Imagini ale paginilor
PDF
ePub

Columbus," appeared in the Freeman of June 6th :-"This is a revised edition, published also in a cheaper form, of the ablest life of Swedenborg which has yet appeared. It is well written, and gives a fair account of the character and works of this great mystic from the standpoint of an ardent admirer and believer in his doctrines. It has not altered our own estimate of him nor won our assent to his intellectual and spiritual vagaries. That he was a sincere, and in many respects a noble man, we do not doubt, and he has influenced strongly some of the strongest minds of our age. But how he could believe in his visions and revelations we are at a loss to imagine. We have found in his teachings little help."

The Atheneum makes the announcement that "Mr. Sparkes, of the South Kensington School of Art, is engaged upon a Life of Flaxman." This is not only an intimation that one artist is writing the life of another artist, but that one New Churchman is writing the life of another New Churchman. We look forward to its appearance with much pleasure.

The Eastern Daily Press, in reviewing the second edition of that popular work "The Evening and the Morning," has the following summing up: "The work we are reviewing, in addition to its intrinsic merit as an argumentative treatise, is written in pure faultless English, and the author has studiously avoided the too common habit of coining pedantic and unnecessary words, which may give an air of originality, but at the same time have a tendency to obscure instead of elucidating the meaning of the writer. We can heartily recommend The Evening and the Morning' as a highly readable and instructive book. It will not only prove of great value to the sceptic, but persons of all creeds and sects may find food for

[merged small][ocr errors]

On Sunday, May 26th, the Sunday-school sermons in connection with the Derby New Church were preached by the Rev. J. Presland, upon the subjects, "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise;" "Samuel's ephod and

little coat." He also delivered an address to the teachers, and scholars in the afternoon upon "Samson's strength." The whole of these subjects were eloquently and clearly explained by Mr. Presland, and could not fail to impress the minds and hearts of all present. The occasion of the visit of their former minister and townsman brought together a large number of New Church friends. The collections were good, and the singing by the children and choir all contributed to the success of the services.

At a devotional gathering in connection with the yearly meeting of the Society of Friends one of the speakers reminded his hearers "that faith without work was dead, that faith in Christ was a

means to an end, so that the things which were not possible under the Law are possible to believers. The requirements of the Gospel are not less but more than the requirements of the Law, but what the Law could not effect the living power of the Spirit of Christ can effect. All their Christian work depended upon the substantial character of the work in their own hearts."

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Two plans of lessons are given to suit those Societies which have school both in the morning and afternoon.

JESUS AND OTHERS' THOUGHTS.

July 7th, Morning.-Luke vi. 1-12. The Sabbath was made for man for the promotion of his physical and spiritual welfare. The Pharisees while they omitted the weightier matters of the Law professed great regard for external observances; they pleaded for the letter which killeth and ignored the spirit that giveth life, hence Isaiah i. 13-14. They hated the Lord, who was the Word made flesh, for the same reason that they made the Word of none effect through their traditions, because they loved darkness rather than light. They knew the Lord possessed the power of healing; they anticipated that He would heal the withered hand, not with gladness (as they would have done if they were in love to the neighbour), but in the hope of being able to convict the Lord of disobedience to the Mosaic Law.

This

But "He knew their thoughts." Our thoughts often find expression in our words and countenances; yet by hypocrisy we may disguise our thoughts from each other, but not from the Lord. In the next life our thoughts are revealed in the faces of our spiritual bodies; our spiritual state is always seen by the Lord. We may guess at each other's thoughts-the Lord "knew." is a proof of the Divinity of the Lord and of His identity with Jehovah (compare Ps. cxxxix. 1-4; John i. 47-49; ii. 23-25). Jesus knows all things-Omniscient-the only wise God our Saviour. He knows our thoughts just as well as He knew the thoughts of the Scribes and Pharisees; He knows the thoughts we cherish, and helps us to cherish good thoughts; He knows the thoughts that tempt us, and He helps us to resist them.

SAMSON AND DELILAH.

