THE

G-OSP E L MAGAZINE., .

V OL, III.-Nu. V.

Of a THIRD SERIES, for !~AY, 1818.

" In Doctrine shc'lIJing uncorruptness."

" Beware .ye 0/ the L eaven of the Pharisees, ioluc li is II'ypocTi~'J'"

ON DRAWING NEAR T t) GOD.t< Let us draw near with a tru e heart in the full assurance of faith ."

]BELIEVERS have frcedqm of acc es,s to God through Christ.They have Christ as an high-priest set over the ho use of God; let1IS draio near, tha t is, to God. God, tho ug h he is great, and iufi,nitely ~l o r i o u s , dwe lls in the highest hcavcns ; bu t seeing' he is up­on a throne of g race, le t us not stand at a distance from him, butd ra w near to him in th e whole of ou r conversation , and particular-ly in act s of wors hip waiting on him . . .

Let us come in full assurance of fa ith, leaning upon his Son,trust ing- in his blood. Let us 1I0t COllie doubtingly, doub~ing whe­ther we will be welcome or not, whether there be ac cess for ns ornot; but with full assurance, likea ship that is carried towards thepor t with full sail before the wind.

Let us draw near, having (ni l' hearts sprinkled.from an evil COI/ScI.

ence, for ail evil conscience is a g uilty , accusing, and condemn­ing co nscience. This vexes, di squiets, and torments th e heart.G uilt IS the mother and nurse of fears, The sting of guilt in theconscience is like a thorn in a man's foot; when he is called tome et a friend, alas! he cannot g-o, he dare not set a foot to theg ro und , or every step goes to his heart. The way to c ure t lus is,by sprinkling with the blood of sprinkling, that IS, by faith apply_ing the blood of Christ for remission of sin. This makes the soulmeet to draw nea r to God , and that with full assurance, even as tileunclean 1lI111er t he law were cleansed by the sprinkling of b!ood.­""Ve are to d raw near,. Having our bodies toashed 'llJi/1t pure water; th at is our ou twardman also purged with the pure water of the Spir it o f sancti ficat ion '11 0t with the muddy water of Christ less endeavours as in paintedhy p ocrites. ' .

Sin has set us at a distance from G od : " Your iniq\Jities havesep ara ted between you and your God, and Jour sins h,av~ hid his

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face from you, that he will not hear." Sin indeed could not re'·move us Ollt of th e pl ace where God is, for he is ever.)' where; bi ll

it has set us out of his favour, out of his friendship, and that is asad outcast . In Adam, while he stood , ' we lived in the land , ,f"

light, ' the li ~ht of God's countenance; but he sinned and \\, :1 ;

banished from th e presence of the Lard, after he had run aw ayfrom him with us in his loins; and so we come into the wo rl.les t ra nged from God: " The wicked are estranged from the wom b :they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies:'

Sinners stand at a distance from God, till they be called; " Noman can come unto me, except the Father who has sent me drawhim." They keep their ground where their first Father left theu i.The breach began on our side, we left our father's house, and ra ilaway from it without just ground, but we never come back againtill worthless we be sent for and fetched; like the Levite's conc u­bine."

Unconverted sinners have no desire tu come, that they mig hthave life." They are away, and they will not come back. Theyhave no eye upon the privileges of them that are near; they eaudo well enough without it. They love the devil's common, when:they can ramble up and down at their own liberty, better thanGod's enclosure, where they think a man cannot g-et elbow-room.

Sensible sinners dare not come; " When Simon Peter saw it, he ft'll(lawn at .le sus' feet; saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful mallo Lord ." They see his glory and his seat, they admire the hap­piness of those that stand before him, as the queen of Sheba did thea tt endants of Solomon , But they dare not draw near, but stand

, a far ofl', under a deep sense of unworthiness, Like the Publican,th ey ca nnot lift up their eyes to heaven, but smite upon th e irbreast s, saying ; God be merciful to us sinners. They cannot con ­cc ivc how such vile malefactors can face the Judge, how such pro ­di.gals call set their foot again in th eir Father's house, how such Iil ­thy , loa th some, beggarly creatures, can presume to come forw ardto th e throne. If at any time they break forward, it is like ofle ri llg'violence to th emselves, They take their life in their hand, and,like Esthcr , go in to the king ;--and then the legs of their coufi,d en ce tr emble, the hands of faith shake, and they are ready to startback; but, let such dra io near to the God,

For God is on a throne of grace in Jesus Christ; " God was illChrist recon ciling th e world untohimself', not imputing' their trcs­pass('s unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of re coilciliation." God has in Christ .la id aside his red garments, being topursue the war no longer agaiust those that come to him throu g hChrist. He wears the white garnlent of peace, and breathes Il l)

thi llg' but peace, love, and good will. To look on an absolute Go,1out of Christ, is enough to make a de vil tremble. \Ve are not called to draw near to him as such. Indeed some presumptuous ~ill

n.rs will, like ~easts, touch the mountain ; but darts of wrath wd/

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I1dd' th ro ugh their consciences, and drive them back at 1t'llgth.--­I III believe rs draw near to God, as on his throne of g race inI hrist.

T here is a way to the th rone never trode, nor desi gned to 'beIlode by anv hut sinn ers. This is no back entry, but th e most ~lo­n Il/ IS way to th e throne. Adam had a way to it, but that is blo ck ­(·cI lip; t here is a new andl iving-way consecrated for us. And maywe not d ra w near by it? It lies .through the va il of Christ 's flesh,and lead s into t he holiest , th e seat of God! It is a way pav ed withg'lory to GoJ, [wa ce on earth, ami good-will to men. It will vaila ll ou r weaknesses, wants, and b lemish es; y e it vails the fiery law,wraps it up out of sig ht ; it vails the sword of j usrice, T he smilesof a reconciled God shine through it, to revive and refresh th e hear tsof the gu·ilty. .

He is a friend of ours who is set over the house of God : " An dhaving an Hi gh-priest over th e hou se of God," th at is , J esu s Christ .He was taken out from alllong us, bcing, " bon e of ou r bone, a ndflesh of our flesh ," "Thou spakest in vision to thy H oly One,and saidst, I have laid Irl'Jp upon onc that is mighty, I have ex­alted one ch osen out of the p eople." H e is for us, in t hings per­taini ng to God, to emp loy his pow er and int erest for us in the cou rtof heaven, He bears the keys of th e hou se, and admits whom hewill, giv cs th em what he will, brings who m he will for ward : "Fort he Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment tothe Son." And he is a priest, a high -pricst, who will take all ourservices , wash away all our pollution, and offer the m for us, withthe mu ch incense of his meritorious inter cession .

B.

To tlu: Editor of the Gospel 1/fagazine.

SOM E CURSOltY REMARKS ON " IMI' AltTl A L Qll~ERVER'S" A NSWER

TO " .JULIUS ;" AND ON , T H E DI: NI A L or T HE PE RSON ALITY

OF THE HOLY SP lI( I T.

M lt. EDITOR,

THE gentleman to whom I recentl y ad d resse d Cl few queries Oil th epre-existence of our Lord, having favoured me, in your last num­ber, with an answer, I beg permission, through you, SIr, 10 returnhim my thanks for his candour, and also to subj oin a few remarkson what he has produced in th at an swer.

This ge.ntlcman begins, by acknowledging th e cha rge of self.su f,ficiency;-but really, Mr, Editor, the charge was your o wn, o rthat of your Printer, fo r I did not use quite so harsh a te rm; " do g _matism" was, I beli eve, my phrase, meaning ther eby a positiveness,a nd IMP AnE NCE O F CO N T RA DICT ION-o ut the d ifference is not

'mater ia l.T his gentleman acknowledges, that a body wit hout a spirit , or

I HO T HE GOSPEL MAGAZINE.

a spirit without a body , is not a mau ; and then curiously adds- ­" But the first is a h uma n Ilody, and the second is a human spirit."Pray, Sir, do es it not follow from th ese un guarded assertions, th atan OURAJ'fG O IJ7'ANG, is a human body, and that the DEV1£ ilia)'be a human sp ir it ? '- It appears to me , that this gentleman either holds the ex plodcdn otio n of th e pre-existen ce of ALL human souls, or els e thinks t t'a tMo-es was mi staken, wh en he tells us that God rested, or ceasedf rom ALL his works of immediatecreat ion on the seventh day; fort he so ul of a child comes immediately from the hands of its Creator ,when its body is formed in tile womb, the work of actual crea tion willnot be rested from, till the final consummation ofa 11 things; and Ibeg-M r. 1. O . to consider seriously whether this does not give the lie to,M oses ;-make the doctrine of original sin nonsens e !-or (with re­vere nce I would write it) make God the author of sin !-It is truethnt I cannot tell HO\V I am the father of the souls of my children ?bill I believe that they inherit from ME. a mutual propensitj to eve­ry evil, which, if I am not the instrument of producing them, theymust have derived from some other source.* Will you tell me that th e

-:BOD Y compels 'the soul whi ch comes pure from his hands, who pro­nounced all his works t n be very good , to do what is evil ?-Does thepi stol compel th e assassi n to shoot the unguarded traveller?

" It is certain, if we may be permitted to credit Moses, that Adam'sbody was ma de before "Jehovah breathed into him,the breath oflife , and man became a living soul; but our Lord's sOIlI, it seems,w as mad e before his body, and therefore, he was not" in all res ­p eers like unto his brethren ," neit her could he be of t ire seed ofAbraham, or th e Son of David, if human parents pro-create th eW H OL E of th e ir child.

That human spirits .exist as after the death of their Ladies, Isub mi t proves' nothing of the point ill hand ;- t hey have been un i­ted to bod ies, a nd shall be re-united to them, and thereby for a llessen tia l shade of difference from angelic spirits, or spirits that ne­ver had a body ,

M r. I. O. ackn owl ed ges, in Number VI. of his answer, thatAdam was the first perfect man :-his pre-existerian brethren, willno doubt, thank him for this concession, "

This gentlema n say s, in Number VII. " If any preacher, &c." I'have heard the sa me preacher since assert, thatChrist's human sou lwas not only 'set up from eoerlastuig , but, '(as If there were any rea ldifference in the meaning of the 'te rms) from all eterndy!! wh ile

.. [ remember reading m an y years ago, an hyp oth esis maintained by a ,cert ainpre-exi steriau philosoph er, tha t all h uma n souls w e-re nr ig inally fall en spirits or de ­vils ; and tha t they ar e suc cessivel y pl aced byway of p roba tion, in human bod iesas thes e a re formed in th e womb; and that as they de mean ' th e msel ve s in (hi,new state of ex iste nce , their future fa te is de termined, whether to be res tore-dto th eir vacant th rones in HEAVEN, or be for ever banished to the REGIO NS_oflI EST R \J CT I ON.

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1/ I he s pi r it of the damna tory clauses of a certain creed, heuu t t cd all those to irremoveable destruction, who d isseutedI hiu).

11. I. O . in Number IX. is " pa lp abl y ob scu re;' and pr esentsu h t he abortive exer tions of on e la bouri ng' to c x p re~s some ­

I ' ; yet I must ca nd idly own mys el f of opinion that this obsc u­" par tl} to he Im puted to t he p rinter ; but wavin g- this, it is

I)' cu r iou s- to find a mall, who in all probab iiitv , do es not know, 11/, f ru ,' \ a R o, challeng ing one who really does 1I0t k now a Zda,I II a ll l oia , to give him a " c lassical " c r it ic ism on a Greek word:

.1 I prod uce twow itnesses which I have at ha nd, in fav our or be ­ucr -in the text a lluded; and as Mr. I. O. IHi S conc ede d th e

u- insp ira t io n of th e translators of our C01I11J101l oersion .v I have"obt two to one against hml .-Dr. H aweis, III his translation ofN,'\\' T es ta me nt , published in 17!J5 , gi ves the passage in gu es­

I III rh us :-" These things saith the Am cn , the faith ful and trueuu ess, th e origin 'o f the creati on of G od." No doubt th e DoctorIIl :W the force of a Greek phrase as well, at least, as I. O.

A M r. Nathauicl Sc arlet in '798) presented the world with aI 1 uislarion of th e New Testament, and his version of the passage,I - " T hus sa uh th e Am en, th e fait hful, and true witness , the pri­11101 ry ca use of the crea tion of God." NI r, S. doubtless could also" 'ad G reek . Now if the ori ginal word is so very clear, as Mr. I.O . contends, i t is really won derful, that these two Gnecists, whollill i:r as widely in th eir do ctrinal creeds, should bothstumble 011 aiuula r , yel wrong interpretation of this passage. . ,

Alt houg h 1 do not know Greek, I ,know enough of languages, toc once i ve that it is not the poverty, bnt the comp rehensiveness of ade ad lan guage that renders certain p hrases obsc ure , or ambiguous,tu t hose who se native tongue is so very different in its construe­lion.

Allow me to observe , that Mr. Trapp, one of the good old pu­rita ns of the sixteenth century, and one who liv ed sufficiently nearIII the time of our Bible translators, a nd i po sses sed enough of th eir"pir it , to kn ow what wer e their gene ral ideas on doctrinal pointslH'l te r t han we can pretend to, refers t he pa ssage under consid era­t 11l1l , not to the visible creat ion, but to th e new creation , or personal" p:t.:llcration of the elect of God: which doctrine, (t hat of personalr<'gcne ration) our modern apostles a nd chasnp ions of pre- e xistcucc,arc ta k in g great pains to eradicate. ,

I la tely heard one of their leaders preach a sermon, to prove thenon-existe nce of the Holy Ghost as a d istinct person in th e di vineunit v , In the ex ordi um to this d iscourse, the preacher laid it downa, an u nde nia ble preli minary , that no human learning whatever is1J L:L:es~ary , or of allY kind of use, to enable us to search and under-

.1' I should have said vulgar version , but that my respondent appearsv .frorn ap.rrc n ihesis at the begin ning of Number IX. not \'try well to understandthe .mean­IlIb of so antiquated a term .

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stand the scripture, and to discover tJ~e fallacy of the doctrine ofThree persons in the Go d head. Now, as Hebrew, Greek, and Sv­riac, arc not our ' vernac ular tongues, had it not been for the assistance of human learning, We should have had no scri ptllres tosearch: bu t waving thi s, and admitting the preacher's preliminary ,I would beg to intrude a little longer on your patience, while I makea few bri d ob serv at ions.

II' three persons in tile unity of the Godhead be denied, what in­terpret ation, consistent with common sense, can we give to the dis ­t illctl y Three .W itnesses mentioned by the apostle John? If I amto ld that the genuiness of this passage is very doubtful, I reply, toasc erta in this requires some learning; but we must tak e the wordsus we find them, for all learning is excluded,

If th e personality of the Holy Spirit be an error, what consisten tmeaning .can we find in Isaiah xlviii. 16. Where Jehovah andhis S pirit a re represented as sending Christ? If I am told that Bish­op Lowth, and other eminent bibl ical critics, give~ different arrange­ment of the words in this passage, I answer, to discover this re­quires a knowledge of Hebrew, but-A It learning is useless.

Those modern apostles of an ancient heresy, which was condemn­ed as long since as the third century after Christ, tell us, that bythe Holy Spirit , or Holy Ghost, is only meant the divine influenceor agen cy : y et when the divine wisdom is beautifully personified inthe book of Prover bs, they, to prop sbeir absurd pre-existerian no­tion; will ha ve that referred exclusively to thc human person ofChrist. If thi s be so, is it not strange that th e inspired writ ershould not have known what sex our Lord meant to assume, when he11101. his body ?- For, wherever wisdom is spoken of in the Proverbsin tile th ird person, it is uniformly of tlrcjt'milline gender.

