation with heaven, and they love "good news from a far country." The Son makes them free, and they are free indeed. In Zech. viii. 3 the church is called "a city of truth," and there is not another under heaven that bears such a title. There may be, and is, the city of London in England, the city of Paris in France, the city of Dublin in Ireland, the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, &c., but there is nowhere any other "city of truth." And why? Because no other citizens know truth, have truth, nor receive truth—but the city of God. My hearers, are you citizens of this "no mean city ?" If so, bless and praise God for making you so. These cities shall yet be spread abroad, shall, under Divine power and holy influence extend, increase, and produce. Millions of the citizens are already in heaven; thousands are now, through grace, on the way thereto, and millions, yet literally and spiritually unborn, shall arrive there safely also; for Christ hath said, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me: and him that cometh I will in nowise cast out."

III. Consolation. Although the Lord may withhold consolation from his people for a time, he will "yet comfort Zion."

The people of God are frequently very uncomfortable under peculiar circumstances. When they cannot read and hear to profit they are so; when gloomy doubts and fears assail them, they are so; when Satan tempts, they are so; when the world frowns, they are so; when their evidences are beclouded, when the Lords hides his face, when they do not enjoy communion with God, when they see truth fallen in the street, and popery and infidelity stalking arm in arm through the land, they are so. But the promise runs "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. The Lord will comfort Zion-he will comfort all her waste places," &c. I will not leave you

comfortless (orphans) to the care of others: no, he careth for you; he will "yet comfort Zion" by revealing his words, applying his promises, endearing his truth, shining into their hearts, subduing their fears, removing their sorrows, and affording his sweet promise. O, beloved, this is the consolation of Israel, and all in Christ, which thousands, like good old Simeon, are waiting for. "They shall not be ashamed that wait for me," saith the Lord of Hosts. May many poor sinners drink large draughts of this real consolation in this place, as coming directly from "The God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation,"

IV. Election. "And shall yet choose Jerusalem." Election, unconditional, was an everlasting act of the everlasting God; as the apostle observes" According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Eph. i. 4. Election, then, is, and was, an eternal act: but, in our text, it stands in the future tense," Will yet choose Jerusalem." This, then, must mean evidentially and manifestively. Choose his people by effectual vocation or calling-as it is written, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction:" that is, I have so sanctified the affliction as to prove to the afflicted that he is, and was, a chosen vessel of mine from everlasting; and now he is brought to the knowledge of it experimentally-" Called out of darkness into his marvellous light." In this sweet declaration, "Will yet choose Jerusalem," is set down in legible characters, the absolute certainty of the gathering in, both to the church militant and the church triumphant; the whole election of grace-"Not an hoof shall be left behind.” "Will yet choose Jerusalem;" will yet work; will yet call; will yet claim; will yet own my people, which are now "Dead in trespasses and sins." "And so all Israel shall be saved." Here may God evidentially choose many of his people, who are yet afar off by wicked works; have them he will. Sin, Satan, death, and hell must, and shall, give them up to their rightful Lord, who has purchased them all at the vast expense of his own blood-shedding; so will he go on choosing Jerusalem till the whole of his already chosen inheritance in Christ is born again, made meet for glory, and finally gathered home there: and "So shall we be for ever with the Lord." Hallelujah. Amen.

[See page 96.]

"THE CHURCHES IN BEDFORD."

SIR,-In your January EARTHEN VESSEL there appeared an article by Mr. Joseph Palmer, late of Bedford, on the above subject. Had that article been circulated merely in the town to which it applies, I should not have troubled to address you on the subject, for I am well assured that such an emanation will not meet with the sympathy of one to whom the parties maligned are at all known. How. ever, fearing that your numerous distant readers may be deceived by the conscientious peroration, I cannot refrain from addressing you on the subject. As Mr. Palmer's object of

attack seems to be particularly the Bunyan Meeting, I shall confine myself to it, being well acquainted with that community which has had a church in its midst for nearly three hundred years, where the gospel of Christ has been, and Is Now, preached with great fidelity; and where great zeal is put forth for the propagation of the gospel, not only in the town, but also in the surrounding villages.

As there are some vague imputations in Mr. Palmer's letter, which cannot be met on account of the indefinite manner in which they are stated, I summon him to answer the following questions. I demand an answer, primarily, before the world, who are ever ready to seize the charges made against the righteous, and especially against their leaders and teachers, with a view to throw impediments in the way of the true children of God; I demand the answer by the strong ties of moral rectitude, which have been broken through, and which should influence the actions between man and man; I demand the answer in the name of the Almighty, whose honour and glory is concerned. Whether by pastors, deacons, or members of the Bunyan meeting, his name was cast way as evil, because he was a preacher of God's gospel, and that he was contemptuously treated by any of them,-if so, by whom? I challenge him to name them. As Mr. Palmer has written so conscientiously, he cannot refrain from opening his mind still more freely, and holding up, as a warning to other pseudo- professors, those hypocrites whom the golden bait allures, and who ought to know better; that the Church of Christ may not suffer from internal corruption; and that the church and the world may be divorced from an unhallowed union.

