seemed to open heaven, drove back the column, spread it wide over the face of heaven, and it descended in a destructive torrent down upon the earth whence it had arisen. In a moment the face of every thing was changed-diseases, blindness, madness, destruction, death, showered down on men, animals, and things. A blight blasted the vegetable world, which before bloomed in beauty. Shrieks of horror and howls of despair broke forth in the same moment, and then, all was still as death, silent as the grave. Devastation was all around, and in an awful voice I heard these words, They have their hearts' desire; their curses are come down upon them," Because of swearing the land mourneth!" Then lamentation and woe was heard, mourning and sorrow. Then in an agony of mind I took up the sorrowful cry, "Because of swearing the land mourneth!" and repeating it audibly, I awoke. This, my friend, is the vision which has saddened my heart, and spread my countenance with gravity. There was something so affecting, both in the dream, and in the manner in which my friend related it, that I remained silent, awfully impressed with the solemnity of his feelings. After a long pause, he said, But what can we make of these impressions? Can we do any good? Can we stop the torrent of vice? Can we warn sinners? O that I had the spirit, the heart, the calling of a Reformer, then would I go forth, and proclaim the command of God in the drowsy ears of men, with a voice should let them know, that "GOD SPAKE THESE WORDS, AND SAID, THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN, FOR THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD HIM GUILTLESS THAT TAKETH HIS NAME IN VAIN!" He rose spontaneously from the breakfast table, and I also; and, with a kind of mutual understanding, we walked into the garden, and fell into a more quiet conversation on the important subject. Suppose, I said, we endeavour, by the blessing of God, to bear this subject in mind, and in our way, as it shall please Him to help us, we make it a principal point, in our future conversation amongst men, to lift up the command, and set it before them. Let us do so, and if we are only blessed to make one sinner think, it will be well; and we shall grow in a watchful spirit over our own lips, that we offend not with our tongue. THE NIGHT-BLOWING CEREUS. CAN it be true? so fragrant and so fair! To give thy perfume to the dews of night? Can aught so beautiful shrink from the glare, And fade and sicken in the coming light? Yes. Peerless Flower! the heavens alone exhale Thy fragrance; while the glittering stars attest; And incense, wafted by the midnight gale, Untainted rises from thy spotless breast. Sweet emblem of that Faith, which seeks, apart From human praise, to love and work unseen : That gives to Heaven an undivided heart— In sorrow stedfast, and in joy serene ! Anchored on God, no adverse cloud can dim, Her eye, unaltered, still is fixed on Him! J. S***. REVIEW OF BOOKS. Sermons, Doctrinal and Practical; with Notes, &c. By the Rev. John Noble Coleman, M. A. Late of Queen's College, Oxford. Pp. xx. and 600. Holdsworth. We are induced to give this volume the precedence of several others which appeared at the same time, not so much because the subjects treated of are in themselves of greater importance or utility, nor because of their being more ably stated and defended, but simply because the public mind is powerfully excited on some of those topics which our Author has brought for- ward, and is therefore desirous of any additional information concern. ing them. Many we are persuaded on running over the list of subjects elucidated in these Sermons as stated in the title page, will pass over those relating to the universally interesting inquiries concerning The Doctrine of the Trinity, The Sovereignty of God, and, The power of the Devil in the world, and will turn almost instinctively to those Sermons which treat of the Duty of studying Prophecy; the intermediate State; the knowledge of each other in the life to come; and the Millenial Reign of Christ on Earth. Subjects it is true, deeply interesting, but yet perhaps more gratifying to curiosity, than conducive to edification. The arguments by which Mr. C. supports some commonly-received doctrines are far from satis. factory. We do not believe that" the -Seraphim of Isaiah were a visible representation of the Deity;" "that the Cherubim of Paradise, of the Tabernacle, and of the holy of holies, and the four animals of the Apocalypse, were also representations of the same mystery. (That is we suppose the mystery of the Trinity.) We cannot comprehend how FOUR created objects should represent SEPT. 1827. THREE uncreated and incomprehensible. We perfectly agree with our Author, that all the appearances of Jehovah mentioned in the Old Testament were manifestations of the Son of God prior to his Incarnation, but we decidedly object to the statement, That the three men who appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre were the three persons of the