July 7th, Afternoon.—Judges xvi. 15-20. Delilah literally means feeble, weak, delicate, and spiritually represents a perverted affection, an affection allied to faith alone. She lived in the Valley of Sorek

(or the valley of choice wines), again betokening her as the representative of an affection for perverted faith or truth. A false faith in it self is not very dangerous to the spiritual Nazarite when it is conjoined to an affection that is feeble and weak and delicate for good; but full of covetousness, and determined and persistent for evil, then danger threatens the soul. It is not the declared enemy, but the secret traitor, that is the soul's greatest foe. Hence Adam is said to have been beguiled by Eve, Sisera by Jael, Samson by Delilah, and Solomon by his wives. If the affections are fixed on that which is right and good, the soul is safe; if otherwise, the soul is betrayed, and often "with a kiss."

The Lord

The hair signifies the externals of thought and life; these spiritually are the expression of the internal state. Where good and truth are not in the ultimates it is because they are not in the interiors, therefore the very hairs of our head are all numbered. John preached repentance clothed in hairy garments. perfected His Humanity to its very ultimates. His hair was white like wool. Nebuchadnezzar, the personification of the lust of dominion, was driven from men, and his hairs grew like eagles' feathers. Samson was strong so long as he allowed his hair to grow according to the Divine command; when he surrendered his Delilah, weak, feeble, and delicate. knowledge to the will of a corrupted affection he also became like

MARRIAGE.

On June 17th, at the New Church College Chapel, Devonshire Street, Islington, by the Rev. T. L. Marsden, Charles F. Baldwin, Ipswich, to Annie E. Lancaster, Islington.

Printed by MUIR AND PATERSON, 14 Clyde Street, Edinburgh, and published by JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street, London, W.C.

[graphic][merged small][merged small][subsumed][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

SECOND EDITION, NOW READY. PORTLAND HOUSE SCHOOL,

THE BOOK OF THE

SEASON.

Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s. 6d.

2. Death a Continuation of Life in the Spiritual World. By the Rev. Dr. Bayley,

262

264

4 Characteristics of the Religious Life of the

266

[blocks in formation]

THE

[blocks in formation]

SOHO HILL,

BIRMINGHAM.

Conducted by T. C. LOWE, B.A. Assisted by highly competent resident Masters, English and Foreign.

EVENING THE

AND THE

MORNING.

A Narrative.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

"It is not often that one meets with a book of this kind, so entirely free from religious cant, bigotry, and

On Human Science, Good and Evil, bitterness, and yet so full of wise and reverent thought

and its Works; and on Divine Revelation its Works and Sciences.

BY J. J. GARTH WILKINSON, M.D.

THE SPECTATOR.

"Dr. Garth Wilkinson is well known as one of the most able, the most cultivated, and most zealous disciples of the Swedish sage. In the elaborate book now before us, he attempts, with all the power of a large heart and mind, and with that impressiveness which is generally produced by a profound belief, to bring his favourite doctrines to bear not only on theology, but on scientific progress, and on a multitude of the most practical social questions of the day. . . . No competent reader. will rise from its study without having found much food for anxious thought, and above all, without being conScions of a healthy elevation of his moral nature, a deepening of his religious sentiment, and an increased Conviction of the reality of that unseen kingdom which lies above, and is, in some senses, logically prior to the domain of physical science."

THE NONCONFORMIST.

"The main worth of the book consists in this-that it contains a statement of the true and permanent relations of religion and science, derived from a long and attentive study of the works of Swedenborg. Those who are far from accepting the view of Swedenborg's mission and labours which Dr. Wilkinson has adopted, and so powerfully and unflinchingly defends, may well be willing to receive whatever light on this momentous subject is to be gained from the writings of this remarkable man."

DUBLIN UNIVERSITY MAGAZINE. "Among a special circle, and that not of unthinking people, Dr. Wilkinson has long held a high and honoured place as an original writer, and as translator, editor, and apostle of Swedenborg."

[blocks in formation]

and of earnest belief."-The Standard.

"We are prepared to admit that it is decidedly interesting, and that in many points it is conclusive and irrefutable. In one great respect we must express a hearty appreciation of the character of this book. It exhibits with much force and clearness the essential relation which exists between a right state of feeling and a reverent belief in God and His Word. . . . We may bespeak for this book an earnest attention, and promise that it will afford both pleasure and profit to those who will read it."-The Literary World.

"We have rarely read any treatise, however learned, that was more effective in dealing with the shallow scepticism of the day. . . . We can conceive that it would become a powerful agent for the dissipation of doubt in the mind of any person who should thoroughly grasp its impregnable positions."-The Tatler.

