and the merit which perfectly accord with His fourfold title to the inheritance? He has. He has. But the argument is not exhausted, and we notice-

His obedience to a substitutionary death. On this great truth of Divine Revelation the apostles of our Lord write largely to the early churches, and through them to us. All that is needful in relation to it at present is to show the bearing of the fact upon the argument we are conducting. Here it is, in the words of the Book which tells us all we know about God and His Christ: “When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spcil with the strong; because He hath poured out His soul unto death and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isa. liii. 10-12). "For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. v. 21). "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (Gal. iii. 13).

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We ask, in the third place, whether, as a matter of fact, the Heir of all things has come into possession of His inheritance, and is wielding the authority which possession involves? That this is a question of supreme moment cannot be doubted; and that upon the right answer to it very much depends, is equally certain. Much of the confusion which-as we think-characterises the ordinary theology of these times springs from a fundamental error in relation to this matter. It is assumed that all the royal rights of the Lord Jesus have been actually given to Him, and then it follows logically that the Christian economy, or the dispensation of grace, is the final one so far as the present world is concerned. If this be the fair inference, the premiss is manifestly fallacious; for, notwithstanding all that is said to the contrary in thousands of pulpits and thousands of books, nothing can be easier than to prove that this is not the final dispensation. What the characteristics of the present economy are, and why it is so characterised, we shall subsequently see; but that it will close the Divine dealings with our world we most distinctly deny; and for this, among other weighty reasons, the appointed Heir of all things has not come into possession of His inheritance. The King waits for His promised throne and kingdom. The accession of God's Anointed has not yet taken place. The tabernacle of David, long fallen down, has not yet been set up. The people of Israel are still exiles; their Temple is in ruins, and their fair country is trodden by the foot of the stranger. The entire world is in a condition which proves only too plainly that Satan, not Christ, is its

god. To call the present dispensation "the reign of the Messiah " is simply intolerable. The good men who so express themselves know not how grievously they libel the reputation of the blessed Lord. "The prince of the power of the air" dominates the hearts of the children of disobedience, and they form the overwhelming majority of the world's inhabitants, have ever done so, and ever will, until "One like the Son of man come with the clouds of heaven," and receive "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, may serve Him" (Dan. vii 13, 14). As in John's days, so now, the small minority are enabled, by grace, to say, "We know that we are of God," but they also add with terrible truth, "the whole world lieth in wickedness" (1 John v. 19), or rather lieth under the power of the Wicked One. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 John ii. 16). This is emphatically true still, and it is not only dishonouring to the Lord Jesus, but also a hurtful selfdeception, to maintain that the royal prerogatives of our Divine Redeemer are being exercised over the world now, as His kingdom. Besides, it is a perversion of the clear testimony of Scripture. "When the Son of man shall sit upon the Throne of His glory," events will take place which will wonderfully alter the present state of things-events which the ministry of the Church can no more accomplish than it can change the seasons. Before the confusion that characterises the nations can be removed, these heavens must open and the Son of man be revealed in power and great glory for the purpose of taking possession of His royal rights. War, injustice, oppression, cruelty, deceit, falsehood, murder, with the long list of revolting crimes daily chronicled by those whose business it is to tell us the " news," have thrown their dark shadow upon the world through long ages, and continue to this hour to proclaim that Satan's seat is here! This Christ's kingdom! This the "reign" of the Messiah! This the thing we pray for when, on bended knees and uncovered head, we say, "Our Father who art in heaven, Thy kingdom come!" No, I will not believe it. The glory of the Father, the honour of my blessed Saviour, and the character of our holy faith, alike demand that in relation to this matter I proclaim myself an unbeliever. And it is no light We deceive the world-we who should be God's witnesses and truth-speakers for Him-we deceive the world when we tell it that the Lord Jesus has received the decreed inheritance, and that this is the final dispensation. What can it think of such a reign as this? The Son of God reigning, and His kingdom full of unutterable abominations, reeking with foul idolatries, red with the blood of the slain, and groaning beneath the curse of its iniquities? If He be on His throne, how is it that in the latter half of the nineteenth century since His alleged accession to it His enemies are still the majority, whilst a large proportion of those who bear

matter.

His name are either the victims or the advocates of a dark superstition which has driven multitudes into the sunless wilderness of open or concealed infidelity?

Better far to speak the truth on this momentous subject, which is that when the Son of God shall appear," He shall judge the poor of the people, He shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor" (Psa. lxxii.). In His days the righteous shall flourish, and His enemies shall lick the dust. All kings shall fall down before Him, and all nations shall serve Him. This is a specimen of hundreds of predictions descriptive of the state of things in our world when its rightful Sovereign shall ascend His promised throne. To say, therefore, that He is on it now, when iniquity runs down our streets, and the majority of men are the servants of Satan, is manifestly to declare either that Heaven's prophets have uttered falsel oods, or that the King is unable to subdue the revolted nations to His sceptre. Of course no Christian can tolerate either of these inductions for a moment; but it is best to state, without reservation, the logical consequences of a great error in the hope that some who hold it may be led to reexamine the entire subject.

