bers in one body; so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Let love be, therefore, without dissimulation: be kindly-affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another. Rejoice withthem that do rejoice; and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one, toward another.. Avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath. If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink. Be not overcome of evil; but overcome evil with good." In a word, "Let all your things be done with charity."

To conclude. The evangelical pastor points out the excellence of charity, and urges every motive that can lead to the practice of it, till worldly men are constrained to cry out, with all the admiration of the ancient heathens; "See how these christians 66 love one another!" Lucian, indeed, could look with ridicule upon the zeal, with which the primitive christians succoured one another: "For," says he, "their legislator has made them believe, that they 66 are all brethren; and hence they have all things "common among them, despising even death itself, "through the hope of immortality." The good pastor, however, is anxious to do that, which this heathen writer was impious enough to censure in Christ. He admonishes believers to address the Almighty, as their common parent, conscious, that so soon as they receive power to cry Abba, i. e. Father, by the Holy Spirit, they will necessarily forget every scrupulous distinction between mine and thine, and put up, with unfeigned sincerity that universal prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread." This petition is commonly used by every member of our degenerate church, while their hearts are comparatively insensible to the wants of their necessitous brethren. But was the love of ancient days to revive among us, we should not only solicit common blessings from above, but rejoice to share them with each other, as bre

Bb

thren partake of a repast provided for them at the table of their common Parent.

Happy days! when the Gospel of Christ was seen to flourish in the earth. Surely that sacred season might, with propriety, be termed the golden age of the church. O that we could recall the felicny we have forfeited, and see the joys of unanimity restored to a distracted world! But, while we give vent to our lamentations, let us not sink into despair, since however deplorable our present circums stances may be, they are not totally remediless. Though, for so many ages, self-love has usurped the throne of charity : though mankind are prone to injure one another, in their reputation, by slander; in their property by injustice; and in their persons by murder, whether perpetrated in the character of an assassin, or that of a duellist; though wars are fomented on the slightest pretences, and christian princes appear eager to wash their hands in the blood of thousands; though" all the earth is full of darkness and cruel habitations:" yet will we not give up our hope. These unhappy times were foretold by our gracious Master. And as he had prescience enough to predict the decays of christian love, and the calamities consequent thereupon; so he is possessed of sufficient power to re-establish the empire of charity in the world. Believers, then, amidst all their afflictions, may patiently and confidently expect those "times of refreshing, which shall assuredly come from the presence of the Lord:" looking forward to that promised "restitution of all things, concerning" which, God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began." Ini the mean while, let those who are hastening, by their prayers, this desirable revolution, be careful to preserve in their own hearts those sparks of charity, which shall one day kindle the universe into a sa cred flame. And let the ministers of the Gospel make a constant display of those evangelical truths

which were formerly sufficient to light up this glorious] fire; that by stirring up the dying embers of grace, the little light, which still remains in the church, may be preserved from total extinction.

Should it be here objected....Are not all the ministers of our church to be considered, as preachers "of christian charity?" We answer, by no means. The charity, concerning which we speak, must flow from a union, with Christ; a union, which ministers of the present day, are accustomed to treat as enthusiastic and vain. This excellent grace "is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. But he, who dares openly to plead for this scriptural truth, is esteemed by such preachers, no better than a deluded fanatic. These preachers are frequently heard, indeed, to speak of christian charity, but far from endeavouring to spread it through the world, they use every effort to destroy the very seeds of this grace in the church of God. If, in a parish that is unhappy enough to have a pastor of this kind, a few persons are happily converted to God, and united together in Jesus Christ; if, having one heart, and one soul, they frequently join togeth er in prayer and in praise, mutually exhorting and provoking one another to love and good works ;.... the worldly minister, instantly alarmed, imagines that these persons, for the sake of forming a new sect, are destroying the unity of the church: when, on the contrary, they are but just about to experience "the communion of saints." And, if he is possessed of zeal, or party-spirit, he will labour to make it ap. pear, that these christians, who are beginning to live as brethren, are forming conventicles to disturb the order both of church and state. Such a minister will give encouragement to companies of jugglers, dancers, and drunkards, rather than tolerate a society, which has christian charity for its object and its ba sisi

L

THE

TEUE MINISTER

BELIEVES AND

PREACHES

GOD, TO

IFE THREE GRAND PROMISES OF
GATHER WITH THE THREE GREAT DISPENSA
TIONS OF GRACE.

WE have seen, in the preceding chapters, that believers are saved by a faith and a hope, which serve to feed in their souls the sacred fire of charity. Now, this faith, and this hope, must necessarily lave for their foundation some promise of God. A promise already accomplished is embraced by faith alone; but a promise, whose accomplishment is protracted, is equally the object of faith and of hope. He, therefore, who is appointed by Christ a preacher of the everlasting Gospel, is solicitous to obtain clear ideas of the great promises of God. He is constantly engaged in meditating, either upon their past or future accomplishment, in order to maintain in his own heart those inestimable graces, with which he is desirous to animate the souls of others. Observe the method, in which he considers, embraces, and preaches them..

Under the dispensation of the Father, the grand promise was that, which respected the external maidfestation of the Son. The original promise, as made to Adam, was expressed in the following terms: "The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent." As the Messiah was to descend from Abraham, according to the flesh, the same promise was thus renewed to that Patriarch: "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." In the days of Moses, it was repeated to all Israel, as follows: "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet, from the midst of thee, of thy brethren; unto him shall ye hearken." David and the other prophets powerfully confirmed this prophecy, and Malachi thus recapitulates the promises which had been given before his time: "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come

to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in; behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of Hosts. Unto you, that fear my name, shall the Sun' of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth," out of your présent obscure dispensation," and grow up," in spiritual strength," as calves of the stall." Thus speaks the last of the prophets, under the dispensation of the Father.

Immediately upon the accomplishment of these promises, while the dispensation of the Son was but darkly opened by his precursor, another promise was given for the exercise of faith and hope, under this new economy, respecting the full manifestation of the Holy Ghost, as a Spirit of truth and love. Behold this grand promise, as announced by John the baptist. "I am not the Christ; I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord. I baptize you with water unto repentance," as a preparation for the spiritual kingdom and baptism of the Messiah: "but he that cometh after me, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear." He shall introduce a more spiritual dispensation, and administer a more efficacious baptism; for he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire," shedding abroad those gifts and graces of his Spirit, which shall penetrate and purify your hearts, as metals are penetrated and purified by material fire. This promise is of so great importance, that it was thought necessary to be repeated by the four Evangelists.

Our Lord, continuing the dispensation, which his forerunner had opened, "made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not," with water, "but his disciples." The baptism, which he was about to administer, was as far superior to the baptism of John, and that of his own disciples, as the water, of which he spake to the woman of Samaria, was superior to the water of