the pressure of some heart felt disease? Is not thy case like that recorded of the woman who had the issue of blood, and of whom it was said, that she " had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse?" (Mark v. 26.) Thy God has spoken to thee, it may be, by the "still small voice" within, telling thee thy heart is not right with His? Under such circumstances, how hast thou acted? Instead of going in thy distressed state of mind to thy Father and God in secret prayer, thou hast repaired to a fellow-sinner like thyself! It may be thou hast told him the whole state of thy soul; yea, even confessed to him the very "sins of thy youth;" thus putting him in the place of God, and listened to his words, rather than to the words of thy best and only tried friend. Some earthly trouble or social trial hath come upon thee, and, in order to get thyself out of the one, and to deliver thyself from the other, hast not thou gone to some worldly companion, instead of consulting thy sure and safe guide-book-the Bible? thus ignoring, in a measure, its divine authority; yea, more, proving thy lack of love for that best of all books, the Book of books. Now we would ask of thee this other question Supposing thou hadst received a letter from a distant friend, one whom thou lovest, wouldst thou treat his letter thus? Wouldst thou take that epistle and just scan over its contents, and then throw it away as thou wouldst a piece of waste paper? Wouldst not thou rather take that letter, and read it over and over again, until thou hadst made thyself fully acquainted with all its contents? Dost thou deal thus with that letter sent to thee from thy best, yea, the very best of friends-thy Father in Heaven? Is not the charge brought against thee, O Christian, fully made out, not of altogether despising the Book, but in not regarding it with that veneration and esteem that thou shouldst do? To this indictment must thou not plead guilty? Yet, pray that the Lord may forgive thy neglect, and ask Him to shed abroad His love in thine heart, so that thou mayest learn to value His Word, and, like David, to say, How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth." (Ps. cxix. 103.) "It was the speech of a holy manafter God had made this precious text (Matt. xi. 28) the messenger to open his dungeon of spiritual distress, and bring him into the light of inward joy, that he had better be without meat, drink, light, air, earth, life, and all, than without this one comfortable Scripture." "If one simple promise," as Gurnal sweetly remarks, in giving this story, "like an ear of corn rubbed in the hand of faith, and applied by the Spirit of Christ, can afford such a full, satisfying meal of joy to the hunger-bitten, pining soul, oh! what price can we set upon the whole field of Scripture, which stands so thick with promises every way as cordial as this!" (Gurnal on Ephes. vi. 17.) Well might the immortal star of the Reformation, Martin Luther, say, "I have covenanted with my Lord, that he should not send me visions, or dreams, or even angels. I am content with this one gift of the Scriptures, which abundantly teaches, and supplies all that is necessary, both for this life and that which is to come." It is the highest mark of a true Christian to love God's word; "For his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." The extent of our love for a person can only be measured by the amount of interest we take in anything which belongs to him. This remark is not inaplicable to God and His Word. For just in proportion as we value that Word, so, in like manner, shall we regard its Divine Author: If, then, we love His Word, we shall love Him also; yea, more; He will delight in us. And not only so, but we shall thus show that we honour Him by honouring His Word. And what saith He in His Word?" Them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed Sam. ii. 30.) Now, no one likes to be little thought of by his fellow-men, but all desire, in some respect, the esteem of others. Apply, O Chris (1 tian, this rule to thyself, and only just consider what it must be to be lightly esteemed by God. To be treated thus by other men is nothing to be compared to being regarded so by God. If then, thou wouldst avoid His displeasure, and obtain His favour, learn to value His Word. It is related of Dr. Johnson and his godson, that the latter called to see him a short time before his death. The Doctor asked him what books he read. He replied, "The books, sir, which you have given me." Dr. Johnson, summoning up all his strength, fixed his eyes upon the youth, and exclaimed, All Sam, Sam, read the Bible. books that are worth reading are founded upon it, and are only valuable for what they derive from it." The same good advice would we give to all who possess this blessed book. Dig deep into this mine of precious store which contains truths of priceless value, to be known, understood, and believed, in order to their saving. Search diligently, prayerfully, and daily, for impression and information respecting Him of whom they testify, even Jesus the Messiah, who was and is Israel's glory, and the Gentiles' Light. 