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and never open thy mouth because of Lord's day, be according to the Christian's thy shame, when I am pacified toward rule of conduct, as laid down in Scripture; thee for all that thou hast done, saithor, is it not contrary to that text, “ See that the Lord God," Ezek. xvi. 63. ye walk circumspectly?"

18. Q. Are not all professions of sorrow for sin that are not accompanied by forsaking it, false and delusive? A. Yes: Zacheus said, when brought to repentance," Behold, Lord, if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him four-fold," Luke xix. 8; Proverbs, xxviii. 13.

19. Q. Is repentance a qualification for believing in, and coming to Christ? A. No: For it is in believing in, and coming to Christ, and not before, that the mind is reconciled to God, 2 Cor. v. 18-21; Jer. xxxi. 19.

QUERIES.

CAN the practice of hiring coaches, baking meat, taking milk and beer, &c. on the

ANSWER.

If these things can be conveniently avoidthem; but there are none of them which ed on the Lord's day, it is wrong to practise circumstances may not justify. The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Matt. xii. 1–13. Mark ii. 27. EDITOR.

What course should a Christian church,

(if the church allows it) or individual members take, with a minister who should persist, after repeated admonitions, in his attentions to a female with a view of marriage, of whom there was no reason to suppose she possessed piety; and when, on occasions arising therefrom, the said minister could not be considered but as acting with prevarication and impropriety?

For the New Evangelical Magazine.

MORNING HYMN TO CHRIST; BEING AN IMITATION OF BUCHANAN'S "HYMNUS MATUTINUS."

GEORGII BUCHANANI HYMNUS MATUTINUS AD CHRISTUM.

Offspring of heaven's Almighty King,
Co-equal with the eternal Sire;
Whose glories from light's fountain spring,
And Godhead glows with holy fire :—

Behold the glooms of night decay

Before the lucid eyes of morn ; While distant skies and fields display What splendours day's approach adorn.

But ah! untouch'd by wisdom's beam,
The soul in error sleeps profound;
And wandering in her sensual dream,
Unheeds the scene of ruin round.

O Sun of truth! divinely bright;
Bid earth's dejected features smile;
Nor let the deadly shades of night

To hell's control our steps beguile.

Dissolve the snows of mental pride

That hold the heart's emotions still; And bid the noxious mists subside

That taint the soul-mislead the will.

O pour thy sacred influence down;
Let life's celestial laws be giv'n;
Let deathless flowers our Eden crown;
And earth become the gem of heav'n!
T. CURNICK.

Bristol, July 30, 1822.

Proles parentis optimi,
Et par parenti maximo,
De luce vera vera lux,
Verusque de Deo Deus:

En nox recessit, jam nitet
Aurora luce prœvia.
Cœlum, solumque purpurans
Et clausa tenebris detegens,
Sed fuscat ignorantice
Caligo nostra pectora,
Et nubilis erroribus
Mens pœne cedit obruta.
Exurge Sol purissime,
Diemque da mundo suum:
Nostramque noctem illuminans
Erroris umbram discute.
Dissolve frigus horridum,
Arvumque nostri pectoris,
Calore lapadis tuæ,
Humore purga noxio ;
Ut irrigetar cœlitus
Roris beati nectare,
Et centuplo cum fœnore
Cœleste semen proferat.

Theological Review.

The Divine Prescience considered in connexion with Moral Agency. The Substance of a Sermon preached at Soho Chapel (London), on Lord's day evening, May 19, 1822. And published at the request of the hearers. By

EVAN HERBERT.

London: Gardi

ner and Son, Princes Street, Cavendish Square; and Jones, Lovell's Court. 1822. pp. 58, 8vo. price

1s. 6d.

Ir gives us great pleasure to see the efforts of our Baptist brethren in the ministry, so powerfully exerted as they now are, in stemming the torrent of Ultra-Calvinism, and vindicating the truth as it is in Jesus, from the gross perversions to which it is frequently exposed, in the hands of that class of writers, and preachers, and professors. Though we have always questioned the propriety of his application in that particular instance, and are still persuaded, that, had he been better informed, he would not have applied his censures precisely in the way he has done; yet, as containing a general principle applicable to the Antimonian party, we agree with Mr. Hall, when he pronounces it as including "within a compass which every head can contain, and every tongue can utter, a system which cancels every moral tie, consigns the whole human race to the extremes of presumption or despair, erects religion on the ruins of morality, and imparts to the dregs of stupidity all the powers of the most active poison." "* We coincide with him also, when he says, that "while Antimonianism is making such rapid strides through the land, and has already convulsed and disorganized so many churches, it is not the season for half measures; danger is to be repelled by intrepid resistance-not by compliances and concessions: it is to be op

posed by a return to the wholesome dialect of purer times." Only, to avoid "this wide spreading pestilence," let us not run into the opposite extreme, and do homage to that" thin-skinned monster of the ooze and the mire”-let us beware of the bogs of Arminianism, a system which is as completely at variance with "the true grace of God," as that of Antinomianism is with the laws of moral obligation. We have very important reasons for dropping this hint in this place; but a word is enough to the wise, and we pass on to give our readers some account of the sermon before us.

