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so sin has erected a barrier between God and his offending creatures. Consequently, before soul can draw near to God, a reconciliation must take place; some medium of access must be devised and effected. To attempt to "appear before God" without this, would be like a self-condemned criminal appearing at the bar of an inexorable judge. But" blessed be his great and glorious name for ever," a way of access has been opened, by which sinful man may approach God and live. The adorable Redeemer has become the "Mediator between God and man." He has received in himself all the punishment due to the guilty, and has thus reconciled God to his creatures. By his obedience, sufferings, and death, he has removed every obstruction, taken down every barrier, and every separating wall; and now the way to God is free and open to every returning sinner. Cherubim and the flaming sword no longer obstruct the passage to the tree of life: justice stands smiling by, while the sinner approaches: the law, repaired and honoured, approves of his return; and “ mercy rejoiceth over judgment." By dying in our place and in our stead, Jesus has "made reconciliation for iniquity, and brought in everlasting righteousness." He

has" died the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God." The way is opened by which Jehovah can righteously forgive sin; in other words, by which he can be " just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." The cross of Christ is the place of meeting between heaven and earth. On that cross the dove alights, and fixes the olive branch of peace. "There mercy and truth meet together righteousness and peace embrace each other." Justice and

faithfulness now present no obstacle to the sinner's admission to favour. Mercy has its free course; love rejoices over its objects, and heaven and earth unite their songs to the God of peace. By this medium, and by this only, can we "come and appear before God." Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." Consult also, as being in harmony with these statements, the following texts; Eph. ii. 11-18. Col. i. 21, 22. Heb. x. 19-22.

The way then being open, it is the privilege and the desire of the believer to 66 come and appear before God." In David, this fervent wish was occasioned by the painfulness of absence from public ordinances. Deprived of the inestimable privilege of assembling with the saints, his mind reverted to seasons of past enjoyment in the sanctuary, when he mingled with the "multitude that kept holy day and went with them to the house of God with the voice of joy and praise." When he "remembered these things, his soul was cast down within him," and he gives vent to the ardent desires of his heart" When shall I come and appear before God?" Similar to these would be the desires and feelings of every saint in similar circumstances. It frequently happens, that what we possess in profusion, we do not sufficiently prize. When the manna from heaven fell in such plenty in the camp of Israel, the people loathed it. Christians often undervalue divine ordinances while experiencing no want. But let them suffer a deprivation let them be removed far from the scene of these hallowed exercises and enjoyments, where no sabbath smiles, where no sanctuary unfolds its sacred portals; where no messenger of mercy an

nounces peace and salvation, and no Christian communion is enjoyed-what then will be their feelings and their language? The Jews lightly esteemed their privileges; and God removed them from his temple and ordinances, and sent them captives to Babylon. There they felt and bewailed the loss: every other privation was nothing compared with the loss of divine ordinances. "By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down, yea, we wept when we remembered Zion," &c. Let a Christian be arrested by affliction, confined to the bed of languishing and pain, and compelled to pass silent sabbaths for weeks and months without intermission; and oh! how painfully will he feel his absence from the house of the Lord. He will mourn the loss of health and the loss of friendly intercourse; but the loss of divine ordinances will be his deepest affliction. He could be content to suffer many things, might he but mingle with the saints and partake of the provisions of the gospel, for in the sanctuary he has often found a sweet and happy retreat from the perplexities and calamities of life: but to be denied all this, and be subjected to a long and tedious confinement, how painful and distressing to a pious mind! He muses on seasons of past enjoyment, when he tasted that the Lord is gracious," and ardently longs for their return. Oh! "when shall I come and appear before God?" He watches every favourable symptom of disease, and hails every providential occurrence, in hope of obtaining a release: and no sooner does the door of his prison begin to open, than he bursts from his confinement and hastes to Zion's gates with songs of praise. "There my best friends, my kindred dwell; there God my Saviour reigns." He "comes and appears before God."

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This language evinces the real and undisguised sincerity of the heart. The Christian comes to the sanctuary, not "to be seen of men," not to gaze upon the worshippers, but to appear before God. He places himself in his presence; beneath the inspection of the allseeing God, and submits his very heart to his scrutinizing notice. Yes, he comes and presents himself to that God before whom "all things are naked and open." He wishes not to attract the notice of others : he is indifferent alike to their applause and censure; and says, as he rises on the pinions of faith and love to the altar of God, "Careless, myself a dying man,

men's esteem:

of dying

Happy, O God, if thou approve, though all beside condemn."

