THINGS SECRET AND THINGS REVEALED. sequently, no punishment; but the apostle declares, PART II. BY THE REV. WILLIAM MACPHAIL, THE reasoning adopted in our former article is, in a great measure, applicable to that question which is so often put," Why did God impute the sin of Adam to all his posterity?"" That God did impute the sin of the first man to all his descendants, is a fact frequently and strongly asserted in the Sacred Volume. Indeed, to account, upon any other principle than the imputation of Adam's guilt to his descendants, for the very early and universal indications of aversion from the love and law of God in young persons, and for the desolating havoc of death upon babes, who had never lived to commit actual sin, appears utterly impossible. Accordingly, God's having originally, on the one hand, created man in a holy and happy condition, is a demonstration that it would have been incompatible with his perfections to have formed him otherwise; while, on the other hand, to suppose God creating rational beings, in the first instance, in their present depraved, forlorn state, without some righteous law dooming them to such miserable existence, cannot be explained in a consistency with his all-just and beneficent administration, and would represent God as kindling, with one hand, a universal conflagration of sin and misery, which he endeavours to extinguish with the other hand by a preached Gospel, which reaches but to a very small part of the destroying flame. Again, to suppose God inflicting upon multitudes of babes such a variety of pains and deaths, without their being chargeable with the guilt of Adam's transgression, is an absolute blasphemy against the perfections and the Word of Jehovah. Said Abraham, "Wilt thou punish the innocent with the wicked? That be far from thee. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" Said St. Paul, "Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For how, then, can he judge the world?" In truth, according to the words of St. Paul in his Epistle to the Romans, when treating of this very topic of original sin, "Where there is no law, there can be no transgression," and, conVOL. III. that from Adam to Moses the misery and death of myriads, who had never actually sinned, demonstrate that the law denounced against the transgression of Adam stood in full force against his offspring. This is the reasoning of an inspired apostle, and this the fact I am stating. And how optimists, or those who deny the fact, and who represent the happiness of the human race as the sole cause of God's creating them, can clear themselves of the charge of blasphemy, and of affirming that God's object has been entirely defeated, is utterly inconceivable, except upon the vain chimera of a universal restoration—a chimera most flatly contradicted by the whole tenor of Scripture. On the contrary, how perfectly harmonious and worthy of God is that scheme, which represents him as originally forming man like himself, holy and happy ;-as promising to man, and to all his countless descendants, a confirmation and increase of the same exalted felicity, on the inexpressibly easy condition of Adam's abstaining from the fruit of one tree, as the test of allegiance to his Creator and Lord;-as suffering, or permitting sin and misery to invade the human race, only as the most just punishment which his divine perfections and the dignity of his government rendered it necessary to inflict upon them; finally, that scheme which represents God as sending his own divine Son into the world, in the nature of guilty rebels, in order to render. the exercise of his mercy towards them, and their eternal felicity, entirely compatible with his adorable attributes, and the curse denounced against transgression. In place, therefore, of suffering ourselves to be perplexed with the idle, presumptuous inquiry, "Why did God do so and so?" be it the ground of our liveliest faith, and our most exulting joy, that "where sin abounded, grace infinitely more abounds: and that, as by the first man, sin reigned unto death, so now, by the second man, the Lord from heaven, even Jesus Christ our Lord, grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life." Nor let it fail to add fuel to the flame of our glowing gratitude, that, while the God of love, in his inscrutable sovereignty, spared not his only begotten Son for the redemption of us who sinned on earth, no remedy was provided for the apostate spirits who rebelled in heaven. "Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight." III. I observe, in the same familiar manner, that the divine decrees respecting God's choice of a certain number of mankind to eternal life, and his passing over others, whom he leaves to the natural consequences of their own determined and incorrigible wickedness, are secret things belonging to the Almighty, into which men are strongly inclined to pry, far bevond the discoveries of Revelation. Here, before proceeding farther, I beg the particular attention of the reader to the following remark: That, on the part of God, decrees and foreknowedge signify one and the same thing; because the Almighty, "with whom all things are possible," could do, or not do, whatever he pleased. So that, as has already been observed, not God's power, but his sovereignty, or good pleasure, is the rule of his administration. This is no begging of the question, because the truth now stated undeniable; and every believer in the Scriptures must concede, "That known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world." Acts v. 18. There is no topic, perhaps, upon which mankind betray more folly and perversion of spirit, than upon that which I have just mentioned. In place of following the plain and excellent direction of St. Peter, first, " to give all diligence to make their calling," or regeneration, "sure" and thence, to