Imatges de pàgina
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][ocr errors]

en God and Christ, angels or spirits; when he considered good or bad men, any or all the creatures that surrounded him, they appeared not only new to him, but to stand in a different relation to him to what they had formerly done. At night he retired to his rest in peace, and with a thankful heart, because the Lord had redeemed him, and given him that peace which passeth all understanding. He thought that he should never more be troubled with the sin which had most easily beset him; and said within himself," the enemies I have seen this day, I shall see them no more for ever." But no sooner had he experienced inward peace, than the devil and wicked men began to molest him."And no marvel," saith he, "for the devil had lost one of the main pillars of his kingdom in that parish. And therefore he did not leave one stone unturned, that he might cast an odium. upon the work of God in that place, But none of these things moved me, for I was happy, happy in God; clothed with the sun, and the moon under my feet; raised up, and made to sit in heavenly, holy, happy places in Christ Jesus."

(To be continued.)

SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATED.

OBSERVATIONS ON GENESIS III. 3.

And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.

It is generally supposed that the phrase "cool of the day," denotes the time or hour of the day in which Jehovah made his appearance to Adam. This seems, however, to be a mistake, as this phrase is not used in Scripture to express any part of time whatever. If we consult the original text, all is clear. It reads thus: "Adam heard the sound of Jehovah-God walking in the garden upon the wind of the day," &c.

It is evident from Scripture, that Jehovah the Son appeared to Adam so soon as he was created, and on many after occasions. Adam heard his voice, and held familiar conversation with him. as a man does with his friend. Then, and ever afterwards, in all the ages previous to his incarnation, Jehovah seems to have VOL. J.

85

made the sound or rushing of wind the visible symbol of his appearance. Thus he announced his approach to Job, xxxviii. 1, "Ile answered him out of the whirlwind, and said," &c. So he appeared to Ezekiel in the vision, chap. i. 4. This also was the sign whereby David knew that Jehovah was gone out before him to smite the host of the Philistines, 1 Chron. xiv. 15. When he heard the sound of a rushing on the tops of the mulberry trees, he knew it was the sound of Jehovah going out to destroy his enemies. And as this had always been the sign of the approaching Deity, the coming of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles was announced in "the sound of a rushing mighty wind," Acts ii. 2. Hence God is said to "walk upon the wings of the wind," and to "make the clouds his chariot." Now as this was the usual token whereby Adam knew the approach of his Maker, so soon as he heard the sound of wind issuing from a cloud, walking among the trees of the garden, he was apprised of the approach of the offended Jehovah; and alarmed by his fears, the attendants on guilt, he ran to hide himself from the Divine presence among the thickets of Eden.

The first ages of the church were ages of figure: all the divine dispensations and institutions 'prefigured better things to come. God seems to have chosen a cloud, or wind, as the vehicle of conveying his voice, or the intimation of his will to our fathers, to express the manner in which he intended to utter his voice in "the ages to come." The gospel is the voice of God to us, and the Holy Spirit is the wind of the gospel-day. Accordingly the word is said to come, not in word only, but in the Holy Ghost, who gives much assurance, or as certain a token of the presence of God, as the cloud or wind afforded of old. Hereby we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us. When he came on the apostles, it was in the sound of a rushing mighty

wind.

REMARKS ON ACTS XIX. 1, 2.

Extract from Parkhurst.

PAUL finding certain disciples at Ephesus, said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, Αλλ' εδε εν Πνευμα Αξιον εσιν ηκέσαμεν, which we trans

late, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost, as if the words related to the existence of that Person in the Trinity. But this cannot be the meaning of them, because ver. 3. they had been baptized into John's baptism, i. e. by John himself, having been in Judea during his ministry: and part of his doctrine, as recorded by all the four Evangelists, was, that he that should come after him, i. e. Christ, should baptize them with the Holy Ghost. See Matt. iii. 11. Mark i. 8. Luke iii. 16. John i, 33. These Ephesian disciples, therefore, could not be ignorant, that there existed such a Divine Person as the Holy Ghost, but they say, We have not heard, & Iveuμ¤ Alloy 851, whether the Holy Ghost be, that is, in action, or actually sent upon the disciples of Christ. There is an exactly parallel expression, John vii. 39. Ούπω γαρ ην Πνευμα Αγιον. For the Holy

Ghost was not yet given, (say our translators rightly,) because that Jesus was not yet glorified. Ephesus being at a great distance from Jerusalem, these disciples had not heard of the actual effusion of the Holy Ghost on Christ's disciples, according to the Baptist's doctrine.

