passage in Cor. xv. 44, 45, that I never heard any one ever take notice of. Paul says, "There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body," and so it is written, "The first man, Adam, was made a living soul: the last Adam was a quickening spirit," "the Lord from heaven," of which I will say a few words presently. 2nd, Having spoken thus of the Speaker, I would enquire, what was that He took not away? I here conceive is a clear declaration that Adam, by virtue of his righteous creation, was a perfectly free agent, in all his actions in his primitive state, no power enclosing him from the purity of his nature, which was of that character that he voluntarily worshipped and adored his great and beneficent Creator; and 'tis only the regenerated soul, in highly-favoured moments, when the powers of fallen nature arc in subjection to the higher powers, that has any conception of this state of blessedness in which our first parent existed. Now if Paul meant in the words we have quoted, namely, "The first Adam was made a living soul," in the sense the Church understands the words, "the living in Jerusalem," it gives us a clearer light of His state in Paradise; and for myself I believe this is the Spirit's meaning in the words given to Paul in that very argumentative chapter. The idea of a Mediator, if he disobeyed the holy command, most probably was wisely concealed from him. Now the Lord, to complete his happiness, had given him a helpmate who was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, and their pure and mutual affection was doubtless of a high order. Their worship was without fear and their obedience voluntary; it was a pure fountain acceptable to God their great Creator. How long this state of holy innocence existed the Lord in His wisdom has not revealed, though man, because it is related in two or three chapters, has put a very limited period upon it. Whether correct or incorrect I will not attempt to say. And this brings us to the temptation by which this blissful state was blighted; into which further than that Satan, concealed in the serpent succeeded in persuading the woman to eat the forbidden fruit and thus break the divine law, I will not now further speak. This brings us to the woman prevailing with Adam to eat also, and here we must tarry a few moments to speak of what Paul says in his epistle to Timothy ii. 14, "Adam was not deceived." In which words we see what Solomon tells us in his searchings for wisdom he had found "that God had made man upright." Upright in what? Why in judgment and knowledge, so that he knew his position and his liability if he broke the divine command. Here the highest crime we are capable of conceiving is set before us, namely, rebellion against the Most High. With deep solemnity we would say, can we wonder at the penalty. But we must ever bear in mind there is a difference between a judgmental and experimental knowledge. Take the loss of liberty for instance; we may judge what it is to have the key turned upon us, but the corroding feeling of that loss and its attending circumstances is only known by experience. As Adam was possessed of this knowledge I cannot think he instantly yielded to her persuasion. He knew the judgment pronounced, "In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Had he not possessed the knowledge--we speak with reverence-there would have been a deficiency of judgment. He knew in breaking the Divine command he would lose the image of God in which he was created, and his life also: he could conceive of nothing but the wrath of his great Creator. From what is written, he was much pleased with Eve when the Lord gave her to him. How long they had enjoyed their pure and happy union is not revealed, but she at last prevailed and "he did eat." And the Lord said to him, "Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.' Thus their natural life was spared for a limited period that they might reap the fruit of their disobedience: for what must have been their feelings when they looked, in after days, on the lifeless corpse of Abel. In the words spoken to Adam and Eve the Lord did not curse their persons, but all surrounding circumstances. But on the serpent and him concealed therein the curse was pronounced. Thus our first parent lost the image of God in which he was created, and all his posterity in him. What his burden was in losing that spirituality of mind in which he was created, is only known in measure by those of the Lord's children who, after the days of their first espousals are allowed for a long season to walk in darkness, and in that darkness to apprehend eternal woe, (solemn spot to be in). But the promise is, "They shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine." "I will not leave you comfortless." God also gave unto them a promise, saying, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy Seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heal." In this promise the Mediator is revealed and his Headship declared. An old divine wrote, he believed the Holy Spirit opened up this promise to them and they realized their salvation in it. ABSENT FROM THE BODY-PRESENT WITH THE LORD. A BRIEF NOTICE OF THE LATE MRS. JOSEPH GORRINGE, OF MEADS, B EASTBOURNE. Y all who are taught to regard "the works of the Lord and the operation of His hands," divine sovereignty will be scen impressed upon all His dispensations. It is conspicuous in the birth, both natural and spiritual of His people, in their varied pathway in providence and in grace, and in the manner of their removal from this world to their heavenly inheritance. In the case of Mrs. Joseph Gorringe, of Meads, near Eastbourne, the latter was forcibly demonstrated in the suddenness of her transition from this time-state to eternal life. And what a mercy it is to have no doubts about the result of the unexpected change! How comforting to those left behind, who know "the terror of the Lord," and that "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Such is the consolation of all of those the departed has left behind to mourn her loss, who at the same time know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. They are not left to sorrow as those who have no hope. "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him." The first occasion of our personal acquaintance with the spiritual state of Mrs. Gorringe's heart and mind was eleven years since, when she sought admission as a member of the church at Cavendish Place (then called North Street) Chapel, under the pastorate of the writer. Long before this she had been accustomed to attend regularly with her husband the honoured ministry of Mr. Tatham, in the same place. From what she then stated no doubt was left that the Holy Spirit had been gradually working upon her for some time, showing her her ruined state, and leading her to place all her trust in the finished work of Christ for the knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins." No special time, place, or circumstances could she remember when the arrow of conviction first entered her soul. But there it was, and there it remained, causing her to seek for mercy through the blood and righteousness of Christ. 