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AN honest pagan historian saith of | sation, candid and benign in our

the christian profession, that" nil nisi justum suadet et lene;" the which is a true, though not full character thereof. It enjoineth us, that we should sincerely and tenderly love one another, should earnestly desire and delight in each other's good, should heartily sympathize with all the evils and sorrows of our brethren, should be ready to yield them all the help and comfort we are able, being willing to part with our substance, our ease, our pleasure, for their benefit or succour; not confining this our charity to any sort of men, particularly related or affected towards us, but, in conformity to our heavenly Father's boundless goodness, extending it to all; that we should mutually bear one another's burthens, and bear with one another's infirmities, mildly resent and freely remit all injuries, all discourtesies done unto us, retaining no grudge in our hearts, executing no revenge, but requiting them with good wishes and good deeds. It chargeth us to be quiet and orderly in our stations, diligent in our calling, veracious in our words, upright in our dealings, observant in our relations, obedient and respectful towards our superiors, meek and gentle to our inferiors; modest and lowly, ingenious and compliant in our conver

censures, innocent and inoffensive, yea, courteous and obliging in all our behaviour towards all persons. It commandeth us to root out of our hearts all spite and rancour, all envy and malignity, all pride and haughtiness, all evil suspicion and jealousy; to restrain our tongue from all slander, all detraction, all reviling, all bitter and harsh language; to banish from our practice whatever may injure, may hurt, may needlessly vex or trouble our neighbour. It engages us to prefer the public good before any private convenience, before our own opinion or humour, our credit or fame, our profit or advantage, our ease or pleasure; rather discarding a less good from ourselves, than depriving others of a greater. Now who can number or estimate the benefits that spring from the practice of these duties, either to the man that observes them, or to all men in common? Oh divinest Christian charity! what tongue can worthily describe thy most heavenly beauty, thy incomparable sweetness, thy more than royal clemency and bounty? How nobly doth thou enlarge our mind beyond the narrow sphere of self and private regard into a universal care and complacence, making every man ourselfand all concernments to be ours? Dr. Barrow, Sermon 16, vol. ii.

GLORY OF THE CLERGY.

GOD is the fountain of honour, and the conduit by which he conveys it to the sons of men are virtuous and generous practices. Some indeed may please and promise themselves high matters from full revenues, stately palaces, court interests and great dependances. But that which makes the clergy glorious, is to be knowing in their profession, unspotted

in their lives, active and laborious in their charges, bold and resolute in opposing seducers, and daring to look vice in the face, though never so potent and illustrious. And lastly, to be gentle, courteous, and compassionate to all. These are our robes, and our maces, our escutcheons and highest titles of honour. Dr. South, vol. i. p. 264.

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IN THE CHURCH OF SAINT MARY, NEWINGTON, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1833.

Acts, iv. 13.-" And they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus."

WERE I to be asked in what true christianity consists, the latter part of my text would furnish an appropriate answer. It is entirely dependent on our association with Jesus Christ, the Head of the church. The distinguishing feature in the character of the persons to whom allusion is here made, obviously arose from this cause. We inquire, then, with some degree of justifiable curiosity, into the history of these individuals, on whom this high eulogium was pronounced. We know of no greater commendation that could have been bestowed upon them; there is no higher point of distinction we would more earnestly desire to attain, than that it should be apparent to all, that we have "been with Jesus." Yet what was in reality their greatest honour, was alleged against them as a cause of reproach; so perverse are the opinions of men, they frequently "call good evil, and evil good."

ter: on the contrary, it was imputed to them, that they were unlearned and ignorant men. In themselves they certainly had no distinguishing marks of excellence, either as it respected their birth, their education, or their rank in society. Their occupation was that of humble fishermen, and it was while they were busily employed in mending their nets, that our Lord called them to become "fishers of men." This seems to have been the principal charge brought against them by the rulers of the people, and elders of Israel. They had seen two individuals perform a notable miracle, restoring to the use of his limbs, a man who had been a cripple from his birth. They had heard them preach the resurrection from the dead through Jesus Christ, with a power they could not resist, with a force of argument they could not refute. It was clear, therefore, that Peter and John were no common persons, though their dress, habits, and employment, bespoke them to be indi