"Controversial romances are seldom pleasant reading, but The Evening and the Morning,' while directed against the views maintained in these columns, is an exception to the rule. The victory is given with considerable ability to a sort of good-hearted Swedenborgian Christian, and the book, which is very neatly printed, is above the usual level of novels written for propagandist purposes."-The National Reformer.

"Unlike most books of theological controversy, this is not dull; and, though it may be objected that the writer has both sides of the controversy in his own hands, no one will say that he uses his opportunities unfairly."-Morning Advertiser.

"The author, who writes a style terse, vigorous, and beautiful, has evidently passed through the several phases of speculation which he puts behind and beneath him with no little dialectical skill."-Ipswich Journal.

"The tale before us is written with an excellent purpose. It is the story of a young man who is led gradually from unbelief to Christianity; and though the subject is in itself trite enough, it is not treated in a common-place manner."-Westminster Gazette.

"The events are pleasantly related; and the arguments are real arguments, not mere rhetorical ninepins obviously set up for the author to bowl over, and of such feeble stability that the weakest logic would suffice for their subversion."-Intellectual Repository. LONDON: JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street

HE course of instruction comprises thorough English, Ancient and Modern Languages, Mathematics, Physical Science, Music, Singing, Drawing, and Gymnastics.

A large number of Pupils have passed University and other Examinations. INCLUSIVE TERMS.

[blocks in formation]

"This little volume is, to those who knew the late Mr. Hiller, almost like a voice from the other world. It breathes the same gentle, loving spirit which pervaded all he said and did while still among us, and is full of practical, suggestive thought."-New Jerusalem Messenger.

"Those who know the writings, and especially those who have listened to the preaching of the amiable and talented author of these sermons and essays, selected from the remains which he left behind him, will prize them as the sweet utterances of one who, though dead, yet speaketh."-Intellectual Repository.

Also by the same Author,

A FOUR-PAGE LEAFLET ON

AMIABILITY.

Price 3d. per dozen.

LONDON: JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street.

24 pages, foolscap 8vo, 1d. CHRISTIAN CHARITY.

BY THE

Rev. W. H. MAYHEW.

LONDON: JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street.

NEW TRACT BY CHAUNCEY GILES.

16 pages, foolscap 8vo, Id.

WHO WAS JESUS CHRIST?

BY THE REV. C. GILES.

LONDON JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street.

WHAT DOES SWEDENBORG REALLY
TEACH?

Ninth Edition, crown 8vo, cloth, 3s.
post free.

An Appeal in behalf of the
Doctrines taught in the
Writings of Emanuel
Swedenborg.

BY THE

'Rev. S. NOBLE.

"Here is a volume in which they are honestly expounded and the life and character of Swedenborg honestly described. So that by the perusal of a work of not quite 500 pages every reader can judge for himself who and what Swedenborg was and what he taught. We think that the unprejudiced reader will find that Swedenborg had far better grounds in reason and Scripture, for some of his views at least, than is commonly imagined. Like Professor BUSH of America, we have been astonished at the extent to which Scripture is quoted, and fairly enough too, in support of those views, and at their reasonableness and general harmony with the nature and order of life as indicated by science. . . We say then to all who want to know what Swedenborg taught: Get this book and read for yourselves." --The Christian Age.

Published for the MISSIONARY AND TRACT SOCIETY OF THE NEW CHURCH by

JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street, London.

By the Rev. A. CLISSOLD, M.A. Crown Svo, cloth, 2s. Sancta Cœna;

Or, the Holy Supper explained on the principles taught by Emanuel Swedenborg. 8vo, sewed, Is. 6d.

The Literal and Spiritual Senses of Scripture

In their relations to each other and to the
Reformation of the Church.
8vo, cloth, 6s. ¡
Transition;

Or the passing away of Ages or Dispensations,
modes of Biblical Interpretation and
Churches; being an illustration of the
Doctrine of Development.

LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, & Co.

