CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.

FROM all that has been said, it results, that the Christian world contains but two schools, or two systems of religion:—that which sets the Bible above everything, and that which sets something above the Bible. The former was evidently that of Jesus Christ; the latter that of the rationalists of all denominations and times.

The motto of the former is—"All the written word is inspired by God, even to a single iota and particle of a letter: the Scripture cannot be destroyed.

The device of the latter is The Word of God is amenable to human judgment.

Instead of setting the Bible above all,—it is on the contrary either knowledge or reason, or the traditions of men, or some new inspiration, which it places above the Bible. Hence the whole body of rationalists and all their false religions. They correct the Word of God, or complete it; they contradict or they interdict it; they cause it to be irreverently read by their pupils; or they forbid them its perusal.

The rationalists, for instance, who in our day profess Judaism, set above the Bible, if not their own reason, at least that of the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries; that is to say the human traditions of their Targums, the Mishna and the Gemara of their two enormous Talmuds. Beneath the weight of these they have crushed the Law and the Prophets.

The rationalists who profess the religion of Rome will, in their turn, set above the Bible, the reason of the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, which they call tradition.

Those rationalists who profess a corrupt Protestantism, and who reject the doctrines of the Reformation, will set above the Bible, the reason of Socinus and Priestley, of Eichhorn and Paulus, of Strauss and Hegel, or at least their own. The Word of God, say they, is mingled with error. They try it, and correct it; and it is with the Bible in their hands that they come and say, There is no Divinity in Christ, no resurrection of the body, no Holy Ghost, no devil, no spirits, no hell, no atonement in the death of Jesus, no innate corruption in man, no eternal punishments, no miracle in the deeds, and (must I even add?) no reality in Jesus Christ.

Finally, those rationalists who profess mysticism will set above the sacred text their own hallucinations, their inward word, their revelations, and the Christ who, they say, is within them. They will speak with con tempt of the letter of Scripture, of its literal sense, of gospel facts, of the man Jesus, or of the external Christ as they term him), of the Cross of Golgotha, of preaching, of worship, and of sacraments. They are above these carnal helps! Hence their dislike to the doctrines of the judicial justice of God, of the reality of sin, of Divine wrath against wickedness, of grace, of election, of atonement, of the imputed righteousness of Christ, and of future punishments.

Disciples of the Saviour, hear him in his Word; it is there He speaks to us; there is our reason, there our wisdom, there our inspiration and safe tradition; it is the lamp of our feet. "Sanctify me, O Lord, by thy truth: thy word is truth!"

Let our reason then employ all its powers, in the sight of God, to recognise, in the first place, that the Scriptures are from him, and after wards to study them. Let it bend daily more closely over its Divine oracles, to correct itself by them, not to correct them by it; to search therein the meaning of God, not to substitute its own; to present itself before their holy word as a respectful, gentle, docile handmaid, and not as a noisy vain—glorious sibyl! Let our daily prayer, while these shades of night surround us, be constantly that of the child of the tabernacle, " Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth!" The law of the Lord is perfect; the words of the Lord are pure words; it is "as silver refined in a furnace of earth, and purified seven times in the crucible." ( Psalm xii. 6.)

And, on the other hand, let us seek the Holy Spirit in greater power; for as Christians we are anointed, yea, baptized of the Holy One. It is the Spirit alone that leads us into all the truth of Scripture, which sheds the love of God abroad in our hearts, and bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, by enabling us to realise the promises of our inheritance, and giving us the earnest of our adoption. In vain, without this Spirit, should we for eighteen hundred years have had this Scripture in our possession, as have the Jews: we could not understand therein the things of the Spirit of God ; " they would be foolishness unto us; for the natural man receiveth not the things of God, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." But, at the same time, in always distinguishing the spirit from the letter, let us be careful never to separate them. Let it be always before the word, in the word, and by the word, that we seek this Divine Spirit. ' It is by the word that He acts, enlightens, affects, casts down, and raises up. His constant operation is to make our souls comprehend it, and to induce us to love it.

The Bible therefore is from God in all its parts.

The light of the last day will at once unveil the splendour of any passages which may appear to us now as less important. The glory of the day of Jesus will spread refulgence over all, penetrating the entire Scriptures, disclosing to us the yet hidden treasures, and causing them to shine with resplendent lustre. Then will the beauty, wisdom, proportions, and harmony of all their revelations be manifested; and the sight will fill the elect of God with rapturous admiration, with ever—increasing emotions of love, and joy unspeakable.

