doctrine, before you go farther. Luke x. 22. 1 Cor. xii. 3. Matt. iii. 17. Philip. ii. 6. Colos. ii. 9. Rev. i. 10-17. 1 John v. 7.

If from hence we prosecute the subject to the time-state of the church, and contemplate what is called the "great mystery of godliness; God manifest in the flesh," we here find a cloud of witnesses from the same scriptures, that it was "the Word, which was in the beginning with God; and was God; which was made flesh and dwelt among us," John i. 1-14. All the prophecies of the old testament, which foretold this stupendous event, and all the revelations of the new, which proclaimed the accomplishment, combined in proof of the Godhead of Him, "who, being in the form of God, and thought it no robbery to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men," Philip. ii. 6, 7.

But the spotless holiness of that nature which one of the Persons in the Godhead took into union with his Godhead, is the special subject of our present enquiry. And here the divine acts of each person in the Godhead, in the accomplishment of this mystery, demands our first attention, in proof of the same. To the person of the Father, our most glorious Lord ascribes the sovereign deed of preparing for him a body, Heb. x. 5. To the person of the Holy Ghost the angel sent to announce the wonderful event declared the Almighty act of impregnating the womb of the virgin belonged, Luke i. 35. And the of God the Son three times in one scripture is proclaimed as person having himself taken into union with himself the seed of Abraham, Heb. ii. 14-16. Now, as all this was wrought by the special operations of the Holy Three in One, and without the intervention of an human father, very evidently this carries with it a palpable proof, that that nature was, as the scripture elsewhere states, "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens," Heb. vii. 26.

But, added to these divine testimonies, from the Godhead of the divine agency, by which the mysterious formation of the body, and the being assumed and taken into union by the Word himself, was wrought; in the very scriptures, we have a most decided and irrefragable confirmation to the same sublime truth! The relation given by the angel concerning this event, when announcing to the virgin the miraculous conception, at once proclaims the perfect purity of his human nature. He calls him, "that Holy Thing!" Not that holy person, but that holy thing. For although the uncreated Word, in assuming our nature, took our whole nature into union with his divine, yet that nature had no personal distinction, as all persons have; but when united with the divine nature, both become one person, even Christ. Had it been a person which the uncreated Word took into union with the person of his Godhead, here would then have been two persons; a thing (speaking after the manner of men) impossible, whereby identity would have been destroyed. The immaculate purity of that nature he took, is hereby most fully shewn,

For the power of the highest overshadowing the womb of the virgin, made holy the seed of the woman; and totally precluded all the taints of original sin, which by natural generation from father to son, through all the children of Adum, is universally propagated, and which we derive in succession from one another. This is a most precious part of our subject; and every redeemed and regenerated child of God should be daily seeking grace to preserve in remembrance, as an effectual antidote from error, through the unction of the same Almighty God who overshadowed the woman, to render it blessed to our souls, especially in the present awful day of rebuke and blasphemy. And so tenacious am I myself of it, that in all my preachings and writings, I studiously endeavour to express myself, when speaking of our most glorious Lord manifest in the flesh, by the same name as did the angel "that Holy Thing."

But great and decisive as these scriptural truths are, to the holiness of Christ's human nature, we have cause to bless the Lord for those collateral testimonies with which we are favoured in the word of God. He is said, by the prophet, to have been "wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; and that the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all," Isa. liii. 5, 6. But he himself" had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." And what the prophet stated in one scripture, is explained and confirmed by the apostle in another; when saying, that " He was made to be sin for us when he knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 21. Hence, as his holy nature rendered him in himself incapable of sin, so was he thereby in himself incapable of sickness. Hence we are told, that " He himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses," Matt. viii. 17. And as he was neither the subject of sin, nor sickness, so was he exempt from death, but by the voluntary offering of himself. These are his own most blessed words: "Therefore does my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again," John x. 17, 18. And lastly, to add no more. As our most glorious Christ was in himself holy, and not subject to sickness or death in himself; so was he incapable of seeing corruption. As the prophet had predicted of him before his incarnation, that "His soul should not be left in hell, neither the Holy One to see corruption ;" so the apostle after his resurrection declared, "that it was not possible for the pains of death_to_hold him," Acts ii. 34. Hence, therefore, the conclusion is undeniable. Holy Thing, taken into union with one of the Persons in the Godhead, was, in its own nature, impeccable, as well as from connexion with the divine nature; and impossible, therefore, to have been subject to sickness, death, or corruption. How tremendously awful is it then to consider, that while devils overwhelmed with the conviction, were constrained to bear testimony to our most glorious Christ, and say to him, "We know thee, who thou art; the Holy

That

One of God;" there are men, who while professing themselves to be christians, blasphemously dare to consider him such an one as themselves!

But, my dear Sir and Brother, having given in before you this scriptural statement, to the infinite dignity, and perfection of our most glorious Christ; let me intreat you to rest satisfied with nothing short of a spiritual apprehension of those divine realities. The present awful day, can, and doth produce, numbers who understand these things in theory, but know nothing of them in practice. It is possible, nay more than possible, for men scientifically to know the distinguishing principles of the gospel; as barristers at law are masters of all the technical terms of their profession. And I fear there are not a few congregations, where the gospel is reputedly said to be preached; but where, for want of divine teaching, there is nothing of the spirit of the gospel known or felt by the hearers. The Lord in mercy grant that you and I may not so learn Christ!

