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all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentlles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." Is not this longcontinued, shameful expatriation, an essential part of this great "tribulation?" Then follows, both in Luke xxi. 25, and Matt. xxiv. 29, the prophecy of the wondrous and awful events which shall ensue after that long tribulation, viz, the second coming of the Son of Man, in the clouds of heaven. That is the time of which Luke says, "until." Jerusalem shall be in the possession of Gentiles, until a certain time, not always, not throughout all ages, but until a certain period, when the tribulation, brought on themselves and on their children by the murder of Jesus, shall be past. Then, "after that tribulation," comes their restoration, and Jerusalem shall no longer be trodden down by the Gentiles, but by the Jews. (Compare Joel iii. 17; Zech. xiv. 21.)

Now, Mr. Editor, the painful part of our Saviour's prophecy has been fulfilled, shall not the other half be also much rather fulfilled? "For a small moment he has forsaken them, but with everlasting mercies will he gather them."

Perhaps "A Son of Abraham" will say, they are both true, but both have been fulfilled, and must have been, for Jesus says, they were all to be finished during the then present generation. It might suffice to say, that the word should have been translated, not this, but that, (aute ;) "that generation" which shall witness the commencement of the events which are to take place after the tribulation, shall see them finished; but I would ask any one who may suppose them all to have been fulfilled within thirty or forty years of the delivery of the prophecy, how he can possibly explain them intelli. gently and consistently? What event, after the destruction of Jerusalem, can be called the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars? What event, after that desolation, can be called "the sign of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, coming with power and great glory?" And when did "all the tribes of the earth mourn at the sight?" And when were "all the elect gathered together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other?" And when did Jerusalem cease being trodden down of the Gentiles? And when did "sudden destruction," like a snare, fall on "all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth," (Luke xx. 35,) as it did in the days of Noah and of Lot?" It may be replied, "We take it spiritually." Take it any way; but leave some sense and spirit in it; and, after all, the literal interpretation will be found the most spiritual, and the only consis

tent sense.

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"A Son of Abraham" says, that by the term Jews, in the prophets, we are not to

understand the literal, but the spiritual descendants of Abraham; and by Gentiles, he says, (in the last paragraph but one of his letter,) we are to understand unbelievers; and, with this "sound principle of interpretation," he shows, that Paul, in Rom. xi., did not teach anything about the restoration of the Jews as a nation; but that this and all the other prophecies are only true to really pious people. Let us read a few passages on this principle, both in the Romans and other parts of the New Testament.

Acts xiii. 6., "They found a certain sor. cerer, a false prophet, a truly pious man, (a Jew) whose name was Bar jesus." Acts xii. 3., "And because he (Herod) saw it pleased the truly pious people, (the Jews)," (that he had slain James) "he proceeded to take Peter also." 1 Cor. i. 23, "But we preach Christ crucified, to the truly pious (the Jews) a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness."

Such is the ruin effected, Mr. Editor, by departing from common sense to adopt a figurative meaning. Read this sublime and blessed passage, (Rom. xi. 1, 7, 12, 13, 25, 30,) in its literal spirituality, and O how blessed is it!

"A Son of Abraham" says, that the middle wall of partition has been removed by Christ. I rejoice to know that; but that removal does not destroy the national dis tinction between the "brethren of the Jews" and the "brethren of the Gentiles." In spiritual respects there is "neither Jew nor Greek, in Christ, neither barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free," "male nor female;" but surely in natural respects these distinc tions continue. I am neither a Pole, nor a Frenchman, nor an Indian; yet I am one with Christians of these and all other nations. He says further, that "the preser. vation of the Jews as a distinct people is a phenomenon, but may be accounted for by their obstinacy in rejecting Jesus." I think there is another mode of accounting for it, more like Scripture, and far more certain. They were to be God's witnesses in the world, proofs of the blessedness of obeying the Lord; but, in case of their being rebellious, they should be proofs of his vengeance, "that all flesh might see that the Lord had kindled the fire of his wrath in them." Ezek. xx. 48. (See Deut. xxix. 24.)

