THE clergyman of my parish lately preached a sermon from these words, "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God ;" in the course of which he traced, with great precision, various deceptions which men are apt to practise, in order to conceal from themselves their want of real religion; and proved, as I thought very satisfactorily, that conformity to the revealed will of God is the only admissible evidence of a state of acceptance. I went home deeply affected by many of the preacher's remarks, and disposed to bless God for the advantages I enjoyed in having a pastor, who, while he exemplified in his own life the genuine spirit of Christianity, was so faithful in reproving the errors and rectifying the mistakes of his congregation. Some friends, however, who had also heard the sermon, and to whom I communicated my opinion of it, I found to be of a very contrary way of thinking. They disapproved of it as a legal discourse. This diversity of sentiment introduced an amicable discussion as to what was fairly implied in the term "preaching Christ." My friends, who, I must confess, were all of one mind, and consequently left me in a very small minority, contended that "preaching Christ," principally, if not exclusively, respect ed the display of God's mercy to a lost world, while I was disposed to maintain that it included also the awful denunciations of God's wrath against the impenitent. In support of my own views, I produced a folio volume which stood in the lower shelf of my bookcase, and read to them the following passage, which I had heard my good old father greatly commend for its sound sense, and the margin of which I had been led, by that circumstance, very conspicuously to mark with my pencil. "Some men say, that it is preaching Christ, and setting forth God's love, that will win sinners the best, and that terrors do but make unwilling hypocritical professors. This makes me remember how I have heard some preachers of these times, blame their brethren for not preaching Christ to their people, when they preached the danger of rejecting Christ, disobeying him, and resisting his spirit. Do these men think that it is no preaching Christ (when we have for many years told them the fullness of his satisfaction, the freeness and general extent of his covenant or promise, and the riches of his grace, and the incomprehensibleness of his glory, and the truth of all) to tell them afterwards the danger of refusing, neglecting, and disobeying him? and of living after the flesh, and preferring the world before him? and serving Mammon, and falling off in persecution, and avoiding the cross, and yielding in temptation, and quenching the spirit, and declining from their first love, and not improving their talents, and not forgiving and loving their brethren, yea, and enemies, &c. Is none of this the Gospel? nor preaching Christ? Yea, is not repentance itself (except despairing repentance) proper to the Gospel, seeing the law excludeth it and all manner of hope. Blame me not, reader, if I be zealous against these men, that not only know no better what preaching Christ is, but in their ignorance reproach their brethren for not preaching Christ, and withal condemn Christ himself and all his Apostles? Do they think that Christ himself knew not what it was to preach Christ? or that he has set us a pattern too low for our imitation? I desire them soberly to read Matt. v. vi. vii. x. xxv. Rom. viii. 4. from the first verse to the fourteenth Rom. ii. Heb. ii. and iv. and v. and x. and then tell me whether we preach as Christ and his Aposties did. "I say, we do set forth God's love, and the fullness of Christ, and the sufficiency of his death and satisfaction for all, and the freeness and extent of his offer and promises of mercy, and his readiness to welcome returning sinners: this we do first, mixing with this the discovery of their natural misery by sin, which must be first known, and next we shew them the danger of neglecting Christ and his offer. 2. When we find men settled under the preaching of free grace, in a loose contempt or sleepy neglect of it, preferring the world and their carnal pleasures and ease, and the indulgence of their evil tempers, before all the glory of heaven, and the riches of Christ and grace, is it not time for us to say, 'How shall ye escape if ye neglect so great salvation? And, of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, that treadeth under foot the blood of the covenant, &c. Doth any of the Apostles speak more of hellfire, and the worm that never dieth, and the fire that never is quenched, than Christ himself doth? Alas! what work should we make, if we should stroke and smooth all men with antinomian language? It were the way to please all the careless, sensual, ignorant multitude, but it is wide of Christ's way to save their souls. I am ready to think that these men would have Christ preached, as the papists would have him prayed to, who say Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, a number of times together, and call this praying to him: so to have the name of Jesus Christ often in the preacher's mouth, some people think is rightly to preach Christ." This passage, however, by no means terminated the discussion. My friends still retained their own views, and I was unwilling, though I found myself by no means a match for them in argumentation, to give up hastily an opinion which I thought scriptural; and which was sanctioned by one, whose discriminating judgment and cheerful unaffected piety are still the subjects of many a pleasing recollection. have resolved, therefore, to submit the whole affair to you, in the hope that, should you think proper to insert my letter in your miscellany, some one of your numerous correspondents, who has maturely considered the point, will inform me what it is to preach Christ. N. N. I mon among religious people, which has, I think, been greatly misunderstood, or misapplied, viz. the Leadings of Providence. I have heard this question proposed," How may we