But if so, with what propriety is it asserted that 'all things were made by Him;' that 'without Him was nothing made that is made?' Or, is the creation of matter more difficult than the creation or production of spirits, of substances endowed with far nobler powers and properties than material objects and is it not said expressly, that by Him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible; whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; and for Him, and by Him all things consist? Can the creation and sustentation of all things be described in language more plain and emphatic Admit, then, that the creation was a work delegated to Christ, it would not have been delegated to Him unless He had been fully competent to it; that is, unless He had possessed infinite power, and wisdom, and all other divine perfections.

But what shall we say in explanation of the undeniable fact, that in Scripture the Son is generally represented as sustaining an inferior character, and as acting in subordination to the Father? We say, that that is precisely what is to be expected; for while He is personally equal, He is officially inferior, to the Father; and in the economy of redemption, and perhaps too in other operations, He acted as the Father's delegate and servant.

It must be allowed, however, that those passages which represent, or which seem at least to represent, Him as deriving His existence from the Father, present a greater difficulty. Without entering into a particular examination of those passages, it may be remarked respecting them generally, that some of them probably refer to His official character and relations, some of them to the production of His human nature, and others to His resurrection from the dead. And it may be remarked, that those of them which do refer to the mode of His existence as a divine person, and to His eternal relations to the Father, are usually employed in such a sense, that instead of denying, they imply His divinity. The common appellation, Son of God,' for instance, is thus interpreted by the sacred writers themselves; and even if these passages were more numerous and more difficult than they are, it would be contrary

to the maxims of criticism and of common sense to interpret them in a way at all inconsistent with those other passages, incalculably more numerous, which either unequivocally assert, or necessarily involve the doctrine of His true and proper deity. It thus appears that the Arian hypothesis is unscriptural, as being opposed to that host of Scripture testimonies which teach that Jesus Christ is a divine person, -a person possessed of all divine perfec

tions, and prerogatives, and glories. It might be shown that it is an unscriptural hypothesis, as it is opposed also to those passages which teach His true and perfect humanity. That He had a human body, is a fact of which almost every page of the evangelical history affords incontestable evidence; and if any man, who professes to recognise the authority of the New Testament, doubts that fact, he may well be abandoned as the hopeless victim of an insane chimera.

That He had a human soul as well as a human body, if not a fact as plain and incontestable, is yet a fact which does not admit of reasonable dispute. On any other supposition, the inspired writers would have been guilty of a palpable falsehood in calling Him man, and the Son of man; for a human soul is as necessary a constituent in human nature as a human body. When it is said of Christ, that He grew in wisdom as well as in stature,' that His soul was exceedingly sorrowful,' that He 'commended His spirit into the hands of His Father;' must not the expressions refer to a human soul, not an angelic or superangelic principle, of whose nature and properties we are utterly ignorant? And is He not described as evincing the mental faculties and affections, as well as the corporeal qualities of a man; as not only subject to hunger, and thirst, and weariness, and pain, but as experiencing emotions of satisfaction and displeasure, of hope and fear, of joy and grief; as tenderly sympathizing with His friends, and entering into their multifarious sentiments and feelings? He possessed, then, a perfect human nature. But if so, Arianism must be a false and unscriptural system; for, according to it, He had a true body, but not a human soul; the place of the latter being supplied by that superangelic principle produced before the creation of the visible universe. According to Arianism, therefore, those passages and expressions which the whole world, with the exception of an inconsiderable sect, have regarded as teaching unequivocally the true and perfect humanity of Christ, teach virtually a gross and mischievous delusion.

As Arianism is an unscriptural, so, in spite of all that its abettors allege to the contrary, it might be shown that it is also an irrational system. Is it not irrational to assert that the universe was created by a finite and created Being, since reason and revelation concur in teaching us to regard creation as a work to which omnipotence only is competent, a work peculiarly characteristic of God? Is it not irrational to assert, that a creature is competent to govern and judge the world; and to rely on a finite arm for protection amid all dangers, for deliverance from all evils, and

for the bestowal of all the blessings that are needed either for the body or the soul, for time or eternity? And finally, is it not irrational, as well as impious, to render religious worship to any created intelligence, however glorious and exalted?

