THE TEAR.

"In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." -JESUS.

THE ROD OF AFFLICTION.

"I was brought low, and he helped me."-Psalm cxvi. 6.
MOST gracious God, I now am brought
Affliction's rod to bear;

And, for thy help I now have sought,
Do thou thyself draw near!

Low in the dust I now would wait,
And to submission bend;
To know what he appoints is best,
Whose love is without end.

Though weakness lays my body low,
My hope is fix'd on high;

In thee I'll trust, for thou art good,
A God that cannot lie.

Thy help in seasons past I've found,
Thou hast reliev'd my pain;

O may I now thy goodness own,
And glorify thy name!

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."

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

1 John v. 7.

Jude 3.

FEBRUARY, 1829.

(For the Spiritual Magazine.)

CHRIST, JEHOVAH'S SERVANT, AND HIS PEOPLE'S EXAMPLE.

"Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord's servant? Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not."-Isaiah xlii. 19, 20.

TO contemplate the person of our blessed Lord is an exercise in which every true believer feels a sacred delight, when faith is in lively exercise. He is precious in all our acts of worship, as the way of access into our Father's love, and the centre where that love shines with enlivening beams upon our souls. Nor is his work of less importance, as it forms the basis of our hope, where we see our deliverance from deserved wrath obtained, and our title to heaven for ever established. This good news the gospel publishes; and when witnessed to the heart by the Holy Ghost it brings liberty and peace, while the pardoned sinner obediently bows to his ruling sceptre, and delights to follow his example. Hence the scriptures are of vast importance, as they testify of him, and every part thereof is interesting, wherever he is revealed, and his mediatorial grace and love appears.

In the passage above cited, it appears we have a description of our dear Lord, as our condescending kinsman-Redeemer; for (although some have thought differently upon this passage, yet) if Christ is not intended by "the Lord's servant," I know not who to apply it to. It is clear the chapter begins with Christ, and goes on in declaring his conquering grace and saving love, which is matter of joy and triumph; and, as the 21st verse stands in close connexion, it must be admitted VOL. V.-No. 58.

2 K

that Christ is intended by him in whom Jehovah is well pleased for his righteousness' sake, by whom also the law is magnified and made honourable. I therefore sincerely and affectionately offer the following observations to the consideration of the Lord's family.

First, the character our Lord sustains; secondly, the description the prophet gives of him; thirdly, his example set forth for imitation. First, the character our Lord sustains :-" The Lord's servant.” Whenever we read of Christ as a servant, or messenger, it always includes his complex person and mediatorial undertakings; because servitude denotes inferiority and subjection. "The Father is greater than I," said Jesus; and again, "I came not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me." Many other passages also apply very properly to the human nature of our Lord, while yet in his divine nature he is one in will, in power, in majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Holy Ghost. But as God-man he is capable of being humbled, abased, and made poor; of leaving the glory he had with the Father, and becoming "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; without the smallest shade of inferiority as to his Divine Person. In his complex person he is the Son of the Father in truth and love; and upon his Sonship is founded his suretyship, and every character he sustains and office he fills. He might have been a Son without becoming a surety, but he could not be a surety without being a Son: if he serve, obey, and suffer, he must take hold of that nature for which he suffered. In this mystic marriage-union, the church is exalted to the highest dignity and blessedness; but it brings her heavenly Lord under the deepest abasement, on account of her utter ruin by the fall, and her guiltiness by transgression. He must, therefore, perform a life of servitude below, for his church, (after the manner Jacob served for Rachael) or he cannot claim her to dwell with him above. Relationship only with Christ in love, will not take the guilty to glory; there must be a ransom paid, and a righteousness brought in, by him who humbled himself, and became obedient unto death. "For though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." Heb. v. 8.

Here we see the intenseness of his love, to the honour and glory of the divine name, and to his church as interested in that glory. Jehovah designed to display the grandeur of his perfections in the salvation of his people; our blessed Mediator therefore kept in view the honour of the divine name in all he did; because the salvation of the church could not be accomplished, and her bliss consummated, but in the perfect harmony of the divine perfections. Supremacy must be maintained, the holiness and unbending claims of the law must be established, the right of justice vindicated, and yet the full tide of mercy flow to the guilty, and justification unto life eternal made their's. Hence we find God the Father expresses his delight in the obedience and death of his dear Son, saying, "because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he hath known my name." Psalm xci. 14. His holy

soul was filled with love to the divine perfections, and to his church, as appointed in eternal love to be wrapt in those perfections for ever, as being the consummate blessedness of the highest heaven; and with burning zeal to accomplish this grand end, he exclaimed, "I delight to do thy will, O my God!" Psalm xl. 8.