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD DISPLAYED.

EXTRACT FROM MR. HUNTER'S INTRODUCTORY LECTURE ON

ANATOMY.

MR. Hunter, after supposing that an immaterial spirit is about to be placed in a corporeal fabric, commences an inquiry what will be necessary for her accommodation. First, says he, the mind, the thinking immaterial agent, must be provided with a place of immediate residence, which shall have all the requisites for the union of spirit and body; accordingly she is provided with the brain, where she dwells as governor and superintendent of the whole fabric. In the next place, as she is to hold a correspondence with all the material beings around her, she must be supplied with organs fitted to receive the different kinds of impressions which they will make. In fact, therefore, we see that she is provided with the organs of sense, as we call them; the eye is adapted to light; the ear to sound; the nose to smell; the mouth to taste; and the skin to touch.

"Farther: She must be furnished with organs of communication between herself in the brain and those organs of sense, to give her information of all the impressions that are made upon them and she must have organs between herself in the brain and every other part of the body, fitted to convey her commands and influences over the whole. For these purposes the nerves are actually given. They are chords which rise from the brain, the immediate residence of the mind, and disperse themselves in branches through all parts of the body. They convey all the different kinds of sensations to the mind, in the brain; and likewise carry out from thence all her commands or influence to the other parts of the body. They are intended to be occasional monitors against all such impressions as might endanger the wellbeing of the whole, or any particular part; which vindicates the Creator of all things, in having actually subjected us to those many disagreeable and painful sensations, which we are exposed to from a thousand accidents in life. Moreover, the mind, in this corporeal system, must be endued with the power of moving from place to place, that she may have intercourse with a variety of objects; that she may flee from such as are disagreeable, dangerous, or hurtful, and pursue such as are pleasant or useful to her. And accordingly she is furnished with limbs, and with muscles and tendons, the instruments of motion, which are found in every part of the fabric where motion is necessary.

"But to support, to give firmness and shape in the fabric; to keep the softer parts in their proper places; to give fixed points for, and the proper direction to its motions, as well as to protect some of the more important and tender organs from external injurics; there must be some firm prop-work interwoven through the whole. And, in fact, for such purposes the bones are given. The prop-work must not be made into one rigid fabric, for that would prevent motion.-Therefore there are a number of bones. These pieces must all be firmly bound together, to prevent their dislocation. And this end is perfectly well answered by the ligaments. The extremities of these bony pieces, where they move and rub upon one another, must have smooth and slippery surfaces for easy motion. This is most happily provided for, by the cartilages and mucus of the joints. The interstices of all these parts must be filled up with some soft and ductile matter, which shall keep them in their places, unite them, and at the same time allow them to move a little upon one another. And

these purposes are answered by the cellular membrane or adipose substance. There must be an outward covering over the whole apparatus, both to give it compactness and to defend it from a thousand injuries; which, in fact, are the very purposes of the skin and other integuments.

"Lastly, the mind being formed for society and intercourse with beings of her own kind, she must be endued with powers of expressing and communicating her thoughts by some sensible marks or signs; which shall be both easy to herself, and admit of great variety and accordingly she is provided with the organs and faculty of speech, by which she can throw out signs with amazing facility, and vary them without end.

"Thus we have built up an animal body, which would seem to be pretty complete: but as it is the nature of matter to be altered and worked upon by matter; so, in a very little time, such a living creature must be destroyed, if there is no provision for repairing the injuries which she must commit upon herself, and those which she must be exposed to from without. Therefore a treasure of blood is actually provided in the heart and vascular system, full of nutricious and healing particles, fluid enough to penetrate into the minutest parts of the animal; impelled by the heart, and conveyed by the arteries, it washes every part, builds up what was broken down, and sweeps away the old and useless materials: hence we see the necessity or advantage of the heart and arterial system. What more there is of this blood than enough to repair the present damages of the machine, must not be lost, but should be returned again to the heart; and for this purpose the venous system is actually provided. These requisites in the animal explain, a priori, the circulation of the blood."

(To be concluded in the next.)

ACCOUNT OF THE REV. MR. THOMPSON, OF ST. GENNYS, CORNWALL, From the London Methodist Magazine.

A STRIKING PROVIDENCE.

MR. THOMPSON was well known, not only to the parishoners among whom he lived, but to the neighboured at large, for the great liberality of his character. He was literally what Paul describes, "As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things."

« AnteriorContinua »