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fered through it. Yet, if I may so speak, God, with an eye on Christ, will often wink at the folly of his children, as if he did not see it, and let them go unpunished. I know I have often looked for the rod and it did not come; sometimes I have sinned and gone to him in prayer. "Go, go, I cannot listen, go!" he has seemed to say. W.-Well you do talk strangely. sonally to you, and tell you to go?

What! God speak per

C. God is very personal in all his dealings, he is altogether personal to every one, and he likes his creatures to know it, and that he is three persons in himself.

W.-I see you are speaking in a spiritual sense; but where did he tell you to go.

C.-To his Son. The Holy Ghost has then to point him out to me, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and say to me," Go to him, he is your advocate with the Father; if he but smiles on you, it will be sufficient, he is very full of pity, and has a very feeling heart; if the Father sees but the smile on that beautiful face that moment you are forgiven, and the Father, through the Son, will smile upon you too. W. You make him out a friend to sinners.

C.

He has made himself such.

W.-But you make it out as if he encouraged sin.

C.-God forbid! your ideas are wrong concerning him. It is the justice of God the Father accuses, not Christ, he don't accuse, he is all mercy; at the same time he hates sin, for when he said to the woman who was taken in adultery, "Neither do I condemn thee" he said, at the same time," Go and sin no more." What is the matter? crying!

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W. I was fancying he was saying the same to me.

C.-I hope the Holy Ghost will cause the wound which sin has made to be felt, that you will be made to cry out for the physician of souls. He showed himself as a forgiving man when on earth, and a forgiving God, especially in the prodigal son, there he beautifully represents himself as the Father of two sons, the younger leaves him and greatly sins, but is forgiven.

W.-I wish you would explain that parable to me, I have heard some say that it meant naturally what it states; that the son actually lived on husks.

C.-Do you suppose the God of all wisdom spake by Christ with as little meaning as that? Ah, no, it is a deep and important lesson which he teaches in that parable, a lesson of forgiveness; many are the versions men have of it, but it matters not, providing a lesson is learnt by it. Some parables are too deep for us; but the parable of the prodigal son appears very plain to be understood, and I will repeat

the parable in the shape of a story or tale, that is, as far as I understand the meaning in a natural sense. Listen-Once upon a time, there was an assembly of Christian worshippers, who used to meet to hear the word of God explained, and pray together, they were called a church. Now it happened that one of them, younger in experience than the rest, having a good portion of wisdom and knowledge of Christ, took himself off with what wisdom he had; after travelling, and sinning, his faith in Christ began to diminish, he then hired himself as a minister, and preached to those who cared little for the solid truths of the gospel, therefore he fed them with what they had been used to-husks.

W. But if he had possessed wisdom, he would have preached the truth.

C.-There are lots of Christian ministers, as they are called, who don't preach all truth.

W.-Then what do you suppose he did preach?

C. Very likely told his congregation that they were not to depend wholly on Christ, that it was rather dangerous to trust altogether to him; in other words, they had better depend partly on their own holiness, or some deserving which they supposed they possessed. He went on feeding others in this way, until he began almost to believe it himself, and he endeavoured to do so; his faith was failing fast, and at last he gave up all for lost. At length he began to think, as he came to himself, he remembered the solid truths of the gospel, and was determined to go back. "I will," he said, "ask forgiveness of God and acknowledge my sinfulness." But, oh, what a father does not Christ represent himself to be! When the wanderer is a great way off, his heavenly parent noticing his return, meets and pardons him. So God serves his backsliding children; he lets their own conduct bring its punishment; but the moment he sees the tearful eye and sorrowful heart he pities and forgives. Then comes the rejoicing; here is a lost sheep found! If the minister of that church was at all like Christ he would rejoice, and so would all the members of the church; but no, they act under the influence of human nature; they are proud, they are jealous, yet profess to be holy. They cannot see why the minister should be so pleased, and if they saw the rejoicing in heaven they would feel still more displeased.

W. I don't see why they should be displeased; and I do not think that any member of a church would feel angry, if one, as you say, had turned out bad, and afterwards, seeing and lamenting his folly, wished to return again.

C. It is to be hoped not many such exist; but I know human nature to be such, that we fancy we can see to pull

the mote out of our brother's eye, before the mote is taken out of our own eyes. Christians should look at themselves. If they don't get up to their necks in mud, perhaps they do up to their knees, and if they were to say they did not get in the mud at all, I should consider they were blinded with mud or motes. The king of Jews and Christians did not teach such doctrines, to turn out and to turn our backs upon a poor deluded creature because he has slipped a little; away with such unchristian like feelings, we should try to copy Christ, would he do it? Did he do it? Does he do it? oh, no, never; he's the sinner's friend! he sticketh closer than a brother!

