"Twill end in those pure realms of light, "When thou shalt be for ever blest."

Distress, affliction, sickness, pain,

Are often thine whilst here you stay, But trust Him who ne'er spoke in vain, "Strength SHALL be given thee as thy day."

Sickness and pain thou'lt feel no more,
When at thy King's supreme behest,
You cross the flood and reach that shore,
"Where thou shalt be for ever blest."

Ah christian! thou mayest often find,
(Toss'd upon life's tempestuous sea)
The foaming billows and the wind

Of tribulation threaten thee;
Yet still thy destined course pursue,
Tho' now by trial's waves distrest,
A heavenly haven is in view,

"Where thou shalt be for ever blest."

Thy conflict with the world and sin,
At the appointed time is o'er;
Then shall immortal joys begin,

A cross and sword thou'lt bear no more;
A conqueror's crown thou shalt obtain,
And with the saints in glory rest,
With thy Redeemer thou shalt reign,
"Where thou shalt be for ever blest."

'Twas Jesus stript thee bare,

From all thy creature dress,
Washed thee and made thee fair,
And willing to confess,
That He alone could break the spell,
And sweetly whisper, All is well!
Then what did Jesus say,

When first he healed thy smart?
Methought I heard him say,

We never more will part,
I loved thee long before you fell,
Aud loving thee, now, All is well!
His seal upon thy breast,

Time never can erase,
And how with smiles he prest,

Sweet kisses on thy face,
And now, when angry passions swell,
He soothes and whispers, All is well!
Now with thy heart enlarged-

Since he has set thee free,
And all thy sins discharged,

So good he's been to thee-
Thou canst to all the ransomed tell,
How Jesus whispered, All is well!
Should nature's children frown,

Thou needest not to fear,
A kingdom and a crown,

He doth for thee prepare,
Beyond the reach of sin and hell,
And where 'twill be for ever well.

For all this matchless love,

My soul his name adore,
Till called to sing above,

His praise for evermore,
With all the blood-bought saints to tell,
How Jesus whispered, All is well!
Swaffham.

J. E. C.

TWO SERMONS PREACHED IN ZOAR CHAPEL, LONDON, 1835, BY THE

LATE REV. J. GARROW.

'Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame; and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Heb xii. 2. BELOVED, if you have never read with attention, that providential account which the Holy Ghost has given in the chapter preceeding that from which our text is taken, as to the nature and consequences of faith let me beseech you to embrace the first opportunity of reading it for yourself.

The Holy Ghost there informs us, we can alone by faith, understand how the worlds were framed, how things which are seen, were not made of things which do appear.

By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should afterwards receive as an inheritance obeyed, and, we are told, he went out not knowing whither he went; and beloved, the metaphor which the Holy Ghost useth here to set forth the nature of Abraham's faith, is that of a child taking hold of his father's arm, and accompanying him whithersoever he will, having a humble dependance on his fatherly care and protection; so Abraham, in May, 1839.]

a child-like simplicity, with a strong faith, and a holy joy, forsook his own land in company with his heavenly Father, not knowing indeed whither he would take him, yet going too as a stranger in the land of promise.

By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, because he had respect, and that not inconsiderately nor encroachingly but by precious faith, he had respect unto the recompence of reward; but saith the Apostle towards the close of the chapter, Itime would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barak, and of Sampson, and of Jephtha, of David, also of Samuel, and the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, and stopped the mouths of lions. By faith, many of them wandered about in sheep skins, and goat skins, being destitute and afflicted-wandering in deserts, and in caves of the earth," looking for the period when the Lord should say, arise, "arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”

Now there is a great talk about faith in the present day my brethren ; and some of our great divines say salvation is not by the works of the law, but we are saved by faith in accepting the offered grace; thus putting faith in the place of the object of faith; and making that to proceed from the creature, which can only come from God. Now while numbers are thus adding to the truth, the word of God still abideth sure; and therein we see Jesus alone, set forth as the author, and the finisher of faith and when our faith is properly fixed upon Jesus, we shall no longer boast our abilities, but like Daniel our comeliness will be turned into corruption," and we shall have no strength left.

