Page images
PDF
EPUB

difputed as thofe propofitions involve, we can only fay, that the writer has treated them with perfpicuity, and has been very happy in his corroborative quotations from feripture.

Before he enters on the fecond head of his fubject, he makes a few practical remarks, which tend to prove that the doctrine of election "is not fo difcouraging as fome would reprefent it."

In the fecond difcourfe, the point to be established is this, "That a certain great and glorious number were elected by God, in his eternal counfel and purpose from the reft of fallen mankind, to be in time effectually called and juftified, in order to their being finally brought to eternal life and glory; and this out of his mere good pleasure, and for the praise of his glorious grace." To confirm this point, the author brings many firiking paffages from the New Teftament, which appear to us strong and forcible, and oblige us to conclude with him, that the doctrine treated of, “is no scattered, fingle, or independent article, but runs along with the ftream of the bible."

The object of the third difcourfe is to attempt to clear the doctrine of mifreprefentations and objections. The fubject of this difcourfe must be highly interefting to every one; for where is the mind, which is at any time employed on ferious fubjects, that is not defirous of having its objections removed, and of being confirmed with regard to the truth or abfurdity of the abovementioned doctrines? How far Mr. C. has fucceeded in removing objections, or confirming the truth of his fubject, we must refer our readers to the work to judge for themselves.

In the fourth and last fermon,
Vol. I. No. I.

E

the author endeavours to ftate fome of the abfurd confequences, which follow upon the denial of the doctrine; fuch as making the will of God dependent on a creature, the uncertainty of human falvation, and that the falvation of every particular man origi nates with himself.

The difcourfes are then concluded with fhewing the importance of the doctrine, and the place it holds in the fcheme of chriftianity, with a few practical remarks.

The extracts, already made from the difcourfes, will ferve as a fpecia men of the author's style, which is plain and perfpicuous, and forms a ftriking contraft with many of the polished fermons of the prefent day.

We must do the author the juftice to obferve, that a spirit of piety, and chriftian zeal pervades the whole work; and that his difcourfes are exempt from any severity, or invective against the oppofers of his fentiments. To ufe his own words, he appears to have taken

this fubject in hand, not from a love of controversy or fondness to oppofe the fchemes of others, but from a fincere defire to fulfil the miniftry of the Lord Jefus." N.

Sermons by WILLIAM JAY, 8vo. pp. 478. Bofton, printed for B. and J. Homans, by David Carlisle. First American, from the fecond London Edition. 1805.

FROM the multitude of books, which are continually iffuing from the preffes in Great Britain, it were to be wifhed, that our American bookfellers were always as judi cious in their felections for reprinting in this country, as the publish ers of this volume. With much fatisfaction we introduce to the American publick, a work in no

common degree interesting and inftructive. It confifts of twenty four fermons on the following fubjects: Miftakes concerning the number of the righteous; The triumphs of patience; Vows called to remembrance; the nature of genuine religion; The young admonished; The golpel demands, and deferves attention; The fufferings of our Saviour neceffary; The condemnation of selfwill; The fecure alarmed; On progrefs in religion; The privileges of the righteous; The conditions of chrif tians in the world; Concupifcence punished; Hope; The parable of the two fons; Chriftian diligence; The abufe of divine forbearance; Affur ance; Domeftick happiness; Happihefs in death; Service done for GOD rewarded; The difappointments of life; Neutrality in religion expofed; The family of our Lord.

From the difcourfes on thefe important fubjects, we shall felect fuch paffages as fhall at once exhibit a fair fpecimen of the fentiments and manner of the author, and furnish rich entertainment to our readers. The firft difcourfe is on the "Mitakes concerning the number of the righteous;" which is thus happily introduced..

