THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER. 353 If then you the righteous, but sinners to repentance (x). choose to reject him and his salvation, and to find your way to Heaven by the merit of your own performances, we must bid you farewell. But, O consider, we entreat you to consider well, whether you dare to put the matter upon this issue, to meet the heart-searching God upon this ground? What! have you never either, in thought, word, or deed, broken the divine law? Surely, your consciences testify that you have! and, if you have, even in one single instance, you are guilty of a breach of the whole law (y); and remember, the commandments of God are exceeding broad, and reach even to the thoughts and desires of the heart (2); nor is there any way by which a sinner can come to the Father but through Christ alone (a). O give up then, every hope of self-justification; and fly for refuge to that only, that glorious hope set before you in the gospel! So will we joyfully unite with you on earth, with a comfortable expectation of joining together in Heaven in an ascription of praise and thanksgiving to the Man who receiveth sinners! THE sea is supposed to cover a part of the surface of the earth which equals, if not exceeds, the dry land. In the existence of this vast body of water we may discover the same proofs of divine wisdom, and the same designs of general utility which ap pear in the other parts of the creation. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches, so is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great *." Naturalists have taken great pains to inform themselves of the varieties which prevail amongst the inhabitants of the deep:--more than 6000 dif ferent species of fish have been discovered; but Mr. Ray imagines that we are not acquainted with half the kinds which really exist. Of some species of fish the number seems almost infinite! For ages past, how many of the human race have been supplied with food from the sea, and yet its riches seem unexhausted.-Every season certain kinds of fish, as pilchards, mackarel, herrings, &c. visit the shores of our highly favoured island in immense shoals; and though millions of each species are annually taken, there is no deficiency! That this might never happen, the goodness of God hath rendered the finny tribes peculiarly fruitful.Mr. Harmer, who pursued this investigation with peculiar atten tion and accuracy, found in the spawn of a herring 36,960 eggs; in the mackarel 546,681; in the cod 3,686,760*. 、 While the sea, by means of its innumerable inhabitants, affords food to man in one part of the earth, where there is a deficiency of wood it also supplies him with fuel. We are told by Mr. Crantz, in his History of Greenland, "That as the great Founder of nature has denied this frigid rock-region the growth of trees; he hath bid the streams of the ocean to convey to its shores a great deal of wood, which accordingly comes floating thither, and Lodges itself between the islands. Were it not for this, we Europeans should have no wood to burn; and the poor Greenlanders (who, it is true, do not use wood but train-oil for burning) would, however, have no wood to roof their houses, to erect their tents, to build their boats, and shaft their arrows, by which they must procure their maintenance +." It is difficult to decide where this timber gróws; but wherever it may be produced, its arrival in this dismal part of the earth is an astonishing proof of the care of our Father who is in Heaven, over the humblest of his children on 'earth. Another important purpose answered by the sea, is the supply of the clouds with vapour. According to the calculations of Dr. Halley, every ten square inches of water yields, in summer, be tween the time of sun-rise and sun-set, a cubic inch of water: every square mile, 6914 tons. Thus the water poured into the sea by the rivers, ascends to the clouds in the form of vapour, and those clouds being conveyed over land by the wind (which much more frequently blows from the sea, than in a contrary direction) returns to the earth in form of rain. By means of the sea, those who are skilled in the art of navi gation, are able to keep up a communication between distant countries; the blessings of commerce are thus extended, and the knowledge of the glorious gospel communicated to "the isles afar off." The constant motion of the sea, produced by the tides, is a curious phenomenon. The tides are occasioned by the effect of the attraction of the sun and moon upon the waters of the sea: the solid part of the globe remains unaffected, but the fluid parts assume a spheroidal or oval figure, the longest diameter being in The direction of the moon. When the sun and moon act together, They occasion spring-tides, which happen once a fortnight: when * Chambers's Dictionary, article Fecundity of Fishes. they counteract each other's attraction, neap-tides take place, which also happen once a fortnight. Yet, notwithstanding the perpetual motion of the sea, and the violent agitation produced on its surface by the winds, the waters never pass their bounds! "The waters are in the place which thou, O God, hast prepared for them; thou hast set a bound, that they may not pass over." There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked; they are like the troubled sea that continually casteth up its own mire and dirt." No simile can possibly express with greater force, the perpetual agitation produced by a guilty conscience, and the terrifying appearances which often arise from the violent enmity of sinners against the interests of Sion. But there is one who is able to set bounds to those mighty waves, and to say to them, "Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther." He who once said, "Peace! be still," and in an instant calined" the roaring tide," can with equal ease restrain the madness of the people. Let the heathen rage, let the princes take council together: he that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh; the Most High shall have them in derision. The proudest enemy of Christ on the face of the earth, or in the caverns of Hell, is fast bound in a chain, and cannot move beyond its length. The Israelites trembled on the banks of the Red Sea, and were afraid they should not escape the sword of the enraged Egyptians: but when Israel, agreeably to the divine command, moved forward," the waters saw thee, O God! the waters saw thee," and fled at thy coming. So it hath often been with the spiritual Israel in the much dreaded hour of severe confict; when they have thought they should perish by the hand of their enemy, they have gone forward; and the waves of trouble, which at a distance seemed a