discern the Leadings of Providence?" I beg leave to offer a few thoughts on the subject. The meaning of such a question I should suppose to be this-How may we know, in cases of doubt and difficulty, the way which God seems to point out? In answer to such an inquiry it may be observed, in the first place, that we can never safely conclude that God points out this or that way, because it is easier than any other. However God may be pleased, his people plain before them, we have on some occasions, to make the way of no grounds to believe that he generally leads them in that way, which, in the common sense of the word, is easy; on the contrary, many scriptures intimate that he leads them in difficult them, and to shew them what is in paths, to humble them, and to prove their heart. If the ease, with which a thing may be accomplished, is to be of God's will, we may often justify considered as a providential intimation wickedness. Hazael knew from the Lord, that he was to be king of Syria in his master's room, (2 Kings viii 13.) His master's situation at that time was such, that he could, with ease and sedid so (ver. 15); but no one will be so crecy despatch him: accordingly he absurd or wicked as to say, that the convenient opportunity which he had that he should commit the act. of doing this was a divine intimation from God that he should be king of the other hand, David had a promise Israel in the room of Saul, and was actually anointed by Samuel. Under these circumstances he once found he could with all ease have slain him, Saul, in a defenceless state. in a cave; and a way would thus have been open On Abi for his accession to the throne. shai, who attended him, pronounced it a providential call: "God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day." But David thought otherwise : THERE is an expression, not uncom- he had more knowledge of his duty SIR, To the Editor of the Christian Observer. than Abishai had, and therefore would not put forth his hand to hurt the Lord's anointed. Secondly-It is equally unsafe to judge of the will of God, from strong impressions upon the mind. Many well-disposed persons place an undue and dangerous confidence in these. It would, perhaps, be going too far to deny, that God has ever communicated his will to holy men in this manner; but it is certainly of great importance to remember, that impressions may come from a bad, as well as from a good, quarter. Satan often infuses sudden thoughts into the mind; and, more effectually to gain his purpose, transforms himself into an angel of light. All impressions, therefore, should be brought to the touchstone of God's word: they should be jealously examined, and scrupulously tried by the only rule of duty, and no further attended to than as they agree with that rule, which they assuredly will, if they come from God. He will never impress any thing on our minds which is contradictory to his own words. Be and dreams it may, I think, be justly After all these observations, it will be said, no direct answer has been given to the question, How may we judge of the Leadings of Providence? By way of answer to the inquiry, I would suggest the following hints, each of which might be considerably enlarged upon. 1. It is a great thing to be in the habit of holy and humble intercourse and communion with God; those who are so, will not be permitted greatly to err. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." 2. An enlarged acquaintance with the word of God will be peculiarly helpful in cases of doubt and perplexity. That word contains sufficient rules and directions for every part of our conduct in life; and those who are conversant in it, and study it with humility and prayer, will be able to select such instructions as are adapted to their particular circumstances. The word of Christ, therefore, should dwell in us richly. The same observations may bé applied to dreams. I know that many religious persons have a propensity to be led by them. No doubt the will of God has been, on many occasions, revealed to his servants in this way; but dreams may be traced to various sources; some may be from God, others we can scarcely doubt, from their nature and tendency, are from wicked spirits; but, in general, we may presume that a dream cometh from the multitude of business." Now when a man is perplexed about any matter, nothing can be more natural than that, having his thoughts much employed on the subject by day, he should dream about it in the night, and dream too that he adopted some particular mode of conduct; but it would be very absurd to infer, that that mode of conduct ought to be adopt-couraged us to come to the throne of ed. The utmost which can fairly be allowed is, that the hint should be duly weighed, and tried in the same way as impressions, by the only rule of duty the word of God. With regard both to impressions 3. Prayer to God, on the subject of the particular difficulty, may be properly recommended... God has en grace, in order to obtain grace to help in every time of need. Whenever, therefore, the understanding is unable clearly to discern the path of duty, (abstracted from which no Leadings of Providence are to be supposed) we should with humble boldness intreat the Almighty's blessing on the use of our reasoning powers, in investigating the directions of his written word. "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of God." many, 4. It is of very great importance to have acquired a habit of Christian selfdenial: if we are defective here, our judgments may be easily warped; and it is to be feared, thus err: under the idea of following the Leadings of Providence, they hastily take the way of ease or inclination, instead of seriously and deliberately studying the rule of duty. Lastly, Let me recommend patient waiting upon God as indispensably necessary; but to this we are, in general, exceedingly averse: when our minds are set upon a thing, our time is always ready; hence we are apt to go before our guide. "Tarry thou the Lord's leisure," is needful counsel. The great secret, indeed, respecting this subject, seems to be," Wait on the Lord, and keep his way." V. H. SIR For the Christian Observer. If there be any weight in the reasoning which I have adopted in my former papers, then it will follow, that the doctrine of episcopacy is a scriptural doctrine. I will therefore close the subject with these reflections. 