The individuals to whom my text refers were eminent servants of the living GOD-Peter and John: but their eminence arose from this cir-viduals occupying the humbler walks cumstance, "that they had been with Jesus;" in other respects there was nothing remarkable in their charac

VOL. VI.

in life; the only way of accounting for this extraordinary alteration of character, was by saying "that they

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had been with Jesus." If they meant to ascribe the power by which the apostle spoke and acted to the influence of Christ, they at once acknowledged " that same Jesus whom they had crucified to be the Lord of life and glory:" so that they stand condemned by their own words; and we have the testimony not only of his friends, but also his enemies, of the wonderful things which the name of Jesus was able to accomplish.

First of all, then, we are led to notice the effects produced in the apostles by their association with Jesus; secondly, we would advert to the effects which ought to be produced in the men of this generation, by the same cause. This, together with the application of the subject, will form materials for a discourse, which I trust, that this same Jesus whom we seek to glorify will accompany with His blessing.

We have already remarked the apostles' former habits of life; nothing apparently could be so il adapted to that station which they were hereafter to fill; with no other knowledge than such as was requisite to enable them to procure their daily sustenance from the bosom of the deep. But God had a mighty work to accomplish by them; he qualified them, therefore, for the undertaking. This has often been brought forward by the disputers of this world, as an objection to Christianity, that its first preachers were ignorant and unlearned men; whereas this appears to me to be one of the strongest proofs of its divine origin. It shows that it could not have been a fable, cunningly devised by the ingenuity of man; for it originated not among those who were held in reputation for their wisdom, but among that class who, of all others, was most unlikely, and most unable

to invent such a story; or if invented, to have imposed it on the world with any prospect of success. It is evident to the mind of every unprejudiced person, that these individuals must have derived their power and authority from some other source than their own combined energies. Such was the will of God, he chose to accomplish his purpose by means the most improbable, and persons the most unqualified, in order that all boasting on the part of man might be excluded, and that He alone might be exalted: "He made the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty." So it was ordained in the case before us: with such power and demonstration of the Spirit, were Peter and John enabled to speak; with such authority did these illiterate men charge the Jewish rulers with the blood of Jesus, that they were perfectly dumb with astonishment; and although they could neither contradict their assertions nor repel their charges, they commanded them no longer to speak in the name of Jesus, that fearful and powerful name, not knowing what might be the result to themselves and their kingdom. Here was an astonishing sight, rulers and priests confounded, and trembling before a few poor fishermen, who, but a short time before, would scarcely have dared to venture into their presence.

But lest it might be said that the boldness of the apostles was assumed, that they were not only ignorant, but that this ignorance was also accompanied, as we sometimes see to be the case, with impudence and audacity; they were enabled to afford a positive proof that they were no impostors. The same Holy Spirit which enabled them boldly to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus, ena

the truth as it is in Jesus, to some out of every nation under heaven. Well might the rulers, the scribes, and pharisees be astonished when they saw these fishermen disciples, in defiance of threats, in spite of

bled them also in His name to perform | Ghost bearing testimony by the miracles; to restore an impotent mouths of two sea-faring men to man to the use of his limbs, of which he had been deprived from his mother's womb; so that, if no credit were to be attached to their words, they at least demanded belief for their works' sake. They came, therefore, with the best possible creden- | their stern authority, hazarding even tials which could be afforded, that they were the authorised preachers of that new system of religion, which was one day to shake the foundations of the earth; and nought but the proverbial obstinacy and hardness of the Jewish hearts could have resisted the divine power, which wrought among them such deeds of wonder. But who can marvel that they who crucified the Lord of life and glory, should afterwards not only turn a deaf ear to his servants, 'but raise also against them their murderous hands.

their lives for the Gospel's sake; confirming their mission by signs and wonders performed by an approving GOD. Surprise was strongly stamped on every countenance; it was impossible to conceal the fact, that some unheard-of thing had happened in the city, which was turned upside down: they could only account for this mysterious transaction by saying that the apostles "had been with Jesus." Thus did GoD raise to himself a church from the ruins of opposition and persecution; thus did He, by the impotency of human agency, lay the foundation of that Gospel, which is one day to subvert the dominions of Satan, extending its salutary influence from pole to pole, until "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord."