'A nation," observes a pious writer, "would indeed be truly blessed, if it were governed by no other laws than those of this blessed Book. It is so complete a system, that nothing can be added to it, or taken from it; it contains everything needful to be known or done." How beautifully, and yet how truthfully, does a Christian poet express, in glowing language, its estimable worth! His words we give, altho' ignorant of his name:— "Within this volume you will find, The best of food to feast the mind; SCRIPTURE EMENDATIONS. ACTS xiii. 32-34. "And we declare unto you glad tidings concerning the promise which was made to the fathers-that God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, having raised up Jesus; as it is also written in the second Psalm, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee: and-That He raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to corruption, even as He said, I will give you the sure mercies of David." There are two parts to "the promise which was made to the fathers;" 1st. The Incarnation. 2nd. The Resurrection. The A.V. includes the fulfilment of the promise in the resurrection alone. It is difficult to discern how such easy Greek could have been so misunderstood. How that" has no representative term in the Greek whatever: the same may be said of "in that he hath," and also of "again." In this last addition we can, perhaps, detect the source. The translators considered that the birth of Jesus was well known to the audience which Paul was addressing, and also His death; but His resurrection was not, and so they thought that his announcement was concerning the resurrection alone. The emendation we give for ἀναστήσας, having raisel up, is sustained by Acts iii. 22: "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up (avaστýσε) unto you;" and verse 26, "Unto you first, God, having raised up (avarroas) His Son Jesus." An objector might point to Acts ii. 30. On good authority the Greek is rejected for according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ." We should then read, "God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, one should sit on his throne." This is in strict accordance with God's gracious declaration to David in 2 Sam. vii. 12: he at that time saw nothing further than that his natural issue should reign after him, which was fulfilled as long as Judah was a kingdom-" for ever." Then in the next verse, "he, seeing this before," is more than the simple translation of προϊδων, which would be as in Gal. iii. 3, "foreseeing." He is not said to predicate of the resurrection of Christ, what he knew only concerning heirship to his throne. The latter he knew as a man beloved of Jehovah-a special communication to him; the former he knew only in the dimness of prophetic vision: he to whom it was was one of those revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things. . . which the angels desire to look into." (1 Pet. i. 12.) For εὐαγγελιζόμεθα = “ we declare glad tidings concerning," consult Parkhurst. It is almost uniformly followed by an accusative, and re"of" as a quires "concerning part of its own meaning. or Thus is destroyed the outrage on propriety of applying to the resurrection of Christ, the words, this day have I begotten (yɛyévvŋka) Thee." This is the word applied to the birth of Christ, "that which is begotten (marg.) in her is of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. i. 20.) Such is its uniform meaning for the natural and spiritual generation and consequent bringing forth. Advantage has been taken of this passage, now emended, to support the illogical doctrine of the "eternal Sonship." It matters not how illogical a doctrine may be if it is scriptural; but on both grounds it is untenable. "Does not even nature itself teach you," that if a man have a son, that is, one begotten of his body, the father had an existence before the son? "But this is not orthodox." Well then, we say, the worse for orthodoxy. One must be prepared to sustain such an outcry as this. In reply, we say Give a single text that plainly states such a doctrine, and then we have nothing to do but bend, and take our place as an uncompromising advocate. We will do no more now than give a few hints. First. What is meant by the term 66 Son of God?" "The angel said, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee (or, begotten), shall be called 66 66 the Son of God." (Luke i. 36.) Secondly. Did this Holy Thing exist from all eternity, or did it then begin to be-viz., at the mother's conception? If one will say, "from all eternity," then is matter eternal; for the body of Jesus was material. The Son of God is the same as "the Word made flesh." Here perhaps has arisen the confusion of ideas. That wonderful complex being which is called Jesus, a Saviour; and Christ, the Anointed; was very God and very man:" eternal as to His Godhead, but not as to His manhood. Now it is this union of existences that we hail as "the Son of God." But some one may say, Is not the Son equal with the Father?" Yes, and No. 