Godhead, having their glory veiled under the similitude of humanity.' In fact, firmly as we believe the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, we must maintain, that it is only clearly revealed in the New Testament. The plural name of God -the conference intimated concerning the creation-the threefold address of the Seraphim, with many other passages in the Old Testament, must have appeared to the Fathers highly mysterious and incomprehensible. That mystery is to us removed by the clearer light of the New Testament declarations: but we conceive that our Hutchinsonian friends in general injure rather than strengthen the cause they wish to support, by the suspicious witnesses, and the very unsatisfactory arguments which they advance. Another topic which our Author discusses is, The intermediate state. Of this he says, in his Preface, The commonly-received opinion, that the soul, immediately after death, departs to heaven or to hell, is, as the Author thinks, contrary both to the judgment of the primitive church, and to the whole tenor of Scripture. This popular error receives no sanction from the writings of the most learned divines; and the sooner it is exploded from the public mind the better. In opposition to those who are content to tread the beaten path, and to believe without examination, because others have believed before them, the Author has affirmed in these Sermons, what has been repeatedly asserted and proved by others, that, as the grave is the proper receptacle of the body after death, so is there an ap 2 Y pointed receptacle for the soul between death and judgment, called in the Hebrew tongue Sheol, and in the Greek Hades; and that in this intermediate state the souls of believers are in incipient felicity and the souls of unbelievers in incipient torment.-Pp. viii. ix. Some sentences in this extract communicate certainly no very favourable opinion of Mr. C.'s humility. At the risk, however, of being charged with believing without examination, because others have believed before us, we must still say, that the existence of such intermediate state is to us very problematical. We will give our Author, however, every advantage, and allow him to speak for himself; at the same time remarking, that the question appears to us of very minor importance. Observing on the Saviour's declaration, This day shalt thou be with me in Puradise, he remarks: This reply positively asserts, that the soul of the Repentant Thief should on THAT VERY DAY accompany the human soul of Christ, and with Him should enter into Paradise. Whatever may be the meaning of the word PARADISE in the two other passages of the New Testament, in which alone it occurs, it is certain that the Paradise of our text is not heaven properly so called, which is the peculiar habitation of the invisible God, but that it signifies the intermediate state of departed faithful spirits between their exit from the body and the Day of Judgment. The Paradise of our text cannot signify heaven, because the human nature of Christ did not ascend to heaven till more than forty days after His crucifixion, whereas He promised to the Repentant Thief, that on the very day of His crucifixion he should be with Him in Paradise. Moreover, if the Paradise of our text signify heaven, it must follow, as a necessary consequence, that the souls of believers must descend from heaven to the Judgment of the Great Day, and must be sentenced to re-ascend to the glories of that place, whose fruition they have viously enjoyed. pre The Paradise into which the soul of the Repentant Thief was admitted, was the place where the human soul of Messiah remained during the interval which elapsed between His death and resur rection. What place that was, has been ably defined by Bishop Horsley.Christ, says Horsley, descended to hell properly so called-to the invisible mansion of departed spirits; and to that part of it where the souls of the faithful when they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity. That He should go to this place, was a necessary branch of the general scheme quired that the Divine Word should and project of redemption, which re take our nature upon Him, and fulfil the entire condition of humanity, in every period and stage of man's existence, from the commencement of life in the mother's womb, to the extinction and renovation of it. The same wonderful scheme of humiliation, which required that the Son should be conceived, and born, and put to death, made it equally necessary that His soul, in its intermediate state, should be gathered to the souls of the departed saints. That the invisible place of their residence is the hell to which our Lord descended, is evident from the terms of His own promise to the Repentant Thief upon the cross, "Verily, I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." But this intermediate state of the souls of the faithful is a state of ineffable bliss and felicity: otherwise St. Paul would never have affirmed, "To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." And in this intermediate state the disembodied spirits of believers enjoy the gracious presence of their Saviour in a greater degree than they are able, or the same Apostle would never have said, are permitted, to enjoy it on earth: else "I have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better.