The Birkbeck Building Society's Annual Receipts exceed Four Millions -How to purchase a house for two guineas per month, with immediate possession and no rent to pay. Apply at the Office of the BIRKBECK BUILDING SOCIETY, 29 and 30 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane. How to purchase a plot of land for five shillings per month, with immediate possession, either for Building or Gardening purposes. Apply at the Office of the BIRKBECK FREEHOLD LAND SOCIETY, 29 and 30 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane. How to invest your money with safety. Apply at the Office of the BIRKBECK BANK, 29 and 30 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane. Deposits received at varying rates of interest. Current Accounts opened with persons properly introduced, and Interest allowed on the minimum monthly balances. English and Foreign Stocks and Shares purchased and sold, and Advances made thereon. Letters of Credit and Circular Notes issued. A Pamphlet, with full particulars, on application. FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT, Manager.

SWEDENBORG.

The Four Primary Doctrines of the New Church, signified by the New Jerusalem in the Revelation. With an Introductory Preface, an Account of the Author, and Index. 2s. 6d.

The Doctrine of the Lord is a Scriptural deduction of the Divinity of Christ, of the personality of the Divine nature, and of the fact and meaning of the incarnation. The Godhead of our Saviour is made to rest upon the whole breadth of Scripture authority, and that there is a Trinity (not of persons but) of person in the Godhead, and that Christ is the person in whom the trinal fulness dwells.

The Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture explains that the Word we now possess is written in four styles. The first is by pure Correspondences thrown into an historical series; of this character are the first eleven chapters of Genesis. The second is the historical, consisting of true historical facts, but containing a spiritual sense. The third is the prophetical. The fourth is that of the psalms, between the prophetical style and common speech. It is the Divine sense within the letter that constitutes the holiness of the Bible.

In the Doctrine of Faith Swedenborg teaches that Faith is an inward acknowledgment of the truth, which comes to those who lead good lives from good motives. "If ye will do the works ye shall know of the doctrine."

The Doctrine of Life commences with the proposition "That all Religion has relation to Life, and that the Life of Religion is to do Good." The shunning of Evils is the first necessity; the doing of Good is afterwards possible. No one, however, can do good which is really such, from self, but all goodness is from God. Angelic Wisdom concerning the

Divine Providence. With Index. 3s.

In all the operations of the Divine Providence, human freedom is respected. The Lord forces no man to do good, or to believe what is true. It is of the Divine Providence that whatsoever a man hears, sees, thinks, speaks, and does, should appear altogether as his own. It is a law of the Divine Providence, that man should not be forced by external means to think and will, and so to believe and do the things which belong to religion. Miracles, signs, visions, conversations with the dead, threats and punishments, are totally ineffective to produce that state of love and spiritual life which makes true happiness and heaven, because they force and destroy that rationality and liberty which constitute the inmost life of humanity, and by the exercise of which man can alone be delivered from evil. The Divine Providence is equally with the wicked and the good.

A complete List of Swedenborg's Works may be had on application.

JAMES SPEIRS, SWEDENBORG SOCIETY, 36 Bloomsbury Street.

DUNN & HEWETT'S
ICELAND MOSS

COCOA.

Opinion of Dr. HASSALL, the founder and Physician to the Royal National Hospital for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest, Ventnor :

"Suited equally for the robust and for invalids; NUTRITIOUS-DIGESTIBLE-TONIC." Specially useful in Chest Diseases.

None is Genuine unless it bear DUNN AND HEWETT'S well-known Trade Mark of "THE CHOCOLATE GIRL."

Beware of Spurious Imitations.

DUNN & HEWETT

ARE ALSO MANUFACTURERS OF

DUNN'S

ESSENCE OF COFFEE. SOLUBLE COCOAS,

AND

SOLUBLE CHOCOLATES. CHOCOLATE CREAMS.

Fancy Chocolates of all kinds in Bulk and Packed in Boxes. PENTONVILLE, LONDON.

NEW AND RECENT WORKS

Our Eternal Homes. By a BIELE STUDENT. Fifth edition now ready, with the extensive alterations and corrections of the Author, the late Rev. JOHN HYDE; Crown 8vo, cloth, 3s.

Light on the Last Things.

By the Rev. W. B. HAYDEN. Just published, foolscap 8vo, cloth, Is. 6d.

For this, the first English edition, the Author has written an additional chapter continuing the history of Hades, besides revising the entire work. Authority in the New Church.

