POETRY. LINES IN REMEMBRANCE OF THE REV. GRIFFITH WILLIAMS, Who entered his eternal rest, July 1, 1826. BLEST is the memory of the just, whose life Life, death, and heaven are their's in cov'nant gift, 'Ere time-in time-when time shall be no more- Of full salvation and eternal life; While God the Spirit cloth'd the words with power, "Behold the Lamb of God!"-the sinner's friend! J. IRONS. AN IMPORTANT QUESTION:-A SONNET. "And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto him one by one, Is it I? and another said, is it I?"-Mark xiv. 19. THE final feast of passover prepared The twelve, assembled with their Lord appeared Communing of the sorrows he should bear, When for their sakes determined not to spare But give his life a ransom; and for all Whom once he loved, and should hereafter call: What caused the sorrow-urged the piteous cry "Is't I, Lord?" "Oh! my Master, is it I?" For I the traitor am!-and 'twas for ME (Oh! love divine, and grace beyond degree!) He groaned and bled—and died on Calvary's tree! THE Spiritual Magazine ; SAINTS? OR, 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, 1827. (For the Spiritual Magazine.) THE ATONEMENT THE BELIEVER'S REST. WITHOUT the shedding of blood there is no atonement for sin: this is the doctrine of infallible truth; and yet, alas! manifold have been the contrivances of poor inconsiderate man to evade its force, and to call in question its propriety. What miserable expedients have in all ages been adopted to atone for sin; and this, not confined to the dark regions of the earth, appears in no less conspicuous a light among those surnamed christian. In the case of the former, it manifests itself in superstitious rites and self-inflicted cruelties; in that of the latter, in the misapplication of enjoined duties, and in supposed creature attainments in both the spirit is the same, though different in its workings. Like Cain, they bring of the labour of their hands an offering to the Lord, and suppose that these fancy performances, prepared with much skill and assiduity, must be acceptable in the sight of a merciful Creator. But whether received or rejected by the world, the atonement is of such vital importance to the church of God, that no doctrine, however blessed in itself, can avail any thing without it. It was held forth by Jehovah as a ground of consolation to the first man Adam, when fallen from the state in which he was created. It sustains upon its foundation the whole election of grace; apart from it salvation is an empty sound; but resting upon it, it is a glorious proclamation to all whose ears have been opened to hear it. Its efficacy VOL. III. No. 34. 2 L is certain; possessing in itself a world of blessings laid open for ruined man a hidden wisdom which impoverishes the high intellect of angels, and a power which prevails with God. To a regenerate soul, under the convictions of sin brought home by the Spirit, no subject can be so welcome and soothing. Now if the Lord should be pleased to lead the soul thus circumstanced into a right apprehension of this subject, and to afford him that blessedness with which the unworthy writer has been favoured, he will find a remedy as efficacious as the wound he has received is deep. By way of introduction be it observed, that the sinless perfection and purity of our Lord Jesus Christ is a fact of undeniable certainty. He never committed one sin in thought, word, or deed; and for this obvious reason, it was impossible that he should, for it is expressly declared to be the thing which he hates; and as he is of one mind and none can turn him, it follows that he must either do that voluntarily which is contrary to his nature, (an absurdity!) or be overcome by the superior power of temptation; which the apostle James in his first chapter and thirteenth verse, affirms as impossible. These remarks are almost superfluous, but are just thrown out to prevent any improper conclusion from statements which may afterwards be made. 66 The atonement of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is that wonderful transaction, by which God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, has fully removed the whole iniquity of his church. Here every act of disobedience received its just recompence of reward. Fury," says he," is not in me;" consequently all our apprehensions of wrath from him are groundless suspicions of his love." Perfect love casteth out fear: he that feareth is not made perfect in love." We should fear to offend him as our father, but not dread him as an angry judge. When he visits us for our follies his strokes are paternal corrections, not the iron rod of vengeance. But to be more particular in offering a few thoughts on this allimportant subject, the atonement, it may be considered in a three-fold light its origin, nature, and effects. With reference to its origin, we can have no hesitation in ascribing it to sin; that foul and mortal wound, which not only disabled the parent, but from its poisonous taint has generated with, and corrupted the whole line of his offspring. "When lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James i. 15. This is the progressive order in which every act of disobedience is generated. Sin has in its very nature the seeds of death, and must issue in it. Death, as the wages of sin, must be paid; the law demands it, the justice of God requires it. The punishment of sin is called for as indispensable to establish Jehovah's character as a righteous and holy Governor. He cannot but be displeased with sin; and the essence of sin is the displeasure of God. He cannot acquit the guilty, and he has said he will not; he will not pass it over, or wink at it. If sin were suffered to go unpunished, it might justly boast of having dethroned the Almighty, 6 and of having usurped that sovereign authority, which he exercises over all beings. There never has been an exception to the general tenor of scripture, death for sin.' There is no discharge here, no plea