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How beautifully accurate is the language which describes the benevolent career of our Lord Jesus Christ during his sojourn in this world of ours, "He went about doing good." His whole life on earth was spent in acts of mercy, and in deeds of love, and the close of it was marked with the most unparalleled instance of goodness that the wide universe ever witnessed.

During his abode below he healed the sick, restored the leper, cast out the demon, gave sight to the blind, and life to the dead. I was just now reading the account of Blind Bartimaeus, as furnished by the evangelist St. Mark, and the brief, yet touching narrative, hath, I trust, not been unproductive of instruction to my own mind, as alone in my quiet apartment I perused its details.

"And they came to Jericho; and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples, and a great number of people, blind Bartimæus, the son of Timæus, sat by the highway side begging."

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bosom of Bartimæus, yet he was disposed to put the blind man's faith to the test, and therefore uttered the above language. The blind man said unto him, "Lord, that I might receive my sight." He addresses the Saviour as the object of divine worship; he calls him Lord; in his former addresses he had styled him the Son of David, thus recognising the prediction of ancient prophecy as relating to the descent of the Messiah from the patriarch David. Having called him Lord, he entreats that he may receive his sight; "and Jesus said unto him, go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole." What an act of mercy! What a distinguished proof of the compassion of the Saviour! Well might the man, "after he had received his sight, follow Jesus in the way;" neither need it cause much surprise that those once sightless orbs should now be fixed on the divine and glorious Being who stood before them; who had just, by a single word, poured a flood of light upon the darkened organs, and thus proved himself to be the Son of God with power-the ever blessed God.

If it is asked, "Can material be fetched from this little narrative for profitable reflection? I answer, much every way. The limits of my paper will not, however, allow me to enlarge; the reader will do well to examine the incident for himself, and he will, I doubt not, draw therefrom much valuable instruction. One truth is certainly obvious from the perusal of this account, the necessity of imploring divine illumination. This is an important point to be borne in mind; we are naturally dark; our eyes have been How immensely followed was the Saviour; how blinded by the god of this world; and, in a spiritual often do the sacred historians speak of the multi-sense, we are in the condition of Bartimæus, having tudes who thronged around him as he went through the eyes of our understanding unenlightened. May their cities and villages! We are most of us in full he who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, recollection of that large congregation who listened to shine into our hearts to give us the light of the knowthe Redeemer's sermon on the mount; "great multi-ledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ; tudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from beyond Jordan." We are also familiar with the circumstance of his feeding "four thousand" that had assembled to hear his word. On one occasion, we are told that "Jesus was without in desert places;" yet notwithstanding this "they came to him from every quarter." So in the verse before me, as he went out of Jericho a great number of people followed him, and is there aught that is marvellous in this? Is it strange that the Son of God should have been followed by the multitudes? I trow not; rather is it marvellous that such numbers should have disbelieved in him, and that, at length, the multitude cried out vehemently, "Crucify him, crucify him."

But to return to the blind beggar Bartimæus. "And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he begun to cry out, and say, Jesus thou Son of David,have mercy on me." How urgent, how anxious, how importunate, is the entreaty of the poor suppliant! "Many charged him that he should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great deal, thou Son of David, have mercy upon me." "And Jesus stood still." Methinks had the poor Bartimæus been conscious at that moment of this circumstance, that the Saviour paused in his journeyings, there would have sprung up in his breast the feeling of a hope, "perhaps he will send for me, peradventure he will hear my cry and will save me;" and he would have been warranted in indulging the emotion, for "Jesus commanded him to be called; "and they call the blind man, saying unto him, rise, he calleth thee, be of good comfort." Oh! what music to the ears of Bartimæus! Well might he be bidden to be of good comfort. With what earnest speed he goes to Jesus, "and he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus." He is regardless of the poor tattered robe which covered him, and, disencumbering himself of it, he ran to the Saviour. "And Jesus said, what wilt thou that I should do unto thee?" Our Lord well knew what the desire was which struggled in the

but let us recollect that for this he will be enquired of. Oh! let us therefore pray with all the earnestness, the importunity, and the faith, of the way-side beggar of Jericho, "Lord, that I might receive my sight."

