""repentance unto life" was about to be And how is the other Christian instiproclaimed to the Gentiles as well as tution treated in our day? Is there any to the Jews, is evident from verses 9 question whether the disciples, in priand 10. From verse 10 it may be fairly mitive times, came together to break inferred, that more than one of the bread on the Lord's-day--the first day many guests, good and bad, who were of the week? Or can aught be clearer invited, were rejected; and from verse than the apostolic injunction concern12, that the sole reason assigned for the ing the collection for the saints? "Upon rejection of him of whom we have an the first day of the week, let every one account, was the slight he put upon a contribute of that which he hath laid certain appointment, viz. the putting by in store, as God hath prospered on of a particular garment. He was him?" Are not apostolic injunctions not rejected because he had not been and practices binding at this remote invited; nor because he had been, here- period? If not, let this principle be tofore, of a character which rendered clearly avowed, and we shall be saved him unworthy or unfit for such a privi- the trouble of citing them? We may lege as that of feasting with his sover- with propriety ask certain persons, who eign on such a special occasion. He are parents and masters, and who prewas not charged with acts of rebellion, sume to describe one of the divine comnor indeed with aught but this one mands as absolutely essential, indispenthing his contempt for a certain cere- suble, &c. and another as non-essential, mony-that which he presumed to de- unimportant, &c., In what light should clare (practically so) a non-essential. you regard a child or a servant, who He did not deny that it was a command, presumed to disobey you on such a for it is expressly said that he was plea? I submit that the Christian speechless. Nor that he was ignorant Scriptures require-1, faith; 2, repentof the command. How, then, shall we ance; 3, baptism; 4, pardon or salvaaccount for his presumption and infatu- tion (from the guilt of sin) as Mark ation? May we not conclude that he xvi. 16, &c. &c.; 5, worship, &c. The so interpreted the command, as to per- Baptist denomination teach as follows: suade himself that one garment was as-1, prayer, or worship; 2, repentance; proper as another? Or, that he was unhappily taught this ruinous sentiment? As this foolish man, whether so taught by others or not, despised the king's institution of a provision of garments for his guests, so do many around us despise, reject, and even ridicule certain institutions of the King of kings! The blessed institution of immersion, for example, is looked upon by many who take upon them the name of Christ, just as was "the wedding garment" in this case. They insist upon it that a plain, positive, and imperative command of their Lord and Master (?) is a non-essential! Let such cease to acknowledge the authority of Him to whom all authority is given in heaven and in earth, and who is "head over all things to the church." "If I be a master, where is my fear, saith Jehovah.' Who is it that saith, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord," &c. but He who saith, also, "If ye love me, keep my commandments?" To denominate a divine command non-essential, is an impudent and impious reflection on divine and infinite wisdom a course which was pursued by him who was "cast into outer darkness!" 3, faith; 4, pardon; 5, baptism, &c. Others say -1, baptism; 2, worship; 3, repentance; 4, faith; 5, pardon, &c. The last item in the first list, is the first in the second!—and the last in the second, is the first in the last! "To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." W. D. H. OUTLINES OF LORD'S-DAY TEACHINGS ON HEBREWS VIII. 7. NO. IX. BEFORE the days of Daniel, the time of Christ's coming was nowhere specified, so that it should be looked for within a given number of years; only it was designated in general as the last days. And when the prophet so earnestly besought God to restore his favor to Jerusalem, then without a king, and without the worship of God amongst them, it may be that he was looking out then for the Messiah, the Son of David to deliver them from their calamities OUTLINES OF LORD'S DAY TEACHINGS ON HEBREWS VIII. 7. and to forgive their sins-the seventy years' captivity foretold by Jeremiah being now accomplished (Dan. ix. 2.) The message God sent to David by the angel Gabriel, seems to favor this supposition; for, at the beginning of his supplication, the commandment went | forth for Gabriel to show him, and to give him skill and understanding (ver. 22-23); and this was what was showed him, that seventy weeks were determined (read ver. 24-25.) Henceforth the time of Christ's appearing could be calculated, and it is plain that the nation of Israel knew that the time was at hand, and that they were looking out for the Saviour to be sent to them when Jesus actually came. Many persons pretending to be Christs