There is also under under the Buyan Meeting head a charge against "puerile-professors' in small towns, that a man who stands by the despised truth of God is marked by them, and treated with disguised, but malicious, persecution. This is a most serious imputation upon the rising youth of the Christian church, to whom must be committed the keeping of the truths of the Word of Life, and the care of the churches, to be transmitted by them to myriads yet unborn. This is a class whom I think Mr. Palmer has most unjustly stigmatized to your readers; if he has charges, let him state them individually and honestly, so that they may be fairly met; and, with open cases, let your readers' judgment be biassed, and a charge of such momentousness decided.

With regard to the sermons which Newman Hall and Mr. Spurgeon preached there, and the former of which he denounces as going wider of the truth than any man he ever heard, and the other as boldly preaching the truth, I could give extracts, thus leaving your readers to judge of the discriminating powers of Mr. Palmer :

[These extracts we omit, as no good could flow from their insertion.]

Mr. Palmer says that the meeting is rich in influence and endowment; that bread and money are largely given to the poor; and then proceeds to state that the meeting is as deadly in its influence over possessors as the

famed upas trees. That bread and moneythe bequests of those who have in years gone by had the means of grace blessed to their souls-is distributed I grant; but I deny that it is given indiscriminately, or with a view to proselytism. Is it not humiliating to think that a herald of truth should be found so callous to the widow's distress as to emblazon his escutcheon with the insinuation that charity administered with justice, according to the wish of departed saints, to save them from the pauper's doom, is injurious to the salvation of souls ?

But I must proceed to notice a mis-statement in reference to an answer given to one of the questions put to Mr. Insull at his ordination. Without making any remark upon the slur which Mr. Palmer seems to cast upon the service, I shall content myself with simply DENYING THE WORDS IMPUTED TO MR. INSULL, or ANY TO THEIR PURPORT. In this I am confirmed by a public newspaper of the date, and some papers I have by me.

The portion, however, which most surprised me was the summary way in which Mr. Palmer disposes of a question he raises for your readers, by declaring that a minister who has laboured for nearly 40 years as a pastor of a church and a teacher of the Christian ministry is not a true preacher of the gospel. Such an attack is to say the least most indecorous when it comes from a young minister unsupported by any proof, and levelled against one like Mr. Jukes, who has obtained a position in the church, to which his abilities as a theologian, and his sincerity as a Christian, entitle him.

Fearing I have now trespassed too far on your valuable space, I thank you most cordially for this opportunity publicly vo vindicate those who are not deserving of the opprobrium heaped upon them by an epistle, the spirit of which is plainly evidenced in the third paragraph. T. E. ROBINSON.

[We have dealt with Mr. Robinson as we did

with Mr. Palmer-i.e., omitted some portions of his letter. The fact is, we know nothing of the parties of whom Mr. Palmer wrote: but we seriously fear that there is much which is taken for gospel, which our Lord, nor his apostles, would never own. At the same time, we never expect to convince any man of error by bitterness or reproach. We have no sympathy with the modern modes of ministering unto the people; nor have the great body of so-called evangelicals any sympathy with us.

Never

theless, if at any time our correspondents fall upon any of these gentlemen unfairly, we will always open our columns to their friends to defend them as far as they can. Mr. Robinson and others have opposed Mr. Palmer; and it is not improbable that a more powerful pleader than Mr. Robinson may yet appear in the EARTHEN VESSEL.ED.]

BETHESDA CHAPEL, IPSWICH. we held a special prayer meeting on the evening of the 18th of February, imploring the Divine presence and blessing upon our anticipated services

of re-opening our Chapel on the following day; and truly we have cause to say our God granted us more than we asked or thought.

Thus, on the 17th February, friends, to the number of three hundred, sat down to tea, in right good feeling, well pleased to behold galleries erected; a commodious vestry built; a good accommodation for two hundred children, and twenty teachers, for the Sabbath school; besides a decided additional convenience and comfort to the minis

ter's house.

After tea, we attended to business in more public manner; when the following hymn was given out by brother Manning, and sung by a large congregation, we think feelingly :

See, my soul, a structure rising

From the wreck of Adam's race:
'Midst ten thousand foes, despising,
"Tis the work of sov'reign grace;
Blessed Temple,

Here Jehovah shows his face.

By eternal love contrived,

Built with precious polished stones,
All its glory is derived

From the blood which there atones;
In this Temple

God himself our worship owns.
Here's the ark, the priest, and altar,
Incense, bread, and holy fire;-
Sacrifice for each defaulter;

All that God and heav'n require:
Sacred Temple

God and man thy walls admire.
Oh! my soul, art thou united
To the Temple of the Lord?
Then he has in thee delighted,

And thou shalt his love record:
In his Temple

Be his holy name ador'd.