The history of the past in connection with this subject ought to lead us even now to anticipate that of the future; and we may judge, by what has been accomplished, of the glory of the light which will be shed on the Scriptures at the second coming of Jesus Christ. Observe what vivid brightness was cast upon all parts of the Old Testament at the first appearing of the Son of God; and learn from this what will be the radiance of the two Testaments at his second advent. Then the plan of God will be consummated; then will our Lord and King, "fairer than the children of men, borne on the word of truth, meekness, and righteous ness," be revealed from heaven; then will his light fill the hearts of his ransomed ones, and the imposing grandeur of the work of redemption will be exhibited in all its glory to the gaze of the children of God.

Observe already how many chapters of Scripture in the time of Jeremiah, or later, in the long reign of the Maccabees, and during the existence of the second temple from Malachi to John the Baptist,—observe, we say, how many chapters of Scripture which are now sparkling before our eyes with Divine splendour must in those days have appeared dull and insignificant to the eyes of the rationalists of the ancient synagogue. How unmeaning must have appeared to them many chapters and verses which now feed our faith, fill us with admiration of the majestic unity of the Scriptures, cause our tears to flow, and which have already brought so many weary and heavy—laden souls to the feet of Jesus! What did they say of Isaiah liii.?—doubtless, with the Ethiopian minister of queen Candace: " How should I understand, except some one explain it to me?—of whom speaks the prophet; of himself, or of some other man? What could have appeared to be the use of that mysterious history of Melchizedec? Why those long details respecting the Tabernacle, Aaron's garments, things clean and unclean, the worship and sacrifices? What would they say of the words, " the legs¹ thereof shall not be broken "? In what sense could they have regarded Psalms xxii., lxix., and many others? " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? " "They pierced my hands and my feet." Why (must they have thought) does David in his Psalms occupy us at such length with the common details of his adventurous life? When moreover did they divide his garments and cast lots for his vesture? What mean the words, "All they that see me wag their heads, saying, He trusted in the Lord that he would deliver him, seeing he delighted in him"? What is signified by the vinegar and the gall?—They gave me gall for my repast, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink "? What is the import of these exaggerated and inexplicable expressions, "I hid not my face from shame and spitting. They smote me on the cheek, and they ploughed upon my back "? And what could the prophet mean by saying, "A virgin shall conceive "? Who again is this lowly king seated on an ass?—"Zion, behold thy king cometh to deliver thee, lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." And whose burial is alluded to in the sentence, "His grave was ordained with the wicked; but he was with the rich in his death"?

How strange and little worthy of the Lord must all these expressions, and so many others, have appeared to the presumptuous scribes of bygone days! " What humanity, what individuality, what occasionality!" they would exclaim, if we may put into their mouths the current terms of our own day. No doubt very learned systems, and abundant conjecture about the intention of the prophets who wrote these details, were professed in the academies of that period; nought how ever could be discerned in their language but the ordinary impression of the exclusively personal circum stances by which they supposed them to be affected.

But what were ye then doing, true disciples of the word of life?—Hezekiah, Daniel, Josiah , Nehemiah, and Ezra—our brethren in the same hope and faith; and ye, too, holy women who hoped in God, and looked for the consolation of Israel? Oh! like the angels of light, ye were reverently contemplating the depths of these truths and awaiting their development.—Yes, they waited! They knew that the most insignificant passage in their eyes might be pregnant ( as one of the fathers of the church has observed ) with "mountains of doctrine." On this account " searching to discover," as St. Peter says, "what the Spirit of Christ, which was in the prophets, had caused them to write concerning the time and circumstances of the sufferings of the Messiah, and the glory which should follow," they did not doubt that at a later period, when time and events should have unveiled these mysteries, they would be found marvellously glorious in the light of the Divine mind, and rich in all the consolations of the gospel. The day was coming on when, after the Messiah's first appearing, the least in the kingdom of God would be greater than the greatest of the prophets. That day has dawned. But we ourselves also know that, after the second appearance of Jesus, the day will come when the least of the redeemed will be greater in knowledge than were Augustine, Calvin, Pascal, and Leighton; for then the ears of babes will hear, and their eyes will see things which even the apostles desired to see and have not seen, and to hear and have not heard.

Well; what prophets and saints did concerning pas sages then obscure to them, but now made luminous to us, we will do with regard to the passages which we cannot as yet comprehend, but which will soon be clearly revealed to the heirs of eternal life, when all prophecy shall be accomplished, and when Jesus shall appear in the clouds in the last manifestation of his glorious coming.

