Remember,

maintain an incessant hostility, a perpetual warfare. without this you cannot enter into the spirit of the text: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood." Our wrestling, or, as the word means, our contention, our combat, is against principalities and powers. Hence you may see, that you are required most imperatively, by the rules of our holy religion, and by the examples of the saints, the most perfect models of Christianity, to maintain an incessant warfare against the devil and all his works, to put on the whole armour of God, and to fight manfully against the world, the flesh, and the devil; to quit yourselves like men, and to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might; that you may be able to stand in the evil day, and, having done all, still to stand.

4. That you may do this effectually and successfully, watch and pray. All your efforts to conquer the devil and sin, without the assistance of God, will be totally ineffectual. Your engagements, your purposes, your vows, and efforts will be lighter than dust upon the scale, and will all fly like chaff before the whirlwind, if the Lord does not help you; and you can secure his help only by prayer and supplication, and retain it only by watchfulness. Therefore I say to you, as Christ said to his disciples, "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation." And the Apostle, in the same spirit, after having exhorted Christians to put on the whole armour of God, &c., adds, "praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit." And watchfulness and prayer are duties which should not be called into exercise merely on some special occasions, when dangers stand visibly displayed before our eyes, but they are duties constantly and invariably needful; for we are sometimes in the greatest danger when we least perceive it: with the poet, we may say,

"How vain are all things here below,

How false, and yet how fair!
Each pleasure hath its poison too,
And every sweet its snare.

"The brightest things below the sky
Give but a flattering light:

We should suspect some danger nigh,
Where we possess delight."

Thus by praying and watching against sin, and all temptations to sin, you will be invariably enabled to conquer it. The motions of sin by these means will be extinguished, and Satan will be bruised under your feet. Every new day will secure to you new triumphs, until, having conquered the last enemy, you will return to Zion with singing and everlasting joy upon your heads; when you shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

1. Learn hence, that this world is the theatre of a warfare which involves in it results of a tremendously awful import. We have seen

in our day the effects of political contentions: we have heard of the dreadful din of war; nation has risen up against nation; and every battle of these warriors has been with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood. And yet, awfully as these objects may strike our senses, and much as they may awaken our sympathies, were our mental vision divinely illuminated, could we look into the world of spirits, or rather, behold those beings which daily hover round us, how should we be astonished and confounded! Do not imagine that the vast and apparently boundless space that lies open to our view is destitute of living, active, spiritual beings; that it is a vast vacuity, untenanted by inhabitants. No. If the sentiment of the poet be

true,

save.

"Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep."

Satan is called the Prince of the power of the air: the air is represented as the seat of his kingdom. It was the opinion of the Jews and Heathen both, that the air is full of spirits, good and bad spirits: the one to exert their baleful influence over the souls of men, the other to counteract their designs: the one to destroy, and the other to And that fallen spirits amount to an innumerable multitude may be justly inferred, from the circumstance that one single man possessed a legion of devils. Now, a legion in the Roman army consisted of six thousand two hundred footmen, and seven hundred and thirty horsemen. Then, what an immense and an incalculable number of evil spirits are moving to and fro on the earth, and walking up and down in it!

2. Learn then the soul's high price, from the intense rivalry between heaven and hell who should possess it. In worldly warfare things are contested and fought for according to their value. To get possession of some desirable island, or some commanding fortress, or some richly furnished country, fleets and armies are fitted out, blood and treasure are lavished, and all that human ingenuity can devise is put into requisition. But how insignificant is this rivalry and contention compared to that which is carrying on in the invisible world for the destruction and salvation of immortal souls! Go, then, O man, and ponder over the value of thy soul: contemplate the means adopted by thy Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, for thy salvation; and the means used by thy great adversary for thy destruction; and then inquire what thou oughtest to do to promote the end of thy being, and the design of thy existence.