In Acts xix. we have an account of certain disciples, who, whe naske d if they had received the Ho?y Gliost ? replied, th«t th~y had110t " so tnucli as heard wlu:tlle1' there tccre auu JIo!!! Ghost," Now,,that those twelve disciples tocre Jrtos is evident , if we attentiveloY con ­sider th e contc.rt ; a nd also appears from their having been baptizedunto J ohn' s bapt ism ; for we have 110 reason to imagine that Joh nbaptized any Genti les :- Is it then probable-is it possible, that anyJ ew in th ose days had never so much as heard that God is a Sp irit ,and that he could in fluence his c rea tures ? I must not be told, tha tthe reply of these men to the apostl e's question will bear a diffe r­eut rendering equally agreeable to the original Greek :-to discover

. this requires learning, and all learning is expressly excluded.I have been told by some of the disciples of the modern Sab cl­

l ians, when pressin~ them with our Lord's orip inal cornrnissson t obaptize them into the three divine nam es, that we do not readof the apostles ever usi ng this form in their bap! isms ; but from thepassaac now under consideration, I think we may very fairly inferthat they did use it. Let us attend to the force of the apostle's re­j oinder to their assertion that they ~lad not heard of the Holy Ghost.

TH E GOSPEL MAGAZINE. 183

\ ' laa l '" as though 'he had said , " not heard if th ere be an y Ho­t :/iost ! Pray then, How were you baptized? for ifyou have beeni II I;,. t: d by any of the disciples of Jesus, you must hav e heard of

11' lI uly Ghost, for you have been baptized into his name." Their11 W C I' to this dispels the rnystery-i-thcy had been baptized to J ohn's

I I lism. As the three divine nam es wer e not used by John ; the(Jostle imm ed iatel y bapti zed th em again, and thus, th ose menIITallle, I th ink, the first real .A.....~AB.:J. PTISTS that we ha ve on

11 curd.It has been asserted that our modern reform ers are ap prox imat­

11.... to ward Socinianism; 1 hope not; but I late ly pi ck et! up i n thepublic road , a small tract, entitled " The Unitarians Appea l,"·liere iu is gi ven an outline of the c reed of that sect, tw o extracts

from which I beg leave to present.-" Some" [Unitarians) " ho ldthat our Sav iou r existed before his human birth in a state of g rea tg lory and happiness." So do Messrs --and--and I. O. hold .Again- " "Ve do not believe the Hol y Spir it or Spi rit of God, tobe a distinct bein g from God himself. 'Ve reg ard th e expressionas denoting in the scriptures, either God himself, or, most com­monly, the influence or agency of God in whatever way cmploycd,&c." Such, or similar, are the op inions of th e Revd . Messrs.-­and- - , &c.

T he next new thine th at we may ex pect to hear from these mcn, .is a denial of the personality of th e devil; for, from the rare occur­re nce of an y allusion to HIS agency in th eir discourses, a nd wha tlIIay be inferred from various occasiona l int imation given by th em ,I am induced to think th at they have no very un equivocal opinionof his Satanic majesty's existenc e. I mu st how ever, except myfr iend I. O. who seems to adm it th ere MAYBE such a for mida­ble being, and is " AFRAID" that it is HIM. who leads us po or blind­ed sinners to believe, as we were taught in our infancy," th at" Adarn was the first man."

r fear, Mr. Ed itor I have exhausted your attention and patience ,altho ugh I am sure you need posess no scanty supply of the late rvir tue with some of your correspon dents : 1 will, therefore, onlyfurther remark, that whatever pains our new refo rmers tak e to an­nihilate all personal and ex pe rimenta l relig ion, and th e hereticalnotion of any work of grace wha te ve r on the soul , and lIn l ~~ ss yo uhave heard some of them preach, y ou woul d scarcely c red it whatexer tions th ey do use for th ese .ends,-Ye t , ·" T he fou ndation ofGod stande th sure , having this seat , th e Lord knowcth th em tha tare his . And all that fear the Lord shall depa rt from iniquity.

" I am, Mr. Editor, with great respe ct,Y ours, &c.

Topsllam, Ftbrual:y,1 81 13. JULIUS P. H.

P. S. I kno w not whether our Sabellian brethren in genera l thinkit righ t for us to catechize ou r chi ldren : I la tely proposed th e ljUC$-

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t ion to one of th em , who did no t conside r it a t all necessarv, Bu tif any of them think i t useful so to do, it would be kind in'them tof urnish us wit h «form for tha t p urp ose ; for I know of none at rye­sent e xt an t, eit he r in the csta blis ' ied church , or am ong dis sen ­ters, (unless we bo rrow one fro m the Socinians ) but wha t teaches aTr/nz"tlj '!f J!1'i"Sfl I1S in divine Un z"tlj , and th at bei ng represented asan absurd and dan g e rou s e rro r , it follows that it would be eq ua lly

.a bsu rrl and d.m .rero us for us to in stil such a noti on into our c hildr e n.1 ought; howev e r, to have excepted Dr. W atts' s First Catechism forChldrun, at t hree or four y ears of age; which do es not specificallymcnr ion t he Trinity; but eve n that does not suit th e llEFORoI1EED

(Teed in .:I L L points, There is a church not an hundred miles fromt his place, wherein, after being repeatedly taught fr om the pulpit ,that Christ was c rea ted man b efore the world was made, the chil­dren of the Sunday School, retire with their teachers, and are cu­riously di recte d to say, in an swer to the question," Who was Adam ?" The first man that God made, and the Father ,of us all."

I r is worthy of remark, how a strong biass to an y system, willlead people forcibly to impress eve ry part of th e scripture into th eservice of th at system . Thus a correspendent in your la st num­be l' see ms to imagine, that because our Lord is declared to be thefirst a nd the last , and that he is asserted to have th e P R E- E M IN ENC E

' in all t hing-s , he must, the refo re , be literally the first individual inp oint of ti me to be crea ted , raised from the dead, &c. We say thek in g- is the first man ill the kingdom, but does it follow that he is lit e­ra lly t he old est man th erein? A commander in chief of an army ,hath th e p ro-eminence in that army; but, Do es it follow, that tomaint a in that pre.eminence , he must be literally the first individualof his host who ad vances, or retreats; commences attack, or de.fe ncu, or any of the other numerous movements that an army iscalled U p Oll to p er form ?- l would beg to ask t he corresponden ta llude d to , if our Lord was literally th e firs t rai sed from the dead ,a~ she ma iu ta ins , How we are to di spose of th e dead lads raised tol ife by Elija h and Elisha r-Of th e man who revived when hisdead bo .ly tou ched the bon es of the pro phet Eli sha ?-Of the youngc it ize n of Na in r-Or, of Lazarus, who was in th e state of th e deadon e day lon ger th an our Lord r- I would also ask, if tbe first partof t he te xt , " I am th e first an d the last," be interpreted that Christwas litcrallv th e first c reature in point of time, whether of nec essi­ty the sec ond part does not require a lit eral interpretation also, an dther e fore, th at all other e xistences m ust at some future period beann ihi la ted?

J. P. H,

185THE GOSP EL M AG AZ IN E .

ON THE WOR K OF T HE HOLY SPIRI T .

I',rify me; for he shall receive of mine, ant!' sha ll shew it unt o yon.- Johnxvi, 14 .

I ~ IJ, in the 'contem plation of pursuits of hig h considerati on," allow the desi gn, an d th e me ans , as in d ispe ns ibly important·(' , t , before su ch pursuits be redu ced to p ractice; fur jf t he

do not corres p ond with t he tJesign, th ere will be no reasona-pro_pec t of success . '

II!.: ion is found ed upon thi s prin ciple . Go d is the author ofrrcutio n. The world was made by him; i ts for mation-its ma­(,-its inhabitants, were constructed agrc <:ahly to his desig n in

lom an d perfection -r-e- and th ey are all subse rvie nt to the means,·h he has a ppointed, in the or der of creatio n.

I lit some object to this prin ci plc of mor al i,o.overn ment , becau se ,pr 'sent state of th e world, with its i nhabitant s, do not appear to

wer the de sign that was ori ginally intend ed . Instead of per fec­" and harmony, ever)" part of c rea tion is imper fect , and in dis­11'1'. Misery is substituted for hnppinessc-- hatrcd instead of af­lion- sin instead of holiness-death instead of li fe. The Deity

11 is withd rawn from th e world . He has absen ted himse lffrom a.'at ion which was on ce h is delight, " No ma n ha th seen God atrv ti· ne ." Our comm union with his c hara cter an d p erfect ions ,c ut off'; and a ll intimacy, a nd a ll coinci dence of desig n , of means

lid of glory cease betwe en us. The nature of the body ; th e hl­liltics of the so ul, are changed-disord ered - perverted. Thelivers of human nature, originally in ten ded to g lor ify G od, a re'co me ingloriou·s, . and th e dim scenery of former g ra ndeu r and

1\ rli:y, like an elegant building in ruuis, a ppears visib le on the face"I' a il c re ation .

T o remove this objection ; it is necessary to have recourse tot 'In istiani ty ; and Christianity is e xcJus ive ly competen t, to she w.11," ca use ami the rem edy, for wha t . ot herw ise IVo :Hd fo r eve r a t) ­jll'ar ambig uous and contradi c to ry.

I. The cause.- Adam, th e first man, crea ted in holin ess and rer­k Clion , en ter ed into a covenant to co ntinue so ; whi ch coven autb- hrake ; and th e earth was cursed, and the di spositi on of everyI'r ing thi ng wa s to ta lly chang-ed , .

~ . The Temc(~y.-Adalll , the seco nd man , created in holiness and

/" r fec t ion, enter ed int o a covenant to con tinue so; wh ic h co vena nt1(' fulfilled ; and th e curse was rem oved from all .his creation, and

ma n .is restored to th e. perfect io n and holiness or G od , The me ans.111 ,1 the a pplication of th is re medy we ha ve ill the text , now un derr.vic w j-" He shall gl or ify me; for he. shall rec eive of min e , and~ I li d l sh ew it unto you."-'rhe subject inclu des, ,

I. The Arra ngement , II. T he Resul t rj 'tlte icork 0/ the Spirit.I. Tlte .drrang cment-s-" H e sha ll rcccive of mine , and shall sh ew

it un to you."VOL. IlL-No. V. 2 B

I S6 THE GOSPEL MAGAZINE ,

The important refer en ces for this rceception and communicat ionare, the in carnat ion of Christ- t he passive and active obedience ofChrist-and th e resurrection and ascension of Christ.

I. Tile Fncarn ation 0/ Cllrist.-When Adam sinned there wasno human natu re for th e residence of the soul in this world to ac­compl ish the digni ty and glory of its creation; and since that per ioderery hu ma n na ture has been the subject of sin, from the com­m en cem ent of it s e xistence to its dissolution . . Our present bodies(and our mental faculties also, if connected with them,) are carna land impotent, and sold under sin; not subject to the law of God ,neither indeed can be . The incarnation of the Redeemer therefore ,is indispensible, and there are three reasons why it is so : Other­wise, I. The design of God would be destroyed . 2. The soul couldinot escape from sin . 3. The work of the Spirit would be nuga-tory . . " ,

I. The design of God, was to create both the body and the soulwithout sin. "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."And though that image and likeness, most probably meant, an in­tellectual agreement with the perfections of God ; yet it in ust beinferred ; that the body, or human nature of Adam was also perfectand holy , and that both the body and th e so u l were united in u ni­form rectitude and holiness, withoutany admixture of evil, or im-perfection. " "l...'l'he desi srn of God therefore would be forever defeated, did not the

, incarnatio';; of Christ succeed to restore and harmonize that design,ill richteousn css and true holiness. The second Aelarn is the" Healerof t l~e breaches." ." He is the brightness of his Father's glory, a ndt he e x pre~ s ima ge of his person; and in him dwelleth all the fu l­I H' SS o f th e Godhead bodily." 0 what an appropriate foundat ionis t his, for th e a rr ungeme nt of the text! '

~ The soul could not esca pe from sin.There \\"oul ~ be no human nature, fo r the reception, nor action,

no r victo ry of the soul. In that case, the fallen human nature ofAd,lm (o uj· pf(~sent sinful nature,) would be the only residence ort he so ul, and sin, and misery, and condemnation, would be th eresu lt. 'B ut now , by this arrangement of the eternal Spirit, th ebeliever discerns th e Lord's bodi), as the only foundation fo r awalk of faith, and the old man with his deeds of sin and misery ,and condemnation, is put otr, and the body of sin is destroyed :" Kuowiuz this, that our old man is crucified with him, that th ebody of sit;mil,ht be destroyed, that henceforth we should not servesin ." And th~ exhortation of the apostle to believers on this su b­ject is, " As ye have received Christ Jesu s the Lord, so walk'ye in him." ... 3. The work of the Spirit would be nugatory.

J .conceive it should not be su pposed that th e work of the H olySpirit is to improve and bring into action that which i, depraved .a ud bec ome altogether inglorious by the fall; nor should it be su [J

THE GOSPEL MACAzINE. 181

d , t1lat the Spirit could dwell inherently, in a sinful human na­. rlllls depraved and inglo rious, no more than the Deity cou l~

" ill the shmc nat ure a fter it had first sinned . I apprehend Itlid he r-q uallv dishonourable to the perfections of God to he­

I he one , as to believe the other; inasmuch as both the Fathertilt' Spirit , ar e equal and co-existent in dignity and ' holiness.

\ lid as touch ing the work of the Spirit in our present bo­fi r sin and death (supposing it could exist in them) the effect

,id he simila r to the transposition of a negative. to a positive1\1 10 11 ill mathc.natics : both powers would he rendered inert by

11 uuio n ; and in the present case , th e perfection, and glory ofwork of the Spirit, and also the doctrine of original and actual

rravity , would fall to the ground. "\Vho can bring acl eanr oi t of an unclean ?" And, How can this divine arrangement

he Holy Gh0 3t, be produced, if we remove the foundation, andId again that which is destroyed?

I J I 'Il ~ e, the inc arnation of thc' Redeemer is indispensible, in itsIIle,s and in its utility ;-in its holiness, because it supersedes theI human nature ; I mean, our present bodies of sin and death bylirst Adam, which are in bondage by Satan and the world, and

' I)' S at enmity WIth God ;-:-in its utility, because of its suffenngsI uct ive ob edi ence, as il!fiJlitc~y e.cpiatoru, to satisfy the justice( ;ct.!; and infinitely meritorious to produce a ri~'hteousness towcr t he demands of the moral law. This leads us to consider,. 'l 'h« passive and thc active obedience of Christ. The first of, was demanded as an indemnification to injured justice. The

iunc ia t ion exte nded to the tcm poral and eternal death of the of­dl ~ r. Thc covenan t was made with God; a being of invariableriturlc , and no abatement of its injunctions, nor its penaltiesId be admitted , because neither of the parties had ever departed

III rec t itude ; for though mutual in agreement before the fall, bymg- ression, th ey became infinite in disproportion and enmity;I nothing short of the submissive obedience of the Son of God ,uunan nature, as the sinn er for us, could do away that dispro­riou and enmity . Thus he exclaims-" A body hast thou pre­I,d mc- La I ,come-in the volume of the book it is written of10 do thy will ') God-by which will we are sanctified , throughollcring ,of th e body of Jesus Christ onc e for all. " This sac ri­of a perfect human nature, bearing our sins, and nSI:\'tl'ilg our• pro duced reconciliation between man anti his mak er. It wasdC'ath of a humanity which had been made of th e seed of Dav id,Irding- to the [lesh, to produce in the flesh, coudcrnuation ; the

"J..lllnation of sin, and a complete satisfaction for sin. The jus-Ill' God from that period ceased to be an cn emy, sin was de­

o\'e d on the part of ,,:11 believers, the same as if it had never ex­,l .- nay more-s-the change now produced by living in the IIO(Yruation of the Hedeemer uy faith instead of living in our present

111 1 incarnation \.!y sense, removes the possibility of filial disobe-

:

l S~ THE GOSPEL MAGAZ1NE., ,

dience out of the qucstiony-und infinitely exalts 41CEt ernal Spu «as one of th e sacr ed three , equally interested, and glorified in i l.,work of hu man represen tat ion.