'I and My Father are one." (John x. 30.) That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father." (John v. 23.) Those who would deduce equality of the Son and the Father from the first of these Scriptures would also, or should, assert the equality of the saints and their Lord from such Scriptures as "I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one.” (John xvii. 23.) Then as to the second Scripture, we do not honour the Son as we do the Father, unless we honour Him as He gives us commandment. We honour Him as our all-sufficient Redeemer in all the grand conditions of redemption. We honour Him as giving all our prayers efficacy when we pray unto Father in His name. Time would fail us to state all the various ways in which we honour Him, but always as the Son of God, who came not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. Christ Himself declares, "My Father is greater than I" (John xiv. 28); and this He sustains by prayer to the Father, and referring all things to Him, even His commission of atonement." (John x. 18.) Consider also Heb. ii. 9; 1 Cor. xv. 28, and xi. 3. "The everlasting Father," in Isa. ix. 6, is really "the Father of the everlasting ages," a Hebraism, and illustrated by Heb. i. 2, "on whose account also He (God) appointed the ages." (See the Greek.) the The Son of God must be every 46 thing to us, as He is every thing to the Father. We do not think there is any real difference in the above statements from what is so commonly, but we are persuaded, loosely held respecting the Son. He uniformly represents Himself as the servant carrying out the purposes of Him who sent Him; now on His Father's throne, ere long to be seated on His own throne for a stated period; then, having accomplished all, He will yield all to Him who gave Him to be the Head over all things to His Church." (Eph. i. 22.) What this giving up involves: how He will Himself become subject to the Father; which conditions, we are told, could not be reversed (1 Cor. xv. 27); what the church will be, &c. &c., we are not informed. Eternal life we are sure of, and with it, eternal blessedness; whether our regal condition and priesthood continue or not, is not for us to know. We may be sure that the cost of redemption would never have been incurred for only a thousand years' reign: rather should we look upon that as a prelude to a still greater exhibition of that love which so filled the Father's heart that He spared not His own Son-the Son of His love, that He might bring us home again. 66 The question was put above, "Is not the Son equal with the Father?” The answer, No," has been considered. With equal confidence we answer, Yes. This, however, is not as regards the Sonship. The positive is sustained by such Scriptures as "Before Abraham was, I am (John viii. 58), and "Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." (Philip. ii. 6.) This word of our Lord Himself declares His pre-existence, and we know from John i. 1, 14, that this was the eternal Godhead. But the expression, “I am," takes us back to Ex. iii. 14, "I AM hath sent me unto you;" thus do we identify Jesus Christ, "the Word made flesh," with the "I AM THAT I AM"-with JEHOVAH, the self-existent, ever-blessed Almighty One. "My Lord and my God" was no surprised exclamation of Thomas, but an inspiration of the Spirit of truth, testifying to the Godhead incarnate. Again, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw and was glad." (John viii. 56.) Thus is Jesus identified with Him who made Himself known to Abraham as God Almighty. (Ex. vi. 3.) We doubt not also that Melchizedek, that mysterious being, who met Abraham when he returned from the slaughter of the kings, was the same who, as priest of the most high God," set forth, by "bread and wine," his future sacrifice of Himself. The other Scripture from Philip. ii. 6, has had various interpretations. We cordially agree with one excellent Greek scholar, who writes, "Our translators, rightly, I think, render the expression." The Spirit is inculcating humility, and He places before us Jesus, our great Exemplar. "Being in the form of God:" as such, humility would be out of place, because there is none greater; yet being this, "he thought it not robbery to be equal with God;" notwithstanding "He made Himself of no