Calvinist on scripture ground is boldly and sturdily maintaining the contest. And I have no doubt, that ultimately he will " overcome through the blood of the Lamb, and by the sword of the Spirit." Alas, it is too true in these conflicts between truth and error, the best of men have spoken unadvisedly with their lips, and have dipped their pens in wormwood and gall; insomuch that we have been constrained to exclaim in the language of the Latin bard, ⚫ Tantæne animis cælestibus iræ !'

W. A. M. feels greatly obliged to Terio for his truly christian admonition, and it is the daily prayer of the admonished that the humbling precepts of the gospel may be deeply engraven upon the heart of W. A M. that they may be the more apparent in his temper, his spirit, and his life. W. A. M. would also assure Terio, that he cherishes towards him, though personally unknown, nothing but true christian charity, but to error he will give no quarter.

I should be very sorry, Mr. Editor, to disparage the pages of your excellent miscellany by any effusions of mine, thereby lessening its great merits, but should you deem this answer of mine to Terio worthy a place therein,

You will greatly oblige, dear Sir,

Your's affectionately in the everlasting bonds of the gospel,

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

THE CHRISTIAN PILGRIM.

W. A. M.

In all ages of the church, it hath been the peculiar distinction of the saints of God to confess that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth," bending their course towards the city of God-the Jerusalem which is above; and the various and oftimes painful vicissitudes with which they come in contact, are as so many confirmations of the fact, that, here they have no continuing city, but are pilgrims destined to traverse the thorny mazes of the wilderness of sin, where

"Dangers of every shape and name,
Attend the followers of the Lamb."

And where they often find that they breathe an atmosphere unsuited to their high pursuits, and meet with accommodation far below their dignity as sons of God, and heirs of glory; hence they are emphatically designated "strangers scattered abroad," and "sojourners in the earth;" yet, "a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, a holy nation, and a peculiar people; of whom the world is not worthy!" But whose peculiar views, pursuits, and conduct, entail upon them the odium and contumely of their fellow men, and subject them to the bitterest persecution and maltreatment, as reptiles who are a pest to society, and unworthy to associate with the literati of the age. This hath been in all ages (to a greater or less degree) the experience of all those who are alive to the sublime realities of the religion of Jesus, for they experimentally know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God; and those who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution; but thrice "blessed are they who are (so)

persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!"

It may not be unworthy the notice of the spiritual reader, to follow the writer in contemplating for one moment the varied experience of the christian pilgrim, whilst prosecuting his journey from the "devoted city" to the Canaan of rest, and the unseen glories of the upper world-the immeasurable domains of his heavenly Father, and the unwasting realities of eternal beatification. With his mind alive to the vast extent of blessings to which he is heir, through the predestinating grace of God his Father, and which are already in the actual possession of his elder brother, and reserved for him till the days of his pilgrimage are over, he enjoys with soul-satisfying delight, the lively emotions these considerations are calculated to excite; and could (were it the will of his God) view with calm indifference the pomp and grandeur of the world, the rise and fall of nations, the convulsions of empires, or even "the wreck of matter, and the crush of worlds," being persuaded that the lordship of his heavenly Father extend over all worlds, and that his sovereign arm wields the sceptre of universal empire, and has all things under his absolute controul, from the elevation of a monarch to the falling of a sparrow, and will cause all things to work for the eternal welfare of those

"Who have left the world's deceitful shore,
And left it to return no more."

Therefore under these happy feelings,

He views with unconcern, this troubl'd ball,
A nation's rise, a haughty monarch's fall;
His hopes are fix'd beyond all earthly toys,
On solid bliss, and real substantial joys;
In vain a flatt'ring world attempts to find
True happiness for his exalted mind;

He boasts of heaven, as his last long home,
And claims its peerless glories for his own!