It is impossible, in fact, to advocate the opinion that this is God's final economy with men upon the earth, without reaching the terrible conclusion that His plans and purposes-as these are declared by inspiration of the Holy Ghost-have issued in a most melancholy failure. Shall we dare to entertain so appalling a thought for an instant? No, a thousand times no! We fling it from us with holy indignation, and affirm emphatically that there has been no failure,-will not be, cannot be failure. "Millenarians" are held up to pious horror as persons who hold that the Gospel is a failure; but it so happens in this case, as in many others, that those who make the charge are just the parties against whom it should be brought. So far from teaching that the Gospel is a failure, we proclaim that it testifies, not only the mercy and love, but the truth and faithfulness of our blessed Father, by accomplishing the very purpose He intended by it. It was meant to do two things to be a witness to the world of the coming and kingdom of the Lord Jesus, and to gather out of the world a great company who are the firstfruits unto God, and who shall be fellowheirs of the kingdom with Christ. It has done both these things, and that too on a scale and to an extent which calls forth our adoring gratitude. The testimony has been given, and the Gospel has been the power of God unto salvation to all who have believed it. It has not failed, and we never said anything so supremely foolish. But those who make this groundless charge against us are loudly proclaiming the failure of the Gospel every day. They teach that it was meant to convert the entire world to God. If this be true, no ingenuity, no power of reasoning, no pious subterfuge, can conceal the fact that its failure is notorious! Not only

has it failed to evangelise the race, but Christianity has actually perished from regions where it once flourished. No, our brethren will take nothing by making charges against us. We are weak in numbers, but strong in truth. The Gospel has not failed, and neither will the coming of the kingdom fail at the blessed day and hour fixed in the counsels of Infinite Wisdom or its happy inauguration in our world. Nor need we wonder that a long time should elapse between the designation or appointment to the inheritance and its actual possession. Of ordinary heirs, Paul mentions the well-known fact, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all. Christians are

heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ; but all their life long in their mortal state they are kept out of possession, having only the earnest of it in their hearts; nor can they enter on this inheritance until the time of their Master's coronation. And to come to a case not only in point but typical of that which is before us, David was anointed king many years before he came to the throne. So David's Son and Lord has been appointed and anointed by the Father, and sits at His right hand until the times of restitution. We are more than satisfied with the Father's choice. Jesus is just the King we would have. He will rule the world in righteousness, and the people with His truth; and we are "looking for that blessed hope, even the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ." EDITOR.

INTERNAL EVIDENCES.

The Character of Moses a Proof of his Mission.

I WISH in this, and perhaps a few following papers, to draw the

attention of the readers of the RAINBOW to some of the many internal evidences to their truth which the Scriptures contain. The points are such as have struck my mind in reading the Bible, and they may also be of interest to others.

While to some minds, what are called the external evidences of revealed religion, such as miracles and prophecy, come home with most weight, there are others who are chiefly influenced by what are called its internal evidences. Its adequate descriptions of God, its pure and ennobling morality, its solution of difficulties which beset the inquiring mind, its response to the craving and desires of the heart of man, the absence of worldly motives on the part of its human teachers,-these, and other such considerations come home. with power to multitudes who have never closely studied the external evidences of their faith. It was such considerations chiefly which, in the second century of Christ, won over to the side of Christianity, Tatian, one of the most learned, if not one of the soundest thinkers of that time. The heathen system of his day had

disgusted him when his attention was drawn to the writings of the Old Testament. "These writings," he says, won my confidence by the simplicity of their style, the unaffected plainness of the speakers, the intelligible account of the creation; by the predictions of future events, the salutary tendency of their precepts, and the prevailing doctrine of one God."* It is in such a field as this presents to view that we should wish to walk for a time.

The first point to which we would draw attention is the character of Moses. His writings are the basis of the Scriptures both of the Old and New Testament. He gives us the history of creation; a slight but very clear and intelligible sketch of the progress of mankind before the period of the deluge; the religious declension of man subsequent to that period; the call of Abraham to keep alive. a theistic doctrine which would otherwise perish; the history of the people of Israel, sprung from Abraham; predictions of its future, until another prophet should be raised up by God to that people like to Moses, to whose every word they should pay an absolute and unquestioning obedience (Deut. xviii. 18). The Books of Moses, then, are the very foundation of our faith; and it is, therefore, of the utmost consequence and interest to examine into the life of a man on whose writings our Christian faith depends. Faith in Moses, our Lord tells us, is faith in Christ; rejection of Moses is rejection of Christ (John v. 46). We affirm of him that his personal character is in itself a proof of his Divine mission.

We assume as true of Moses the Scriptural account of him so far as it does not enter within the range of the supernatural. We assume, that is, that there was such a man as Moses, that he lived at the period of which the history of him speaks; that he was very great in the court of Egypt, was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, and might have expected to succeed Pharaoh on the throne. We assume that he, for whatever reasons, chose rather to identify himself with the fortunes of a people then held in bondage in Egypt, that he became their leader; and, while conducting them through the peninsula of Sinai, gave them that code of laws, legal, moral, and ceremonial, which they observe to this day, so far as practicable, and profess to have derived from him. To such a man must be conceded no ordinary amount of sagacity and learning. Allow him or deny him to have had, what he certainly claimed to have had a Divine mission to Israel-he must, whether this latter claim be conceded or refused, be allowed by all to have been one of the greatest men in intellect and knowledge that have ever arisen among men. Our argument is that his conduct throughout his life is altogether inconsistent with any other than the Divine origin of that religious system which he taught, of which he was, from his position and from his natural ability, perfectly capable of judging.

+"Church History," by Dr. Augustus Neander, v. 2. p. 427. Bohn.