By the Rev. R. L. TAFEL, A. M., Ph.D. Now ready, crown 8vo, cloth, 4s. 6d. The Divine Word Opened. Third edition, crown

Rev. Dr. BAYLEY. 8vo, cloth, 75. 6d.

By the

[blocks in formation]

Outlines of the Religion and Philosophy of Swedenborg. By THEOPHILUS PARSONS, LL.D. Now ready, small

crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d.

"An elegant and scholarly little work, which will be regarded with approval in a wider circle than that of the admirers of Swedenborg."-Public Opinion. Swedenborg's Rules of Life. Beauti

fully illuminated card, price 8d., or for distribution, 6s. per dozen.

Heavenly Blessedness: What it is, and How Attained. By the Rev. CHAUNCEY GILES. Second edition, crown 8vo, cloth, 3s.

The Nature of Spirit, and of Man as a Spiritual Being. By the Rev. CHAUNCEY GILES. New and improved

edition, foolscap 8vo, cloth, Is. 6d.

LONDON JAMES SPEIRS, 36 Bloomsbury Street.

MERCHANTS' JOINT-STOCK BANK

(Limited).-BANKING BUSINESS of every description transacted. TRADE BILLS DISCOUNTED for cus tomers, irrespective of amount. Advances made on all kinds of good security.

Deposits received payable on demand for long or short periods, on terms which can be ascertained on application.

SHARES.-The first 20,000, at £5 each, are now being issued at par, 1 payable on application and I on allotment, and should be applied for early. Prospectuses and every information can be obtained on application to the Manager, at the Banking-house, ga and 93 Great Russell Street, London, W.C.

LIEBIG'S PEARLS OF STRENGTH

Purify and enrich the blood, strengthen the system, promote the appetite, give life and energy and a general feeling of health and comfort, perhaps never before experienced. This remedy stands alone, and is prepared in the form of pearls, and is perfectly tasteless. Sold in Boxes at rs. 1d., 2s. 9d., and upwards. A Box sent free for 14 or 33 stamps.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

2

THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE REGENERATOR.

N our last chapter we endeavoured to show that all the objections to the doctrine of the sole and supreme Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, which may be urged from the frequent use in the Gospels of language implying a distinction between the Father and the Son, are satisfactorily answered by a knowledge of the fact that, while on earth, He glorified His Humanity, or made it entirely Divine, by uniting it with the Deity within Him. This process was accomplished by the separation, from His nature, of those infirm tendencies of our fallen manhood, which, while essential to His work of Redemption, or the deliverance of our race from the thraldom of evil spirits, opposed obstacles to His investiture with "all the fulness of the Godhead" (Col. ii. 9). But why was the Glorification of our Lord's Humanity essential? We have already hinted at its purpose by declaring, in general terms, that it was the means for rendering the benefits of His Incarnation perpetual :* we must now inquire how it contributed to this merciful and essential result.

Our Saviour, by His life on earth, had clearly revealed to men the Divine character and person, and had furnished a perfect pattern of all human excellence and duty; while the warfare and victories of His Redemption had at the same time delivered them from the despotism of evil spirits, and had thus restored their mental and moral freedom. If, however, they were to profit by His manifestation of the Godhead, or to employ their recovered liberty in efforts to imitate His pure example, it was obviously necessary that He should supply some fuller and more direct communication of His Divine life, to inspire them with new desires and aims, and to strengthen them with juster principles, and a more robust spiritual vigour. This further provision for the requirements of every member of the human family through all time was secured by the communication to men of our Lord's Holy Spirit, which is declared to have been immediately dependent upon the Glorification of His Humanity, since it is written that "the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified" (John vii. 39). This brings us, however, to the highly important subject of the nature and operation of the Holy Spirit. What is the essential of the Divine Trinity thus designated? and what are its functions in the great work of human regeneration and salvation?

As the foundation of a right reply to these questions, we would notice the significant fact that in the passage just quoted the word given is printed in italics, to show that it has no equivalent expression in the original Greek; thus that what the Gospel teaches is not merely that prior to the Glorification there was no impartation to mankind of the Holy Spirit, but that previously the Holy Spirit, at least in the New Testament sense of the term, had actually no existence. It is true that the See Morning Light, p. 211.