ascertain the certainty of their election from everlasting, they take the directly opposite course! They are peremptory and clamorous to know the divine foreknowledge, or decree, respecting them, before they are at the trouble to take the first step in a religious life! Just as if a hungry man, perishing for want, should refuse to eat, before he was assured that his wonted strength would be restored by taking food! Just as if a patient, sick to death, should reject all medical aid, before he was assured that the remedy would prove effectual for his cure! Just as if the husbandman should determine neither to plough, to harrow, nor to sow, before he was assured of an abundant harvest! Just as if a merchant should decline the fairest prospect of making a large fortune, before an angel from heaven informed him that his ample success was infallibly certain! All these are cases, which, I presume, never did, and never shall happen. No! "The children of this world, so wise in their generations," never commit such egregious blunders in what they regard as the main chance! And, beyond all question, if men were as enlightened and sincere, in regard to the concerns of eternity, as they are in regard to those of time, they would act in precisely the same manner, and with proportionably greater ardour, and fuller hopes of success, in using the means of grace appointed by God for the attainment of everlasting life, because God's promise and oath are guaranteed for the welcome acceptance and salvation of all who come to him in the name of his divine Son. But, presumptuous sinners, for sooth, must be made acquainted with their ultimate destiny, which depends upon their own present character, and which God makes a profound secret, except as it is revealed by present character; presumptuous sinners must be made acquainted with this secret, as the indispensable condition of their complying with the audible voice of duty, and of their employing the means by which alone they can ascertain their election to eternal life! And, have not we good reason to believe, that fallen men pursue this criminal line of procedure for one of those two purposes, either, that by being previously acquainted with their happy future state, they may hence securely indulge in their sinful practices, and yet hope to enjoy eternal bliss at last, not considering that men are as certainly ordained to be holy in this life, as to be happy in that which is to come; or, that knowing their eternal miserable lot, the consequence solely of their own incorrigible disobedience, they may hence blame the foreknowledge, or decree, of God as the excuse for their total neglect of the means of grace, and thus charge God himself as the author of their crimes and destiny! Be assured, reader, upon the sublime doctrine of the divine foreknowledge, or decrees, the scriptural truth appears to be plainly this, that no man certainly knows that he is not of the elect before he enters the abodes of despair; that no man can know that he is elected before he believes, repents, and becomes holy in temper and in life, and from these divine effects, infers the divine cause; and that, consequently, for persons who are not serious in religion, and who do not make religion their grand concern, to dispute about decrees and foreknowledge, and to make their ignorance of their final destiny an excuse for their disobedience to the clear command of duty, is as absurd as it is criminal. It is, indeed, strongly asserted in Scripture, that numbers are "called," or invited by the external voice of the Gospel, who are foreknown to be the subjects of eternal punishment for their sins. And it is also asserted, that while all things are possible with God, yet he, to make known the glory of his justice, and the power of his wrath, has determined to abandon numbers who had long outraged his long-suffering endurance, to the fatal effects of their own incorrigible course of transgression. And who art thou, O man, who objectest to this procedure of the Almighty Sovereign of the Universe? Let me remind you of a fact, which, if duly considered, would for ever silence this bold objection. The fact is this, that the whole human race, by the fall of Adam, their federal representative, and by their actual transgressions, must have perished eternally but for the self-moving grace of God. Now, because some are saved by most unmerited mercy, must God be unjust because all are not saved? Because God, by the effectual operation of his Spirit, prevails upon some to comply with the offers of salvation, must he be arraigned as unfair in the distribution of these his most unmerited gifts, because he does not employ the same effectual operation upon all? Who will thus presume to say to God, "What dost thou?" with this grand truth before their eyes, that all adults who perish under a clear revelation of the Gospel, are now, and shall ever be, the conscious authors of their own miserable lot. Will sinners dispute against decrees or foreknowledge, and say that it is in vain for them to perform any duty if they are not elected, and yet never seriously think of reforming from vice, or of entering upon a course of obedience? Shall God put his holy word into the hands of sinners ? Shall he invite, entreat, command them by his ambassadors, to be reconciled to himself, and to accept of immortal felicity? Shall they, absorbed in the things of time and sense, reject all these overtures; and will they still blame God for not making them happy here and hereafter, against the wishes and determinations of their hearts? Equally absurd and blasphemous are the objections of some persons, arising from their violent propensity to sin. If this plea could be urged as an excuse for transgression, and for coming short of eternal happiness, the angels of darkness, confirmed in turpitude, have first claim to