The Methodist Quarterly Review 1865

ART. VI.-THE DOCTRINE CONCERNING GOD. IT will be universally conceded, we suppose, that God defines himself perfectly in his works and in his word. Where shall we take our stand to contemplate him From what points in his works and word shall we essay to lift our eyes to look on him Our present material position, wherever it be, is as available as any in this world for the study. No advantage would be gained by sounding the depths of space, in the center or vast circumferences of the universe, or in microscopic powers, or in sublimated material, electricity or odic force. All and each are alike distant from Spirit, and all and each are alike in and distinct from God. The geologist, with his hand lovingly upon a stone, may dream like Jacob [Gen. xxviii, 12, 13.] in his sleep, (fit emblem of the men of science,) and behold in the strata of earth "a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reaching to heaven, and the LORD standing above it." But it is as a dream; something projected from the mind itself, "created in the image and likeness of God," from which all nature appears clothed from a divine and spiritual being. Dreams may be the soap-bubbles of the soul, which the childish may play with, and the practical man despise, but in which the Newtons of divine science may analyze the light of heaven, study the laws of truth's refraction, and contemplate its rainbow beauties. Nature is a perfect mirror in which the divine is reflected just in proportion as the divine is in us. If a man is without God in himself, he cannot see God in nature; fill man with God and he sees God in all things. For when God app ear' before us in nature it is really the reflection of his image formed in our reason and understanding.

Nor is God's book of Sacred Scripture essentially different from his book of nature. It is true that the Scripture is a higher plane, a more verbal utterance, yet the mere intellect will search in vain for God here also.

It is in accordance with true philosophy, not mere theological dogma or conceit of superior intelligence, that the apostle declares that the "natural man cannot know the things of the spirit of God." They are only known by the spiritual [inner] man who "judgeth all things," because he has "the mind of Christ." [1 cor. ii, 13-16.]

God reveals himself universally. But like all things which exist, there is a particular method attached to our apprehension of him. The eye beholds objects in light, the ear tries sounds, and the intellect arranges, numbers, and orders, according to the senses, and the soul feels what is right and wrong, and has its , sights of spiritual truth, and tastes, of goodness and consciousness. of God. From the measure we have of God in us by doing his will in faith, we must judge of God above us.

Every man is casting his image or shadow on all things around him; but only the sensitive surface, properly treated by the artist, retains that image, which may be transferred indefinitely, so that the original would be universally recognized. So God's image, which is his very substance of goodness and truth, falls on all things, and is in degree in all beings; but only in souls prepared by truth and love is this image eminent in such degree as to enable us to know the Original. When man was unfallen, his interior faculties were all opened, and God flowed into him in life and power. He Saw God directly; but when sin entered, his faculties were closed, and he had no elements left alive in himself by which to apprehend God. Then in redemption God gathered all his rays of glory and goodness into his Son. The Word, which was God in substance, was made flesh. [John i, 14; Rom. ix, 5.] God stood before man's exterior perceptions in the humble person of a man, and spake unto the world, and glorified himself. [Heb. i, 1-3.] In contemplating obediently this history of his Word, our understandings are again opened, [Luke xxiv, 44-47.] sin is removed, and God shines again upon our quickened spirits, his image is formed in us, and we know him. We become the sons of God by adoption; we are gods to whom the word of God comes; [John x 30-37. ] Christ is in us and we know Him that is true. [2 Cor. xiii, 5; and 1 John v, 20.] We can then truly reason of God, for we have all the divine elements in degree in ourselves, and can understand the doctrine which affirms these elements in their infinite and absolute relations in God himself.

We have often inquired in ourself if the doctrine of the wit-ness of the Spirit, such a distinguished feature of Methodism, were made sufficiently prominent as a basis of theology among us Has not the time come to construct theology from the divine word entirely, in the light of the Christian consciousness [We need not define this to any true Christian, for he knows the term expresses the sum of the experience of the life of God in the soul. But such writers as henry Thomas Beckle confuse the whole subject. He tries to conceive of consciousness as a separate faculty, and does not find it. (See his Introduction to History of Civilization, vol. i, pp. 11-20.) Others do not make anything or but little of consciousness, or the life of all the faculties, in religion. Their religion is cold, or a simple intellection. But with Methodists and Freedomists the consciousness is the ultimate appeal (See Whedon on the Will, pp. 81, 82, 367, 358.) Why not put the "inward experience, considered as embracing the whole of the objective Revelation," as the ultimate and perfect method of demonstration in Christianity (See Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, Sermons 8, 9, 10; and his Letter to Dr. Middleton, Works, vol. v, p.757; Bibliotheca Sacra for August, 1846, Article on the Trinity, by Dr. A. D. C. Twesten.)]