Such are some of the absurdities necessarily involved in the Arian hypothesis of the person of Christ; absurdities which its advocates labour to explain away, and which it is therefore charitable to believe they do not discern in all their magnitude; absurdities which ingenuity may somewhat soften or disguise, but which can never be annihilated or extinguished.-Balmer.

THE CONDITION OF CHRISTIANS.

PART I.

CHRISTIANS are 'free,' yet 'the servants of God.' They are a peculiar people. They are freemen among slaves, the servants of God among the servants of the wicked one. This was not always the case. The common condition of the race was originally theirs. They were slaves both in condition and in character. But the Son has made them free, and they are free indeed. The determined rebel has become a loyal subject. If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature,' and to him there is a new creation. Old things have passed away, and all things have become new.' Christians are free: free in reference to God; free in reference to man; free in reference to the powers and principles of evil.

Let us shortly attend to these various aspects of the Christian's freedom.

First, They are free in reference to God. They are 'the Lord's freemen.' By this we do not mean that they are not under the strongest obligations to conform their minds and wills to the mind and will of God, and to regulate the whole of their temper and conduct according to the revelation of that mind and will contained in His Word. They are not free in the sense of being without law to God;' to be so would be the reverse of a privilege; they are 'under the law to Christ.' Yet still, in a very important sense, they are free, both as to condition and character in reference to God; and these two forms or species of freedom are closely connected, the latter being the result and manifestation

of the former.

The relation in which a Christian naturally stood to God in consequence of sin, was that of a condemned criminal; and the character by which he was distinguished was that of a sullen slave, conscious of having exposed himself to punishment for his indolence and unfaithfulness, and equally hating his master and his work.

All have sinned, all have lost the approbation of God, all have incurred the condemning sentence of the Divine law; and 'Chains are the portion of revolted man

Stripes and a dungeon.'

They are, as it were, shut up in prison, reserved for punishment, and bound by the fetters of guilt, which no created power can break, no created ingenuity unlock.

In this state, of which no sinner is entirely unconscious, the disposition towards God is, must be, not that of an affectionate child or a loyal subject, but that of a slave punished for disobedience, cherishing a grudge towards his Master, as if the unreasonableness of the task assigned him, rather than his own wilful neglect and disobedience, were the true cause of evils he feels or fears. He is an entire stranger to the love of God, so that free voluntary obedience is a moral impossibility; and if at any time he assume the appearance of submission, and do those actions which the law requires, such conduct springs entirely from the principles of servile fear or mercenary expectation. This is the natural condition and character of all men in reference to God. This was once the condition and character of every Christian.

But the condemned criminal has become a pardoned, accepted child; the slave has obtained both the state and disposition of a freeman. The prison doors have been thrown open, the fetters of guilt have been unloosed, the prisoner has gone forth. Love has taken the place of dislike, confidence of jealousy, joyful hope of 'the fear that had torment;' and while the pardoned, renewed sinner, 'keeps God's precepts,' he walks at liberty.'

The manner in which this change is produced, must be familiar to the mind of every one who properly understands even the principles of the doctrines of Christ,' the first principles of the oracles of God.' It is by the faith of the truth as it is in Jesus, that man, the criminal and slave, is introduced into the state and formed to the character of a spiritual freeman. Christ Jesus, the only-begotten of God, has, by the appointment of His Father, moved by sovereign love, done and suffered, as the substitute of man, all that was necessary to make the salvation of sinners perfectly consistent with, gloriously illustrative of, the holiness and justice, as well as the pity and benignity of the Divine character. That wondrous work of God manifest in the flesh,' is made the subject of a plain, well-accredited revelation. In the case of all the saved, by a sovereign Divine influence the mind is so fixed on this revelation, in its meaning and evidence, as to understand and believe it. This is the faith of the gospel.

