loved more than I loved Esau. Thus, again, in the prophet Hosea, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice" is not to be understood to the exclusion of sacrifice, for it was then com a preference-I will have mercy rather than sacrifice, and, as it follows in the very next words, "the knowledge of the Lord more than burnt offerings." Fourthly. It yet remains that we briefly remove the only real difficulty which our interpretation of the text admits a difficulty arising out of the different genius of our language, and of that in which our Saviour spoke :manded to the Jews but as denoting and to which we think it necessary to advert; for, though we conceive, generally speaking, that nothing can be more irrelevant or unprofitable than to convert the pulpit into an arena for the bitter wranglings of verbal criticism, we conceive also, that, to a pious mind, no discussion can prove unedifying that tends, even in the remotest degree, to throw one ray of added light on the doctrines which the blessed Jesus taught, and on the mind which should be in his disciples. We observe, then, that the absolute structure of the sentence, "Take no thought for your life," "take no thought for the morrow,"would appear to militate against the sense we have given to the phrase, and to debar us from qualifying its purport. But this is owing to a peculiarity in the Jewish idiom, according to the analogy of which, two sentences, thus connected by way of opposition, are in sense the same as though they had been one: a peculiarity the more worthy -to be attended to, because upon the ignorance of it has been built many erroneous interpretations of scripture. This will be shewn by one or two .striking instances, which, at the same time, will confirm us in the right reading of our text. Thus, again, to the woman of Canaan, our Saviour says:-"I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Where the meaning is not absolute, (as, from the former part, it might appear), not that he was sent to the Jews, and to them alone, but relative, implying, that though the end of his mission was ultimately to give the means of redemption to the whole earth, yet to the Jews his law was to be earlier revealed than to any heathen nation. So, likewise, when he says, "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." In like manner, Saint Paul hath also several instances of this peculiar mode of speech; as, when, in the first of Corinthians, he declares, “all things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient," the sense of which is, not that all actions are lawful, a manifest and flagrant absurdity, but that many things which are lawful, may yet not be expedient; and, in the same epistle, he saith, "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach his gospel," which we cannot interpret literally, since we know the apostles were sent by their ascending Lord to baptize all nations: but which meansI am sent by Christ to preach his We read in the Old Testament, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have "I hated." Thus it runs in our authorised version, which is literal, according to the words of the He-gospel, still more than to baptize; brew, but different as to the sense, because the idioms differ; for, in the original, the two propositions are blended into one, so that the right translation is simply,-Jacob have I that is, though it is part of my duty to attend to the outward ceremonies of religion, it is chiefly to inculcate the inward faith that I am come among you. From the above examples it is hoped that this analogy of language will be clearly understood. Returning, therefore, from this digression to our text, we shall find that, allowing for the Jewish idiom, the English version may be thus paraphrased: "Seek ye first the kingdom of GOD and his righteousness;" taking in comparison to this no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, nor what ye shall drink, nor wherewithal ye shall be clothed not that these things are unnecessary, but because "your heavenly Father, who knoweth that ye have need of all these things, will add them unto you," that is, he will reward your diligence and your exertions, provided your first care hath been to please, and your first thought hath been to worship him, through your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Thirdly. And now, brethren, we have, as far as in us lay, redeemed the promise made in the opening of this discourse; having considered the text, both in its primitive, and literal, application to the Apostles ;-and in its secondary, and qualified, application to ourselves. Something is thus done, but much more remains to be done. It remains that we show the benevolence of the precept, and its surpassing excellence, in its adaptation to our moral and intellectual condition; it remains that we enforce the practical motives for its observance; it remains, lastly, that we suggest the best means to facilitate our obedience. This must be left for a future day. Meanwhile, let us all remember that, whatever other proximate motives he may derive from expediency or from any other considerations, the first motive that should act in a Christian soul, is that it is Christ's injunction: Let us then (all fair allowance being made for constitutional solicitude, and difference of organization,) let us learn so to trust our heavenly Father as to "cast all our care upon him," knowing that "he careth for us;" let us "cast our bread upon the waters," secure that we shall find it, if not after few, yet "after many days;" let us look down on the tide of events as they flow by us, not from the sandy heights of stoical apathy, but from the