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the sum full of wisdom and perfect in beauty;"* yet, He says, "I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them that behold thee."

Such is the mark, and the number of the name, of that new form of Gentile apostacy, which sprung up from the earth, under the influence of revived Platonism and Aristotelianism, modern arts and science, and increased commerce and civilization. The world became in that state which is spoken of by the prophet, when he denounced judgment against the "scornful men," who ruled the people in Jerusalem: "ye have said, we have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves." They cried peace, peace, when there was no peace, but a destruction determined against them. And, most wonderful! in this same condition of death and hell, all christendom remains to the present moment, and Barabbas is received and worshipped instead of the Lord of glory.

It is this mystery of iniquity which the second advent of the Lord, will destroy by the brightness of the truths which accompany His presence,‡ "and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Sion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." Now shall be heard a great cry and lamentation, for death is in every house. Israel will go forth from bondage rejoicing, and a great multitude of all nations and tongues, and they shall offer to the Lord pure and spiritual sacrifices, and the man of sin shall be destroyed; for the great day of the wrath of the Lord is come, and who shall be able to stand.T

2 Thess. ii. 8.

* Ezek. xxviii. 12.
§ Rom. xi. 26; Rev. vii. 1-8.

+ Isaih xxviii. 14-22.

Exod. xii. 29-33.

T Rev. vi. 17.

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CHAPTER V.

THE ATONEMENT AND UNITARIANS.

CHRISTAINS, by which term I mean all who are united to the Lord by a living faith, as His spiritual body, typified by His fleshly body, are called the sons of God.* As sons, Christians are admitted into the holiest of holies with their Father; and are informed both of His nature and character, and of His purposes and decrees.† To those who are without, and who stand in the condition of servants, these things are unknown and mysteries. But a mystery revealed, ceases to be a mystery; for a revelation is a lifting up of the veil to make known that which was before unknown. Thus Paul says the veil was upon Moses; but the veil "is done away in Christ." And, therefore, also it is, that Christians are said to enter within the veil: or into the secret apartment or council chamber of God, their Father.

Hence we may see the propriety of the expressions within and without the veil. Without are the servants, within are the children. To those without, the words of God are a mystery, and all things are done in parables;" seeing, they perceive not, and hearing they do not understand, and for this reason they are called "MYSTERY, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth." Far different is the condition of those within the veil. For to them Christ says, "unto you it is given to KNOW the mystery of the kingdom of God." And it is by this knowledge that they are sanctified; as our Lord prays, "sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth."** In this sense, also, Peter is to be understood, when he says, "grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus, our Lord; according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue."tt A convincing illustration of the necessity of this knowledge is seen in what our Saviour declares to His disciples, in order that they might be prepared for

*John i. 12.

Rev. xvii. 5.

† Heb. x. 19; John xv. 15.
Mark iv. 11.

2 Cor. iii. 14. **John xvii. 17.

§ Mark iv. 11. †† 2 Peter i. 2, 3.

the persecutions which should attend them; "they shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh that whosever killeth you will think that he doeth God service, and these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father nor

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Inasmuch as those without are blind, we should cease our astonishment that they boast of their unrevealed mysteries; give us mysteries, say they; we delight in unintelligible mysteries, we believe because we cannot understand. They hug their fetters. When Zedekiah was taken captive to Babylon his eyes were put out, so that he saw not the land, though he died there,† and thus it is with these lovers of mystery; they see not the chain of their bondage. They are taken in the snares of their own unbelief. As they are not admitted into the secret place of the Lord, and know nothing of His counsels, they cannot, even when the sword comes, perceive it with the eye of understanding. They are always divining false causes for their calamities, and rejoicing in a supposed dawning morn of millennial day, when they are yet in midnight. How extatic, in their opinion, is the undefining fervor of a worship without meaning, a devout adoration of mere words; the offering up of their devotions " TO THE UNKNOWN GOD." Him whom they ignorantly worship, they wish not should be declared to them, and being drunken with the strong drink of their own imaginations, they turn with distaste from the new wine of simple truth.