These two principles, the letter without us, and the Spirit of God within us, are the two immutable pillars of theology. We learn what the word is by the life it operates in our hearts, and we know whether we have obtained the true life by its correspondence with the letter of the word. ["Now the testimony of our own spirit . . . is a consciousness of our having . . . the tempers mentioned in the word of God as belonging to his adopted children; . - . a consciousness that we are inwardly conformed by the Spirit of God to the image of his Son, and that we walk before him in justice, mercy, and truth."-Wesley's Sermons, vol. i, p.57.] On one pillar alone, the letter of the word, theology is converted into a graven image; a statue that cannot move; an iron groove of the soul; a mere dogmatic. naturalism; a creed more or less irrational that must defend itself by fagots and falsehood. On the other pillar alone, the religious consciousness, theology gyrates from the conceited self-consciousness deified, to the cold negations of Herbert Spencer. [See his Principles of Philosophy.] Unite the two, and theology arises a living form of beauty, clad in the robes of humility, with the light and love of truth in the countenance, stooping to guide the wayfarer in the wilderness, giving water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry, and clothing to the naked, and boldly breaking the bars of death, demolishing the prison-house of the Soul, and leading triumphantly up the starry pathway of light, through the opening gates of glory on to immortality.

But this position, so uniformly set forth in Scripture, [The Lord considers the powers of the human mind entirely reliable: "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he . . . therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am' God." isa. xliii, 10-12. The word and the living presence of God are united. "Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him." John xiv, 22, 23. The knowledge of God is progressive: "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth," etc. (See John xvi, 12-16.) St. John considered the "anointing" superseded the necessity of his epistle, while it confirmed it. (1 John ii, 27.) "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you," etc.] and maintained now among Christians more or less distinctly, reaches to conclusions not usually announced in theology. Our knowledge of God, growing in such good, part from the life of God in us, will necessarily be progressive. And there is no theme on which we should be less dogmatic and more open to new views than that of the doctrine concerning God., It is the command of an apostle to" grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. [2 Pet. iii, is. See also Eph. iii, 14-21; Col. ii, 2, 3.]

The next important position to secure in the study of God is the proper stand-point in the Holy Scriptures. We may correct the human defects and divergences of thought by properly arranging before us their historic and doctrinal statements. Most theologians commence their study of God with Genesis, and leave it at the "burning bush," and Sinai "wrapped in clouds of fire." They stun with gorgeous images of terror. The Gospel is in their hands the seeming interposition of another God to soften these terrors and open heaven to sinners. This method I think defective and misleading. The mind imposes upon itself the naturalistic ideas of God contained in the law, which prevent the apprehension of him in Jesus Christ. The doctrine of the Trinity, so important in revelation, spreads out unconsciously into the heresy of three Gods, or negations and confusions arise which leave men in the same unbelief that characterizes the Jews, who "have Moses and the prophets," and who reject the Saviour to this day. Neither should we take our stand in the Gospel narratives or on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out, important as these points are historically and doctrinally. But we should take our stand at the close of revelation; on the apex of the pyramid of truth, and fix our eyes upon the vision of the spirit-world.

The first question is, Who is God .

And we must look up when the door is opened in heaven, and behold who is in the throne. Alas, our sight is so dim! but light is descending on our reason, and we can take a back-sight on revelation and correct by doctrine also the personal equation, [The term "personal equation" is used in astronomy to denote the equation of the difference which arises in different individuals in noting instrumentally the time of an observation. It amounts to less than one half a second, yet it is made an element in nice calculations. So the surveyor takes a back-sight to assure himself of the correctness of his course. With how much more caution should we study our methods when we look to the "High and Lofty One who inhabiteth eternity!" And with what care should we lay our course to the holy city I The particular feature of progress in science may be summed up in one Sentence as a philosophy of method in material things, and what wonders it works I And Revelation may be summed up as a philosophy of method in spiritual realities. So it should be applied throughout, and it will work untold wonders in the soul. See John vii, 15-18, 37-39 Luke x, 17-24..] so as to remove the bias of the natural mind, the errors of education, the false doctrines of an hereditary faith, and the misleading tendency of natural words used of divine and spiritual things.

