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of the Spirit to enlighten, sanctify, and comfort, God's faithful people. The morning lesson to-day calls our attention to another work his controlling the purposes and thoughts of their enemies. The rage and hatred of Saul against David hurried him to such excess, that he would have taken him by violence from the sanctuary of the prophets, and the protection of Samuel himself. But when he went to execute his wicked purpose, after his messengers had been successively restrained, in spite of his natural resolution, and the desperate malignity of his heart, he found himself under the irresistible influence of a superior power, and compelled to praise God with those whom he came to destroy. This is recorded for our encouragement, and set before us this day, to shew how fearlessly we should do all that God requires; since the hearts even of his enemies and ours are in his hand. The evening lesson, having anticipated the scattering of the Jews through all nations of the earth, according to the terrible threatenings of the twenty-eighth chapter, promises a happy restoration upon their repentance; with blessings both political, and spiritual. "The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart," &c. v. 6. He calls their attention to the fact, that the truth by which they have wisdom and power to serve God rightly, is within them, even in their heart; v. 11-14; a passage which the apostle applies, Romans x. 4-12, to that saving faith in Christ, by which at length they shall know him, and be united in one Church with the Gentiles.

In the second morning lesson, we learn our duties as members of the Church :-to honour and esteem very highly in love those whom Christ hath set over us to preserve peace, restraining the disorderly to practise all the duties of charity to rejoice, pray, and give thanks continually neither to resist the monitor within, nor to despise the instruction of our teachers to prove all things, and hold fast that which is good to follow after perfect holiness, and avoid even the appearance of evil.

"Prove all things;" and St. John in the second evening lesson, gives the rule by which we are to examine and decide. The test of the Spirit is not confident assurance, with which many flatter and deceive themselves;

nor yet the extravagancies of a heated imagination, and the excited feelings of strong animal passions stimulating a weak mind. It is the possession of a sound faith, according to the Scriptures; proved and adorned by unfeigned love to God and man.

The portion appointed for the epistle refers to an important means whereby we obtain spiritual help to fulfil our baptismal obligations; the laying on of hands, or confirmation. This mode of conferring spiritual blessings obtained as early as the patriarchal times, Genesis xlviii. 14-20; and was appointed by God himself, Numbers xxvii. 18, and 23. St. Paul places it among the principles of the doctrine of Christ next in order after baptism, Hebrews vi. 2. The importance which the apostles attached to it is evident, from the power being exercised only by themselves. Thus, when Samaria had received the word through the preaching of Philip, that eminent evangelist presumed not to lay hands on the converts whom he had baptised. This was done by Peter and John, who were sent from Jerusalem by the apostles for that purpose. So with the disciples mentioned at Acts xix. 1-7, though St. Paul appointed others to baptize them, 1 Corinthians i. 14, yet he reserved to himself the laying on of hands, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. Therefore this power hath always been restricted to the bishops, as the successors of the apostles. It has been observed already that one use of the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit was to indicate how, and to whom, his ordinary gifts should be imparted.

In the gospel, our Lord declares himself the only door, by which any may enter into his sheepfold, the Church, either as a shepherd to guide, or as sheep to find pasture. He then describes the particulars which characterize a true and faithful minister:—that he believes, and teaches the very doctrine of Christ; "he entereth in by the door :" that he is admitted in an orderly and lawful manner; "to him the porter openeth :" that he concerns himself for his flock individually, so as to discriminate and supply their several wants; "he calleth his own sheep by name:" that he makes himself in all things their example; "he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him :" that he is careful so to establish their hearts

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and minds in the truth, that they may know and shun whatever would mislead them; a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers."

Thus the services for the day trace the influence of the Spirit in perfecting the Church of Christ shewing the character of a true and faithful minister thereof :-the faith, character, and duties of its members :-an important means whereby we receive spiritual help in it, namely, the laying on of hands :its security, in that God can overrule the very malice of its deadly enemies, and turn their wrath to his praise :-and its hope, in the gathering in of the outcasts of Israel, when all the earth, both Jews and Gentiles, shall be united in the faith of Christ.

