TWO LETTERS

ON THE SPIRITUAL MANIFESTATION OF THE SON OF GOD.

I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.-Acts xxvi. 25.

Wisdom is justified of her children.-Matt. xi. 19.

SIR,

WH

FIRST LETTER.

HEN I had the pleasure of seeing you last, you seemed surprised to hear me say, that the Son of God, for purposes worthy of his wisdom, manifests himself, sooner or later, to all his sincere followers, in a spiritual manner, which the world knows not of. The assertion appeared to you unscriptural, enthusiastical, and dangerous. What I then advanced, to prove that it was scriptural, rational, and of the greatest importance, made you desire I would write to you on the mysterious subject. I declined it, as being unequal to the task; but having since considered, that a mistake here may endanger your soul or mine, I sit down to comply with your request: and the end I propose by it is, either to give you a fair opportunity of pointing out my error, if I am wrong; or to engage you, if I am right, to seek what I esteem the most invaluable of all blessings,-revelations of Christ to your own soul, productive of the experimental knowledge of him, and the present enjoyment of his salvation.

As an architect cannot build a palace, unless he is allowed a proper spot to erect it upon, so I shall not be able to establish the doctrine I maintain, unless you allow me the existence of the proper senses, to which our Lord manifests himself.

The

The manifestation I contend for, being of a spiritual nature, must be made to spiritual senses; and that such senses exist, and are opened in, and exercised by regenerate souls, is what I design to prove in this letter, by the joint testimony of scripture, our church, and reason.

I. The Scriptures inform us, that Adam lost the experi mental knowledge of God by the fall. His foolish attempt to hide himself from his Creator, whose eyes are in every place, evidences the total blindness of his understanding. The same veil of unbelief, which hid God from his mind, was drawn over his heart and all his spiritual senses. He died the death, the moral spiritual death, in consequence of which the corruptible body sinks into the grave, and the unregenerate soul into hell.

In this deplorable state Adam begat his children. We, like him, are not only void of the life of God, but alienated, from it, through the ignorance that is in us. Hence it is, that though we are possessed of such an animal and rational life as he retained after the commission of his sin, yet we are, by nature, utter strangers to the holiness and bliss he enjoyed in a state of innocence. Though we have, in common with beasts, bodily organs of sight, hearing, tasting, smelling, and feeling, adapted to outward objects; though we enjoy, in common with devils, the faculty of reasoning upon natural truths, and mathematical propositions, yet we do not understand supernatural and divine things. Notwithstanding all our speculations about them, we can neither see nor taste them truly, unless we are risen with Christ, and taught of God. We may, indeed, speak and write about them, as the blind may speak of colours, and the deaf dispute of sounds, but it is all guess-work, hear-say, and mere conjecture. The things of the Spirit of God cannot be discovered but by spiritual, internal senses, which are, with

regard

regard to the spiritual world, what our bodily external senses are with regard to the material world. They are the only medium, by which an intercourse between Christ and our souls can be opened and maintained.

The exercise of these senses is peculiar to those who are born of God. They belong to what the apostles call "the new man-the inward man-the new creature-the hidden man of the heart." In believers, this hidden man is awakened and raised from the dead, by the power of Christ's resurrection. Christ is his life, the Spirit of God is his spirit, prayer or praise his breath, holiness his health, and love his element. We read of his hunger and thirst, food and drink, garment and habitation, armour and conflicts, pain and pleasure, fainting and reviving, growing, walking, and working. All this supposes senses, and the more these senses are quickened by God, and exercised by the new-born soul, the clearer and stronger is his perception of divine things.

On the other hand, in unbelievers, the inward man is deaf, blind, naked, asleep, past feeling; yea, dead in trespasses and sins; and of course, as incapable of perceiving spiritual things, as a person in a deep sleep, or a dead man, of discovering outward objects. St. Paul's language to him is, "Awake, thou that sleepest, arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." He calls him a natural man, one who hath no higher life than that his parents conveyed to him by natural generation-one who follows the dictates of his own sensual soul, and is neither born of God, nor led by the Spirit of God, "The natural man (says the apostle) receiveth not the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." He had no sense properly exercised for this kind of discernment, his "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into his heart, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

The

The reverse of the natural man is the spiritual, so called because God hath revealed spiritual things to him by his Spirit, who is now in him a principle of spiritual and eternal life. "The spiritual man, (says the apostle,) judgeth, i. e. discerneth all things, yet he himself is discerned of no one." The high state he is in can no more be discerned by the natural man, than the condition of the natural man can be discerned by a brute.

St. Paul not only describes the spiritual man, but speaks particularly of his internal, moral senses. Christians, says he, of full age, by reason, of use, have their senses exercised to discern good and evil. He prays, that the love of the Philippians "may abound more and more in knowledge, and in all sense, or feeling." The scriptures constantly mention, or allude to, one or other of these spiritual senses :-Give meleave to produce some instances,

1. To begin with the SIGHT.-St. Paul prays, that the eyes of his converts being enlightened, they might know what is the hope of their calling. He reminds them, that Christ had been evidently set forth crucified before their eyes. He assures them, that the God of this world hath blinded the eyes of them that believe not the gospel; and declares that his commission was to open the eyes of the Gentiles, and turn them from darkness to light. Abraham saw Christ's day, and was glad. Moses persevered, as seeing him who is invisible. David prayed, Open my eyes, that I may see wonders out of thy law. Our Lord complains, that the heart of unbelievers is waxed gross, that their ears are dull of hearing, and that they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, understand with their hearts, and be converted. He counsels the Laodiceans, to anoint their eyes with eye-salve, that they might see. He declares, that the world cannot receive the Spirit of truth, because it sees him not; that the

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things,

things, which belong to the peace of obstinate unbelievers, are, at last, judicially hid from their eyes; and, that the pure in heart shall see God. St. John testifies, that he, who does evil, hath not seen God; and that darkness hath blinded the eyes of him that loves not his brother. The Holy Ghost informs us, that believers look at the things which are not seen, and behold the glory of God, shining in the face of Jesus Christ. These are the eyes, with which believers see the salvation of God. They are so distinct from those of the body, that when our Lord opened them in St. Paul's soul, he suffered scales to grow over his bodily eyes. And, no doubt, when Christ gave outward sight to the blind, it was chiefly to convince the world, that it is he who can say to blind sinners, Receive your sight; see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living; look unto me and be saved.

2. If you do not admit of a spiritual HEARING, what can you make of our Lord's repeated caution, He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear? And what can be the meaning of the following scriptures-Hear, O foolish people, who have cars and hear not. Ye uncircumcised in heart and ears. Ye cannot hear my words, ye are of your father the devil. He that is of God heareth God's words; ye, therefore, hear them not, because ye are not of God. Can it be supposed that our Lord spake of outward hearing, when he said, The hour cometh, and now is, that the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live. My sheep hear my voice. He that hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Do not all sinners stand spiritually in need of Christ's powerful Ephphatka, Be thou opened? Is that man truly converted, who cannot witness with Isaiah, The Lord hath wakened my ear to hear as the learned; and with the Psalmist, Mine cars hast thou opened? Had not the believers at Ephesus heard Christ, and been taught of him? When St. Paul was caught up into the third heaven, did he not hear words unspeakable?

And