Glimpses of Jesus. A GLIMPSE OF JESUS. As is the glory of an object, the worth of an object, the rarity of an object, the usefulness of an object, its possession must be important, and a glimpse of it much to be desired. Now Christ embodies all these things in himself, and infinitely more; and therefore, to possess him, to perceive him, catch a glimpse of him, must be a favour indeed. True it is myriads possess him not, perceive him not, seek him not, love him not; but this makes him all the more precious to those who do perceive, love, and possess him. Christ is a rare jewel, but men know not his value—a sun which ever shines, but men perceive not his brightness, nor walk in his light. He is a garden full of sweets, an hive full of honey, a sun without a spot, a star ever bright, a fountain ever full, a brook which ever flows, a rose which ever blooms, a foundation which never yields, a guide who never errs, a friend who never forsakes. No mind can fully grasp his glory; his beauty, his worth, his importance, no tongue can fully declare. He is the source of all good, the fountain of every excellency, the mirror of perfection, the light of heaven, the wonder of earth, time's masterpiece and eternity's glory; the sun of bliss, the way of life, and life's fair way; he is altogether lovely says the saint, a morning without clouds, a day without night, a rose without a thorn; his lip's drop like the honeycomb, his eyes beam tenderness, his heart gushes love. The Christian is fed by his hands, carried in his heart, supported by his arm, nursed in his bosom, guided by his eye, instructed by his lips, warmed by his love-his wounds are his life, his body his bread, his smile the light of his path, the health of his soul, his rest and heaven below. All this I grant, says the saint; all this he is, I know, to his own, but how can I get such a glimpse ? Jesus is seen in the light which he brings, the glory he emits. Men cannot lift the sun into the heavens, neither can they lift Christ into the soul, or carry a vivid glimpse of him to the heart; but as light from the sun brings the image of the sun, and imprints its glory upon the face of nature, so light from Jesus gives a glimpse of Jesus, brings the image of Jesus, the glory of Jesus, into the soul; this we cannot command, but But how may I know when I am so favoured? By the effects which follow. How do you know a rose is near, but by the fragrance it emits; that honey is upon the palate, but by the sweetness you taste? When the sun rises upon nature after a storm, and when nature looks upon the sun, the tender blade shoots forth, the drooping flowers again lift up their heads, their sweet and volatile oils leap forth, and fragrance floats upon the breeze; and so, when the soul catches a glimpse of Jesus, the sensibly barren mind—the mind which seemed like a sterile heath-is made to rejoice and blossom as the rose; the sweet graces of the Spirit spring forth, their activity steeped in sweet influence, the hard heart is made soft, tears of joy fill the eyes, while the love of Jesus, the merit of Jesus, like some strange, unearthly sweetness, fill the soul; while the lips exclaim And is it Jesus I behold, That marred and much-loved face? O, dearest Lord, no more depart, Which bore my sins away. The knees now for a time cease to tremble, the voice to falter with fear, guilt ceases to press so heavily, while the desponding mind is lifted up above its foes. These are some of the effects which arise out of a glimpse of Jesus. O the wonders it will accomplish; it wipes guilt from the conscience-rolls the world out of the heart, darkness from the mind; it will brighten the darkest scene, smooth the most rugged path, and lift the most despairing mind; it will put honey into the bitterest cup, and health into the most diseased soul. It will put money into the pocket, bread into the cupboard, and clothes upon the back. It will give hope to the heart, health to the face, oil to the head, light to the eye, strength to the hand, and swiftness to the foot. It will make life pleasant, labour sweet, and death triumphant. It gives faith to the fearful, courage to the timid, and strength to the weak. It robs the grave of its terrors, and death of its sting. It subdues sin, severs from self, makes faith strong, love active, hope lively, and zeal invincible. It gives sonship for slavery, robes for rags, makes the cross light, and reproach pleasant; it will transform a dungeon into a palace, and make the fires of martyrdom as refreshing as It snaps the cool breeze of summer. legal bonds, loosens the soul, clarifies the mind, purifies the affection, and oft lifts the saint to the very gates of heaven. No man can deserve it; money cannot buy it, or good deeds procure it; grace reigns here. Hast thou had a glimpse of Jesus, reader? | shall the king greatly desire thy remember, he must be seen here by beauty, for he is thy Lord, and faith, e'er heaven is possessed. Is something of Jesu's beauty seen, while yet thy choice lingers between him and the world? listen to him. 'Hearken, O daughter, consider and incline thy ear, forget also thy own people and thy father's house; so Hammersmith. worship thou him.' Art thou wait- Letters on the W. P. B. BY THE LATE MR. JOB HUPTON, CLAXTON, NORFOLK. DEAR BROTHER.-As the doctrine The glory of this sovereignty displayed in human salvation, must not be despised; but the Arminian, Fullerian, and Baxterian schemes, whatever are their shades of difference, mutually conspire to expel it from the church of God and ministry of his word. I shall now, in the name and fear of the Lord, fulfil the promise which I made in my former letter-pursue the enquiry, What is Divine truth? with reference to the causes, prime and subordinate; the nature, the design, the sufficiency, and the certain issue of the death of Christ. The primary cause is love. Not the love of man to God, but the love of God to himself, and to man; God is love, in his nature and all his persons, jointly, and distinctly, love; the Father is love, the Son is love, and the Holy Ghost is love. Our triune God is a triune love. It is with this three-fold cord, never to be broken, that the arm Omnipotent draws all the elect and redeemed sinners of mankind to Jesus, and draws them up to heaven, the seat of love, where all is love, and glory, and felicity. Jehovah loves