66 For many years she suffered severely from very prostrating attacks of an epileptic character, and these with great deafness, which to a great extent excluded her from the privilege of hearing any general conversation, restricted her mainly to the privacy of home, and intercourse with but a few friends in addition to her circle of personal relatives. Often when an assembly of godly persons was present at the house her anxiety to hear their discourse would be visibly depicted on her countenance, and also her distress when unable to do so, and yet she seemed always remarkably patient under the trying_dispensation. her husband has at various times followed her when she has silently quitted the company for awhile, and quietly opening the door has found her on her knees in her bedroom, and left without disturbing her. This plainly shows that she sought consolation and strength from the Lord while thus comparatively isolated from society. And The reading and prayer on such occasions always appeared to be her special delight; and great was her pleasure at finding that, by certain means that were devised at the chapel, she could generally hear her pastor's voice, and all he proclaimed. For the truth of God in its sovereign discrimination was not offensive, but acceptable to her, and she was never absent from the Lord's house when she could be present. And in all that her partner was disposed to do for the welfare of Zion he had no opposition to encounter from her, but a kind and warm espouser and seconder of his purposes. She was emphatically one of "the quiet in the land." Never was she heard by the writer, or one to whom he has spoken on the subject, to speak scandalizingly of any one. A spirit of sympathy for others in trouble she invariably manifested, and was one who loved and followed peace. And as we are persuaded that she loved the people of God below, so are we persuaded that they constitute her company above. Upon this feature in himself David dwells in his prayer on this point: "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men." Psalm xxvi. 8, 9. And surely this is a prayer which is answered in the placing of all the children of God in the one family above, to which they have felt united below. "For we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." iii. 14. 1 John But little was it thought that she was so near the confines of the glory-world. She had been out with her partner and some of her family the previous week on a pleasant visit to some of her relations, and had returned home apparently greatly benefited by the change. And on Wednesday afternoon, June 19th, before tea-time, she sat down to write a letter to her sister, informing her of the good her recent journey had done her. The letter was finished, and lay upon the table, when she fell back, and before human aid could be summoned "the spirit had returned to God who gave it." How solemn! and how sad! Yes, but only for those whose loving society she had quitted for ever. To her the translation was glorious and full of mercy. Satan and the appearance of death had no time to attempt to dismay her. Her gracious Lord and Saviour suddenly snapt the thread of life and welcomed her to Himself, and the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven. Her remains we committed to the cemetery ground on Monday, June 24th, in the presence of an immense concourse of friends, and on the Lord's day following (the 30th) we preached a funeral discourse on her behalf, and that of a young person whom we had interred on the previous Friday, to a very full chapel. We understand Mrs. Gorringe has in various letters to friends left behind her that which testifies to her spiritual state and feelings; and we feel that the title which heads this brief notice, and also forms the inscriptive motto on her funeral card, is in accordance with the blest fact-" Absent from the body-present with the Lord." Surely Hart's sweet prayer becomes the writer and the godly reader: 66 May we all with faith and patience, ; THE EDITOR. FAITH'S POWER. What can be more feeble, than the ivy, the jessamine, or the vine? Yet these, by the assistance of their tendrils, or claspers, rise and are supported, until they sometimes mount as high as the tree or the wall that sustains them. So the weak believer, laying hold on Jesus by the tendril of faith, rises into the fulness of God, defies the invading storm, and becomes a fruitful vine upon the wall, TOPLADY, THE LATE MR. HENRY W. MARTIN, D FURTHER PARTICULARS. JESIROUS of gathering up whatever fragments may remain relative to the memory of the just, and to the praise of the riches of free grace, we gladly insert the following additional particulars respecting our esteemed friend, Mr. H. W. Martin. The first is a letter addressed to us from his bereaved partner to whom may all grace continue to be imparted to comfort and sustain. THE EDITOR. Upton House, Littleport, My dear Friend,-Most sincerely do I hope the blessing of God may attend what you have written respecting my beloved husband in this month's "Advocate," and my heart-felt desire is, that it may redound to the honour and glory of God. It has occurred to me, that a few more particulars relative to the leadings and teachings of the dear departed one might be acceptable to your readers; and I enclose some letters, and extracts from letters, for you to make what selection you like: also a few sentences (written at the time from memory) of many that he spoke during a severe accession of illness in 1874, when it was not at all thought he could live. The morning after he was taken so ill, in September, 1876, when he had been very deeply tried, and was afraid to see you, feeling sure you would at once know what a hypocrite he was, I shall ever remember his sitting up in bed and exclaiming : "Oh, my Jesus, Thou art mine With all Thy grace and power; "Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee," &c. He wept, and was quite overcome at the goodness of the Lord, and he wished me to send for you, saying, "I am not afraid of seeing Mr. Baxter now. I should like to tell him what God has done for me." He much enjoyed your conversation when you came, and your short but fervent prayer, and reverted to your call several times. I shall never forget a few weeks after this, the last prayer I heard from him. He so feelingly blessed God for all His spiritual and temporal mercies towards us: for having given us to each other, and favoured us as He had done so many years; and for having strengthened me to be with him constantly in his late severe illness. And then, O, he did fervently implore God to be with us onward, and to enable me to be with him, and nurse him to the end, if it was in His purpose to take him to Himself. That He would sanctify all unto us, be with us, and bless us. He was at this time very weak, and reclining on the sofa. In August last, he awoke me one night, saying, "Oh, E., I feel so happy. I never expect to be so happy again; never in this world:" "Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, Which before the cross I spend ; |