The finishing touch of Revelation, its completing principle and point of highest glory, is in the words, "THE GRACE OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE WITH YOU ALL. AMEN."

Jesus Christ is the Lord! Is he the Lord in such a sense that there is no God "besides him" In his divine-human person is there the fullness of the Holy Trinity Is the Father in him and is the Holy Spirit or Comforter his Spirit Let us answer these inquiries by the history and doctrine contained in the Sacred Scriptures themselves. Here is the first most significant statement: "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches." Rev. xxii, 16. "The Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants things which must shortly be done." Rev. v, 6.

Placing these passages together we see that Jesus and the Lord God are equivalent names, applied to the same person. This is the "revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him." Rev. i, 1. The revelation was from his own divinity and concerning his own divine-human person, [] or from him-self and of himself. Or how was it understood in heaven as shown to John The angel which showed these things to John was so exceedingly glorious with the glory of Jesus that the apostle, mistaking him for his transfigured master, twice fell at his feet to worship him; but it was said to him, "See thou do it not," [Rev. xix, 10; xxii, 8, 9.] q. d., thy master is much above me, even the Lord God. "I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren the prophets; worship God."

But in heaven, where there is such abhorrence of idolatry, all fall down and worship the Lamb. (Rev. v, 8, 9.) This is the proper name of the divine-human person of Jesus,. as is evident from the connection and the following history: "Again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as lie walked lie saith, Behold the Lamb of God." John i, 35, 36. It cannot then have been a human weakness which overcame St. Thomas when, with the person of Christ before him, he cried out, "My Lord and my God; [Mark this whole connection in John xix, 24-28.] nor is it an error in our Articles of Religion, [art. ii,] which calls him the "Very and Eternal God." He is the very being called JAH and JEHOVAH in the Psalms and Prophets: Sing unto God, sing praises to his name; extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him ; [Psa lxviii, 4; civ, 35; cvi,. 48; cxv, 18; cxvii, 2. Hallelujah is the word.] : for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and song; he also is become my salvation. [Isa. xii, 2.] It is he to whom they sing in heaven ALLELUIA, or praise JAH; [Bengel's Gnomon, on Rev. xix, 1.] or as extended in the song itself into the words, "Salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God." Hence we see that the Divine Father is not another God Such an idea of the distinctions in the godhead is utterly inadmissible. For this is the same " I JESUS," who says, " I am alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Rev. xxii, 13. "He that was, and is, and is to come, the Almighty." "I am he that liveth, and was [became, Bengel] dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the

keys of hell and of death." Rev. i,. 17, 18. The "I Am that I Am"[or He who was, is, and will be[See Alex. McWhorter's Yaveh, an excellent and timely production.]] of Exodus iii, 14; the "name of God for ever and his memorial unto all generations." Or, as he explains himself, Gen. vi, 3: "And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known unto them." This is the I Am of John viii, [See Mr. Wesley's Translation and Notes on verses 24, 28.] and the "Alpha and Omega, saith the Lord; he that was and is and is to come, the Almighty," of Rev. i and xxii, unless there are two infinite and eternal beings. [To say that three "Gods created," which seems really the expression of the argument from the plural Alohim sometimes used, proves too much. So also to mark strongly that the divine person of Christ is distinct from the person of the Father makes him less than God, and destroys the doctrine of the Trinity altogether. I have looked in vain, in a History of All Denominations in Christendom, for an expression like the following: "Each person of the Trinity is to be worshiped through the mediation of Jesus Christ; " especially when affirmed against the statement of St. Paul that "There is ONE GOD and ONE Mediator." 1 Tim. ii, 5. It is an innovation fit to go with the following expressions attributed to Sartorius:

"God is love, not only as creator and preserver, but in himself from eternity. Eternal love in person, and surely in more than one person, for love consists in the unity of (at least) two persons. The subject of love is not conceivable without an object, nor personal love without a personal object, without which it would be but self-seeking. The I must have a then; the eternal I must have an eternal Own; eternal love an eternal object. 'Therefore,' says Bickersteth, 'if the Son were not from everlasting, (as the Father himself;) the first and last, the beginning and the ending, then before the world or any worlds through the receding cycles of a past eternity the Divine Mind would have dwelt in an immense solitariness, without reciprocity of affection, and without communion of intellectual enjoyment.'"