I commend you to the Lord, and to the unction of the Spirit's teaching; and remain, very truly and affectionately your's in the Lord,

Plymouth, August 25, 1824.

ROBERT HAWKER.

AN ENQUIRY.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

COULD any of your correspondents favor me with the Religious Sentiments professed by a people who meet for worship in a chapel situated at the back of a house, No. 39, Hatton Garden?

I have learnt thus much, that they were formerly in church connexion with the Rev. SAMUEL EYLES PIERCE-that their views of truth are quite opposed to his-they have the Lord's Supper every Lord's Day-and their members go to Scotland to be married. But cannot learn what their doctrinal principles are!

If any of your intelligent readers will inform me, they will much oblige,

A CONSTANT READER.

FRAGMENT.

DR. RIDLEY, bishop of London, who was martyred at Oxford, in the year 1555, for his attachment to the cross of Christ, said, on the night before his execution-" Though my breakfast be somewhat sharp and painful, yet I am sure my supper shall be more pleasant. I intend to go to bed, and sleep as quietly as I ever did in my life." VOL. VII.-No. 83.

2 R

ORIGINAL ESSAYS.

LXIX.

THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER DELINEATED UPON EVANGELICAL PRINCIPLES.

TENTH ESSAY.

THERE is something peculiar in the spirit of christianity; by it the heart is divorced from the love of sin, and according to it the true believer is separated from wicked men, and he is publicly known as the temple of God, and openly distinguished as a vessel of mercy. Considering the awful distance of the sinner from God, and the open hostility he shews to his government, we are led to enquire, what is the nature of that change which precedes true devotion to his glory? A new creation of the man by the Holy Ghost, is the commencement of all vital godliness. We are not wholly ignorant, that there are many professors of the gospel who do not walk humbly and holily before God amongst the sons of men. It is very clearly revealed in the scriptures, that there is a relative difference, and a real one, between the heirs of grace and the men of the world. It is equally certain, that the line of distinction which divides the family of God and the seed of the wicked one, is very obvious; for true religion, wherever it exists, has, from the beginning of the world until now, set apart the persons of the saints for the honour of God. Perhaps one reason why we do not discover, in this age of the church, that peculiar decision for God which was apparent in the olden times, is, the things which were then thought to be of great importance for the saints to know and experience, they are now considered to be of little worth. It is even said, by some of the leaders of the people, that to preach the doctrines of grace freely and fully, is destructive, and injures the interest of morality. If this statement is true, the following consequence cannot be denied, viz. that God has revealed in his word certain facts, the knowledge of which, obtained and regarded by his creatures, if they practice them they will be worse men than they were in their former ignorance, and they will not be heedful to discharge the various duties of life with punctuality and decision. Whoever would adopt such a principle, and carry out in the actions of his life, would prove himself to be a person better fitted to dwell in a lunatic asylum, than to walk at large in the streets of life. Every word of God is pure." This fact is demonstrated by the effects which are produced in the hearts and lives of the sanctified. The men who reject the bible as a revelation of

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mercy from God to man, are not unconscious that many of its advocates relinquish the principle upon which it is to be defended against the attacks of its adversaries. It will appear, to every humble and considerate christian, that if there is any thing in the bible contrary to the absolute perfection of God, that he cannot be the author of it. But it is quite certain, that is not the case, nor is there any thing written in it which is opposed to the best interests of mankind. Perhaps many of the professed friends of revelation misconceive the design of God; and while they defend the book of God, and vindicate it so as to repel the objections of the scornful infidel, they themselves are ignorant of the spirituality of it, and have never seen its beauties as they are discerned by the true believer in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is possible for a man to search and to satisfy himself that the scriptures are true, and that they contain evident proof that they were written by divine inspiration, and yet he himself be in the dark concerning of the mind of God in them; and of course he will remain alienated in his mind from the Spirit, which they enforce and inculcate. But the genuine christian, who has received the truth in Christ, the centre of it, and who is truly sanctified and enriched by it, has been so internally convinced of its spirituality, that he values the book of God more than all things below the skies. By it he is instructed how he is to discharge his duty to God and to man, and where he is to look for a home when he has done all his Father's will upon earth.

When God was pleased to appoint unnumbered millions of his creatures to live for ever in his presence, he wisely chose them to enjoy his friendship in this world, so as for them to be connected in Christ with the heavenly world. We are accustomed to say, that a good man is travelling to heaven; but I am fearful that this phrase is not used in that exclusive and appropriate sense by many persons, which belongs to it. If any man has set out to journey to the new Jerusalem, I suppose that it is not inconsistent to assert of him, that he is in a state of friendship with, and likeness to, the Lord of that country. In the scriptures we read, that there is a treasure laid up in heaven, above mutation and corruption, and all the heirs of grace are seeking of it in this life; yea, the intense desires which are breathed in prayer to God, evinces that the chief good is laid up for the just where it can never decay nor grow old. We may then say, without fear of contradiction, that true sanctity unites the christian feelingly and affectionately to the Fountain of all good, and in him to all the redeemed of the Lord in all parts of his dominion. God has designed, by the truth, to put the whole election of grace together in one fold, and to make them for ever holy and happy on a permanent and endless principle, even his own boundless love. None but God could so order and execute his purpose of grace, that creatures with such diversified natural tastes and elections, should be brought together on the same interest and principle, to be united in one body, and to mutually agree to resign the practice of sin; to act in