LONDON: JIREH CHAPEL. Intelligence. Father Jones's Retirement and Memorial SOLEMN services were held on Oct. 9th, as a memorial of Mr. J. A. Jones' eighty. seventh birthday, and fifty-eighth year of his ministry. Mr. Foreman preached a very appropriate sermon from Heb. i. 12. (Several friends would be gratified if it could be printed). At the close of the service, Mr. Foreman announced that his aged friend now retires from the responsibilities of the pastorate of this church, through the de. cline of strength; not of principle, nor of love for all those glorious truths which he has stood so boldly and honourably for so many years to promulgate and defend; but natural vigour and inability to bear any longer the studious solicitude of the pastor's labour. Also that he, and he believed, many friends living both in London and the country would help to raise a fund to place the dear old man in comfortable circumstances. the family, with the Lord's people throughout Zion, who have a love to him, should do all that was needful without troubling the church; while friends who can afford would individually do as pleased themand they have promised to do something. He informed the large and crowded meeting that names would be taken that evening, and after, of any friend willing to subscribe to this "Memorial Fund." Mr. Milner, in one of his cheerful and amusing addresses, spoke of his long friendship and hearty good wishes towards his old friend, dwelling particularly on Mr. Jones' effectual labours in controverting popular opposers to God's truth and ordinances. Mr. Attwood's concise and suitable speech was followed by Mr. Waterer, of Hornsey, very solemnly and impressively presenting the concluding prayer. The collections amounted to £15. LONDON: SALEM CHAPEL, WILTON-SQUARE, NEW NORTH-ROAD. More than 300 friends partook of tea; THE Tenth Annual Services, in comafter which a public meeting was held, memoration of the formation of this cause, Mr. J. A. Jones presiding. Some of his were held on Sunday and Monday, Sepformer vigour in defence of the whole tember 16th and 17th. It was our privitruth of God was displayed. Many cheer- lege to be present for a little while at the ful expressions of admiration were caused Monday evening meeting, and we were by his short pithy addresses during the much gratified to hear the worthy pastor, evening. Mr. Webster having prayed, Mr. Mr. Flack, speak as he did in opening the Bloomfield delivered an address, big with service. They had experienced trials and rich principles, fervent and admirable in difficulties, ups and downs, storms and utterance. Mr. Wyard followed with suit- calms, but God had been with them, and able and brotherly thoughts, which did they had on the present occasion much to him great honour as the nearest fellow be thankful for-they were in peace, and labourer. the blessing of God was evidently accomMr. Hazelton interested us with a cha-panying the word preached. Mr. Anderracteristic speech full of fraternal sympathies and ardent feelings of love to truth and God's faithfulness in comforting the aged servant, and supplying the church with all needful pastors. Mr. Hawkins having dwelt a little upon the peculiar interest of this service to him as one of the seals of Mr. Jones' ministry, explained that it had been expressed by a goodly number that a kind of "Memorial Fund" should be raised that would place Mr. Jones beyond anxiety, and in comfort the remainder of his days; and that as the church would henceforth have another pastor to seek, it was desired that son, of Deptford, was the first speaker, and the subject of the evening being "The Kingdom of Christ," he urged the importance of all who professed to be the subjects of King Jesus, observing the laws of his kingdom, which were of supreme authority, and could be changed, or dispensed with without dishonouring the Lord. We should be careful on the one hand not to be carried away by false charity, and on the other not to be ashamed or afraid because of the frowns of the professing world, for all the most violent opposition to the one true church has ever come from the many false ones. Mr. Crowther, of Leeds, who preached in the | school-teachers and officials; and he beafternoon, made some excellent remarks lieved there was perfect harmony in the on Seeing, Seeking, and Entering the Kingdom." Messrs. Evans, of Hounslow, Crowhurst, of Hoxton, Silverton, of the Borough, and Wyard, of St. Luke's, each addressed the meeting, which closed soon after nine o'clock; and we trust the people were both pleased and profited. The church is still burthened with a small debt, which the friends are striving with all their might to get rid of. They have done wonders in this respect, and we hope