And now, that we may consider profitably the instructions imparted to us at this season,

Enthroned in majesty on high,

The Ancient of eternal days,
Our God regards the feeble cry;

And listens to the infants' praise.
Their souls are ransom'd with his blood;
The emblems of his promis'd rest;
Nor dare we from his Church exclude

Those whom on earth the Saviour bless'd.
Loved, honor'd Church! his saving grace
The Lord thy God displays in thee:
I'll worship in thy holy place,

And pray for thy prosperity:
Built on his everlasting word,
Stand, as for ages thou hast stood;
Thine be the blessings of the Lord,
And blest be all who seek thy good.

TRINITY SUNDAY.
The Trinity in Unity.

and obtain the wisdom and comfort which we Morning Lesson implore in the Collect, let us cherish a solemn

For the Epistle
Gospel

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sense of our baptismal vow, and a thankful | Evening Lesson
remembrance of the manifold blessings which
God imparts to us in his Church, by the in-
fluence of the Holy Ghost, and through the
ministrations of his servants. And knowing
how greatly the prosperity of the Church, and
our own welfare, are connected with faithful
ministers, for the ordaining of whom this is an
appointed season, let us join most fervently
in the prayer, that Almighty God, the giver of
all good gifts; who of his divine providence
hath appointed divers orders in his Church,
may give his grace to all those who are to be
called to any office and administration in the
same; and so replenish them with the truth
of his doctrine, and endue them with inuo-
cency of life, that they may faithfully serve
before Him, to the glory of his great name,
and the benefit of his holy Church, through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

XL.

To bring me to this hallow'd shrine,
With pious care my parents came;
To mark me with the Christian sign;

To bless me with the Christian name.
"Twas here the sacred pledge was given;
And solemnly, for me preferred,
The fervent prayer arose to heaven :-

And may I hope that prayer was heard!

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That glorious mystery which human thought cannot fathom; which only Revelation could make known, yet in which God's people, receiving it with submissive and adoring faith, find their hope, strength, and comfort; the glory of the eternal Trinity, which we acknowledge and confess, in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, three persons; while " we worship the Unity in the power of the Divine Majesty, one God; is commemorated by the Church to-day. The appointed portions of Scripture establish the doctrine, and practically apply it.

The morning lesson describes the three Persons in the Godhead concurring in the work of Creation. "In the beginning God created the heaven, and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The first creative act was to call matter into existence but it was yet chaos, shapeless, confused, unconnected.

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." This sentence, being made a clause of a verse, and beginning with

the particle" and," is commonly read as if it were only a part of what precedes it. But it is a new subject, preceded by a full stop. It describes the second creative act; which we may consider to have imparted those distinctive properties to matter, by which it was prepared for the combinations into which it was about to pass. For the word translated "moved" properly means "to brood," as a hen over her nest; and the metaphor explains the action. It was a life-giving operation. As the hen calls forth life in the eggs she covers, by which the unformed mass of fluids becomes an organized and active creature, so the eternal Spirit, covering all Creation with his energy, imparted and developed those active properties, by which chaos was changed into a beautiful and peopled world. It will be observed that the office thus assigned to "the Spirit of God" in the very first passage of the Bible, is that which we are taught in the Gospel, and confess in the Nicene Creed-that he is "the Lord, and giver of life." "And God said, let there be light, and there was light. . . . and the evening and the morning were the first day." The work of this day was preparatory to that of the five following. Matter was called into being; it was endued with active properties; and the subtle agents were created by which these properties are controlled.*

* The presumption of an infant science, which wrests the Scriptures to make them agree with its own theories, ought not to pass quite unnoticed. Geologists affirm that the two first verses of Genesis describe a Creation which took place at a very remote period; and that the six days' work refers only to a last finishing touch given to the earth, by

which it was made fit for the habitation of Man.

