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and in the immense spiritual world, which we do not see, and governing the operations of both for the spiritual good of men here on earth, our minds are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the thought. Even when we think of His natural and spiritual providence in regard to one of us, the work looks so complicated, it appears to us such a chaos of confusion, that it seems to us, perhaps, impossible. But this is because we think inadequately of Him. He created the human race, whether angels, spirits, or men, solely to make them all angels of heaven, if they will be made so. The states of all their minds every affection, feeling, thought, and inclination to act, in every one of them—in all the angels of heaven, in all the spirits in the spiritual world, and in all men on earth, is just as familiar to Him as the simplest thing we undertake is to us; nay, inconceivably more so. All their spiritual wants are under His eye; not one by one, or one after another; but individually and collectively. These, their spiritual wants, are the only thing that He is providing for; and He created them all, not only with the end, but from the love of thus providing for their regeneration, salvation, and place in heaven. However all this may look to us, with Him there is no confusion, but everything is seen in order.

But the prime feature in all His providence, both the internal and the external, is our freedom. This is maintained above everything else. We may give attention to our spiritual good, to our spiritual life, much or little, or may entirely neglect it, as we please. It is not so with Him. He sees all our states, all our spiritual wants, just what spiritual good or truth we are ready or able to receive, just what ones we can be prepared in freedom to receive, and whether we can be prepared in freedom to receive any or none; and He is constantly directing all the events of His outward providence, and all the influences of His Spirit, and that of angels and spirits, good or evil, to act upon us in our freedom in such manner as will do us all the spiritual good, or keep us from all the spiritual evil, which we will freely

permit. This is the work in which He is constantly engaged; and it is thus that He gives us our spiritual food. "He giveth to the beast his food, to the young ravens which cry."

T. B. H.

THE NATIVITY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.

III.

(Continued from Vol. XLIII., page 808.)

28. "And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored: the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among

women.

29. "And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30. "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God;

31. "And behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

32. "He shall be great, and shalt be called the son of the Highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David.

33. "And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34. "Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35. "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36. "And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

37. "For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38. "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."

The effect of the first influx from heaven, above described, is the awakening of the affection of spiritual truth in the mind of man, which was signified by the conception of Elizabeth, together with the circumstances preceding it.

The effect of the second influx is an awakening of the affection of good in man, which is represented by the visit of the angel to Mary, who represented that affection, and by her conception, which followed as a consequence. The application of these things to the state of man, who is about to be regenerated, is this: unless the affection or desire for spiritual truth which a man has, should have within it some degree also of desire for the good to which it leads, it will remain or become a mere natural desire for truth, which is a desire for knowing it without regard to its use, and which therefore conduces nothing towards spiritual life. When, therefore, the Lord has awakened in man, by means of His angels, some desire for the truths of spiritual life, He afterwards endeavors to insinuate into this desire an affection for the good itself, for the sake of which truth is given. And this is represented in the literal sense, by the sending the angel to Mary, and her conception of the child Jesus.

The things which were said to Mary by the angel, contain, in their spiritual sense, things which the Lord says by His Word to the man in whom the affection represented by Mary exists, but as yet in a dormant or imperceptible state, and they are also said to those angels with man who are in the affection of good, and through whose agency the Lord endeavors to awaken that affection in man. The salutation of the angel," Hail thou that art highly favored," etc., is a commendation of the excellence of that affection or love which Mary represents, and which is uttered in order that man may be excited with desire to come into that excellent state, and strengthened to do the things which are necessary to bring him into it. But when Mary saw the angel and heard his commendatory salutation, she was troubled and disturbed at it. So when the natural man first hears the description of the heavenly state, it seems strange and unreal to him, and disturbs and upsets all his former ideas of life and happiness, so different is it from what he has heretofore conceived or believed.

The answer of the angel, in verse 30th, signifies that man

should not be disturbed by these things, nor fear the loss of any good from giving up his natural hereditary life in obedience to the truth; but that he should trust in the Lord, because He will be found gracious. Verse 31st teaches that the Lord enters with good, by an internal way, into the mind, which has been prepared by truth for His reception. Verses 32 and 33 signify that He shall set up His kingdom in the mind of him who receives Him, and reduce all things to order and peacefulness therein, from the internal to the external, and thus bring man into everlasting life.

Mary's answer to the angel, "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man," signifies a doubt on the part of man whether he can so fully submit himself to the government of the Divine truth, and give up his hereditary life, as to permit these things to take place in him, because he has not yet experienced the power and efficacy of truth in purifying from evil. "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee." There is not only an influx into the mind of man through angels and good spirits, by which he is kept as far as possible in a receptive state, but there is also an influx from the Lord Himself, immediately into the inmost part of the mind, by means of which man is kept alive, and enabled to receive and appropriate the influx of spirits and angels. Thus the Lord operates in the hidden parts of man's nature, for his preservation and salvation, by innumerable means, which are even beyond angelic knowledge, so that man need not doubt the Divine ability to redeem and save. "Therefore, also, that holy thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God," signifies, in this connection, that when man believes in the Lord, and looks to Him, the works which he does are truly good works, because they are done from Him. It signifies this, because the literal birth of the Lord into the world represents His spiritual birth into the mind of man who is regenerating, which birth takes place when he begins to live and

act according to the goods and truths which he receives from the Lord.

"And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren." As the six days of the week signify a complete state of labor and preparation for the heavenly rest denoted by the Sabbath, so the six months after Elizabeth's conception signify a complete state of preparation by the acknowledgment and internal reception of truth, for the reception of the good to which that truth leads. The case is here described of those who are of the spiritual class, who do not receive truth immediately into life, but first commit it to memory, study and ponder over it, and at length, but often with delay and hesitation, resolve to submit their lives to its authority and guidance.

(To be continued.)

D. H. H.

THE GERMAN-FRENCH WAR.

(Continued from Vol. XLIII., page 815.)

BUT it seems they tempted Providence, and denied the armies though unseen by mortal eyes- of the "living God"; and the armor in which, in blind confidence, they trusted, at the first real collision with their enemy, was shivered into fragments. The bubble of the invincibility of French arms burst, and made manifest that it was charged with air, the breath of infatuation, which could offer no resistance to substantial power; substantial because ordered of God. It is remarkable that this state of things has not, in any essential particular, changed from the first; the wild confidence of the French continuing, and the Germans exploding successively every bubble which the French elevated before them, in the vain hope of retarding their progress; until, at last, bleeding and nearly exhausted, impotent to save their country from overthrow, they persistently flatter themselves, and endeavor to deceive others with the belief, that their prowess is at length to turn the chances of war in their favor, elevate the glory of France, and prove to the

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