rose up about this time, of which impostors we never find the least hint at any other period of their history. This is intimated in Acts v. 36-37; and many more arose successively and perished, as we learn from historians of that time, and as Christ himself said they would (Matt. xxiv. 24;) and this continued as long as ever the Jews were not utterly subdued and driven out of their own country by the Romans. When John the Baptist first began to preach, he was supposed to be the Christ, and declared he was not, to the messengers of the Scribes and Pharisees (John i. 19-23.) No prophet or remarkable person that we read of in the Scriptures, prior to this time, was asked whether he were the Christ, or mistaken for him. But now "all the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not" (Luke iii. 15.) No prophet's testimony can equal this one of Daniel, as to the time of Christ's coming; and it is the testimony of a prophet raised up to Israel, and it is carefully preserved in the records of that very people who have rejected and crucified the Lord of glory, and are still maintaining that the Messiah is not come! We find, Dan. ix. 25, that sixtynine weeks were to elapse between the going forth of the commandment to build Jerusalem to Messiah the Prince. Why this period is divided as it is into seven weeks and three score and two weeks, we know not, but the whole number is sixty-nine; and it is plain that when it is said (ver. 26,) that after three score and two weeks Messiah should be cut off, it means sixty-two 35 added to seven, in the same manner as the number is expressed in the preceding verse, thus making sixty-nine. After this, Messiah was to be cut offnot immediately after, but in the midst of the last or seventieth week. For we read that the covenant was to be confirmed with many for one week (or seven years, a week being seven days,) and in the midst of the week the sacrifice and oblation should cease; that is, the sacrifices appointed by the law of Moses should be superseded by the sacrifice of Christ. If we consider the time of Messiah to refer, not to the time of his birth, but to the time of his entering upon his ministry, after he was baptized by John-which seems most reasonable to suppose, as his life before thirty years of age, and before he began to preach, had nothing in it to draw men's attention to him as the Christif the time of his beginning to preach was at the expiration of the sixty-nine weeks, it is easy to see the fulfilment of all that is said concerning this seventieth week, and afterwards. For this covenant being confirmed for one week naturally means, that the people of Israel were during one week, or seven years longer, acknowledged by God to be his people, and that he was their God. The promise of the last days, that God would raise up a Saviour to Israel, was fulfilled by his own Son coming in the flesh, to preach repentance and the remission of sins; and this preaching of Jesus himself continued as near as we can trace it three years and half, and then he was cut off in the midst of the week, and the sacrifice and oblation ceased. If the preaching of the apostles to the Jews only continued three years and half more, beginning from the days of Pentecost, as already noticed, then we come to the end of the seventieth, or last week. After this followed, but with an interval of some years, the utter rejection of Israel as a nation, so that they are no longer God's people, and he is not their God. They filled up the measure of their iniquities by denying and crucifying the Son of God; and their house is left unto them desolate, and has been from the time of the destruction of the city and sanctuary by the Romans, and their being scattered into all lands, even to this day (Dan. ix. 27.) Now, then, to return to the conside ration which we have lost sight of for a time, namely, that God's promise of making a New Covenant with the house of Israel and Judah was fulfilled to Israel literally-though to a remnant of Israel, whilst the nation in general was cast off-we find, that in the course of three years and half after Christ was raised from the dead, and glorified at God's right hand, there were churches throughout the land of Israel, namely, in Judea, Samaria, and Galilee (Acts ix. 31,) which comprehend the whole country. And if we might say, that the promise of the New Covenant was fulfilled in one day, we should fix upon the day of Pentecost, when three thousand of Abraham's seed according to the flesh, bowed the knee to Christ in Jerusalem, and formed a church, to which all others, whether Jews or Gentiles, were successively added. Herein a "heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb. xii. 22) Jerusalem which is above, not in heaven, but of a heavenly origin and character (Gal. iv. 26.) But though the great number that were converted at once by the preaching of the apostles, and of which we find other instances after the day of Pentecost, made the time of the fulfilment of the promise of the