The Cabinet.

INFLUENCE. Since influence is so important in its consequences, so awful in its effects, how does it behove us all to make that which we each possess subservient to the cause of religion, that others may not hereafter trace their faults in awful condemnation to our own. But should any answer, that, individually, they can have no influence in the world, that their conduct cannot effect the welfare of another, their precepts have no power to reform; let me ask such, however humble, or poor, or ignorant, they may be, if, in their own little circle, they are not linked to some chain of kindred or of social interests; for so does every human being cling to those who love him, and hang on the will of another. Thus, when we have done our best to reach th goal of salvation, the others too may find it; on those who stray, and not on us, will fall the penalty of their disobedience.

THE CROSS.-That which will be essentially dear to the faithful pastor is the all-commanding doctrine of Christ crucified. His motto will be-We preach Christ crucified. All the perfections of the divine character are concentrated in the cross. All the dispensations of divine mercy converge to the cross. All preceding time looked forward, all succeeding time will look backward to the cross. Here the spiritual diseases of man find a remedy; the contrite heart a balm; the trembling penitent a promise, and the conflicting believer a pledge of final victory. Here the feeblest understanding may find something it can

From "Influence." By the author of "Miriam.” Third Edition. London, Hatchard, 1839. A tale which may advantageously be read by young people, for whom it is intended.

seize, and the loftiest intellect a sphere in which it may for ever expatiate. He who "takes heed to the flock" will determine with St. Paul "not to know any thing among them save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." We may declaim incessantly on mere morality, and no spiritual results will follow; but let the cross, and the love of him who died upon it, be faithfully and affectionately exhibited to them, as at the lifting up of the serpent by Moses, dying sinners will be restored to health, and Christ will be magnified in their eternal salvation. By this weapon the early preachers of Christianity won their splendid triumphs. It is still the power of God unto salvation. Cast your eyes around the church in the present day, and observe who, as instruments in the divine' hand, are most honoured in accomplishing the chief end for which the Christian ministry was instituted-the conversion of sinners to God. It is undeniable that those ministers are the most successful, who most fully preach Christ crucified; this is in accordance with our Saviour's declaration, "and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."*

FALSE LIBERALITY.†-If by mingling truth and error in one indiscriminate heap of mis-called charity, we could glorify our God, and save our fellow-men, with what joy should we yield to the complacent sympathies of our fallen nature, and ourselves become liberals! But it may not be. The danger abides in full force, though we cease to mention it; and therefore silence on our part is transferred from the region of charity into the region of the most barbarous cruelty. Instead of wearing the mild and winning features of forbearance and tender love, it would assume the revolting aspect of either hypocrisy or infidelity. It is recorded concerning the celebrated eastern bird, whose name is a proverb for folly, that when she has succeeded in hiding her own head, so that she cannot see the approaching danger, she reposes, as if in perfect security, unconscious of the exposure of her entire body. The advocates of charity, who would blot out the damnatory clauses from our creeds and bibles, seem to partake of this ostrich folly; as if when they had blinded themselves to the danger, and succeeded in procuring repose by getting rid of these troublesome remembrances, they had also succeeded in annihilating the danger itself-in blotting out hell from the storehouse of the righteous judgments of God, and securing an eternity of plausible liberalism. When essential truth is concerned, it is impossible to speak too plainly, or too strongly, or too frequently; it is the grand design of Satan, with all his varied forms of temptation and delusion, adapted to the varying temper of men's minds, and the fashionable tone of the various ages of the world and grades of society,

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to lull mankind into a slumber of indifference about eternity, until it is too late for them to be in earnest about salvation. And it is the grand business of the ministers and messengers of Christ to rouse the slumberers, and tell them of salvation, now while it is called to-day." If we may not speak thus, let us speak no more at all. If, while the fire rages and thousands are falling into it, we may not sound an alarm, and cry, "Awake, awake! flee from the wrath to come," then are we watchmen no longer; our occupation, in all that rendered it effective, is at an end. If we must confine our ministrations to soft lullabys, which do not disturb the slumberers, or which, when they are in some degree disturbed by conscience, allay the incipient alarm, and soothe them again to repose; then are we transformed from being ambassadors for Christ, into being no better than cradle-rockers of Beelzebub.