Mr. Herbert has taken a very appropriate text; viz. Acts ii. 23, "Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain." These words naturally lead him to illustrate the doctrine of the mediation and atonement of the Redeemer; to shew that the whole plan of Redemption was founded in the divine foreknowledge, and in all its minute circumstances conducted according to the counsels of infinite wisdom. "He then proceeds to examine the nature of human agency as exemplified in this awful transaction; and concludes with shewing that the divine prescience, and the spontaneous agency of man are perfectly reconcileable.

The subject is unquestionably of momentous import; and we certainly think, that Mr. Herbert has discovered no inconsiderable judgment and ability in discussing it. He modestly terms it, "the Substance of a Sermon," and bespeaks the candour of the religious public towards its defects. All this is very well as coming from the author; but we owe it to him, and to our readers also, to say, that it is no every day production. It is an enlarged discourse

* See his Difference betwixt Christian Baptism and that of John, p. 68. ̧

teachers.

on a subject of vast importance; and a
subject too, which is grossly misrepre-
sented, and often most vilely carica-
tured by the disciples of William Hunt-
ington, and other corrupt
The extravagant conceits (we might
have said, the bold blasphemies) which
these people utter upon the subject of
the divine decrees, and the perverse
use which they make of the doctrines
of election, and the perseverance of
the saints, are enough to petrify one
with horror. In the sermon before us,
Mr. Herbert has taken a comprehensive
view of the great work of Redemption;
and while he gives full scope to the fun-
damental doctrines of the everlasting
gospel, he prudently guards them from
that abuse to which we have adverted.
We could select numerous passages
from this discourse, which would both
interest and gratify our readers, for
there is an originality of mind, and a
richness of sentiment pervading the
whole, which must strike every one
that examines it; but we content our-
selves with one extract, merely as a
specimen of the preacher's style and
manner, and recommend the whole to
their careful perusal. In reconciling
human agency, or the voluntary exer-
cise of the will of man, with the
science and appointment of God,
thus proceeds:

6

pre

6

creation. If moral rectitude can be considered as desirable, surely the rule of it given by God himself, and sanctioned by Him, must have the strongest claim upon our attention and veneration; whilst the fitness of it, and the anarchy that must ever be introduced by the abrogation of it, cannot but be apparent to every enlightened mind: for, where no law is, there is no transgression. It was the sanction and authority of the moral law, that armed the prophet Nathan with courage to soar above consequences and the fear of a king, and the authority that God's immutable record to tell David, Thou art the man.' It was still held over the erring monarch of Israel, notwithstanding his faith and love, or his circumstances as a regenerated man, that gave efficacy to the charge, to sink him to the common level of human responsibility, and to cause him to cry out under a sense of it, with poignancy indiscribable, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness, according unto the multitransgressions.' Transgressions against what, tude of thy tender mercies, blot out my let me ask, if the moral law were abrogated or ceased to have authority over a believer? Now a little attention to the sub

ject will convince us, that, in many instances, the children of men have violated the revealed will, whilst they have in the same actions fulfilled the secret purpose of Jehovah. And this, I trust, I shall be able to make manifest by an appeal to facts, without dehenying the freedom of the will, or profanely charging the Fountain of Holiness with sin. The Scriptures furnish us with many instances to this effect, but a few sball suffice. Indeed we might content ourselves with our text, which, while it charges home upon the Jews the crime of murder, at the same time assures us that every thing happened according to divine prescience and appointment. But let me direct you to the conduct of Jacob towards his aged and venerable father; and that of Rebecca towards an affectionate and tender husband. Look at the deception practised upon the patriarch Isaac, to obtain, ministerially from his dying lips, the highly esteemed blessing of primogeniture. See Gen. xxvii. Considering his bodily infirmity consummated by blindness, the imposition was doubly cruel and affecting. We see, indeed, in the whole affair, a master-piece of deceit-a violation of the laws of creation, and a breach of the filial and conjugal ties, the strongest in nature. But this, though as a moral action exceedingly sinful, was nevertheless a fulfilment of the Divine pur pose as appears from the unerring pen of inspiration. Let any unprejudiced mind examine the two first verses of the prophecy of Malachi, and compare the contents with the explication given us by Paul in the epistle to the Romans, chap. ix. 11. and follow

