heaven, and is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old," Matt. xiii. 52; whereby the saints are instructed, fed with knowledge and understanding, and so nourished up in the words of faith and sound doctrine, even the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the doctrine which is according to godliness. And thus they are enabled to live in a fruitful profession of Christ, "having their fruit unto holiness, and their end everlasting life" in glory.

Many of us have long known each other, and have lived in sweet communion and fellowship together; and neither the devil, nor all his agents, have as yet been able to separate us from Christ, nor from the prayers and affections of one another. God himself hath fixed us upon the Rock, and therefore we have stood, and withstood all our adversaries. His grace, his Spirit, and his power, have hitherto been sufficient to preserve and keep us alive unto himself; and I doubt not but we shall at last be more than conquerors through Christ, who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests, that we may reign and live with him for ever.

Stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved; and may the Lord keep us steadfast in our profession, cleaving to Christ with full purpose of heart, so as

never to be led astray from the truth by the superficial preaching and profession of this dark period of the Church. That God may be our light and our salvation, and that we may finish our course in sweet communion and fellowship with Christ, our own Saviour and Redeemer, is the desire and prayer of,

DEAR FRIENDS,

Yours most affectionately for Christ and the truth's sake,

though one of the feeblest of all the holy family,

NORTHAMPTON SQUARE,

Sept. 3, 1826.

CHRIST. GOULDING.

TO MR. BRYAN ISAACS,

Caythorpe, Lincolnshire.

My dear Friend and Fellow-traveller

to the better Country,

I HAVE long purposed to write to you upon a subject, on which I could not feel comfortable in my mind without bearing my testimony against it, and am now in my study for that purpose. I wish the subject had fallen into abler hands; but God is allsufficient; and, as he rebuked the madness of the prophet by Balaam's ass in old time, so he can do the same now; and the meaner the instrument, the more is the power, the grace, and the wisdom of God, manifested, and his glory shines the brighter; therefore I am encouraged to proceed.

In 1822, Mr. J-n V-ll, minister at L-s, in S--x, published his Confession of Faith, in which, speaking of the human nature, or of the body which the Son of God assumed at his incarnation, he says, "It was the same body that hung, suffered, and died on the tree, that was raised again the third day; with this dif ference, before he suffered it was a mortal

Ᏼ .

body, but it was raised again immortal, spiritual, powerful, and glorious," pp. 21, 22.

The object, therefore, I have in view on the present occasion, is to oppose Mr. V's assertion that it was a mortal body. Any thing and every thing that degrades the Saviour, and that lessens him in the view of the church and people of God, or that in the least derogates either from the truth and glory of his person, or of his work, must be withstood; for we are exhorted and commanded to "strive together for the faith of the gospel," and also “to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." And to such as speak contrary to sound doctrine we are not to give place, no not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel may continue with us. I will therefore, as the Lord shall enable me, treat,

I. Of the origin or cause of mortality.

II. Of the human nature of Christ, shewing how his

body was formeḍ.

III. Of the blessed effects of his incarnation.

IV. Oppose the belief of the mortality of Christ's body, and shew in some instances the evil conse quences arising from such an error.

V. Shew the absolute necessity of Christ's body being

in itself free from every cause of death, in order to establish and preserve a sure foundation for the church of God.

VI. In conclusion, make some observations, arising from what has been said.