* From the preface to an admirable Sermon, by the Rev. Hugh M'Neile, Incumbent of St Jude's, Liverpool-"The proper Duty of our Lord the only ground of consistency in the work of redemption." One of the Liverpool series already adverted to. + From Visitation Sermon, by the late Rev. J. G. Breay, Preb, Lichfield, and Minister of Christ Church, Birmingham.

Poetry.

THE CHURCH.*

England!-most truly do men call thee blest!-
Through every field of thine the village bell,
To prayer inviting, pours its magic spell:
A relic sure thou hast when most distrest,
In these the choicest monuments and best
Our fathers left us of their wisdom. Hold
Fast by thy church! Better than gems or gold
That holy mother at whose kind behest
From worldliness and sin these safeguards rose ;
And though the storm of pride around her blows,
And strives to gain the mastery for earth,
Veiling its dire intent in Reason's dress,
Believe not Virtue's death is Reason's birth,
And O believe not prayer is idleness.

Veiled by the moveless shade of dark green boughs,
Hallowed by time, behold the sacred pile,
Remnant of olden days' best, lowliest style:
Around its hoary walls the evening throws
A holy light; its lengthening shadow grows
Amid the waving lines and rising heaps
Of green sepulchral grass that waves and weeps,
Not for the dead, but for the livings' woes.
How quiet soars it, mid the thickening gloom,
Among the tombs around-itself a tomb
Of worldly thoughts and worldly adorations,
Where Pride bows down to earth her haughtiest

plume,

And strives to rise with loftier aspirations,
There where peace dwells, and flowers for ever bloom.

THE LAMENT OF THE PATRIARCH.
(For the Church of England Magazine.)
BY MISS A. BEALE.

How constant is the ever-flowing stream
Of a fond parent's love! so pure-so bright!
Gentle and calm beneath the summer beam,

Bursting anew beneath the tempest's night:
Purest of earthly streams, it doth not flow

To lose itself in Time's unending sea;
But, when its course is finished here below,

Would fain flow onward to eternity.
How mourned the patriarch of old his child!

"My son is not," he cried. His robes he tore;
Bitter his tears-his grief was loud and wild;
He thought upon his boy, and o'er and o'er
Rejected comfort; for the young, the fair,

The beautiful was gone-he could but grieve ;As when the green branch from the oak we tear Slow heal the wounds that on the trunk we leave. "My child is not! Alas! I am alone!

Nay, come not near-my soul to death is grieved; He of my old age, whom I loved, is gone:

Bereave me of my child, I am bereaved.
The sweetest flower of Canaan's pleasant land-
The hope of Israel's age-now sleeps in gloom :
Flow faster now my life's remaining sand,-
I will go down, lamenting, to the tomb."

From "Goethe's Faust, Part II., with other Poems, Original and Translated." By Leopold J. Bernays, Scholar of St. John's College, Oxford. London. S. Low. 1839.

Thus mourned the patriarch; thus too oft may number seems almost necessary. I have not, there

mourn

The Christian parent in his hour of woe; But oft the rosebud blossoms by the thorn,

And heaven is bright when all is dark below:For grief, tho' bitter and most hard to bear, The trial of patience and of faith may prove,Tending the heart from earthly joys to tear, And pointing to a heaven of rest above.

Miscellaneous.