[ocr errors]

phrase occurs occasionally in the Old Testament, where, however, it would be more precisely translated "The Spirit of Holiness;" and that it is also mentioned in the Gospels as indicating an active agency before our Lord's Resurrection, thus while His Humanity was not as yet fully one with the Father. But whatever may be intended by these allusions, they cannot mean exactly the same thing as the Comforter promised by our Lord (John xiv. 16, 26; xv. 26; xvi. 7), because of this it is emphatically affirmed that until Jesus was glorified the Holy Spirit "was not" (John vii. 39).

It may assist us to a just comprehension of the subject if we remember that the original terms used both in the Hebrew and Greek, like their English equivalents Spirit or Ghost,* are synonymous with wind or breath, and that they are often employed in Scripture with this purely natural significance. Thus the word expressing the east "wind" which brought the locusts upon Egypt, and which turned back the waters of the Red Sea upon Pharaoh and his army (Exod. x. 13; xiv. 21; xv. 10), is precisely the same as that used in the Psalmist's prayer, "Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me" (Ps. li. 11), and in the statement of the prophet of Jehovah respecting the house of Israel, that they had "rebelled and vexed His Holy Spirit" (Isa. lxiii. 10). In the New Testament, also, the "wind" which "bloweth where it listeth," is denoted by the identical word that describes "the Spirit," with which, in our Authorized Version, it almost seems placed in contrast (John iii. 8),† and that is likewise continually employed in the numerous allusions to the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. Hence, after the Lord's Resurrection, when the Glorification of His Humanity had provided for the full development of His Holy Spirit (John vii. 39), and consequently for its communication to the disciples, we read that "He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John XX. 22).

The true idea of the Divine Spirit, therefore, would seem to be that of a Divine breathing, or of the effluent emanation from the Godhead of those influences of life and light and blessing which are indispensable to the welfare and even to the existence of mankind. Accord

Prior

ingly, our Lord's merciful Providence has always supplied this necessary outpouring of help and guidance; and His Spirit, through different media and instrumentalities, has been vouchsafed under every dispensation. to the Incarnation this was effected by the agency of angels, an angel filled with Jehovah's presence to the exclusion of his own consciousness, and styled in consequence "the angel of the LORD," affording the ordinary channel of such communication. In a more general sense, indeed, the whole angelic heaven constituted an avenue for the Divine influences, which thus reached our earth through "the disposition of angels" (Acts vii. 53). But human evil and folly gradually closed this way of access. Loving darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil (John iii. 19), men closed their hearts and minds against the operation of the Lord's mercy and wisdom; and when they left this world and passed by natural death into the region of spiritual causes, they did but strengthen there the infernal legions, and add denseness to the thick cloud of malignity and falsehood which was shutting out God and heaven from the human soul.§

Spirit, from the Latin spiritus, breathing, air, or wind; and Ghost, from the Anglo-Saxon gast, whence we also obtain the word gust, as “a gust of wind,” and gas as the definition of any aëriform substance.

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

+ See Morning Light, pp. 82, 83.

§ Ibid. pp. S3, 132.

[ocr errors]

The former methods of access no longer sufficing, therefore, for the communication to mankind of the Divine Spirit, an altogether different channel, immeasurably more efficacious, was provided by Incarnation, and by the Glorification of the Humanity which Jehovah thus assumed.

