rational Christians, merely because they are so blinded that they cannot see to the end of their own absurdities. They talk of the impossibility of a sinner being in heaven; as if heaven were a place, and not a condition; and then argue, that, because a sinner cannot be there, the glorified God-Man cannot be here. If so, they must believe that he never was upon earth; and that Jesus, who did come, was a mere man.

But let us pursue the investigation a little higher, and inquire wherein the glory of Christ consisted. It may be summed up in one sentence: He was "God manifest in the flesh." The Godhead is in its own nature infinite, incomprehensible, and undiscoverable; but it is the office of Christ to manifest whatever the creature can comprehend of God. In this office, and for this end, the Son-who was Very God from all eternity, and as such invested with all the glory of the Father-came forth in the fulness of time, and took flesh as son of man: thus uniting both natures in the one person of Christ, never again to be divided, never to be manifested otherwise than in conjunction; in order to exhibit in creature form, to every created being, that glory which he had with the Father, as his only beloved Son, from everlasting. "These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: as thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was" (John xvii. 1-5). Now, his glory as "perfect God" is evidently incapable of addition or diminution': it was the same when in the bosom of the Father, as when on earth united to the " perfect man " in him" dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," or as now in glorified humanity "seated on the right hand of the Majesty on high." It is clear, therefore, that as the Divine nature of our Lord was incapable of any accession of glory, the human nature alone, in the God-Man Christ Jesus, could be the subject of glorification; and that it is this humanity, impersonated with Divinity, which by the union has received such exaltation, that before it every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This being evident and undeniable, the incarnation was no degradation of the Son of God; for it was taking up humanity in that state of degradation which the Fall had brought upon it, and raising it to the highest state of glory by

the mighty power of the Holy Spirit. Degradation is not to be admitted even here, when the Son of God" took upon himself the form of a servant;" much less, then, when he shall come forth the second time, exhibiting humanity in the glorious perfection to which he has exalted it: no longer the Man of sorrows, despised and rejected of men, but King of kings and Lord of lords.

Nor shall the earth always continue to exhibit on its surface those lamentable traces of the Fall, in sin and sorrow and misery, which alone give occasion to the idea of degradation we are combating. The prophecies all close in a promise of blessings showered down upon the earth; a restitution of all things; when "Satan shall be bound" (Rev. xx. 2), and the now groaning creation have the "glorious liberty of the children of God (Rom. viii. 21); when none shall hurt nor destroy, and the land shall become like Eden, the garden of the Lord. When God looked upon his creation, he pronounced it very good; and when Adam, before his fall, heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden, he shunned not the interview; and we never dream of degradation. The Lord also appeared to Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses: he came down on Sinai; he dwelt between the cherubim ; he filled the temple; and all these before the incarnation and shall we now prattle about degradation, because he has taken into union with himself humanity derived from this earth, and shall exhibit upon the earth the glorious climax and consummation of the purpose of God in creating the universe? Nay, let us rather take him literally at his word, wherein he declares so unequivocally, to the Prophet who beheld the glory of the Lord returning to his yet future temple, "Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever" (Ezek. xliii. 7). Amen: even so: come, Lord Jesus.

THE STUDY OF PROPHECY A QUESTION OF DEGREE.

THE great question now at issue between those who study Prophecy and those who study it not, is almost entirely to be resolved into a question of extent and degree. Those who study Prophecy maintain that all parts of the word of God are equally worthy of attention; and that man may not select a portion of Divine revelation, saying, This is profitable, and this I will study; and reject another portion, saying, This is not profitable, and this I will not study. Those who do not study Prophecy grant that it is the word of God, in as full a manner as those other parts of revelation which they do study, but they confine

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the necessity of studying it to certain periods of the world, or certain classes of persons, or times of leisure, which may remain after having fulfilled those duties which they consider as more important. They suppose that the whole scheme of God is. summed up in certain doctrines, which they call emphatically the Gospel; and that the Christian's sole object should be to understand these doctrines, and to apply them to his own soul. We maintain all these doctrines as strenuously as they do, and press home upon each other's consciences the paramount necessity of being rooted and grounded in these: but we stop not here; we press on unto perfection. It is not merely the Gospel, but the Gospel of the kingdom, which is every where announced in Scripture; and the good news with which we congratulate each other, is the glad tidings of the coming glories of our Lord. A man must secure his own personal salvation before he can understand, much more before he can delight in the study of, that glory which shall be revealed; but, these preliminaries being secured, it does appear to me narrow, and selfish, and groveling, not to expatiate in that ample revelation of the latter-day. glory with which every prophecy in the Bible finishes; and I delight my soul in the contemplation, that all the elect of God shall not only escape the misery of hell, but shall feel themselves glorified in being instruments of effecting the great purpose of God, and exulting in the successive developments of his designs through all eternity. They are raised out of the narrow, selfish, personal feeling of mere safety, into the ennobling, generous, dignified rank of becoming monuments of the Divine glory.

