CHRIST: THE MYSTERY OF HIS PERSON. BY GEORGE WRIGHT.-BECCLES. WHEN we speak of mysteries we may be ridiculed for adopting the term, as the subterfuge of ignorance, by those who assert that our religion has no mysteries. They would persuade us that faith is to be of the same extent as our rational conceptions, and that the whole gospel is to be comprehended by the unaided intellect of man. They have formed a gigantic estimate of human sufficiency; and having done so, it is natural for them to deny to the revelation of GOD, any grace, mystery, or glory in its doctrines that do not lie within the compass of our understanding. They may be men of reason, but it is evident they are not men of faith. A mystery is that which cannot be explained; and one of the great mysteries of Godliness is, that in the person of CHRIST "GOD was manifest in the flesh." That he is man, has been seldom questioned; but that he is truly GOD, is often doubted, and has been virulently denied. But the same Scriptures which teach us that he is man, as clearly make known his eternal power and Godhead. We have the same divine and infallible testimony to accredit his essential Deity, as his humanity. To be consistent, we must receive or reject both parts of the testimony-else where is reason itself? We cannot be wrong in trusting, loving, and worshipping JESUS, as the ever-living GOD, if what is written of him by the inspiration of the HOLY ONE be true. He is called the mighty GOD, the everlasting FATHER, "GOD over all blessed for ever," "the true GOD and eternal life." The perfections, attributes and works of the supreme GOD are ascribed to him; and the same reasons are given why we should honour the SON as we honour the FATHER. Can it be imagined that he would be thus represented, if he were only a man, or a creature of superior rank? The Scripture revelation of him can answer no other end than to mislead and confound us in matters of solemn moment, if, notwithstanding the ascription of essential Divinity, and the peculiar names and attributes of the self-existent JEHOVAH, to him, he is NOT GOD. When we receive the Scripture as the word of GOD, we are prone to think, in the simplicity of our minds, that its testimonies are definite, correct, and infallible; and that it "is able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith in CHRIST JESUS." But how must our reliance on it be shaken, and indeed how deceitful and ruinous must it be, if, when it declares that besides GOD there is no SAVIOUR, and points to JESÚS as the only SAVIOUR, it is not to be believed that JESUS is GOD! It is impossible for us to know what we are to do in this case. We are involved in the most despairing perplexity. Look at the two propositions: "besides GOD there is no Saviour" but "JESUS is the only Saviour:" if we deny his Godhead, we cashier him as a Saviour. Salvation in his name is a nonentity; and if we trust him to save, we place our souls in peril of everlasting ruin. So momentous an article of faith as the supreme Deity of CHRIST is therefore declared with the utmost plainness and precision. The terms are not obscure, or of doubtful interpretation; and the testimonies are numerous. The FATHER speaking of him, saith, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the HOLY SPIRIT by the prophet attested to the Church-"Thy Maker is thy husband, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name; the GOD of the whole earth shall he be called." The faithful on earth have ascribed to him every divine honour and prerogative; angels and glorified spirits worship him day and night, and think his name worthy to be united with the FATHER'S in their songs of praise. But if he be not GOD, the testimony of the FATHER and the SPIRIT is not to be depended on: when they call him by that name, they do not mean what they say; and, instead of believing them, we must wander about in endless conjecture, to ascertain, if we can, what they intended in ascribing to him names so absolutely and infinitely inapplicable to him. And, awful to think, there is a deception gone abroad under the seal of their testimony. The holy and spiritual part of created intelligences are worshipping one who is not JEHOVAH, and have carried up the idolatry to the 2 FEBRUARY, 1866. very throne of glory. But can it be that they are idolators? It is impossible. They worship JESUS, and they do so with the highest reason; they have received commandment to do so, for he is GOD. The weight of these considerations is not abated by his acknowledging, at one time, "the FATHER is greater than I; nor by declaring, at another, that he did not know the day appointed for judgment. For being human as well as divine, he must necessarily in one respect be inferior to the FATHER and limited in knowledge, while in another he is equal to the FATHER and knoweth all things. The mystery of his person consists in the union of his manhood with his distinct personal subsistence in the Jehovah nature; but the exaltation of the humanity by this hypostatical union does not make it divine nor possess it with the attributes of Godhead. Both natures are distinct, though subsisting in one person only. Consequently the human part of the REDEEMER'S person must be dependent for its ideas