offer the apology. Besides, permit me to remind you, that in a well regulated state, the man of the vilest propensities, and the man of the finest natural mould of character, are alike subject to the same laws; and the most audacious felon is never heard, before a court of justice, to plead his violent inclination to crime, in excuse, or even palliation of his delinquencies. Men may now lull their conscience asleep, by their blasphemous and absurd apologies for persisting in sin, for not becoming religious, for not attaining to eternal honour and joy; but, ere long, when the secret thoughts of the heart are made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ, these men will, by the confessions of their own mouth, be condemned to everlasting silence and despair. Ah! my friends, let us beware of deceiving ourselves upon this most sublime subject. As free agents, that is, as persons not compelled to do good or evil against our will, let us, without setting aside the foreknowledge of Jehovah, regard our state of eternal happiness, or of misery, as the natural and the necessary result, not of decrees or foreknowledge, of which we are utterly ignorant, but of our own compliance, or non-compliance, with the offers of salvation tendered in the Gospel. Let us diligently use the means of grace put into our hands, and earnestly pray for the divine blessing upon those means. While engaged in this course of prescribed duty, let us rest confidently assured, not only that no decree or foreknowledge can be a bar to our salvation, but that salvation is infallibly connected with such a course of life. And when we perceive and feel, by the holy fruits of our tempers and conduct, that "we are begotten again unto a lively hope of an immortal crown," then let us humbly and joyfully conclude, that having been thus "called," or converted, and being thus justified, God did, from eternity, "predestinate us to blessedness, and will assuredly "glorify" us through everlasting ages. This is the plan of procedure marked out by the oracles of inspiration; and this is the order pointed out by sound common sense, which, when duly enlightened, is always in harmonious accordance with the Sacred Volume. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. An Evangelical Preacher of the Romish Church. BY THE REV. JOHN MORRISON WHITELAW. close of the last century, there was a remarkable aIr is not, perhaps, generally known, that towards the wakening in a small section of the Roman Catholic Church, in Germany. That awakening, in its rise and its results, strikingly resembled the revival that took place in America, under Jonathan Edwards, and that which occurred in our own country at the time of Whitefield, and though modified by the religious peculiarities of those who came within the circle of its influence, it left behind it effects as valuable and permanent. The excitable temperament of the Germans, acted upon by a form of religion which works chiefly on the imagination, gave to this awakening an appearance of mysticism, which caus edit to be regarded with suspicion by those who could not appreciate the force of early prejudice and deep-rooted attachment to a system so gorgeous and attractive, on minds emerging from gross darkness "into the twilight of the truth." There were, of course, many spurious cases of conversion, and even those who were more fully enlightened betrayed, by their self-imposed austerities, that they had not entirely got free from a creed which be shaken off all at once; but these cases were not inore fixes its roots too deeply in the minds of its disciples to in number nor more virulent in their nature than those which happened in the great revivals that took place in different parts of England. There appears, indeed, to have been nearly a contemporaneous movement in Germany, England, and America; for while Whitefield and Wesley were endeavouring to infuse a healthy spirit into the Establishment here, Boos and his associates were proclaiming, in the very bosom of the Romish Church, those cardinal doctrines which, in a former age, gave birth to the Reformation. Though Boos was virtually a Protestant, he never abjured connection with the communion in which he had been brought up, and strange as his conduct may appear, yet when we take into account the influence of early prepossession, and the scrupulosity of conscience produced by the articles of a creed which touches the strongest and most secret springs of our nature, we need not wonder. It was unquestionably his duty to have left the Papal Church, whatever might have been the consequence, but it is possible that he may have been instrumental in doing more good by remaining within its pale, than he could have done by joining another sect. The spirit of religious inquiry might thus have been unseasonably checked, and instead of ripening into a revival, might have evaporated in useless controversy; and though Boos himself would have been exempted from much suffering, yet this was, in some measure, counterbalanced by the greater amount of good he was enabled to effect by his official connection with her members. Martin Boos was born on the 25th of December 1762, in Huttenried, on the confines of Bavaria. He was deprived, when only four years old, of his father and mother, by an epidemical disease which prevailed at that time, and their children, of whom twelve were alive, were consigned to the care of the nearest friends. Martin was given in custody to an uncle, called Kogel, a Fiscal and Ecclesiastical Councillor in Augsburg, who appears to have been a man of eccentric habits. He was carried to this place by his | have gone out to Jesus, because they believed they must make themselves holy before they dared to come to him. They remained shut up under the law, and stood half desperate on the sand-hill of their own self-made sanctity." It