This faith, by Divine appointment, brings the sinner within the saving power of the atonement. He is redeemed from the curse of the law through Him who became a curse in his stead; the blessing of Abraham, even a free and full justification, by believing, comes on him; and he obtains larger and larger measures of the promised Spirit, by believing. Being justified by faith, he has peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and has access to God,' as his Father and friend, 'by this faith, in reference to the grace of God;' and he 'stands in this state of reconciliation and favourable fellowship, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.' There is no condemnation to him, being in Christ Jesus; and he walks no more after the flesh, but after the Spirit.' The Spirit of Christ the Lord dwells in him; and 'where the Spirit of the Lord,' which is a free Spirit, is, 'there is liberty.' The love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost, given to him, and he loves Him who has first, and so, loved him. And his love finds its natural expression in conformity to God's mind and will, and in obedience to His commandments. It is no longer the slave, toiling at intervals at a task which he abhors, to secure the morsel or to escape the lash; it is an enlightened, renewed creature, embracing what he sees to be true, and doing what he knows to be right, following out the impulses of his new nature; and doing all this the more readily, because he knows that in doing so he walks in the light of his heavenly Father's countenance, enjoying an elevating consciousness of fellowship of mind and heart with the only wise, the immaculately holy, the infinitely benignant, the ever-blessed God; and because he has learned, by painful experience, that 'the way of the transgressor,' even of 'the backslider in heart,' 'is hard,' and that holiness and happiness are in the nature of things, as well as by the express Divine appointment, so closely conjoined, as to be all but identified with each other. He 'knows the truth, and the truth makes him free.'

The whole of the Christian's obedience, when he acts like himself, has this character of true-hearted freedom. With regard to a very large portion of his duties, he so distinctly sees their reasonableness and excellence, and the important and blissful purposes which obedience is fitted to secure, that he considers the having this peaceful, joyful path, through a world full of sin and misery, so clearly pointed out in the law of the Lord, as one of the greatest proofs of the kindness of his God and Father. He sees and feels that God has granted him His law graciously.' The language of his heart is, 'O! how love

I Thy law, it is my meditation all the day:' Great peace have they who love Thy law; nothing can offend them:' 'I will run in the way of Thy commandments, when Thou hast enlarged my heart:' 'I will delight myself in Thy commandments, which I love:' 'I will keep Thy laws continually for ever and ever, and I will walk at liberty; for I seek Thy precepts.' And if in some cases he may feel a difficulty in perceiving the reason of a particular piece of dutiful exertion, or suffering, or sacrifice, required of him, the deep-seated conviction which the manifestation of God, in the person and work of his Son, has lodged in his mind of the infinite wisdom and power of Jehovah, constantly influenced by holy love, makes him cheerfully comply with the requisition, just because it is His.

The measure of this spiritual liberty obviously depends on the measure of faith. In proportion to the clearness of our apprehensions, and the firmness of our persuasion of the truth as it is in Jesus,' will be the alacrity and delight with which, 'delivered out of the hands of our' spiritual 'enemies, we serve Him without fear in righteousness and holiness.' The spirit of bondage, which leads Christians again to fear, with the fear which hath torment, which fetters their minds and hearts, grows powerful just as saving truth is overlooked or misapprehended; and can be cast out of the heart only by that 'perfect love,' which grows out of our knowing and believing the love which God has for us, and which he has manifested in giving his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

The character of manly, Christian, affectionate freedom, which the knowledge and faith of the truth as it is in Jesus, under Divine influence, produces, renders unnecessary and unsuitable such an institution as the Mosaic law, an institution suited to the Church in its infant state. That institution, having served its purpose, has been abrogated; and all attempts, and they have been numerous, to introduce into the Christian Church any system of a similar character, are foolish and criminal; an invasion equally of the prerogative of Christ, and of the privileges of His people. So much for the Christian's freedom in reference to God.-Dr Brown.