-We are confident, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." And in this intermediate state the souls of believers remain, with the soul of the Repentant Thief, Judgment, waiting in joyful anticipafrom the hour of death till the Day of tions for that glorious period, when their immortal spirits shall be re-united to in full consummation of millennial their glorified and sinless bodies; when, bliss, they shall enter into the joy of their Lord, and they shall finally sit down, with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and ever.-Pp. 350—352. in the kingdom of their Father, for ever The Sermon, indeed, from which this extract is taken, is deserving of high commendation. Mr. C. considers that the repentant thief, when first nailed to the cross, united with his companion in blaspheming the Saviour. In describing the nature and evidences of his conversion, he thus proceeds, His conversion, as we have already remarked, took place after he was nailed to the cross, and after he had blasphemed and reviled the Son of God. At this period, whilst he was agonizing in the torments of crucifixion, and appeared to be a brand prepared for the burning, the Divine mercy overtook him, and the Spirit of the Most High softened his obdurate heart. He was endued from above with "the Spirit of grace and supplication," and was changed "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." Of this saving change he manifested all the evidences of which his situation and contracted span of life would admit; and thereby he verified our Lord's declaration : "By their fruits ye shall know them." One evidence of this change may be discerned in the penitential confession of his past guilt, and in his acknowledgment of the justness of that punishment which he was then suffering. "We in deed justly suffer," says he, "for we receive the due reward of our deeds." The humble acknowledgment of our own sinfulness is one of the first fruits of a genuine repentance towards God. When this grace is implanted in the soul by the regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit, we are then enabled feelingly to pray from the bottom of our hearts: "We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep: We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts: We have offended against thy holy laws: We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done : And there is no health in us." And in whomsoever this grace exists, it is ever accompanied by a full remission of all sin. "For if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Another evidence of this change was his acknowledgment of the spotless righteousness of the Saviour: "This man," says he, "has done nothing amiss." He does not merely say, This man is not a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, or a criminal like ourselves; but, "This man hath done nothing amiss". this man hath done nothing incongruous, inopportune, or unbecoming, either his character as a man or his dignity as a God-this man is exempt from the common frailties, foibles, and weaknesses of human nature-this man is perfectly holy and perfectly righteousthis man is "the Lamb without blemish and without spot, slain (in the counsels of Jehovah) from the foundation of the world." In this Divine righteousness imputed to him we may conclude the Repentant Thief confided, as the meritorious cause of his justification in the sight of his Heavenly Father. This Divine righteousness was his right and title to the kingdom of glory. And in this Divine righteousness, which is the righteousness of the saints, will he be arrayed at the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven. The illumination of the mind of the Repentant Thief, whereby he was enabled to discern and receive the fundamental doctrines of the Gospel, is another evidence of his conversion. He uttered no Socinian blasphemy: he knew that none but God could save him. He addressed Jesus Christ as God-man, as perfect God as well as perfect Man. He prayed to him as God, when he said, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." The human nature of Christ was before his eyes; and he spake of Christ as a man, when he said, "This man hath done nothing amiss." this declaration was not of nature, but of grace. For "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." And Another evidence of his conversion was the spirit of prayer which rested upon him. "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." "This was the prayer of a dying sinner to a dying Saviour." The natural man never prays. He may, indeed, offer to God a cold and lifeless form of words; but the language of his heart does not accompany the language of his lips. The very