was amongst a people of this character, labouring under false views of the Gospel, that Boos ministered with indefatigable zeal, and so greatly was his exhibition of the truth blessed, his exhibition of what he calls 'Christ for us and in us," that their doubts passed away, the heavens became clear, and those souls that had been torn to pieces with unscriptural errors, experienced "peace and joy in believing," and could scarcely retain the blessedness which they felt when they found the "pearl of great price." So contagious was this divine excitement that many were "awakened during the night, and so troubled on account of their sins, that they cried unto God with tears, beseeching him to make known to them what to do ;" and men who had long continued in the practice of the most revolting vices became thoroughly changed in heart and life. It is really delightful to read of the overflowing love, the quenchless zeal, that glowed in the breasts of these rude converts, and led them to speak of Christ, out of the fulness of their hearts, wherever they went. They could not be silent, and were constrained to testify before every one, that all men are sinners, but that Jesus is their Redeemer and Saviour; that he and his Holy Spirit were willing to come to them, and bring power and love into their hearts, in order that they might in future do the will of God with pleasure and delight; that they ought only first of all to believe that all was not right with them; only long and weep for Jesus, and he would then come to them, be born in them, and be formed in those who desire him and receive him this they would really experience in their hearts, and in their whole being.' ; It was not long, however, before these proceedings were checked by the enemies that Satan had stirred up, by whom those who were full of the apostolic spirit, were stigmatized as fools and fanatics, and charged with the foulest crimes. The public journals teemed with the grossest falsehoods, and, at last, after encountering much opposition, Boos was dismissed from his charge. This was harsh and severe treatment, but quite in unison with that intolerant and persecuting spirit which has uniformly characterised the Papacy. The prospects of the canon of Grünenbach were now to all appearance blasted, and the day on which he left the place where he had laboured with such acceptance and success, he stood for a long time on the high-way not knowing what to do, or whither to go, and, at last, seeing a delapidated hut on the road, he entered it, threw himself down upon the floor, and commended himself in prayer to God. The mind of Boos appears to have passed through a process of severe discipline before he came to the knowledge of the truth, and though authorized to preach the Gospel, he was yet profoundly ignorant of its peculiar doctrines and its vital power. To employ his own language," he gave himself an immense deal of trouble to lead a truly pious life, and thought that by scourging his body until it bled, and wearing a shirt of hair, he would arrive at the enjoyment of inward and lasting peace." From his youth his conscience appears to have been unusually sensitive, and he himself tells us, that for years together, he wept and prayed, day and night, for light and peace; but at this period, and for long after, that great central truth, which he afterwards proclaimed so fully, was hid from him. It is remarkable that he should first have been brought to a saving perception of this while in the sick-chamber of a pious female whom he visited professionally. In a letter to a friend from Lintz, dated Dec. 3, 1815, he gives a brief account of this circumstance :-- "In the year 1788 or 1789, on visiting a very humble and pious soul on her sick-bed, I said to her, You may 6 6 certainly die very peacefully and happily.' Why so?' inquired she. 'Because you have lived so piously and holy,' replied I. The sick woman smiled at what I said, and rejoined, Were I to die confiding in my piety, I know to a certainty that I should be damned. But trusting in Jesus, my Saviour, I can die comfortably. These words from the lips of a dying female, who was eminent for the sufferings she had endured, and for her sanctity, first opened my eyes. I perceived Christ for us; rejoiced, like Abraham, on seeing his day; preached Christ, whom I had thus become acquainted with, to others, and they rejoiced with me. But, alas! this light could not penetrate into all, especially the wise and prudent, the self-holy and self-righteous. (Matt. xi. 25.) These were the causes that there has been no end of persecution and expulsion to this day. But by this I learned that the kingdom of Christ was a suffering kingdom. For continual and universal experience tells us with Christ, Ye shall-ye must be hated of every one for my name's sake.' Mark xiii. 13; Matt. x. 22. It is through much tribulation that we must enter into the kingdom of God.' Acts xiv. 22. Well, if it must be thus, thought I, all is right; and I gradually was offended at the cross no more." In another letter, dated 17th December 1811, he gives a graphic account of the manner in which his mind was opened, and the opposition his views of faith met with in the Roman Catholic Church : You speak of me as suffering a protracted martyrdom. You are in the right; it is the case. My sins, for which I was long ignorant of any other Saviour but myself, martyred me in my youth. Later on, when I had found, by faith, a Saviour for my sins and for my inward state, I was martyred by the consistories and the judaizing people, who sought by threats, controversies, and banishment, to scare me from my faith and my Redeemer; and this tragedy is continued even to this day. To this must be added the fiery darts of the devil, and my own evil, presumptuous, desponding, terrified, and despairing heart. It is a wonder that I am