THE JEWS' DISPERSION.

PAUL foretold the entering in of heretics into Asia after his departure; and he, and St Peter, and St Jude, and generally the rest of the apostles, had two great predictions, which they used not only as a verification of the doctrine of Jesus, but as a means to strengthen the hearts of the dis

ciples who were so broken with persecution. The one was, that there should arise a sect of vile men, who should be enemies to religion and government, and cause a great apostasy, which happened notoriously in the sect of the Gnostics, which those three apostles, and St John, notoriously and plainly do describe; and the other was, that although the Jewish nation did mightily oppose the religion, it should be but for a while, for they should be destroyed in a short time, and their nation made extremely miserable; but for the Christians, if they would fly from Jerusalem, and go to Pera, there should not a hair of their head perish. The verification of this prophecy the Christians extremely longed for, and wondered it stayed so long, and began to be troubled at the delay, and suspected all was not well, when the great proof of their religion was not verified; and while they were in thoughts of heart concerning it, the sad catalysis did come, and swept away eleven hundred thousand of the nation; and, from that day forward, the nation was broken in pieces with intolerable calamities: they are scattered over the face of the earth, and are a vagabond nation, but yet like oil in a vessel of wine, broken into bubbles, but kept in their own circles; and they shall never be a united people till they are servants of the holy Jesus, but shall remain without priest or temple, without altar or sacrifice, without city or country, without the land of promise or the promise of a blessing, till our Jesus is their High Priest, and the Shepherd to gather them into His fold.—Jeremy Taylor.

ASSISTANCE IN PRAYER.
AID me, O Lord, to pray!
My soul, alas! depraved by sin,
Is ever backward to begin-
Ready to turn away.

I know myself undone,
Most righteously condemned to die;
I see the way of mercy lie

Reveal'd in Christ, Thy Son.

I know that Thou wilt give, To all who pray, gifts greater far Than earth's most priz'd possessions are, By which their souls shall live.

Yet am I slow to bend

Before Thy throne the suppliant knee;
And seldom cry for grace to Thee,
Whom I so oft offend.

And when I seem to pray,
The lusts of earth allure my soul;
And often, pose from all control,
My vain thoughts roam away.
I know it is not wise
Thus to forget the greatest good;

And for the trifles that intrude
Neglect so vast a prize.

But lusts and cares prevail;
Lord, with so deep a sense impress
Of want, and danger, and distress,

That all their strength shall fail!

Aid me, O Lord, to prayGrant me the purpose to begin; And, once Thy temple gates within, Compel me there to stay!

THE COMFORTER.

'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.' This title, COMFORTER, is of a very comprehensive character. It is one of those Greek terms, which the Jews, at that period, had adopted into their own language. It denotes, not merely one who consoles, but one who patronizes and advocates; one who protects, defends, and instructs; one who speaks and acts on behalf of another. The Holy Spirit is truly, in all these respects, the Helper, and, therefore, the COMFORTER, of all the disciples of Christ.

More especially, however, the Spirit is styled the Comforter, because He bestows on the faithful a blessed assurance, that they are 'partakers of a Divine nature,' the children of God, and the heirs of immortality. This is an assurance, which amply compensates for all the griefs and trials incident to the present state of being. John, accordingly, affirms, Hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us.' Again, he asserts, Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His Spirit.' The apostle Paul also declares, 'Hope maketh not ashamed,'— or is such a hope as we know cannot be disappointed; 'because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, who is given unto us.'

Thus it is that the Spirit, bestowed on the Christian during his present mortal career, is both the earnest, and the pledge, of his future blissful inheritance. Thus it is that he is sealed by the Holy Spirit of God unto the day of redemption. In com forting the believer, as well as in illuminating and strengthening him, the Spirit operates progressively. As the Christian's knowledge and love are enlarged, and his faith is deepened, he receives a gradually increasing ability to repose with confidence on the merits of the Redeemer, and to rejoice, with holy serenity, in the expectation of eternal glory.-Gurney.