moment, however, the heart is changed, prayer begins to be offered. The new convert is sensible of his spiritual wants, and he anxiously draws near to the Throne of Grace, in the prevailing name of Jesus, that he may receive out of His fulness grace for grace. He abounds in the gift and the grace of prayer. He is instant in supplication. Prayer is to the spiritual, what breath is to the natural man: when we cease to breathe, we cease to live; and when w habitually cease to pray, we cease to live to God. Another evidence of his conversion was his simple reliance on Jesus for mercy, pardon, and acceptance. He does not plead his works, his merits, his prayers, or his righteousness. He makes no plea in self-defence. He tacitly acknowledges himself to be a helldeserving sinner, and that he merits eternal wrath. He knows that none but Christ can save him, and to Him he simply clings for salvation. In language similar to that of the penitent publican, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner;" in language similar to that of the terri-, fied disciples on the lake Gennesaret, "Lord, save us, we perish;" he exclaimed, in simple reliance on Jesus, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." He One other fruit and evidence of conversion he also manifested, namely, zeal for the glory of God and for the salvation of his fellow-creatures. "Dost thou not," said he, addressing himself to his fellow-criminal," fear God, seeing thou art in the same condeinnation? and we indeed justly for we receive the due reward of our deeds." A few moments before, he had himself been a reviler and a blasphemer; but the moment his heart was changed, it overflowed with love to God and love to man. could not endure to listen to blasphemy against that Name, which was now become "all his salvation and all his desire." He trembled for the immortal soul of his dying fellow-criminal; and whilst himself was in the agonies of death, he earnestly supplicates his companion to fear God, to repent, and live. And wherever faith exists in the heart, it will necessarily produce zeal for the promotion of the glory of God and the best interests of man. For those who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, will be anxious to make known those blessings to others, which Christ by His Spirit has savingly communicated to them. Thus his confession of sin, his acknowledgment of the Saviour's righteousness, the illumination of his mind by the Holy Ghost, his spirit of prayer, his simple reliance on Jesus, and his zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of man, are so many fruits and evidences of his conversion unto God; and they demonstratively prove, that his conversion was the genuine work of the Spirit on his soul, whereby he was snatched as a brand from the burning in the eleventh hour of the day. Pp. 341-347. While constrained in some instances to differ from our Author, we deem it our duty to attest the correctness of his sentiments on all essential points-the anxiety he ever evinces to turn speculative subjects to practical account, and the plainness and power with which he addresses the heart and conscience. We regret that ill health has compelled him to relinquish his cure, and still more that, in transcribing this volume for the press, he has discovered the formation of a cataract on each eye. That his health and his sight may be restored, and that he may long be spared for more extensive usefulness, is our most unfeigned prayer; a prayer which, we think, will be re-echoed by all who read the following extract from his Sermon on relinquishing a curacy. "Take heed to your doctrines." "Be not carried about with every wind of doctrine." Be not eager to hear many different preachers. BE DETERMINED TO HEAR 66 THE TRUTH AS IT IS IN JESUS" SOMEWHERE. Be content to hear it chiefly, if not solely, at some one place of public worship. Regularly attend the means of grace, but rest not in them. Look beyond them, to a risen Saviour, and be not satisfied till they conduct you to " fellowship with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ." Take not your doctrines at second hand, nor embrace them on other men's credit. Bring them to the test of the Bible. Try them by this standard. Believe nothing but what may be proved from the Bible; and dare to believe what it does contain, to whatever consequences it may lead you.--Strive daily to obtain a more experimental knowledge of the whole economy of redemption-of the extent, spirituality, and condemnation of the Divine law; of Christ, in all His offices and perfections, as the Saviour of sinners; of your personal interest in the everlasting covenant; of your regeneration; of your justification by faith alone; of the imputation of Christ's righteousness unto you, and of the imputation of all your sins unto Christ; of the cleansing efficacy of His blood and atonement; of the sanctification of your souls by the influence of the Holy Spirit; of the experience of God's love; and of a close walk and fellowship with Him.— |