3. Th e art rue obedience if Christ. This signifies the uniform ;\('t ions of til e ltecdcruer, ill the fu 1fjl m~nt of the moral law; a \;11\ ,.whose design <lnd purity run parallel with the desiun and purity 1,1the d uty in ou r cr eation. Ada rn received the law ~s a rule of IIn­alterable obedience and holiness. It was his criterion of acti on forobedience and holiness, towards God, and towards man. H IS dl'parture th erefore from that criter ion, was an infinite offenc e, ina ,much as the design and ho liness of God by the law, could no lo n ;~ .

er be the rule of obedience in a human nature, where the g lory wadeparted ;-and Adam and all his pos terity became involved in gu illand conde mnat ion. And here the arrangem ent of the work of t ill"the Spiri t, ap pea rs highly essential, because it displays the aCCOl II ­

plishmcn t of t he law in th e active obedience of Christ Jesus ; allob edience in finitely holy and perfect, and of evcrlasting magnit ud.an d honour, " Christ is tbe end of the law for rigbteousness to e \'\'·ry one that believeth ;" and, do wc :make void the Jaw thro ug hfa ith ? God forbid; yea , wc establish t he law."

:3. T ile resurrection of Christ . . This period of our redemption,p roduces a hu man and divine nature connected; complete in r ig h­teou sness and holiness, without the imputation of sin; called in t hsacred writi ngs , " the beginning of th e creation of God," and tilt," first -ho rn from thedead," This part of the subject therefore I

of the big hest importance, both to understand and to plead at ath rone of graee ; otherwise th e reception of Christianity will bL'held in o ur ex pe rience, no hig her than the letter; and Satan willtak e an advantage over us, by enforcing the commonly rec eivedprofession,-which SUpP OSp.s, that the work of the Spirit co nsists,in produ cin g a meeting for heave n, oy progressive sanctificat ionin our p resent bodies of sin an d death.

The arrangement of the Etern al Spir it in the text, is, " IIe slialreceiv e or mine ;"-and no othe r branch of th is agrcl>ment appearmore d ig nified and appropiat e to our wants, than that which produ ces sc ri p: ura l views of our new stdt e or righteousllcss and truholiness in tile resu rrec tion body of Chr ist Jesus. G od the Fathercannot lookupon us with ap probatio n, but rather with abhorrence,whil e we con tinue , in the first Ad arn, either in open sin, or bymisguided profession th ron g h a feign ed work of the Spirit. \\are new creatures in Chri st Jesus; and it is in the resurrection budof Christ, and not in ou r present bodies of sin and death, that tillnew creation is enjoyed by fa ith o f the op eration of the SpiritThe Red eem er receives the soul of the bel ieve r, and is united to I t

only in I.is resurrection-stat e, whe re sin is destroyed , and whe re IIIsoul walks in a newn ess of life, in perfect noliness by faith. \V IIOsoever ..bidet lr in him, sinneth not ; bu t, " If Christ be not riOI'll

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THE GOSPEL l\fAGAZINE. , 189

. I ' nur preaching vain; our faith is slso vain, and we are yetur ~ i l) ~ . " .

' I lie resu rrec tion of Christ, is of th e most esse nt ial importan ce,Ill' ; lI ' ;' a n ~e lll en t of the Sp irit' s work, becau se, th ere is no other11.111 nature complete in holiness and perfection .I Ill' Ilcdcemer is not only perfect and holy, but the on ly one t ha t

i ; t he oi.Iy active' humanity, th at eve r did, or ever will answer.. lori o us p lirpose of the D eity in n~hteousness and hol iness in

I worl .l. ~fhe way to discover th e truth of this rem ark un der the11ll: llcC of the Sp ir it is to st udy from the word-I. The perfec­illS of Go d ; 2. O ur ow n im perfect qualifications; 3. The d esign

l our creation. These r eflections, practically dig est ed , will con­ai n li S to have recourse to the Iiedecrner in his re surrection sta te ,the only human nature, com ple te in holiness and perfection ;­

1(1the only divine standard where faith can operate wit h accepta-1.le practice and power. '

(To b~ continucd.)

To tlie E ditor if lite Gospel .Ah tga.zinc.

MR. ED ITOR, ,

UP P L E M E N T TO PllOGRESSIVE SAN CTIF ICATION , AS SUPPORTED ON

P;H; E 78, OF FEBRU ARY NUMBER .

T ilE title whi ch r have given to th is p iece, will very j ust ly lead1he reade r into th e conclusion, that i t comes from the sa me pen, aspr esent ed thclarticle, sa id to be supplemented ; and on di sco veringthat this conclusion is incorrect, t he. supplementer wil1, very ,pro;­babl y , be de emed an unpol ite intruder. Yet I flatter my sel f, thatI shall possess an excuse, in the mi nds of those , who are of o pinionth at genera l received notions of politeness, should g ive way to the de­sire of presenting tru th , in what may be deemed amore clear pointof view,and d iscoverin g from the diction, that thc author, T. B~J.,

is a wel l-educated u.an , the subject also DJcandour, and a lov erof truth,I have no doubt of h is stand ing, among that description of pcr-SO i l S . '

It will likewise no do ubt be expect ed , (jlldgin!5~still ~y the title,)1ha t Cl'e ry -cut ime nt in thepiece s upplernented .should be a pp rovedor ; but here a gain 1 shall be lia ble to condemnation, al tho ug h theex ce pt ion will be vcry narrow, and I most sinc erely and most cor­dially recommend, all that will not here, be expressly ob jected to;a nd cannot but deem his proofs of progressive san ctificati on, fu llysu ffic ient and unanswerable , and I th erefore con gratulate him, aslike ly to be made very usefu l, to mUllY of his br ethren in Christan d I hope the opposed do ctor will be fo und among them. '

"W ithout doubt, it is already dist inguis hed by the more discern­ing part of ou r readers, that 1 am in unison wit h T. B- <I. , in hisopposit ion to D r. Hawker' s se ntimen t, on progressive sanctification .

190 THE GOSPEL , MAGAZINE.

and as it may thence be sup posed by some superficial] udges, that I aman enemy to most , or llIany of the Doctor's other principles; I cau ­not in justice to myself, avoid declaring; not only, that this is notthe case, but th at on the contral'y, (although, as a sincere, and COIl­

scieut ious di ssent er, 1 cannot approve if his labours z"n the de sk, atthefou t ; and near th e graue.) I 1II0st heartily appreve of his p rinci­pal doct rina l princip les, which have issued from the press, aut! ofcourse of his pulpit orat ions, which no doubr accord therewith . Heis I feci co nfident , one among the despised few, who in the presentday of high professiou, but low, departing light, preach an unadul­te rated gospel, and that uniformly and consistently, so' as to befa r removed from the yea and nay gentlemen, who constit ute a ve­ry large majority, among those who are called gospel minist ers ;and in particular I am persuaded, he would feel indi gnant, at bein gclassed eithe r among the pretended sellers or offerers of Chri st , andsalvation ; and very certain I am, that he stands aloof from tho se di­vines, who whilst they inform men iu a state of nature, that th eyar e dead in trespasses and sins, and incapable of performing allyspiritual act, ~ w i ll in the same, or next breath, call upon them spi ­ritually to act; presumi ng, that God the Spirit will wurk, by theirunscriptural, unauthorised call. But, notwi thstanding my sig nifiedsincere approval, to the extent named, I must, in order to faithful­ness to the much esteemed Doctor, and for th e purpose of sup port-

. in g my own cred it, indulge myself in the remark, that my appro­bation has seldom reached beyond the princi ples themsel ves; ' as thi sge ntlcman unhappily has been in thc habit of substituting as­sents, or declarations, and defiances for proofs, as arg u ments th ere:Ji'olll deducible , an error, into which he ' has no doubt been led,by a jnst co nfidence in the truth of his assertions, in conj unctionwith the popularity he has obtained . Twins, which hav e often in­du ced the subjec ts , or partakers of them to sup pose , (or to ac t asthongh t hey suppcsed .} that it is qn ite enough for them to say , it is,or it is not so; but they may feel sati sfied of it, that thi s sufficiency,dues not ex te nd an inch beyond the minds of those readers andhearers whose approbat ron, or admiration, is not worth coveting.P rufessors of judgm ent, are not at all influenced by the mere ipsidix its of eve n men of the most extensive talents arid piet y : andt hey not only require positive proofs, from detached texts of scrip­ture, but also expect that those other parts of the sacred volum e,which are presented by the enemy in opposition , should be noticedand wrested from them, a t hing for the most part easily accom­plished ; and I th ink, Mr . Editor, yo u will agree with me in con­clu ding , that faith in even any truth, will do tile subjec t of it hutlittle go od, if it be received, m erely because alloY g'l'cat 01' good 'nuu ibelieves it . W e must judge for ourselves, in dep endance <;1I1 the110ly G host, resp ecting what God says to us in his word, whetherwe consult the judgment of a fellow-creature, of whom we have ahigh opinion or not, otherwise our faith ill divine truth , or 'some

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THE GOSPEL MAGAZINE . 191

. J. orit . will have to acknowledge a 'man like to ou rsel ves, ra­11,.111 Go d for its author ; and the fruits of divine faith , ca n ne­w v xpcc ted from that which may be denominated a c rea ture, \\'it ilO ut su pposing (what we dare not suppose) that God willlus glo ry to another. For my own p:irt I would not thank anylor believing any truth because I believe it ; and herein as I1I1l', I fo llow the example of the apostl e, who appears to corn-

III the Be reans, as not having received his testimony, without·hlng;· the scriptures, for the purpose of di scovering, whether it

I correct or not. Acts x. 11 . and also thank G od, that th esulou ians , when th ey received the word of God, (which they

I heard of him, and ot .ier apostles.j they received it not, as thecl of me n, hut as the 'Word of God. I Thess. i i , )S.

J ca nnot but th ink, that the differences in some sentime nts,11 .h it mu st be admitted, are found a mong truly pious men; ar eI tlY occasioned by their not conside ring th at the prophets, evan-

I lists, and apostles, wrote under different degrees of increasinght , suitable to the dispensati ons und er whic h th e v lived , and that

" lii!; ht ofe ven the latter, before th e day of Pen te cost, was very'(l' rior to that which was immed iat ely afte rwards, an d yet even

11<' 11, had not arrived to its full height; so th at th ey expressed their-u t iment s in lan gu age much more clear and ex plic it in t he ir epis­

tll'S, than th ey had ever done in th eir first se rmons, record ed in their(' IS, particularly in this instance, th at some t hiug's 'delive red in th e

lut tcr, in form of exhort ation ar e merely s po ke n of as things neces­ur v , in th e former fr om the wan t of conside r ing this, and comparing[.iri tual things with spirit ual j many neither think, speak, or preach

III submission to the analogy of faith, but ar e some ti mes a n Ez eki elIt other t imes a .John the Baptist , an d ag ai n, at oth e r tim es, an apos­tll,~, in a sta te of childhood, and but ve ry ra rely , if ev er , what either01 them wen: in a stateof man hood; not that the prophe ts, e vance­J sts , and apostles, were permitted of God to contradic t themsel~esOr each <1ther; in the ir inspired writ ing ; b ut those o f th e la st dat r- ,11 ere ce rta inly wr itt en under the in flue nce of increa sed lig ht , by thea p point ment of G od, so th at they explained thei r meaning betterI han t hey had don e before, and, we in dependen ce on God's Sp irit,a re to form our j udgme nts 'from the 'Whole comp ared togttlzer , and toreconcile sfe ming contradictions, so that we may not thereby be tos,sl'd abo ut from on e wind of doct rine to another, a pparently it s op­I.cs te , as is the case with th e yea and nay fashio nable gos pel preach­ers, so ca lled of th e p resent day , wh o a re as well emb lcmatizcd bya weather-cock , as by any thing that ca n be named ; they are in fac t,' \:e ry ,th ing in turn , y et t.lot.li n,g; in sta b il it): ; someti ll,JCs the st rengthof their tex t on that subject , forces them into what IS called Calv i­nism, anot he r Icss ex pressive leads th em into Bax ter iani sm , a th ird( uot bei ng co nsidered in conn e xion with its co ntex t , ) tran sfor msthe m into an .Arrn mian '; an d a fourth su p posed , by them to be a aos­pe! , or a b ranch of it, wltilc it is nothing but law, makes them C~Il1.

192 TH E GOSPEL l\1AGA Z!NE.

plct e Pharisees , I have my self; to my great . ast onishm en t , heardmen preach sa lvat ion stric tly by grace a lone in th e m orning, an clso me times a lso in th e afternoon of th e sam e dav, whi lst in th e eve n­mg it has bee nb ut little bet ter than by wo rks only, So that I h~vcbeen constrained to co me to th is co nclusion, as t he mo st charita blethat I cou ld in fer," Slll'e?1J he imagines he i s preachins; to a peopleW /lO an: determined (in op posit ion to what t hey hear fro m sc r ip tu re )10 believe, that salvation ~·s ollllf obtainable b.y th ei r O'U'lI obedience totlie lai», and th erefore, like som e of the ancient p roplcets so circum:stanced. , he preaches th e law to them, as a j ust r etu rn fo r their obsti­uacu, or like our L01'd himself, in answer to a .young man, who wasdellrly if!this delu sioe sentiment , as appear ed by his question, TVlla tshall I do that 1 711{~ 1J i nherit eternal life ?" But surely we are no t1l~)\V autho rised to thi nk thus , of any en tire congregation, and wit h­ou t such knowledge , can have no authority thus to deal with them.That suc h p reachers can boast of variet y, and may be much follow­ed by men of d ifferent opinions , who love to hear they can get toheav en by th eir own way, (n owit hstanding what scri nt urai bigotssay to the contrary) is ad mitred . But, Will tllCl/ obtain populari'.!!in hcaoe n, and th e approbation of God in the day oj'judgment '? arcquestious worthy of their conside rat ion. Me n , commissioned top reach the gospel (o r whic h is th e same ' t hing , salvation by freegrace, thruug h a cr uc ified .Icsus) to e very c reature who 'will cometo hear th em; sho uld take ea re so to prea c h, or ex plain the law,as to co nvince th eir hearer s, they do not ask for obedien ce to it,as directly or in d irectl y, in wh ole or in, part, the cause of sa lva tion ;hut merely to co nv ince them of sin, through th e en lighten ing in ­Il uc ncc of the Holy Ghost , th at her eb y th ey ma y be prepared to be­licvc, an d receive t he gospel message . In my opi nio n Mr. Ed ito r,it is th e indis peusible duty of eve ry m ini ster of Chr ist , to rep re se n tallY all owed reliance on good works, to be as dest ru ct ive to th e sou las a ll al lowance in t he co nt inu a nce of any other sin ; but is it notnoto riou s, tha t the n umb er whic h su itab l)~ hereu nto, ca n be so ch a­r.ictc rtz xl , is lame nta bly sm.rll, co mpared to wh at remain amo ng ·those , wh o Ill/VI: II name to li-ce un der t he a pp ella ti on of eva ngeli calpreachers. And , Is it no t cl ear , even to a dem onst ra tion, t ha t th epresen t high and e xtensive pr ofession , is the o{}'s pring of thi s ev il,which has for it s support, g ood natural tal ents a ud ac ademica l polish ,a '> a subs t itu te for th e pecu liar gifts an d graces of God's Sp irit; andmu st no t t hese, wh o have lo ng stood in th e way of sa lva tion, ha n :d i st ;ngl!i~hed, tha t t ltcse e vi ls a re not o f lat e in tr odu cti on , bu t ha\"been ucc u ru ulat iug for years pas t, a nd are stll likely to ac c um ulate ;so t hat judgi ng from th is circ u mstance, in con ne x ion with otl u-rt h in ~s , (partic ular ly t he pol itical .;,tate of t he couu t.rv ,') my asser -t i(Jn' of our low, or li llllied lig iJt, lJei ng a departed I/g ht, may 1I0 t

be d"('Il11'd a har sh conc lusion , and in short I am nor afra id to sal',that who ever lives yet Illany yea rs tu come, will 1 fear, be a witll l:'to re rri blc t hings; of which frot hy and giddy professor s have 11\)

