Imatges de pàgina
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my Saviour's "best robe," (Luke xv. 22.) once a "companion of fools," (Prov. xiii. 20.) singing the songs of Belial, eating the husks which belong to the swine, (Luke xv. 16.) drinking iniquity like water, (Job xv. 16.) running the broad road which leadeth to eternal death, (Matt. vii. 13.)" possessed of the devil," (Luke viii. 36.) working for death as the wages of sin, (Rom. vi. 23.) "a sheep going astray," (Ps. cxix. 176.) a condemned criminal in the devil's jail, a brand only fit for the unquenchable fire, (Zec. iii. 2.) But now, to the glory of God's distinguishing mercy, being called from the lion's den, and the mountain of the leopard, (Song iv. 8.) I am become a companion of those who fear God, (Ps. cxix. 63.) brought to the king's banqueting house, where my soul hath been fed with the bread of heaven. Now I can freely drink of the wine and milk of gospel grace, without money and without price, (Isa. lv. 1.) walk in Christ the narrow way, receive Christ as the gift of God, and eternal life in him, the seven devils turned out, and Christ taken possession of the heart, brought from the ways of sin, and made eternally secure in the hands of the chief Shepherd, a free citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem, delivered from the curse of the law by the great Surety, freely acquitted from all condemnation by the Judge of heaven, (Rom. viii. 1.) rescued from the strong man armed, a brand plucked from the fire, and polished by divine grace to be a pillar in the temple of my God, (Rev. iii. 12.)

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Here, then, my soul, behold the wonderful effects of God's eternal purpose, view the distinguishing nature of that sovereign grace manifested in thy salvation; and O thou great teacher of all thy people, do thou deeply impress it upon my heart, that I may remember that by nature, I was poor, and blind, and miserable, and naked; and ever prize the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, so that, while my years are passing away as a tale that is told, I may be waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom, to meet him at the appointed time with joy and gladness, when my tabernacle shall be taken down, to be new modelled by the grand architect of all the

elect.

And now, let me answer Paul's question, "who hath made thee to differ?" Is it a little arminian wooing that hath gently turned my stubborn free-will? O no. Those may talk thus foolishly who have never felt the plague of their own hearts; but I must ever ascribe it to the everlasting, unchangeable, free, sovereign, distinguishing love of my adorable God in covenant, while I fall prostrate in the dust, and exclaim, it is "by the grace of God I am what I am.” 'Tis grace, 'tis grace, with joy I'll sing,

While in this world I stay;

And grace, rich grace, with joy I'll sing,
When time has pass'd away.

To Israel's triune God, be everlasting praise and glory given, by all the redeemed and called saints on earth, and the glorified millions on high. Amén.

Orpington, Kent.

T. W.

REVIEW.

Sermons, Lectures, and Occasional Discourses. By the Rev. Edward Irving, M. A. Minister of the National Scotch Church, Regent's Square. In Three Vols.

THE admirers of Mr. Irving's talents will experience an additional gratification from the perusal of the above work; which is written in the same fervent and animated style as usually characterize his addresses from the pulpit; which orations have obtained him both the censure and applause of the multitude, and the esteem and admiration of his stated auditory.

The opinions our Rev. author entertains on the subject of his discourses, are stated in substance in the preface of his work, with much conciseness and perspicuity. His first volume treats of the work of Christ in the flesh; the second, of the publication and propagation of the same good work among men; and the third, of the present aspect and condition, and the immediate prospects of that portion of the world which hath received the preaching of the gospel of the incarnate word; being in the whole doctrinal, ecclesiastical, and practical, national, and prophetical.

The first and second sermons on the incarnation, are fine specimens of the author's powers as a theologian; and discover much harmony of sentiment with the testimony of unerring truth, on the subject he there discusses. We wish we could express this unqualified opinion of the work throughout; but, we regret to state that our pleasure has been considerably counterbalanced by the perusal of matter of a different complexion and character. This we deeply regret. Our limits do not allow of an elaborate exposition of the points in which our judgment differs. The candid reader will form his own conclusion from the whole; and, we are convinced he will not cashier the performance as unworthy his regard in toto, and consign to reprobation the sparkling gems which are scattered throughout his pages in splendid profusion, with the dross which here and there beclouds their lustre. There are many points maintained in his third sermon, which want revising. In fact, to be acceptable to the real orthodox christian, the production must be re-cast in a different mould. We apprehend that the doctrine there enforced on universal reconciliation wrought by the death of Christ, and the particular election ministered by his life in glory," is too problematical and hard to solve, to meet the desired reception; especially among those who are sound in the faith as it is in Jesus.

