It may become expedient in the course of our examination to institute an analysis of the nature of that authority, and of its claims upon the homage of a Christian community, which is partly founded on what is written in the books of Apostles, and what is gleaned from the books of apostolic men. A tree whose trunk is divine, and whose branches are human, must, from all analogy, produce human fruit.— Now if the germ of the apostolic tree is only found in the New Testament, and the branches are gathered from human traditions, must we not have a faith in it, and an affection for it of a mixed and doubtful character? But this view of the matter I wish not to press at present. If our correspondent, for whose learning and pious devotion to the truth I entertain a very high regard, can deduce any solid and authentic information from the fragments of the second century, I am disposed to give them their full value in the adjustment of any matters of church organization which may occur in the discussion. As yet, however, I have not met with a single document, of full credit, that affords any new light on any of the great points involved in the Christian organization. I am, however, fully prepared to weigh with the most profound consideration and prayerful regard, whatever he may judge pertinent and important to the great subject on hand. A. C. Richmond, Va., November 1. THE SPIRIT OF GOD-No. II. THE SPIRITUAL SYSTEM. "The things which are seen are temporai; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. iv. 18. Ir may be well, before proceeding to particulars, that we should take a general view of that great system of which our subject forms so essential a part. Let us then, reader, retire to a little distance. That which is vast and extensive cannot be seen to advantage when we are too near to it. General views must here be distant ones. If we would examine the stately proportions of the majestic oak, we must go beyond the reach of its shadow. It is not when we are embosomed in the deep recesses of the mountain, that we can judge of its appearance; but when we see, in the distance, its grand dimensions; and trace, in the horizon, its craggy peaks, painted against the sky. We have two great systems, but the one is greater than the other.The space between them is so immense, that when we place ourselves in its midst, we may have a distant view of both, and can compare them with each other. They appear as two worlds. The one is MATERIAL-the system of nature. The other is INTELLECTUAL-the spiritual universe. With both, man is fitted to have communion. Both have contributed in his creation. He belongs to both. He is to himself a proof of the existence and distinct nature of each. His corporeal frame is subject to the laws of matter: his spirit to those of Inind. They may be in different states at the same moment. His body may be debilitated, while the mind is vigorous. The soul may be in agony, when the body is in perfect health. Nor is it by this alone they manifest their difference. We may know the one, and not the other. We may be familiar with the intellect of one whom we have never seen; whom we are unable to distinguish in the crowdto whom we require a personal introduction. On the other hand, we may be personally acquainted with an individual, of whose mind we know nothing to whose intellectual character and power we are strangers. How often do we realize when thrown amongst the passengers of the steam-boat or the stage, that man is a two-fold being-a citizen of two worlds! But we feel within ourselves this truth. An internal consciousness, more infallible than any outward sense, makes us acquainted with the inward workings and distinct character of our own spiritual being. How different its constitution, its laws, its nature! How discordant its pleasures and its pains; its fears and its desires! It is not satiated with the banquet, nor content with bodily enjoyment. The ox, when he has fed upon the rich herbage, rests satisfied and undisturbed beneath the grateful shade of a spreading tree; but it is perhaps at the very moment when man has every earthly want supplied, and is filled with temporal gratification, that he feels most distinctly the emptiness of his spiritual nature. It is then that the soul is discontented with its lot. It is then that secret impressions of its nobler origin are brighter; that it sighs for purer joys, and aspires to a more elevated and congenial communion with the things of the spiritual system. It is then that as the imprisoned eagle longs for its native heaven, the spirit desires to soar aloft towards those happy regions from which it derives its origin. Or, as in a dry and thirsty land, the hart pants for the water brooks, the soul then pants for the divine presence, and thirsts for the living God. The means by which man may have communication with the natural and spiritual systems, are different. They are in harmony with the systems themselves. The corporeal senses lay hold of material objects; but the spiritual world can be perceived through intellectual action only, by sensibilities and assurances of a nature congenial with that of the mind itself. This spiritual sensibility is faith-the evidence of things unseen by mortal eyes. By this, man is permitted to gaze upon that glorious world which is the immediate dwelling place of the angelic hosts and of the spirits of the just made perfect. Jesus is the sun-the centre around which it revolves-its light and life. In its own nature imperishable, it knows no change, and marks no lapse of time, nor end of joy upon its eternal annals. It is upon its blissful shores that the weary soul may bathe "In seas of heav'nly rest, And not a wave of trouble roll It is there, "where everlasting spring abides and never-with'ring flowers," that the disenthralled spirit can enjoy that perpetuity of bliss-that eternal life-that spiritual communion which leaves no want unsatisfied, and no hope deferred. On the other hand, the natural world is not without its charms. It is from the same creating hand. Its adaptation to the material nature of man; its harmony with all his corporeal susceptibilities; its tumultuous joys, not more fleeting than animal existence; and its changing scenes, as constant, nevertheless, as its own relative position-these give to it power to delight the animal constitution, to gratify its strong and passionate desires, and to blind often the intellectual nature to its appropriate interests, or compel it to a disgraceful slavery to the flesh. It is the home of the body, but the prison of the soul, which often strives in vain to break its fetters. The