him. Isaiah tells us of his being miraculously born of a virgin ; of his humble and gentle character, not breaking the bruised reed, nor quenching the smoking flax; of his sufferings, death, and everlasting kingdom, which implied his resurrection. (Acts xiii. 34.) Micah named the town of Bethlehem, as the place where he should be born. Zechariah mentioned the beasts on which he should make his public entry into Jerusalem. The spirit of inspiration in the prophets, is called the spirit of Christ, because it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. But if the Old Testament had a uniform bearing on the person and work of Christ, much more the New. This is properly entitled, The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The one abounds with prophecies; the other relates their accomplishment. The ordinances of the former were prefigurative; those of the latter are commemorative. But both point to the same object. Every divine truth bears a relation to him hence the doctrine of the gospel is called, the truth as it is IN JESUS. In the face of Jesus Christ we see the glory of the divine character in such a manner as we see it no where else. The evil nature of sin is manifested in his cross, and the lost condition of sinners in the price at which onr redemption was obtained. Grace, mercy and peace are in him. The resurrection to eternal life is through his death. In him every precept finds its most powerful motive, and every promise its most powerful fulfilment. The Jews possessed the sacred scriptures of the Old Testament, and searched them,* thinking that in them they had eternal life; but they would not come to him that they might have it. What a picture does this present to us of multitudes in our own times. We possess both the Old and the New Testaments; and it is pleasing to see the zeal manifested of late in giving them circulation. All orders and degrees of men will unite in applauding them. But they overlook Christ, to whom they uniformly bear testimony; and, while thinking to obtain eternal life, will not come to him that they might have it.

Affectionately yours,

*See Dr. Campbell's translation of John v. 39, 40.

A. F.

LETTER VIII.

ON THE PERFECTIONS OF GOD.

My dear Brother,

I NEED not say to you, that just views of the divine character lie at the foundation of all true religion. Without them it is impossible, in the nature of things, to love God, or to perceive the fitness of our being required to love him, or the evil of not loving him, or the necessity of such a Saviour and such a salvation as the gospel reveals. We may be terrified by the fear of the wrath to come, and delighted with the hope of escaping it through Christ ; but if this terror and this hope have no respect to the character of God as holy, just, and good, there can be no hatred of sin as sin, nor love to God as God, and consequently no true religion. This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. God is a Spirit, and cannot be known by sense, nor by any means but those in which he has been pleased to manifest himself. These are his works and his word. Every thing that meets our eyes, or accosts our ears, in heaven or in earth, is full of his glory. The invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that, were there no other revelation of himself, this were sufficient to leave sinners without excuse. But, besides this silent mode of manifesting himself, God has displayed himself by his word. Even in a state of innocence, man was governed by the revealed will of his Creator; and the revelation of God, from first to last, manifests the glory of his perfections.

The perfections of God require to be distinguished into natural and moral: the former respect his greatness, the latter his good

ness; or, more particularly, the one refers to his infinite understanding, his almighty power, his eternity, immensity, omnipresence, immutability, &c. the other, to his purity, justice, faithfulness, goodness, or, in one word, to his holiness. The first are necessary to render him an object of respect, the last of love, and both together of holy fear. The natural perfections of God are principally manifested in the creation and providential government of the world; his moral perfections, in the creation, moral government, and salvation of intelligent beings. The former are glorious as connected with the latter, but the latter are glorious in themselves. Power and knowledge, and every other attribute belonging to the greatness of God, could they be separated from his righteousness and goodness, would render him an object of dread, and not of love but righteousness and goodness, whether connected with greatness or not, are lovely.

Correspondent with this is what we are taught of the image of God in the soul of man it is partly natural and partly moral. The moral image of God, consisting in righteousness and true holiness, was effaced by sin; but the natural image of God, consisting in his rational and immortal nature, was not. In this respect, man, though fallen, still retains his Creator's image, and therefore cannot be murdered or cursed without incurring his high displeasure. Gen. ix. 6. James iii. 9.