3. Learn also the discriminating marks between the righteous and the wicked; between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not. The wicked are in league with the enemy; they make a covenant with death, and with hell they are in agreement; they are the children of the devil, the servants of hell; and they are going down

to the chambers of death; and they will be tormented with Satan and his angels in outer darkness, where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. But the righteous, on the other hand, have deserted the devil's service; they have cast away his armour, and they have enlisted under the banners of the Saviour, the glorious Leader of all the armies of Israel: instead of allowing themselves to be led captive by Satan at his will, they resist him, oppose the armour of God to all his assaults, and wrestle mightily against these principalities, and powers, and spiritual wickednesses in high places. Christian soldier, cease not thine opposition to wickedness and the wicked one; fight the good fight of faith: God shall make thee conqueror, and so shalt thou inherit eternal life.

66

THE BEATIFIC VISION.

THE saints shall see God; being blessed with the most full, clear, and perfect knowledge of God and divine things that the creature is capable of possessing. This blissful sight of God being quite above our present capacities, we must needs be very much in the dark about it. But it seems to be something else than the sight of that glory which we shall see with our bodily eyes in the saints, and in "the man Christ Jesus," or any other splendour or refulgence from the Godhead whatsoever for no created thing can be our chief good and happiness, nor fully satisfy our souls; and it is plain that these things are somewhat different from God himself. Therefore I conceive that the souls of the saints shall see God himself; for so the Scriptures teach us, that we shall see face to face," and "know even as we are known," and that we shall see him as he is." Howbeit, the saints can never have an adequate conception of God. They cannot comprehend that which is infinite. They may touch the mountain, but cannot grasp it in their arms they cannot, with one glance of their eye, behold what grows on every side. But the divine perfections will be an unbounded field, in which the glorified shall walk eternally, seeing more and more of God, since they can never come to the end of that which is infinite. They may bring their vessels to this ocean every moment, and fill them with new waters. What a ravishing sight would it be, to see all the perfections and lovely qualities that are scattered here and there amongst the creatures, gathered together into one! But even such a sight would be infinitely below this blissful sight which the saints shall enjoy in heaven for they shall see God, in whom all these perfections eminently appear, with infinitely more, whereof there is no vestige to be found in the creatures. In Him they shall see everything that is desirable, and nothing but what is desirable.- Boston.

HORE BIBLICÆ. (No. XXIII.) PICTORIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE MAGI. (To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)

"POETS and painters are miserable commentators." This maxim, often expressed by a late learned Divine, is more generally true, and springs from deeper causes, than is readily imagined. The fascinating arts of verse and the pencil, which, from their power over the imagination and the mind, have been termed "divine," have, from the earliest times, blended themselves with the moral and religious feelings of They not only give expression to thought and feeling, and stamp a character of fixedness and permanency on their creations; but they become often a substitute for more regular and exact sources of knowledge, and serve to form the opinions and control the belief of ages and nations.

men.

The lyre and the pencil, had they remained faithful to truth, would have yielded powerful support to religion. But they have proved themselves far more powerful auxiliaries to error and superstition. As the handmaids of religion, they must have stood with her in opposition to the passions and the corruptions of mankind, and would have shared her successes and defeats. But when they proved themselves to be no longer" of the Father, but of the world," their influence for evil became incalculable. The deformity of error was concealed under the mask of the graces, and superstition borrowed elevation and strength from the charms of refinement and beauty.

No church has estimated more correctly the power of these auxiliaries, or more lavishly and systematically availed herself of their aid, than the Church of Rome. The Reformation has struggled (and, where truth could be heard, successfully struggled) to overthrow the

blasphemous doctrines and idolatrous practices of her theology and worship. But, even as Protestants, we are still held in the trance, which her scenic representations have thrown over our senses. Her paintings, consecrated by genius, still constitute the gems of our public and private galleries; and the history of the Madonna and her child, too often drawn, not from the truthfulness of Scripture, but from the legends of antiquity, is presented to the eye in every cottage.