Who can understand his errours? How numerous, how various, how op posite to each other, are the mistakes of mankind! The lives.and the language of many seem to imply a full persuasion, that there is very little evil ia sin; that the difficulties. of religion are by no means great; that it is an easy thing to be a christian; that if there be a hell, few are wicked enough to be turned into it; and that the generality of our fellow creatures are in a fair way for heaven. This persuasion is as falseas it is fatal. Enter ye in at the strait gate for wide is the gate, and broad is the way which leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth anto life, and few there be that find it."

It is possible, however, to fall into

another extreme, and to draw an un-
warrantable conclusion respecting the
state of religion, and the number of its
adherents; and even wise men, and
good men, are liable to this.
ye not what the scripture saith of Eli-

"Wot

as? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the

image of Baal." p. 9, 10.

Our author then undertakes "to

examine the opinion that reduces the number of the righteous;" to

lay open thevarious fources from which it proceeds," that "by difcovering the caufe," he might the more fuccefsfully" prefcribe the cure." This opinion fometimes grows out of "the peculiar ftate of our own minds," fometimes it originates from "obferving multiplied inftances of falfe profeffion," but more frequently it is " derived from the righteous themselves.” Five things, he conceives, "have influence in producing it: The ob fcurity of their frations; the diffi dence of their difpofitions; the manner of their converfion; the diverfity of their opinions; and the imperfec tions of their character." We seleft his illuftration of the fourth of thefe topicks, as a specimen of the chriftian candour of our author.

The difference of opinion which prevails among christians, has frequently occasioned a diminution of their num ber. Indeed, the readiest way in the world to thin heaven, and replenish the regions of hell, is to call in the spirit of bigotry. This will immediately arraign, and condemn, and execute all that do not bow down and worship the image of our idolatry. Possessing exclusive prerogative, it rejects every other claim; stand by, I am sounder' than thou." "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we!" How many of the dead has this intolerance sen tenced to eternal misery, who wil

ahine for ever as stars in the kingdom of our Father! How many living characters does it reprobate as enemies to the cross of Christ, who are placing in it all their glory. No wonder if under the influence of this consuming zeal, we form lessening views of the number of the saved. "I only am left." Yes, they are few indeed, if none belong to them that do not belong to your party; that do not see with your eyes; that do not believe election with you, or universal redemption with you; that de not worship under a steeple with you, or in a meeting with you; that are not dipped with you, or sprinkled with you. But hereafter we shall find that the righteous were not so circumscribed, when we shall see, "many coming from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south, to sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Do I plead for an excessive candour? The candour which regards all sentiments alike, and considers no errour as destructive, is no virtue. It is the offspring of ignorance, of insensibility, and of cold indifference. The blind do not perceive the difference of colours; the dead never dispute; ice, as it congeals, aggregates all bodies within its reach, however heterogeneous their quality Every virtue has certain bounds, and when it exceeds them, it becomes a vice; for the last step of a virtue, and the first step of a vice, are contiguous. But surely it is no wildness of candour, that leads us to give the liberty we take; that suffers a man to think for himself unawed; and that concludes he may be a follower of God, though he follow not with us. Why should we hesitate to consider a man a christian, when we see him abhorring and forsaking sin; hungering and thirsting after righteousness; diligent in approaching unto God; walking "in newness of life;" and discovering a spirituality of temper, a disposition for devotion, a deadness to the world, a benevolence, a liberality, such as we seldom find in those high toned doctrinalists, who regard themselves as the only advocates for free grace? And by the way, it is not a system of notions, however good, or a judgment in divine things, however clear, that will constitute a christian. It is a transformation by the renewing of the mind; it is a putting "ff the old man with his deeds,

and putting on the new man, which af ter God is created in righteousness and true holiness;" it is walking "even as he walked." "If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

And to pass to the opposite side, we should also remember, that men do not always live according to the natural tendency and consequences of their creed. Some hold sentiments very injurious to holiness, who are not wicked men; their hearts are better than their opinions; their principles give their consciences a liberty to sin, which they refuse to take; and their practice is adorned with good works, which their system by no means requires. No one can imagine that I mention this with a view to countenance or palliate the adoption of such sentiments. They blaspheme every line in the bible, and are always injurious in a degree; but where they happen to fall in with a love of sin, the effect is dreadful; where such a poisonous infusion is imbibed, and not counteracted by a singular potency of constitution, the consequence is certain death. p. 19, 20, 21.

