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THE

Spiritual Magazine;

OR,

SAINTS TREASURY.

"There are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST: and these Three are One."

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"Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

John v. 7.

Jude 3.

JULY, 1830.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

JESUS, THE INFINITE, ETERNAL, AND ALL-SATISFYING OBJECT OF HIS PEOPLE'S DELIGHT.

"O thou whom my soul loveth.”—Song i, 7.

O THOU ineffably, glorious, self-existent Jehovah, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, naturally possessing all divine attributes, essentially claiming all the prerogatives of the eternal throne.

Thou, who art one of the glorious subsistences in the incomprehensible and eternal essence; delighting thyself with the Father and the Holy Ghost in divine fellowship, in thine own self-love, and the glory of thy boundless perfections. Thou, whose glory in divinity is one eternal sameness with the Father and the Holy Ghost, on whom my thoughts revolve as equal in dignity, as underived in divinity, as infinite in glory, and supreme in majesty, God over all, for ever blessed.

Thou, who art the Son of the Father, his first-born, the beginning, his bosom Son, his consociate, his near one, the angel of his presence, the man of his right hand, set up from the beginning, or ever the earth was, who had the pre-eminence of all the creatures, being raised into union with one in God. Thou, whom sovereign grace exalted to the highest glory, even to honour incomprehensible.

Thou, pre-eminently glorious Christ, the most ancient of all the creatures, in whose wondrous and mysterious person are united two infinitely different natures, the primitive object of divine delight, the master-piece of infinite forethought, the original draught of divine wisdom, the brightest opening of eternal sovereignty, the great sample VOL. VII.-No. 75.

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of deritive holiness, and first breaking forth of omnipotent power. Thou, who art the image of invisible majesty, the brightness of the Father's glory, the radiance of the Deity, the mirror of divine perfection, the fulness of God, the basis of everlasting love, the foundation, whereon is built the honours of the divine throne; the centre, where all the outbreaking attributes of the Deity shine with harmonious lustre; the comprehending head of all the myriads destined to people the heavens; the trustee of heaven's vast affairs, and the uniting-point of both worlds.

"Heav'n no superior has to thee,

Nor earth thine equal e'er did see.”

Thou, in whom is built all the acts of the divine will, the purposes of eternity, the counsels of heaven, the contract of redemption, the affairs of time, the recovery of Zion, the confusion of hell, the overthrow of Satan, the destruction of death, and the forthcoming of the objects of divine love. Thou, who art the glory, fulness, and beloved of the Father, in whom he rests with infinite satiety; the great object of the Holy Ghost's delight, and almighty subject of his ministry; the infinite spring and adored fulness of angelic bliss; the comprehensive glory and joy of the old testament church; the subject of all prophecy; the substance of the promises; the everlasting covenant embodied; the reservoir of all grace, and terminating end of glory.

Thou art the wonder of the gazing millions on high, the infinite attraction of thousands passing through the plains of time; numbers of perishing sinners lighted to discover their ruin, hang all their golden hopes on thy mighty arm; benighted sinners hate the lustre of thy face, and devils retire in confusion before thy overwhelming glory. Thou, the perfection of beauty, the model of Zion, the fountain of life, the well of holiness, the storehouse of spiritual blessings, the sun of righteousness, the outlet of mercy's ocean, the sea of bliss, and the centre of eternal glory.

Thou, whom God exalted, dignified, and honoured to effect the plans of eternity; to bring out the done transactions of the eternal mind into visibility; to open the secret intentions of the Godhead in the church below; who had the sole honour of undertaking and accomplishing the salvation of numberless millions; the only person in heaven, earth, or hell, that could endure the curse of offended majesty; could pour everlasting confusion on the plans of perdition, and honourably save elected sinners who had merited eternal punishment from the wrath they deserved.

Thou, who hast made an end of sin, hast sunk it in the abyss of thy merit, hast honoured all the claims of infinite justice, hast magnified the law, brought in everlasting righteousness, ratified and sealed the everlasting covenant, opened in thy streaming blood a way of communication between the upper and lower world, opened the everlasting doors of glory for all thy ransomed to enter in immortal triumph, and hast all power in heaven and earth to do as it pleaseth thee.

Thou, who hast loved me with an everlasting love, whose arm of power reached me in the gall of bitterness, whose quickening voice awaked me from the dead, and called me forth into spiritual life; who kept and preserved me in the twilight of the morning from a thousand evils; who opened the blaze of thy law on the vileness of my heart, and discovered the utter ruin of my fallen condition. Thou, who exhibited thyself in all thy sin-expiating charms, opened the great deed of substitution, poured everlasting forgiveness into my soul, melted away all the fetters of my transgressions, and exonerated me from all the claims of inexorable righteousness; opened the door of intercourse, sealed home peace on the conscience, blessed me with the Spirit of adoption, feasted me at the banquet of love, opened the river of life and the wells of salvation, filled me with joy unspeakable in the manifestation of thy sovereign, condescending, suffering, bleeding, dying love. Thou, who hast ravished my heart with the infinite attractions of thy character; the congregation of divine and human excellencies blazing in thy one person, with all the openings of thy primeval glory and official greatness; thine invested dignity as the only begotten, beloved, bosom Son of the eternal Father, with the glory of thine ancient appointments and stupendous transactions, with the all-astounding stoop of thy love, in leaving the heavens of thy glory and coming down to the circumstances of the wretched; who didst mighty and unparalleled wonders in Judea's land, broke up the cabinet of eternal love, and unfurled the wondrous designs of the Godhead that lay hid in God through the ages past: thy midnight agony in Gethsemane's garden, that doleful scene of eternal surprize on Calvary, are the awful retreats of my soul, the resting-places of thought, the bowers of my bliss, the fortress of my hope, and endless spring of my felicity in the world of fruition and joy.