This calling to be witnesses for God, they

*The writer of this article had given at length the Scriptures underneath, in the same manner; but the above are sufficient for illustration, and the reader can easily turn to the places, if he chooses, and perceive how, if the word Jew, or Israelite, is taken for a truly pious person, the passages appear ridiculous. It cannot, however, be denied, that the terms are used in the sense objected to, in Rom. ii. 28, 29; and ix. 6.

1 Cor. ix. 20; Rom. ii. 10; iii. 1, 29; ix, 2-4; iv. 12; ix. 1, 7, 12, 13, 25, 30.

CORRESPONDENCE.

did not like; they desired to be conformed to the world, to the other nations; but God said, "It shall not at all be, that it cometh into your mind, that ye should be as the other nations." Ezek. xx. 32. So, as they would not glorify God's mercy and goodness, they must in their calamities vindicate his justice and severity. Hear the word by Amos ix. 8," Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." (verse 11.)" In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David, that is fallen down," &c. The Lord will have himself acknowledged as the author of all the calamities of the Jews, and especially so when he proves himself to be also the gracious author of their restitution. (See Ezek. xvii. 24; Xxxvi. 23; and many similar passages, but especially Ezek. xxxix 21-29, a passage which deserves the serious attention of every son of Abraham, and of every believer in Revelation. Allow me to ask,

1. Who were that Israel that have been judged by God, from whom God hid his face, and whom he gave into the hand of their enemies, according to their uncleanness and transgressions? Were they the literal or spiritual descendants of Abraham ?

2. Who are that Israel that shall be visited again in mercy, brought again from their captivity, from the land of their enemies, and brought to their own land, in which they dwelt of old, without any one making them afraid? Who are they who shall then know it was the Lord God that caused them to be led captive, and the same Lord God that has restored them, and who has poured his Spirit on them now, and his face is no more hid from them? Did the Holy One cause believing Christians to go into captivity to sin? or does it mean the literal Jews, who have been literally punished for their sin?

3. If it be said, all this was fulfilled in their restoration from Babylon, I ask, when was this mercy showed to the "whole house of Israel, the ten tribes as well as the two? When were they so brought home as to "leave none of them any more abroad? And when has their restoration been the means of God's establishing his glory among the heathen?

"A Son of Abraham" will have it, that the prophecies of the Old Testament, respecting the restoration of Israel, were all fulfilled in the time when the Jews returned from Babylon, and remained till the destruction by Titus; and he says, if they were not literally fulfilled, we must remember the VOL. 6.-N. S.

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writers were "poets as well as prophets," and the language is "lofty and glowing." "Lofty and glowing poetry," much of it unquestionably is; but is it true? Is it mere poetry? Is it delusive? or does it mean what it says? Allow all that can be allowed to the license of poetry, the figures must mean something, or they are no prophecies at all; and much of the language is neither lofty nor poetic, but extremely simple: the facts are blessedly grand, but the wording is pre-eminently plain. Now let the reader open the book of Ezekiel, and read the 36th chapter, the 37th, the 38th, and 39th, and deduct as much as he can for poetry, as much as he can for fulfilled prophecy, and if he can believe the remainder to be the Word of God, who can. not lie, without also believing there is yet something to be done for the Jews as a nation, I am amazed indeed. In Ezek. xxxvi. 24-28, a new heart is promised, and a restoration to their own land. Did Israel ever experience this holy regeneration, this deliverance from all sin? and that, after their coming into their own land? Let the reader peruse that whole chapter; then let him read the vision of the dry bones, and the "two sticks made one." When were the "two kingdoms of Judah and Israel ever re-united ?" When has "David been king over them all, (since Ezekiel's day,) in the land wherein their fathers dwelt, and that for ever?" and in one continual peace, and perfect holiness?"-verses 22-26. When did Gog and Magog besiege them? and when were Gog and Magog utterly destroyed?-chap. xxxviii. and xxxix. Is it all figure? And of what is it a figure? The same siege is prophecied of in Zech. xiv. 1-3. If "A Son of Abraham" says, "No; that is different," let him tell us what it was, and when this passage was fulfilled.

Let it observed, that in these passages, and many others of Ezekiel, spiritual blessings are spoken of so plainly and spiritually, that they cannot be explained so as to express anything more spiritual than they already do; and also, that temporal blessings, such as He who made man's body as well as spirit knows what that body requires, are promised along with those spiritual blessings.

