THE HOLY TRINITY.

THE works of Nature reveal a Creator, Almighty and Allwise: but the Bible alone reveals all his Attributes; and there we may learn what it has pleased Him to make known to us respecting Himself. Many Truths contained in that Book are so simple that a child may (and often does) receive them, but a moment's reflection will shew that we cannot expect fully to understand all the wonders of the Divine Nature. The Human intellect, however educated or talented, has its limits, and that which has its limits cannot grasp that which has none.

Are we to refuse to believe Truths because they are beyond our comprehension? No; we do not act thus in common matters: we believe in light, electricity, gravitation, life, and many other things which yet we cannot explain. Then let us humbly bend our minds before God's will, and receive without question whatever is plainly taught us in his Word: a lowly, teachable, and obedient spirit (such as in Job xxxiv. 32.) will receive more and more light, Ps. xxxii. 8; John vii. 17.

The Doctrine of the Trinity, or Three Persons in One God, is one of these Truths, clearly put forward, yet beyond our comprehension. The words in 1 John v. 7, are but a concise statement of a Truth which runs through the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. CREATION and REDEMPTION are the two great themes of that Sacred Volume, and in each we find the Three Divine Persons taking part.

I. As to CREATION, which is, of course, described as the work of God, the Father Almighty, we are also distinctly told that the Lord Jesus, the Eternal, Only-begotten Son, was (as it were) the WORD, or expresser of his Father's Will, his own Will going with it: compare such texts as John i. 3, and the verses in the Psalm quoted in Heb. i., whilst in Ephes. iii. 9, the two statements are explained and their agreement shewn, the Son being as it were the One who carried out the Divine Will. See also Prov. viii.

The share of the Spirit in the work of Creation is plainly stated in Gen. i. 2. Compare also Job xxvi. 13; xxxiii. 4; Ps. civ. 30. The expression in Gen. i. 3, "moved upon," signifies in the original the brooding by which a bird would give life to its little ones, quickening them by its own warmth. We may, perhaps, venture thus to sum up these statements: The Father willed Creation, The Son was the Expression of (or uttered) the Divine Will, and the Spirit the actual Agent. Nor should we pass by such remarkable statements as Gods He created the Heavens, &c." Genesis i. 1., a plural noun to a singular case of the Verb in Hebrew; or the "us" in Gen. i. 26.

II. In REDEMPTION the separate work is as clearly defined. The Father WILLED that Salvation should be offered, John iii. 16; Ezek. xviii. 32; 1 Tim. ii. 4. The Son was the WORD through whom that Will was revealed to Men, God speaking by Him (Heb. i. 2), He Himself being at the same time the FREE Agent (John x. 18; Phillipp. ii. 6, 8). And the Spirit is the Divine Person that APPLIES the Salvation, turning our hearts to God, in contrite abasement, and giving us Faith to lay hold on the Promises of the Gospel. Comp. John iii. 5; Rom. viii. 2; and the remarkable vision in Ezekiel xxxvii.

And as that Divine Spirit, the gift of the Father and the Son, John xv. 26; Acts iii. 33, gives the first sign of life in the Soul, so is it his work to teach and to sanctify us, leading us from grace to grace (Gal. v. 22, 23), till we bear the image of the Son in the presence of the Father.

THE POWER OF GOD.

GOD is a Spirit, unseen, John iv. 24; 1 Tim. vi. 16; but the traces of His hand are visible all around us-both in Heaven his throne, and in the Earth his footstool, Isaiah lxvi. 1. And to pass by, unnoticed, those wondrous works of his is one of the signs of utter ungodliness, Ps. xxviii. 3-5; Isaiah v. 11, 12. Let us look at the workings of this Power-