From the relation of sonship in which believers stand to God, it is quite manifest, that the government of God, in His household, is paternal, and that He conducts Himself to His family, in all respects, as a wise and holy Father. This will help us to understand the atonement of Christ. A father is bereaved of his son, who is prodigal and departs from him, and wastes his patrimony in pursuits destructive and miserable. Would the parent care less for his son, than he would for a sheep which had strayed away, or a piece of silver which was lost? Be assured that his heart will yearn for the outcast, and that he will leave no means untried to recover and restore him. But the difficulty is, that his son has left him under a mistaken notion that the father is cruel, severe, and exacting; that he demands returns where he has bestowed no affection, and that the pleasure which was in vain

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sought at home, is to be found abroad. What way, therefore, can the father take, but to send some trusty messenger, that he may secretly watch over his wandering boy, protect him from injury, guide him to knowledge, and avail himself of the first opportunity to awaken him to repentance and a return of affection? At length, under the hard service of his own unappeaseable and evil passions, the youth is brought to the last extremity of want and suffering. Hungering and thirsting, he turns, in recollection, to the home which he had forsaken. Ah! "how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough, and to spare, and I perish with hunger." This thought instils new hope and life into him. He arises and goes to his father. Now is the happy moment for the delighted parent! Afar off his father saw him, knew him, and hastens, and runs, and falls on his neck, and kisses him. Father, exclaims the penitent, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father says to his servants, "bring forth the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet, and bring hither the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this, my son, was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found."

Powerful as our Saviour's* parable of the prodigal son is, to portray the natural love of an earthly parent, it is insufficient, as all types or language must be, to represent the inexhaustible fulness of love in Him whose perfection is without limit. Behold, everywhere, the instincts and strivings of humanity and affection, even in our fallen race. See that mother! That tender babe in her arms, fevered and pining with disease and want, is exhausting the fountains of her life, and she feeds it, as it were, with her blood. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her own womb? Yea, they may forget; yet, (says the Lord,) will I not forget thee; BEHOLD I HAVE ENGRAVEN THEE UPON THE PALMS OF MY HANDS!"t All the love that ever was felt by men, by saints, by angels, all combined, would be but a feeble impulse compared with the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.t

Therefore, when men depart from the house of God, or when, never having known God, they remain absent from Him, and will not come at His call, He does, indeed, send messengers to them, not

* Luke xv. 22-24.

Isaiah xlix. 15, 16.

+ Eph. iii. 19.

one, but many-all His providences-to gather them in, from the broad road of evil, and to do them all the good which is possible, in their state of unbelief and wilful transgression. But He is not content merely with sending messengers. He Himself takes on Himself the form of a servant, and as a man laden with sorrows and acquainted with griefs, He goes to seek and to save them that are lost. Despised, rejected, spit upon, He does not smite them with the thunder of His arm. Oh, no! Only love can slay enmity. The man who conquers evil by evil, perishes in his own victory. But look now, how the God of all the earth draws His rebellious children to Him! He dies upon the cross, condemned as a male. factor. Who could conceive such love, such patience, such meekness, such gentleness, goodness, and long-suffering! It is the sight of these that disarms hate. We are the workmanship of God, and our Lord has so formed us, that the cords of love, and only the cords of love, shall finally prevail against the gates of hell. A voice issues from the blood of our slain Father, speaking good things. Little children, you hate me, because you know me not. Think better of me than to suppose I am that cruel Being whom your imaginations have represented. For what is done, I make no threat of vengeance. Alas! your own deeds will execute their own punishment, and unless you hasten to depart from them, will consume you by a fire unquenchable and all-devouring. What joy have you ever had in wickedness; what joy that left not its sting behind it, and which festered in your heart? By a law of eternal necessity, vice and misery are for ever yoked together. Behold my example, and judge of me by my works. Have I not all power to do as I would? The earth was made by my hands, and I could upheave it, and strike it to atoms, if such were my pleasure! The heavens I could tear from their orbits, and convulse my whole spiritual creation in agonies of pain! But I do none of these things; because, discerning between love and wrath, I see the beauty, the excellence, and the glory of holiness, which is love, and the deformity and pollution of the demon, hate. Consider the operation of these principles, in yourselves. That little and brief · rest which seems to attend you, does it not proceed from love, which, though broken and in ruins, has still some existence in your bosoms? Your wretchedness, you must be conscious, results from violating this law, and your happiness is the fruit of keeping it,

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