available. Condemned-accursed-tormented-is the unalterable doom. When sin entered our first parents it displaced every affection they possessed God-ward, and introduced a new feature into the soul of man, which became prominent in all his after acts. was the impress from the hand of satan, blotting out, as in a moment, the moral likeness of man to God, and stamping deformity upon the natural glory and holiness which he had received at his wondrous formation. It The primeval estate of man is completely obliterated, or only just discoverable to have once existed, by the ruins which his fall has occasioned. There lies the noble structure, plundered, defaced, and over-grown with thorns and briers ! Once pronounced by Jehovah himself" very good," but now the habitation of dragons and infernal spirits! He who before rendered cheerful allegiance to his Maker, and delighted in his company, now condemns his authority, and trembles at his presence. Utterly averse and unable to return, his helplessness exceeds every comparison, save that of a body without a soul to animate it. He has sunk into a horrible pit, from which to extricate himself all his efforts must prove abortive! Now the atonement finds the church in this sunken condition, and is that nethermost foundation which received her when she fell. She could not fall below it, for its appointment was timed and fitted to the event, whenever it should take place. Inasmuch then as without sin no atonement was necessary, it is strictly proper to date its origin from hence. Sin gave it birth; the entrance of sin was the sounding of the alarm that happy man was miserable; the sting of death had penetrated to his vitals, and left him fast descending to remediless woe, when the voice went forth, "deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom," i. e. an atonement. Job. xxxiii. 24. But advancing a step higher, we trace it up to that union between Christ and his church which bears date from eternity. She had from everlasting to everlasting a being and a well being in him, which could not be forfeited nor destroyed by any intervening events. "Because I live ye shall live also," is the absolute and unalienable birthright of the elect, (blessed be God for his unspeakable gift!) unconditional, and independent of every thing, save the existence of him in whom it is secured. It is the first in order of the new covenant blessings of Jehovah. But we must not confine our ideas to a merely representative being in our glorious Immanuel, it being equally blessed to know that each individual person of the elect family, was eternally, in the foreview of Jehovah, (which is present being with him, there being no past and future in his all-comprehensive sight) united to Jesus,-bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, he the head, they the members written in the book of life, when as yet there was none of them. Ps. cxxxix. 16. It is all one family, out of which he, like Joseph, was exalted to be Prince and Saviour. Joseph's bowels yearned over his brethren, for he loved them much; so that he could not withhold from them his treasures of corn; and why? because they were his brethren, which may justly set forth that bread which the Son of Man giveth in his satisfactory atonement. Yea, he loved the people, for they were related to him by the tenderest ties, he being our near kinsman, "whose right it was to redeem." On this account he had engaged to conduct them through the wilderness, and to invest them finally with that glory, to which they were everlastingly predestinated; which engagement took in, nay more, emphatically predicted their lapsed state. Now believing, as we do from holy scripture, that this union is indissoluble, and yet that sin, unless put away would have prevented the enjoyment of the benefits arising from it, it follows, that there was a necessary call for an atonement; both to preserve untarnished the immaculate perfections of the Son of God in the assumption of our nature, and to render available the benefits connected with our union to him. In reference to this union we may say, "ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?" One step higher and we have arrived at the main spring, the cause of causes, viz. the determinate counsel of him, who giveth no account of his matters; yea, the very heart of God. It was the immanent actings of the eternal mind that pre-ordained this grace transaction. It was Jehovah's pleasure, purposed, planned, and matured in himself. He willed it, and it was. He waited from all eternity to be gracious, in the redemption of the church by Jesus Christ. He saw us through this act as the vessels of mercy afore prepared unto glory, and concluded us all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. I WILL, is the prerogative of Jehovah, which orders every event that takes place. All creatures are before him as nothing, but what this prefix makes them. Behold we are the clay, and thou our potter! Let us then ascribe glory to God in the highest, that whilst like marred and shattered vessels we lie upon the frame work of the potter, entirely at his disposal, he did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by Jesus Christ. It is a sa 2. We are to consider the nature of the atonement. crifice of a sweet smelling savour unto the Lord. In gross-the offering up of the soul and body of the Lord Jesus to the stroke of justice for the sins of his people, Isa. liii. But as all scripture has a meaning, we must not be contented to huddle together the truth without examining its parts. If we compare spiritual things with spiritual, we shall find, that the sufferings of our adored Jesus form no insignificant part of divine truth; and it is well when they bear the same proportion in the meditations of the elect. If rightly viewed they are the antidote to every spiritual malady, and the hidden spring of all our joy and triumph. Jesus Christ not only assumed the nature of his church, but he assumed it as it stood in debt to the law. It |