still alive; I feel myself dreadfully old, although I am not more than fifty years of age. I gave myself an immense deal of trouble (I speak as a fool) to lead a truly pious life; for instance, I lay for years together, even in the winter season, upon the cold ground, though my bed stood near me; I scourged myself unto blood, and mortified my body with a shirt of hair; I suffered hunger, and gave my bread to the poor; I spent every leisure hour in the Church and cemetery; I confessed and communicated almost every week. In short, I was so pious, that the ex-jesuits and students in Augsburg unanimously elected me to be the prefect of the congregation; I sought by force to live upon my good works and good conduct, (not by faith.) But what kind of a life was it? The prefect, with all his sanctity, fell ever deeper into self-seeking, was always anxious, melancholy, and desponding. Though regarded almost as a saint, yet he was continually crying in his heart, O wretched man that I am! who will deliver me? But no one gave him for answer, The grace of God through Christ.' No one administered to the sick man, the potent drug, The just shall live by faith;' and when it was at length administered to me, and I felt better the whole world, with all its learning and spiritual authority came and sought to make it appear to me, that I had swallowed poison, that I vomited poison, and poisoned every thing; that I ought to be hung, drowned, immured, burnt, banished, &c. I know not a more timid and faint-hearted creature than myself, and yet fearful as I am, I am terrible and hateful to the world; I should be most glad to remain quiet, unknown, and unrenowned, but it is of no avail; there are few, either in the east or the west, that have caused a greater sensation than I. This is pretty nearly my history; when once I am dead, salute the world from me, and tell her, I have no other medicine to give her than this, that the just shall live by faith; this has cured me and others; but I cannot help it if she has had no confidence in me or my medicine. The belief that a man can be just and holy of himself, I had tried as long as she, but that I had subsequently found in an old book, that we are justified and saved by grace for Christ's sake, without our meriting it, and that I died in this faith. But if she despises this bridge over the stream, let her wade through the ocean on her own feet, and take care that she is not drowned. This is what you must say to the world, when I am dead." Though Boos was compelled, however, by the violence of persecution, to abandon Grünenbach, where he officiated for some time as a canon, and where he was highly distinguished for his zeal, both in the pulpit and confessional; yet the accusations which were brought against him having been found groundless, he was soon recalled by the Abbot of Kempten, and appointed curate of the contiguous parish of Wiggensbach. In this rural district his labours were signally blessed; and in the unbroken stillness which he here enjoyed, he appears to have obtained clearer revelations of his own state as a sinner, and more systematic and experimental views of Christian truth. His days and nights were devoted to a prayerful study of the Bible; and as he pored over it, "holy light" fell upon the page, and holy fire upon his heart. His faith grew stronger; his soul became impregnated and warmed with its vitalizing truths. It was not, however, without much previous labour, much inward struggling, that he succeeded in obtaining those clear and comprehensive views which can alone impart peace and strength; and his conduct forms a striking contrast to the inactive state of those who hope to reap a rich harvest of spiritual fruits, without either breaking the soil, or watering the seed cast into it, with prayers and with tears. All who do not derive comfort from Christianity, either labour under defective or distorted views of it or of themselves, or have not employed, with sufficient vigour and vigilance, the means prescribed as necessary for the attainment of the peace which it promises. In reading the lives of the most devoted men, we find, that they submitted to much severe discipline-that they climbed the steep ascent, before they emerged into the open air, and the cloudless skies above. There are many who charge Christianity with their doubts and their fears; but these doubts and fears are engendered by causes at work in their own hearts, and these alone counteract its refreshing and purifying influence on their souls. Such men as Henry Martyn and John Howe, who enjoyed seasons of special communion with God, and almost at times saw the heavens opening above them, and heard unutterable things, prayed long and fervently before they were favoured with these visions; and Boos, before finding spiritual peace, sought it with tears night and day. There was in the Church at Wiggensbach a sacred spot to which he often repaired when his heart was depressed, and here, like the patriarch, he wrestled mightily with God, and prevailed. "Behind the high altar at Wiggensbach," said he frequently in his letters to some of his intimate friends, "I have obtained my lively faith, and all the gifts and graces which the Lord has vouchsafed to me. The Lord there appeared to me in his all-sufficient, all-availing righteousness. There I became acquainted with his cross, his merits, and his grace." He preached at Wiggensbach with fervour and freedom; and the uncompromising deliverances which he gave of Christian doctrine were instrumental in producing many awakenings. On New Year's day 1797, the fire of persecution, which had only been smothered up, and had frequently glimmered through the asbes in which it lay buried, broke out afresh. It was produced by a sermon which Boos preached, in which he insisted, as usual, strongly upon repentance, and the importance |