that fear the Lord. V. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. VI. He that putteth not out his money to usury: VII. nor taketh reward against the innocent. D. Are these notes infallible? J. He that doeth these things, shall never be moved, [shall abide in God's favour for ever.] POETRY. IGNORANCE OF MAN. Listen! yon new-born infant, griev'd Aloud the speechless suppliant cries, And utters as it can: The woes that in its bosom rise, That infant, whose advancing hour, Let then, thy fear within me dwell; Not to my wish, but to my want, R. W. As water is the only proper element for fish to live in, the elect of God who are compared to fish must live in water also, or die, this being a figure of Grace. Bunyan. THE SPIRITUAL WRESTLER, OR, ZION'S CHILDREN IN THE WILDERNESS. "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you." ISAIAH Xxxv, 3, 4. "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted." MATTHEW v, 4. No. 9. SEPTEMBER, 1847. THE NEW CREATURE. One Penny. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. v, 17. IN considering this subject, may it please the Holy Spirit so to bless that both Writer and Reader may have especial cause to rejoice together in the Lord Almighty. My limits will confine me from dividing and subdividing, and therefore, taking the words as the Translators have left them, I believe them to be quite agreeable to the Apostle's meaning, and in perfect unison with the whole tenor of Scripture,-" If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." In the Gospel written by St. JOHN, chap. iii, v. 3—6, the Lord Jesus communicates this same truth to Nicodemus as being the only essential to Salvation, "Except a man be born again, born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." By this, it must be understood, that no man can enter the kingdom of glory in eternity, unless he first enter the kingdom of God (in genuine lively faith) in Time; this life being that to pre pare us for the next, so that all Scripture might be fulfilled in all men, "In the place where the tree falleth, [i.e. either the state of Salvation or Reprobation in which a man departs this life,] there it shall be." Eccle. xi, 3. Here is no peradventure in this case, for, "There it shall be." No fancied place between Salvation and Reprobation, as Purgatory, or the like, no, in which state a soul lives and departs this life, "There it shall be." "So it shall be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. But the righteous shall go into life eternal." Matt. xiii, 49, 50; xxv, 46. “For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." 2 Cor. v, 10. And here, my dear Reader, is that that makes this matter our own; we shall not be idle in that day; "We shall not sleep," 1 Cor. xv, 51; we shall not merely spectate the scene before us, but we shall be a part of the "ALL" that must appear before Christ, for, “It is appointed unto men once to die, [every day fully and solemnly illustrates it,] but after this the judgment." Heb. ix, 27. Hence, if we desire the lot of the righteous, that our latter end may be like their's, it to us becomes of the highest importance in this life, that we see for our own satisfaction, certain marks and evidences that we are indeed passed from death unto life, and are pilgrims in the kingdom of God, which is the only way to everlasting happiness, for, "Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life,” John xiv, 6; “He is the door of the sheep, by whom, if any man enter in (the kingdom of God,) he shall be saved," John x, 7, 9; "Wherefore he is able to shall they also But, even this save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, [as in the preceding quotation,] seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them," Heb. vii, 25; and, "When he, who is their life, shall appear, then appear with him in glory." Colos. iii, 4. said satisfaction must not centre in ourselves so as to contradict the necessity of our faith having lively fruits; i. e. we must not be satisfied with saying, we believe this or that is essential to Salvation, and at the same time, are without its effects wrought upon our hearts; this is no less than the Pharisee who holds the form of Godliness, but nenies the power thereof. If our being in Christ is no more than in a profession, we are neither of us the character the Apostle speaks of, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature," and this, because in a mere profession of any thing, it holds forth uncertainty and deception, whereas the possession of a thing holds forth certainty and truth; as, for instance, a man may possess rationality, and yet for some secret self motive, feign himself mad, as David did before Achish. (1 Sam. xxi, 13.) Now, his professing to be mad, with all his arts in resembling madness, though it had the effect he desired, did not make him a mad man in reality; it made him in that matter to be a deceitful hypocrite, in as much as his profession caused Achish to believe him to be what he himself knew he was not. It often occurs that David is not alone in this matter, that is, when taken in a spiritual sense, but, let us remember, the Almighty King is not such a one as was Achish, or any of the Kings of the earth, for though "In that day seven women [a perfect or elect number of professors,] shall take hold of one man, [Emanuel] saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach ;" Is. iv, 1; yet, "God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. vi, 7. But, on the other hand, a person, as the Gadarene in Mark v, who is the sad victim to irrationality, says to every one that sees him, "Behold, I possess madness!" Now, such a one does not profess but by the force of the power within; he is mad, and madness will keep him a captive. This too, has an important signification, but I must go on with the subject. What I have endeavoured to show by professing only, is this, I, or any one, may, to gain certain ends, to the best of our ability, put ourselves in the way thereto, and if occasion require, alter our appearance in speech, dress, and the like, but this, however genuine to others, is a deception, and in the end, is probable, will deceive ourselves. This is often manifest in Religion. Professors there are on every hand; but how few are the subjects of what they profess! How few seem compelled to profess from the principles of grace within them! These are deceiving themselves, and deceiving others, of whom also they suffer themselves to be deceived; thus they deceive one another, and would, as Christ says, if it were possible, deceive the very elect. (Matt. xxiv, 24.) And all this on account of what? Their not having entered into the kingdom of God by Christ Jesus,-their not being in Christ possessedly, so that the fruits and effects thereof prove their "old things to be passed away," which is the infallible proof they are not "new creatures." However, my space warns me to conclude for the present: If God permit, I will endeavour in our next number, to enter a little farther into the subject. May He condescend even to make this scrap useful to His own praise and honour. |