himself. Self-love in man may be criminal: it often is so; but it cannot be so in God. He loves his nature, and each perfection of his nature is his delight. He loves his glory, and will not suffer it to be dishonoured with impunity. The Divine persons love each other; and in their mutual and reciprocal love and in their joint complacency in their own uncreated and infinite excellencies consists their transcendent delight. blackness of the deepest darkness; That divine person in Jehovah, the essence existing, who, in the subsequent revelation of himself to mankind, in his true character of Father, chose a peculiar individual of human nature, Out of the people,' (Psa. lxxxix, 19) to be created, to be ex personal union with that divine person, who, in the same revelation, bears the title of Son, and in the fulness of time, to be so identified with him, as for the twain, though preserved distinct, to be but one in Blessed and felicitous in the ineffable enjoyment of their own excellencies, they resolved to create multitudes of intellectual beings; angels and men, in whom, and before whom, they would show the glory of their sovereignty and love, wisdom and power, holiness, justice, and truth, in time and in eternity. In the sove-alted to the transcendent dignity of reign decree to create them, stood all the decreed human creatures before him; known unto whom, from the beginning, are all his works; who secs the end from the beginning, and calls those things that are not, as though they were. Hence, the dis-dividual. criminating choice, at which devils rage, and men blaspheme. O! election! first born of eternal love, prolific root of salvation, and parent of all true honour and felicity, how offensive have thy lovely features always been to the jealous pride of human nature. How deplorable it is, that in the ministry of the word, thy most Godlike face should be concealed from the view of souls, who long to know, not salvation only, but the reason of it also; and, by others, treated with scorn, and loaded with opprobrium! Amidst all that is both said and done, by art or malice, to render the gospel report of thee repulsive, by representing thee as injurious, I do most cordially welcome thee to my heart, not only as uninjurious, but as most beneficial to me, and my apostate species. But for thee, not a single ray of celestial light would ever have dawned upon the mind of rebellious man, involved in the As the justly revered Romaine was often heard to say, 'God and man, one Christ.' 6 In the person of Christ, thus constituted in the Divine mind, the Father choose a definite, but to us a countless number, to be ever one with him, his body—the fulness of him who filleth all in all. He and they, were registered as one in the Book of Life, called the Book of Life of the Lamb. The members were all sanctified in the Head, to be to the Lord a people for ever, holy and beloved, Holy, and without blame before him in love.' All were to be preserved in him, to be called in time. All grace was given to them, and they were blessed in him with all spiritual blessings, according as they were chosen in him. It pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell in him, on their account, and to give them an inalienable interest in him, and an indefeasible right to all the riches of the fulness of grace and glory, and all eternal blessedness. Constituted one by the Father, not | delight, Jesus of Nazareth, whose With the fall and apostasy of his chosen and beloved people, before his infinite understanding, Jehovah, the Father, resting in his love, devised means both to save them from sin and ruin, and raise them to glory, as the objects of his love, and of his choice. With all their countless crimes; with all the dishonour done by them to his law, his justice, and to himself, as Legislator and Judge; together with the triumph of Satan over them, all, before his omniscient eyes, he, in the plenitude of his wisdom, made provision, for the honour of himself, his law, and his justice; in the complete salvation of his chosen; and the eternal overthrow of Satan, by the mediation of his Incarnate Son; by the gift and mission of whom, to redeem the church, with his own blood, he opened, before angels and men, the whole volume of his eternal, sovereign love. See Rom. v, 8: God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' 1 John iv. 10: 'Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.' I think it expedient, before I conclude this part of my subject, to observe, that the Father's love to the person of his Son, must not pass unobserved, as it is a very high figure, in our account, of this prime cause of the sufferings of that adorable object of our confidence and 6 own explicit testimony upon this subject, will, I presume, be admitted as decisive. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands.' Surely our redemption by his blood was the greatest of the all things delivered to him by the Father, in paternal love to his person. The Son being one essence with the Father, he is one with him in love; it was therefore the very same immanent impetus which moved them both--the Father to give the Son, and the Son to give himself, to die for those whom the Father chose, and gave unto him, with the command to lose no part of them, but to raise them all up at the last day. In contemplating this highly important subject, our minds are forcibly struck with the respondence of the love of the Son to that of the Father. Does the Father, in love to the Son, say: 'Go, die for my chosen, whom I give in charge to thee; atone for their deadly crimes; ransom them from death, with thy life, and by thy blood redeem them unto me!' the Son, in love to him, cheerfully responds: Lo, I come; I delight to do thy will, O my God, thy law is within my heart." And he delighted to show to the world his love to the Father, by giving his love for the people. It was, doubtless, with direct reference to that ever-memorable event, that he said, with apparent exultation, to his disciples: But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence,' (Psa. xl. 7, 8; John xiv. 31.) How grateful to the heart that feels its native bitterness, that knows the freeness and the power of divine sovereign grace, and is one with Jesus in faith and love, to read in the divinely inspired page the following language, relative to the love |