THE GOSPEL MAGAZINE. 193

ptio n, and now without anY.!Ul'tllCr apology, for thi s long ir­III intro d uc tion , than that of saying, I hope it will be made

" I shall proceed to the subject first proposed . •h. ' !Joint then obj ected to in the pie ceun to which this is int end­I I", a supplement , was originally the Doctor's, but a ppeal'''vr : been approved of, and adopted by T. B-d. It stands on7:" of February number, near therop, where the sauc t ifica ­

by the Spirit, is said to consist, in his purifying, cleansing, andIlIg /1O~1J what was before llJlho~1J in our nature. Now if this

I1'1Ie , the carnal mind in those who are sanc t ified , must befurmcd into a spiritual mind, and all their sill into holin ess :la to me appears tobe quite at variance with the san ctifiedtie's ex pe rience, recorded in the seventh ch apter to the Ho -

I • from the eighth verse, downwards to the end; but which Inot fill your pages with Mr. Ed itor, as all our readers no doubta Bible in their possession, and refering to it will find, that no

II1l1C nt is necessary to discover, that the apostle, although he wasllubtedly sanctified, had still a carnal mind in him; and not onlystill the subject of sin, but that sin had revived, or to his feel­had become more powerful in him aft er grace, or holiness ( it sionen t. ) had entered, or rather had been infused by God's Spirit ,he tells us it dwelt in him, that he was sold under it; and that

Hig h he hated it, (grace inclini.ng,) y et at tim es he was overcomeIt , (!le must at least mean in thought; inclination, or speech,)l rhat when he would do good, [hereunto inclined 11/; his commu­

1/1/,.,/ holiness,) evil was present with him, (that is as an opposing1I1C1/lle ;) surely , the apostle then, did not find that what before

unholy in his nature, was now made ho ly by sanctification; as11 more clearly appear to ail who read the whole of that part of

I ' 'Iu oted chapter which I have named; and certain it is, that nei-wr himself, or either of his brother apostles, have in any part of" '11' wri t ings, countenanced such a pretension with respect to them-h I's, or others ; and I cannot discover how anyone can contend

rr such a doctrine, without falling in with the whimsical Arminian'lio n, of sinless perfection, being attainable in the present life, and

I I I by a more unlikely interposition of the ble ssed God, than th atIlIc lt Arminians generally contend for, it rather bein g , as I appl'c­lld, t he ir sentiment, that sin lis removed, or extirpated ; which ,

"llgh it be not a truth un til death com es, yet is not so un natu.,1,01' co nt rary to reason, as that of its being transform ed into its

I'/)(I site or even at all changed by it. That it is subdued, dr iven11"111 its throne, divested of Its government, (01' destroyed in its do­III nioll,) is readily granted, and the promises of God mak e it cer­

I ll , that it shall never regain what it has lost; but altered ,0 as to1"'("l lOe its opposite, or like unto it, it is not. No, it is still a law

11 t hc members, warring against the Lord's communicated law, inIll' mmd enlightened by him; Rom. vii , 23. and G al. v. 7. and

I1 " a sour ce of misery or wretchedness to the believer, but it has\' 01. • IlL-No. V . ~ C .

J ( , ~ c:r If E GOSPEL l\t AGAZl KE.

th e blessed effect , in the hands of the Holy G host, of tlr i \' i n'~ t h,·so ul to Christ for deliverance , and making him tha nkful under ti ll'hope or coufi clr-uce o f enjoying it . Ham. vii. 25 .. B ut if sa nct ifica t io n does not consist in purifJit1"', cl eansin g, o rm aking holy , wha t be fo re in our nature was ullholy~what (n{)t~v jt h ­st a n d i ll ~ t h e hi nts th a t have been g-iven )it.may he ask ed by som e ,' Vhat a re we to understand bv it? 1\0\\', n o on e who beli eves Ilwsc riptu re « to be th e word of Go;1 ,can possibly doubt of its consisting',ill the dct liro ncment if sin , which in a state of nature is enthroned 1'/1

7IS , and is o ur only pri ncip le; (eve1:1J pa rt orfam/!:!! being pollut edb ~1 il ,) and it must be added, in the enthron ement ofholi ness IlIfu­sed 1~1j G cd :» 8/1 ;l'lt, with whom it is still united; and although t hism a k·,s no alteration in sin itsel f, (as has been maintained .) yet itsn ''1) 'Ival [rom I h e throne, ( /IOW the seal vf dicine grace aud its au­~h {/! ' » ce rtai n ly alters, or changes t he ma n, in whom it is not onlyI II Inclination, but in co nduct, be ca use h is u nalte red sin is alway sopposed by it , mo re or less, as it is d rawn forth into exercise byt he ,sp ir it ; and as it is never suffered again to reigll, so of coursethe sanc ri lic d person is not suffered to be a willi ng servant, or sub­j ec t to it. And as sin is 1I 0 t a t all c ha nged by gracc or holiness, soho liness is not at all chan ged by sin , although it liccs so n ear to i t ,mHI bci g a perfec t t hing , (as coming fi 'vlJt God it must be,) per­fec t it reru ains. EziekcI calls it a ne w he art , xxxvi. 26. and the e x­p uls io n o r dislod gment o f the old and natu ral hear t of sin, fro m th escat of gove rn me nt , is expressed by h im , as ta ke n o u t of th e flesh .The apostle I'au l calls it a 1Iew nutu , Ephes, iv, 2 2-2'k Co l. i ii .10 . 'F h c iuteard 1IIan . 2 Co r . iv. I G. and he maintains the do e ­t ri u« ( .1'1/ j'u/I.IJ proved (~Y T . B-d.) of continued, or progressivesa ne-r licn tiun , by speak ing' of the new or inward man, in the l a ~ t

lla llH'd tr-xr , as rcnctccd cia!) (~I) da!J; and the same doctrine is i l l

f:let , muiu tai ued in the other tex ts quoted, a nd I cannot discover ,wha t l'Ise hecould have in view, where he te lls t he: believ ing Phil ­Jjppialls , t hat H e who had beg an a g ood uork in the ni . soould pe rformor (irhicti is the same thing ,) finish. it. And I cannot avoid thi n k .ing, t hat the apostle Pet er had an eye to the very same doctrine ;wh er e he ex ho rts young believers, u nde r (cmblematicaliu ) the na me.or n r-w . born babes , to desire the since re milk of the wo rd; that tlu:1Jm ight gro w thrre/~lJ, I P et. ii . 2 . and also in h is secol1C~ epist le ,i i i. 13 , where th e same characters a re exhorted to grow m g ral'l',and i ll knowledg e. I n short in my opinion, the d en ia l o f progres­sive, or co nt in ued sanc ti fica tion, (proper ly understood.] if acted up­on , is a ver y d a ngerous doct rine, very much. 1/I0re so, th an the toild­rst notion that is ~ntert(/illed, respecting what is intended by it, It i-,ill fact telling the beli e ve r, ( /je(( , even the youngest believer ,) tha t~I' ('ry thi ng pertain~n g, t.o the bpiri t's wor k is .already d? ne for, h i ~l l ,and th erefore , th at :OUl\lIlg afte r fu r ther attamuieuts, from his I,, ·t ur e opera t io ns, is a vc ry vain and foolish t hing. T hat he rna vsafely settle 011 his Ices, and Ut' at rest; nottcuhstanding its beiug

19 5T HE GOS P EL M AGA ZI N E. '

ninrd !!I) J eremiah , chapte r xlvi ii, 11. a nd by Zepha niah chap-I I .~,

I " I Ill' doctr ine here s up p or ted , of sa nct ificati on not consistingI" un holiness of ou r nat ur e , bei ng made holy , or bein ~ at allI l ,-d ; a nd of noth ing more be ing inte nd ed by it, than the coiu.,Ill' '' t Ion ora ho ly or righte ous princ ip le, (a lu;ays renetoina as1'1/) to co ut r ou l, counte ract , an d gove rn th e whole principle o f

It lIwy, I a m awa~ be objecte d , tha t thc commencement o t it,mi rod uc t ion to it , beillg called r eg eneration, whi ch siun ifies a

Jri l'ying c hange in th ose that p ossess it, is not consisten t With t lis11 111 " ; , 11 ; but surely , a man may be ch a nged in incl ina tio n, p ur­"', a nd cond uct , by being t he subj ect of th is new , living , divi ne

I uui p lc : witho ut havi ng his s infulness, wh ich is controled br it,.d l c ha nged ; and th is adm ittcd, th e obj ection ca n n o lon ge r have

IV weig ht in it, an.l as to the apostle's praying that me Thessa,nia ns might be sanctified in body , soul, or spirit, it means 110

ior«, than that their whole man mi g ht be influenced by di vinerace , a nd be set a pa rt for God's servrcc ; and certainly that w h ic h

J hav e un derstood by sanc tificat ion , llIay we ll be admitted. t u eu ti.,ri" a ma n to thc name of a creature, and ir 1Jwy be said respecting

ii n, old things are passed mr'a~y, behold all thingsarc become new., ( 'or. v, 17. Guilt, cond emnati on, and ete rna l misei y , are pas­,'d aw ay fr om sll c h]a o ne , a nd ip,wdoiJ, freed om and ev erlast ing hap-

\Iinos'i, arc in Chr ist secured to him. Yea, h is old heart o f s in, wit h.d l irs train of e vils arc p assed alVay , or driven from its an c ient placeIII him, ciz, th e throne, ( which malJ perhaps m ean th e unll ; or .iutt.g."/I'lIt , 0/' both com bined i ) a nd all things there in o r thereo n, be-rome new. Yours, '

11J'. E Ji to r ,AN IMPARTIAL OBSERVE R.

T o the Editor '(1 the G ospel J1I ag azine.;\1R . ED IT OR,

J I,' th e fol low ing observation s a rc co nsistent with the g sopel "I',

( 'lni st ian experience , I sha ll co nsider it a favou r to see iher.,y our valuab le Magazine of gospel I r uth.

SI/j}ol!.' , Feb. 1 I, I8I S. , U~S~L _ •

ON TH E ROB E OF RIGHTEOUNSES ,.

'1. MONO a ll the doctrines of r ich grac:e, the doctr ine: p ' r: ","!C!us,.fl C ' S sh ines with l ustr e a ll d ivine, ~hen by fa ith a ~a fit 1'- ;Ll,'. " , thisr i~ b t co us n l' SS be can s ur mo unt all the d rttic u.ues , U , oI sou ,-t, ia ls,wh ich he meets with in t his val e o f tear', ; . t lus doe .r i : e a l_fil' .rs tob,: set forth in a strik ing ~'m bje lll , even tha t or it ru ij(' I'ga,m N ,in L uke x v, 22. q T he best ro be." l\OW, 1t is ov. dcn t t " f \ ;~ sthere are, which are good, but t his is tln- best; ilngd " ~tre ~ J Of -Q

, I

196 THE GOSPE L MAGAZINE.

with light, and glory, an d outshine, all cr eation's work beside, an dyet do not shi ne one half so bright as the blood. bought throng ,which are clo th ed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. The robewhich an gels wear , is far different from this rcbe, They wer e cn'­ated pu re and holy . The objects of the power and regard of .l l ~ ­

hovah , clothed with light and glory, so praise his name, for h i ~

p ower in c rea t ing th em and in preserving th em perfect and holy .th ei r state, who are th e elect angels is incorruptible, nev er e x pel'l­enc ing one cha nge as to their comfort,joy, nor standing, nor willthey ever so lon g as God is what he is, fur no end can there be oftheir j oy and security. But th ey never fell as creat~lres, so th eynever became sinners, nor did they ever need this royal dr ess tomake them holy. Yet the people who are the Lord's, they fell an dlost their nature, all as to holiness and purity, yet whilst this wasthe case J eh o vah view ed th em in his Son, as an holy nation·he i n ~

viewed in th e perfect ri ghteousness of Christ. This angels nevernee ded.

"" T he robe which angels above wear ,Shines not with glories half so dear ."

The roue which Adam had whil st in innocence, was a goo}l andperfect robe, but how soon, alas! how soon was this garmen t tornto rags by sin; how soo n it lost its beauty, being d isfigured an dtorn to p iec es by sin. Its duration was short , and thi s pure in no­cen t creature robe was marred by sin, and he th at had form erlyworn it became nak ed, ex posed all the members of his body, solong as the wheel s of nature moved, to sin and sorrow all th eirdays ; as to th e act and love of it, for "Adam was the head or0111 men, a nd th ey wer e memb ers of his body, so that what thehead of the body did, th e me mbe rs were all in th e act . And it isonly the new man of g race th at abh ors sin, the corrupt min d orman loves sin, an d it is only when the saint's nature is kept underhy g race , that he ca n act and love holin ess. Adam's rob e wassoon corrupted, bu t th e ro be the saints hav e, is of everlasting du -.ration.

The robe which Adarn wore was pure,But ne'er was robe like this secu re ,

After considering these two rob es, that of angels, and that of'Adam, I now come to the rob e of th e saints, or to .the robe of r igh ­teousness, which is theirs by imputation; I co nside r that this rol l<'is not only th e best, but I bel ieve it was the first et ern ally , thesa ints were viewed in this dr ess, in the decrees of J ehovah, t hc-va ppear to me to pos sess this robe, fi rst doctrinally, an d second lyex porimentally. .

