1st. The renewed spiritual state.

2nd. The means by which the vigour returns.

3rd. The satisfaction afforded.

That the man of grace soon loses, by leaving the means of grace. His spiritual strength and vigour fails when the things of the world take the place of the things of God. Oh, Christian, thou art loosing thy hold! Grasp the promise again, and plead it at His footstool. The appropriating grace of Jesus Christ will do, and nothing short of this, to meet thy low and languishing condition. He wills the witness of the Spirit, and this witness of the Spirit He gives, in the longing, hungering, desiring of the soul. This is a description "of the renewing act of the Spirit." The Lord bruises and He heals; He brings low and lifts up again, that the heart may be prepared for the reception of the "appropriate grace," and realize the provision made by Jesus Christ. A ministry is either the greatest blessing, or the greatest curse, (I repeat it in other words,) it is either a savour of life or a savour of death to every soul that hears the sound of the Gospel, in the receiving or in the rejecting.

You must live near to Jesus Christ, as He said to His disciples, "Abide in me." "There is such a thing as grieving the Spirit." Be careful, then, and watch against a lukewarm state of soul. You may grieve Him so as to depart and withdraw from you the sensible enjoyment of His favour and presence, and the inward witness of His Spirit; be careful of a sickly state; and, should there be any sad indications of this, apply, without delay, to the Great Physician for the healing balm.

The text implies consciousness: "if you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, ask, then, your own heart, Have I tasted the sweetness of these things?

THE TRINITY IN A TYPE.
(Concluded from page 321.)

We now come to speak of Jacob as a type of God the Holy Ghost. This type we find chiefly in the meaning of his name, and in those actions of his which corresponded with his name. Jacob means the "Supplanter," and Esau said to him in the bitterness of his soul, "Art thou not rightly called Jacob? for thou hast supplanted me these two times." And is not the Holy Ghost the true Supplanter? Is it not He that takes away the heart of stone and gives the heart of flesh? It is He that must "root out" and "plant" (Jer. i. 10). It is the Holy Spirit in the hearts of God's people that makes them aspire to the birthright and the blessing, and obtains for them that which He has caused them to desire. As Jacob supplanted Esau, so the new nature supplants the old nature, and the new nature is the Spirit of God. It might seem indeed that Jacob would have had but a very poor chance of supplanting Esau. Esau not only was the first-born, but he was so much stronger, both morally and physically; his natural disposition appears to have been more noble and generous-in the human acceptation of those words-than Jacob's. He also had the vantageground of being deeply rooted in the natural affections of his father.

All these things combined might seem to exclude the possibility of Jacob's obtaining the pre-eminence; and yet these advantages, many and great as they were, are only faint emblems of the apparent advantages which the old nature has in resisting the efforts of the new. The old nature, like Esau, is the first-born : That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." "Howbeit that is not

first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual." As Esau, fond of hardy exercises, grew in strength and stature, so the old nature gains strength with our years and habits; the whole tendency of our associations in this world is to cause the old earthly Esau nature to develop itself. It is the favourite with the world. Why is it that there is a tendency, even in the very young, to glory in their shame? Is it not because the world praises those very things which God condemns? The fruit of the Spirit is "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law," except the law of fashion. The child in the nursery, the boy at school, the young man entering life, all find that the fruits of the Spirit are despised in the world, and that the manifesting them only brings upon them the reproach of wanting spirit. So opposed are the spirit of the world and the Spirit of God, that to possess the one is to incur the reproach of being deficient in the other; yet the old nature is the favourite of the world around-aye, and of our own hearts within. Even in the regenerate there often is discovered a lurking admiration for the old naturefor those qualities which the world admires, but which the Gospel condemns. But what of all impediments when the Holy Ghost, the Divine Jacob, the Almighty Supplanter, begins to root up and to plant? Nature seems a millionfold stronger than grace, but grace is really stronger than nature, simply by infinity. The Holy Ghost roots up indifference about eternal things, and plants in its place a cry which nothing can stifle: "What must I do to be saved?" The Holy Ghost roots up that reckless braving of God's judgment, which is the characteristic of all the unregenerate, and supplants it by a fear and trembling at His word. The Holy Ghost roots up the disregard of God's written Word, and makes men read it, as those who feel that life eternal and death eternal depend on their reading it aright. The Holy Ghost uproots that despising of Christ, which makes men see no beauty in Him that they should desire Him, and plants in their hearts a conviction that He must save or they perish; and, learning to believe in Him as their Saviour, instead of despising Him, He becomes their "All in all," as the Apostle says, "To you who believe He is precious." The Holy Ghost uproots man's infatuated notions of his own righteousness, and brings him as a bankrupt beggar to Christ for a free-grace salvation. The Holy Ghost shakes and loosens the roots of the most inveterate habits, and implants a hatred to sin where love to sin grew before; and, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, then, though not before, will the same Holy Spirit tear up the last fibrous roots of sin which are entwined in our fallen nature, and utterly annihilate them. The Holy Ghost takes away the natural antipathy which we have to the people of God as such, and implants a love for their society and conversation, so that, as the Apostle says, "By this we know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." Well, then, may the Holy Ghost be prefigured by one who bore the name of Jacob, the Supplanter? So complete is the supplanting, that he who is the object of it is described as a new creature or new creation; and although, as we said, the old nature, like Esau, seems to have everything in its favour, yet it can no more stand before the new than Haman could before Mordecai, or than Esau could before Jacob, and this because God's decree has gone forth, "The elder shall serve the younger,"-in other words, nature shall serve grace. The old nature shall be brought into slavery by the new. The natural Esau must succumb to the spiritual Jacob.