of the will, counsels, and purposes of GOD, upon communications made to it; and know them only so far as they are revealed. Retaining its human attributes and properties, it cannnot be intuitively conscious of the ideas of the Divinity, as a man is conscious of the thoughts of his own heart, and therefore the not knowing some of the secret things which belong to GOD, is what we are prepared to suppose of him; but it is no objection to his real Deity. We confess and proclaim that great is this mystery; but the constitution of the person of CHRIST is the highest result of JEHOVAH'S wisdom-the highest manifestation of his grace—and renders him a suitable mediator between GOD and man. Having both natures, he must be concerned for the interests of both; he cannot act for us, but he must honour the FATHER-he cannot glorify the FATHER without doing us a real benefit. His person connects the glory of GOD and the blessedness of his elect, and in the attainment of the one, he secures the other. Besides, he has in himself a glory beyond estimation, that gives weight and worth and efficacy to his mediation for us from first to last. He, the GOD-MAN, is infinitely more excellent and has immensely more holiness, love, grace, and power, than all other beings. His person is more precious than all the creatures and works of GOD. How excellent then must be his doings! What a grandeur in his redemption! What a transcendency of merit in his engagements; his obedience and sufferings unto death in the place of his people! O then, believers, give him honour! Withhold no confidence, no praise from him. He is GOD; worship him. Fall at his feet and adore,-trust in his salvation and triumph. Shun the atheism,-tremble at the blasphemy,-that would treat him as a creature. "Lo! this is our GOD; we have waited for him and he will save us! this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. (To be continued.) THE world is full of work of some kind or other, good or evil, blind or intelligent, righteous or wicked. There are works of darkness, as well as light, works of faith and love, as well as sin and hatred. There are children of disobedience, as well as children of obedience. Work is profitable if it be the right kind; the mind is a busy power, and if not engaged in good is sure to be occupied in evil, because out of the heart flow the issues of life, and those issues are corrupted by sin. Out of the heart proceedeth all manner of evil, and if that heart be not regulated by grace and restrained by the Holy Spirit, as water continually floweth from the fountain, so will sin continually flow from the heart. Work is not in itself a curse but a blessing; overwork is injurious; but a mind well occupied excludes much evil, and there is much truth in Dr. Watts' assertion that the devil finds plenty for idle hands to do. It is clear from the scriptures that Adam had his appointed work in the garden: "And the Lord took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it (Gen. ii. 15.) Here God shows that "WORKERS TOGETHER." man even in an unfallen condition was not to be without occupation, though we can well conceive that Adam had mental employment sufficient in contemplating the wonders of creation, and the glories of the character of the Great Being who had breathed into him the breath of life. Seeing then that he was created in God's image, he could not have a more natural occupation than admiring that Wisdom that had created out of the dust of the earth a piece of mechanism so fearfully and wonderfully made, set in action, moved, controlled, and regulated by a spirit that had to live for ever. The creation as revealed to the mind of Adam, was very different to that which we now have; our minds are darkened, our perceptions blinded, our appreciations of the sublime or beautiful distorted; the whole man is sick and sore and sinful: whereas Adam beheld the wonderful works of God with affections, passions, judgment, and understanding, all pure. He needed no microscopic power to reveal to the eye, and through that to the mind, the wonderful beauty and adaptability of God's creation. We do not then look at work as a curse: true, the weeds, thorns, and thistles may grow more prolifically, or they may have commenced from the fall of man, not having a prior existence; yet God in his judgment remembered mercy, seeing that the very occupation of the man often has the effect of restraining the evils of the weeds of the mind, and which, but for such occupation, would produce most disastrous results. The celebrated Prince Eugene stated to a confidential friend, that he had been much exposed during the course of his life, but had escaped much temptation by reason of having had so many other things to attend to. It would be well for all christians to ascertain what they are fitted to do for God's honour and glory, and to do it with all their might, heartily towards the Lord; for in proportion as we work for God's cause, so far we work against Satan's kingdom; the more we are engaged in God's service, the more we are separated from earthly and sinful matters. "Be not weary in well doing" is the exhortation of Holy Writ, and if we wish to attain to a great happiness of mind, we connot obtain it in a quicker