Though these are sometimes the lively sensations, and the happy experience of the christian pilgrim, yet there are times and seasons when things wear a different aspect, his path appears more rugged, thn footsteps of the flock less visible; his burden seems to increase, and his consolations to decrease; faith languishes, hope is paralyzed, evidences beclouded, affections languid, corruptions strong, and temptations follow in rapid succession, and threaten to inundate his soul. The joys of salvation, and the comforts arising therefrom have left him to mourn in solitude, because the Comforter who should have comforted his disconsolate heart is far from him. In this perturbation of mind he recounts the former loving-kindnesses of his God, and recollects the hill Mizer, and the dew of Hermon, and mourns in anguish of spirit his present bereavement, until his soul is bowed down with grief, and in his distress he thinks it well to be angry, and to quarrel with the sovereign procedures of the Most High, and in his impatience exclaims, "Lord! why casteth thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me? Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom the Lord hath hedged in? He hath led me and brought me into darkness, and not into light! Therefore, I will not refrain my mouth, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul."

While rebellion thus rankles in his heart, and he is giving vent to hard speeches, he is suddenly aroused from his unhallowed cogitations, and his astonished eye perceives the sun to be mantled in impervious gloom;-the surges of the troubled sea roll with terrific impetuosity, and the heavens gather blackness, while the clashing of the conflicting elements portend an approaching desolation: when he hears as it were the voice of Jehovah from the whirlwind and the storm, "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and hide thee as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over and past," &c. Isa. xxvi. 20, 21.

It is then the poor bewildered traveller learns the important lesson, that his comfortable frames, and happy feelings, are too weak to bear him up in a day of severe trial, and a vessel too slight to support him through the storms of life; hence he is blessedly compelled to embrace the Rock for want of a shelter, and, upon that rock faith plants her foot, and penetrating the blackened atmosphere, descries the bow in the heavens-the covenant faithfulness of a covenant God! which

as a divine ray shines on the celestial track; while hope pursues a risen Saviour to the unclouded regions of eternal day.

Oh! ye spiritual traveller, whose predestined lot is to walk in a path strewed with thorns, and beset on every hand with the snares of the fowler, ever recollect (and may God give thee the comfort of it) that thy feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, and that thy shoes are of iron and brass, with which thou shalt tread upon serpents and scorpions, and nothing shall by any means hurt you: yea, even that old serpent the devil shall ye tread under foot shortly! for, "know ye not, that we shall judge angels ?"

Yes, beloved, the time with us is not far distant, when the accuser of the brethren shall be finally cast out, and the waters of Marah, the wormwood and the gall, be no more administered to allay the raging thirst of our parched tongues; but, pure water of eternal life issuing from the once-smitten rock, shall satiate our weary spirits, tired and fatigued with the perilous journey.

"There shall we breathe immortal life,
In a pure atmosphere of love.”

And mingle our praises with kindred spirits, whose distinguished privilege it is to rehearse the wondrous acts of God towards the children of men, and to tell to the unfallen throng of angels, cherubim, and seraphim, what the victorious arm of the Redeemer hath achieved for them, while we shall behold with awful astonishment, the impassable gulph of Jehovah's fixed decree, which divides the heaven of rest from the pit of perdition, and the abodes of the damned.

Now, "beloved, are we the sons of God; but it doth not yet appear what we shall be, neither hath entered into the heart of (any) man, the (great and unrevealed) things which God hath prepared for them that love him," but which shall be ours, in common with the whole election of grace, when "this mortal shall have put on immortality," " and we receive the end of our faith, even the full and ultimate salvation of our souls.

August 27, 1829.

T. W. H.

ORIGINAL ESSAYS.

LVII.

THE TRINITY.

THE existence of God lies at the bottom of all religion, whether it be natural or spiritual in its quality. There can be but one God, and of course there is but one legislator. The existence of God may be proved by the works of his hands; but it is the light of revelation that makes known to us his nature, and the persons peculiar and natural to his existence. Eternity is the sole and incommunicable prerogative of the uncreated Jehovah; and the indivisibility of his nature is a fact that is maintained by the authority of the scriptures. Yet there are men in existence who deny the doctrine of a Trinity of Persons in the one God, because the word is not found in the bible; and, as they say, it is repugnant to reason. The writer of these remarks has no intention to go into an argumentative proof of the doctrine, but to offer a few thoughts upon a plain doctrine found in the volume of inspiration.