And finally, let the reader open Jer. xxx., and read to the end of the 33rd chapter, and he will find it a happy impossibility to believe this portion of Scripture, without also believing there is something still to be done for the Jews as a nation.

1. Here are Israel and Judah condemned to punishment for their iniquities; that is, not the spiritual Israel but the literal.xxxi. 7.

2. Here is promised, not only their restoration to their own land, but that they should have quiet and rest in it, and none 2 G

to make them afraid." This was never known after the Babylonish captivity.xxxi. 10.

3. They shall serve David their king. This they have never yet done, in any sense. -xxxi. 9.

4. The ten tribes are very especially declared to be included in this restoration.xxxii. 18.

5. Then comes the glorious new covenant, which differs from the old, not in being made with different people, (though into the spiritual parts of its provisions, the Gentiles, by faith in Jesus, may be engrafted, like the branches of a wild olive tree;-Rom. xi.) for it is made (xxxii. 32) with the same nation which was brought out of Egypt, and which broke the former covenant, and which this new covenant guarantees shall never cease being a nation, as long as the sun, the moon, the stars, and the sea, shall endure.(ver. 36.) Nor does it differ from the former covenant in cancelling the grant of Canaan, but expressly includes it ;-(ver. 38-40, and chap. xxxii. 36-44) but it differs from the old covenant in this, that it assures the formerly sinful Israelites, that they shall sin no more, nor depart from God any more. (xxxi 33, and xxxii. 39.)

And the spiritual blessing of a new heart, and the temporal blessing of a restoration to their land, are so very plainly and so very solemnly connected together, that it seems wrong to separate them, or to say that the words have been fulfilled. "I will put my fear in thine hearts, and they shall not depart from me; yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good; and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul." Read the connection from xxxii. 36-44. The 33rd chapter amplifies the same interesting subject, and gives a very serious warning to those who, like "A Son of Abraham," would fain see the seed of Jacob "amalgamated" with the other nations.- (xxxiii. 24.) And God says he will prove their nationality by their restortaion.-26.

I remain, dear Sir, Faithfully yours,
A SPIRITUAL JEW.

ON PUBLIC COLLECTIONS. To the Editor of the General Baptist Repository. DEAR SIR,-Your correspondent, (see G. B. R., p. 240,) has no wish either to retain or contend for the term objected to, if at all inapplicable to the subject of his inquiries; his object being to elicit a clear and faithful exposition of the principle involved, and carried out by appointing persons to stand on the steps or avenues to the gallery, to collect "silver," as required "on entering." Your correspendent is,

therefore, solicitous to supply an opportu nity for establishing, or else refuting a practice, engendering doubts; and concerning which many of your readers may have con. sciencious scruples as to the propriety of its adoption. And until substantiated as being correct in principle, ought it not to be objected to in practice? "The remarks of a judicious correspondent on the whole question of public collections," &c., in accordance with your suggestion, would doubtless be very seasonable and servicable; and it may be presumed that your kind invitation in regard to the same, will be suitably and promptly entertained.

But,

in the interim, permit me again to invite attention to the subject of my inquiries in particular, with reference to, and in con. nection with, 2 Cor. ix. 7.

An insertion of this, in your next, is respectfully solicited, and will greatly oblige, Dear Sir, Yours faithfully,

July 11th, 1844.

A GENERAL BAPTIST.

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To the Editor of the General Baptist Repository.

DEAR BROTHER.-Allow me to call the attention of the pastors and Churches of the General Baptist Body to our missions in Ireland; and to remind them of the appointment of a committee, some years since, to consider the propriety of assisting themand more particularly to a resolution agreed to by the Association. held at Queenshead, June, 1838. In accordance with that resolution, an application may now be made for congregational collections; to which, without doubt, they will cheerfully respond. The intelligence in recent Chronicles, and the facts stated in the present number, from almost every part of the sphere of our operations, are truly encouraging. New stations present themselves on every hand, -agents are offering themselves, duly qualified as readers and missionaries, whose services the committee are obliged, with deep sorrow, to decline, simply for want of funds, a fact rendered more distressing as now the people of Ireland are beginning to read the Word of God.

