He must not be treated like the idols of the Gentiles, to whom their votaries presented the empty homage of mere ceremonies and oblations. Then only do we worship and serve him, in a manner worthy of his character and attributes, when we present to him the offering of our hearts and affections; when we love him above all things, especially for his "inestimable love in the redemption of the world, by our Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory;" when we confide in his power and promises,—commit ourselves to the direction of his wisdom and providence,-submit to his authority, and regulate our thoughts, and words, and actions, by his laws. In a word, then only do "we walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called," so as to worship and serve him acceptably, when we offer up prayers expressive of holy desires, and praises from a grateful heart; when we live as becometh the disciples and servants of Christ; and, while we strive to serve him in the gospel of his Son, we have confidence towards him, only through the great Mediator and Intercessor, the High Priest of our profession. "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we, by him.”†

* 1 Cor. chap. viii. v. 5-6.

OF

CHRISTIANITY

AND

CHRISTIANS.

NAME AND AUTHOR.-Christianity is one of the four grand systems of religion, and is so called from its divine author, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. At its first commencement, those who embraced it were known among themselves by the names of disciples, believers, elect, saints, and brethren; nor did they assume the title of Christians, till about the year 43, when the disciples were first so called at Antioch, where St. Paul and St. Barnabas were then preaching the gospel, as we read in the 11th chap. of the Acts of the Apostles.

Judaism, which contains the only preceding revelation of the will of God, was introductory to Christianity, and the lineage, birth, life, sufferings,

death, and resurrection of the Messiah, i. e. of Jesus Christ, were minutely predicted by a succession of Jewish prophets, and particularly by Isaiah, who has hence been styled the Evangelical Prophet.

Agreeably to these prophecies, he was miraculously born at Bethlehem of Judea, about the year of the world, 4004, or about 1808 years ago, in the reign of Augustus Cæsar, emperor of Rome, and of Herod, tributary king of Judea. He was brought up at Nazareth of Galilee, with Mary his mother, and Joseph, his reputed father, and is supposed to have wrought with him as a carpenter till he was nearly thirty years of age, when he began his public ministry, went about doing good, and not only taught by his doctrine, the will of God for our salvation, but at the same time exhibited in his conduct a perfect pattern of righteousness and holiness of life. He in a great measure confined the benefits of his personal ministry to the Jews; but after his resurrection, he commissioned the twelve persons whom he had chosen from among his disciples, to be the constant attendants on his person and ministry, and who were afterwards called apostles, to go and instruct all nations, in the nature and principles of his religion, and to introduce them, by baptism, into that society, of which he was the constituted head.

To convince the world of his divine mission and authority, he wrought many miracles, the

tendency of which was the same with that of his religion, for they were almost all wrought for the benefit of mankind. But the course of his ministry was interrupted in little more than three years, by the Jews, who had all along shewn themselves his enemies, and who, after continued, and till then unheard of insults and indignaties offered to his person, at last ignorantly fulfilled their own scriptures, in crucifying the Son of God, whereby, though they knew it not, nor meant it so, "a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction," was made for the sins of mankind. He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures; and after spending forty days in giving further instructions to his disciples, he ascended into heaven, in his human body, and there sitteth at the right hand of God, whence he will come, at the last day, to judge both the quick and the dead.

RISE, PROGRESS, &c.-When the divine author of Christianity had thus withdrawn his visible presence from the earth, his religion speedily experienced, according to his predictions, the increasing enmity of a world, whose forms of worship it superseded, and whose practices it condemned. The pure gold was to be tried in the furnace of adversity; and to this it was exposed for the first three centuries after its promulgation, during which time it had to contend with the malice of the Jews, the wisdom of the Greeks, and the power of the Romans. The persecutions which the Christians endured under the Roman emperors, are usually в b

VOL. I.