First doctrinally : The rob e of th e Saviour's righteousness wa ~

imputed to them in the mind of J eh ovah ; before angels cx isudthey were ever viewed in Christ and loved in him, and stood II I

him ill love, when the period was com e, Christ was brought fun i&

/

III long-ag ed in covenant for th em, and yet all the transactions ofI II co vena nt were all known to G od in his m ind and will ,in et erni­', I he way i ll which Christ was brought forth, 'was as co ven ant head,, rt·pn .:sent a ll his dear saints, whi ch were his body, an d he the,....1. T here is such a union between Chr ist and his members,,,11 ,i ll, no r Satan never could dis solv e, all covenant blessings flow

t hc effect of th is un ion, .i list like the life of a tree, sp r ingingh UIlI the root into the body and br an ches, ami makes the sam e ap­pea r li lT ly and green . All the graces of th e Spi ri t flow in th is WilY,Il('h as pard on of sin , repentance, fait h , j oy, hope, and experi,

u rcuta l r ig hteo usness, all are the effect of bei ng uni ted to C hri st asmembers of his my stical body ; and every c irc umsta nc e in whichlhe saints sho uld be caused to en te r in , or fall into, was a ll wellorde red , and suita ble ble ssin gs la id u p for them in th e cov enan tof grace, and as they fell into sin , th ere was ev ery blessing inChrist, to deliver them from th is; and I conside r that j ustice tookI he engagement of Christ , for Zion, as if t he thingsagreed to werea lready done, but so was Christ bound to his c hurc h, th at th e timewas appointed, in which he should suffe r and d ie , according to a llthat he had agreed to with his Father , The work of r igh teou snesswhich Christ did, was a holy , blameless conformity, to that lawwhich sinners had broken, all wh ich was imputed to the saints, asbeing united to him thus doctrinally, righteousness was ever th eirrobe, in whic h t hey st and excepted before God, and this robe ist heirs exper ime nta lly , when the Holy Ghost tak es the seals oif thesaints eyes, a nd aw aken him by in fusing life d ivine into the soul,lead - him to Chr ist for clothing, aft er havin g see n his own naked­ness , di scovers some of th e beau ties of Christ as an able Saviour,lhoug h th e soul is bound in some measure by th e fe tters of bond­ag e , and is left to fear, th at Jesus will not save hi m; y et th e H olyG host st ill lead s him on and uu looses his fetters ; th en does he feel ex­pcrimcnta lly, righteousnes s applied to hi s na ked sou l; then does herealize his in terest in pard oning blood and dying love ; t hen he en­j oys the li berty of a child o f God; th en can he say , my .Lor d andrny Go d, wi th T ho mas, h is so ul is me lted down with joy, and histh oug hts for a mo me nt reach heaven ward in sweet joy; under th e111ft ue nce of g race, he feels the blood of Jesus applied to his g uiltyconscience , which blood s peaks pea ce to his g'uilt)' sou l ; thendoes he antici pa te with joy, h is Father's hou se, wh er e J esu s dwells,a nd is pe rsuade d by faith, that he sha ll soon be th ere free from th elI,bc iug of sin , a nd sor row of heart on accou nt of sin; t hcn can he'ice how neatly th e robe of rightcousness fits him, he feel s ti ia t the«lde r br oth er's dress fits. him well; th en d oes he fee l his sou l, wetwith th e dew of so vereig n grace, as was G ideon ' s Ilcccc of oJJ, as 'well as th is; th e propert ies of th is robe is so sui table to a poor so ul.wounded sinner, as it is j ust wha t he need s, to se t him fr ee from thedema nds of the la w of God ; ill this ro be beauties ar e contai ned,wh ic h e xceeds all other robes ; it is the best, for it is gi ven so f ree,

T H E GOSPEL MA~AZINE. 197

UPSILON.

I !.i,-; THE GOSPEL MAG .~ ZINE.

to sin fu] men, whic h ha ve sin ne d , and broke th e law, and becomefilth y ; an d yet so e xtensive is th is rob e, and so kind tile g-iver, thatt he unworthy have it as a free gift. It is best l"or duration, nev e rchanging, nor nev er si and with sin, an d it is best fo r i Ilmuinariou ,as itoutshines a ll t hing s else ,. an d is th e bri g ht est robe that is seen .inheaven; S OU /I wdl al l th e blood- boug ht throng III heaven have toshout t he p ra ises of G od and th e Lamb, in Z ion, th ere in thi sro yal robe , whilst an gels and ser a phs, sing to him, thcy will jointh e Il;l ppy so ng with t hem, for ever and ever in praising God an di hc Lamb, in Jerusal em above. Amen.

I n such a re st I long to be;Freed from all troubles I now feelAnd dwell in a ll etern ity,

" 'h ere Christ the Lamb his face unveil.

Sujjulk, Feb. 2 2, l SIS.

Tu the Editor ofthe Gospel l1Jaga:::in f.

RESPECTt NG GOD'S APPOINTMENT A ND CHOICE- ,.

MR . EDITOR,

I Nv ou r Eig hth N umbe r , IS 17, I gave you sorn e of'my though ts Oil

th c' qu estion of y o ui' correspondent, who signs It , on Ej')h. ii. 3 ,(and were by nature ch ild ren of wrath ev en as othcrs. ) and th eyappear to meet your charitable approbation, so far, as y ou ' was re­qucsted ci thc r to g ive th em pu blication , or g ive them to the flames ;but wh ether th ey are ao y satisfactory answer to your querisr, It, orn ot , r can no t say, only as the old proverb sp eaks," Silence givcsco nsen t ."

Hut , in January Number, I 8lS-page 37. I am call ed uponby your Co ns ta nt I{catler, to gi,'c a fu rt her e x planati on,-and his(lU~sti oll s arc as follow:

(.{IlCstiOIl. - " W ere not the elect of God cho sen or appointed toobtain su lva t iou ?" . . "

An swcr.-This I have most plainly asse nted to i;l Number VH f.pa ge 326 . .

Qucst ion. - " A nd not appointed to wrath ?"A ns\\'cr .-Christ was God's elect, chosen to sal vation, and y et he

was appointed to wrath, but of this by th e bye._ Question.-" And if so chosen, were they not from that time se­c ured frem th e \, {'a th of God, and if th cv were, in what" S EN S E"

were th ey sec ur ed fr om, and liab le t o, t ile same thing at the sam eti me."

H ere lies th e mystery, an d as the spi rit of mirac le-work ing' fai this suspcnded , How can a worm think of g iviug sig ht to anyone tha thas 110 eyes, who would attempt th e Almig hty ta sk, which non e bu tGod alone can perform, to make those that have noeyes, see how t hewhole building, all the elect, the w~olefamily, Christ and his churc h,

T HE GOSP EL M AGA Z I NE. 199

t IH',I" were all liabl e to, ye t secure from wrath at th e same time ?' ''1' r hc elec t's sake that has eyes to see , would beg to have the

1 Ill !.;' rem arks exhibited to th e pub lic, bu t the emphasis of the110: 1 is ill what SE NSE were thev so? In what sense indeed ?­

II I all nnsanctified , fallen, carnal, deb ilitate', corrupt sense, norIII a mere refined, moral sense , nor in an Arminian nor Sociui­(' I ISe, nor yet in th e old d ot ed, newly gilded, Unitarian sense ,

1 old image, or black oak , lat ely foun d in the fenny bogs andz rnircs of Ram sey , beautifi ed and set up in the pla ins cif, or

'"11 1 l lll nti ng doll, by J. K. the cun niug artificer. But in a di.,1111', sublime, mystical, spirit ual, e vangelica l, supe rnatura l sec ret ,Ilfl yet re vealed sense. Say s r licode uius, How can th ese things be ?

I II I common sense and reason ever say , how the holy, holy, holy,I hovah , can be liable to wrath? H e who is th e primary, primi­I I' C essence of all security . But, behol d ye despisers, and wond er, this mystery, that thy gr eat Cr eator were both liabl e to, and yetcure from wrath at the same time, and this is th e t rue pattern,

origi nal and exemplar of this point of doctrine; for as J esus was inluuself for his seed, to all G od's com mands, so all his seed were inhirn, ill the same sense to God's fu ll satisfact ion of all dem and s, allnumbered in him to the sword an d all bowed do wn with him tothe sla ughter, Isaiah I XI'. 12 '

But, "V hat made Jesus liabl e to wrath ? By bein g found in theliken ess of our sinful flesh, a nd , W hat made him sec ure? t he vir­till: of his divine nature, in union with our sinful nature, j ust sowith all th e members of his my sti cal body. Considerin g all th ee-lec t seed and th eir spiritual head, Ch rist on th e one hand, 'a nd allth e non-elect seed, and th eir sp irit ual head the devil, on th e otherhand. Then view both seeds and both heads un der the 'c urse , andunder wrath for sin, I say both, for a fait h's view of IIIyawn vile­ness, and Christ's agon ies, con str ain me to say both seeds, an dhct h heads, equally liable, (b ut not both sec ure.) bu t both suffel'ing­alld bearing wrath, and curse, as sins pen al du e, but very d iffe ren tin its order, degrees, and iss-ue. , .

For the devil and his seed , mu st endure th e everlast ingpai ns of hell, in slow, but ce rtain degrees, and determi nate order,i-suing upon them, as they ar c made to exist to recei ve it.

But Christ being the Eternal, Infin ite, and !\.. Imigthy, th e Headof th e body, and an th e members in him, the t ree of life , whose seedIS in itself, (t ree dried lip but seed preser ved) bore away a ll thatt tc rnitv of pain, we were liable to, in 'a short life time of SOlTOI\ ',

sharp death of grief, and a glorious resurrec tion triu mpbuut, ag ree-ab le to covenaut settlements, ,

Wirh him hi s memb ers on the tr ee,Fulfill'd the law's de mands,'Tis I in them and they in me,For rhus the union stand s. KENT .,

I here were no difFeren c~ of the two seeds in respect to th eir liability

I

200 THE GOSPE L MAGA ZINE.

to wrath, nor in an y abatemen t of wrath, due for sin and rebellion ,all the difference was onc were all-sufficient, to receive and endu rethe whole vast ag-!!rcgate amo u nt of wrath, in one day, and carryit away, and bur y it , in the sea and land of forg-etfulness, by theinv inc ible pow-:r , and infin ite secur ity , of their sun and shield, hel­met an d breast plat e , made wrath proof, and with this Godlike ar­mour ·on , the day of God's vengeance th ey did endure , and camefor th more than conqnerors ; for God hath not appointed us ~o beconsumcd , and ete rnally lost in wrath, but to obtain salvation anda deliverance out of wrath, by our Lord Jesus Christ, Thessalo­n ians v. 8 , 9 .

But, the head of the seed of the wicked one is defenceless, andmust receive wrath and damnation, and endure its destruction forev er, bearing it away with them into endless torment, where thei r~ [J a \V i n g- worm of con science will never have enough, nor theirHood of flaming wrath never abate . 0, methinks a doctrine of su­pra-Iapsar ian security; 'to the total exclusion of all subl apsarianliability , would tend to undermine and little, (in the es timation ofme n and angels, ) the unsearchable worth of an infinite underfall.Surely,

o bright at tribut e of Jehovah , sayH ow thy dread name of justi ce, thou' ViJI still ret ain, could everGod's own blood dema nded be, and neverLiab le those for whom 'twas spilt.

h ut , la ! a voice from Calvary's smitten rock, re.echoed in, andbr oke my rocky heart with redoubled peals of love and g rief, whenfirst r saw my liability to iJe the cau se of sweat and blood, groansand tears, cr ies and pains , toils and labours, hunger and thirst , wea­ri ness and loss of rest, painful praye rs and palene ss of face; alas !for tha t day was grea t and none like it , the day of Jacob's trouble .See J erem iah xx x , 5-7. Amos ix . 1 -10. with Z ephaniahi. 14. '

But, Chr ist and his ch osen , ever stood a glorious mystic man ,as well in su pra- lapsarian sec ret glory and in underfall sin and sor­TO W , as in open enj oyment of the third heaven's never-end ing bliss,,All t he mem bers of t his mystic man, must have fellowship witht heir head in all things , each member di stinct in its body ,' and inunseparable un ion to the head, were perfectly secured from thelife -con suming consequences, but not from the sin and guilt, andco rru pt ion-consuming effects, of this buruinj- wrath, which theywere by nature children of, even as oth ers, for this rapid stream ;spent itself on the head of the whole body, with out injuring one ofits memb ers, but to the purifying them all, inasmuch as it touchedthem III and through the blood of Jehovah, for all were under theangry black clo ud of a brok en law, and all passed th rou gh a sea ofwrath , compa re 1 Cor. x, 1,2. Psalm lx xxviii , 6 , 7. with Rom. vi .3, 'l, For , t ll,: wra th of God is revealed from heav en, against all un-

'T HE G0SPEL MAGA ZI NE. 20 1

1( ' '; and all unrighteou sness of men, and justice can in noIll' a respec ter of persons , no r in no wise clear the gu ilty ; noI' IIIC elect nor no n-e lect , though han d join in hand, t he wicked

' 10 1 ~~ () unpu nished, therefore,all must be liable , for all ure g uilty.11 :t1 1 had not wisdom , and power , and rich es, and stren gth toI, and withstand, B ut, some had in finite wisdom enoug h in

, I1EA D , ri c hes enoug h in thei r TRE ASU RY , -an d strengt h en oug hI -ir An"" to sta nd in t he day of th e fier ce anger of a n iuexora­incensed , infle xib le God, when th e g reat flood-gates of wrath

" 1111 folded , a nd a ll its vast tr easures ex haust ed on the head of" that justly deserv~d it-then for a moment p ause and say ,

H ow sharp must be t lle strok eMy dear Redeemer bore ,Y et not one sinr le bone was brokeBut bruised anti-bathed in gore. '

I one precious limb lopped from the tr ee , alt houg h the tree itselfre c ut off; not one tend er br anch sev ered from thi s choice vine,

Hhollgh the fatal pruning-hook was th e bloody spear-not on eu-urbcr disun ited from th e body , thou g h all the bones were an t ofIIl1t, by th e dreadful, almighty , electric shock , that shook theuhle heavens and the solid earth.Christ and his chose n, lovely bride , (thou gh dist inc tly two ) ne-

( '1' were nor will be sep arately two, bu t for ever one. I le did IIOt\ uhou t her suffer, neither will he without he r re ig n'; he did notWithout her d ie, neither will he withou t her live ; d id not without111'1' rise , neither do es he for her cease to plead the p er fect fulfil­mcut of a pefect holy law, ami that perfect law fulfi lled by a pe r~

fl'ct man, without his member s, his flesh, his b lood, and his bones ;1I0, he felt them all hnn g on him on th e c ross , with all thei r load of' I ll and g uilt- O w hat weight of sad corru pti on !- ah blessed be hissweet affection-there they proved a g ra nd per fection-blotted ou tall their transgressions, mad e a n end of sin, na iled it to the tree,­bv one offering hath perfected for ever them tha t are san cti fied, - ­whe n he was forsaken of his God , we wer e not forsaken by hili},he held us firm in his dereliction, bou nd up in th e bund le of life allth roug h his crucifixion; again , " I , k indl e a fire (sai th justice ) i llmine an ger, and shall burn to the lowest hell,"-ah! saith a sens i­ble sinner, or it never would have reach ed low enoug h to bnrn asun­der all my bands, but although t he seven-fold heated f ur nace ,a round my guilty soul cl oth flam e, ye t nou gh t but my ba nds andt he mig hty giants that threw me in , are consumed , fa I' 10 ! the Sonof G od descended, and walking by myside, ill t he midst of a /lam-ing liabil ity , gi~es me a hea venly security. '

_1\1a[esric is that sense and j ust!y I rue1 were expos'd to a /l tha t wrat h could do,M ore sweet 's the sen se that 'says, and yet secure too,

Say Jonah, how thou wert ex posed to the wra th of the rag-ino­sea , the foami ng waves , the watery grave , the wee dy shroud; th~

VI)L. IlL - No. V. 2 D

~() Z THE GOSPE L MAG AZIN E.

d t:\'(,lll r ing monst er , a nd th e belly of hell, a nd y et at the sa me t imepe rfec tl y secure a nd ~al i:; no th ing he lost in all t his g'ulph of wrath;b ut his d isobc d ic uc o : (or Christ were in it all, a nd .Ionah in Christ.Is there ano tl ll'l; 'I~ II ~ ivc n to this generation, cOllce l:,:ing t his d oc-:t ru .e , g- re al ' 'I' t hau li lls of Jonah the prophet? b ut slg lh a rc past,an d th e uu.: bel il'l 'cr c hee r(lIlIy e mbraces th e true substance, a IIIIhe bel icIT S fo r sub sta nce , that his Christ was immersed ill the vcrybell .' of t lus he ll o f wrath , and he 111111scl I' also im me rsed , (ill thebow,·ls o f C hrist) in this same hell too , and all fo r his (poor wretchedSilllll' r,,' di sob ed ience. No, nor ever will an y poor condem ned 1110r- .tal, loose his disobedience, and ob ey from his be art , . thc pu re gos­1'1'1 prece pts ill the love of them, nnt il he knows, sees, Ice" , andcordially em braces t he substa nce of t ha t baptismal d octri ne of whichJonah t he prophet were a ty pe.