SMALL PARISHES.-In considering the general character of my diocese, I am struck by the smallness of the population in the great majority of the parishes. The first reflection which this suggests is one of satisfaction at the absence of the overwhelming evils and difficulties which attach to the state of the church in some other parts of this country, in which the increase of the population has altogether outgrown the provision made for the spiritual wants of the people. And doubtless the minister of the little rural parish, who may know the temporal and spiritual state of each individual of his flock, and is thus qualified to be an adviser in all difficulties, and a friend in all troubles, should be thankful to be spared the anxieties which beset those who have multitudes committed to their charge, of whose wants, and characters, and feelings they must remain in ignorance-who see their people straying away, and have no means of gathering them into the fold; and are obliged to be content to snatch as brands from the burning, here one and there another, of those for whose souls, nevertheless, they watch as they that must give account. But still very small and poor parishes have also their peculiar difficulties, to which it behoves those who are concerned with them to give heed. In the first place, they hardly supply sufficient professional occupation for the minister. It is a trial and a temptation, especially to young men at their first entrance into the ministry, to be placed in a sphere of ministerial labour, in which the duties strictly incumbent upon them do not occupy the principal part of their time. Hours, which are not necessarily filled up by more sacred engagements, appear to be left open for secular business, or for amusement, which, though not blameable in themselves, are little suited to the clerical character. Very small and humble congregrations may be thought to require less careful preparation for the pulpit. It is a great sign of the improvement which is everywhere taking place in the habits of the clergy, that such temptations appear now to be comparatively little yielded to. I do not, therefore, advert to them from the belief that it is necessary for me to do so, but merely as a friendly caution to my younger hearers against dangers which, in former days, have caused much scandal and offence in the church. I would venture to point out to those who are placed in small spheres of duty, that they have an opportunity for mental improvement in the pursuit of those studies which the ministers of popuÎous parishes lament in vain their inability to follow up. Next to fulness of professional occupation, a taste for professional study will be the best safeguard against habits of any kind which may either leave the mind to stagnate in indolence, or may bring any reproach on the character of the ministers of Christ: while others, again, whose danger in a similar sphere would rather be that of excitement from the mind giving way to overstrained feeling, owing to a want of necessary occupation, would find in study that sobering influence which would guide to the glory of God those energies which might otherwise lead them astray. Another evil connected with very small parishes, less capable of remedy, is that of the great difficulty of supporting schools or any other charitable institutions, for the success of which the co-operation of a certain

fore, been surprised to find, that, greatly as education under the immediate superintendence of the clergy has increased of late years, there is still a very large number of parishes in which there is not any regular daily school. Funds for this purpose are not to be obtained without the greatest difficulty: and the necessities of parents, which call for the labour of their children at a very early age, almost prevent their receiving any education, deserving of the name, even where schools do exist. The best remedy under such circumstances appears to be in schools which, whether with the name or not, must practically have much of the character of infant schools. These, since they require only a mistress, are capable of being supported at a much smaller expense than others; and may, under good management, carry on the children to such a point as will enable them sufficiently to profit by the instruction of the Sunday school. And this then becomes the pastor's main instrument for training the young in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. He will then endeavour, by every means in his power, to gather in here as large a number as possible of the lambs of his flock, and to retain them here as long as he may be able. I am glad, therefore, to find, that there are very few instances indeed of parishes which have not Sunday schools: but I believe that there is room for much improvement as to the length of time that young persons are thus retained under instruction, and as to the light in which their attendance is regarded by them. And, therefore, your best endeavours will not be thrown away if they be directed both to lead parents to clearer views of their duty in co-operating with yourselves to secure the continued attendance of their children, and also to give a character to the Sunday school (especially with respect to the elder pupils) which may teach them to separate it in their minds from that compulsory attendance at daily school which they are apt to regard as irksome.*

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THE SAME PRAYERS.-We come not to the church, as to a theatre, for recreation we have old, constant, daily, wants; and if we bring daily a new sense of them, our old prayers will serve.-Public wants, which are the subject of public prayers, are much the same, and why need we vary the phrase? It is wantonness, not devotion, makes that necessary. The poor labourious, healthful man, hath a fresh appetite daily to the same dish, and 'tis sickly and luxurious men that need sauce and variety; the carnal Jews loathed manna with long use, though it was the bread of heaven, and suited itself to every good man's taste.-Dr. Comber.