| It is not necessary to trace the successive steps of Creation, since nothing applies till the sixth day; when God said, "let us make man in our image, after our likeness." For the use of the plural pronouns here, as well as for the expression which implies consultation, "let us make," only one satisfactory reason can be given: the plurality of persons in the Godhead: and, indeed, we find Creation ascribed to the Son in connexion with the Father, in different parts of the New Testament: St. John i. 3, and 10; Ephesians iii. 9; Hebrews i. 2. The expression us, also occurs elsewhere, as, "the man is become as one of us," Genesis iii. 22; "let us go down," xi. 7; "who will go for us;" Isaiah vi. 8. So also the word God is a plural noun here, and in other parts of Scripture. Thus, Deuteronomy vi. 4; "Hear, O Israel; the LORD our God is one LORD;" literally, Jehovah, our Gods, is one Jehovah. The constant use of such expressions can be reconciled only with the belief of the plurality of persons in the Unity of the Godhead.

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In the evening lesson, the LORD who appeared to Abraham to confirm the promise to the patriarch, and to execute judgment upon Sodom; with whom Abraham interceded for the guilty city, was evidently the Son for St. John declares, “No man hath seen God at any time;" Gospel i. 18, and 1 Epistle iv. 12; meaning the Father, as the context Abraham addresses him as "the proves. Judge of the whole earth;" but Christ declares that "the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son." Here then we see Christ in his twofold character;-the Saviour, bringing redemption to his people; and the Judge, executing justice upon the impenitent and incorrigible.

Yet the fourth commandment declares that "in six That which is only indicated in the former days the Lord made heaven and earth;" and how could it be affirmed that He then made the earth, if dispensation is clearly revealed in the New all but the last stratum, a mere film, a nothing, in Testament. In the second morning lesson, comparison, had previously existed? Again, Heb. the Godhead in three Persons is manifested; xi. 3. "Through faith we understand that the worlds-the Son, entering upon his ministry by bapwere framed by the word of God, so that things tism: the Spirit, descending in a bodily form which are seen were not made of things which do upon him and the Father, declaring from appear." But the Geologists flatly contradict the heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I Apostle: contending, that the primitive rocks, and am well pleased." nearly all the strata which we see, existed thousands, if not millions of years before the six days' work which Moses described, and which the Command

ment refers to.

The truth is declared in the second evening lesson, which points to God, the Father of all, with the blessing and duty of those who are

born of Him to the Spirit of truth, who is the witness of God, abiding in the faithful; and to Jesus Christ, the Son, who is "the true God, and eternal life."

In the portion appointed for the epistle, heaven is opened; and St. John hears the cherubim praising God continually in the words which Isaiah before heard and recorded; Isaiah vi. 3; "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts;" a form of expression by which the Christian Church hath always understood the adoration paid to the three persons in the Godhead; and therefore, from the first ages, hath made a part of the office of the Holy Communion.

The gospel describes, and in the words of our Lord himself, the several offices of the three Persons of the Trinity in our salvation; and with this intention, it will be more com plete, if we consider with it the two following verses of the chapter to the 17th. For originally, this day was observed only as the octave of Pentecost, and the services were chiefly designed in honour of the Holy Spirit. The Collect now used is little more than a thousand years old, while the epistle and gospel assigned to the more ancient festival, are retained. Thus extending the passage, we adore the love of God the Father, who "so loved the world, that he gave his We only begotten Son" for our salvation. believe in God the Son, who was "lifted up," as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness," that dying sinners might look unto him, and live and who in the conversation with Nicodemus, asserts his deity, as that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man which is in heaven." We acknowledge the Holy Spirit, by whom we are regenerated and made the sons of God. Which true faith may we have grace firmly to believe and confess, till we come to his heavenly kingdom; where we shall understand the mysteries which now confound us; and “know, even as we are known."

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XLI.