Here is a family of Gods, or "at least two;" two everlasting beings, individuals, which love each other and hold intellectual feasts together; two infinites, two eternals, "at least two;" there may he morel And in looking at this polytheistic picture nothing of ancient mythology is wanting except the goddesses; the eternal consort of the Father and the Mother of this Eternal Son I What a pitiful conception of the Eternal and Infinite One; of love itself and wisdom itself I And what. an idea is that of "immense solitariness " in the ineffable God, who has by himself declared that he knows no other. "Is there a God besides me Yea, there is no God. I know not any." isa. xliv, 8. Of course to such minds the monotheistic trinity of " Plato and the Hindoos" would be considered too ideal' and Christianity would be claimed as revealing three "real persons," that is, as distinct as Pete; James and John.]: But as this cannot be, the distinctions that are made are the unfoldings of One Infinite and Eternal Being, whose essential divinity is personified by the Father, whose image is the divine-human person of the Son, and whose divine "Proceeding" [Articles of Religion, art. iv.] is personified [The term person is very ambiguous in theology. See Wakeley's Logic, App., on Ambiguous Terms. It is not scriptural, misleads the mind, and confuses the understanding. As used in our first Article of Religion, it is not metaphysically definable; for it is said, "There is but one living and true God, . . . without body or parts, and in the unity of the godhead there are three persons," etc. Of course they must be each and all without body or parts. There is therefore no real person taught in our Articles, except (see art. ii,) the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is declared to be both God and man, in "one person." I have used the term personified as the best expression of the sense of the first and fourth articles. This term may be more, yet differs from the idea of a reel person. Thus Abraham is made to personify the Lord by Paul, who calls him the father of all that believe. It is not the person Abraham after the flesh, but God, who is really the Father of all. (Comp. Rom. iv, 11-25; viii, 8-17.) So of David, P55. ex, compared with Matt xxii, 42A5; Rev. xxii, 16," I am the root and offspring of David," etc. The kingdom of God is personified by the "throne of David." Isa. ix, 7. Other instances will be given further on.

Mr. Wesley considered the doctrine of the Trinity inexplicable; but with his characteristic orthodox catholicity would 'not insist on any one using the term 'trinity' or 'person.' . . . If any man has any scruple concerning them, who shall constrain him to use them I cannot." (Sermons, vol. ii, pp. 20, 21.) He insists on nothing but what the Scriptures plainly teach. In preparing the Articles or Religion for the Church in America, Mr. Wesley left out article viii, and thirteen others of the Church of England Articles. Article viii indorses the Athanasian, Nicene, and Apostles' Creeds. There is no creed indorsed by our Articles of Religion. (See Dixon's Methodism in America on this noticeable fact) Mr. Fletcher says, " Were we to divide the Son from the Father and consider him a separate being, [real, distinct person,] and worship him as such, then we should worship another God." The danger of the term person is to lead us to think the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have distinct wills and intellects. (See Works, vol. iii, p.468.) Dr. Adam Clarke says, "In the ever-blessed Trinity, from the indivisible unity of the persons, there can be but one will, one purpose, and one infinite end uncontrollable energy." Com. on Gen. i, 1. This definition destroys while it uses the term person. So the Athanasian Creed seems to us to affirm both sides of a contradiction. It is a person, and it is not a person I That creed is not in use in any Church in America except the Roman Catholic. The Episcopal Church amended article viii in this particular, and indorses only the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds. The latter is against the metaphysical explanation of the Trinity in the first part of the Athanasian Creed. That creed, human and defective as it is, has some excellences, and we will here insert it from the Church of England Prayer Book. It is not found in the American edition, and is often referred to by ministers among us who fail to produce it correctly.

THE ATHANASIAN CREED.

(Obtained in Prance A.D. 850, and in Rome 1014.)

"Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith, except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Per. sons nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, is nil one; the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father uncreate, the Son uncreate, and the Holy Ghost uncreate. The Father incomprehensible, the Son incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost incomprehensible. The Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Ghost eternal And yet there are not. three eternals, but one eternal. As also there are not three incomprehensibles, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one incomprehensible. So likewise the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Ghost almighty, and yet there are not three almighties, but one almighty. So the Father is God the Son is God, and rite Holy Ghost is God. And yet there are not three Gods bat one God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord, and yet not three Lords hut one Lord. For like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every person by himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say there be three Gods and three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father and of the Son, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding. So there is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Ghost, not three Holy Ghosts. And in this trinity none is afore or after other. None is greater or less than another; but the whole three persons are co-eternal together, and co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, rite unity in trinity and the trinity in unity is to be worshiped. He therefore that will be saved must thus think of the Trinity. Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting salvation that he also believe rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ; for the right Faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Chris; the Son of God is both God and man; God of the substance of the Father, begotten before all worlds, and man of the substance of the mother, born in the world; perfect God, and perfect man. of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching his godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching his manhood; who, although he be God and man, is not two but one Christ; one not by the conversion of the godhead into flesh, tat by taking the manhood into God; one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the reasonable sod end flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ; who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again the third day from the dead. Ho ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty; from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved."

Here the idea of person is a "somewhat!" as Archbishop Whateley would say.] in the Holy Spirit.

The Father is an ocean of eternal love itself; a boundless love-being, "above all height;" the Son or Word is Infinite Wisdom itself; which rays around the Father "brighter than the light of the sun ;" [Paul Acts xxvi, '13.] the Holy Spirit is life itself" proceeding "[Art iv of Articles of Religion.]

from the Father by the Word to infinity, filling all receptive souls

"With comfort, life, and fire of love."

All these in inconceivable degree, yet known realities, are embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily." ["For in him dwelleth," inhabiteth, continually abideth, "all the fullness of the godhead." Believers "are filled" with "all the fulness of God." Eph. iii, 19. But in Christ dwelleth "all the fullness of the godhead;" not only divine powers but the divine nature, (chap. i, 19,) bodily, personally, really, substantially: the very substance of God, if one might so speak, dwells in Christ in the most full sense."-Wesley's Note, following Bengel, on Col. ii, 9. See also his Sermon on 1 John v, 20, Sermons, vol. ii, pp. 177, 184. Dr. Jenk's Comprehensive Commentary quotes Barkwell (BL) as Baying the body of Christ was "deified" Bengel says does not always denote the body, properly so called but the bread from heaven is said to be his flesh, (John vi, 51, 5'1, 58,) a more gross term. See Phil. ii, 6-11. What comes down from heaven must be spirit, however clothed on earth. It is living bread indeed.] These degrees in himself he showeth to the Churches.

The first degree is thus expressed, (Rev. i, 4,)" Grace be unto you, and peace from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come." Here is the profound axiom of the Infinite and Eternal One; the perfect expression of God by God him-self in supreme degree.

The second degree is grace and peace from the seven spirits of God. This is placed next to the first, and is distinct from it. For we must not think any of these expressions carelessly given. God is revealing himself here in all his complex being. He is not revealing himself as more than One God, but in all his essential nature. "God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." John iv. The seven spirits are the All-Perfect Spirit, or all in all of the Holy Spirit; all the fullness of heavenly powers; a certain necessary degree of that "which is and was and is to come."

The third or last degree is "grace and peace from Jesus Christ, the faithful and true witness, the first begotten from the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, (chap. i, ver. 5. This completes the degrees of the Holy Trine. And since Jesus was " lifted up" from the dead, glorified, so that he receives into his divine-human person all the glory of the [FOURTH SERIES, VOL. XVII.-27] Father, and thus is able to save all men, and gives the Spirit, therefore to him the song begins, "Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, even (or to-wit:) his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen." Rev. v, 6. In Jesus Christ is the fullness of divine manifestation. Here is the whole doctrine of God stated in its essence and substance. The trine appears more than "real persons," not certainly two or three clods, but more than all possible human ideas of persons can be; even states of divinity itself into the view and service of which Christ brings his redeemed ones. [We do not pretend to be wise above what is written, but to adhere with our whole Soul to the very letter of the word, and strive to realize it simply in expository statements which shall express in some degree our spiritual sight and reason. Personalities are sometimes used in the Scriptures for principles more universal than person can be. Thus Paul, Rom. vii, 11, personifies sin, saying that it deceived him and slew him, and as a "body of death," (ver. 24.) In 1 Cor. xv, he personifies death as the last enemy, with his weapon or sting, sin, in his hand. It is not a person, but it is a principle more than a real person.] Hence the state is described as that of kings and priests unto God, even the Father. And the worship is given to Jesus Christ, not another God, but that divine unfolding of God which lifts men up unto the highest glories of the divine itself.