Thcnhe will cry out in t ha t apparent nons en sical language, and self­contn.lic tory logic of the c hurch, an d say I am as blac k as hell , and'yet at the same time as fa ir as heaven, am mo st justly co nde medfo r b reaking t he ho ly commandments, and at the same ti me j usti­fied fo r its honourable f ulfilment, for no t continuing in all th ing s,UJost tr (;lllcndou sJy cursed, and a t the same time, for pe rfec t o be­d icuce inconccivablv blcs-cd , " Black as the ten ts ,of Kedar,couldy as the c ur ta ins of Sol on Ion ; an d, W hat made him soblack alld b ier with so rrow , Kcda r l ike? were it not sin, w ith th e re­served b lac!~lcss of wrath llpOU it, re ser ved unto that day, when th ecloud burst upon her HL AD, and e mptied itself around her DW E L ­

LI t\ G HO USE, crcrcd into her sec re t HID,I t\ G-PL.-\CE, even t he isweetbosom of J esus , by wisdom's p re- appointuient, an d d ecre ed pl aceo f fore-kn ow led ge ; th e sacred s pot; where eve ry elect man, wo­man, a nd child, were all secretly connected; wh ere they all lay hid ,l ' I" TV ind ividual of th em, and so not one should esc ape its over­II Ilelming p ower, . its ' tie ry an d \\' a~ery . ~ra l'e , its . devo uri ng j u",:s ,an d at th e sam e tune sec ure f rom Its l Il e- de~t roYlilg, and love- dis­sol v i IJlT \'CII"eance. ' .

H ilt: sl'c l lO W an g-ry just ice, -t he avenger of blood, pursu ed t hernanslav nr , not on lyto th e c ity-gate, bu t in to t he city of refu ge ,vca evc n into the tower, th e fortress, and strong hold, where the gui l­tv had e nte red wit h all the ir g ui lt, nor could their safety be proc uredbut by blood divine, or the blood o f one d ivine, to a p pease wrat hd ivine , t ha t seve n-fold heate .I furnace .

B ut a ll secure by th e vir tue of his bruised bosom , all in his hol y ar ms,an d pure ha nd s, whe n OpC U t~)rn , extended wide, and p ierced to th eaccu rsed tre e, anti oh! a maz lII:; power and matchless lov e, he he lddiem fast , (for wh y , ) bec ause ti le)' ha d been from e verlastin g e n­g raven o n the palllls of his hands, nor sin , nor wrath, nor.cu rse , nor;'kath nor he ll, c o uld ever erase lo ve'scng ravi ngs ; and th o ug h t her ude, 'ru~~l:d iro n , tore his te nd er hands, not on e of the m he d ro p ­p,'d ; and thougb t !w ~h ur('h, t he Jll'ap of wheat , we re th us sho ok andsified , not on e g ram fell to the gro llud to be 10 t. A ll held III hi-

20 3TH~ GOSPEL MAGAZINE.

I tl,e \'cry place where almighty j ust ice with invi ncible power,1,1 t h.: cruel spear, bu t t he p ier cin g" spear wo uld neve r hav e en-

I, had 1I0t we, wret ched, wrat h-liable, reb elliou.. mu rd erers beenI " covcned .' Ill' tem ple of Jerusa lem would no t have been set on fire andlil t ill th e day of verureance, ill th e day of God 's wrat h .u pon her ,d ", Roma nshad-notthe rebel J ews , with all thei r attendants been11' collected , for supposed secu ri ty, under a sense of their Iia-rv,

eit he r wou ld the fire from heaven, fell u pon th e living holy1I11'Ie of the spiritual J e rusalem, had not th ere been found withinIt sacred build ing polluted vesse ls, and. stones o f' uncl ea nn esss,Ih t he pJa~ue of leprosy ill th e walls; th erefo re, the fire kind led,

Iloly an d beautiful te mple burnt, Isaia h lx iv. 11. But inr,',: lla yS raised a!.{ain, vessels all pur ged , gold and silve r all refi,d stones all polishe.Lji t for the king' s pa lace ill th e kingdom of

',Iv" n.Hut a ll those stones of this heavenly building, except the chi efrner sto ne, were then , and are to this day, inscns ible in th is won-

1' 1' 1'11 1even t, ig noran t about the matter, careless about a ny of thesehings, kno w nothi ng of their liab ility , no nor wish fo r allY realrru rjtv , u ntil Jehovah the Spirit awakes them with his hammer,nd reve a ls it to fhem by his fire. ' ,

Feb. 22, 18 IS . A STRIPLING,.

ETER NAL LOVE.

" Yea, he loved I he people."l 'i t his aw ful day of wide-spread ing' delusion, when the g loriousdoc t rines of the gos pel, which form the only g round of consola tion1,1 the church of God , are so lightly esteemed , and so much obscu,f"d by those who profess to stand u p to preach the g ospel , andwhen bold opposers on every sid e ari se, openly to de n v their re ali­1\ ', and thus attempt to snatch thQ crown from the head of th e de arH"dce ll1l'r , it becomes the duty of those who feel interested in th epr os!1crity or th e c hurch, and co ncerned for the honours of his g10­IIOll S head , to availthe mselves of every o pport unity of fa ith fully~ , a t i n g the tru th as itis ill Jesus, and useevcry means in t heir po w­rr to disseminate that glorious sys tcm of d ivine tr uth , which [m ngs('cI lIal glory to G od the eternal Father, to God J esus t he ctcrr~llSOil , and to God the eternal Spirit , T hree adorable Persons ill J e­l.ovah,

Ca n it be a matter of surprize to any who know the plag ue oft1 lci r ow n hearts, that so ' m uc h op posit ionshuu;d a rise fro m theunh umbled heart of- man to t ru ths , which so mil itat e a.gainst thena tu ral pride of his heart , a nd by stri pping hiin of all his famed me­r it , leave him a poor, worthless, ruined wret ch, entirely depende ntu pon the free g ra ce of a cover aut G od, for his ' wh ole salvation ?J\ S no doctrine of the gospel is more ca lculated to ha ve this etlecr

20 ~ THE GO SP E L M AG AZIN E .

and 110 onc truth is more Q:a ll ina' to the feelinzs of the proud Phari'-. . ., nsee, than that of th e t ru r-st sovereign unmerited love of God to hispeople, so none have met with more opposition; but does nut thisJay at th e fou ndut ion of every ?;ospel truth? Is it 'not from theocean of et ernal love, that every stream of mercy flows to thechurch , wh ich she enjoys here in time, or shall throughout eterni­ty ? and Ib ()II ~11 t he ullgodly may discard this precious truth, itIla ~ su ppcrred God's tried family under some of the most severe; lflI i l'li(JII ~, and afforded them rich con solation in moments of deepdi -trcss ; and every soul instructed of God will be ready, on e~'ery

occasi on, to acknowledge that but for this amazing love, he musthave sunk into endless ruin, and his lanf!nagt~ will be, God who isri ch in mercy for his g-reat love wherewith he loved me, even whenI was dead in sins, hath quickened me together with Christ, andsuch a sou l will ever delight in contemplating" the nature and ef­fect s of such surprizing grace, to such an one the following re-marks are addressed: .

. l st. As to the nature of this love it is free and sovereign, dis­criminating in the choice of its objects, un ch angeable and eter­nai, and un paralelled in its degree . It arises solely from the sove­reign will and pleasure of Jehovah ;.there is nothing in its objectsto draw forth , or merit it, for, Are they better than others? No, in110 wise , thcv ar e children of wrath even as others ; neither was thislov e set u pon th em, for any good foreseen to be in them, nor ona ccount -of th e grace5 of th e Spirit imp lanted in th e renewed soul ;for th ese are tile ble ssed effects and in no one sense tbe cause of it ;;111 11 :IS to t he objections made to this doctrine, the Holy Ghost, bythe Fen of Moses, has given us a passage of scripture, which isproof again st aJ I opposition. D ent. vii. 7, 8 . "The Lord didnot se t his love upon you, nor choose you. because ye were more inJIIIIll!)('r th a n any people, (for ye wen; tl. c fewe st of all people,) butb l'cansc the Lord loved you."

'That lit is lov e is di scrimi nating in th e choice of its objects, th e.8cr iptn res clearly state , and th e co nversion of eve ry sinner is a fr es hconlirmat ion of the truth of th e state me nt ; for in the bestowment of~pi ri l u ~11 life , we ? ch.old the Lord t~killg o~e of a city, a?d t~~ ofa ' fumily , ami bl'lllgmg th em to ZlOn? callm,g one by irresistiblegrace: and leaving another to go 011 In the dowllw~rd road to de­structron. As to the rea son why J ehovah places thi s love on one,and passes by another, the same only call he assigned, as that fo rwhich he 10Ye~ and chooses any, h is own soocreig n will and ple a­sur e , who will have tr ercy on whom he will have mercy, and willbe gracious to whom he will be gracious;, a my stery which all t hepowers of the human mind will never solve, and a truth which allthe artifice of hell will never confute.

This love of God t o his church, is as an cient as it is free, for itbears date from eternity, he loved them from bfore the fou ndat ionof the world, which is fully proved by the rich provisions he made

T H E G OSPEL MAGAZI N J>: . 205

I I II in eternal counsel, a nd whi ch wc shall shortly hin t at ,. 11\ dvc.laran on to th e chu rch flllly estab lishes t his fact . " I

'''1. -.1 t hee wit h an ev crlastina lov e, &c." Jeremiah xxxi. 3.IlIg which takes place in tilll~ can occasion the lea st alt e ration

I Ion' ; it is th e same y esterday , to day, and for ever ; as it waspla t'l'd on its ob je cts 011 account of any merit , so not all t he sin

I't~ () p J e feel th em selves 'the subjects of, can ca use th e least" 11 11'111 in i t , even th eir fall in Adain so far from removing it,111 11 make way for the more glorious di splay s of it in their sal­

fi ll; l e~ t he tr ied a nd tempted of G o : '8 fanii ly , kee p this al-III uiind , th at th ou gh th e lord may hid e his face , his lo ve is

.nue , he loveth a t a ll lim es, and for the' co nsola tion of such aIi has e x pressed himse lf ill t he stro ugcst te rms , where he says toI ll , t hat though he hid es his .fac e for a small 1I101l1en t , tha tI"('\ 'e rlast ing kindnes", he will hav e mercy on her, and th en illj,( lIn;:'e the most powerful, confi rm s our p resent point. ' ~For

, mo unta ins shall depart and th e hil t" be re moved, bu t myuuln ess .sha ll not depart from thee, nor t he co venant of my peace

rem oved , saith the Lad, that hath mercy 011 thee ,"As it is eternal .in its commcn cem ent, so also is it in it s d uration,

II' th e mercy of t he Lord is from c~erlast i n~ to ev er lasti ng , uponlu-m that fear him. "I am persua de d, (says Paul,) tha t ne itherJle 110 1' de ath, nor an gels, nor principa lit ies, nor p owers, 110r

rill ngs present, nor thing-s to COllie , nor Iwig ht h, no r de p th, nor-ny ot he r creature, s ha ll be a ble to separate us fro m the love

of God ,' which is in Ch rist J esus our Lord ." R om an s viii. 38', :39.(',h! the depth of the ric hes of the wisdom, knowled ge, and lov elo ur co ve na nt God.T~,e first demonstrati on J ehovah gave' of th is love to h is people

was III h is et ernal c hoice of th em. He ch ose the m in Ch rist beforet ll!: fo unda tion of the world, it Iurther appears in t he gift of th em10 the ete rn al So n, " Th in e th ey were, (says our ado rable sure­ty to his Fa th cr,) and thou gavest t he m to me ," in the gi fl. of his~()n fo r th em: I,ere is a mos t a maz i ng d isplay of his love , " Fo r( ;od ~o ,lo l'e.d th e world as t o g ive his only begotten So n, &c.") ,, ~rl'm 18 love, not that \\ e loved God, but th at he loved us, andse nt h is Sou to be the pr opitiation for our sins.

H is only Son he deign<>d 10 gil'c ;(What love th is gift decla res I)And all who in the Son believe, ..Eterna l life is theirs,

In th e gifts of the H oly Spirit, and in 'his work on th e souls ofCod 's peo ple , th ey have th e first manifestation of this love. \Vellm ight th e man aft er God's own heartj .in contemplatm g t his subj ect ,e xcla im , " How ex ce llent is thy loving ki nd ness 0 Go d l" But,how infin itely short lan guage comes, of e x press ing the nature, or(leg ree of the love of G od to his church! vVeIl might an inspi­red apostle say, ,. It passeth knowled ge ."

206 THE GOSPE L M AG AZIN E.

If th en it a ppea rs that this doct r ine is so calculated to bring gl o­ry to th e Th ree in .lc-hovnh , as well as consolation to the churchof God , W hat oll gll t to be the co nd uct of those, who hav e felt t lu­truth of it in th eir happy e xperience , in 'a da y like th e p re sen t ,whenthe e ne mies of G od and truth , use eyc ry e xert io n to keep it illthe back g ro llnd , a nd wou ld, were they per mitt ed, erase f rom t hecanon of sCrJp l lln' , those pussaccs wh ich prove th e truth of it ?Surely, ti ll' )' sh ould conte nd earnestly for it, as an importa nt p ar tof that fa ith Oil cc de livered to t he saints, and triumph in it a s thefoundation truth of our dlost h oly fa ith, not with standi ng- all the con­telllpt and ungod ly , th ou g h p rofessing wo rld, ma y t hrow upon it ;and let t he m e ve r regard that man, wh o attem p ts to deprive himof t he co m for t that flow s from t his p recIOus truth, as one wh o wouldrob him of his dea rest jewels.

I kn ow the-re a re many in our day who, wo uld .dread t he idea ofbcing ran ke d .among th e"deniers ofth is , us well as othe r im por tan tart icles of our most holy faith, but who use e"e ry means to d imin ishi ts importannce, and ofteuti rues j oin t he opposers of th :s tr uth, bysaying , " It requires guarding, for fear of Its lead ing to licerltioll s,Il CSS." 1Vl mt shall we say to such c haracters? Can they ever hav efelt th e cons trainin g influ en ce of it in their own souls? lire th ey110t altogethe r ig'n oran t ofv i ts nature and effects? I would ask,W hat mu st we think of those ministers, who in their discour­ses, ' uegl ect to spe ak of this love, as the groulld of salvat ion , a ndinste ad or p roclaiming, keep back this truth? Is not their conduc teq uiva lent to a deni al of th e doctri ne ? , ' ' •

May the Lo rd the Spirit, lead his dear people into the knowledgeand c n.ioj' ule n t ofthe love of G od, preserve t heiu, from aboundinge rr or, and delusion , a nd es ta blis h the ir faith, and increase thei rknowledge in t he g lor illlls doctri nes of tire Fa the r's el ecting lov e ,till : et er na l Son's redeem ing lov e , a nd t he H t;])' S pirit ' s rcgenerat.j l l ,l~ g race , to whom be glury foreve r. Ame n,

HANNAH.

SHOHT I: E;lIAIlKS /I N TH E E PI STL E TO THE HEBREWS.-BY TH E

llE \'ER E N D SAM UE L EYLES PIERCE.