He rises, too, above the formalities of worship; aud can never feel satisfied with mere external observances. He advances much higher; and, sensible that nothing short of the enjoyment of God can meet the desires of his heart, he draws near to his footstool, and realizes his immediate presence. This proves the sincerity of the heart. The hypocrite never wishes to

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66 come and appear before God." He would tremble at the thought of presenting himself naked and undisguised before him; and hence he covers himself with cloak and "dissembles before the face of Almighty God." It is a terror to him to think that God knows his heart. Not so the genuine believer: he comes “to the light that his deeds may be made manifest," and instead of shunning scrutiny, he invites it. While the hypocrite flies from the face of Jehovah, the Christian dares to present himself before him, saying, Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts." He will discover in me much that is amiss, but I

wish to be proved and set right: "my desire is before him, and my groaning is not hid from him." Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee.". Let every believer study to attain increasingly, this "simplicity and godly sincerity;" let him banish all dissimulation from his religious exercises; and whether he read, or hear, or pray, let him remember that he " appears before God." Had he to do with men only, a fair external appearance might suffice; but the Lord looketh at the heart and weigheth, the spirits." A " form of godliness, and a name to live," can be of no avail with him who is "a Spirit, and seeketh such to worship him as worship in spirit and in truth."

It involves a due appreciation of the blessedness of appearing before God. This blessedness the believer has often realized during his sojourn through a vale of tears. Sometimes, indeed, he has had to exclaim, in the bitterness of his spirit, Oh! that I knew where I might find him;" yet there have been seasons when he has come near to God, and enjoyed such a lively sense of the divine presence as can be surpassed only by the immediate interviews of heaven. He can point to many a Bethel and Penuel, where he has been enlivened by the heavenly vision, and "seen God face to face;" to many an Ebenezer which he has erected in his toilsome pilgrimage, and inscribed upon each with the hand of gratitude, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped." O, happy souls! who are thus for awhile absorbed in God; and made to "drink of the river of his pleasure." At such seasons we have ascended to the inexhaustible fountain of grace and joy, and have been so lost in the contemplation of the great All in All," as for a moment scarcely to know whether

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we were in the body or out of the body." All our thoughts and desires, and hopes and joys, centered in God. Every other concern was banished; and every object beneath the skies proved totally uninteresting Our ardent, happy souls, only longed for still nearer approaches to the Divinity, and larger communications from him, that we "might be filled with all the fulness of God." "Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, O Lord, and causest to approach unto thee." What a blessedness is enjoyed, when, in the time of trial and affliction, we can come and appear before God! It is a relief to open our hearts to men, and tell our sorrows to a friend who can mingle his tears with ours. Oh! then, what a relief to open our hearts and tell our griefs to that Friend above, who is ever ready to hear and mighty to save! When the heart is oppressed with sorrow, again let us come and appear before God. Devotion opens a retreat. "God is known in his palaces for a refuge." The ear of the Eternal is still open to our cry, and his hand is stretched out for our relief. There is a sanctuary where no evil can assail: an asylum which no enemy can enter. "In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me.” "There the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest."

The recollection of these devotional enjoyments detaches the believer from earth, gives him a holy elevation of soul, and leads him to "continue instant in prayer.” Thus he is preparing to appear before God hereafter. Such exercises are the foretaste of glory and the beginning of heaven. By conversing with God here we become like him, and are made meet for his

presence. We move in a purer

atmosphere; dwell in a region of spiritual delights; and standing on holy ground, we put off unballowed affections and irregular desires. By devotion on earth, we anticipate the work of heaven, and associate beforehand with angels and the spirits of the just. Let us "walk with God" below, and soon we shall arrive at heaven: in his" presence there is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore." Then

"the days of our mourning shall be ended," and we shall be satisfied when we awake with his likeness."

That blessed interview, how sweet!
To fall transported at his feet!
Rais'd in his arms to view his face,
Through the full beamings of his grace.
Yet with these prospects full in sight,
I'll wait thy signal for my flight;
For while thy service I pursue,
I find my heaven begun below.

DODDRIDGE.