The following obfervations, in his application of the difcourfe, are at no time unfeasonable, in no chriftian community inapplicable.

"My brethren, the best evidence you can give of your integrity, is freedom from the prevailing, fashionable vices and follies of the times and places in which you live. A dead fish can swim with the stream, but a live one only can swim against it. The influence of one man over another, is truly wonderful; the individual is upright; his connections give him all his wrong bias. Alone, he forms good resolutions; when he enters the world they are broken, "like as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire." It is not ignorance, but a cowardly shame, that keeps many in a state of indecision, "halting between two opinions." They know what is right, and would gladly partake of the believer's safety; but they have not fortitude enough to encounter the reproach, which in one form oranother, always attends an adhe rence to the cause of Jesus Christ. Others, who had made some pleasing progress, have been easily deprived by a laugh, or a sneer, of all their religion. Not to "bow the knee to Baal," when all adore him: to step forth with our

family behind us, and say to our neighbours, and our relations, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord;" to withstand in a pious cause, the influence of example; to keep our way when we see an adverse multitude approaching us; to pass through the midst, unshrinking, as we feel the Scourge of the tongue, this is no easy thing; this is principle in triumph; and this christian heroism is not only commendable, but necessary. Do not say, therefore, if we do this, we shall be singular. If you are christians, you MUST be singular; it is the grand design, the unavoidable consequence of the gospel. Read the character of its followers: "Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Examine its commands. "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of the mind.” Weigh the condition of its dignities and privileges: "Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty." My dear hearers, the language is too plain to be misunderstood; the meaning too awful to be trified with. Decide, and decide immediately. "Withdraw yourselves from these men," before a common perdition involves you all. If with them you will sin, with them you must suffer. They who followed the multitude rather than Noah, were drowned in the flood. They who followed the multi tude rather than Lot, were destroyed in the cities of the plain. They who followed the multitude rather than Joshua and Caleb, perished in the wilderness; and as it was then, so it is now; as for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them forth wITH the workers of iniquity." (To be continued.)

LITERARY NOTICE.

Doctor Dwight's sermon on Duelling. THIS sermon, though very lately printed, was preached last September, in the College Chapel at New-Haven. "It was no part of the design of any observations made in it to refer to any particular events or persons." "The sole object" of the preacher (as by himselfexpressed)" was to establish prin

ciples in the minds of his audience, and peculiarly of his pupils; and not at all to attack, or characterize persons."

Taking the following appropriate text, "A man that doth violence to the blood of any person, shall flee to the pit let no man slay him :" the preacher exhibits to view, in a manner that would seemingly overpower any mind with conviction, the folly, the guilt, and the mischiefs of duelling.

Before the stern and awful majesty of truth, the duellist stands appalled and confounded; the blood stained laurels are torn from his brow: his pleas and excuses vanish like vapours from the presence of the sun; his egregious folly is made manifest; the rankness of his offence against God and man, is seen in the strong colours of reason and argument, aided by sublime eloquence.

In the mind of the reader, the alternate emotions of indignation and horror, suddenly give place to the anguish of unavailing grief and compassion. The "uncovered coffin" appears to view; the bloody corpse is plainly seen. There is beheld a train of bereaved and broken hearted relatives; the father of the wretched victim of false honour, "fixed in motionless sorrow;" the mo ther, "wrung with agony." A group still more affecting is presented; the reader wets the page with tears.