May I earnestly implore an immediate attention to this appeal.*

I am, dear Brother,
Mission House,
Moorgate st., London.S

Yours truly,
F. TRESTRAIL.

As we have no society for Ireland, it is hoped our Churches will cheerfully render some assistance to the Baptist Irish Society. One collection in a year from each Church, would be of essential service.-ED.

OBITUARY.

THOMAS SAVILLE.-October 31st, 1843, died at Hugglescote, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, our highly esteemed friend, Thomas Saville. As a neighbour, he was generally respected, and as an active, useful member of the Church, with which he had been in fellowship forty five years, greatly beloved. He was very regular in his attendance on the means of grace; whoever was the preacher, his place was seldom empty. He was a warm advocate for social prayer meetings; and took a very active part in conducting them, for which he was well qualified, being favoured with the gift of prayer above many of his brethren. He was called by the Church to assist in the ministry, with which call he complied; and for several years was a laborious, useful and acceptable assistant preacher among us. He sustained, too, the office of ruling elder, and this, together with his work in the ministry, he retained to the close of his useful life. But among all his other pious labours, the interests of the Sabbath-school at Hugglescote engrossed his chief concern; he was among those who first founded it; and was an active, useful, and persevering teacher in it for many years. His death was rather sudden, and quite unexpected both by himself and his friends. His afflictions, though short, were very severe and very distressing; under which he was frequently delirious; that being the case, his friends were deprived of the dying experience of a man, on whose lips they had hung with delight, while he poured consolation and advice on their perplexed and distressed minds; yet what he said in his lucid moments, clearly intimated that Christ was precious to his soul, and that Christ to him was first and last, yea every thing. On the following Sabbath, his mortal remains were committed to the cold and silent grave; and his death improved by a discourse founded on ii. Tim. iv. 7-9 verses, to an overflowing congregation.

The following lines, composed on the occassion, were sung after the discourse, with peculiar feeling.

Now, O my friends, my course is run,
Death will not let me stay;
No more shall I your meeting join,
No more with you shall pray.

Be faithful to the solemn vows,

Which you to Christ have made;
Pursue the course the Gospel shows,
And seek your Saviour's aid.

O seek the Lord, ye children dear,
Death soon may come for you;
And from your school and teacher's bear
Your souls to bliss or woe.

The crown of righteousness I see,
Prepared by grace divine,

For you, my Christian friends, and me,
That we with Christ may reign.
T. O. H.

MR. JONAS FOSTER died at Retford March 26th, 1844, aged sixty-eight years, after a short though severe affliction of six days' duration, which he bore with Christian fortitude and patience. Mr. F. was born at Brackerby, Lincolnshire. In early life he removed to Retford, where he commenced business, in which he made great proficiency, and rose to considerable eminence. In the year 1797, he entered the marriage state with Miss Sarah Popple, whose parents were members of the General Baptist Church. He then became a regular hearer of the word, and, in the year 1811, he, along with his partner, was baptized by Mr. Smedley, in Gamston river, and joined the Church. He was a man of an enterprizing spirit, and, through the blessing of God, he accumulated considerable property, which enabled him to be more efficiently useful in the cause of Christ. He took a lively interest in the internal and external concerns thereof. Mr. F. was very active and liberal in the recent erection and enlargement of the chapel; he was, also, a decided General Baptist, and an acceptable occasional preacher. During the long afflictions of Mr. Smedley and Mr. Stenson, ministers of the Church, Mr. F. occupied the pulpit, in

My Christian friends, and neighbours too, conjunction with some of his brethren,

I bid you all farewell:

For I am call'd away from you,
In death's dark shades to dwell.

My mortal frame will melt away,
And mingle with the dust;
But Christ my Lord, my life will say,
No grain of thine is lost.