MEMORY.-A poor woman in the country went to bear a sermon, wherein, among other evil practices the use of dishonest weights and measures was exposed. With this discourse she was much affected. The next day when the minister, according his custom, went among his hearers, and called upon the woman, he took occasion to ask her, what she recollected of his sermon ? The poor woman complained much of her bad memory, and said she had forgotten almost all that he delivered; But one thing,' said she, 'I remembered-I remembered to burn my bushel.'

INWARD SIN.-Inward sin is so wicked, that our very repentance needs to be repented of, and the very tears of our contrition must be washed over again in a Saviour's blood.-Bingham's Sermons.

* From the recently published Charge of the Lord Bishop of Salisbury, delivered at his primary visitation last Autumn.Salisbury: Brodie and Co.; London: Cochrane, Strand; Osford: Talboys.

London: Published by JAMES BURNS, 17 Portman Street, Portman Spuare; W. EDWARDS, 12 Ave-Maria Lane, St. Paul's; and to be procured, by order, of all Booksellers in Town and Country.

PRINTED BY

JOSEPH ROGERSON, 24 NORFOLK STREET, STRAND, LONDON.

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GROWTH IN GRACE.

MARCH 28, 1840.

BY THE REV. HENRY S. RICHMOND, M.A.

Curate of Denton, Kent.

THE spiritual life of godliness, in all who are through grace partakers of it, is, or should ever be, an advancing and increasing life. "Giving all diligence" says the apostle Peter, to them that have obtained precious faith "add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity: for if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins." (2. Pet. i. 5-9).

The several graces which the apostle names will always, in some measure, accompany faith, in whomsoever true faith is; but the additions of those graces, which are to be made to faith, must be progressively and constantly made. The formation of spiritual character, speaking generally, is the work of time, of gradual knowledge, of trial, of experience, of watchfulness, of patience, of persevering prayer, and other means which the believer must unceasingly use, and by which the Holy Spirit worketh in the renewing of the new man, created after the image of God (Col. iii. 10). Nor can there be any point in the life-time of any Christian on earth, at which he can be able to say, "Now have I attained, and am already perfect." From the very time indeed of his "obtaining that precious faith" by which "Christ dwelleth in his heart," he has been made meet to

VOL. VIII. NO. CCXV.

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be a partaker of the inheritance of saints: he is justified by faith, and entitled to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. But faith has introduced him to spiritual employments which claim the attention and diligence of all his after life. In every stage of his progress-in his holiest state-he has much more to learn, much evil in himself to mortify, much that lies before him to attain, much more of God's will to fulfill. To add to his faith "virtue" and "knowledge," and the other graces; and also to add, to those graces which he has in a degree obtained, new measures and attainments of the same-this is that work of the Lord in which he is called to abound evermore, and to persevere to the end. And "his labour is not in vain in the Lord;" it yields precious fruits of glory to God, and of increasing peace and joy to himself. But if he remits his spiritual diligence, he does not remain where he was, "he loses the things that he had wrought" (2 John. 28). If he does not go onward, he goes back; and he has to retrace with more difficulty, and with repentance, the steps which he has lost.

The advancement of the Christian in the spiritual life, is illustrated by the growth and progress of things in nature. The resemblance is pointed out often in the word of God. "As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby; if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious," (1 Pet. ii. 2). "Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. iii. 18). The tree springs from the seed sown in the ground, and grows up from year to year, and in some measure from day to day, and adds new branches to the stock, and strengthens its branches, and yields, as it grows, its appointed fruits. The child grows and strengthens into youth, by

[London: Joseph Rogerson, 24 Norfolk-street, Strand.]

