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as the Rotherham Independent | many in Israel;" and upon them

P. S. You may possibly be disposed also to give your readers the admirable speech of the Rev. Robert Hall, A. M. at the Leices

College should be clearly defined it must depend, in a great meaand fully understood. We utterly sure, whether the temple of truth disclaim every thing that looks shall advance in glory, or the like making preachers, or forming edifice be dilapidated, and disministers out of mere literary cha- honoured. By our most fervent racters; our real aim being not to prayers, we commend them to the make them, but to teach those care of Him, who not only can whom Christ has called to the work, make them pillars in his spiritual how, by the divine blessing upon house, but also keep them from their own diligence, they may be- falling, by enabling them rightly come able ministers of the New" to behave themselves in the Testament, workmen that need not house of God, which is the church be ashamed. It is not to build re- of the living God." ligion on the perishable basis of learning: but learning upon religion-" on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-ter Bible Society Meeting, printstone;" nor do we ever profess to build at all where this is not the ground work. A minister with nothing but his learning to recommend him, though he were a living Encyclopædia, we should consider as likely to do more harm than "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, good. Our principles are, we my conscience also bearing me witness in trust, those of disinterested zeal the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviand benevolence. While rejoic-ness and continual sorrow in my heart. ing in the amazing efforts made For I could wish that myself were acto send "the bread of life" into heathen lands, we cannot but feel deeply concerned that our own country, by enjoying it in greater abundance, and in unadulterated purity, may continue "chief among the nations."

ed separately, and Sold by T. Hamilton, and Button and Son, which would further oblige me.*

I. T.

ILLUSTRATION OF ROM, ix. 1–5.

cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adop tion, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God

blessed for ever.

Amen."

In the most affectionate manner THE apostle being about to we would recommend to the young speak of the rejection of the Jews men, who are now enjoying its and of the calling of the Gentiles, valuable, numerous, and increas- and to answer some objections to ing privileges, a spirit of meek- the divine procedure in that matness, docility, and gravity, of ter; and aware that this was a steadiness and integrity, of unre-subject exceedingly unpalatable to mitting diligence and spirituality, his countrymen who might be apt of simplicity and love; to guard to construe what he said as arisagainst the dangerous snares pecu-ing from pique or ill-will towards liar to their stations; to remember them-he introduces the subject the awful responsibility of their with a most solemn declaration of office, and to prepare for any dif- his concern and strong affection ficulties to which, as the soldiers for them. of Christ, they may be called to in the field of their future warfare. To them we look in years to come, for the fall and rising again of

Ver. 1. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not: that is, I speak the

*This we have done in a subsequent part of this number.

had the prospect of deliverance, and the joy set before him. They endeavour to qualify this harsh sense by saying, that Paul only wished to be accursed from Christ,

truth as a Christian, or as in the sight of Christ, who searcheth my heart,my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, i. e. My own conscience also, under the influence of the Holy Spirit bear-" if it were proper, or could be of

ing me witness as to the truth and sincerity of what I now declare,

viz.

Ver. 2. That I have great heaviness, and continual sorrow in my heart, viz. for the deplorable condition of his unbelieving countrymen. See his account of them, 1 Thess. ii. 15.

Ver. 3. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, &c. The word here rendered accursed is anathema, which the apostle uses in three other places in the severest sense, see 1 Cor. xvi. 22. Gal. i. 8, 9. which has led many to understand him here as " wishing to be separated from the love of Christ, to be alienated from him, to fall from the glory and the salvation purchased by him." And they think it similar to Moses' prayer when Israel sinned in the matter of the golden calf. "Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of

the book which thou hast written." Exod. xxxii. 32. Which book is also termed "the writing (or register) of the house of Israel." Ezek. xiii. 9. But it is not clear that Moses' request extended beyond this present life, or his being deprived of the peculiar blessings promised to the nation of Israel, which were in general of a worldly and typical nature. To suppose that Paul wished himself accursed from Christ in the sense of being for ever separated from him, and so shut out from eternal blessedness, appears to me extremely harsh, unnatural and unlawful. The love of Christ to guilty men far transcended that of Paul to his countrymen, but it did not go this length. He submitted to become a curse for them; but he

any avail to their salvation." But was it proper for him, even on this supposition, to form such a wish? I think not.

Again, were we to suppose, that the apostle, from his grief of heart for his countrymen, and ardent desire of their salvation, expresses himself rather rashly here, or beyond the real deliberate wish of his heart, how shall we reconcile this with his solemn declaration, ver. 1.? The utmost therefore that we can suppose the apostle to mean is this, That he was willing to endure the greatest temporal suffering and even death itself, if it could be of any avail to the salvation of his countrymen; which is similar to what he says, Philip. ii. 17. My only objection to this sense is, that I never find the sufferings of the apostles, nor even their martyrdom expressed by their being accursed from Christ; on the contrary, our Lord pronounces such blessed.

Others are of opinion, that this wish is expressive of Paul's state of mind before his conversion; that then, when he was breathing out slaughter against the church, such was his hatred of Christ, that he was wishing to be accursed or separated from him, and to have no part or interest in him; and that his experience of such a state of mind, made him commiserate his countrymen who still continued in the same aversion to Christ.— But I have two objections against this gloss. 1. I cannot recollect any passage of Scripture where aversion to any object is expressed by a wish to be accursed from it. -2. I cannot see how this sense

answers the apostle's purpose, which is to show his great concern and affection for his brethren, his

kinsmen according to the flesh. His former aversion to Christ is certainly no proof of this.