I. IN CREATION.

II. IN GOVERNMENT.

III. IN REDEMPTION.

I. In CREATION. Matter is not eternal. God called it into being-He created it. Science gradually learns what is revealed in a few simple but grand words in Gen. i.: that God existed before the Earth, and that his hand fashioned it. How long since matters not, for there may be an immense space of time between thet 1st and 2nd verses of Gen. i.—the passage from chaos to order and beauty. Let our minds dwell on the composition of the Earth-its various rocks and strataits mountains and vallies-its oceans and depths: let us reffect on the mighty changes that have taken place in its structure, by the agency of fire and water. Then let us think of its motion--its inconceivable swiftness-its unshaken steadiness, and the certainty of every movement. Let us think of the Laws that keep it in its orbit, and from the Laws (such as gravitation, attraction, &c.), think of the Lawgiver-of Him who sees that everything keeps it place. See Job xxvi. 7, xxxviii. 4-6; Ps. civ. 5. Look at the Ocean, and think of Him who controls it, Job xxxviii. 8-11; Isaiah xl. 12. Look at the Sun, so grand in appearance, 80 necessary in its influence. God placed it there. Then let us take a telescope, and find that the Milky way is composed of Stars, innumerable and immeasurably distant, Isaiah xl. 26. Then let us take the microscope instead, to find Earth, Air, and Seas swarming with millions of living creatures invisible to the naked eye. These are a few of the wonders of Creation. What must He be who can create all these!

II. In GOVERNMENT. God's Providence will form another Lesson, but we must glance at his Power in controlling all Creation, living beings or lifeless matter. Especially let us turn to the Scriptures, to see that none can escape or resist his Will, Dan. iv. 35; Psalm ii.; Isaiah xl. 15, 23, 24; Rom. ix. 19. For his own All-wise purposes, He permits many things that we cannot understand; but when once his Will is declared it is certain of accomplishment: see the case of Pharoah. We must remember, here, that God acts, often, through human agents. Such evident divine interposition as that on behalf of the Jews is not now his mode of working; but it is none the less the power of God that raises or casts down Kings, Empires, or individuals.

III. In REDEMPTION. The point here is not the Infinite Wisdom devising the plan, nor the Goodness that conceived it, but the Divine Power that carries it out. What are the obstacles? Man's natural enmity (such as Job xxi. 14, 15); and the ONLY remedy is DIVINE GRACE. The power of God alone could change such a man as Saul the persecutor into Paul the devoted Missionary. And the same Grace is needed by every Sinner. How IRRESISTIBLE this power! A word creates Gen. i. 3, a word destroys, Ps. xc. 3, civ. 29. It reaches every one, every where, Ps. cxxxiv. 7-12.

How fearful to be at enmity with God, so powerful! How SAFE, on the other hand, are his children, kept by Him! Ps. xci.

GOD'S OMNISCIENCE.

THIS Truth flows naturally from the previous Lesson on God's Power. Wher ever our eye or our thoughts can reach we find the traces of God's Power; and wherever his Power is at work his Intelligence (to use human terms) must be present. Thus God is Omnipresent, and the next step is clear, that He is also OMNISCIENT. Let us see

I. THE STATEMENT OF SCRIPTURE RESPECTING THE DOCTRINE.

II. THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF IT.

III. THE INFLUENCE IT SHOULD HAVE ON US.

I. What does Scripture say of God's Omniscience? A striking answer is found in Ps. cxxxix. The heights of Heaven, the depths of Hell, the utmost bounds of the Earth are there described as all alike within his reach, and as it were in his presence. God Himself claims, as his own, the same attribute, see Jer. xxiji. 23, 24; Amos ix. 2, 3. No distance can separate from Him, no darkness conceal from Him-for, indeed, to Him there is no such thing as distance or darkness.

See again how all his countless creatures are present before Him, Ps. 1. 11, 12; civ. 24-27, and all alike known as to their nature and their wants.