These reflections are suggested by the well-known pictorial representations of the eastern Magi, worshipping with the oxen in the stable at Bethlehem. What commentator or critic has ever allowed himself to suspect the fidelity of this representation? And yet it may be truly affirmed, that there is no authority in the New Testament to suppose that the Magi ever reached Bethlehem; and still less, that they wor shipped the Lord in a stable.

car

These Magi, there can be little doubt, came from beyond the Euphrates, the valley or brook of the willows, to which the Israelites, on the third deportation, were ried captive. (Isaiah xv. 7; Psalm cxxxvii.) This country, and not Arabia Felix, is properly "the east" of the holy Scriptures. The term "Magi" and the mode of worshipping, by full-length prostration of the body, as Calvin remarks, are both Persic. This term was applied to the ancient astrologers of Persia and Chaldea, who were also shepherds, astronomers, philosophers, and priests. The reference to this land is very significant. The Jews had undoubtedly the five books of Moses and other sacred writings, in Babylon. Some of their greatest Prophets flourished there. God was

ever nigh to his people in the time of affliction. The wonders he wrought in their behalf, and the influence which Daniel, Mordecai, Nehemiah, and others acquired at court, and in the government of the nation, must have occasioned continual appeals to these sacred writings, and made them generally known. Several royal edicts, founded on displays of the divine glory, universally acknowledged, had proIclaimed the God of the Jews to be the only true God. It cannot, therefore, be supposed that a class of men, like the Magi, whose profession and duty it was to cultivate and treasure up knowledge, would overlook those writings. The captivity of the Jews in Babylon, connected with so many national events, and such striking displays of divine power, could never be effaced from the public annals, or from the public mind. It left the indelible impress of the Chaldean characters on the Hebrew Scriptures; and these, in return, left the light of divine revelation, and, particularly, the hope of Messiah, lingering on the shores of the Euphrates and the Tigris.

dom. (John xii. 20.) When these men saw "the Star of Jacob" hovering over Palestine, they were led to connect it with "the Sceptre which should arise in Israel." Their language is almost a literal appeal to Numbers xxiv. 17; and their whole conduct proves that they viewed the prediction of Balaam in the still stronger light of Isaiah lx. 1-12. On no other hypothesis can we account for the appearance of the star to these Gentile strangers, rather than to any other strangers throughout the Roman world. They had light and grace, and were prepared to follow the Lord, and do homage to the infant and lowly King of Israel. Nor can we believe that all this grace was lost to the Christian church. Of the travels and labours of many of the Apostles and Evangelists, we have no records; but we are told that they "went everywhere preaching the word." (Acts viii. 4.) The Magi had seen and believed in Jesus, and had carried back the faith to their country. They were prepared for the Gospel. It is not, therefore, in any mystic sense that St. Peter writes, The church at Babylon, elected together with you," (at the same time, and standing in all respects on the same footing with the churches scattered throughout Asia, 1 Peter i. 1,) "saluteth you." (1 Peter v. 13.)

The brevity of sacred history compels us to admit such facts as are essential to the truth and consistency of the narration. The mere appearance of an extraordinary star would convey nothing to the minds of the Magi concerning the birth of a Jewish Prince; and nothing, certainly, which could induce them to undertake a long and perilous journey to pay him homage with costly gifts. We are constrained to admit that they had a revelation, and acted under divine influence. Burdened and groaning, with the whole creation, these men waited with earnest expectation for the manifestation of the sons of God; and their knowledge of the Hebrew Prophets taught them to look for redemption in Israel. They acted throughout in meekness and faith; and the meek He will guide in judgment." Here was a remnant of the fruit of the captivity; a handful of men prepared for the Lord; and an earnest of the eagerness with which the Gentiles should press into his kingVOL. XXI. Third Series. JULY, 1842.

The account given us of the Magi is instructive in relation to the special interpositions of divine providence and grace. We are taught, 1. That such interpositions are not accorded to men, when ordinary means are sufficient; and, 2. That they are not withheld when ordinary means can no longer avail. The Magi saw the star in the east, and were enabled satisfactorily to interpret the sign. But the star does not appear to have led them in their way to Palestine; for the route from Chaldea was continually traversed by the caravans, and was sufficiently known. But when they quitted Jerusalem, their way became uncertain, and the star re-appeared to direct their course: a proof that they were not allowed to go to Bethlehem, the way to which city was 2 R