Jesus Christ is the word "which was God and was with God," made flesh. He came to the lowest human condition. He assumed humanity lower than we can detect its first principles, even in the womb of the virgin, and passed through all its stages, anointed more and more by the Holy Spirit, till he accomplished his earthly mission. In him the highest divine degree was brought down to be in man. Jesus glorified raises the human thus assumed to the highest divine degree, even up where he was before; "One with the Father." When shall we learn to sing the "songs of degrees," [See Hengstenberg on Psalms cxxii to cxxxvii inclusive, commonly called the "Psalms of. Degrees," which were supposed to be sung by the tribes on entering the gates of Jerusalem, as they went up to the worship of God, or as they ascended the fifteen steps to the Temple, or as some say to Solomon's house. Quoted by Bonar on the Psalms.] and ascend the ladder of the word from earth to heaven

That it may be seen that these degrees are all in Christ, mark his address describing himself to the Seven Churches severally: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the Churches: To the angel of the Church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candle-sticks. To the angel of the Church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive. To the angel of the Church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. To the angel of the Church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. To the angel of the Church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars. To the angel of the Church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth. And unto the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God," (or the creator from the beginning.) Thus in his manifold degrees Christ addresses his Church.

We see, then, what a lofty pinnacle of blessed revelation is the text, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all." Here once more we take our stand and look up again into the heavens. Rise, my soul, rise on these rays of grace; drop thy dull sense and load of clay; cease thy feeble gropings in time and space break thy fetters, open thine eyes, come out of thy prison-house, spread thy wings, and as an eagle rise and soar, and soaring rise! "Behold a door is opened in heaven," and light is pouring from the throne. The mystery of redemption is held as a book[The law was a pattern of things in heaven. The great book of God is up there, of which the law, the prophets, and Psalms was a shadowy transcript. Christ fulfilled them because they are the counsels of eternity. "Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering for sin thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me," "Then, said I' Lo, I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me," etc. Psalm xi, 7; Hebrews I, 7-9. "I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart." Hence it appears that this opening of the book is the opening the heart of God, the disclosure of his love and truth] written before the world began, in the hand of Him that sitteth upon the throne. The prophet is weeping that none is found to open the book and the understandings of men. But soon it is said "the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals thereof." The Lamb is seen in the throne with all the symbols of his infinity; he takes the book that had been in the hand of Him that sat on the throne, and the coronation song commences, all falling before the Lamb, saying, "Thou art worthy! . . . for thou wast slain and hast' redeemed us to God by thy blood, and hast made us kings and priests unto our God." This is the revelation of Jesus coming into the glory of the Father, or into his own highest or supreme state which he had with the Father before the world began. ["And now, O Father, glorify ma with thine own self, with the glory I had - with thee before the world was." John xvii, 5. "If God be glorified in him we shall also glorify him in himself and shall straight-way glorify him" John xiii, 32.] He receives the kingdom before he comes the second time, or "in the clouds of heaven." Daniel beholds the "Ancient of Days" on his throne of flame and wheels of burning fire, before whom "issued and came forth the fiery stream." "The judgment was set, and the books were opened," parallel With Rev. xx, 11, 12. And in the "night visions" he saw one like the Son of Man "come with the clouds of heaven." "And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, . . . and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Dan. vii, 9, 10, 13,14. But John sees him entering that glory and taking the book to open it, and records the song inauguration.

"I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living ones, and in the midst of the four and twenty elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. . . . And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood." Rev. v, 6-9.

Now whose faith and reason cannot apprehend the Ancient of Days as the eternal Word (in whom is the Father) in the throne of flame, and the incarnate Word coming as the Lamb slain to unite his divine-human person inseparably [See article ii of the Articles of Religion.] in the glory which he had with the Father before the world began

And who does not see that that stream of fire and flame, and the blood which redeemed, are symbols of that same life of love and truth of God that flows forever from him: the joy, the song, the life of heaven [ompare Isaiah vi, 6,7; John xvii, 17; and Rev. vii, 14,15.] We see that God and the Lamb are one. "The last is first and the first is last." All the attributes of Deity are ascribed to him. He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, holy and true. He is "worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing, for ever and ever."

