press these sentiments; yet the Holy Spirit, for wise reasons, seems to have accommodated his suggestions, so far as relates to mere style, to the age in which they wrote, and their respective talents for composition. First, This seems to have been necessary to ascertain the authenticity of the several books of Scripture, or that they were written at the time specified in the books themselves, and by the persons to whom they are respectfully ascribed. The sacred writers lived in different ages of the world, and in different countries; and had their writings not contained the idioms or modes of expression peculiar to the age or country in which they lived, their authenticity might have been disputed. Besides, God saw meet for wise ends to employ, as the penmen of Scripture, persons of different stations in life, and who, on that account, must have had a different education, and different habits; and had not their style been different, the books that bear their respective names would have wanted one internal mark of their authenticity. For example, had Isaiah, who had been brought up in the court of the kings of Judah, written in the same style as Amos, a herdmen of Tekoa, or had Amos written in the same style with Isaiah, it might have occasioned suspicion with regard to the authenticity of the books ascribed to both. But farther, the variety of style found in the sacred Scriptures seems no less necessary for the ends of edification. Though the Scriptures were intended for the general and permanent use of the church, yet their several parts were intended for the more immediate instruction of those among whom the inspired writers lived at the time, and to whom they were first addressed; but to secure this more immediate end, it was necessary that the style most familiar to the class of persons for whose use they were more immediately intended should be preserved. In fine, the Holy Spirit, in inspiring the sacred writers, had not for his object to please men's taste for composition, but to inform their judgment, and to improve their hearts. Besides, the Scriptures were intended for the use of persons of the meanest capacity. Accordingly, though certain expressions, or modes of expression, employed by some of the sacred writers may not possess the same beauty or elegance to be found in the writings of others of them; yet even the style of the former must have been viewed by the Spirit of God as the best on the whole to be employed at the time, and in existing circumstances for general edification. These are some of the reasons that may be assigned for the variety of style which has been introduced into the inspired volume; and we apprehend they are not unworthy of the wisdom and goodness of the God of the Scriptures. It has been objected, that the claim which some of the writers of sacred history make of peculiar fitness for narrating the facts contained in their histories, from their having been eye and ear witnesses of them, seems to militate against the doctrine of plenary inspiration; for had they been furnished with both matter and words, their previous knowledge of these things could have given them no advantage above others. This objection is founded particularly upon what is said by Luke in the beginning of his gospel, chap. i. 3, 4. In reply, it may be observed, that the facts respecting our Lord's miracles, death, resurrection, and ascension to glory, on the authenticity of which the truth of Christianity depends, are attested to us by human as well as by divine testimony. This was necessary to confront the infidel, who will admit of nothing but mere human evidence; and at the same time to lay a solid foundation for the faith of the true believer, which stands not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. The disciples of Jesus, therefore, who had an accurate knowledge of these things from their own observation, had a peculiar fitness for being employed by the Spirit, as the spirit of inspiration, for furnishing the church with a divine and infallible record of these things; seeing they could combine his testimony, which was divine and supernatural, and of which they were only the organs, with their own testimony, founded on their personal observation, and thus act up to the injunction of their Lord and Master. "When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, HE shall testify of me. I tion, farther than merely guarding its And YE also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning:" Jno. xv. 26, 27. The doctrine of plenary inspiration, therefore, does not suppose that the prior knowledge which inspired men had from other sources of these things about which they spoke and wrote under divine suggestion, was either suppressed, or rendered of no farther use to them, as witnesses for the truth. All that is supposed is, that, speaking or writing as inspired teachers, they were not left to proceed upon their previous acquaintance with these things, but were furnished by divine suggestion, both as to matter and words, in giving an infallible rule of faith to the church. real author from falling into gross error. 5. We may notice farther here, that the evangelists professedly give our Lord's discourses in his own words, and an account of his miracles in all their minute circumstances, and that, too, a It may be observed, that besides innumber of years after his ascension.spiration, strictly so-called, the church But it is impossible to conceive, that, at was favored with communications of any time, and more especially at a period God's will by the more immediate apso remote from the time when these dis-pearances of the Son of God: sometimes courses were delivered, and those miracles wrought, they could have done so merely from memory. Besides, John informs us, that there were also many other things which our Lord did, which | were not recorded either by himself or his fellow-evangelists. Now, can we suppose for a moment, that the evangelists were left to their own judgment to select the things which were written, especially when these were intended for the standing use of the church in all future ages as a rule of faith. Indeed, every consideration forbids that we should admit, even with regard to historical facts, any other species of inspiration than that of divine suggestion. 