of our souls," or dim our view of Jesus, of His atoning blood, of His enduring glory. St. Paul was an example of this vigilance; for he "exercised himself to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward man." (Acts xxiv. 16.)

46

Nor can I satisfy myself with a general allusion to the all-important exercise of prayer. At the risk of wearying the reader, I must go on to observe, that a spiritual conscience so continually sets before us all the dangers of our soul, and all our obligations to Him who has redeemed us with His own blood, that we pray without ceasing" for that "grace" which is "sufficient" for us in every appointed trial. Who indeed can calculate the force of the supplications that we then pour into the ears of a heavenly Father? What labour can be too hard, what temptation too mighty, or what affliction too severe, for those who wait on Him in the persevering spirit of the patriarch who had power with God and prevailed? Such prayer is in truth the safeguard of the believing soul. How valuable is that safeguard, may appear from the spiritual declension of those who have unhappily neglected it, from all their accumulated sorrows, and also from the security, the progress, the peace, the consolation of those who are familiar with a throne of grace. Truly has it been said, "Prayer is mighty, for it overcomes Him who is Almighty."

Again, a spiritual conscience will take up the inquiry, while it adopts the answer of the Psalmist (Ps. xv.), Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?" "He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. As these and similar qualifications, set forth in the following verses, constitute a "meetness to partake of the inheritance of the saints in light;" so will they be unceasingly cultivated by the man of God (Philippians iii. 14); and serve infallibly to distinguish him from the man of this world, whose conscience is merely natural. The latter, in his brightest visions of celestial happiness, entirely leaves out that "holiness" with which it is essentially connected, and " without which no man shall see the Lord." Not so the former character. While he meditates on the promised rest, on the prepared mansion, on the unfading crown, as secured by Jesus to His true and persevering servants, he is led to examine himself whether he is of that blessed number, yea, and to beseech his God to sanctify him wholly in spirit and soul and body," till he is fitted to strike the harp, to pour forth the Hallelujahs, and to enjoy the blessedness of heaven-that blessedness which for ever testifies that "love of Christ" which purchased it with his own blood for lost and miserable sinners. (Psalm cxxxix. 23, 24.)

. Nor will a spiritual conscience suffer us to glory in such attainments as are indispensable to the I heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." As to Him all praise is due, so to Him it will be surrendered by all who love His name. Here again the spiritual is superior to that natural conscience, which is always ready to feed upon human praise and admiration. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but to thy name give the praise, for thy loving mercy, and for thy truth's sake," is, and ever will be, the heartfelt language of the saint, while pondering on his own unworthiness and on the unspotted righteousness of Him in whom alone we are accepted. Thus the enlightened soul will not retain as its own one particle of the commendation bestowed on it by mortal man. Worthy the Lamb" is in fact the

very breath of Heaven, and consequently the prevailing sentiment of the true believer.

Need I insist on the distinction that will be made by "The Judge of all the earth," between the natural and the spiritual conscience, as it regards every professed Christian. As the Lord "looketh to the heart," so will he develop at His bar its inmost secrets. There it will be vain to plead our good intentions, our comparative innocence, and the praise bestowed on us by man. If now we search not His word, and pray not for His Spirit, He will confound us with the overwhelming question, "How is it that ye sought me ?" And should he proceed to ask, "Wherefore didst thou consult the world rather than the Scripture?" must not the man, who is led by a natural conscience only, be absolutely without excuse? On the other hand, how blessed will be "the faithful in Christ Jesus," whether His ministers or His people, who shall then be found to have searched the word with prayer, to have received its truths with meekness; and so to have listened to a conscience enlightened and governed by the teaching of the all-wise God. Then will be heard no more the laugh of the scorner, the taunts of the disputer of this world, the outcry of the "lovers of pleasure," against the inflexible followers of a crucified but ascended Saviour. Then it will be manifest to all men that they only are conscientious whose hopes and hearts rest upon Him, and they only are wise who ultimately "win Christ."

Πιστις.

ON THE COINCIDENCE OF SUNDAYS AND SAINTS'-DAYS.
To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

Do I understand you as saying (p. 383 of your Number for June) that our Church has not prescribed which service is to be used when a Saint's-day occurs on a Sunday; and that there is no rubric to instruct us in this matter? Can it be possible that "the best ritualists allow that the clergy must exercise their discretion, until the point is authoritatively settled ?"