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The human nature of Christ, he says, was the same as his own, before it was consecrated by the Holy Ghost. This idea is not revealed in the scriptures, therefore, it is destitute of foundation in reason and fact. Jesus must have been under the curse, and consequently, with

out a federal righteousness, and incapable of being a Saviour. He derived the power of laying down his life, and taking it up again from his Father, and from himself, as a divine person. No created being, as such, has immortal life essentially dwelling in him.

The following quotation is a summary statement of the doctrine from which we have expressed our dissent,

"I shall proceed to open, in the second part of this sermon, how God, by uniting the person of his Son to fallen flesh, doth thereby reconcile the whole lump of fallen humanity unto himself, and is enabled, through Christ, to save as many as it pleaseth him, without any detriment unto, but rather with all illustration of, his righteousness and holiness. This will lead us to speak of the universality of the reconciliation, and the individuality of the election; and to shew how harmonious and mutually co-operating are these two great truths. From this we shall pass, in the third part, to shew how, by this same method of sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, God doth remove the law, which is the form of the enmity, and bring in unto all the world this dispensation of grace under which we now stand. After which, we shall conclude this discourse upon the method of the Incarnation, with practical conclusions and improvements of the whole."

"Of the doctrine taught in the first part of this discourse this is the sum : -That there was united in Jesus Christ the Godhead, in the person of the Son, and the manhood, in its fallen state; and that they subsisted together in one person, in such wise as that he was wholly without sin, holy and blameless in the sight of God. Now, by the grace of God, I will shew you how in this incarnation of the Son of God, thus incarnate, in the fallen, and not the unfallen creature, is shewn forth and demonstrated the truth of that text: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself; not imputing unto them their trespasses." And to make this demonstration the more complete, I pray you to look back unto the beginning.

"See the substance of mankind, now innumerably divided into living and dead persons, all shut up and contained in Adam, in a state of goodness with which the Godhead was well pleased. See it again, by the fall of our first parents; all brought into a state of sinfulness, most abhorrent unto the mind of a holy and righteous God; offending all his commandments, refusing him worship, and giving it unto stocks and stones, and four-footed creatures, and in all possible ways shewing forth a most hideous and irreconcileable enmity in the creature unto God. The question then is, How is this enmity of fallen man to be taken away? How is the world to be reconciled unto God? How is this sinful and sin-possessed creature to be delivered, sanctified, and brought into favour with God? As in an individual, even Adam, the enmity came; so in an individual, even Christ, the reconciliation came. And as from the first individual, the enmity was propagated to many, yea, to all; so from the latter individual is the reconciliation propagated unto many: as is the fall, so is the remedy. And how, then, was the reconciliation accomplished in the man Jesus Christ; and afterwards is it propagated from him unto other men? In the man Jesus Christ, there was the Godhead of the Son, which is the same in substance with the Godhead of the Father and of the Holy Ghost. There was, also, the manhood; the same in substance with the manhood of other men, otherwise it is not manhood. Verily, "he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham." "Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same." Consider now attentively this the person of Christ. If the human substance which he hath taken, be of a piece with mine and with yours, as we are all of a piece with Adam, and can through the union with the Godhead be preserved pure, and blameless, and carried through death incorrupt, and brought into the presence of God perfectly holy, then it is made manifest, that a fallen creature can be reconciled unto God, for it VOL. V.-No. 59.