T H E r..E~rAIN DJG PART OF THE TWE LFT H CHAPTER.-FROM

THE T WE.NT Y- FIFTH VERSE T O THE E ND.

(ContiJlved f rom pai;« 155.)

.l is u s CHRI ST is t he Mediato r o f the ne w covenant . His b lood'i ' l'al;s bette r thi ng's th an th e blood and sacrifice of Ab cl 's. T heI;/ood o f Ch rist spea ks in he av en o n the behalf of his people. Itspeaks pardon and peace ill th ei r consciences, bei ng spri nkl edthereon by the Lord the Spirit. The Lord C hri st spoke to Moseson Mount Sinai. Be -was the angel of God's presence i to the

THE GOSPEL M AGA ZI NE. 207I in the w .lder ncss . Fro m th e conside ra t ion of his maj esty and, i hc a pestle e nforces the care a nd attention which should beI " wha t this divine person has been, a nd is pl eased to con tinu e.k ill the m ini strat iou of h is g lo rious gos pe l unto us. ChristII I hea ven. H e spe aks from thence in his gospel a nd ordi­, \Ve are to take h eed we ne ither ncg leet nor d espi se his

; seeing- they who heard his voice at Mou nt Sina i, and re-I him , es cape d not divine vengea nce a mi p uuishmeut . "SeeI hl') tha t y e re fuse not hi m t hat speak e th . , For if t hey es ­I WIt who refused him th at spa kc 011 earth , much more

1I0t we esca pe, 'if w e turn a-way from him that spea kethI hea ven. "le dign it): an d t ran scen dent e xcellency of C hrist , ' \)['y ond. the typical Med ia tor- bey ond a ll th e angels in heave n , an

unc rab le company of wh om a tte nd ed Jchooa h. the SOli, whe nante down OIl Mount Sinai , a nd so me of wh o .u we re made use

1/1 fra m ing 'a rt ic ulate sou nds by whi ch t ile law was prono uncedhe hea rm g of th e Israelites, is ev idcu ccd , he be ing God ooer allrd for ever, A men. .lid what he speaks of, is th e g reat salvatio n ofwhich I ll: is bothnuthor and finisher . Di !igcnt heed ihcrefore sh ould be gi~' ell

to him , unto the whole of what he says, since the re is a back­rr l uess in us, to e\'cry thing of a sp ir it ua l nature . And Satane-ver industrious and active, to binde r sou ls from h ea ri'ng the

111'0 of the gospel, and when th ey hear it, he is very b usy toII I the word from them . Chr ist now speaks fro m Mou nt SIOX.

I' speaks in tile city of the l id ng God , the ilea-"" illl:y Jerusalem .­11 which shou ld endear his vo ice to us an d c ng age o ur a ttentionIl' more .

\ \'hen the law was given on Sinai , an d ;\Ioscs was on the ear th,lid of t he eart h , ear t hy , spake from J chovali to the p eop le , asIlI'i I' Me diator , those t ha t refused , a nd did not obey , we re p un ish ­I. It is t ru e that a t the Si nai tra nsact ion, all th e peo ple presentId, " A ll that the Lord hat h spoke n , we will co, an d be o bcd i­

Ill ," Yet aft erwards some rejected him, who spake as God's vice-' n ,' llt on ea rth . And suc h as did , t he ir carcases fel l in th e \\'il­I, 'rli<' ss, an d th is , at se veral t imes, an d ill grea t I um be l'S; ::IIc1

111l'\' were not s uffe red to en ter into the land of Cuuaa u. i'\ O ll <IS

1111 ; was the ease o f th e sinning and disobedient Israeli tes , su c h ",111_I Il l , m ust not , wi ll not escape di vi ne wrath an d ,"Cllg c ': lIe .: , <IS t uru, lI'a y from him , th ut spea keth from h ea ven , who lTII OUIICl: a ndv.rl.druw fro m t heir profession of hiui-c-his gospd-orciin allcl's --

• lid d ra w ba ck unto perd iti on, The so re st p uui sluneut will be in ­111.:u.d o n su ch, S ee chap. x, 29 .

C hr ist i~ t he Lord fro fll ,h~a\' e ll. His d ()ctrinc --\~'o.rd-lVor~hjp ':md ordinances, a re all from heaven, and o f d ivine origin a l.

11.0 1I0 W spea ks, t hough he spea ks ill, with, a nd by his word. :\ !IdI, "'.i ll COUl " . a second ti me from thence, as judge of aiL.

208 THE GOSP E L MAGAZI NE. '

The ap ost le' s exhorta tion, founded on -t he d ignity, majesty , andp o\\'er of Chri st , was ver y suitably applied to the members of rhcchurch he wrote to, a nd sent this epis tle , its SO li le of them were in

, danger of aposracy , and others were , as we ma v co nce ive, in suchp ec uliar frames, as to he liable' to be led away \~ i th the crror of thewi ckerl, and fall from the ir own sted last ness. And those exhorta­t ions are nor without their use to,th e best mem bers of the c hurhcesof Christ , as they serve to rouse, qu ic ken, and preve nt a ca reless,and a n inatt en tive spir it to ' the word and ordinances of the gospel.

, The apostle brings to rem embrance t he greate r voice and power ,dis cover ed at the deli very of the gospel , than at th e deliv er y orthe law. At the delive ry of the law, God shook the earth onl.y.- 'But at th e delivery of the gospe l, he shook th e heave ns also.- ­' Vh ich serves to illustrate th e majesty and supcrcxccllen cv of t hegospel di spensation, abo ve and beyond the legal one, W hose voiceth en.shook the earth ? Thi s was th e voice of Christ. Hi s voicewas then utt ered . H e spoke, and Moses and all tile peopl« tlia:'(cere in. lite camp trembled , 11is voice was hea rd and th e earthshook. T he voice of Christ, which the .a post le refers to, was tl«­voice of th under, or th e voice of the trumpet, or, the word s of thelaw. And it appears from a prophecy in the prophet lIaggai, t hesecond ch ap ter , sixth and seventh verse s. that und er the gospddi spensation , not only the earth, but the heavens would be sha ke n.The apostle says of Christ , " But now he hath pr omised ," sav­j ug ill Haggai , " Yet onc e more I shake not the ear th only, butalso hca ven ,'

Not the land of .T udea, Jerusalem, and its inha bitants wereshaken, moved , ami trou bled at the news of the birth of the Mes.siah, the desire of a ll nati ons only, but th e heav ens also were, sha ,I, CII by prod igies ill It , as the sig ilt and ap pea rance of a WOII­

dr-r fu l star, which guided th e wise men in thei r ~earch for Chr ist. ­The ap pea rance of a company of th e heavenly host of ange~s, whoproclaimed Christ' s birth, and sang his praise ; which, as it were ,made the heav ens resound, The apostle explains and ap plies theprophecy of Haggai, in the nex t verse, and this his conuuent 011

it; he su ggests. that from it, it is to be ex pected that und er till 'g ospel d ispe nsat ion, n ot only th e ea rth but heavens will be shok,'"al so. W hich is emblema tical of the shaking and removing the fJ l

din anc es of the cerem oni al law, that the ordinances of the go sl' '''mig ht tak e place and remain for ever. '

T he word s as tlwy stand in th e prophecy read thu s. .1'01' 1/1/1sait]: t he L ord of IlOsts, y et oncc , it. is a li ttle while, and I wilt sk i/.tilt' heaoeus, and the eartli , and the sea; and the dJ:y land: and /zrill shake ail natio ns, and the desire ef all nations shall come, 1111 .

I Will fill th is house with glory, sait li the L ord ut' hosts.O ne desizn of God in these word s was, to enc ourage the 1" '(1

p le of the Jews, with t l ,,~ promise th at the second temple sh- Idexceed Solomon's . Which it did, say s Homainc, ill his note UlI 1I

"'""'--------------_._~

THE GOSPEL MAGAZINE. 203

lu-n the Lord of glory, the desire of all nations, God incarn ate,III it in the days of his flesh."

lid these words (says the apostle) .yet once more, or , as it is in'a i, .Vet once it is a little while. Which, as it int imat ed some­

" had been don e alr eady very marvellous and surprising , sou :thing would be again effected , which would -be astonishingly11 . I shake not only the earth, hilt also heaven , 'w!lli:lt sig nifi­thc removing qf those things that are shaken, as 0/ things that (}reII', ttuu those things which cannot be shaken ma. IJ r emain.l'here is a peculiar wisdom in bringing forth thi s sc rii' t llre , andply ing it to the present subject and circurusturices wh ich wereIrlly to take place. Our. Lord would soon co me to e xe rciseJ~ lIl en t and execute wrath on the people of the J ews. He wouldry shor tl y execute his sore vengeance and dest roy J erusalem., would so shake the earth and heavens ; that -according to his

I 11 prophecy , recorded in the twenty-fourth c hapter of Mat thew,lu-re wo uld be an entire removal of th e J ewish sta te , bo th polit icallid ec clesiast ica l. The whole Mosaic economy in th e land of J u,lea would cease. The temple, and things in it, mad e with han ds,nd which were made to be removed, wo uld be shaken a nd be abo-

hshcd ; the whole was put down, the place of J ewi sh worship wasdestroyed , the daily sacrifice ceased, the old covenant, and mannernr administrat ion it vanished away, and J erusalem ancl the tern­plc being destroyed and burnt by the Romans, the tem ple 'ser­vice entirely and for ever ceased with it.

All the legal ordinances and in stitutions were abolished by th edeat h of Christ, and ought then to have ceased, but were con: inuedby the unbelieving Jews, as long as th ey rem ain ed , in their ownland ; and had the temple co ntinu ed , tney would have continuedthem in opposition to Christ, whose person-e-li fe c-and death, wasthe full accomplishment of t hem.

T o accomplish and fulfil the prophesy of H aggai, to put downthe whole Jewish ritual, and make way for the in troduct ion andestablishment of the everlasting k ingdom and p riesthood of t heLord Jesus, he shook the whole system, and all the ordina nces ofit ; so that the sun darkened ; th e holy of holies, wit h t he a rk,mercy -seat , and cherubirns, which sy mbol of the d ivine presclleebGing wholly put out and obscured . The moon, t he ccremon iui Iuio;with its festivals, which was regulated by th e moon, an d like it wasvariable and changeable, did not give her lig ht. The stars ; thehig-h-p riest , and the inferi or priests of th e J ewish churc h,jt-ll f romheaoen , were turned ou t of office; th e foundat ion or wh ich \yas la id ,in their extirmination from the la nd or J udea , and tl reiI' dispers ioninto other cou ntries. Thus it was, and in t hese ac ts of wrarh andvengeance, a way was o pen ed for the ,e tt il'g aside all the ord i­na nces, and the mod es of worshi p prescr ibed by the Lord ill t hefo rmer d ispensation of the covena nt , an d Jar Lrillg ing in th e gos-

V OL. IlI.-No. V. Z E .

210 T HE GOS P E L MAGAZmE.

J:d, with all its glor iolls t ruths - doct rincs- a nd ordinances-ba p­ti sm , a~ld t he Lord's slI!, per, those thing's which callnot be spoke n,hut winch a rc inuuutublc, and will r cma lli iuunutub iv and invar:a ­hly the same 11lit 11 the second coming of Chr ist, withu ll his saints ,that thl'} lIIig- ht remai n ; as the, fixed means and ordi na nces of in­stitu tcd \\'or,h il'.

T Ins , leads the apostle to exhort them, seeing they had rccc iv,eel ihc im moveable king-dom of grace, and wer e adm itted into the~os l'e1-d is pe ll sat i (l n , and the gospel church stat e, they would holdfast , maintain, and persevere in their profession of, and attachmentunto the gospel of the gmee of God , and the peculiar ordinances ofit, baptism, and the Lord's supper. , "

" Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved ,let us have g race , whereby we may serve God acceptably wit hreveren ce , and godly ."

The kingdoin of grace, und er the gospel dispensation, a gospelchurch, th e gospel and its ordinances, with the whole dispen sa­tion, is 111 scripture called a kingdom, the kin gdom of God, th ekingdom of [ieaven, and the blessings of grace bestowed, all bea rthe same title.

" The go sp el dispensation is called the kingdom . of heaven ."Matthe w xxv. 17. The whole of it is so call ed, Matt. iii . 2. iv.17. Luk e xiv, 17. Christ is king- of this kingdom, believers ar chis subject s, th e gospel is his sceptre, the ordinances are his lawsand sta tutes ; they are immoveable, and a person may be said toreceive this kingdom, when he is delivered from th e power of dark­ness, re~enerated , and mad e alive in his soul to God, by faith inChrist J esus, and translated into th e kingdoIJl of God's dear Son.Each and every suc h person hav e received Christ; and grace an da" part aker s of this kin ~dom , it becomes them to express th eir gra­t itude to the Lord for his unspeak abl e grace, for all the blessings ofit, and for bein g admitted into this kingdom, which they enjoy ,an d are the partak ers of.

In an cs'peci a l manner it becomes them to exerci se th eir faithon. Christ , and to their uttermost exert themselves -in maintaini ng'an d in holdi ng fast the everlasting go spel of the Lord and Sa­vi o nr., L et ZI ,~ lutue g race, say s th e apostle, that is, let us exercise it , or ,in other words, let us manifest our grace and love to Christ , incleaving .stedfastl}', and witl? a ful~ purr,osc of heart to him-!Iisg ospel and a 'steMast profeSSIOn of It. n haeby toe way serve God~cc('[JtabllJ wit 11. ?'e'oaCIIC( aml god(1J fear.

And this exhortation he enforces from the punishment whichwould nnavoidably fall on Christless sinners, .and apostates. F orour God is II cousuminr;/ i.rl'. , ., This he will Le to a\1 the despisers' of his gospel, worship, o rd i-nances arid word . . Ol~r G (]~, o I,ll' co\'cna,llt G~d-:-~ur God ill

Chris t , is a consum i.ng fire , which 1S e xpressIve · at, his Jealous), I I I

T HE GOSPEL MAGAZINE. 2 11

I ' , (I f worsh ip, and is, and carries with it a strong- reasonI I 11 a ll our a p proac hes to him inworship, he is to be served'''''/ 1/ 7f/i ll, revercnce and god(yfear. The way of worship he

I lixl:d , lie is to have all the g lory in every par t of it , a nd th eIlIa ll C CS of ~ospel worship are un alterable.I Ill' (' \pre, sioil,jor our G od is a consum ing fi re , ma y also denoteI'rl:s\'n'a t ioJl of his people: H e bein g it wall of fire round abou tI"' (lplc, a nd also the destru ction of his, an d their enemies, Sec

Ill. i x. I-~)' ,

li Cit is the ' dig-nity-majesty --excell eney-and worth of theI O il of Christ, that it se ts a valu e on his peopl e , who a re rela tedIlilll- his church which is one with, and et ernally united to him ,Oi l his word by which he spea ks unto us-on his di vin e inst itu­11' ami ordinances in which he d raws near unto us, and by which

f draw nigh unto him in exe rcises of worship .' .{;rca t care and attention is d ue t o him, and to all he speaks to, i ll his word, and by his providences, and ordinan ces. His voicepowe rful, and full of majesty. His voice on ce sho ok th e earth,

lid his voice siuce bath shook the heavens, an :1 thereby he ha thtuhlishcd his go spel, kin gd om ; ordinances, which will rem ain

uushukcn , until his glorious appearing in the clouds of heaven withpllwer and gl\ :at glory.