The same distinction is perceivable in the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. He emptied or disrobed himself; he laid aside his glory for a season: yet not his goodness, but his greatness : not his purity, justness, faithfulness, or holiness; but the display of his eternity, supremacy, immensity, wisdom, power, omniscience, and omnipresence: becoming a mortal man, subject to his parents, supported by the ordinary aliments of life, and ascribing his doctrine and miracles to the Father. It was thus that, being rich, he BECAME POOR, that, through his poverty, we might be made rich. And this it is that accounts for the ascriptions given him after his exaltation: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. Each of these terms have respect to that glory of which

he had disrobed himself, and with which he was therefore worthy now to be doubly invested.

As it is not talent, but morality, that constitutes character among men, so it is not the natural, but the moral perfections of God, which properly constitute his character. Holiness is the glory of the divine nature. Thus, when he would show MOSES his glory, he said, I will make all my GOODNESS pass before thee. Yet, as greatness illustrates goodness among men, so does the greatness of God illustrate his goodness. His being the High and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, illustrates the holiness of his name, and the unexampled condescension of his nature towards the poor and It is by the union of these divine excellencies that he stands opposed to all the deities of the heathen His greatest enemies have often confessed him to be the "Most High" and " Most Holy." Hence Moses could say, Their rock is not as our Rock, our adversaries themselves being judges.

contrite.

The precepts, probibitions, and promises of the divine law, are a mirror in which we may perceive the moral perfections of the Lawgiver. They each express his heart; or what he loves, and what he hates. They moreover show his goodness to his creatures, granting them every thing that would do them good, and withholding nothing but that which would prove their ruin. The sum of all his requirements was, love to God and one another. And, as his promises to the obedient would express his love of righteousness, so his threatenings against transgressors show his great abhorrence of sin. On no other principle can we acconnt for such tremendous curses being denounced, by a Being full of goodness, against the work of his hands. Moreover, to show that these are not mere words given out to deter mankind, without any design of carrying them into execution, but that, in all his threatenings of future punishment to the ungodly, he means what he says, he inflicts numerous and sore judgments upon his enemies, even in this world. In one instance, he destroyed, with the exception of a single family, the whole race of man which he had created. In many others, by war, by famine, by pestilence, and other means, his displeasure against sin has been expressed in almost every age. Yet has he never failed to maintain his character, as the Lord, the Lord God,

merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and in truth. Often has he pardoned those who have sought his mercy; and even when the parties have not sought it, he has wrought for his great name's sake. These are a few of the expres sions of the divine mind; but, as Job says, they are but a part of his ways, and exhibit only a part of his character. The only display of the divine perfections which can be denominated perfect, is in the salvation of sinners, through the obedience and death of his beloved Son. After all the preceding manifestations of his glory, it may be said, No one hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. In his undertaking, every divine perfection meets and harmonizes. There were, in former ages, various displays of truth and righteousness, on the one hand, and of mercy and peace, on the other but there does not appear to have been a point in which they could meet and be united. If one prevailed, the other receded, or gave place. It was thus at the flood, and at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha: truth and righteousness prevailed; but mercy and peace retired, leaving the transgressors to suffer. And thus, when Israel was pardoned at the intercession of Moses, mercy and peace prevailed; but justice was suspended. It was reserved for the only-begotten of the Father to unite them in the same instance. In him mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

When the appointed time was come, justice awoke and smote the Shepherd, that mercy might turn its hand towards the little ones. It is thus that every perfection in the divine nature, natural and moral, is declared; wisdom, and power, and faithfulness, and justice, and love, and mercy, all meet and blend their rays. God is just, and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus. A great er honour is conferred on the divine law, both as to its precept and penalty, than is sufficient to counterbalance the utmost disgrace upon it, by man's rebellion; and a greater display afforded of the divine displeasure against sin, than if the whole world had suffered the reward of their deeds. And now, love to sinners, which wrought unsolicited in the gift of Christ, flows without any impediment towards all who come unto God by him.