For as, by the accomplishment of this process, the Humanity became the eternal person or body of all the fulness of the Godhead (Col. ii. 9), it follows that the Divine functions are now exercised, and the Divine influences dispensed, through the Humanity, and thus that they acquire a humanized character adapted to human. capacities and needs. Because spiritual and internal action is always qualified by the physical and outward media through which it is transmitted, and is necessarily limited by their competency and fitness. However ardent and enlightened the soul may be, if the body be lame or deaf or blind, the spirit's mightiest and noblest energies will inevitably be circumscribed. Moreover, however intrinsically excellent the natural faculties at the disposal of the soul, unless they are adapted to the circumstances amid which it requires to operate, they will fail to supply an instrument for its activities. English is no doubt a finer language than Fijian, but if an English missionary in Fiji persisted in using only his own native tongue, his ministrations would of course win no success. Thus it is not only essential that the soul should possess in the body an agent capable of executing its behests, but also that the body should be fitted for the sphere where it is to labour, and if necessary, that its more refined and subtler attributes should be reinforced with comparatively coarse, gross powers. The same truth is illustrated in the material universe; the heat and light of the sun travelling through millions of miles of cold dark ether, and only acquiring warmth and lustre when they reach the denser atmosphere which surrounds our earth. Somewhat analogous, then, is the increased power to adapt His influences to human capabilities and needs, which the Lord acquired by Incarnation. For having assumed a nature like our own, and raised that nature into eternal oneness with His essential Divinity, He supplied a medium for His own closer presence and more interior operation with the whole race of mankind. Accordingly the effluent radiance of His Divine love and wisdom is now tempered and accommodated, not, as anciently, by its passage through an angelic channel, but in a manner distinctly human; since it is dispensed in His Glorified Humanity, "by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh" (Heb. x. 20). Consequently, in the New Testament sense of the phrase, which is that with which at the present day we are most practically concerned, the Holy Spirit "was not " until Jesus was glorified (John vii. 39). Immediately, however, that the work of Glorification was complete, which was after His Resurrection, "He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John xx. 22).

Thus, also, the Holy Spirit is the Lord's own spiritual presence in the Church, and with each individual soul; according to His promise, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. xxviii. 20). The Apostle implies this in the declaration, "Now the Lord is that Spirit" (2 Cor. iii. 17); but it is expressly stated by Jesus Himself in the discourse with which He instructed His disciples on the occasion of the Last Supper. "If ye love Me," He says, "keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know

Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you (John xiv. 15-18). He who dwelt with them was clearly the Lord Himself, abiding amongst them in bodily presence, as He had done for three-and-thirty years. Yet it was the same Divine companion that He promised, though to be differently manifested in an internal spiritual manner: "He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you;" the assurance being made yet more specific by the addition, "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you." Indeed, deeply scrutinized, this passage affords one of the many evidences supplied by Scripture to the fact that all the Divine Trinity concentres in the one glorious Person of our Saviour, since the Greek term rendered "comfortless" properly signifies "orphans," thus suggesting that when Jesus is with His people they have also their Divine Father present.

The Lord styles His Holy Spirit "the Spirit of truth,” because whatever He accomplishes for us is effected through truth. The laws of Divine order requiring an absolutely inviolate maintenance of human free-will, all the designs of His Providence on our behalf are directed towards the enlistment of our own co-operation in the work of ensuring our immortal welfare, and thus necessarily operate by means of truth. For by His truth He seeks to instruct us as to the real nature of right and wrong, of happiness and misery; to convince us of the hideousness and folly of sin, and to persuade us to cease to do evil and to learn to do well (Isa. i. 16, 17). Consequently His spiritual presence with us is bound to be the Spirit of truth, since the ends He contemplates and the means He employs are all dependent upon truth. His Spirit is active in our hearts, therefore, to quicken new affections of love for truth, and new desires and aspirations after the goodness which truth inculcates. In our minds it kindles the light of a juster comprehension of the Word; opening our understandings, that we may understand the Scriptures (Luke xxiv. 45), and enabling us to perceive in them those things which concern our peace. It strengthens our moral stamina, invigorates each flagging purpose of good, stimulates us to be up and doing, and to translate into the actions of a pure and useful life every Divine commandment which is seen to prescribe a duty. In all these respects, therefore, it is literally "the Spirit of truth.” JOHN PRESLAND.

DEATH A CONTINUATION OF LIFE IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.*

W

(LUKE XX. 37, 38.)

E invited our friends on Sunday last to consider the marvellous and glorious powers that are pointed out that it was not in mere pompous exclamagiven by the Lord to every human soul. We tion that He said, "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" but that it is in very deed the simplest logical conclusion possible, that every faculty of the human soul surpasses all the wondrous faculties of the human body, and that without these faculties we should not be able to enjoy spiritual blessings or prepare for heaven. We pointed out that there is a relation between these spiritual powers, such as that which exists in the different portions of the human frame, as is visible to every one of us. Some of these faculties constitute the feet of the soul, some the heart, and some * Report of a sermon preached in the Palace Gardens Church, Kensington, by the Rev. Dr. Bayley, on the evening of Sunday the 23rd of June, being the second of a series on the Resurrection, the Other Life, etc.

« ÎnapoiContinuă »