in three divine Persons: and our decision is founded on the statements advanced relative to the second Person, and the hypostatic union formed in behalf of the church. It is our mercy to know that the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, by the wondrous condescension of uniting himself to human nature, hath made the creatures of his power kings and priests unto God: but can the thing formed be in nature and essence equal to the divine former? Mr. H. answers in the affirmative. The church of God is gloriously named, the Lord our righteousness: but are we justified thence, in attributing to her the possession of the essential glories of the King of kings and Lord of lords? It is written, he that cometh to, and believeth in Christ, dwelleth in Him and He in him: but all the fulness of the Godhead bodily dwelleth in our Immanuel: and doth the believer abide in that fulness? Did St. Paul's triumphant assertion, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me! indicate a profane personification of Him in whom he lived, and moved, and had his spiritual being? And, because he that hath the Son hath life; doth he that hath the Son, presume to possess the vital essence of Jehovah ? To each of these interrogatories, Mr. Haslam, by the drift of his argument, ventures to reply-yes! Without the remotest expectation of effecting a change in the mind of one so thickly enveloped in the clouds of his own mysticism; and at the peril of receiving the fearful malediction of the author; (who intimates a determination to contend with some who may speak or write "in opposition to his statements") we proceed to address ourselves to a few of the absurdities this scheme developes. Our glorious Lord declares to his disciples, and for the information of all his saints, I am the vine, ye are the branches. From this striking figure of the eternal union of the church to the covenant-head, can the believer, possest of sober judgment, suppose that each individual branch comprehends the substance of the whole plant? The church collectively is described, a habitation of God through the Spirit, and each particular member as lively stones built up a spiritual house: they are also both individually and collectively denominated, temples of the Holy Ghost. Would Mr. H., therefore, apply the name of the DIVINE SANCTIFIER to "the regenerate church, in conjunction with her glorious head?" Moreover, the apostle writes, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you? Would our author argue, therefore, that each believer partakes of the nature and essence of that divine Person, in the same sense he holds they are really IMMANUEL ? But we take shame to ourselves in pursuing the subject thus far, and for arguing with any degree of seriousness on such a dogma. Nothing short of a hope that Mr. Haslam is not wilfully trifling with his readers, could have induced us to proceed. The tendencies of a heedless adoption of his theory are unspeakably injurious. While it behoves the believer, and it is his glory, to have the eye of faith constantly fixed on THE PERSON of Immanuel; in him beholding all his hope and all his salvation, and aspiring after renewed vision of his Lord's beauty, glory and excellency; he cannot be forgetful,- for it must tend to increase the intensity of his admiration, of THE WORKS of Immanuel. The Son of God, in the person of Christ, hath wrought a robe of righteousness, which hides all the sin and transgression of his people; which renders them meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, and will be their glorious clothing while eternity endures: but the garments of salvation, this righteous robe, must be put on, and worn by them. righteousness of Christ, as respects the believer, is an imputed righteousness; it is, saith the holy apostle, to all, and upon all them that believe: but from all we can gather from this "original piece," of which the following extract is a fair specimen, we know not that the writer embraces that essential verity. The "Indeed, I hesitate not to say, that Godhead, alone, is that new capacity of the regenerate soul, in vital, personal union with which, it spiritually and divinely, lives-moves-feels-sees-hears-speaks-repentsprays—mourns-believes-loves- rejoices—triumphs-waits—ascends to hea ven, and is glorified. Yes, truly, as our proposition has before stated, this lovely Divine Essence is all that gives a real, tangible salvation and glory to the soul, not only on earth, but in heaven also. While on earth this vital Essence is the new life within us, by which we live to God-that spiritual circumcision which separates the soul from its earthly, sensual, and devilish principles-that holy anointing oil, which constitutes us real, vital prophets, priests and kings unto God-that well of living water within us, springing up into everlasting life-that good ground, the honest and good heart, (i. e. he is all the goodness and honesty which