1. The force of my remarks being admitted, some material difficulties in the history of the church will be obviated. Even Mr. Gibbon, who cannot be suspected of partiality in favour of the christian priesthood, has this observation:" After we have passed the difficulties of the first century, we find the episcopal government universally established, till it was interrupted by the republican genius of the Swiss and German reformers." ""* This remark is evidently founded on the supposition, that espiscopacy receives no countenance from the New Testament. But admit this last position, and a greater difficulty will arise, against which Mr. Gibbon has made no provision. Who introduced the episcopal * Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol. ii. p. $32. note, 8vo. edition. government into the church, which, at the end of the first century, was universally established? Many of the Apostles lived till more than one half of that century was completed. Every person who brought forward new opinions, however absurd those opinions might be, is marked, and his name is handed down to posterity. But if episcopacy was not established by the Apostles, the man who was the first author of this amazing change in the government of the church, has escaped the notice of history. Is this credible? Allow only a reasonable weight to the observations which I have before made, and the whole difficulty vanishes in a moment. 2. The apostolical origin of episcopacy being admitted, the great question is, not whether the Christian church can subsist without this order, any more than whether it can subsist without spiritual worship; but whether I which is clearly apostolical, and more am justified in rejecting the order, especially when I find this order established in my native country? If I am asked what I think of those foreign Protestants, who have cast off the episcopal government, I answer, nothing. To their own master they stand or fall. The question itself appears irrelevant. It becomes not me to decide respecting the state of others; but with humility and in the fear of God, to follow the steps of the Apostles, as they followed their master. Neither sound doctrine, nor spiritual worship, nor apostolical government, is wanting in the united Church of England and Ireland. cannot, therefore, be difficult, in my own case, to discover the path of duty. It 3. In a country where such a church is established, if there be any truth in my former papers, it will be easy to see what degree of importance attaches to the numerous ordinations of certain classes of Dissenters, which we see advertised in the public prints, where one prays, and another exhorts and another sings, and where all arë equal. These things derive a consequence from the air with which they are brought forward; but it is sufficient to say, that nothing similar appears in any part of the New Testament. WAYRING. SIR, To the Editor of the Christian Observer. In addition to my observations in a preceding number on coroners' certificates, I send you for insertion (if you think it proper) exact copies of certificates, which I have very lately received along with funerals brought to my own church. The fornier is from the coroner of the county in which I reside, and is as follows: County of ***** "To the Curate of ****, in the said County. "These are in the name of our Sovereign Lord the King, to require you, on the receipt hereof, to give christian burial to the body of R— H———, upon whom the inquisition of me, the undersigned coroner, hath this day been had. Whereby it is found, that the said deceased came to his death by a certain quantity of earth and stones falling upon him when in a coal-pit, and that without any felonious circumstances attending the same; and for your acting herein this shall be to you suffi cient warrant and authority. Given under my hand and seal the 25th day of October, in the year of our Lord 1802. *****, Coroner." date on a clergyman in his majesty's name? 3. In the performance of ministerial duties, has a clergyman any rules to govern himself by, except the rubrics in the common prayer book, or if there is a doubt about the meaning of any rubric, the direction of his ecclesiastical superiors? 4. Is a clergyman under any obligation to use the burial service over the Corpse of a person who has destroyed his own life, because the jury have pronounced a verdict of insanity; which is almost always the case in this age of stupid inconsideration? Burn, in his Ecclesiastical Law, gives it as his opinion, that in such cases the service ought to be used. But it is certain the rubric (which is confirmed by statute) very wisely makes no such distinction; and Burn, I think, gives no reason for his sentiment, except his own imagination, which no one will be inclined to take for law. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. My situation as a minister of a parish, in a part of the kingdom where a great many soldiers have been successively quartered during the late war, has afforded me much opportunity of observing and inquiring into the state of religion amongst that class of men. Although, for the most part, the character and conduct of the military presents a picture of impiety and licentiousness, from which the mind of the serious Christian turns with mingled abhorrence and pity, yet I feel much satisfaction in being able to bear testimony to several instances of genuine piety, even under all the difficulties and disadvantages which are attached to the life and habits of the soldier. spent many hours, in the course of the last five years, in very profitable and edifying communication with men of I have |