But are the apostles the only persons who have been able to afford undoubted testimony of their approximation to Jesus? Let us consider, in the second place, the benefits which are to this hour conferred on those who hold communion with him, and

Again, another striking display of this divine power was exhibited by these apostles. It is probable, from the situation they held, that they could only speak the language of their native tongue, and that too, most likely, in common with persons of their rank in life, but imperfectly. What then must have been the astonishment of the multitude from all parts of the world, when they came together at the celebration of one of their great feasts, to hear these poor despised disciples speaking to them in their own language wherein of whom it may be recorded that they were born: so that strangers"they have been with Jesus." It is of every realm, whether Parthians, Medes or Elamites, or inhabitants of more distant regions, were instructed and taught; Peter and John were enabled to converse with them all, and preach to them, for the first time, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in their own native language. What a sight was here! What a wonderful display of divine power! The Holy

true that, in the present day, we must not expect the miraculous effusion of the Holy Spirit, although I know that this assertion will be contradicted by some, who have claimed for themselves the passession of these gifts, and assert that their absence in general is owing to our reluctance in asking and expecting, not from any unwillingness

on the part of GOD to bestow them. We cannot give countenance to such notions, being, in our opinion, unsupported by fact, and unwarranted by scriptural expectation. We deem it possible, though scarcely think it probable, that the miraculous gifts may again be vouchsafed to the church, all we would contend for, is, that the period has not yet arrived. Gop works now by ordinary methods, though not less effectual: His Spirit is the great agent now, as in former days, for effecting great changes in the universe; but it is by an invisible display of its power. There is the same necessity, therefore, for going to Jesus for instruction in spiritual things, as in apostolic days, "no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him." In one respect we all resemble the fishermen disciples of old; we are ignorant and unlearned, "knowing nothing as of ourselves;" we are "fools, and slow of heart to believe" all the revelations of Jehovah; we want the will and power so to receive the things of GOD, as to render them available to salvation. By our natural abilities we may form correct notions of the scheme of religion. Our creed may be orthodox, yet extending only to the information of the understanding, not the regulation of the heart: it is this knowledge which the apostle says, puffeth up. It is just this superficial glance at the doctrines of the Bible, which passes current for true religion; which lulls the soul of many a professor into a fatal slumber but we must be otherwise taught, if we would be aroused from our lethargy and become alive unto GOD. We must become the willing disciples of the blessed Jesus, and sit in the posture of humility to learn of Him. If the clouds of our natural darkness are ever to be dispersed

from our souls, it can only be effected by a ray from the Sun of Righteousness.

Modern scepticism, and the infidelity of the present day, would deny both the necessity for divine teaching, and its capability; whatever is not to be comprehended by the force of intellect, or the deductions of reason, is rejected as an article of belief, unworthy to compose the creed of a Christian population. But we must not suffer ourselves to be hurried down the tide of human opposition to the mandates and doctrines of heaven; yea, rather we must attempt to arrest the flood of false liberality and vain philosophy, by opposing the grand barrier of truth to its progress. We must reiterate in the ears of our auditory, as the avenues to their hearts, the unwelcome, the humiliating, but the indisputable assertion of an inspired apostle, "that the things of GoD knoweth no man, but the Spirit of GOD:" they can be, therefore, only communicated by the Spirit. We have then, just the same need as the disciples to be instructed in righteousness, by the same infallible teacher, ere we shall have obtained that "wisdom which comes down from above."

Again, we are by nature like the apostles, timid, weak, unstable creatures, liable every moment to be carried away captive by the insidious attacks of an implacable foe. From whence are we to derive a knowledge of his designs, or the power to frustrate them. From whence is the strong temptation to be overcome, the raging lust burning like a fever to be resisted, the fierce desire to be controlled! Look at a man without the Spirit of God, under the influence of all his passions, and you seem him transformed into the image of satan. There ex

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