But there are many humble, pious minds, who, from fear of becoming presumptuous, may not feel willing to indulge in these exalting hopes. To such persons I would address some considerations, drawn from the times in which we live, which have convinced me of the imperative duty which now rests upon us of studying Prophecy.

I am fully convinced, from the study of all the Scriptures, that we are now on the eve of a crisis incomparably the most important that the world has yet passed through. Greater than the Deluge, for it is the baptism of fire (2 Pet. iii. 5, 12); greater than the deliverance from Egypt, which shall no more be remembered nor come into mind (Jer. xxiii. 7, 8); greater than the destruction of Jerusalem, or any other national calamity, for it shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time, no, nor ever shall be (Dan xii. 1; Matt. xxiv. 21; Mark xiii. 19). Nor shall it be only a time of affliction, but it shall also be a time of subtle deceit; when false Christs and false prophets shall arise, deceiving, if it were possible, the very elect (Matt. xxiv. 24; Mark xiii. 22). In a crisis like this, which is approaching-so full of peril, and so pregnant with

mistake we need all the support and all the direction which the revelation of God can supply. By studying the prophecies I find, that in this crisis the Lord shall manifest himself in an extraordinary way, and simultaneously accomplish many most important events; the chief of which are these:-1. the Papacy shall be broken down; 2. the people of Israel shall be restored; 3. all the enemies of Christ shall be destroyed; 4. the second advent of our Lord shall take place; 5. his millennial reign shall commence; 6. and at some period during the progress of these events, which begin with the destruction of Babylon and run on to the commencement of the Millennium, the first resurrection shall take place. All these events are so closely bound together in Scripture, that, treating of any one, you can scarcely avoid bringing in all the rest; and, fixing any one of them to a particular time, you do thereby fix all the others, each to its own time: for Babylon's destruction frees Israel-Christ's enemies gather against Israel when restored-He in person destroys his enemies-when he thus cometh, his risen saints are with him and the destruction of his enemies ushers in his millennial reign of peace and joy.

These events, even when considered only in their relation to ourselves as men, are vast and important: but when we consider them as the consummation of that great purpose of God, for the manifestation of which the creation was called into being; and that the several changes and revolutions in things visible have been only different developments of this purpose, and successive steps advancing nearer and nearer to this glorious consummation; it is then, and then only, that we feel all the dignity and importance of the age in which we live; and, according to our several characters of apprehension, of hope, of admiration, of daring, of high emprise, are irresistibly impelled, and eagerly resort to those prophetic records whence alone we can ascertain the signs of the forthcoming events, or learn to direct our course. One of these events has been especially singled out by God as that which shall most peculiarly redound to his glory among men: he has even condescended to represent himself as receiving joy and honour in its accomplishment; has staked thereon his own veracity; and pledged himself thereto with a vehemency of asseveration which I cannot find employed for any other purpose throughout the whole Scripture-namely, the restoration of the Jews: "I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return......Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good; and I will plant them in this land assuredly, with my whole heart and with my whole soul." (See Jer. xxiii. and xxxii.)

JOHN TUDOR.

THEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENT.

ON THE NEW COVENANT.

(Jer. xxxi. 31; Heb. viii. 8. 13.)

THE difficulties which have been found to exist upon the subject of the Old and New Covenants, and the consequent discrepancy of opinion among divines, I plead as my excuse for bringing forward the following observations, although the responsibility attached to it be great.

If Witsius felt such sacred awe in treating this subject, when his view had the support of the church in general, what should I feel, in bringing forward views that have the direct support of few ?—though I shall adduce the collateral evidence of

many.

But, on the other hand, if it has pleased the Lord, in these latter times, by the foolish things of this world to reveal a truth more simple; more in accordance with the word; and in a manner which removes the necessity of doing violence to the sacred oracles (of which all the present interpretations appear to be more or less guilty): then does an awful responsibility attach to those who, stumbling at the instrument the Lord may use, should reject without inquiry opinions which may be consonant with the truth.

I attribute the confusion, or indistinctness, on this subject, to not attaching definite and separate ideas to the two forms in which God conveys his benefits to man; both being rendered by one and the same Greek word, diatheké (dialŋên).

I first received my ideas, not simply from the word diatheké, but the coherence of the text in the different parts of Scripture where it occurs; and thereby I perceived, that what is predicated of diatheké in Heb. ix. 16 (" For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator"), requires the rendering to be testament; whereas, in ch. viii. ver. 8 ("Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel," &c.), it is equally necessary to render it by covenant. Thus, having once clearly perceived that there were both covenants and testaments mentioned, I was next led to observe a fallacy in the general mode of treating the subject.

I will, first, lay down my position; that those who read this treatise may be better able to scrutinize what I wish to establish; which I will also shew to be in a great measure supported by received authorities.