This is of

Whatever is in God is God. The names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we often meet with in the new testament, and the persons to whom these names are applied are spoken of as performing various actions. We therefore assume the position, that each of these divine agents is God by nature, and that the Three Persons spoken of are the one living and eternal Jehovah. There does not appear to us sufficient evidences in the scriptures to support the scholastic distinction, urged by many learned and good men, in favour of the eternal generation of the person of the Son, and the procession of the person of the Holy Spirit. It appears to us that the Persons in the Godhead are the same as the nature of it--eternal and unbegotten. so much importance to us, that we shall not be easily tempted to resign our views of this subject. In this view of it we perceive a sameness of nature in each Person, and each Person existing by necessity of nature. No act of the divine will or power can give existence to the nature or Persons of the Deity. As is the nature of God, such are the Persons in God-natural and underived. The revelation of Jehovah to us does not give being to the Persons in the Godhead, but it is a discovery of his nature and Persons to us in Christ his Son, according to the relationship which he has constituted in him, by an act of his grace, for his own pleasure. The eternal unity of the Godhead, and the natural Persons in it, stand above volition, generation, procession, or mediation.

The election of God is the reason why he has manifested to the church his nature and Persons in the scriptures. This act is eternal and irrevocable. No one could move him to make himself known to us, because there was not any creature then in existence; and this Vol. VI.-No. 71.

2 Q

decision concerning his church must have been bottomed in the unity and perfection of his own nature. We are reminded that all the acts of God toward or in the church, arise out of his love; and that love to his own being and Persons is the impulsive cause of the decision of his free will. There can be nothing in the humanity of Christ which could affect the mind of God to make this choice, or to determine the mode of manifesting himself to men; for Christ himself is indebted to this voluntary election for the near and intimate relation in which he stands to God as his own Son, and also for the relative dominion which he is authorised to exercise over his church. According to this decision, the Persons in the Godhead each act officially, with respect to the salvation and glorification of the whole church, and the one Jehovah is known and revered by all the saints. By this means we can admit the economical superiority and inferiority we read of in the scriptures, and at the same time maintain the natural equality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God alone is the sovereign of the universe, and his independency of the creatures is manifested by all the goodness that he is pleased to communicate to them. Moved by his own love, and governed by his own will, he has built the globe, in which he is pleased to execute his wise counsels, and to accomplish the purpose of his grace.

In the Person of the great Immanuel has God made known himself, for "in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The nature of the church has ever existed in the Person of the Son of God; and in his Person there is a foundation laid to execute the decree of eternity. Christ is the fountain of life, sanctity, and righteousness to his brethren; and the Spirit, who is the vital sanctifier of every heir of life, when he creates them anew acts officially from the Father, in the name, influence, and ransom of the Son. Indeed creation is alike ascribed to each of these holy Persons. The first name by which Jehovah is made known to us in the holy scriptures, is one by which the plurality of Persons is asserted, and the covenant of God is hinted at; is said by many profound hebraists to be derived from the root to curse, and has respect to the covenant by which God has sworn to make the enemies of Christ his footstool. The learned Parkhurst 66 says, by virtue of this antomundanee oath the man Christ Jesus was enabled to overcome the devil and all the enemies of man, and perfect his redemption; and from the oath it was that the ever blessed THREE were pleased to take that glorious and fearful name, Jehovah-Alehim; glorious in as much as the transaction to which it refers displays in the most glorious manner the attributes of God to men and angels; and fearful in as much as by one part of the oath, eternal and infinite power, Jehovah himself is engaged to make the enemies of Christ his footstool."

That plan of wisdom of which we read in the bible, unfolds the living God to our view, as having designed his own glory in the endless redemption of his children. Yet each of the Divine Persons have voluntarily taken office to execute this purpose of grace.