been said of the t I under the Ge poken after; Bit If in the bo pillar and g of this discou d may we ad Gospel, as be ate that the d er perverted-a ould be exe their pre EAT, THE MOS bat this ap there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even deny the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction, and many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose Judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not." But in the scriptures, the most awful judgments are denounced upon the great Anti-christian Apostacy, or those who obey not the Gospel of Christ. We have it Rev. xviii. 1-5. "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is hecome the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delecacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities." Here we have the judgment that will be inflicted upon the anti-christian community who have corrupted the sacred truths of christianity. And even here also, we discover that some of the people of God,-the righteous, are "scarcely saved,"-or preserved with difficulty. They are called to come out, lest they receive of her plagues. The truth of this declaration will appear very plain, when we consider our natural propensity to evil, and to turn from the ways of God, in which alone there is safety. And Jude says, when speaking of some who were in danger of turning from the truth, "Of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." I might here just guard you against a false representation of these words, which is very common, and which is to this effect; That because it is here said that the righteous scarcely are saved, it is supposed that sinners are saved with great difficulty, even by Christ! But nothing can be more foreign to the apostle's meaning: "for in him is plenteous redemption ;" and "he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, The object of the apostle, is to shew, That when God's judg It is true, the righteous are saved through many difficulties,- But the salvation of the righteous shews in still stronger light, APPELLES. WHO OUGHT TO BE DENOMINATED CHRISTIANS? EVERY one who theoretically and practically receives Jesus as Jesus is a king, with reference to a special throne and people. Every one would see the absurdity of admitting that our Hag. ii. 22; Matt. ii. 1-10; xxvii. 11, 37; Mark xv. 2, 26; Luke i. 32, 33: 68-75; ii. 8—14; 25—32, 38; xxiii. 3, 38, &c. Practically to receive Jesus as a King, is to wait for him, as directed in Zeph. iii. 8; Mark xii. 32-37; 1 Thess. i. 9—10; Rev. ii. 25—29; iii. 21, &c. Jesus, as a prophet, was sent to his people with one special message. Throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, he preached, saying, the kingdom of God is at hand. This prophecy he called the gospel. He sent the twelve to preach it through all Judea, (Matt. x. 7,) and also the seventy, Luke x. 9-12. Predicted it should be preached in all the world, (Matt, xxiv. 14,) and commanded it to be so, Mark xvi. 15. Denounced condemnation against all who should reject it, (Matt. x. 14—15) and connected salvation with its reception. It was his first word, (Mark xiv. 15,) and his last, Rev. xxii. 20. He then who denies that the kingdom of God is at hand, rejects Jesus as a prophet, and his Father who sent him. For observe, all his other predictions were uttered with a reference to this great one. For instance his predictions in Matt. xxiv., Mark xiii, and Luke xxi., respecting the persecution of his disciples, the destruction of Jerusalem, wars and famines, shaking of heaven and earth, &c., all end in this,-" When ye see these things come to pass, then know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand, even at the door." Practically to receive Jesus as a prophet, is to obey that great command with which he always associates the gospel. It is the command to repent, to reform, to amend your life, to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness, of the flesh and spirit. It is largely explained and powerfully enforced in the Vth, VIth, and VIIth chapters of Matthew. Thus when Daniel predicted Nebuchadnezzar's downfall, he said, "Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor." Dan. iv. 27. And all the prophets follow up their predictions by exhorting to reformation. So did Jesus his prediction that his kingdom was at hand. Jesus is received as a priest, when we believe that he offered up himself a sacrifice for sin, pleads the merits of his blood, in the presence of God, and procures for us remission of sin, in order that we may enjoy the everlasting possession of the promised inheritance. Heb. ix. 14. Rev. v. 9, 10, &c. &c. Thus the genuine saints connect the sacrifice of Christ, and remission of sins, with the possession of the promised inheritance, and the rule of the nations, in the exercise of the kingly and priestly office. To receive Jesus as a priest, practically, is to come to his precious blood, in the observance of every ordinance which God has appointed for remission of sins. It is to meditate