commanding rock of Christian fortitude, knowing, that the lot is cast into the lap, but the disposing of it is the Lord's; let us, when with the Psalmist we are disposed to cry, "Why art thou so heavy, O my soul, and why art thou so disquieted within me," be ready also to exclaim with him, "Yet put thy trust in GoD, which is the light of thy countenance, and thy God:" and so, when the fevered vision of our being is dissolved, when the clay-cold bounds of our spirit have departed,-when the wings of the soul resume their flight,-when our little anxieties, and the very earth that bore them, have vanished like the baseless fabric of a dream,-a voice shall resound in purer air, and to those who in humility sought his presence, Christ himself will appear in the bosom of the clouds, displaying those new heavens and that new earth where righteousness for ever dwell, and saying: Come, ye blessed children of my Father, ye few, that through the troubled ocean of life, sailed unwrecked to these eternal shores,-enter into joys that never fade, and partake of that kingdom prepared from everlasting for those who love me--where ye shall have no morrow to provide for, for there shineth one unclouded day, one Sabbath of unbroken rest; where ye shall need no thought of what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, or wherewithal ye shall be clothed,for your food shall be the fruit that hangeth in unfailing clusters from the branches of the tree of life,-and you drink the waters of the crystal river that proceedeth from the throne of GOD and from the Lamb, and your raiment the white and spotless robes that shine with ever increasing lustre through all the ages of immortality! No. 157.] THE PREACHER. SERMON BY THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDON. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1833. A Sermon, [Price 3d. DELIVERED BY THE LORD BISHOP OF LONDON, AT THE CONSECRATION OF ST. MICHAEL'S CHAPEL, BURLEIGH STREET, STRAND; 1 Corinthians, xiv. 32, 33.—“ The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints." ingly there is one body and one spirit, even as they are called, in one hope of their calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one GoD and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all. The church, which was built by its divine founder upon a rock, was not the Gospel itself, but the instrument THE last words of this sentence are to be taken in connection with the first, and the whole, divested of its parenthetical form, will stand thus"the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; as in all churches of the saints, for God is not the author of confusion, but of peace." The principle which the Apostle asserts is clearly this, that, in the out-of preserving the Gospel in the world, ward ordering of the church of GOD, which is the appointed instrument for promoting his glory and the salvation of his creatures, whatever tends to promote peace, order and unity, is agreeable to his purpose and intentions; but that every thing which leads to confusion or unsettledness, as the word is literally rendered, is displeasing to him. Nor have we far to seek for a fuller developement of this principle, and of its agreement with the nature and object of the christian dispensation; which was, to bring all men to the same Saviour; to enlighten all by the same word; to sanctify all by the same spirit; to conduct all by the same path to the same heavenly kingdom. Accord VOL. VI. and of diffusing the knowledge and promoting the practice of it. And any branch of that church may look for a participation in the promise of impregnable security, which accompanied the announcement of its foundation, in proportion as it answers its ends; and this will be according to the degree in which it is fitted, by its constitution and ordering, to prevent confusion and division and to produce evangelical peace and unity. I am here speaking of the church simply as instrumental in the work of teaching and edification, taking for granted that the doctrine which it teaches is the pure doctrine of the Gospel of Christ; and considering S only the outward means which it em- | religion would not long subsist, in ploys to enforce that doctrine, and to recommend it to the consciences of men. This being the great object for which the divine author of our religon founded the church, and instituted the ministry, we find the❘ Apostles, and especially St. Paul, in various parts of their writings, distinguishing between two classes of men in the church-the teachers and hearers-those whose office it was to lead, and those whose duty it was to follow. Upon the former, who are designated as guides, shepherds, watchmen, rulers, instructors, are enjoined faithfulness, patience, zeal, charity, soundness of doctrine; upon the latter a meek and teachable spirit, unity, and steadfastness in the faith. The former are said to watch over the souls of their brethren, as they that must give account; the latter are exhorted to animate and encourage them in the performance of that duty, by a cheerful submission to their spiritual guidance, and by a willing tribute of a double share of honour. And if there be any thing clear, and indisputable in the history of the christian church, it is this, that, from its very foundation, a distinct order of men were appointed to have the care of those souls which were within the limits of their spiritual charge, for the due execution of which charge they were accountable, in the first instance, to the supreme ministers of their respective churches, but ultimately, and in a more awful sense, to Almighty God himself. And that provision which was made, by the inspired