May I be allowed to call your attention, and that of Surriensis, and of A Senior Clergyman, to what appears to me to be decisive upon the point in question, and to leave us no discretionary power? And if older servants in the sanctuary have erred in this matter, it may be very needful to many of our younger brethren to be informed what is the right course to adopt. In the order how the rest of Holy Scripture is appointed to be read,"-occurs this direction, And note, that when soever proper Psalms or Lessons are appointed, then the Psalms or Lessons of ordinary course appointed in the Psalter and Calendar (if they be different) shall be omitted for that time.”

Your constant Reader, A BERKSHIRE RECTOR.

*** We had hoped we had done with this discussion; but as our Reverend Berkshire friend considers the matter so clear, and might think, if we omitted his note, that we are unwilling to acknowledge a mistake, we insert his communication; but it does not touch the question. How could our worthy corrector suppose, that we, or our correspondents, or the ritualists, had overlooked the direction which he quotes and considers decisive? whereas every clergyman acts upon it, on the Sundays and other Holy-days throughout the year.

"

For example, the Sunday before our present remarks arrive in Berkshire will be the 26th of June; and the paragraph previous to that quoted by our correspondent directs that "to know what lessons shall be read every day, look for the day of the month in the calendar, and there ye shall find the chapters that shall be read." But it is added, that for the feasts (of which the Lord'sday is the highest) "proper lessons are appointed. Instead therefore of reading the ordinary calendar lessons for the 26th of June, our correspondent will turn to the table of "Proper Lessons to be read on the Sundays and other Holy-days," and use those lessons as the rubric he quotes directs. Usually only the first lesson is " proper," and the second ordinary; sometimes both are "proper," and also the Psalms.

But suppose that the Sunday had been on the 29th instead of the 26th, it would then have fallen upon St. Peter's day; for which there are also "proper lessons." Now the direction which our Berkshire friend quotes only says that "ordinary" lessons are to give way to "proper" lessons; but we are utterly at a loss to know what he means by declaring that this settles the cases which we were considering, so as to leave no discretionary power ;”— the cases in which there are two sets of "proper" lessons. Which does he call the " proper" lessons, in the above instance? those for the Sunday, or those for St. Peter's Day? The table of "Proper Lessons" includes both; and therefore we repeat, that till the question is decided by authority each clergyman must use his own judgment. Ours, as we have already stated, is, that the compilers of the Prayer Book intended the Saint's-Day service to be used; for the plain reason that this forms a whole, whereas in various instances, as in that of St. Peter's-day, if a clergyman reads the Sunday service, he must of necessity take portions of the ". proper" Saint's-day service to complete it. He must take as the second lessons for June 29 those specially selected for St. Peter's-day. But then comes the difficulty of the Apocryphal first lessons; and we do not deny that the conclusion is, that if the Church did not intend two distinct services to be jumbled, the Apocryphal lessons are among the portions for the day; but as Apocryphal lessons are never appointed for Sundays, as such, we cannot think it irregular to regard their occurrence in this incidental manner as not specially intended, and as legitimately avoidable by using the Sunday first lessons; there being no rubric to settle which service is to be used. We believe that the practical difficulty which bishops have felt, when applied to in this matter, has been the apocryphal lessons. If they directed the Sunday service there might be no second lessons; if the Saint'sday service, the first lesson might be apocryphal; and they could not well prescribe by authority a selection from both services.

VERS. 1, 2:

NOTES ON 2 THESS. ii. 1-12.

For the Christian Observer.

Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind," &c. The meaning is not, We beseech you to be not soon shaken in mind: but, We beseech you to receive instruction from us, in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, in order that you may be not soon shaken in mind.

"

Ver. 2 Neither by spirit (i. e. by inspired discourses, such as

were delivered in the Christian assemblies), nor by word (i. e. by instructions, whether from St. Paul or any other teacher), nor by letter as from us." This does not mean a forged letter. The reference is to St. Paul's First Epistle to the Thessalonians, as interpreted in a different sense from what it was meant to bear. This is implied by the qualifying particle as. In ver. 15, where St. Paul speaks of his former epistle without reference to the Thessalonian misinterpretation of it, he omits the as: “Hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle."

Ver. 2: "As that the day of Christ is at hand." The Greek is EVEOTηKEV, which means, "close at hand." Bengel properly remarks, "EVEσTWC means what is present: hence St. Paul denies, not the nearness, but such a nearness of the day of Christ."

Ver. 3: "For that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." St. Paul refers to the apostasy and the man of sin, as to things which his readers were acquainted with. The apostasy is supposed to precede and prepare for the revelation of the man of sin. Compare vers. 7, 8.