With what splendour have many passages, psalms, prophecies, types, and descriptions presented themselves to our view as soon as we have discovered the beauty which had previously been veiled ! What gospel truth has come forth from them! What appeals to con science! What unfolding of redeeming love! Let us therefore await similar but more glorious revelations on the day when our Master will again descend from heaven; " for," says Irenæus, " there are in the Scriptures difficulties which through the grace of God we are now able to resolve; but there are others which we leave to him , not only as respects this generation, but those to come, in order that God maybe perpetually teaching and man perpetually learning from God the things that are of God."

If the lights of grace have dimmed those of nature, what will it be when the lights of glory in their turn shall cast those of grace into the shade! What stars of the first magnitude now unseen will be lighted up in the firmament of the Scriptures at the approach of that great day! And when, at last, it shall burst unveiled upon the redeemed, what harmonies, what heavenly tints, what new glories, what unanticipated splendours will be revealed to the heirs of eternal life!

Then shall we see the full meaning of many prophecies, facts, and instructions, whose Divine character is now only seen in detached features, but whose evangelical beauty will at that day be fully displayed. Then will be known the import of those parables, even now so impressive, of the fig-tree—of the master returning from the far country—of the bridegroom and bride—of the net drawn to the shore of eternity—of Lazarus—of the guests—of the talents of the husbandmen—of the virgins—and of the marriage feast. Then will be known all the glory of such expressions as these:—"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool:"—"Thy people, Lord , shall be willing in the day when thou shalt assemble thine army in holy pomp:"—"The dew of thy youth shall be to thee from the dawn of the day: "—" He shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath:"—"He shall wound the head of him who rules over a great country:"—"He shall drink of the brook in the way,—therefore shall he lift up the head."

Then also wilt thou reveal Thyself to us in all thy glory, Lord Jesus, Saviour, Comforter, Friend of the desolate, our Lord and our God! Thou who hast seen death, but who art "He that is alive for evermore!" Then will all the knowledge of heaven be centred in Thyself. This was ever the wisdom of the Holy Ghost which came down from heaven; and always that of Scripture, for "the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." It is already the entire life of the saints: o their eternal life is to know Thee."

The whole written word is, then, inspired of God.

Open thou mine eyes, O Lord, that I may see the wonders of thy law!"

"Thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them. The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple. I opened my mouth and panted, for I longed for thy commandments." ( Psa. cxix. 129–131. )

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NOTE.

Our author has dwelt with so much power on the first clause of 2 Tim. iii. 16, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," that we greatly regret he has not pursued the passage energetically throughout; as each clause would have very happily formed the basis of the several chapters, furnishing perhaps the strongest proofs in the Divine volume of the doctrine advocated in this valuable work. The apostle, after stating that all Scripture is inspired, proceeds to show those things for which it is profitable. First, "for doctrine " or instruction (διδασκαλίαν). This word is derived from verbs which signify to know, to show. The Scripture is the source and foundation, then, whence the instruction is drawn, which the Holy Ghost can call profitable. Men may call much profitable in religion that is not according to it, asserting that antiquity bears them out, as Job's friends said, "With us are both the gray—headed and very aged men, much older than thy father" (xv. 10). But God's reply will be, as at that time, "My wrath is kindled against thee and thy friends' (xlii. 7). Secondly, "for reproof," or proof over again (ἔλεγχον). (The word is not now used in this sense. ) The force of this statement is, that whatsoever may be profitably received or rejected as the rule of faith or action, may be established from Scripture by evident and convincing proofs. Thirdly, "for correction." The simple meaning of the Greek word ἐπανόρθωσιν is, making straight what has become crooked ; so that whatsoever deviation or error in things may exist, the Word of God is profitable for the correction of it. Fourthly, "for instruction in righteousness," properly education or discipline (παιδείαν) in righteousness; and where, but in that volume which opens with the old creation and ends with the new, will that skilful observation of the past, and that long foresight of the future be found, which constitute the true science of education, supplying in every page a precept of moral discipline? Fifthly, "That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." The word here rendered perfect" ’(ἄρτιοε) is not to be understood of moral perfection, or such as characterises the actings of God in grace, as, "Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. " Its meaning is " qualified, accomplished, furnished, " as also the participle ἐξηρτισμένας in the same sentence, accurately translated "thoroughly furnished; " and the force of this passage is, that from the stock of Scripture with which the man of God is furnished, every work worthy of being called good by the Holy Ghost is derived. The whole statement is therefore one of the strongest, if not the very strongest Divine declaration upon the entire sufficiency of Scripture, in enabling the instructed to meet every case and circumstance that could be presented to the spiritual mind, in the infinite variety of possible combinations.

1) The translation is bone in the English version. See Exod. xii. 46, and Numb. ix. 12.