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hath been done, it was done in the person of Christ; and the only question which will remain is, How is it to be done in other persons? How is it to be propagated abroad unto many, as Adam's declension was propagated? But if, on the other hand, Christ took not our substance in its fallen, but in its unfallen state, and brought this unto glory, then nothing whatever hath been proved with respect to fallen creatures, such as we are: the work of Christ toncheth not us who are fallen; there is no reconciliation of the fallen creature unto God; God is not in Christ reconciling a sinful world, but he is in Christ reconciling an unfallen world : for it is the unfallen creature and the Godhead which have met in Christ. And what were the use of reconciling the unfallen world, which hath no sin, which is never fallen out with God? If God is in Christ reconciling something to himself, that something must be, in Christ, reconciled with God. And what is there in Christ, but God and man? These two, that met in him, therefore, and were reconciled, must be the same two between whom enmity had come. Do I say, then, that Christ was sinful, or did any sin, or that his temptations led him into any sin? if there was sin, how could there be reconciliation? No; he was holy. But was he liable to sin? Yes; he was tempted in all points like as we are. How could he be tempted like me, unless he were like me? his Godhead could not be tempted; as it is written, “God cannot be tempted with evil.” Only, then, his manhood could be tempted: and how can any one be tempted, or tried, unless he be liable to sin? Even Adam, before he fell, was liable to sin. If any one, therefore, say that Christ was not liable to sin, he doth say he was not a man; he doth say he is not come in the flesh; “for all flesh is grass, and the glory of it as the flower of grass;” and if any man say that Christ is not come in the flesh, he is not of God. "This is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is in the world." Be it so then admitted, that Christ is come in the flesh, and was tried with all our infirmities, and tempted in all points, like as we are—which is a doctrine the most necessary to salvation, albeit now set light by, nay, and even reproved—you have at once redemption and reconciliation made sure. You have original sin taken away in him, by the manner of his conception: he is not, as it were, an individual of the sinful individuals: he is not a human person: he never had personal subsistence as a mere man he sees the whole mass and lump of fallen, sinful flesh: he submits himself unto his Father to be made flesh; his Father sendeth the Holy Spirit to prepare him a body. This is done through means of a rational soul, which the Holy Spirit possessing doth therewith take up, from any where in the lump of existing flesh, a part; and when so forming a body the eternal Son of God humbleth himself to apprehend it, for ever to unite it to his own divine person: and thus, by creative act of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, not by ordinary generation, Christ is constituted a divine and human nature in one person. He hath taken part with the children, with the fallen children; but he came by that part, not through connexion with Adam, but by his own free will, and his Father's free will, and the free will of the Holy Ghost; and thus original sin is avoided, though yet the body he took is in the fallen state, and liable to all temptations. Now, then, consider ye how the reconciliation between these two most contrary and irreconcileable things is accomplished. Most people never think at all about the matter, and would fain not be troubled to think about it; but woe be to the minister, and woe be to the people together, who are content to lie sunk in such sloth, in such indifference to God's most principal and most glorious work' Hear me then, patiently, and give diligent heed, while I explain to you this matter distinctly. The divine nature of Christ hath continual communion and identity with the Godhead, is of the Godhead, is the Godhead ; dwelling with the Father, and in the Father, not the less because it acteth towards the creatures, through this body, and through it shall for ever act. By his divine nature, I say, with the Godhead he transacteth, and by his human nature he rendereth the will and purpose and action of the Godhead

intelligible, visible, and perceptible to the creature.

But before two instru

ments will render the same harmonious sound, they must first be brought into tune with one another; and the question is, how shall human nature, in the fallen state, be brought to be in harmony with the acting of the Holy Godhead? Ever since the fall, God and man have been at variance. The thing was not, that ever the human will had acted in harmony with the will divine; and how then is it now to be? How is a human nature to respond, truly and justly, in all things to a divine nature? This is the reconciliation of which so much is made mention in scripture. This is the atonement of which they make so much discourse, without knowing what they say, or whereof they affirm. Atonement is not reparation, is not the cost or damage, but the being at one. It should be pronounced at-one-ment."

Certainly Mr. Irving appears here to have travelled out of his proper latitude; "darkening counsel by words without knowledge." Here we find him inferring the liability of Christ to sin, from his temptation to it by the enemy; while it is almost universally admitted to be impossible he should sin. And, a little further onwards, at page 75, he exclaims, on the same subject, "I know it well, and will maintain unto death, that Christ's flesh was as rebellious as ours, as fallen as ours." We rejoice that we have not so learned Christ.

On the propriety of going about and preaching universal reconciliation unto all the world, the Rev. gentleman observes :

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"And therefore we may go about and preach reconciliation unto all the world, as it is in that text, already quoted, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses." We preach the resurrection unto all who have partaken of the death which came by Adam. We have a right to say, that as in Adam all have died, so in Christ all have been recovered from death, or made alive. And doubt can there be none, that Christ hath purchased unto himself right and lordship over all the fallen creatures and in virtue of his resurrection shall raise them all from their graves, some unto the resurrection of life, and others unto the resurrection of judgment. His resurrection makes him Lord of heaven, and Lord of hell. He hath purchased back the possession, and in doing it, he hath asserted likewise his lordship over the usurpers of the possession. Here, then, is redemption and reconciliation purchased for fallen mankind, by the incarnation of Christ, as truly and completely, and as extensively, as in the fall by one man, even Adam, death and alienation were procured.'

In a word, he defines the distinction between "reconciliation and the principle of election," by asserting that the work of Christ up to his resurrection was done for mankind in general; but that all that he hath done since, has been to make a difference between the election and the reprobate; that he hath removed from all alike a broken law, and that the penalty the reprobate incurs is a rejected gospel!

These are the points Mr. Irving urges with much assurance; and which we conceive to be purely heterodoxical. Yet, while we are thus constrained to lop off excrescences from his work, there are other parts well deserving our commendation. Our desire is to separate the wheat from the chaff which surrounds it, and free it from a spurious adulteration.

We have been highly interested with his third volume, which contains a lucid view relating to the fate of the world and the church, collected from the present aspect of affairs, and the concurrent testimony of unalterable truth. Surely it may be said, that, as a nation,

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