"Turn thine eyes, next," solemnly exclaims the preacher to the bloody victor, "on the miserable form, surrounded by a cluster of helpless and wretched children, see her eyes roll with phrenzy, and her frame quivering with terrour. Thy hand has made her a widow, and her children orphans. At thee, though unseen, is directed that bewildered stare of agony. At thee she trembles; for thee she listens; lest the murderer of her hus. band should be now approaching to murder her children also.

"She, and they, have lost their all. Thou hast robbed them of theirsupport, their protector, their guide, their so lace, their hope. In the grave all these blessings have been buried by thy hand."

The superior elegance of its language, is but the smallest part of the merit which this discourse possesses. While it enchains attention, it informs the understanding; while it awakens the indignant, and sympathetick passions, it convinces the judgment and

[ocr errors]

corrects the heart. In the clear and awful light of the sacred oracles, it displays the horrible turpitude, as well as the direful consequences, of the crime, which, in some parts of even this christian country, has been "vindicated, honoured, and rewarded, by common consent, and undisguised suffrage," "among those who filled the superior ranks of society." Connect. Courant.

FRAGMENTS.

PROVIDENCE.

Is what extreme confusion must the world for ever have been, but for the variety, which we find to obtain in the faces, the voices, and the hand writings of men! No security of person, no certainty of possession, no justice between man and man, no distinction between good and bad, friends and foes, father and child, husband and wife, male and female. All would have been exposed to malice, fraud, fargery, and lust. But now, man's face can distinguish him in the light, his voice in the dark, and his hand writing can speak for him, though absent, and be his witness to all genera

tions. Did this happen by chance, or is it not a manifest, as well as an ad. mirable, indication o a divine super. Derham i. 310. intendence?

RELIGION.

RELIGION, viewed at a proper point of sight, hath a very beautiful face. It is innocent and very careful not to hurt any body, or, doing it inad vertently, is uneasy till it hath made him amends. It always means well, and does as well as ever it can. If it offends, it wants to be reconciled; confesses its faults; prays to be for given; is desirous to be informed; is less adventurous; more circumspect; sensible of its own frailty; forgives every body; abounds in good will; delights in good offices; keeps itself clean; is pleased with itself; looks cheerful; is cheerful! Why, then, will any one be so indiscreet, as to dress this lovely form in such a frightful manner, as to terrify the beholder, instead of inviting him to embrace it. (Dr. Newton's Sermon on the Ministe rial Duty.)

Religious Intelligence.

FOREIGN.

From the mass of information before us, we select for this number the following articles.

MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA.

THE London Missionary Society was established in 1795. The ninth number of their Transactions, contains a very interesting narrative of the Rev. Mr. Kicherer's mission to the Hottentots, which has already appeared in some American periodical works. From this we learn that Mr. Kicherer, with Messrs. Vanderkemp, Edwards, and Edmonds, embarked in Dec. 1798, for the Cape of Good Hope, where they arrived the March following. A few days previous to their arrival, three Boschemen had come thither from Zak river, 400 or 500 miles N. E. of the Cape, with a view to solicit the government to send teachers into their country. They came in the capacity of publick ambassadors. At the conclusion of a peace between these heathen and the Farmers of the back setplements, some of the latter offered a

prayer. The Hottentots inquiring the meaning of such an action, were informed, it was done to obtain the blessing of Almighty God, that their neglect of this God was the cause of theirwretchedness. This so forcibly impressed these poor heathen, that they immediately sent to the government of the Cape for gospel instructors. There they met several missionaries, just arrived from Europe. So remarkable a coincidence of circumstances left no doubt in the minds of the missionaries respecting their duty. On the 22d of May several of them left Cape Town. At Rodezand they rested several days, where Mr. Voss presides over a flourishing congregation. Thence they visited Bavian's Kloof, where the Moravians have a congregation of "Tame Hottentots." From Bavian's Kloof, they proceeded a fortnight's journey, through a vast tract of land, so dry as generally not to afford a blade of grass; yet the surrounding inhabitants, hearing of their journey came to them to

« PreviousContinue »