New Covenant very conspicuous and striking; yet the truth is, that the Old and New Covenants differ essentially in this very thing-that the first was made with the whole nation and with all succeeding generations of Jews, considered as one body; and not with individuals any farther than this, that a nation or assembly of people is composed of individuals whereas the New Covenant is, on the contrary, made with individuals and only with a collective body-" the church," because many individuals are gathered together into one body. We have, therefore, to remember, that we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, not to be judged as a body, but that every one of us may give account of himself to God. | With one that "cometh not with outward show" Ordain'd to break in pieces, grind to dust, what The Scriptures show, know more than Solomon Himself could e'er have learnt, without this word. Guided by faith, we need not fear to say, Around whose throne unnumber'd angels stand, When tongues of angels" gave their "shouts of joy." God saw him "good," as all his creatures were, When by his Son the heav'ns and earth were fram'd; Yet not incapable of sin was man, Here, then, we pause: philosophy, "turn pale," truth Now Satan in the truth did not "abide," And, led by him, "his angels" sinn'd-rebell'd Against the will Supreme to them reveal'd. How great that sin! since he who highest was Is lowest doom'd, and with his legions spar'd Not-adjudg'd to hell—"the undying worm," Whilst darkness holds them for a time enchain'd. By "pride" this spirit fell: he would not "do The truth," express'd to all the " hosts of God," That they were made for man," not man for them; Because in flesh the SON OF GOD should dwell, The prototype of what is in the world Admir'd and idoliz'd " with eyes of flesh," "What is the end of FAME? "Tis but to fill Whose summit, like all hills, is lost in vapor; For this men write, speak, preach, and heroes kill. And bards burn what they call their midnight taper, To have, when the original is dust, A name, a wretched picture, and worse bust!" A TRANSLATION OR PARAPHRASE OF THE SONG OF MOSES, (DEUT. XXXII.) Into blank verse, throughout which the poetic lines of the Hebrew are adhered to, except in a few instances, and then the idea contained in one line of the original is extended into two, and are thus marked { . 1 GIVE ear, O heavens high, and I will speak, And hear, O earth, the sayings of my mouth. 2 My doctrine on the thirsty soul shall fall As grateful rain upon the parched soilMy speech shall fragrant as the dew exhale, {Which bears the odours of sweet flow'rs to heaven, ́Exub'rant as the small rain's pearl like drops, Which shine in myriads on the tender herb, Or show'rs which glitter on the young green grass. 3 Because Jehovah's name I will proclaim, Let all attribute greatness to our God. 4 He is the Rock, his work all perfect is, And all his ways are ways of judgment sureA God of truth without iniquity. He is the righteous and the upright One. 5 A nation which corrupted has itself— Their spot no longer is the spot of sons: A generation crooked and perverse. 6 Do ye the good Jehovah thus requite, O foolish people and unwise in heart? Say, is he not thy father kind and good, And is he not thy great redeemer too? Yea, he did make thee and establish thee. 7 Remember former days, the days of oldConsider and weigh well the ancient years, The years of many generations past: { Thy father ask, and he'll make known to thee Thy elders, and they will relate to thee. 8 When the Most High apportioned nations out, And gave to each their own inheritance, In his dispersion of the sons of Adam. He then the bound'ries of the people fixed In equal number unto Israel's sons: 9 Because Jehovah's lot his people is, Jacob's the bond of his inheritance. 10 He found him in a sterile desert land, In a destructive howling wilderness. He then surrounded and instructed him, And watched him as the apple of his eye. 11 Just as the eagle stirreth up his nest, And with much fondness flutt'reth o'er his young He spreadeth out his wings, he taketh them, 12 Just so alone Jehovah guided him, And no strange god existed with him then. 13 He caused him ride upon the heights of earth, And eat the richest products of the plain, And made him suck the honey from the rock, And oil from out the hard and flinty rock. 14 The milk of kine, the fat of finest sheep; Yea, fed him with the fat of fatted lambs, And rams of Bashan's breed and goatsWith fat of wheat, the precious inmost parts. And thou drank'st wine pure blood of clust'ring grapes; 15 But then Jeshurun waxed fat and spurn'd. Thou'rt waxen fat, thou'rt gross, thou'rt covered o'er, And he forsaken has his Maker, God--The rock of his salvation set at naught. 16 They by strange gods roused him to jealousy With their abominations anger'd him. 17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God; And unto gods of which they nothing knew, Which newly had arisen in their midst, And even which your fathers did not fear. 18 The rock which thee begat thou hast forgot, And God who formed thee thou hast wholly left. 19 When this Jehovah saw, he cast them off, For all his sons and daughters were corrupt. 