much upon his great love, as manifested in his great sufferings voluntarily endured for us, and to glory in his cross. Who, then, ought to be denominated christians? Who receives Jesus as the long, often-promised King of the Jews; as the prophet who predicted that the kingdom of God is at hand; as the priest who shed his own blood that his saints might possess the inheritance promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and associated with him in ruling the world in righteousness? We fear that there is no body of professed christians who are rightly entitled to be called christians. But in nearly all denominations there are some individual believers in the scriptural views of the kingly, priestly, and prophetical offices belonging to the Lord Jesus, as the Redeemer of his people. It is for these to consider if it be not their duty to separate themselves from those who will not receive the scriptures upon these points in their literal simplicity. "What part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"" We may believe detached portions of divine truth, taken out of their position and connections in the scheme of redemption as set before us in the word, and fitted ingeniously into our own creeds and systems, being chipped and pared for that purpose. Yet may we reject the most important truths of the Bible, and be shamefully ignorant of the whole counsel of heaven, as a whole. D. L. NOTES ON SCRIPTURE TEXTS. Illustration of 1 Cor. IV. 15-17., by John Glas. "For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers; for in Jesus Christ I have begotten you through the gospel,” &c. 1. The apostles were the fathers of the New Testament Church, all believing on Christ through their word; even as the twelve patriarchs were fathers of the Old. 2. All their children must appear to be so by following and imitating them as they did Christ.-1 Cor. ch. xi. ver. 1, 2. 3. For their walk was according to their word; they preached Christ, and their ways were in him who was the end of their conversation.-Heb. xiii. ver. 7. 4. Thus they are the patterns of following Christ unto all Christians, teaching and going in the same ways, everywhere, in every church; so that none can be said to be following them and 75 Christ in any way but as taught by them in the first churches- 5. Till the New Testament Scripture was perfected, the apostles had ministers, as Timothy, for instructing and directing them in the ways of the apostles, and he was very fit for this, as we see from 2 Tim. ch. iii. ver. 10. 6. But now when the revelation is complete in their Scriptures, we cannot know their word and their ways according to it, but by these Scriptures. 7. They that would instruct us in Christ must teach us to follow and imitate these fathers in following Christ, bringing them to our remembrance only by the Scriptures. SAUL AMONG THE PROPHETS. We have been favoured by a Correspondent, with the following extract from a religious periodical connected with the Church of Scotland, to shew that some idea of the Christian brotherhood, or the true character of a Church of Christ, was beginning to find its way in a quarter little to be expected. The writer says, "What we have desired to press upon the attention of our Church of Scotland readers especially, is, that a congregation onght to be, not a mere meeting of persons upon Sabbath for public prayer, or to hear lectures upon Christian doctrines or duties, and, upon rarer occasions, to sit around the Lord's table; but that it is intended to be a visible Christian society, having the unity and coherence of a compact body made up of members professing to be "disciples of Jesus," "brothers and sisters in the Lord;" and that this society has certain duties to discharge to itself and to the world, through the personal ministrations of members as well as ministers. This is all very well so far as it goes. Further on, on the same page, he observes," The only remark we would make in passing is, that the perfection of government, in our opinion, would be to develope the greatest possible amount of liberty of each individual part, compatible with the liberty and good of the whole body." What the writer's idea of the liberty allowed in sacred things is, may be gathered from the following: "We should, for instance, fearlessly apply the principle so far as to permit congregations to determine for themselves, through their chosen elders or officebearers, whether they should have organs or precentors,-the sacrament once a year, or once a-month,-baptism by sprinkling, or immersion, or in both forms, as parents might feel disposed to select,-to kneel at prayer and at singing, or stand at both,-to have the communion dispensed in pews, or at a table,-to have read prayers, extempore prayers, or both. In short, we should desire to cultivate congregational independence, in connection with presbyterial government by superior courts, treating each society as made up, not of children, but of men; seeking unity of Christian sentiment, Christian character, and Christian |