mountain high, and threatened to overwhelm them, have, through divine interposition, died away at their feet. T. P. B. + Ps. civ. 9. SEEING JESUS. AGES before the incarnation of Christ, he was revealed in promises, types, and prophecies to the children of men. Adam, as well as Abraham, saw his day and was glad. In every dispensation his voice has been to the sons of men, saying, "Look unto me and be saved all ye ends of the earth." In the days of his humiliation, as well as before and since, there were divers ways of seeing Jesus; but only one way of seeing him to any saving purpose, and that was by the appropriating eye of faith. When upon earth some flocked to see him, out of idle curiosity, others to entangle him in his talk, and some to be fed with his leaves and fishes. Many were offended when they heard him attack their favourite errors and vices, for he testified against them that their deeds were evil; and, therefore, as they would not fall out with themselves, they, of course, fell out with him. Similar cases abound in our days; but as it was then, so it is how, "Blessed are they whosoever are not offended in him." In the days of his flesh some beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and of his fulnesss received grace upon grace; and, blessed be God, such in all ages since has been the case with some, and is the case now with a few; and, I hope in God, will be the case with more and more from time to time, till every kuce shall bow, and every tongue confess the Lord Jesus, But who are they to whom the sight of Jesus is desireable? Where and how must they look for him? What good may they promise themselves in so doing? These are serious enquiries, and deserve our serious consideration. They, and they only, look to Jesus with desire and delight, who see and feel their need of him, who see an absolute necessity for him to answer and fulfil all the names, offices, and characters which he bears; and that in their behalf. To the profligate sinner his laws are grievous, he might approve of him as a Saviour from Hell, but not as a Saviour from sin; if he would die the death of the righteous, he will not live their life. As to the self-righteous, who are pleased and satisfied with the fig leaves of their own doings, a sight of Jesus in his blood and righteousness must be to them like the physician to those that are whole, altogether unnecessary and superfluous. To all such he is without form and comeliness, and, as the prophet says further, "as a root out of a dry ground." But when a sinner once gets a true sight of himself in the glass of the divine law, his soul can find no rest or peace till he has a believing view of Jesus in the glass of the holy gespel. By the inventions of men, various remedies have been prescribed for a guilty conscience; such as journies, voyages, jovial company, cards, plays, mountebanks, and such like diversions; but they altogether prove physicians of no value; some of them greatly aggravate disease: the only suitable balm is sovereign grace, and the physician God. The remedy of God's own providing is Jesus, the son of his love, But where must we look for a pleasing sight of Jesus? Not among those who profess him, and in works deny him; for there we see him wounded in the house of his professed friends; there we see him crucified afresh: this is not a pleasant sight, but the contrary. To see Jesus with delight, let us look far above the world, up to the right hand of God, and there we shall see him clothed with glory and honour. He hath conquered principalitics and powers, the world, death, hell, and sin, and has triumphantly ascended far above all heavens: he now appears in the presence of God for us. "Kind Intercessor! there he sits, and loves, and pleads, and prays." Seeing we have there such ap 1 High Priest and Advocate with the Father, we may venture boldly to the throne of grace. "He ever liveth to make intercession for all them that come unto God by him." To see Jesus, let us look into the Bible, which is a revelation of him. He directed the Jews to search the Scriptures, adding, as a reason for their so doing," these are they that testify of me. We must also attend the ministry of those who preach the pure gospel in its purity; they preach not themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. It is their delightful employ to exhibit the Lord Jesus in all his loveliness, ability, and readiness to save the chief of sinners, who look to him for salvation. To see the glory of Christ, it will be in vain to peruse the writings of heathens and infidels, as likewise to attend the preaching of those who degrade his person and reject his atonement, substituting human reason in the place of revelation, and man's merit and righteousness in the place of those of Christ; to look for a sight of the glory of Christ in such writings, or under such preaching, would be like going into a deep cellar, or into a vault where the dead are buried, in order to see the shining sun; to see the sun, we must go into the open air; and to see Jesus the Sun of Righteousness, we must go where he is to be seen, that is, where he has promised his presence; and he has promised his presence with his ministers and in his ordinances, to the end of the world. If we desire to see Jesus, let us not keep back from his table. There, in expressive symbols, we may discern the Lord's body; le there, in lively figures, shews his hands, and feet, and bleeding side; in them we see the soul's value, sin's malignity, God's justice, the law's purity, and, above all, the boundless, matchless love of Christ. To see Jesus, we must set him before us as our example in all his imitable excellencies. He is the copy after which we must write; in his steps we must tread. While we have his example before us, we may go forwards without dismay. On every occasion we must call Christ to mind and say, How would he speak or act were he upon earth as before, and so circumstanced as we now are? In the view of him as our pattern, we must go and do likewise. The It remains to be answered, What good may be expected to ensue or arise from a believing view of Jesus? This will be a charming sight! There is none on earth comparable therewith; he possesses and displays all perfections and excellencies. most beautiful and valuable things in the wide creation are borrowed, and used as figures to express his worth; but all of them fall infinitely shot. He who beholds the Lamb of God may be satisfied with seeing. When good old Simeon had scen Jesus, he wished to see no more, but to close his eyes in death, and. depart in peace. The perfection of the heavenly glory will be the beatific sight of Jesus in full conformity to his likeness. |