6. We observe farther, in support of plenary inspiration, that unless it be admitted, the Bible has no valid claim to be called the Word of God. The Scriptures frequently lay claim to a divine origin in support of their supreme authority as a rule of faith and manners; but if the sacred writers were only under what is called superintendence, we cannot see the justness of that claim. It would be a gross perversion of words, to call a man the author of a book who had no hand in its composi in the likeness of human nature, which he was to assume in the fulness of time, and sometimes in the shechinah. Communications from God were given also by means of dreams, as in the case of Samuel, when warned of the judgments coming on the house of Eli; and in the case of Joseph, when warned to take the young child Jesus and his mother, and to carry them into Egypt, to avoid the sword of Herod. To dreams may be added visions. These contained, along with the annunciation of certain events, a symbolical representation of them presented to the imagination of the prophets when asleep, or in an ecstasy when awake. Though these modes of communicating God's will to men were distinct from inspiration, strictly so called, yet they were always accompanied with it; for the impression on the minds of the prophets, that what they heard was the voice of God, and that what they saw was the symbol of a present Deity, was as really the effect of the inspiration of the Spirit, as were those revelations of God's will which were communicated by simple suggestion. Let it be observed further, that one attribute of inspiration was, that the, "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Is not my word like a fire, saith the Lord? and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" As our Lord taught the church orally by the prophets and apostles, and other inspired persons while they lived, so he continues to teach her by their writings, now that they are dead. She is "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope." We shall only add, that our Lord continues to instruct the church by the ordinance of preaching as dispensed by uninspired men; but then all their instructions must be brought to the standard of inspiration, and it is only in so far as their instructions accord with this standard that they are binding persons inspired could not conceal the The circumstance now mentioned is inseparably connected with the very design of inspiration. The gift of inspiration was conferred not for the private benefit of the prophets themselves, but for the public edification of the church. Had it been left to the choice of the persons inspired to reveal or conceal the message delivered to them according to their own inclination, the very end of inspiration might have been defeated. The mandate of heaven was peremptory. upon the conscience. ON MAN'S MORTALITY. "But man dieth and wasteth away, yea man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?" Job. xiv. 10. IN the crowd of busy cares by which we are more or less beset, and the multiplied objects that intrude themselves on our regards, we are prone to lose sight of our real state and future destiny. It is good, therefore, to join in the meditations of the afflicted patriarch, and with him to ponder our latter end. Let us consider,— I. The present condition of man.— Man dieth and wasteth away." He comes into the world to die out of it. The seeds of mortality are born with him. He partakes of the frailty of the source from whence he sprung. Ver. 1, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." Sometimes those days are very few. With many, scarcely are the eyes opened to the light of nature than they close in darkness; others ascend to the dawn of life, and taste a little of its chequered | of enjoyment or misery-which tranjoys. The bud of youthful existence scend all our thoughts, that stamps an but begins to open when it withers. infinite importance on our nature, and "He cometh forth like a flower and is renders the exit of the soul from this cut down." life as the most momentous period of our history. How short-lived is the bloom of that flower! How fleeting is the shadow! Even in regard to those whose days are prolonged,-how narrow is the span in the retrospect! and what a small point when seen in the light of eternity! "Few and evil," said old Jacob, "have the years of the life of my pilgrimage been." Were there nothing more than the falling down of what is visible into ruins, we might indeed bewail the destruction of the fabric, but justified in the comparatively little thought too generally bestowed upon death. But when we remember that there is what we do not see, an invisible immortal spirit, which has taken its departure, and appeared naked before the omniscient and holy Judge; can we possibly feel indifferent to such an eventan event that must shortly befal us all; and ought it not to be the object of our most intense solicitude, "Where shall I be?" What shall be my state in that boundless eternity which shall then open to receive me? III. This brings us to the solemn question, "Where is he?" The spirit has been given up, that which properly constitutes the man has gone forth from the earthly tabernacle, and where is he now? He is not in the world. "For But the other idea here is, that man not only dieth, but "wasteth away "and the patriarch draws a contrast between what passes on the herbage and trees of the field, and the condition of our nature. Ver. 7, "For there is hope of a tree if it be cut down that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease; though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant." All creation revives. The death of winter is succeeded by the animation and beauty of spring. The trees are clothed anew with foliage, and the fields with ver- the living know that they shall die, but dure. But not so with_man.