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The life of a believer is compared to a journey or a race course, and when the Holy Ghost holds up Jesus, in the way, and the believer gets a sight of Jesus, as his life, his hope, and his all, then he is at the end of his journey, he hath won the race, and is waiting to receive the prize. So it is as though the Apostle should say, let us look soon for Jesus, and not seek for anything short of him, and let us run and keep on perseveringly, and as we cannot go in a day, let us use patience, let us run unencumbered, throwing aside every weight, and ever be looking unto Jesus the end of our journey: there Jesus stands in the way and holds up the cross, and says, be thou faithful unto the end, be not faithless, but believing."

I shall remark briefly from the words of our text, that Jesus is the believer's all in all: and that sermon from which Jesus is excluded, is not worth a straw, for Jesus is the believer's life, and Jesus it is that makes him to have life. Jesus is the author of the believer's life, and the support of the believer's life; and Jesus is the end of that life; and therefore he must be the beginning, the middle, and the end of every sermon. An holy Apostle, speaking by the Spirit of God, saith, I desire not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and

him crucified." It is the grand business of the gospel, to be treating everlastingly of Jesus. It is the song of the birds of the heavenly paradise in glory above, For the believers in Jesus, are those birds of the heavenly paradise, perched eternally upon the tree of life, and there singing for ever the praises of their immortal Lord.

And now my brethren, we are going to speak of this Jesus, who is now set down at the right hand of God.

But suffer me first to remark that in his sufferings, and as he is now enshrined in all the glory and majesty of heaven, it is the only matter of comfort to his people, and though thou art now enduring the storm, and art nearly swept away by the blast, and thy fears sink thee almost to the gates of hell, yet the period will come when thou shalt sit down eternally with Jesus; and gaze upon the untold beauties of infinite glory.

There are five things in our text to which I would call your serious attention, and may the Holy Ghost apply the truths contained in them, with power to thy soul, for all is of him and as he speaketh : so the word will be received and enjoyed in thy heart, and as he worketh, so precious faith will be brought into exercise, and thou wilt be looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of thy faith.

I. I shall observe what Jesus is to his people.

II. What he has done for his people.

III. The motives by which he was instigated.

IV. The grandeur to which he has arisen through suffering and dying.

V. The duty and privilege of believers arising from these things, or rather, I should say privilege, for I do not like the word duty as applying to our living a life of faith upon the Son of God.

I. What Jesus is to his people. See my brethren what our Lord has done for angels: they dwell in the regions of unsufferable bliss, in re

splendent glory, in untellable delight; they chaunt his praises eternally with songs of rapture, and gladness of heart; but Jesus is nearer unto us than he is to angels, and our union to Jesus is closer, and our communion with Jesus will be more intimate, and our access to his throne will be more near: our bliss and our glory will be of a more dignified nature, and our praises will be in grander strains in those regions of inconceivable joy, than angels can possibly attain to.

To tell what Jesus is to his people, as their Redeemer and their God, their prophet and their king, their Great High Priest, and the captain of their salvation, far surpasses the understanding of all created intelligencies, but in the exercise of precious faith, we credit all the testimony of God concerning him, and receive him into our hearts in the full spring tide of gospel blessedness.

1st. First then I observe he is the author and finisher of our faith. Now we must not lay too much stress upon the act of faith, for there are great mistakes daily made with respect to faith, and the reason is, faith is continually putting all honour from itself; you know the grand cry is, believe you must savingly; but depend upon it, the cry of duty will never bring any one to believe to the salvation of their souls. They may all be wanting the poor sinner to trust in Jesus, and confide in his righteous ness, and rejoice in him as his Saviour; and it is the desire of his heart, and none can say aught against it, but if he doth look by precious faith to the author and finisher of his faith it must be by the power of God after all; let me beseech you my brethren not to consider faith as part and parcel of salvation without him. Thus the Apostle saith, "by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, therefore, it is by faith that it might be by grace.

Jesus is the author of the system

of faith, I mean the gospel: contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, the whole book of God, concerning the salvation of the church of Jesus, according to eternal covenant engagement.