W.--Why, who are you speaking to? you talk as if you had got in a passion with somebody?

C.-Did I? then I suppose I was thinking of things I have seen. It is getting late, therefore I must go, and when I call again I must continue the subject of Christ's humility as man; but you must not divert my mind away to his more glorious characters, until I have done with him as a man alone. Well, good night, read all you can, and don't forget to pray much.

W.-Good night, may God bless you.

K

DIALOGUE VI.

"Ye shall lay up these my words in your heart, and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes."Deut. xi. 18.

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.-Josh. i. 8.

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word."-Psalm cixi. 9.

C.-Good evening, my friend, I hope you are improved in health, spiritual and temporal.

W.-Thank you, I fancy I am somewhat better. I trust you are quite well.

C.-Thank God, I enjoy all things as usual, and have come here now to try to fulfil the promise I made the other evening, which was to talk of the merits of Jesus Christ as man—and then of his works as God-man.

W. You have no idea how I have been puzzling myself about the unity of the Trinity.

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C.-Really you make me smile; have I not told you before, that the union is beyond the comprehension of man, and it is the height of folly for any human being to attempt it. You may as well try to find out space or eternity, or even perpetual motion, man's wisdom and knowledge are too limited to comprehend either of the subjects to which I have referred, some men, indeed, possess more understanding than others and well it is for the man, who acknowledges and feels that what wisdom he has, is not only from, but that it belongs to God. He is the fountain source of all understanding. Wisdom, like riches, is lent us to make good use of. The first thing for man to search after, is the knowledge of himself, then the knowledge of Christ, and "all.else shall be added," I include body, mind, and soul of man, and also the three persons in the Trinity, (but as for how they are united we must leave alone.) Now as far as God has been pleased to reveal his mind and will in his word to me, or as far as I comprehend his meaning, so far and no farther can I go. For instance, he has given me to know that without Christ, I am lost; he has told me I shall die, but has not told me when I shall die, nor do I wish to know, he has told me that the Lord Jesus

Christ is Father, Son and Holy Ghost in himself, the King of kings, the maker and judge of all the earth.

W.—You mean, you read it in the bible.

C. Of course, for that is the mind of God, or of the Trinity.

W.-You rather puzzle me about Christ being the Trinity. C.-Christ as man is only one person of the Trinity, his mind is God the Father, and his soul is God the Holy Ghost. W.-How can you explain that?

C.-First then let us put down three figures, say 1, 2, 3, and suppose No. 1 to be the Son, and No. 2 the Father, the mind of No. 3 the Holy Ghost.

W. Then you take away the mind of Christ.

C.-Are you not aware that what is called the Holy Ghost is God's life-giving spirit, who can cause a voice to be heard,and is the soul of all good men. God the Father is the mind of that spirit, and God the Father is the mind of Christ also, so that No. 1, and 3, (the flesh and spirit) have but one mind. Now God is not like man in that respect, for we hear of some men having two minds, or being double-minded, that is, a man with one soul for earth and another for heaven, who wishes to secure both worlds; he will not give up earth, and he is loath to let go heaven, the cause of this is, the body and soul not agreeing together.

W.-How do you explain that?

C. The other evening, if you recollect, I said that man consisted of three parts, body, mind, and soul; now the body is enmity against the spirit, even while it knows not its exact character, because it cannot see it; yet, although the body is ignorant of the state of the soul which inhabits it, that don't alter facts. Now the mind in man is often perplexed and vexed, for each of the other parts of man claims it; sometimes the mind will cleave to the body, and then again it will lean to the soul. Not so with God the Father, his spirit and his body have but one mind, and that is himself. The time is coming when men's souls and bodies will have but one mind, and the nearer they can agree now, so much the nearer is man to being happy.

W.-But if the soul should be sinful, what then?

C.-They are sure to agree then, because man's mind and body are naturally evil or wicked.

W. Then if they agree they must be happy?

C.-Certainly, just as happy as Satan himself; that is, supposing ignorance is bliss, which I cannot believe. Why I could tell you as many tales as would fill a volume illustrative of this point. Happy! ah, happy in lying, swearing, cheating, drunkenness, revelling, rioting, murder, backbiting,

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