But it may not be deemed by some satisfactory to rest theology on the rhapsodies of vision; howbeit theology should be as warm as it is bright. And we must confirm the view given, by doctrine literally expressed in the Scriptures.

I. The union of Christ and the Father is specifically declared. ." I and my Father are one." John x, 30. See this whole connection. "Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, S how us the Father Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me the words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I-am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake." John xiv, 8-11.

Thus what we saw accomplished by symbols in the Apocalypse is plainly declared by the Saviour. How can any man pretend to draw his doctrine from the Divine Word and set this aside How can he profess to reverence the name of Jesus, and not credit the exposition- of the Trinity, which the faithful and true Witness gives Here, and in verse 26 and chap. xv, 26 compared, it is emphatically declared to be not a trinity of Gods, but a trinity of One God; a trinity of eternal divine interexistence; the same, perhaps, we may say, not altogether without Scripture warrant, as is in man in finite degree. For, as in man, soul and body and spirit make one, so allowing for the difference in nature, it may be in God in infinite degree. He may be personified in each of the three essential names-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-but have one will, one intellect, one energy-is, indeed, one and only one absolute, personal, and holy being-JEHOVAH OF HOSTS, even the Lord Jesus. Christ. "And this is life eternal, to know thee [Father] the only true God (,) even Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." John xvii, 3. There is only one. true God, and to know Jesus Christ is to know him. For he comes out from God, and returns to God. He is the manifestation of God, his name, his nature, his person. "This is the true God and eternal life." 1 John v, 20. "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord." Deut. vi, 4; Exod. xx, 3; Mark xii, 29.

II. The attributes of God are set forth as fully in doctrinal statement as, in the glow of Revelation, as belonging to Christ.

1. Re is Omnipresent. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst." Matt. xviii, 20. The Lord is present with every man. "That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." "Behold," saith he, "I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in and sup with him, and he with me." Rev. iii, 20. It is our faith that apprehends this omnipresence of Christ. "Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven that is, to bring Christ down, or, Who shall descend into the deep that is, to bring up Christ,. . . but what saith it The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach." Rom. x, 6-8. [For we preach Christ.] Let all rejoice, "For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy, with him also of a contrite and humble spirit." Isa. lvii, 15. And "Lo," he saith, "I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Matt. xxviii, 20.

2,. He is Omnipotent. "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him ", Matt. viii, 27. He raiseth the dead, (John xi, 25-44,) createth all things, (John i, 3,) upholdeth all things, (Heb. i, 3,) and executeth all judgment. (Psa. 1, 6; Acts xvii, 31.) The humble faith which discerns Christ's real inward divineness, always finds the "God of Power." "Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus answered, Blessed art thou, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee," etc. (See Matt. xvi, 16-19.) Here Peter receives just what every one receives who acknowledges Christ from an inward light and conviction. Re is a rock on the rock, whether his name be Peter or not, or a branch in the vine, and is built up for a habitation of God. Re has the "keys of the kingdom of heaven." Re has the beginnings of true knowledge. Re has faith as a grain of mustard seed, which groweth, if not uprooted, to a great tree.

But great faith was not found ill Israel, not even among the Apostles, till after the resurrection. His true omnipotence is illustrated in the case of the centurion, Matt. viii, 6-12: "I am not worthy." That, then, is the occasion of complete divine power. "Speak the word, and my servant shall be healed." This is the second. Christ, he sees, is not only the word made flesh-not merely the Son of the living God, but the Father is in him-and he can speak the word, and save at any human distance, without the intervention of time. "Jesus marveled and said, I have not found so great faith; no, not in Israel." "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." John xiv,

14. What blessed omnipotence is this!

3. Re is Omniscient. "Jesus knew their thoughts." Matt. xii, 25 Luke vi, 8. "Re knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man, for he knew what was in man." John ii, 24, 25. In former quotations it has been shown that he was the Lord God of the holy prophets, and therefore all the passages which speak of the omniscience of God are applicable to him. But he says: "Of that day and hour knoweth no man; no, not the Son, but my Father only." Mark xiii, 32. flow is this to be explained in harmony with what is proved above Most beautifully, for we have said the Trinity is divine interexistences in one being. A man’s personal consciousness discloses to himself three great essentials of his being: his affections, his intellect, and his sensibilities. He does not confound sensations with his thoughts, or either. of these with his affection. So the Lord, in his personal consciousness, does not confound the essentials of his infinite being. The Father, his own inward affection, knows what his word or intellect cannot know. No word can reveal the truths of the last day. They are intellectually unknown. Only when the word comes in the glory of the Father will they be known. "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power." So often the human heart knows things true, which the mind cannot understand only from it, and cannot then express.