He is also the author, and the strengthener of faith in the hearts of millions of the family of grace. Every poor sinner that flees to Jesus as the only refuge from the storm, that looks up to Jesus for help and salvation, for which his soul hath been made to long after, that clings to Jesus as his only hope, and rejoices in him as his Redeemer: when he doth these things he doth it by faith, and that faith is of the operation of the Holy Ghost, and Jesus is the author of that faith, and he is the strengthener of and upholder of that faith which he is the author of, and the drooping soul that is ready to sink in the midst of many sorrows can find no support for his faith but in Jesus.

2nd. He is our life. Now this is of great importance, that Jesus should be the life of his people, because it is intimated thereby that we have every need supplied us in Jesus. "For my God shall supply 'all your need out of his riches in glory, by Jesus Christ," and when the Lord is supplying our need, and our fears our dispersed, and every cloud is dispelled, fears are removed, and Jesus speaks in mercy to the soul, and we feel the power of divine love; then, oh! then, it will be seen that every thing sinful will be kept down, the powers of darkness for a season are driven back, and we are filled with consolations and heavenly joy. Every blessing we receive cometh from Jesus; he is our life, and he will supply our every need. By the grace of faith we see our interest in Jesus' blood, and claim a share in his righteousness, and discover that glorious reversion which he hath in the skies from the dates of everlasting.

3rd. He is also the increaser and finisher of our faith. If faith flows

freely, hope rises on placid wings, love expands in our hearts, and joy bursts forth in rapturous songs of praise; and it is Jesus who thus increases our faith, thus it becometh us to pray for an increase of faith, because faith in heavenly exercise upon the Son of God, is so desirable to the real believer, and none but Jesus, this Jesus to whom we are looking, can give us an increase of this blessed grace.

The believer in Jesus has to meet with trials in abundance, whole seas of sorrow ready to overwhelm him, and he hath a multitude of hindrances to encounter in looking unto Jesus, so that if the increasing or finishing of his faith rested upon anything short of Jesus, he must for ever fail in looking, and be eternally undone but Jesus is the increaser of our faith, and to him we are looking for such an increase of that precious gift, as shall enable us still to be looking; but beloved the time will come when Jesus will finish our faith: when he will cause the grace of faith to triumph and to rejoice over its adversary; and a period is fast approaching when faith and hope will be eternally swallowed up in love and glory, when we shall gaze upon the untold beauties, and view the flaming love, and look into all the tender compassions of his heart, and see more of his motives for that love eternal, wherewith he loved us, and more of his intentions in those sufferings he endured for our sakes, and more of his designs in the various ways in which he hath humbled or condescended himself towards us, than ever we shall know in the boundaries of time: then our sun shall no more go down, Jesus himself shall be our light and our sun, and the glory of his throne shall fill eternally the rapturous joy of saints and angels.

I intimated at the beginning that Jesus is everything to his people; (I speak as a man) Jesus was never so well pleased as when he was Jesus; he was to accept his people with the fact staring him in the face that it

would cost him his heart's blood, that his life must be sacrificed at the shrine of eternal love; he married them to himself, and considered well the cost, not flinching from its consequences. He agreed to bring them home safe, notwithstanding all the iniquity which they should inherit, and notwithstanding the curse thereof, should lay upon his own head, and in due time they are called to enjoy all that he has prepared for them. These are some of those things which Jesus is to his people, and much more than all I have spoken. Beloved, to tell all that Jesus is to his people, I cannot, time would fail me.

II. What Jesus has done for his people. "He hath endured the cross dispising the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God;" he endured the cross out of love to his darling bride, the object of his soul's delight; and here, beloved, are three things to be noticed in those floods of sufferings which Jesus went through for his people's salvation.

1st. The cross, which our text telleth us he endured.

2nd. The enduring that cross.

3rd. His peculiar disposition of mind while enduring the cross; dispising the shame, for the interest he took in his people, and the love eternal he bore towards them.

1.

The cross. By this word a variety of things is expressed in holy scripture. By the cross we sometimes understand the sufferings of the saints in this world of tribulation, for the name, and for the sake of their immortal Lord, when Satan buffets them, and the world casts them out, and holds them in derision, and their corrupt hearts reproach them for its own iniquity. Sometimes by the word cross we understand that cross of wood upon which our Jesus was raised, and whereon in the midst of his agonizing tortures he expired: at other times it signifieth the glorious doctrines of the gospel; inasmuch as they relate to those suffering of Christ for