réputation," &c. This is one of the happiest efforts of our translators. The rendering, "emptied Himself,” is as bad as can be, for it is not true. How could Christ empty Himself when "all fulness was pleased to dwell in Him" (so the Greek); when He was "the image of the invisible God" (Col. i. 15); "the express image of His person" (Heb. i. 3); when "in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." (Col. ii. 9.) But some one may rejoin, "He emptied Himself of His glory:" nay, He made water into wine, "and manifested forth His glory.” (John i. 11.) “But His visible glory." That would be divesting, not emptying. "To make of no reputation" is of a kindred meaning with "to empty," and it has the recommendation of being most literally true. Archbishop Tillotson translates this passage: He did not arrogate to Himself to be equal with God, i.e., He made no ostentation of His divinity." Calcott says, "He did not eagerly covet to be (as He was of old) equal in all His appearances with the Deity," quoted by Parkhurst. Dean Alford says, "Yaрxwv-(subsisting originally) οὐχ ἁρπαγμὸν, deemed not His (existing pre-incarnate) equality with God a matter for grasping and retaining, but emptied Himself (of the μορφὴ Θεοῦ-the glory which He had with the Father.-John xvii. 5.)" The rapxwv is, no doubt, compositely "from the beginning," illustrated by John i. 1, 2; but the "pre-incarnate" condition is not sustained by the word except as Melchizedek, or as when Jehovah appeared to Abraham as he sat in the tent door;" but surely these were not strictly incarnate manifestations, but pro-human spiritual bodies (see 1 Cor. xv. 44); such was not "the Word made flesh." (Luke xxiv. 39.) One can easily see here that the notion of emptying Himself would suggest the Dean's view of άprayμòv. The teaching of this passage is, it seems-Consider Jesus; who, though in the form of God, and without robbery, equal with God, sought not the honour such a condition would bring, but made Himself the servant of all; so "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Dean Alford, to whom we are under such great obligations, says: thought it not robbery to be equal with God.' is altogether wrong, both in rendering and in the sense conveyed." We have considered the sense. As to the rendering, we venture on an opposite dictum. Many passages might be adduced, let two suffice. James i. 2: "Hãσav Xapàr yhoare, count (think) it all joy." 2 Pet. i. 13 : “ Δίκαιον δὲ ἡγούμαι, I think it meet." Correlates too are found in each passage to complete the grammatical similarity. In Phil. ii. 6, there is the correlate Tò eivau ira 0; in James, "when ye fall into divers trials:" in Peter, "to stir up." Clifton. W. HOWELL. Since writing the above, being in a friend's house, Dr. Macbride's Lectures were put in my hands; from only a cursory glance the following note presented itself. "If aλà had been rendered here nevertheless, the meaning would have been more clear. The improved ver sion, as it is called, translates, without any authority, Οὐκ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο, he caught not at the robbery of being equal with God. Nor is Whitby's interpretation, he did not covet to appear as God, satisfactory. In a case where all depends on the meaning of a Greek phrase, the judgment of Theophylact, as representing Chrysostom, ought, I conceive, to be decisive. "The Son of God was not afraid to descend from His own dignity, since he had not this by robbery (¿¿ àрñáyns), being equal with God the Father, but knew it to be His by natural dignity, therefore He chose to humble Himself, as even in His humiliation, retaining His vos, eminence.'” W. H. THE EVE OF THE DAY OF ON Sunday, September 10th, the eve of the Day of Atonement, the most solemn fast in the Jewish year, whilst thousands of Israelites thronged the synagogues to mourn and lament over their misdoings of the past year; a little congregation of Hebrew Christians assembled within the precincts of Palestine Place Chapel to pray for their unbelieving brethren still in ignorance of the only true atonement for the sins of the world. Service was held as usual in the chapel, and a sermon on the subject of the atonement was preached by the Rev. H. A. Stern, who took for his text Hebrews x. 12-13: "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made His footstool." The preacher after briefly alluding to the various perverted forms of worship amongst the different nations of the earth, went on to speak of the Day of Atonement as it is now observed in contrast with the manner in which God had commanded it to be kept; he would not advert to the particular rites and ceremonies practised, as he had done so before on a similar occasion, but he would at once proceed to the chief topic of his discourse, the Messiah, the only atonement for sin, In olden |