But the knowledge He possesses extends far beyond mere outward things. Wonderful as that knowledge is, it is still more so that the Human heart is open to his eye,—the heart of every man, woman, and child amongst the inhabitants of the world. Let us reflect on the depths and secret recesses of our own hearts—our motives sometimes scarcely understood even by ourselves—our feelings so often confused and changeable-our thoughts so soon forgotten! God knows every trace and every turning of the heart-every secret motive-every wish, 1 Chron. xxviii. 9; Psalm cxxxix. 3; Jeremiah xvii. 10; Hebrews iv. 12, 13; Rev. ii. 23; Romans viii. 27.

And our feelings of wonder at this Divine Knowledge must be tenfold greater when we reflect that it applies to ALL that ever have lived, or live now. Let us contrast our own difficulty in understanding the real characters of even a few intimate friends, with God's perfect knowledge of every one.

II. What illustrations are given in Scripture of this Truth? Many, like Jacob, forget the Truth, until reminded of it, to say with him "God is in this place," Gen. xxviii. 16. God read Abraham's heart, Gen. xviii. 9; and accepted its homage. He read the hearts of his apostate people, and rejected their lip service, Ezek. xxxiii. 31. And when we come to Gospel days, we find again and again how the Son of God could penetrate the secret thoughts of men, and strip them of their useless disguise; see Matt. ix, 4, xii. 25; Luke vi. 8; John ii. 24, 25, vi. 61, 64, xvi. 19. And that knowledge extended to the Future-which, like the Past and the Present, is clear to Him.

III. What effect should this truth have on us? First, a holy fear. If we search into our own hearts, how much we must see there that must be hateful to God! Humble and contrite, we learn to use David's prayer, Ps. cxxxix. 23.

Secondly, we may gather comfort from the fact that GOD KNOWS ALL. He knew what we were and should be when He called us, and He will not now forsake us for those sins that He knows to be in us. He knows ALL, and He can and will heal ALL.

THE LOVE OF GOD.

THE Love of God is as infinite, and as much beyond our fully understanding, as his Power. But of both we see the effects, and thus learn something of their nature. Of his Love as well as his Power, "day unto day uttereth speech." "His mercies are new every morning," and the Year is crowned with his Goodness, Ps. xix.; lxv. 11.

If we would FEEL the force of this Lesson, we must plead for a deeper sense of God's love to us: for it is a Truth that can be really received in its power only by those whose hearts know something of grateful love to Him who has dealt so lovingly with them. See Paul's prayer for his Ephesian converts, Ephes. iii. 14, 17-19.

I. It is FREE and UNDESERVED LOVE: Sovereign love, as the theologians call it, as distinguished from the love that we may gain from each other. Human admiration, and generosity, may lead a man to shed his blood for another, but for the GOOD, not for those who are merely upright, Rom. v. 7. God's love had no such motive. We had forfeited all right to be called his children: we were alienated, and enemies, Coloss. i. 21; Rom. v. 8: we had no desires after Him, and should never have sought Him (comp. John xv. 16). But He delights to be called by the very name of this Attribute: He HAS power and wisdom-He is Love 1 John iv. 8.

II. It is COMPASSIONATE or pitying LOVE. It could not be otherwise towards us, for there is nothing in us to win it except by our misery and necessity. The tenderest Parental Love is only a faint image of what God feels for his poor wandering, guilty children. Ps. ciii. 13. And He pities day by day-as fresh transgressions arise that might justly lead Him to forsake us, Ps. ciii. 8-12. Thus it is

No human love, though strong as

III. A PATIENT, LONG-SUFFERING LOVE. death (Song of Sol. viii. 6), could bear the constant provocations that God bears with from us, and even from the best of his children. Let us look back on even one week or one day, and think what return we have made for all that God has done for us. The remembrance will fill us with shame, and with gratitude. His unshaken purposes of mercy to the rebellious chosen race will strongly illustrate this, Isaiah liv. 10; and the Christian believer holds the same blessed Truth with even a firmer grasp, as it is more clearly revealed in Christ Jesus, Rom. viii. 38, 39.

