Page:Spiritual Reflections for Every Day in the Year - Vol 2.pdf/52

 clothing of Divine Truth, in accommodation to the varied thoughts and states of men. This clothing is the literal sense of the WORD. Divine Truth in itself is spiritual; it is one, pure and spotless, possessing no shades or degrees, and is shadowed forth by the Lord's vest without seam, woven from the top throughout. (John xix. 23.) The reception of this truth by angels and men, is various, exhibiting the differences of human affection and thought, with their varied modifications of the One Truth; for as colours, naturally, are nothing but modifications of light; so spiritual colours are variations of intelligence and wisdom, arising from the reception of Divine Truth by different minds. The Lord, in mercy, by His written word, by this coat of many colours, reaches the minds of all sorts and conditions of men. It assumes language adapted alike to the sinner and the saint—to the good and the evil— the righteous and the wicked. To the former, mercy speaks with ardent love, when it asks, "How can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. xxiii. 33.). The same WORD that asks the question, gives the answer, "Depart from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it." (Psalm xxxiv. 14.) "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly." (Psalm i. 1.) To the good and obedient He says, "Come ye blessed of my father (ye blessed of my love), inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matt. xxv. 34.) The truth, as it is in Jesus, unclouded, immutable, and bright, is therefore one; but as received and viewed by men, it is of many colours; for each views the truth according to the purity or impurity of his own mind: to the merciful man the Lord appears merciful—to the upright He