force of the attraction by which it acts, like that of gravitation, is always downwards. The tendency of all its movemeuts is to destruction and decay. Its constitution is mortal. Time marks its few and fleeting hours, and Death prepares to shroud its glories in an eternal night. We have glanced at these two systems and compared their general features. But that vast ærial expanse between, is not untenanted. It is there that those malign spirits who were exiled from the happy world, seek to maintain a rebellious warfare, and to acquire a perpetual and entire dominion over the intellectual beings of the material system to whom they have ready access. Spirits themselves, they are familiar with the approaches of man's spiritual nature, and it is their constant and most congenial employment, to blind the minds of men by the darkness of ignorance, and to interpose the gross material objects of human enjoyment so as to hinder the light of spiritual life from shining into their hearts. They are gratified when they can thus induce man to renounce celestial hopes, and alienate himself from God, to join their rebel hosts; and by plunging into the depths of sensual indulgence, make the spiritual nature a mere pander to animal gratification. Man occupies such a position that he may form either heavenly or earthly relations. Possessing two natures, he may subordinate either to the other. He is permitted to choose, and to ally himself to that system which he prefers. If induced, by evil influences, to prefer the natural to the spiritual; his intellectual powers are compelled to cater for the gratification of the desires of the flesh. If he choose the spiritual system, the flesh will be subordinated to the spirit. The world will be overcome by faith through which he enters into communion with the spiritual world. He will not love the world, "neither the things that are in the world." He will love the Father; in his presence his soul will delight-in spiritual enjoyments his happiness will consist. The latter was man's original condition. He was in fellowship with God, and his animal nature was in subjection to the spiritual.In being persuaded to gratify the flesh,* in opposition to the spirit, he renounced his allegiance to God, and preferred an alliance with the natural, to one with the spiritual world. Man will share the fortunes of that system and party which he chooses. If he put himself under the direction of the "Prince of the power of the air, who rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience," and choose the present world for his portion, he will suffer the eternal destruction prepared for the rebellious spirits in whose fellowship he is found-he will perish with the world-with the system to which he belongs. If he connect himself with God and the spiritual system, and seek for honor, glory, and incorruptibility, he will receive eternal life—he will participate in the perpetuity and happiness of that world into which he has entered. Hence it was said to our first parents when they made choice of the natural system, that they were dust, and that to dust they should return, and they were accordingly separated from the tree of life. It is also said to Christians that if they live after the flesh they shall die; but that if, through the Spirit, they mortify the deeds of the body, they shall live-i. e. continue to live, by virtue of their connexion with God by the Spirit. "Neither can they die any more," said Jesus, "for they are like the angels." "He that believeth in me shall never die." In a matter thus involving man's eternal destiny, he has not been left alone to struggle with the powers of darkness. God has interfered in his behalf, and has not only provided means of reconciliation through the death of his Son, but has set on foot agencies to counteract the influences of Satan. Man's spiritual nature must be acted upon by spirit. It was a malign Spirit which first planned his ruin. It is a "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit," &c. Gen. iii. 6. VOL. VI.-N. S. 47 good Spirit who accomplishes his recovery. If secondary agencies be employed in either case, it is spirit that must contrive, originate, and direct them. Mind may move matter; but not matter, mind. Mind must be moved by mind; spirit by spirit. Innumerable agencies may be at work to induce man to renounce the world, return to God, and throw himself upon the spiritual system, but all originate in will—the will of a spiritual-of a supreme Being. Now when a man is thus induced to prefer the spiritual system, and come to God, through the medium of communication which he has established, two things are done for him-viz. 1st. His sins are pardoned; and 2dly. He receives the Spirit of God. Neither will be ac complished unless a choice has been made, and he has returned to God. Hence it is said, "To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of Gol; even to them who believe on his name. *In whom after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance."+ "Wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you," &c ‡ The pardon of sins necessarily precedes the gift of the Holy Spirit. That which is pure must be received into a pure vessel. The temple in which the Spirit of God will dwell must first be purified. Such is and ever has been an indispensable condition. It was not until the burnt offering had been offered upon the brazen altar, and the tabernacle and its vessels were hallowed, and the sweet incense ascended before the veil, that the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In that sublime vision seen by Isaiah in the year that king Uzziah died, e felt himself unfit for the divine presence and communications, until the seraphim had touched his lips with a live coal from off the altar, and announced to him that his iniquity was taken away and his sin purged § In the New Testament, we have no instance of any one receiving the Holy Spirit without previous purification through faith in the blood of Christ. "Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit," was Peter's language on Pentecost. The Gentiles first converted, who received the Spirit before baptism, did not receive it before their hearts were purified by faith. "God who knoweth the hearts, bare them witness," says Peter, "giving them the Holy Spirit, even as he did to us; and put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith."¶ He saved us," says Paul, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit which he shed on us abundantly, * John i. 12. † Eph. i. 13. 14. 12 Cor. vi. 17, 18. Exdd x. See also Kings vni, 5-10. Isaiah vi. Acta Ev. 8, 9. * |