20 He said, I will now hide my face from them, And I'll see what their latter end will be: For they a froward generation are, And children vain in whom there is no truth. 21 They have provoked me unto jealousy, Even by that which is not any God, And by their vanities have angered me: So I'll provoke them unto jealousy, Even by that which not a people is, And by a foolish nation anger them: 22 Because a fire is kindled in my wrath, And it will burn unto the lowest hades"Twill eat the earth and her productions up, And the foundations of the mountains burn. 23 I will accumulate upon them ills, And all my arrows spend on them: 24 The gnawing hunger and consuming flame, And poisonous destructive pestilence; And I will send on them the teeth of beasts, With poison of the crawlers of the dust : 25 Them from without the sword will childless make, And terror from within consume them all— The stately youth and virgin beautiful, The sucking infant and grey-haired old man. 26 I said I'll blow, my breath will scatter them, And their rememb'rance I'll make cease from man. 27 Were it not that I feared the enemy's wrath, And lest their adversaries boast themselves: Lest they should say our hand exalted is, And that Jehovah hath not wrought all this: 28 For they a nation void of counsel are, And understanding is not found in them. 29 O were they wise that they considered this, And that they understood their latter end! 30 How should a single one a thousand chase, And two ten thousand rout and put to flight, If that their rock had not delivered them, And if Jehovah had not shut them up? 31 Because their rock is not a rock like ours, Our enemies themselves ev'n being judges. 32 For from the vine of Sodom is their vine, And from the vineyards of Gomorrah's fields Their grapes are poisonous as the grapes of rosh* Their clusters have the bitterness of gall33 Their wine the poison of the serpent is, Yea even the deadly poison of the asp. 34 Is not all this laid up in store with me, And up among my treasures safely sealed? 35 Vengeance is mine, and also recompense. Their foot shall slip at the appointed time: The day of their calamity is near-The things prepared for them will quickly come, 36 Because Jehovah will his people judge, And on his servants will compassion have: For he will see their strength of hand is gone, When there is none held back and none set free. 37 And he will say, where is their God, and where The rock in which they placed their confidence? 38 Which of their sacrifices fat did eat, Let them rise up, let them your helpers be, shield. 39 See now that I, even I am only he, * ROSH. The exact meaning now unknown. Some suppose it to have been the hemlock. It evidently was a tree or shrub which produced fruit in clusters resembling grapes, but which was a deadly poison. And besides me no other God there is. I only kill, and I alone make liveI break in pieces and I renovate, And from my hand there no deliverer is. 40 For unto heaven I lift up my hand, And I proclaim that I for ever live. 41 If I but sharp my bright and glittʼring sword, And if my hand on righteous judgment seize, I'll to mine adversaries vengeance pay, And give those hating me their due reward. 42 I will with blood minearrows drunken make, And my sword flesh will greedily devour, From blood of slaughter'd ones and captives too, From first revenges on the enemy. 43 O nations! cause his people shout for joyBecause he will his servants' blood avenge, And vengeance to his adversaries pay, But will his land and people mercy show. Edinburgh. ADELPHOS. SUBMISSION TO ELDERS. Abstract of observations made to a church of Christ, on the subject of the admonitions of the Elders, and how far it is to be considered that the church has to obey them. 1st. As to the great majority of things of which our daily life is composed, the Scripture only gives general directions as to the spirit which is to regulate our conduct, which directions are to be applied by ourselves to particular circumstances. Such are Matt. vi. 33, Rom. xii. 2, Col. iii. 1-2. 2nd. The wisdom to do this is to be found in the few, and not in the many; and it is the many that have to be instructed by the few. 3rd. All authority and rule resides in the church, but in order to be carried out, it must be committed to some authorized to execute it. Such is 1 Thess. v. 12-14. 4th. Being so committed, those that understood not to have taken this to are appointed thereunto-and who are and to the church for the due discharge themselves-are answerable to Christ of their duty; but are not accountable to any individual, whereas every individual is accountable to them. 5th. It is to be taken for granted that those who are so appointed are those who have the Spirit of God-as the church generally acknowledges those who are over it to have-consequently, |