wisdom of the Apostles, for the preservation and extension of the faith, was a provision absolutely necessary to the continuance of the church, and would doubtless in some form or other, have been adopted by the church, even without the direct sanction of apostolic authority; for any community of men, if its rites were not publicly solemnized, and its records and institutes publicly read and explained. And in order that this may be so performed as to answer the purpose of edification, it must be performed decently and in order; but, this it never would be unless certain persons were set apart for that particular duty, and duly prepared for the right performance of it by regularly appointed and competent authority. Confusion and distraction of mind, as hesitation and a wavering faith, would be the sure results if these points were left to the piety, or judgment, or caprice, of every individual in the church-if all were to be considered as equally entitled to ascend the teacher's chair, and each man at liberty to practise his own mode of edification: but "GOD is not the author of confusion, but of peace." The first teachers of our religion appointed ministers and officers of religion, because it is not possible for any religion to subsist without it; and they established also a form of church government, because the church must be governed by some forms, or there could be no government at all. How far different communities of christian men are at liberty to choose their own form of church government, is a question I am not now about to consider: but this I may assert, and appeal to all history for the proof of the assertion, that the platform of our own church, considered only as a spiritual institution, is formed on the model of that polity of which the outlines, at least, were traced by the Apostles themselves, and filled up by their immediate successors; and which subsisted for more than fifteen hundred years without any question or opposition, as to all its essential features. And it is, surely, no hazardous nor untenable position to say, that, the form of church government | be if there were no clergy, or the clergy had no provision than that which they derived from the voluntary offerings of their flocks. If we were not persuaded, or, at least, if we had good reason to believe that the acknow which was sketched by the Apostles, and which was consolidated and established by their successors cannot be departed from, when circumstances render their adherence to it possible, without at least great danger of im-ledgment and protection afforded us paring the perfectness and efficiency of the church itself as the instrument for maintaining and preserving the true religion. I shall venture to assume, then, that the church to which we belong is, in its form of government and in the scale of its ministry, apostolic. That its doctrines are scriptural, and its liturgies edifying, is freely admitted by many who dispute the authority and propriety of its religion. This, therefore, I shall also take for granted, and so far it is manifest, that our church is well adapted to answer the great end of its appointment,-to promote the glory of Him, who is not the author of confusion, but of peace. But there arises an important, and, at the present time, a peculiarly interesting question-how far the usefulness and efficiency of a church, confessedly pure in doctrine and apostolical in the principles of its government, is promoted or impeded by its adoption on the part of the state, as an instrument for upholding the honour of God's holy name, diffusing throughout the great body of the people respect for his ordinances, and knowledge of his will; and a spirit of cordial acquiescence to his counsels, and willing obedience to his law. I trust that we, my brethren, who are ministers of the national church, are not only persuaded in our own minds that it is a true branch of Christ's holy universal church (which if it were not we could be neither ministers nor members of it without risking our salvation), but which is far more useful as an established church, than it could possibly by the state, impeded rather than advanced the sacred cause of truth and holiness, I trust we should have enough of courage, and candour, and self-denial, to make the avowal, to be content to relinquish all but our attachment to the church, as invested with apostolical authority, and as claiming the rich inheritance of its Master's promises (all, I say, of these in a spirit of devotedness to his service), under every trial of our faith, and patience, tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or the sword. But if we were convinced not only that a national establishment greatly increases the usefulness of a christian church, but that it is absolutely necessary for the preservation of true religion amongst us; and that we are infinitely more serviceable and efficient as clergymen of the established church, than we could be with the same talents, the same zeal, the same dovotion, as ministers of a sect of Presbyterian christians; then we are not only excuseable if we vindicate our establishment, but it is our sacred duty, and, let me add, it is the sacred duty of every conscientious member of our church, to stand up fearless of the result, in her behalf as being the depository of gospel truth in this landthe christian resting-place in the time of confusion and error-the tabernacle of God's honour, and the instructor of his people. "For my brethren and companions' sake I will wish thee prosperity, I will now say peace be with thee. Because of the house of the Lord our GOD I will seek thy peace." In the first place, then, we assert |