they will meet with all the encouragement and help which they deserve, and that the good cause will still prosper. LONDON: FOREST ROAD CHAPEL, DALSTON. THE friends meeting in the above place held their Harvest Thanksgiving Meeting on Tuesday, October 9th. A good number sat down to tea; after which the evening meeting commenced. The pastor, J. H. Dearsly, presided. Brother E. Hewlett implored the Divine blessing; when brother Milner, followed by brethren Bloomfield and Hall, delivered appropriate addresses. In the course of the evening it was announced that £77 12s. Od. had been received by cards and collections, during the last three months, towards liquidating the debt on the building. The Lord has blessed the labours of the pastor. Many additions have been made by baptism and dismission from other churches. The friends have reason to thank God and take courage. DEPTFORD: ZION CHAPEL, NEW CROSS ROAD. THE Anniversary Services of the Sunday-school in connexion with the above place of worship were held on Sunday and Monday, September 23rd and 24th. The pastor, Mr. J. S. Anderson, preached on the Lord's-day, and addressed the children and their friends in the afternoon. A goodly number assembled on the Monday afternoon to tea, which was served in good style in the school-room behind the chapel; and at half-past six o'clock, Mr. Anderson took the chair, and commenced the public meeting. After singing and prayer the chairman made a few brief introductory remarks, in which he stated that their beautiful new school-rooms and vestries were paid for-the best of feeling subsisted between the church, pastor, and teaching of the school with that of the pulpit. Mr. Bloomfield was the first speaker, and delivered a stirring and important address, which we wish all Baptist Sabbath-school teachers could have heard. Brethren Meeres, Leach, and Griffith followed with excellent speeches, to the pleasure and profit of all present; and we believe that the tendency of the meeting was really good throughout. We have cause to thank God for past favours, which have been neither few nor small, and take courage for the future. We heartily thank our ministerial friends for their presence and help on the occasion, and hope that the good wishes which they all so cordially expressed may be realized, and that the unity, and peace, and blessing now manifest in our midst may long be continued by the God of all our mercies, to whom be all glory and praise for ever. CLAPHAM : EBENEZER CHAPEL. MR. EDITOR,-Will you spare us space in your valuable magazine to inform our friends that through the Lord's mercy our Harvest Thanksgiving Services, held on September 24th, were seasons of spiritual enjoyment. A most instructive sermon was preached in the afternoon, and an excellent meeting was held in the evening, over which Mr. Carr presided, whose opening speech was most suitable to the occasion, as were the speeches of the ministers-not omitting the very feeling and admirable speech of Mr. Pocock, who kindly favoured us with his presence. The collections amounted to upwards of nine pounds. For the Lord's continued mercies, we feel most profoundly thankful. This month we had the pleasure to receive two friends into full communion; and on Wednesday evening, October 17th, we had the pleasure of baptizing three more. O that the Lord may continue his favours, for his mercy's sake. SHARNBROOK, BEDFORDSHIRE : BAPTIST CHAPEL. OUR Harvest Services were delivered on Tuesday, September 25th, to excellent congregations, by Mr. J. Bloomfield, of London, who delivered two weighty evangelical discourses. They were listened to with marked attention, and enjoyed by many. Between the afternoon and evening services, from 200 to 300 sat down to tea in a large barn, one of the largest if not the largest in the county, kindly lent by J. Gibbard, Esq. No collection was made in the afternoon; but one in the evening to defray incidental expenses. It had been decided upon by the church to have had collections towards £50 they required to free them of debt, but before the day two of the friends (Mrs. Deacon and Miss Ward) presented the church with £25 each, making the £50 which was due to the treasurer of our building fund, the late esteemed Mr. Ward; so that our restoration and enlargement that cost between £750 and £800 is now paid for. To God be all the praise. He has done much for us during the last two years, whereof we are glad. The following ministers took part in the services:-Pastors Carpenter, of Warboys, Wilson, of Risely, Cook, of Irthlinboro', Corby, late pastor of Bethel Chapel, Sharnbrook; also brethren Sharp, of Finedon, and Crampin, of Carlton, were with us, and friends from the churches of