manner than in working together in God's cause with all assiduity and perseverance. Working together"-in our bibles it reads "working together with God," but 27 the words "with God" are in italics, shewing that they have been supplemented to the original, and consequently may be rejected. If we look at the previous chapter we shall find that the apostle is speaking of himself and the other apostles as ambassadors of Christ, and that they were working together, so that there is no reason for the supplemented or added words. It is a truth, however, that all may be fellow workers for God; for if we read the scriptures carefully, we shall be able readily to see how God has been pleased to use the weak instrumentality of man, though the efficiency of God runs through the whole, and thus excludes all boasting. We often hear the expressions used, that we are co-workers, or fellow-workers with God; these certainly do not convey a very exalted idea of the God who made us. Often they are made use of, not as arrogating any self-importance by those who express them; but still, we think such expressions are well avoided. They are not happy words, and tend to place sinful man, however high and honourable his aim, before, or on a par with the God who gives us all that we possess. What have we that we have not received? Paul said, "I laboured more abundantly than they all;" but he adds, "yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.' A Paul may plant and an Apollos water, but God must give the increase, if there be any augmentation at all. The ploughman ploughs not in his own strength; the sower goes forth to sow; he sows in hope, not knowing which will prosper; and if God. gives not vitality to the seed sown each one will rot away in the ground. If God withholds the blessing of life, the seed sown dies and revives not. If God imparts the generating life, the seed sown produces many; from one seed sown an ear of many seeds is produced; but there is no partnership in the matter; the strength to sow or to water, the power to work, is from on high, and when all is done, the blessing or increase must be looked for from heaven. In all kinds of instrumentality the efficiency is of God, whether it be the will to do, the desire to attain, the prayer to bless, the power to succeed; so that whether wo look at the will or act, the desire or success, each is equally dependent on the sovereign blessing of God, and without such blessing all our efforts in any good word or work are blasted. We should repudiate sincerely and carnestly the dictum of fellowship or partnership with God, in this sense. 28 MEDITATIONS ON SOLOMON'S SONG. With the limitation thus expressed, we can see that men work together and with God to carry out his designs of mercy; but we must never forget that it is a wondrous condescension, an amazing stoop, that God should deign to use any means in the salvation of men. But let men be engaged ever so assiduously or extensively, they must be convinced of their entire depend ence upon God for his blessing, and when they have done all that they possibly can, they are not in the right place, nor in their right minds, if their hearts do not prompt their lips to acknowledge that they are unprofitable servants; human self must be hid, and God all in all. (To be concluded in our next.) Meditations on Solomon's Song. BY T. W. MEDHURST.-GLASGOW. CVI-LOVE UNCHANGED. "Thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead."-SONG VI. 5. (Second Clause.) IN Song iv. 1, Jesus had used the same words in commending his church. This is no vain repetition. The use of the same endearing expressions shows HIS love unchanged, notwithstanding her tempory unfaithfulness. Jehovah-Jesus is an unchangeable lover. The bride might have thought that in consequence of her grievious declension, she would not now be so beautiful in the eyes of Jesus; therefore, to remove her suspicion, and show her that she was the very same to him, he will not only commend her afresh, but in the very same words. "However apt believers may be to slip and fail in their duty, and from their own fickleness to suspect that Christ is changeable also, refusing all past evidences of his love, and the words that have comforted them aforetime, the Lord graciously repeats what he had said to prove his unchangeableness."-Durham. Nothing can alter the love which Jesus bears to his chosen. He loved Peter with the same love after Peter had fallen as he did before. Sin in the believer is an evil and a bitter thing, for which he shall have to smart under the rod of correction; but our failings, short comings, and backslidings can never effect a change in Christ's love towards us. 66 His love no variation knows." "Again thy commendation I repeat, Though thou has slept, and sluggishly refus'd To open when I knock'd, and when I call'd— "Till I withdrew myself from thee awhile, And left thee to bewail thy loss of peace. But my affection to thee varies not, Though thou hast dealt so basely with thy LordI still admire the comeliness I gave, And own thee as thou art beheld in me.” CVII-COMMENDATION REPEATED. "Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, whereof every one beareth twins, and there is not one barren among them. As a piece of a pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks."-SONG, VII. 6, 7. THE Commendation of the church, iterated and re-iterated by Jesus, teaches us that the beauty wherein he has arrayed his eternally loved people is not imaginary, but real and certain. The words are repeated that the fact may be confirmed. This should teach us very highly to value our perfect comeliness which we have from and in Christ, and assure our hearts under seasons of soul-desertion that the love of Jesus is still the same. Sweetly sustaining to the soul is the assurance of Jesus's constancy, notwithstanding our unfaithfulness. Without this the heart of the believer can never be established. Here, and now, it IRONS. All He is necessary that believers should endure "Tho' we are saved from guilt and wrath, Lord, make our union closer yet; HART. REPLIES TO QUERIES. Replies to Queries. 29 "THE LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE." THE literal interpretation of Scripture is always the safest, except in those passages where it is clearly evident that the language is figurative. The first rule to be observed is to ascertain the exact sense in which general usage employed the words at the time they were spoken. All the inspired writers wrote and spoke so as to be understood; we must, therefore, interpret their language as we interpret the ordinary language of common life. All the great doctrines of scriptnre; all its practical duties; all that is necessary to be known by man; and the duties which belong to Christ's followers; are taught in language which is beautifully simple and decisive. When Jesus assures His disciples that the very hairs of their head are all numbered (Matt. x. 30), He expresses in the strongest form that they shall be preserved in safety while they are engaged doing His business. We often use similar language when speaking of those we love we say, "I would not hurt a hair of his head." In the same manner, notice also similar expresssions. (Acts xxvii. 34.) By thus comparing one part of scripture with another part, we find no difficulty in interpreting the words of Christ as teaching that most important and comfortable doctrine of a particular providence watching over God's people. The christian needs not fear any trials or dangers to which, for the truth's sake he may be exposed; for he can never be forgotten of God. We cannot tell how far we may consider material burning to form a part of the actual punishment of the lost; but such passages as Matt. iii, 12; xiii. 42; xviii. 8; xxv. 41, &c., certainly teach us that the sufferings of the lost will be as intense as it would be if one were cast into a furnace of fire and to have his body made capable of bearing the burning heat, and he had to live on in this fire for ever and ever. The God of truth would not talk of "hell fire" if it had no existence; neither would He hold out such frightful images merely to terrify mankind. Let us interpret the words of scripture by the same rules that we should interpret other books, and we need not fear either the attacks of avowed infidels, or of bible enemies of the Colenso stamp. "Should all the forms that men devise Assault my faith with treacherous art, I'd call them vanity and lies, T. W. MEDHURST. LUKE XVI. 9. A YOUNG DISCIPLE asks for an exposition of this text, concerning which various opinions have been formed. It seems to me, standing as it does connected with the preceding parable of the unjust steward, that we must treat it in the same way as the parable-that is to say, we must endeavour to find out what the leading lesson it is intended to convey is, and not try to pick out a meaning where none is intended. en For instance, in the case of the parable of the Prodigal Son, some have deavoured to explain the meaning of the ring, the fatted calf, etc.; when, in my opinion, all that Christ intended by the parable was to teach us, from the general conduct of the father, how willing God was to receive and forgive repenting sinners. So in the verse before us, it seems to me that the meaning Christ intended to convey is this: He was speaking here of rich men, those who had great wealth in their possession and at their disposal, and who, like the unjust steward, were only allowed that wealth for a time, but who would ultimately have to give an account of their stewardship to God. He advises them so to use their wealth (which is here called the mammon of unrighteousnes, or unrighteous mammon), that when they failed or died the result to them might be the same, although in a much higher sense, as the result of the conduct of the unjust steward. He does not mean that they are to act unjustly towards God, the giver of wealth, as the unjust steward did to his master; but that they are so to act, that in the end the general result to them shall be of the same nature as that of this steward.. It might be put in language something like the following: "You who are in the possession of much wealth, use it so that that which is often the cause of much wickedness and sin, may be in your hands a source of comfort to those around you; for by so doing, that which is the enemy of many shall be thy friend, and when thou shalt be called to give an account of thy stewardship at |