With labour and with anxious fear,
I've fought the fight of faith;
Beneath my captain's guardian care,
I've kept the narrow path.

gratuitously; which enabled the Church to continue their respective salaries till death. Mr. F. was a man whose judgment was well informed, and whose religious experience was sound and scriptural. The writer had several interviews with him during his last affliction : on one occasion his mind was directed to the Saviour, and he, with peculiar emphasis, exclaimed, "There is no other name under heaven amongst men whereby we must be saved." At another time, speaking of the Christian's hope, he observed, "This is the

anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." In him the Church has lost a friend, and the family its head. May the Lord sanctifiy this solemn event to all concerned, and may each listen to the Saviour's admonition, "Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." May the brethren that remain be waiting for their change, and may his surviving relations be anxious to seek that God whom their friend and father sought, that they may at last unite with him in that song of praise which will never, never end.

S. S. R.

MR. W. SMITH died at Sutton Bonington, Nottinghamshire, May, 1844, aged seventyone years. He was born at Loughborough, but serving his apprenticeship at Sutton, he settled in that village. As his connections led him among the General Baptists, he was brought early in life to attend the preaching of those faithful and Scriptural ministers, Messrs. Tarrat and Corah; and, in his twenty-third year, he gladly received the word, and was baptized and united with the Church at Kegworth, along with seventeen others, one of whom was the late Rev. J. Jarrom, of Wisbech. His natural abilities being good, he was encouraged by his friends to exercise his gifts in preaching; and the branch at Sutton soon after separating from the parent Church at Kegworth, he was regularly called to the sacred work. For some years he was the principal supply of the cause at that place; and it may be mentioned to his honor, that his labors were always gratuitous.

Mr. Smith was a consistent dissenter, and a firm General Baptist. Trained under ministers of the good old school, he became decidedly attached to the pure and unadulterated doctrines of the Gospel. He was not free from infirmity, but his life and conversation were in the main such as become godliness; and, though little known beyond his own immediate neighbourhood, he was frequently engaged in preaching till within a few weeks of his death. He was called away from this scene of conflict by an attack of apoplexy. Though the summons was sudden, he was not unprepared for the event. A short time previously, having transferred his business to his son, and settled his temporal affairs, he observed to a friend, that he was waiting for his change. He knew in whom he believed, and was persuaded that he was able to keep that which he had committed to his care.

His mortal remains were interred in the chapel yard at Sutton, and his death improved by Mr. Wilders, of Kegworth, from 2 Tim. i. 12.

Our departed brother was twice married. Of his first partner, whose life was not long spared, and who left no surviving child, there is an account in the General Baptist Magazine for 1800. His second wife, who was a sincere Christian, and a help-meet for him, died about eighteen years ago.

Six of

his children arrived at maturity; but he followed four of these to the grave. May the survivors be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. W. S.

INTELLIGENCE.

THE ANNUAL ASSOCIATION of General Baptist Churches assembled at Wisbech, on Tuesday, the 25th of June. The Rev. J. G. Pike, of Derby, was elected chairman, and Rev. E. H. Burton, of Portsea, and the Rev. J. Stevenson, A. M., of Borough-road chapel, London, moderators, during the sittings of the Association. The following Churches were received into the Connexion: Ramsgate;

Melton place, Euston - square, London;

Hathern, Leicestershire; Audlem, Cheshire; Pinchbeck, Lincoln; Downton, Wilts; and Vine-street, Leicester; the Church at Wolverhampton was restored to the list. Mr. S. Wigg, of Leicester, was elected Secretary to to the Association for the next three years. The meeting was deeply impressed with the importance of forming a General Benefit Society, on Christian principles, to obviate the apparent necessity urged by some memhers, for joining societies of a questionable character, that afforded relief in sickness;

and it was agreed to refer the subject to the Committee of the Baptist Union, to consider the propriety of forming a society for the whole Baptist body; the London ministers, on the Committee of the Union, being desired to attend to it. A Committee, consisting of brethren Matthews, Noble, Small, Rogers, Yates, K. Sanby, C. Pike, and R. Wherry, was also appointed to collect information on the subject, and present a digested scheme at the next Association, in case the Committee of the Union declined to act on the suggestion. The following were appointed to inquire into the credentials of ministers applying for admission to the Connexion-brethren Goadby, Wigg, T. Stevenson, Balm, F. Deacon, and S. Groocock. The subject of the Regium Donum was discussed, and a resolution, denouncing the continued receipt of this degrading stipend, was agreed to. The Committee for watching the rights of the Connexion, as a body of Dissenters, was re

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