is therein,) bringing forth spiritual fruit the paradisiacal seed in the heart, producing joy and gladness, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody-the heavenly dew, unto Israel, by which he grows as the lily, und casts forth his roots as Lebanon-the dwelling-place, the shelter, the fortress, and the palace of the soul--the river, whose streams make glad the city of God-the kingdom of God within us—the clean water which, being poured upon us, renders us cleanthe divine waters of spiritual baptism, wherein we are buried in Christ, and rise to newness of life-the fire to consume the stubble—the fanning wind to drive away the chaff-the very pulp of the spiritual grain, rendering it the finest of the wheat-he is the wall of fire round the soul to protect, and the glory in the midst of it-he is the bread, the wine, the milk, the honey, and the manna, upon which the soul lives:-to sum up, he is the life, the light, the love, the power, the wisdom, and the joy, of and in the soul, all through its pilgrimage upon earth: and in heaven, this Divine Essence is the fountain of living water-the everlasting spiritual daylight of the soul-the "far more exceeding and ETERNAL WEIGHT OF GLORY!" "For the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory!" In short this VITAL SPIRIT is the whole beauty, bliss, and grandeur of that most holy place! The contemplation of other of the works of Emmanuel, as opposed to the sentiment expressed above, and through the whole piece, we have not space in this month's number to enter on. We would earnestly entreat Mr. Haslam to recollect the faithful exhortation of St. Paul to Timothy,-charge them that are rich in this world, (whether in earthly possessions, or natural acquirements) that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God! Also the same faithful apostle's exhortation to the church at Rome,boast not! for thou standest by faith. God All-sufficient; or the Triumphs of Faith, as exemplified in the Sufferings and Deaths of Mrs. Martha Edwards, and Mrs. Ann Prince. Palmer. The relation of "dying experiences," by "surviving friends," is become so common a pursuit among all classes of professors of religion, that we consider it to be the bounden duty of those who have a proper regard for the honours of Christ and his truth, to view with watchful eye, and discriminating judgment, every such description of narrative which may come under their observation. Tens of thousands of the Lord's people have been favoured by the long-anxious desires of their souls being more than realized, on their approach to the territories of the last enemy; and innumerable are the testimonies on record, of the joyful anticipations of, and triumphant passage over, the river of Jordan. Multitudes have forded those streams, and had an entrance ministered unto them abundantly into the everlasting kingdom, whose latter days were not crowned with peace, nor rendered blissful by the rod and staff of their heavenly Father comforting them. And, is it travelling beyond the boundaries of truth, to affirm, that multitudes of whom it may have been said "they left a good testimony behind them !" who, when ushered into the eternal world, found their sin unatoned for, and their transgressions unforgiven? These are a few of the many reasons which might be advanced in support of the opinion, that too much care cannot be bestowed in forming a scriptural judgment of the evidence given on matters of such mighty importance. On turning to the book before us, we find much that is calculated to profit and encourage the reader, if so be the same precious truth has been made precious to his soul. We shall, doubtless, often have cause to revert to the subject we have descanted on. CHRIST ALL AND IN ALL. THE sun is gazed on by all with admiration-yea, it is so admired, that by many it is adored and worshipped for a god, as by the Persians at this day: and many insensible creatures (some by opening and shutting, as marigolds and tulips; others by bowing and inclining the head, as the solsequy and mallow flowers) are sensible of its presence and absence; there seems to be such a sympathy, that, if the sun be gone or clouded, they wrap up themselves, or hang their heads, as unwilling to be seen by any eye but his that fills them. Thus it is, and that in a far more larger sense, that Christ's name is wonderful; angels and saints for love, the world and devils for fear, wonder at him; the saints (duly and truly) adore him for their God, and were there ten thousand suns, the saints would admire Christ ten thousand times more than them all; he doth so attract and ravish their hearts by the beaming forth of his love-rays on them, that they seem to be sick and dying if they be not with Christ; they open when Christ comes, and shut when Christ withdraws, and will not be kissed by any lips, nor embraced by any arms but his. THE Spiritual Magazine; OR, SAINT'S TREASURY. "There are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST; and these Three are ONE." John v. 7. "Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." Jude 3. (For the Spiritual Magazine.) ON DIVINE FORGIVENESS. "Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered," Psalm xxxii. 