In this distinction we can see how the words, "My Father is greater than I," (John xiv, 28,) may be literally and absolutely true, as the words are "I and my Father are one." For the heart is greater than the intellect, the will is in higher order than the understanding, and love is greater than wisdom; and yet may be co-eternals, and a unity. They cannot, it is true, be two individuals without being two Gods, one of which only is truly supreme, and the other a less God, which is Arianism in spite of all glosses.

Another passage may, by this method, be harmonized with true doctrine. St. Paul Bays: "Then shall the Son also be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. xv, 28. Now observe what John says: "God is love," (1 John iv, 16,) and what Christ says: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me." John xiv, 6. Then, under the progress of truth, in the judgment power that destroys death, there comes a time-blessed state! happy hour !-When the truths shall be so clear that we shall see the fullness of God through them. Before this, the mediation of Christ, like smoked glass used to look at the sun, obstructed, while it aided our vision; hut then all will be clear as the crown crystal. Christ will appear as he did to John in Patmos, the divine glory itself will flood the human with its ineffable light, or Christ will be so formed in us that we can look on God.

But whether we have given a satisfactory exposition of these passages or not, it is certain that all in heaven ascribe to Jesus Christ the sum of all the divine attributes. There is the place to look to get our theology warmed. A theology not warmed from heaven cannot lead to heaven. Whose heart is not fired with the song," Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing" And every creature which is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, John heard as they joined in the song of universal redemption.

Here our theology, in fairly striking the note of redemption, reaches out through all the vast fields of creation, and brings into view the spiritual world, which interlies all these outposts of suns and systems. The Lord, in appearing in human nature, becomes visible to the angels. The lower the nature lie took, the more clear his perfect holiness became to all finite intelligences, and therefore the real love, goodness, and wisdom of God glow in the upper worlds with a brighter luster, and break out from the Immanuel through all the universe, shine in every ray of light, envelop every circling orb, breathe in all the air, live in all attractive force, and blossom in every flower. The love and the life, the wisdom and the power, the glory and the truth, are all of God.

Thus we see, to sum up the doctrine concerning God, that the Father is not the creator, nor was made flesh, but the word created and was made flesh in whom is the Father. The Father is never seen only in the glory of the word. The Father is not therefore another God, but is the invisible essence, or soul of the word; which is only known by the word, and revealed by the light and love of himself, as a man's person reveals the light and love of his soul and the power of his spirit. Therefore in heaven, when they sing of the Lord God Almighty 'and the Lamb, it is not two persons, but one person, in whom is 'the' Father in each instance. Hence we read: "The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple [not temples,] of 'it;" "throne of God and the Lamb," not thrones;' and "the glory of God did lighten it, () even the Lamb is the light thereof." The Father is not one being and the son another; but it is one being who is manifest, in whom is the eternal essence called the' Father. Hence he is always in the Son, as we read in Isa. ix' 6, "Unto us a child is born, a Son is given,. . . and his name shall be Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting' Father, and the Prince of 'Peace;" and hence we have, among many others, the following most blessed parallel expressions:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not I am the good shepherd. The good

want. Psa. xxiii, 1. Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

John x, 11.

Yea, though I walk through the val- My sheep hear my voice, and I know

ley and shadow of death, I will fear no them and they follow me. And I give

evil, for thou art with me. Ib., ver. 4. Unto them eternal life, and they shall

never perish. Ib., ver. 27, 28.

And he will destroy in this mountain Martha saith unto him, I know that

The face of the covering cast over all he shall rise again in the resurrection at

People, and the vail that is spread over the last day.

He will swallow up death in victory. Jesus saith unto her, I am the resur-

. . . And in that day if shall be said, Lo, in me, though he were dead, yet shall

this is our God; we have waited for him, he live, and whosoever liveth and be-

and he will save us. Isa. xxv, 7, 9. lieveth in me, shall never die. John xi,

24-26.

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