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constant and gradual progress. The scholar, in | ignorances. But inasmuch as he is humbly unconscious of his growth, he is advancing the more safely, the more surely. His faith is growing stronger by exercise and trial; more simple, and clear, and holy, by the steadfast beholding of Christ. And as his faith is strengthened and purified, the fruits of faith increase.

like manner, acquires knowledge and wisdom,
as his understanding is gradually enlarged,
and is cultivated and exercised, by learning
and study. Now, as a tree which does not
advance towards its due size and strength,
while, in the same soil and situation, others of
its kind are thriving, must be unsound, and
can give little fruit; as the child cannot be
in health, who does not increase in stature and
strength; and as that scholar must needs be
ignorant and backward who is making little
progress in knowledge, and forgets what he
has been taught; so the Christian who does
not grow in grace, and advance in the spiritual
life, is, in a spiritual manner, unhealthy and
unlearned-weak in grace-unfruitful and
barren in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus."
St. Paul speaks of such in his first epistle to
the Corinthians (ch. iii. 1. 2), and again to
the Hebrews (ch. v. 12. 13. 14).

If the causes of such an unprogressive and barren state be sought for, they may easily be found; slothfulness, remissness in the use of prayer and meditation and other means of our growth; the omission of self-examination, and watchfulness over ourselves; conscious neglect of duties; entanglement in the affairs of this life; restless occupation with the things of time and sense, which withdraw our eyes from the objects of faith, and intercept the rays of light and warmth which beam from Jesus, the Sun of righteousness; but, as the origin of all, the "evil heart"-" the flesh," too little mortified in its "lustings against the Spirit," the "infection of nature which doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated."

Now, the healthy and vigorous Christian, receiving evermore the supplies which he seeks of life and strength from Christ, (especially he, who enjoying the public ordinances of the Christian church, in the communion with saints, is able also in private to "attend on the Lord without distraction," and without neglect of duty, to live much in seclusion from the tumult and bustle of the world, in contemplation and prayer, and the study of God's truth) grows in faith, knowHe is " as a ledge, obedience, and peace. tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his He may not leaf also doth not wither." nay rather, he will not-be very conscious of his growth; he will mourn over the slowness of his advancement; he will appear to himself to increase more in desires to be holy and to be perfect, than in actual attainments of holiness. A very part, and part most essential, of his growth, is growth in humbleness of mind, and the lowly knowledge of his own deficiencies, sins, negligences, and

His hope becomes more full of immortality; his charity rejoiceth more in the will and precepts of God; sin is more abhorred; self is more humbled, denied, and renounced; Christ Jesus is exalted more and more in his sight and in his trust.

This is that perseverance and growth in
the spiritual life for which God hath made
It is, alas,
provision for his people in Christ. It is that
unto which they all are called.
interrupted in its course, often, and in most
But it is that which is realized
instances.

and enjoyed, though not perfectly, by many
blessed children of God. And only in such
proportion as it is realized in us are we made
to be "neither barren nor unfaithful in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour."

What has been stated is the rule of the
spiritual life. But to the fulfilment of the
spiritual rule there are not only interrup-
tions, many and frequent, through the infir-
mity of the flesh but also-cases even of real
Christians which have the appearance of
exceptions. We do not say total and final
exceptions, for the Lord doth not forget his
own work; and "every branch in Christ that
beareth fruit he purgeth that it may bring
forth more fruit," but exceptions in great part
and for a length of time. Hindered and be-
guiled by such causes as have been before
mentioned, some who have been even born of
God, and have grown, in a measure, by the
sincere milk of the word, attain but to the
stature and strength of babes. They settle
down in a feeble customary piety. They
retain their profession, which is not, in
the main, insincere. Hypocrisy is not their
character. They have enough of faith to be
dissatisfied with the things of time and sense;
enough of the love of God to escape the
worst pollutions of the world; enough of
spiritual light to distinguish the path of life
They do not live
from the path of death.
and walk as the worldly do. They would
not, to gain the whole world, deliberately
forsake Christ. Yet they do not forget the
things that are behind to press forward to
those that are before. They do not "leave the
principles of the doctrine of Christ to go on
to perfection" (i. e., completeness of Christian
character). They are "unskilful (inexperi-
enced) in the word of righteousness, not
having their senses exercised by reason of use"
(Heb. v. 7). They have little fellowship of
soul and heart with God and with Christ

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