St. Neot's, Risely, Thurleigh, Bedford, Carlton, Ringstead, and Rushden were seen among the congregation. ROMFORD, ESSEX. THE Strict Baptist cause here has been, and still is in a low condition. Sometimes the thought is indulged of giving it up; yet it seems hopeful if an earnest Strict Baptist minister were to throw in his energies gratuitously at the first, and thus be instrumental in reviving the almost expiring cause, and gathering a people to listen to the gospel's joyful sound. It is very desirable that in a market town a Strict Baptist church should exist, and be maintained in a healthy, prosperous state. Communications may be forwarded to Mr. S. Ford, High-street, Romford, Essex. were baptized by Mr. Maycock, who, with two others, were added to the church on the following Lord's-day. The latter two were Mr. G. Elvin (formerly pastor of Garner, Clapham), and his wife, the daughter of the late respected Mr. Allen, of Cave Adullam. Brother Elvin's health prevents him taking a pastorate. For these frequent additions to our church, and other tokens of God's favour, we desire to thank him. "The Lord of Hosts is with us." IPSWICH Bethesda Chapel.-On Lord'sday, Oct. 7th, seven persons were baptized by Mr. T. Poock, and the presence of our covenanted God was eminently granted, powerfully felt, and sweetly enjoyed. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice!" 1 Sam. xv. 22. N.B.-In the June number the word several should have been seven. MARRIAGES. LONDON: Salem Chapel, Meard's-court, Dean-street, Soho.-On Tuesday morning, October 23rd, by Mr. John Bloomfield, pastor of the church, Mr. J. Tibbetts (one of the highly esteemed deacons), to Mrs. Ann Lavina Birt, of Upper Charlottestreet, Fitzroy-square. DEATHS. BROTHER ROBERT DOWDALL, who had been suffering from paralysis of the brain for some weeks, was mercifully relieved by death on the 1st of October, at the Fisherton Asylum, Salisbury, aged fifty. His the office of honorary secretary to the He had efficiently filled Baptist Itinerant Preachers' Association sional preacher of the gospel. for some years, and was a willing occa end was peace. THE fact of the uncertainty of human life was strikingly seen on Wednesday afternoon, October 17th, in the sudden death of Mr. W. Ashley, of Whittlesea, Cambridgeshire. Our deceased friend had been out for a walk, and on returning home sat down to read the weekly sermon of Mr. Spurgeon's, and after reading a page or two he fell on the floor, and on his wife going into the room, to her great surprise and grief, she found him quite dead. Our brother was in the seventy-seventh year of his age, and has been for many years a member and a willing helper in the cause of God at Zion Chapel, and has left behind him evidence of his sincere attachment to the ministers and the cause with which he was so long connected. BRISCOE, Printer, Banner-street, Bunhill-row, Finsbury. THE VOICE OF TRUTH; OR, Baptist Record. SPEAKING THE TRUTH IN LOVE." IN ESSENTIALS, UNITY; IN NON-ESSENTIALS, LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS, CHARITY. DECEMBER, 1866. Expositions and Essays. ON THE RECONCILIATION EFFECTED BY THE ATONING WORK OF CHRIST. In the New Testament, reconciliation between God and men is ascribed to the blood of Christ, as an effect is ascribed to its cause: see Rom. v. 10 ; 2 Cor. v. 18; Eph. ii. 16; Col. i. 21, 22. Originally a perfect friendship existed between God and man. By sin this friendship was broken. The effect of that breach was twofold. It caused the awful attributes of divine truth and justice to be against the sinner; and it produced in the heart of the sinner opposition and hatred to the Lawgiver. The opposition between the Lawgiver and the transgressor has both a legal and a personal character. To illustrate: a judge may pass sentence on a convicted criminal without the slightest feeling of personal anger against him; and the criminal, conscious of his deserts, may receive his sentence without the slightest feeling of resentment towards the judge. In such a case the opposition between the judge and the criminal is purely legal. But it is possible that the judge may have been personally affronted and injured by the prisoner, and, without compromising his judicial character, may be righteously angry with him. And, on the other hand, the prisoner may cherish a bitter resentment against the judge. In such a case there is a personal antagonism between the parties in addition to the legal one. Such are the relations between God and man, apart from the purpose of salvation and the atoning work of the Lord Jesus. Here several questions arise, as-Did Jehovah demand an atoning sacrifice on personal or on legal grounds? Was the primary aspect of Christ's work personal or legal? and, Was the immediate effect of that work a personal or a legal reconciliation ? That Jehovah did not demand an atoning sacrifice on personal grounds, is evident from the Scripture statements in reference to the origination of that work. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son," &c.: John iii. 16. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins :" 1 John iv. 10. "But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us:" Rom. v. 8. That the gift of Christ, in order to his atoning sacrifice, is ascribed to the love of God, proves that the sacrifice itself effected no change in the personal feelings of God towards his people. Indeed it proves that no change was necessary. That love from which the gift of Jesus came, is the ample source of every new covenant blessing. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things !" Rom. viii. 32. It follows, then, that the demand for an atoning sacrifice arose entirely in consequence of the official relations of God. His grace did not need to be secured, but his justice to be satisfied. Hence the work of Jesus bore a legal character. He was made under the law; went to the end of the law; bore the curse of the law; made reconciliation for iniquities; and brought in an everlasting righteousness. 66 The direct and immediate effect of the atoning work of Christ is a legal reconciliation. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, then......we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him :" 2 Cor. v. 19-21. Here the reconciliation of God towards the world, that is, towards Gentiles as well as Jews, is said to consist in the nonimputation of their trespasses unto them. The ground of this non-imputation is this: "For he hath made him to be sin for us." The non-imputation of sin is the same in effect, as the imputation of righteousness: see Rom. iv. 6-8. Hence this reconciliation is wholly a legal one. It does not affect either God or man in their personal relations. It does not cause God to love, for he loved before; nor does it cause man to love, although it furnishes a powerful motive to love. But the same passage brings another reconciliation into view. "We pray you, be ye reconciled to God." These words refer to a disposition of the heart towards God: a disposition in which love takes the place of enmity, confidence the place of fear, and friendship the place of alienation. "Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." "Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us." "And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement [the reconciliation]:" Rom. v. 1, 2, 5, 11. This personal reconciliation is the work of the Holy Ghost; not independent of the work of Christ, yet distinct from it. It is effected by the clear and powerful exhibition of the things of Christ to the eye of faith. Hereby the cross becomes a constraining power to draw the penitent soul to trust, love, and serve the Lord. This reconciliation is a development of the new principle of life and love in the heart; it is nourished and matured by the exercises of faith in God through Christ; and, therefore, is a subject of exhortation to them that believe. On the other hand, the legal reconciliation takes full effect at once; it is not capable of development or growth; but forms a perfect and permanent basis for all gracious transactions between God and his people. "For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life :" Rom. v. 10. Legal reconciliation and justification, although dependent on the same work, and closely connected together, are yet clearly distinguishable from each other. Justification is the result of a gracious act of God imputing to the sinner the perfect righteousness of his Son. But how is it possible for the righteous Lawgiver to draw near in a gracious way to the transgressor? Because of the work of Jesus viewed as a satisfaction to law and justice on behalf of his people. Satisfaction may be conceived of as the negative side of that work of which justification is the positive side. By satisfaction, the law, as a separating power, is taken out of the way. "For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath taken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby :" Eph. ii. 14-16. In this passage, the word enmity is used tropically, signifying that which is the cause of enmity,-the grounds of difference between two parties. Two reconciliations are spoken of; one between Jew and Gentile, the other between God and his people. Both are effected by taking away the grounds of variance. In the one case, the ceremonial law, which was the separating wall between Jew and Gentile, was abrogated; and in the other, the moral law, as a condemning power, is taken out of the way by |