"I am naturally led to observe, here, that the secret will of God, cannot be the rule of conduct to created, dependent beings; and that for the most obvious reason-it is un-, known to us; whilst that which is revealed, namely, love to God, and benevolence to man,' with all the various ramifications deducible from those fundamental principles, remains immoveable. Whether the revealed will of God be considered as the law of creation, or viewed in the re-delivery and formal promulgation of it at Sinai, is no alterative; whether we meet with it charmingly interspersed among, and inseparably annexed, to the soul-cheering doctrines of the gospel, or embodied in Jewish legislation, cannot make any difference; whether we read its injunctions in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, or in the thirteenth of the Romans, the essence and design are unchangeably the same. It is the revealed will of God; the rule of human action; the eternal, unalterable criterion of obedience; the standard of rectitude; the delight of every good man; and whilst it is the shackle of the ungodly, and a stumbling-block to many vain-glorious boasters, it is-delightful thought!-a transcript of the divine image, and the happiness of the rational

ing verses. Let him pause awhile, and the ❘ result will surely be a conviction, that mortals may violate the revealed, whilst accomplishing the secret will of God. The same thing is observable in the unnatural conduct of Jacob's sons towards their brother Joseph. Gen. xxxvii. 13. &c. We see the tender-hearted youth acting under paternal direction, on a message of love and duty to his labouring brethren; while, at the same moment, we see them consulting how they may destroy him. In the sequel, however, we find him sold to a straggling, unprincipled company of Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. Alas! human nature: Jacob's sons too! with all their advantages; acting not from blind impetus, but with the most profound deliberation; acting too a most wicked and unreasonable part. Neither Joseph's age, nor his mission of love, nor his tears, nor the known affection of an aged fond parent for him, nor the anguish they must have known he would feel in the loss of him, could preponderate. Joseph was sold into Egypt: but God was with Without harrowing up your feelings in weighing the atrocity of the crime, which is sufficiently obvious, I hasten to lay before you, Joseph's own account of the matter which we have in detail, and explicitly laid down in Gen. xlv. 7.' 'God,' said he, sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth,' &c. Such an explanation of the whole transaction, from a person eminently taught as Joseph was, and speaking under divine direction, with the whole connection of the Jewish history, and that of the church of Christ to this moment, will be found decisively illustrative of the position advanced; namely, that the children of men may violate the revealed, whilst fulfilling the secret will of God.

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The mysterious fall of David, in the affair of Bathsheba, who was the mother of Solomon, may with humility and prayer be profitably consulted in reference to the doctrine in question.*

But to embrace the text for a moment: nothing can be more evident than that the death of Christ was the fulfilment of an eternal plan emanating purely from the love of Jehovah for the expiation of the sins of men. 6 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things?' Luke xxiv. 26, said the risen Saviour, obliquely observing, it was that which they might have learned from their own prophets. The Mosaic economy in general, the temple, the sacrifices, the priesthood, with the many appendages of that dispensation, directed the believers

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of that age to look to the Messiah to come as one that was to suffer and to die, previous to his entering into his glory; whilst Daniel and the evangelical Isaiah, the amanuenses of the Holy Spirit, have expressed the whole design and benefit in so many words: 'Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself,' said the former, Dan. ix. 26. He was wounded for our transgressions'-' by his stripes we are healed,' said the latter. Isaiah liii. But were the Jews and Romans exonerated thereby from blame? far otherwise. • They perpetrated the deed with wicked hands.' The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was, in the eye of moral rectitude, the most diabolical act that ever was heard of, because of his innocence, for no fault was found in him, his enemies themselves being judges."

We cannot take leave of this Sermon without repeating the satisfaction which it has afforded us as a whole, nor without adding, that it is no small augmentation of that satisfaction, to find the church under Mr. Herbert's pastoral care, thus publicly avowing their attachment to the doctrine maintained in it; and we say this the rather, because, in the earlier part of their history, they were subject, we believe, to teaching of a very different description, and suspected of holding opinions which are here ably confuted.

Two Letters on the Mystery of the Gospel, and on the genuine Experience of a Believer in Christ. BY THOMAS MULOCK, Newcastle. Printed and published by J. Mort, pp. 44, 8vo. price 1s 6d.