To God the Father, God the Son, And God the Spirit, Three in One, In heaven and earth adored,

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Our hearts, and hands, and lips we raise, In humble prayer, and grateful praise, And own our Sov'reign Lord.

Father! Redeemer! Heavenly Guide!
May we by faith in Thee abide,

Till we thy face shall see ;-
Join'd to the bright angelic powers;
Their love, their songs, their glory, ours,
Through all eternity!

XLII.

Great God! whose awful mystery,

Though yet unknown, our hearts believe, Our wants and cares we bring to Thee, And all thy words in faith receive: Thy truths, for human reach too high! Our comfort, hope, and strength supply.

Father thy goodness we confess,

Which gave, and still preserves our breath: Incarnate Son! when sins oppress,

We plead the merits of thy death: And, lost in darkness, guilt, and woe, Spirit! thy help and joy we know.

Thus to thy strength our weakness clings,

And always finds the promise sure: Our conscious heart the witness brings; And thus, believing, we adore ; Till death shall take the vail away, And faith be lost in perfect day.

XLIII.

Father! whose love and truth fulfil
Thy covenant in Abraham's seed,
Confirm in us the sacred seal,

And make our children thine indeed.

Jesus! through thine appointed rite,

The promised grace we humbly claim: Children were lovely in thy sight; And Lord, thy love is still the same.

Thou, who, descending from above, Didst rest on God's beloved Son, Eternal Spirit! holy Dove!

Perfect thy work in them begun.

Thrice Holy Lord! thy name we bear;

Oh be thy children's blessing given; The grace, to serve Thee truly here;

A portion with Thy saints in heaven.

No. IX.

"FEAR GOD-HONOUR THE KING."

JUNE 1, 1837.

THE CHURCH AND DISSENT, CONSIDERED IN THEIR PRACTICAL INFLUENCE.

CHAPTER VII.

(continued.)

V. On the subject of personal religion, it should be said, that we have no right to constitute ourselves judges of the piety of individuals, except in as far as their conduct makes it impossible to mistake their principles. But we can have little difficulty in deciding if certain systems be favourable, or otherwise, to piety, because we can easily determine their influence upon what may be called the elements of personal religion. Faith, humility, charity, and spirituality, or heavenlymindedness, are essentials: for faith is the substance of religion without humility, there can be neither true repentance, nor a sense of dependence upon God: where love to the brethren is not, we know from the Bible that the love of God cannot be; and a mind fixed upon heavenly objects, and governed by spiritual motives, is necessary, to preserve us from being ensnared by the deceits of the world, and defiled by its pollutions.

Faith in Christ is not mere speculative belief, but a principle of continual practical application; the very substance of Christianity. Redeemed by his sacrifice, we are justified before God. Saved by his triumph, we are delivered from our spiritual enemies. Joined to him, as members of one body, of

which he is the living head, we derive from him strength to overcome the world, and to be abundantly fruitful to God's glory. By him we have access to the Father; whose love, manifested in the gift of his Son, encourages us to draw near, when our weakness would shrink from the presence of infinite Majesty, and conscious guilt would tremble before a just and holy God. We offer up our prayers in his name, who ever intercedes for us: we walk after his example, who made himself partaker of our nature, and infirmities. And as the whole Christian system is filled with him, from the first promise after the Fall, to the day when he shall come to judgment, so he is the Alpha and Omega to every Christian; who lives to God only while he derives spiritual life from Christ. Faith is not the lazy notion that a man may with careless confidence throw his burden upon the Saviour, and trouble himself no farther; a pillow upon which he lulls his conscience to sleep, till he drops into perdition; but a living, and vigorous principle, working by love, and inseparably connected with true repentance as its motive, and with holy obedience as its fruits: by which the Christian surely appropriates all the blessings of the Gospel; contends manfully against all his enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil; and rejoices in hope of heaven; till his warfare at length is ended, and he receives an inheritance of rest and a crown of glory.

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