1. NOTHING can exceed the sweetness of that genuine and exalted consolation, which emanates from a sense of divine forgiveness communicated to a prisoner of hope, who lies incarcerated in the prison-house of unbelieving fears, bound fast with the chains and fetters of his sins, and groaning for deliverance from his captivity. All men are in the prison of nature; but few indeed is the number who know and feel its bitterness. The character in my text being made alive to his lost estate, has become a willing captive in the day of God's power, though by nature he is irreconcilably opposed to a work of grace. Previous however to his gracious knowledge of divine forgiveness, and the view he entertains of reconciling mercy, the inexorable law of Sinai had pronounced her threatenings, commanded his seizure, and preferred her indictments; justice had passed the fatal sentence, and cast him into prison for his debt. Sensible of the justice of the verdict, he lies groaning under his oppressive burden, without hope of discharge, until the life-giving and soul-renovating power of God the Holy Ghost hears the cries for mercy, he had excited in his soul preparatory to the opening of the doors of his gloomy cell, when full liberty and deliverance is proclaimed through Immanuel's blood and righteousness. "I will hear the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer." Psalm cii. 17. The doctrine of pardon or forgiveness being one of the blessings of the immutable and everlasting covenant of peace, all the stipulations of which to the very letter have been accomplished by the Mediator, its sovereign exercise is founded on the unerring principle of divine VOL. II.-No. 20. 2 C God All-sufficient; or the Triumphs of Faith, as exemplified in the Sufferings and Deaths of Mrs. Martha Edwards, and Mrs. Ann Prince. Palmer. The relation of "dying experiences," by "surviving friends," is become so common a pursuit among all classes of professors of religion, that we consider it to be the bounden duty of those who have a proper regard for the honours of Christ and his truth, to view with watchful eye, and discriminating judgment, every such description of narrative which may come under their observation. Tens of thousands of the Lord's people have been favoured by the long-anxious desires of their souls being more than realized, on their approach to the territories of the last enemy; and innumerable are the testimonies on record, of the joyful anticipations of, and triumphant passage over, the river of Jordan. Multitudes have forded those streams, and had an entrance ministered unto them abundantly into the everlasting kingdom, whose latter days were not crowned with peace, nor rendered blissful by the rod and staff of their heavenly Father comforting them. And, is it travelling beyond the boundaries of truth, to affirm, that multitudes of whom it may have been said "they left a good testimony behind them!" who, when ushered into the eternal world, found their sin unatoned for, and their transgressions unforgiven? These are a few of the many reasons which might be advanced in support of the opinion, that too much care cannot be bestowed in forming a scriptural judgment of the evidence given on matters of such mighty importance. On turning to the book before us, we find much that is calculated to profit and encourage the reader, if so be the same precious truth has been made precious to his soul. We shall, doubtless, often have cause to revert to the subject we have descanted on. CHRIST ALL AND IN ALL. THE sun is gazed on by all with admiration-yea, it is so admired, that by many it is adored and worshipped for a god, as by the Persians at this day: and many insensible creatures (some by opening and shutting, as marigolds and tulips; others by bowing and inclining the head, as the solsequy and mallow flowers) are sensible of its presence and absence; there seems to be such a sympathy, that, if the sun be gone or clouded, they wrap up themselves, or hang their heads, as unwilling to be seen by any eye but his that fills them. Thus it is, and that in a far more larger sense, that Christ's name is wonderful; angels and saints for love, the world and devils for fear, wonder at him; the saints (duly and truly) adore him for their God, and were there ten thousand suns, the saints would admire Christ ten thousand times more than them all; he doth so attract and ravish their hearts by the beaming forth of his love-rays on them, that they seem to be sick and dying if they be not with Christ they open when Christ comes, and shut when Christ withdraws, and will not be kissed by any lips, nor embraced by any arms but his. |