Thus, if Abraham was a type of God the Father, and Isaac of God the Son, surely we may equally see in Jacob a striking type of God the Holy Ghost. It may be objected, however, that Abraham was the father of other nations, and not of the chosen people only; also that from Isaac were descended Edomites as well as Israelites, and that Isaac had a blessing for Esau and his descendants as well as for Jacob and his. These points, however, only serve to make the type more complete and exact; for God the Father, as the Creator, Preserver and Provisioner of the whole creation, acts in these respects as the Universal Father. The whole universe owes Him the respect due to Him as such; wherefore, He appeals to those who despised His authority, saying, "If I be a Father, where is mine honour ?"

Again, the fact that Isaac had a blessing for Esau, as well as for Jacob, only helps to complete the parallel between him and Jesus. Isaac's blessing for Esau was only an inferior and secondary one, and referred exclusively to temporal blessings. The Lord Jesus Christ in like manner has a blessing; only a secondary and inferior one, it is true, and referring exclusively to temporal matters, but still a blessing even for the ungodly, the sun shining on the evil and the good. All earthly prosperity, every moment's respite from God's judgments against sin, were purchased for the world by the death of Christ. He purchased eternal life for His people, and a respite for the unbelievers. He bought the field for the sake of hid treasures, and the field benefits by His proprietorship. Christ laid down His life for the sheep, but many benefits of His death are extended to the world at large for the elect's sake, who are the salt of the earth; and thus Jesus is "the Saviour of all men, especially of them that believe."

This teaches

But all the children of Jacob were really Israelites. us the great truth, that "as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God"-"Except a man be born of the Spirit he cannot see the Kingdom of God"-all who have felt the operations of the Holy Ghost-the Divine Jacob- these, and only these, are really spiritual Israelites; and thus, the more we examine this type, the more exact it becomes. Of course it will not stand true in every particular; it would cease to partake of the nature of a type if it did. The types were all imperfect; they were earthly shadows of heavenly realities, and earth's imperfections cannot fitly foreshadow heaven's perfections. The Epistle to the Hebrews is conclusive on the point, that all the Old Testament types, however suitable, came short of their antitypes. Taking this into consideration, we may say that the typical Trinity is as complete in its resemblance as any of the Old Testament shadows. It must be remembered, too, that the foregoing remarks are far from being exhaustive, and are only intended to be suggestive on a subject which would repay a much fuller examination; but they may be useful in drawing attention to the wonderful harmony there is in God's Word, and thus may help to give a deeper-rooted faith in its complete inspiration, and encourage the children of God to place a more confiding trust in a covenant God, a Trinity in Unity, a three-fold cord that sin, Satan and hell cannot break, bound together to secure for the sons of God all that is needful for them for time and for eternity.

Tansley Rectory, Matlock.

H. H. A. S.

[ERRATUM.-In last month's number, p. 321, omit from "Universal Father" (line 5) to "Holy Ghost" (line 27).-A page of the MS., having got misplaced, was inserted here by mistake.]

LABOURERS, ARTISANS, AND PROFESSIONAL MEN OF

THE BIBLE.