Our brother Baker, of Chelmondiston, prayed; and our excellent brother, W. Clarke, took the chair; when in his opening address such things he stated with so much feeling as to deeply affect our minds, referring to his life when dead in sin; to the grace of God in his call; to the manifold mercies by which he was then and there surrounded in the

house of his God, in the presence of so many friends, and honored by so many of the Lord's servants, as well as by his beloved pastor, Mr. Poock, who had been made so great a blessing to him. Our brother has passed through deep waters, having been bereaved of his beloved wife, but that trial has been sanctified evidently; the cause at Bethesda is very dear to his heart, and he is ever ready to give a practical proof of it.

He called on Mr. Bloomfield, of Meard's-court, London, to address us, who, ready enough, rose, and declared he was glad so to do, to a people he had long known, and as long loved; to a people with whom he had been blest in years gone by, to whom he had preached, and where God had made him a blessing-one being then present who was called under a sermon he preached in that pulpit. He was anxious to give glory to God for the peace and prosperity with which we were blessed. Most affectionately did he congratulate his brother Poock, exhorting him, the church and congregation to watch, pray, and praise, and to continue in the good word and work of faith, depending on the great Promiser for all needful help. He was glad to see galleries erected; he had advised to build them; he promised to come down to open them, and to give the first sovereign towards them, and there he was accordingly.

The Chairman called on Brother Felton, of Zoar Chapel, who spoke in a brotherly Christian manner; congratulated us on God's great mercies to us as a cause; expressed his heartfelt love to his brother Poock, who he had known near thirty years. He was glad, as a sister cause in the same locality, we could move on together. He was happy to say his people did feel so to, and by him they sent a pledge

towards paying the debt. He was determined not to listen to tale bearing on any account, for they separated chief friends. He was willing to serve to the best of his power; he was getting near home; he wanted to live in love, and die in peace. Brother Collins, of Grundisburgh, then stated the position in point of money matters. He read a list of names beginning with the Chairman's, £20, then the Minister and Deacon's, making together £50 to start with; the good people followed on. The builder added his £25; and by and bye about £160 was on the Chairman's list. Brother Collins was satisfied: he poured out thanks to God for his great mercy to this cause he had so long known; also to the people for their liberality, in which our good brethren Thornley, of Stow Market, and Hoddy, of Horam, warmly joined.

The Chairman followed on in the same strain, adding he had one more pleasing duty to perform, which to him was a great delight to do, namely, to present to his beloved minister a token of their continued love and esteem for his work's sake-it was a gold chain; remarking it was an emblem of that golden chain of love and mercy that drew poor sinners to the Lord; also to one another, in Christian unity; it was also a memorial of 60 years mercies which Mr. P. had received in the wilderness. It was a pleasure to him to state the young of the flock had subscribed towards it so readily, and also laying down a new carpet and rug in his vestry, besides £20 for their new Sabbath-school gallery.

Mr. Poock rose, and first said he felt very glad to see and hear his long-known and loved brother Felton, the more so as he was resolved to give no quarters to tale bearers. He knew not why the sister causes should not be united in gospel love and unity. He thanked both him and his friends for such marks of kind feeling; he would recipro cate the same; and, as a proof, he authorized the Chairman to put his, Mr. P.'s, right hand into his, brother Felton's, as a proof of his sincerity; but brother Felton replied quickly, "My brother, I won't wait for that; caught hold of Mr. P.'s right hand; they shook each other's, imploring blessings that our God would give more of this spirit to on each other-this was pleasing and affecting. Oh,

ministers.

dear brother in the chair for his affectionate Mr. P. then returned his heartfelt thanks to his address; also to his kind friends for their continued birthday presents, as marks of love and esteem. He remembered one was a gift of books; another was an easy chair to read them in, but this was a gold chain to keep him in, and to prevent his running away. He felt himself chained by them, also chained to them. The following hymn was sung :

Blest be the God of sov'reign grace,
Who owns his word within this place;
Pours out his Spirit like a show'r,
And makes poor sinners feel his pow'r.
Here hungry souls have oft been fed,
With sav'ry meat, and living bread;
Truth cloth'd with pow'r unfolds free grace,
And sanctifies the chosen race.

Here gospel liberty is known,
While gospel fruits are daily showr;
Here pleasures like a river flow,
And Jesus sees his kingdom grow.
Here God the Father's love is nam'd,
Here God the Saviour is proclaim'd---
Here God the Spirit sets his seal,
And souls once dead are made to feel.
Here, then, we'll sound Jehovah's praise,
Glad to behold and feel his grace-
Joy in the wonders he has done,
Still praying, LET THY WORK GO ON.
Brother Thornley pronounced the benediction.

Hallelujah. Praise we the Lord.--Amen.