We also behold amazing condescension in this servant of the Lord. He was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. (2 Cor. viii. 9.) This condescension was a wonderful stoop of love; hereby he put off his glory-robe, and put on the robe of mortal flesh. He appeared in the world of glory in the likeness or visible image of invisible Deity; but now he appears in this world in the form of man, and becomes "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." He left the bosom of his Father, and the ineffable delight he there enjoyed, and parted for a time with that glory which as Mediator he possessed, that he might appear in the form of a servant. The glory-man descends to earth, and there becomes a man of sorrows, and deeply acquaints himself with grief; and in the law-place of his chosen people gives stern justice all its due. The misery of his church he saw, he felt, and soft compassion in full stream issued from his heart. Nothing was too much for him to give, or too great for him to do. He parts with life itself, that he might never part with his beloved; and therefore makes her interest one with his, and in the deepest condescension comes down to serve for her below, to raise her up to him above.

The faithfulness of our dear Lord is here also seen. In becoming like unto his brethren, by partaking of flesh and blood for the purpose of being openly his Father's servant, he appears not only a merciful but also a faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Heb. ii. 17. This reconciliation he well knew would cost him his life; for divine justice cannot be reconciled to the guilty upon any other terms than full satisfaction. He therefore appears on Calvary at the appointed time, firm to his promise, and by his suffering unto death unites mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, in never-ending harmony, (Ps. lxxxv. 10.)-views his church for ever ransomed, her enemies overthrown, and her title to glory established, while his faithfulness and love combined shines in refulgent splendour. With what vehemence did he long to accomplish this work which his Father gave him to do! For when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, (Luke ix. 51.) He also told his disciples, saying, "I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished!" This then shews his intense love, amazing condescension, inviolable faithfulness, and finished salvation. He claims his church for whom he served, and calls her his Hephzibah in whom he delights; and his claims are founded in righteHis obedience is her justification before the bar of equitythe beauteous robe in which she shall be presented before his Father's glory with exceeding joy, to the admiration of angels for ever.

ousness.

Secondly, the description the prophet gives of him:-" Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent?" Many terms and phrases in scripture should be understood differently, according as the scope of the writer, or the context, or the nature of the subject treated shall determine. This description, therefore, cannot apply to Christ in a proper sense, nor yet in a comparative sense. Although some by their actions say, "the Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard ;" yet he proclaims his omniscience in language which appeals to reason itself, with a convincing evidence, saying, "He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?" Psalm xciv. 7, 9. He whose eyes are like a flame of fire, (Rev. i. 14.) beholds all the hidden motions of the heart of man, as well as their outward practice; and when he shall ascend the judgment seat he will set their sins in order before them. But we may consider this description of our Lord, 1. in a prudential sense; 2. in a pardoning sense; 3. in a paternal sense. All excellence, in the highest perfection, shone forth with the brightest lustre in the life of Jesus when here on earth. His zeal, constancy, humility, and love, were all conspicuous; nor was the most delicate prudence less observable. To cite a few instances will be sufficient to illustrate this point; and the first I shall notice is, John viii. 3—11.

The scribes and pharisees sought occasion to accuse him of making void the law of Moses; and supposing they had an opportunity of doing so, they brought the woman into the temple before him, and charged the crime upon her. "But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not." He prudently refused to give a direct answer, or to enquire into particulars. What he wrote cannot with any certainty be known; though some have thought he wrote, in legible characters, the sins of the same kind which the woman's accusers had been guilty of; which when he had done, he pointed to them, saying, "he that is without sin among you, let him cast a stone at her: and again stooped down, and wrote on the ground,"* as if he would still point out more of their crimes. But they being convicted by their own consciences went out confounded. It is worthy of remark, that although our glorious Lord will judge and condemn all the finally impenitent at the great day, yet in his state of humiliation on earth he was not appointed to judge but to save sinners. He therefore offers no violence to Moses' law, nor does he make any excuse for the woman's sin, but appears blind and deaf to their accusations, while yet he brought conviction home to their consciences, and covered them with shame. And turning to the woman he said, "hath no man condemned thee? she said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said, neither do I condemn thee, (here is mercy a yand kindness!) go, and sin no more;" (here we see his holiness) — and

* Dr. Gill observes, that the learned Wagenseil makes mention of an ancient Greek manuscript he had seen, in which were added the following words, "The sins of every one of them."