In

JACOB'S Sons—at least eleven of them, as may be inferred from Scripture history-were keepers of sheep, like their father. In Gen. xxxvii. 2, 3, we read, "Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him." Let us go back one generation, and solemn is the warning to parents, as Holy Writ furnishes us of two instances in which a sinful and unjust partiality on the part of the parents resulted in sin and distress and trouble, as the expression of God's righteous displeasure. Turn we, then, to one little verse in Gen. xxv., "And Isaac loved Esau." Why? "Because he did eat of his venison;" pleased, doubtless, with the loving, dutiful care with which the elder son sought to tempt the old man's failing appetite; but— oh that but showing, as it were, one parent set against another, instead of the perfect oneness there ought to be between father and mother in all that concerns their children-"but Rebekah loved Jacob." So here, in our present narrative, Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children. Why?-self again!-because "he was the child of his old age," and, as a natural consequence, the same sad results followed in both cases. Gen. xvii. we read of a sinning and deceiving mother and younger son, who, moreover, lied to his dying parent-of the old man trembling with a great trembling (marg.), and of the supplanted brother crying with an exceeding bitter cry, hating Jacob, and "comforting himself, purposing to kill him." In the case of Jacob and his family, the much-made-of Joseph appears in no amiable form before us. As a tale-bearer and a favourite, he was hated of his brethren; and here, too, followed a sad tissue of sin and craftiness, and cruelty and anguish. The father's darling sent with a tender message to his brethren-a message proving that, if unwisely partial, Israel was, after all, a loving parent, and affectionate to all his children. The messenger is seized, threatened with death, sold as a slave; with exquisite cruelty the father's gift-coat, dipped in blood, in order to carry conviction to the old man's anguished heart, that his beloved "Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces, an evil beast having devoured him," and vain indeed was the effort made by his sons and daughters to comfort him: "for," said he, "I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him." After Joseph was sold to the Midianites, and by them to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, his brethren continued to follow their trade of shepherds; but after a time there was a grievous famine, the pastures failed, and, no longer able to endure their distress, "Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt." The envied and hated Joseph relieved their necessities, after a time made himself know to them, sent for his aged father, and, after introducing the whole family to Pharaoh, settled them in the land of Goshen, where they continued to pursue their calling, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians." "And Pharaoh spake unto Joseph, saying: If thou knowest any man of activity among thy brethren, then make them rulers over my cattle."

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Joseph, the youngest of the patriarchal shepherds, was in many particulars a striking type of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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1. He was the beloved of his father. At our Lord's baptism, heavens were opened, and a voice was heard, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

2. Joseph was sent by his father with a message of peace to his brethren; but, when they saw him, they conspired against him to slay him. Of Jesus we read: "He came to His own, and His own received Him not;" and again: "Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and killed the Prince of life."

3. Joseph was sold by his brethren for twenty pieces of silver. Jesus was sold by a disciple-by one who had ate of His bread-for thirty pieces of silver.

4. Joseph's coat was dipped in blood (representing his own), and presented by his brethren to his father, by whom it was fully recognized as that of his son. So the Apostle speaks very fully, all through Heb. ix., of the accepted blood-the blood of atonement-of "the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God;" also quoting Moses, who took the representative "blood, and sprinkled both the book and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the testament, which God hath enjoined unto you." As also, at the first institution of the Passover, God recognized this blood-" When I see the blood."

5. Joseph could not be the saviour of his brethren without leaving his father's house and going into a far country. "I came forth," said Jesus, "from the Father, and am come into the world."

6. Joseph, though the beloved son of his father, became a servant; so the Apostle writes of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant.

7. Joseph was sorely tempted to sin, yet resisted the tempter (Gen. xxxix.). St. Matt. records: "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil." "He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin," is the testimony of an inspired apostle.

8. Gen. xliii. 30: We read that Joseph's bowels yearned upon youngest brother, and he sought where to weep. At the grave of Lazarus, "Jesus wept," and those around Him bore this testimony to the loving "Elder Brother," "Behold, how He loved him ;" and the Apostle speaks in his Epistle to the Ephesians, of "the love of Christ which passeth knowledge."

9. Only in their felt need, and when confessing they were ready to perish, did Joseph succour his brethren. Jesus "came to seek and to save the lost." "I came not," said Jesus, "to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

10. Joseph's charge to his brethren-"See that ye fall not out by the way"-furnishes a parallel to our Lord's "new commandment" to His disciples, that they should "love one another."

"

11. Joseph settled his brethren in Goshen as the king's shepherds," (Gen. xlvii. 4-6). Jesus gave a charge to Peter, and through him to His other disciples, to "feed His sheep ;" and in Eph. iv. 11, we read, as regards Christ's Church, that "He gave some pastors," a paralelled word, being frequently thus used in the prophets, e.g. Jer. xxiii. 2.