THAT there is great need of reform in this department of our dissenting economy is universally acknowledged. As things now are, dissenting chapels are built where they are not needed; or such as are large and costly, where small ones, erected at a trifling expense, would be more appropriate. The generous public are liable to be perpetually imposed upon by spurious or unworthy cases, while the regular givers are exhausted and wearied out with ceaseless applications. Hundreds of pounds are expended annually in travelling expenses, and in paying supplies, obtained from our colleges or elsewhere, to occupy the pulpit of the begging minister. In not a few instances, what is thus expended exceeds the amount collected for the chapel.

Many

and grievous are the evils which result to churches and congregations, from their ministers being so long and so frequently absent; and many are the evils to which the ministers themselves are exposed.

The question is, what methods can be devised to lessen, if we cannot wholly remove, the evils connected with our present jointless, -I had almost said planless, system of building and collecting

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for chapels? I suppose that no true Dissenter, and no enlightened Christian of any denomination, would wish the present progress of evangelical dissent to be arrested. And if its progress not arrested, and God forbid that it should, then it is obvious that more ministers must be educated, and more chapels must be built; and consequently, that our dissenting colleges, and our chapel cases, must be still more liberally supported. Our present inquiry only relates to new chapels. Whilst the public ear is open, and the necessity of reform is universally admitted, it seems peculiarly desirable that every one, whose attention has been directed to the subject, should contribute his quantum of experience and information; so that, if possible, some general and uniform plan of procedure might be adopted. The writer of this paper having paid some attention to the subject, and having been engaged both in the building of a chapel, and in begging for it, is desirous of contributing his mite of experience and information. Little time will be occupied in pointing out what appears to be wrong, or in defending what is considered to be right. And should any find cause to complain

of the didactic style which it seems most convenient to adopt, the writer begs that it may not be imputed to a dictatorial spirit, but to its true origin, which is a desire to occupy no more room in this valuable miscellany, than appears to be really necessary in treating on so extensive a subject.

The heads of our colleges, in recommending students to break up new ground, and occupy stations where no chapel is erected, ought to be especially careful to select young men who combine prudence and a knowledge of the world, with zeal for God and love for souls. It is obvious, that in such stations the management of the temporal as well as spiritual concerns, will, for some time, in a great degree, devolve on the minister. To the young minister occupying such a station I would say-involve yourself in no pecuniary responsibility connected with the erection of a chapel, except you have considerable private property. Do not be forward in recommending to your hearers the building of a chapel; else, when they feel the burden of a heavy debt, you may have to suffer their reproaches. If the people are poor, I would say, as a general rule, give no countenance to Chapel-building, till the largest room that can be obtained at a reasonable rent, has been for some time crowded; and I would almost say, till a church has been formed, and there is thus a rational prospect of a permanent interest being established. If you find that the opinion of your most regular and influential hearers, and of the neighbouring ministerial brethren, is in favour of building, then announce on the sabbath that a public meeting will be held in the following week, for the purpose of taking into consideration the propriety of erecting a chapel,

for the accommodation of the congregation, and the benefit of the town or village. At this meeting the subject should be freely discussed; and if the sense of the meeting is in favour of building, a Building Committee should be formed, consisting of the minister as chairman, and a few of the most active, judicious, and infiuential men connected with the interest. This committee should determine on the dimensions of the chapel; regulating their determination chiefly by the number and resources of those who now attend, but not altogether overlooking the population and spiritual exigencies of the neighbourhood. The committee should next endeavour to ascertain, as accurately as possible, the expense of the ground, the building, and the chapel deeds. The chapel should be substantial and neat; but if the charity of the public is to be appealed to on its behalf, not one superfluous ornament should be admitted, although it were a gift. Such gifts prejudice the minds of subscribers, and often prove a temptation to purchase other ornaments for the sake of uniformity. The next step for the committee to take, is to visit the hearers and other inhabitants of the place, for the purpose of obtaining the names of contributors, with the amount of their respective donations, such amount being considered due as soon as the foundation-stone of the chapel is laid. A Ladies' Penny-a-week Society, should also be established at the same time, to collect weekly contributions for the same object. A Penny-a-week Society alone, conducted with order, zeal, and perseverance, has in some instances been found adequate to defray the expenses of a new chapel. The mischief is, that when the people are once comfortably seated in the chapel, their zeal for collecting