THESE Letters present us with a precious specimen of Antinomian rant; and, for the matter of it, Mr. Hall might have had them before him, when he characterized that system as the "thickskinned monster of the ooze and the mire, which no weapon can pierce-no discipline can tame"-" an epidemic malady-an evil of gigantic size, and deadly malignity; which is qualified for mischief by the very properties which might seem to render it an object of contempt-its vulgarity of conception

*There are many striking occurrences in the History of England very much to the point. Without much penetration, we may discern the purpose of our heavenly Father in the removal of the Roman Papal yoke. Henry the Eighth, seeking only to gratify his lust, sapped the foundation of Popery in England, and promoted the reformation. Even he who had, a little before the time alluded to, written against Luther! History of Henry VIII. and Burnet's History of the Reformation.

See the

its paucity of ideas-its determined hos-elect were spiritually endowed with tility to taste, science, and letters."

being and well-being, in their uncreated and eternal Head, Christ; so they were, by creation, set up in, and represented by, their nature head Adam." These are sublime discoveries certainly, and such as required supernatural revelation; but the following surely is not less so. "Here I would observe, that as the elect never fell, and never could fall from Christ, nor did he ever cease to be related unto them as their spiritual Head and Husband; so it was in consequence of this, in the divine counsels of Godhead, that he was appointed to be their glorious mediator and Sa viour." This shows our author's familiar acquaintance with the counsels of Deity! Let us now hear him upon another subject.

Who this Mr. Mulock is, we know not. He dates his two Letters from Stoke-upon-Trent, which is in the Staffordshire Potteries. But though we are ignorant of him, he is certainly a person of great consequence. - we mean, in his own estimation! What, for instance, can surpass the display which is contained in the following sentence: it forms the opening of his first letter. Addressing his correspondent, he says, "I cheerfully comply with your request, and shall attempt to convey in this sheet, a clear and comprehensive outline of that glorious gospel, which the Lord Jesus Christ hath committed to my trust." With such ease and facility does Mr. Mulock step into the apostle's shoes, and proclaim his vast import- "The righteousness of the Lord Jeance, at the same time reminding us of sus Christ, which is imputed to his the deference which we owe to all he is church of redeemed sinners, 1 Cor. i. pleased to say. "He is Sir Oracle, and 30, if I properly apprehend and state the when he opens his mouth, let no dog subject, [query, how is this? we had unbark!" But let us hear him again: "I derstood that his knowledge was "withcommence, therefore, with saying, that out doubt or difficulty"] is, the purity I call no one master, for one is my mas- and perfection of the holy Lord God, ter, even Christ. I have learned, not imparted by way of union and commufrom the systems of men, but from the nion to elect creatures, so as to render scriptures of truth revealed to my spi- them impeccable, or incapable of ever com ritual mind, by the Holy Ghost," &c. mitting sin." Here is a discovery inIn other words, he is an apostle," not deed! but how shall we reconcile this of men, neither received he the gospel high state of privilege with the language from the teaching of any man, but by of the apostle John?" If we say that supernatural revelation." Accordingly, we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, he apprises us, p. 5. that "such know- and the truth is not in us.-If we say ledge as I am possessed of, is unper- that we have not sinned, we make him plexed with doubt or difficulty." Happy a liar, and his word is not in us." 1 John man! who does not envy him his at- i. 8, 10. Surely such a privileged class tainments? how well qualified must he of persons can have no occasion for the be to instruct us in the mystery of apostle's exhortation, "Let us, therethe gospel" the deep things of God. fore, come boldly unto the throne of He does not profess, however, in these grace, that we may obtain mercy," &c. few pages to offer more than a truth- nor for the prayer taught them by the ful outline of spiritual" things, p. 35. Saviour "forgive us our sins," Luke xi. Let us, then, the more highly prize the 2. Mr. Mulock teaches us that "Christ's treasures which he has laid be-church, even now, answers to the origi

fore us!

Speaking of the elect, he says, "These persons having been thus set apart in Christ by an inexplicable and irreversible act of the divine will, were gifted with grace, with eternal life; and these measureless blessings are scripturally traceable to God's everlasting love to Christ, and to the church bound up in the bundle of life with him. Here we gospelly discover the fountain cause of the great acts of the Lord Christ, on behalf of his church." p. 3.-" As the

nal pattern of purity drawn in the di-
vine inind, and is, in very deed and
truth, a glorious church, not having spot
or blemish, or any such thing." "God's
elect," he tells us," are justified by God
himself in the person of his Christ.
God proclaims their free pardon. There
is no sin in Christ's world-there is no
death in Christ's world. All is light
and life, and eternal glory."
We need
not remind our readers, that this is
spoken of Mr. Mulock's elect, even in
the present life; and it is the very rant

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