It is go od to view the accomplishment of Christ's word. It is.1 pledge to our faith, that he will fulfil in his own tim e and way,all which bis mouth has spoken. The shaking, the political, andr-cclcsiastica l economY' of thc J C H'S, is a full proof that he isMes-iuh , the prince, and hath all power in hea ven and ea rt h. The

rx tirminat ion of them from their OWII land-the destruction ofJ erusalem, and the temple-s-and the cessation of the daily sacrifi­Iices, are so man y standing proofs', that Christ's work is a finishedsalvat ion. " He hath finished the transgressions, made an end ofsins , mad e reconciliation for iniquity, and br ou gbt in everlas t ingrig hteoll9lless." And that they for their unbelief, their sin, in reject ­ing' of him, as th e very promised seed ' of D avid , ar e, as the pro~

p he t Hosea foretold , rcithout a king, and ioithout a prince , and with­"ut a sacrifice, and icithout an image, and without teraphim

This shcws the heinous sinfulness of uubclief, The cvcrlasu ngkingdom, priesthood, and gosPel of Christ bein g fully evid encedby the accomplishment of Old Testament p rophcsi .-s and Ol dT estament worship and ordinances being ent irely rc uiovcd , thatthe gospel and its ordinances might be immutably es tablished , asthe means of instituted worsh ip, it becomes us, ha\'ing receivedg race, to be looking continually to the Holy S pirit, as the spi ritof grace ant! supplica tion, ior his most Rraciolls iull ue nces , that wemay serve G od in th e go spel of his Son. I II observing his hulyinstit ution, acceptably with revere nce and go dly fear . E ver rl'­membering that our God is a consuming jirr , he is [ca lous of hisworship and should have ou r hearts, and he e xpe ct s our heart s

, ,THE GOSPEL MAGAZINE.

with him therein. He says, My son give me

212

should be engagedth v heart., 'May the· Lord th e Spirit ;J.ccompany

here briefly set before you. Amen.with his blessing, what is

1'0 the Editor of the Gospel ilIagazille.l\'T R. ED ITOR , •

" As it is the obj ect 'of YOllr Magazine to circulate truth, I trust y Ollwill do me the favour of inserting the subsequent lines; wishi ngyou , Mr. Ed itor, a nd your correspondentv" An Observer," everycoven an t blcssmg, with which you are blessed in the great headof the chu rch, 1 rem ain, . . '

Yours, truly and respectfully,W ellington, April 12, 1818. INQUISITOR.. -

A ·RE P Ly TO A QUERY, OCCASIONED BY READING A QUERY,

. P. I58.

I. " Can it be proved from the scriptures, that the body ca nbelieve wit hout the HEAD? if it can? In what sense does the saidbo dy lx-lieve J"

H. And, W hat does the apostle mean by " the faithof' the Sonof G od ?" Gal. ii, 20. ,

Re ply.-I do not imagine; that it can be proved from the scrip­tures, " that the bo dy can believe without the head," nor can It hink that any man , who is taaght of the Holy Ghost, wishes top ro ve it : all t he contrary, we are ex pressly told, t hat Jesus, wh ois th e head of the church, is the" author and finisher of faith . "Bu t thi s is not an answer to the question; to prove that the bodycan no t b elieve OF ITSELF, does not prove that the head believedfo r it. T ha t the members of Christ are indebted to him for faith ,a ': well as for eve ry other blessing, is obvious ; but the question is,Did J esu s bdievejol' (i. e. in the room and stead of) his people ?I ful ly agree with Susanna, page 167,-" I t hink we may ventureto say , that Christ did not believe for us, in th e same sense that hedi ed fo r us-he did no t believe instead of us, though he died in­Mead of LI S." If, then, " faith is the gift of God ;" (Eph. ii. 8 .)jf Jesus is th e author and finisher of faith;" (Heb. xii. 2.) if th eSpirit of Christ is sent into the heart, (G al. iv. 6.) and faith is afrui t of the Spi ri t, (Ga l. v , 22. ) I see not the least impropriety iucalling- th a t fai th, by whi ch the sou l em braces Chr ist, and Jives al l

his inexhau stible fulness, " The fait h of the Son ofGod ,"

THE GOSPE L MAGAZ!NE. ::l13

T o the Editor or tile Gospel JtIagazine.

I ll. EDIT OR ,

I li E " 'Jl:E W LIGHT" SYST E;\f, W IT H OBsERVATiONS ON "RE.GI:N ERATIO N" BY" AGUR."

'} discip les an d followers of our Lo rd J esus Ch rist , find greatI I : for th ankfulness to the divine head a nd guardian of h is11ch, fo r the freque nt, and honourable testi monies, to th e g lori­docni ucs relative to the T rini ty, whic h apppar in the G ospel

"az inc ; of whi ch, no t afew have appeared since the commence ..ut of th e p resent year. To a mi nd In som e measure aware ofdep lora ble situation of t he professing world, and th at is witn ess

the var ious " Dam nable H e resies," now with th e rapid ity 0 1 theti lenrial arrow fleei ng over the face of th e ki ngdom , it .s a con­

,llIlg consideration-yes !-a nd an abu ndant scope for gratitud e,thus opened to th c " Keeper ' of Is rae l," who slumbere th not,

IClr sleepet h." I t sai th, with a vo ic e which claims the regard of t hehole family of g race , fo r th ei r encouragem ent and j oy, in [he lan­lIa g(~ of the Lord to Elijah ; Ye t haoe T tift SEVEN THO US.AND

1/ I srael, which have not bo....'ed doton. unto B ual .Severa l able writers have done wisely in emb racing- the pr esent

ritical season to lay before the church , an d th e world, their pow­Nful tes timony to the e ver g lorious , th oug h ueve r-com prehensi blet ru th s, of our most holy faith, i n respect of, the d ivine persons illJ ch ova h. And of such , several ha ve boldly, and witho ut fear ofhl'ing cont ro verted, exposed t he ncte, but false li g ht , of th e' n inet ecnth century! It must be kn own to t he readers of th is pu bl ica­t iou.tha t several ministers, who not long since secede d from the('stablished ch urch, ha ve embraced, and too successfu 11y preached ,doctrines subve rsive of a ll v ital go d lipess, and pecn liarly d erogato­ry to the person, the covenant engagements, the ope rations , andin fl uence of G od th e H oly Ghost . ,

As it is not my i ntention to enlarge j ust now opon thei r g eneralsy ~ tem , or "Catech ism" of delu sion, 1 shal l confine my self to onefeat ure of th eir fai t h, which is so faithfully pourtrayed by "Agur,"a cor respondent in t he last number of this Mag.:<: inc; and I do itwi th offe r ing b ut " on e" a polog y , a nd t h:lt b ecall s~" 1 bein g also" A Young Ma n," WIth " Agur," have no t submitted to h is s()­lic ta tion , a nd left it for " days to speak, and y ears to declare wi s­dorn; be for e y ou th an d ine xperience ."~h~ subject a lluded to. is th is? ~ha~ a t regene ration NO new princi­

ple IS.lmplanted , NO div ine gif t IS Imparted, out accord ing to an

unscrip t ura l notion of D r. wau»,T he Spir it, like some heaven ly wind,B lows on th e sons of flesh,N ew- models all ihe carna l mind,,And forms the man afresh.

H is own words are still more explici t, t he)' are these: " It ap-

~ l ..j. HIE GOSP E L l\IAC;AZlNE.

pears to me, th a t th e N ,\TU HA L faculties are sufficient, under divineinfluence, to co m preh end a nd receive all that the Lord desi g ns we

- shall know he rc ; not uy t he addition of ncto but by th e expansio nof the old faculties ! !"

Oh! w ha t just ca use is there to doubt of such persons- knowin g­any thi ng a t all in ex perience , of what ne cessarily accompanies sal ­vation , who can thus despi se the declared will of God in his word ,and p Ollr con te m pt upon the revelation of his will to th e hea rt. - ­Exactly in coinc ide nce with the tenets of " Modern Secede rs" ist he sentiment before me. One of th e characters above adve rre d to,w hen addressing his audience upon this same subject, ha s said ,­" There is much said now-a.days, alllong professors of reli gion ,about a work of grace on the heart,-and concerning a somethin g"that is to take place within! Doubtless (said he, with peculiar em ­phasis) thi s is all a delusion! Many, (said he) will talk about t henecessity of what they call A NEW CREATION-, and that there mu stalso of nec essity be experienced great di stress of soul, darkness ,sorr ow for sin, and the like, thus, (he continucd) they make th eHoly Spirit the tormentor, rather than the Comforter." .

And no less culpable is this writer, who daringly flies in th e veryfront of scri pture, to establish the A rminian heresy, tbat not spe­c ia l grace, a nd supernatural agency, effects tbe work of regenera .ti on; bu t th at it is the revival of some latent power, th e resurrec­tion of so me buried principle, which requires o nly th e burnishin g"of human exertion, in co-operation with the Spirit'S influence, an dthus th e Ad am -nature becomes renewed; and It wou ld appear , fol.lowiu g up th e inconsistency, the flesh lusteth not against th e s pi ­I it, nor ti le sp ir it against the flesh.

As th e piece itself is so recently before the read ers of the Gospell\Iagazine , I will mak e but on e more quotation and proceed. IIIp roo f of th e imagined eo.operation of the natural faculti es, wi tht lu: aids and assistanccs, of th e Holy G ho st , reads this ; " It d oesnot require a ,·ery g reat stre tc h o(the na tu ral powers for a p ersonto kn ow he is a sinuc r , and as the conscience is made tender by t heHoly G host , sin appears e xceeding sinful ; in th e scripture he rea ds(u .« a faithf ul SI~1JlIlg , 6;c.' and a little sound appropriating fa it h ,opcrat ing 01 1 his natural pow ers, will enable him to say,' He lo v­ed me, and ga ve himself for me.' "

How can one deprecate so t ruth -dishonouring a se ntime nt asthis? Did" Agur" suppose ' h is readers to be as shark.throaterlas those of a. co nte mpo rar y Miscellan y, so as to be able to stea l­low su ch , as eve n a certain ,( .Batch of Hev cr ends?" llIigilt be ill-c li ued to emit. '

H er e lies th e II reat ev il. Mcn , to do awn v with th e necessity of :\ I.m ig hty po we r il~he work o f regen eration, ;q~lle that e xist ing abilit y ,su ijposeJ ability, .n ceds o llly som ewhat of ex puns ion ; p owers llal·l1 .ally .possssed, need only be pu t forth; th e slu ggish animal needs but l u

* Vide cover of last month's nu mber.

215THE GOSPEL MAGAZINE.

" , har ply spurred up, and his sides being already te nder, (asI' ) a s.nall share, or " stretch" of natural exertion beyond his.11 1('l\lp t , will bring him to th e desired goal,-and «litt le more

Ii will e nable him to realize the verv summit of his wish es. HowoI" lIt i)' is Arminianis~l the root arId sa p of every doctrine and

1IIl ,j plc t ha t come short of gospel , truth; hence we hear per sonsI" h"ld these opinions, though it ma,V be they are clear in the1' 1ri IIC of t he atonement, and ofth e co mpleteness and security of

church in ChJ'lst,-which expression is by them tortured to al 'lIIgely inconsistent purpose-wc hear th em withou t limitat ion

caution: dealing out the invitations and pro mises of the gos pel,till , whe the r convinced of their lost estate by nature, or really in,-d of spiritual comfort 01' not , , ,lIence al so they hold that the damning sin is unbelicf, in other

ords that man is 'fiua lly lost for not exercisin g faitli in Christ.But I must intrude no farther at present.Apr il 7,.181 8. ITHIEL.

STRICT URES ON TIfE EVAK GELl C AL MA GA ZI NE .

N o, XV.

CHRIST THE GI FT OF THE FA TH sn.

Til E pen of the detector of false doctrines iu the Evangeli ca l :\1a­'a:'.i ne has not of late lain unemployed ; bec au se of that fashi onablemisce llany affording not instances of religious turpitude , suffi cientt o warrant a continuation of these Strictures. The soul, at all al iveto t he importance and necessity of spiritual in struction , mad e so bythe almig hty , quickening power, of th e only effectual teacher ofthe church , and who may have witnessed the p oisoned streams thatperiodically flow through this channel of pollution, must bleed atI he re view of them. 'Tis enough to g rie vously wound the souls ofthe Lord's family-yes! and to break th e hearts of the' litt le ones;'who oft-t imes reflecting upon the lamentable subjec t , are readj - to ex ­cla im with the weeping prophet: " Zion sp rcadeth forth her hands,and there is none to comfort her; the Lord hath c omman ded co n­ce rn ing Jacob, that his adversaries should be round ab out hilll."­l .am. i. 7.

If th e reader will turn ' to Jannary Evan. Mag. P: 6 . he willthere discover a most awful instance of th e depravity of e r e ry 11lI­man principle, even where the heart is influenced by rcl ig-ious feel­1r 1 '~'S , and is zealous in a religious cause. There, one, affecting to()1 1~ r the incense of praise, to the God of seasons an d of all merciesI'llI' th e benefits of " A New Year," ' in th e greater part of his.'ssay , has perverted the counsel of God, poured co nte mp t upon the«ove nant of g race , and trodden under f oot the Son if G od. T heseIt will be see n are heavy charges ; but, weigh ty as thcy arc , t heylie at the door of thi s essayist-s-and if the g ui lt involv ed in t hem ,

'2 16 T HE GOSPE L M AGAZ l NE .

remain unatoncd for; when the des~roying angels beh olds .histhreshold u nsprink lcd by the blood of that covenant, a dreadfulwoe awaits him !

The wr ite r sets olT in the usual st rai n of trifling professors, byputting in prac t icc, t hat Satan ic gu ile so notoriou sly preval ent,when money is abou t to be am assed for t he use of so me popularinst it ut ion, IJy coinplirncnting ODe party (of course th e one.address­cd ) a t oth er's e x penee .

St. Pau l is su bpcened as e vidence against th ose w ho.are sa id toprofess " e vangelica l sentiments," in this passage" By th eir fruit s>'c shall \{ lOW them." The deci sion is soon forme d , as 'l1i~ht ,beimmediately anticipated by persons accustomed to th eir method of:ll"gument: "Search thelists of benefactors to the numerous insti­tutions, which have been established to promote the best in terestsof mankind . Examine what proportion of the contributors, and oftheir contributions, compared with those of persons in similar classesof civil society, is derived from people professing .what is gen erallyu nderstood by the phrase, " e vangel ical sentiments.' Surely suchwri ters , and such preachers arc pitiable! .

B ut we 'come now to view th e more important part of the piece.T he text commented on, is " Thanks be to Godfor his unspeaka:able gif t; anti first, the gift of Chri st is described as unspeakable ini ts nature, and is summed up thus: " Not wrung from th e justiceof God , or wrought to appease his wrath against sinne rs, but, Godso loved th e world as to give his only begotten Son ."

One would hardly suppose the mind of man so abandoned to thedi ctates of the powers of darkness as the sense contain ed hereinwarrants th e reader to believe, had it not been for a subsequentpassage which :her eafter shall "oe noticed : .

- A most g lorious existing truth in God's word, without whi chthe a ttri bute s of Jehovah would not harmonize, nor th e truths ofth e go spel agree, is, that the " ~nly begotten Son" though equalwit h t he Fa the r , was also the gift of th e Father. Also a div inetruth, equally incontestible , that not the sins of his people, but his.lm'c for the per sons of his people, was the original cause of th atgift. Bu t Phere were (I speak afte r th e manner of men) other rno­tives ill the mi nd of .Jehovah.

KENT.( T o be continued.)

P. S. T he reader will be pleased to mak e the following alt era­tion u pon page ·4 0 .

L ine 30 , f Of' '' garden ," read guards.

d