Thou, who art all my hope can grasp, the object of my everlasting trust, in whose gaping side I have cast anchor, and ride at eternal safety; the all-satisfying object of my faith, where I rest with unfaultering confidence my everlasting hopes; the cause of all my present felicity and future joy, and the rocky basis on which is built all my present expectations, and future prospects in the world to

come.

Thou art fairer than the children of men, the wonderful, the chief among ten thousand, the abstract of beauty, the sum of sweetness, the epitome of heaven's bliss, the mirror of glory, in whom all fulness dwells; all uncreated and created perfections centre; all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge reside; whose name is as ointment poured forth; whose garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia, whose voice is melody, whose presence is bliss, whose smile is heaven, whose friendship is life, whose embrace is love, whose favour is glory, whose arm is salvation, whose look is holiness, whose word is truth, whose promise is faithfulness; yea, thou art all in all, the altogether lovely. "Thou whom my soul loveth, whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon the earth I desire beside thee.”

"Thou'rt all the Father's joy,
The Spirit's whole delight;
All that the angels wish to see,
Or saints to feast their sight."

"Thou whom my soul loveth," who being the highest perfection and glory, demands my love. Thou art the supreme Jehovah, the self-existent, and author of my being; I love thee in thy creation right of me. But thou art my well beloved in a more glorious and transcendantly higher relation, in the revelation of which my heart has been intensely fixed on thee. Thou hast entwined my affections around thy glorious self by the irresistible drawings of thy matchless affection, and swallowed up all my heart's desires in the ravishing excellencies of thy wonderful person; thou art the exclusive object of my soul's love, all beside thyself is too low for the affection thou hast generated in my bosom. Thou art on the throne as chief in my best thoughts and wishes, reign there in all thy soul-affecting and ravishing loveliness; let the spark kindled and kept alive from the ocean of thy love burn in a vehement flame, that with celestial ardour I may love, honour, and esteem thee above all the creation, and oft give vent to the rapture of my soul, in this expressive, full, and delightful exclamation, "O thou whom my soul loveth."

"Thou whom my soul loveth," in all the loveliness of thy majesty, in all the rays of thine holiness, in all the lustre of thy righteousness, in all the forms of thy love, in all the riches of thy glory, in all the honours of thy faithfulness, in all the inimitable acts of thy grace, in taking me into the highest possible union to thyself, in making me a coheir with thee in all thy glory, in taking me into the greatest bosom nearness, in identifying thyself with me for ever. Whom my soul loveth for all thy eternal thoughts of me, thy vast acts of unparalleled mercy, for thou hast won my heart, and gained my affections by thy friendly interpositions on my behalf; didst thou step forward in the heavens, and voluntarily become my representative and surety; didst thou leave the bosom of the Father to dwell in this region of sin and death, clothed in a body like my own; didst thou suffer the death of the cross, to exempt me from everlasting punishment; hast thou borne the curse, that I might for ever go free; didst thou give up thy life that I might live for ever; didst thou rise from the dead, that I might ascend the heavens, and live in glory for ever; hast thou gone up on high to carry on thy life of office for my welfare? These are deeds that bind my heart to thee for ever; every view I take of thy matchless transactions fires my soul with love afresh.

"Thou whom my soul loveth," in all the revelation of thy will, in all thy wise and sovereign procedure; in thy manner of saving lost sinners; in all the ways of thine appointment; in all the authority of thy commands; in all thine indignation at sin; in all the reign of thy providence; in all the expressions of thy wisdom in the way thou hast led me; in thy people, ordinances, cause, and interest in the world. "Thou whom my soul loveth," for a lamp

to light me through the night of time; for angels to watch over me, for a divine teacher to instruct me, for promises replete with grace, for an assurance of thy presence at Jordan's brink; for devils in chains, hell shut, heaven opened, a hearty welcome to the shores of bliss, and an inheritance incorruptible provided: and, O blessed thought, there I shall for ever behold thee without any intermission, interruption, or variation, world without end.

"O how my soul doth pant,

To reach the blissful place;

A whole eternity to gaze,

On thy all-beauteous face."

Golden Square, London, April 16, 1830.

Dear Sir,

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

LETTER TO THE EDITOR.

E. M.

IN reading your address to your correspondents for your February number, I very much admired the affectionate and impartial way you addressed yourself to a Mr. L. who, it seems, is passing through the furnace of affliction. Indeed, Sir, I feel a glow of affection and an heart of sympathy towards every vessel of mercy, when I hear it is in storms of persecution, while sailing over the sea of this tempestuous world and I rejoice, and that for two reasons-first, because I believe that though storms of persecution arise, and winds of error blow and beat upon them, insomuch that they are full of trouble, and feel ready to sink, yet Jesus sits at the helm, and will be sure to guide each safe to the haven of everlasting repose; secondly, (as you justly observe) that the Lord frequently makes him the most useful in the vineyard who has been called by God to pass through the furnace. Such men as those that have been brought through fire and water into a wealthy place of gospel liberty, (Psalm lxvi. 12.) can indeed best declare, to the honour of God, how they have been delivered from the noise of archers, in the place of drawing waters, and are fit subjects to rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord, (Judges v. 11). Such know, from painful experience, what the bondage of the law is, and can sympathize with those of the family of God who are now feeling the same; and under divine teaching, they can point out the difference between the killing letter and the spirit which giveth life-between truth and error-light and darkness-between the precious and the vile-and shew from the word of God, fearless of the frowns of mortals, to whom the promised blessings, which is eternal life, belong, and to whom they do not; such men as these will not send poor distressed selfcondemned sinners to Moses for help.

But rightly will the word divide,

And sympathize with those who're tried;
Will careful watch the poor and lame,
Who long to joy in Jesu's name.

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