IV. It is an ACTIVE LOVE: not a mere contemplative pity, but directing all God's dealings with us. For what purpose did He frame this Earth in beauty but for Man's happy home? For what purpose did He send his Son, or did Jesus suffer and die but to restore Man to his Father, John iii. 16 ? For what purpose has He prepared a heavenly rest but that Man may once more be blessed? John xiv. 2, 3. Let us think what He has DONE for us! And let us remember that it is EVERLASTING LOVE. Jer. xxxi. 3.

IS THIS LOVE TO BE DESPISED and neglected? What CAN be the result of such fearful ingratitude? God is Holy and Just, as well as Loving, and if the Day of Salvation be wasted, the result is declared in Proverbs i. 24-28. But the Christian, though conscious of utter unworthiness, may rest on that Divine, Sovereign Love, and BE AT PEACE FOR EVER. Heb. xiii. 5.

GOD'S PROVIDENCE.

PROVIDENCE is, literally, foreseeing; but the word has come to signify beyond that the SUPPLY of the wants or necessities thus foreseen: hence the words provide and provision.

We have dwelt on the Power, Omniscience, and Love of God; but we shall miss one of the most wonderful and most encouraging of his Attributes if we passed by HIS PROVIDENCE, that care for all creatures and control of all events which the thoughtful and observant eye can trace in Creation and in History.

I. GOD SUSTAINS ALL CREATURES, Acts xvii. 25; Ps. civ. 10-15, 24-28. And we can form but very slight and imperfect ideas of what that universal care and attention is; but let us at least try to do so-to picture to ourselves the countless tribes of animals in Air, Earth, and Sea, each with its own especial formation, habits, wants, and every one finding its own especial nourishment. The variety is endless, yet there is no confusion; the various species approach each other, but the difference though slight is unmistakeable. We learn from Matt. x. 29, that He who sustains the Universe cares also for the smallest of his creatures.

Then let us turn our thoughts upward, to the inanimate Creation, the countless worlds above and around us, each one, doubtless, answering His purpose in its own appointed way; perhaps each one the abode of some happy beings. All are under His present control who first called them into being, Psalm cxlvii. 4; Isaiah xl. 26; and it is He who has fixed the LAWS that regulate their motion with such unerring accuracy that we can calculate every eclipse or other phenomenon years beforehand. How insignificant we feel, in the presence of such astonishing works Psalm viii. 3, 4.

II. GOD'S PROVIDENCE ORDERS ALL THINGS IN HEAVEN AND EARTH; and this display, though not always so clear and intelligible as that in Creation, is even · more wonderful. Even in searching out the wonders of Creation we feel often baffled by our own ignorance and weakness of intellect-how much more must this be the case in tracing God's designs and the way in which He carries them out in history? In Job xi. 7, xxxiii. 13, we have two needful warnings; and there are many things going on in the world that we cannot understand (such as the existence of evil): IN HEAVEN ALL WILL BE CLEAR.

But there is enough plain and intelligible to show us how God works always and everywhere—making the most unlikely events work out his plans (Psalm lxxvi. 10). The most striking and full illustration of that over-ruling Providence is probably seen in the History of the Israelites, and the chain of events by which God provided for their safe gradual growth into a nation- their deliverance from Egypt-their life in the desert-their separation from other people-their spiritual privileges their temporal circumstances in Canaan. See that care displayed in the Parable in Isaiah v. 1, 2.

Then let us take comparatively trifling instances such as Philip's interview with the Ethiopian Eunuch, when the latter was reading the very words needed, Acts viii.; or the incident in 2 Kings, viii. 1-6; or in 1 Sam. xxiii. 26-28; or the wonderful events in the Book of Esther, the whole of which narrative seems recorded for the very purpose: (note especially chap. vi.)

Thus we learn that GOD REIGNETH, Psalm cxxxv. 6; and knowing his Power and his Goodness, SHALL WE NOT TRUST HIM? He bids us do so, both for TIME AND ETERNITY.