-"He the dead know not anything, neither dieth and wasteth away,"--gradually have they any more a reward, for the decomposes, until all the members of the memory of them is forgotten. Also, once living frame become one with the their love, and their hatred, and their dust of the ground. envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun." The uncontrollable power of him who appoints his bounds that he cannot pass, has sent him away from all present scenes. "Thou prevailest for ever against him, and he passes thou changest his countenance and sendest him away." He is now removed from this terrestrial abode, and done with all its pursuits, its cares, its joys, and sorrows. But he is somewhere-in another region of existence,-" Where is he?" II. All this can apply only to that part of man which is susceptible of decay. There is something distinct from, and beyond this which he resigns or gives up when he dies,-"He giveth up the ghost, or the spirit." Apart from the spirit he is but a piece of inert matter, and like other merely earthly creatures drops out of being and sinks into nothing. But revelation assures us that "while the body returns to the dust, the spirit returns to God who gave it." At death it leaves its dwelling place of clay, and exists as a conscious being, which still reasons, desires, remembers, and willspossessing powers that never can be destroyed; nay, which remain not only unimpaired, but we have reason to believe, become greatly enlarged and strengthened by death. It is the consideration of man as an intellectual, an ever-living spirit, inheriting capacities The answer which alone can be returned to this question, is one that involves the whole subject in overwhelming importance. The spirit which is resigned is either "with Christ,” or with Satan; either in the abodes of the blessed, or in hell; either filled with pure heavenly light and joy, or subjected to the gnawings of a guilty and accusing conscience, termed, "the worm that never dies." Did not our Lord intend, by his parable of the rich man and Lazarus, to teach us this truth? and where was the God-neglecting worldling when he died? you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." Edinburgh, 1. JOHN III. 9. A. A. ALL Scripture is of God, therefore all is good-all is profitable. These words were no doubt given by John to instruct his brethren. I shall divide them into two leading ideas. In misery, extreme and irremediable. SERMON BY THE LATE REV. J. STEVENS. Where again was the humble but believing and sanctified soul? Angels waited the dismissal of the spirit of this redeemed one, and bore it away to Abraham's bosom-the place of rest, of perfect love and joy. Whether the one or the other be the lot of a departed spirit the state is unalterably fixed,-no change for ever. "He that is unjust let him be unjust still, and he which is filthy let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous let him be righteous still, and he that is holy let him be holy still." Holiness and happiness, or moral degradation and misery are thus progressive, interminable, everlasting. Professed believers in Christ: let us meditate on the real state of our souls, individually, look away from the fascinating or busy scenes of life, to that day when the immortal spirit shall be required of us. Let the question be felt by us in all its solemnity: "Where shall I then be?" Is there reason to believe, that Christ the impartial judge is my Saviour? that his work has been, and is the only ground of personal acceptance with a holy God; and that now sowing to the Spirit I shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting? Do the revolutions of seasons find us "giving all diligence that we may be found of him in peace? O remember that the "Well done good and faithful servant," must precede the words of cordial welcome, "Enter ye into the joy of your Lord.” I. The spiritual birth supposed. 1. A spiritual birth. He speaks of those who are born of God,—it is a real change-an immortal change; this is incorruptible seed, so that the children of God cannot sin against him,—it is a celestial birth; whatever God does in this manner, he comes to poor sinners in their creatureship,-indwelling sin is the worst foe you have to contend with. God has determined to slay it, and all those persons in whom he does so, are brought into communion with him, and whosoever is born of God, is brought into a relationship; without this renovation of heart, spiritual activity never rises. It will appear that we are not only born, but born again into Christ, and are partakers of his fulness. We then have a new end in view, which is to glorify God, and we see the enmity of the heart slain. Christ becomes a resident, his people are loved, and his house visited with delight and satisfaction. Wherever this change takes place, its influence must be felt. 2. The influence. Whosoever is born of God, cannot commit sin; but what Indifferent and undecided hearers of can this mean? for the worst of sins the word: How often has the voice have been committed by the best of sounded in the dispensations of divine men; but I know but of one sin which Providence, "Prepare to meet thy God's word declares cannot be blotted God?" Has this voice been hitherto out, which is the sin unto death. God neglected? How is the immortal soul has purposed to purify his church, and thus periled, its capability of resistance he who has forgiven, can alone preserve to gospel invitations and warnings in-us; for we are still in the wood-the creased, and the danger more greatly incurred of perishing in unbelief, and guilt, and woe? Delay therefore no longer. The day of salvation is yet continued. Hasten to the divine and allglorious righteousness of the Lamb of God, and follow his will. "To-day if enemy is still in the land; but we must be as deaf as the adder, and must shut our ears against all his suggestions. The apostle saith, "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father." This supposes that all are liable to sin; nay, even prone. We must therefore |