Ver. 4: "Who opposeth (i. e. who is the opposer) and exalteth himself above all that is called God." In this verse we are to understand the opposer as a synonyme of the Antichrist. St. Paul uses, with reference to the appearance of this Antichrist, the same terms which are commonly applied to the appearance of Christ himself: he speaks of the Antichrist's being revealed, of his coming, and of the mystery of his iniquity. In this there is a grave irony.

Ver. 6: " And now ye know what withholdeth :" i. e. Looking at the present state of the world, you perceive what it is which withholdeth. The sense would have been nearly the same, if the word "now" had been differently placed: "Ye know what now withholdeth."

Ver. 6: "That he might be revealed in his time :" i. e. no sooner than at the time appointed for the revelation.

Vers. 8, 9: " And then shall that wicked one be revealed-whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming-whose coming is after the working of Satan," &c. The parenthesis interrupts the description of the revelation of the Antichrist. That the Antichrist should be here represented as the instrument of Satan, is agreeable to Ephes. ii. 2, where Satan is called "the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience." The "power and signs and lying wonders" which St. Paul attributes to the Antichrist, are a counterpart to the miracles of Christ.

The above notes are taken from an essay of Dr. Kern's, in the volume for 1839 of the Tübinger Zeitschrift für Theologie.

M. J. M.

ARE THE FRUITS OF FAITH AN ELEMENT IN JUSTIFICATION? To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

I AVAIL myself of your offer to insert the passage from Bishop Hall, so unfortunafely "blurred "—(I apprehend, after it came into your hands) and so wholly irrecoverable-though you had to go, for

your own quotations, to the very page in which it stood. You might have detached it from the "specious sophistry" of the letter which you find it inconvenient to combat, and dangerous to print; but the course you have adopted offered one more, though alas! an unavailing, chance, of keeping it out of view. This "scrap from Bishop Hall" is as follows: "God doeth not justify the wicked man as such, but of wicked makes him good, not by mere acceptation, but by a real change; while he justifies him whom he sanctifies. These two acts of mercy are inseparable; but this justice being wrought in us by the Holy Spirit according to the model of our weak receipt, and not according to the full power of the infinite Agent, is not so perfect as that it can bear us out before the tribunal of God."-Old Religion, c. v.

As you adopt and appeal to the theology of Bishop Beveridge, it may be possibly agreeable to you and your readers, to have the scrap," which you extracted from that writer, illustrated by one or two others.

Vol. vi. Serm. x. : Though he can be accounted righteous before God only by the righteousness which he hath in Christ, yet he can never be so accounted in Him, unless he be made sincerely righteous in himself."

Serm. ii., A Good Friday Sermon: "That we may be saved by Christ we must believe and trust in him both for grace to repent, that so our sins may be pardoned, and also for the pardon of our sins when we have so repented, Acts v. 31; Luke xxiv. 47. Still, repentance first and then remission. The first thing, therefore, which we ought to believe and trust in Christ our Saviour for, is, that he will save us from our sins; that He (or, which is all one, God for His sake) will give us grace to repent and forsake our former sins, and to walk in newness of life." As, however, this is doctrine which you have taught yourself to fancy in opposition to the Articles and Homilies, it will be satisfactory to you to learn, on the authority of Dr. Jackson, B. 4, c. 6, § 6, that "It implies a contradiction to the unanimous creed of all Reformed Churches, to admit faith precedent, and works only subsequent, to the justification of which St. Paul here (Rom. iii. and iv.) speaks." Allow me to request your attention to the entire discussion of which this sentence is a " scrap." I continue to believe, in my simplicity, that I may theologise with Beveridge, Hall, and Jackson, and be all the while (contradictory as this may be considered in this nineteenth century),

NO PUSEYITE.

P. S. It may be as well to add " a scrap" from the end of the chapter (Old Religion, c. v. sec. 1), We say that a man doeth then receive the gift of justification by faith..... when he feels in himself new desires, so as detesting evil, and resisting the infirmity of his flesh, he is kindled inwardly to an endeavour of good, although this desire of his be not yet perfect. Thus they in the voice of all antiquity." There is such a thing as controversial honesty as well as civil.

*** We are too happy in having recovered this extract, which is very valuable to our purpose, to chafe ourselves about the unjust accusation of having dishonestly suppressed it. Our correspondent must regret, upon reconsidera