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tiles, but Christ's express com mand. This sense is much confirmed by his history in the Acts. Sometime after his conversion he went up to Jerusalem and spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, though they went about to slay him. Acts ix. 29. And after the Lord had said unto him,

Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles," ch. xxii. 17-22.

He gives two reasons for his peculiar affection to the Jews; they were his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh; and they had also been highly dignified and distinguished by God himself with eminent tokens of his favour for many ages, which he proceeds to enumerate as follows.

I have often thought that the word anathema, here rendered accursed, bears the same sense in this passage with the word anathema, which comes from the same root, and is only distinguished from the other by the long" Make haste and get thee quickly instead of the short vowel. Now out of Jerusalem; for they will this word is frequently used in the not receive thy testimony conSeptuagint version of the Old cerning me;" yet still he pleads Testament for a thing or person for liberty to persevere in his devoted or separated, from a work, till the Lord said unto him, common to a sacred purpose, Lev. xxvii. 28. and as the English word devoted applies either to things set apart for a holy use, or destined to destruction so does this word; and which of these senses it bears is easy to determine from the connection. Taking the word then in this latitude, it will be easy to explain this passage. The Jews had strong prejudices against Paul, particularly for his being a zealous preacher of Christ, his Ver. 4. Who are Israelites, the mission to the Gentiles, and his descendants of Jacob whom God receiving them into fellowship named Israel, and who as a prince without their being circumcised prevailed with God for a blessing, and becoming proselytes to Juda- Gen. xxxii, 28.-To whom perism. They could not endure to taineth the adoption. The whole hear him relate his mission to the nation were adopted into the Gentiles, but grew perfectly im- family of God, and are termed his patient and frantic, Acts xxii. 22. sons, his first-born. Exod. iv. 22, and considered him as an apostate 23.-and the glory, i. e. the emfrom the law, and an enemy to his blem of the divine presence among countrymen, preferring the Gen- them in the Shechina,-and the tiles to them. The apostle is here covenants, viz. with Abraham and shewing the contrary, by express- with the whole nation, whereby ing the great concern he had for they were peculiarly related to their salvation. And as an evi- God, and had answerable prividence of this he adds, "For I leges-and the giving of the law, could (or did) wish myself were which includes all those precepts devoted of Christ for my brethren, which we distinguish into moral, my kinsmen according to the ceremonial, and judicial-and the flesh." As if he should say: It service of God; all things relating was my own earnest desire that to the priesthood, and the ordiI might have had my commissionnances of divine worship-and the from Christ to the Jewish nation, promises, both the promises of whatever I might have suffered earthly blessings, and those also in the prosecution of it; so that which relate to the Messiah. it was no want of affection to them which made me go to the Gen

Ver. 5. Whose are the fathers, being the descendants of the holy

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"What are the means most cal

Σητητης.

To the Editor of the New Evangelical
Magazine.
SIR,

and venerable patriarchs, Abra- | temper: I beg therefore to proham, Isaac, and Jacob, and David pose the following query to the -and of whom as concerning the readers of your Magazine. flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.-Heculated to promote in Christian mentions last the greatest honour ministers that spirituality of mind of all, viz. that the Messiah sprang which in many instances has been of them according to the flesh, attended with so large a portion of being a Jew by birth of the seed ministerial success. ?" of Abraham, and of David as was promised. Indeed it appears that it was for the sake of this person, that the posterity of Abraham were separated from the rest of mankind, and had all the other distinguished privileges conferred upon them, which were in general prefigurations of Christ and his kingdom. He came of them according to the flesh, i. e. the human nature, which imports that he had another nature; and so it is added, “ who is over all, God blessed for ever." This is clearly expressive of his true Deity. See the like expressions applied to the Creator, Rom. i. 25. and to the Father, 2 Cor. xi. 31. Edinburgh.

A. M.

To the Editor of the New Evangelical
Magazine.

SIR,

A BAPTIST Minister of this city who was lately preaching from Matt. xxvi. 29. took occasion to inform his auditory that Jesus Christ did not partake of the bread or wine with his disciples, at what is commonly called the Lord's Supper.

Your sentiments upon this passage
will oblige,
Yours, &c.

Bristol.

Δ.

pear most agreeable to the word of God, in conformity with the fundamental was that Institution established for the principle of THE Missionary Society-or purpose of promoting the interests of one particular denomination exclusively?

WANDSWORTH.

A Correspondent desires to be informed, through the medium of the New Evangelical Magazine, whether the Village Itineracy is supported solely for the purpose of introducing the Gospel into places that have been previously destitute of it, leaving the people and their future Pastor at liberty to adopt such mode of It is allowed that God is a conducting the worship and administerSovereign, and bestows the blessing the ordinances as to them shall apings of his grace as seems good in his sight; that the usefulness of Christian ministers does not depend upon their spirituality of mind as the effect depends upon the cause; yet as God gives encouragement to whatever he approves, and men of mean abilities, remarkable for spirituality, have been greatly favoured with ministerial success, while men of superior powers, have, comparatively speaking laboured almost in vain; and as there are so many things which tend to carnalize the mind and draw it from the only source of spiritual life, it might be of great use to have clear views of those things which through the blessing of God promote this heavenly

VOL. III.

QUERY.

In Rom. viii. 15, 16. the apostle speaks of the spirit of bondage-the Spirit of adoption-and the witness of the Spirit. The first of these appears to be the common lot of every unbeliever. Is "the

spirit of Adoption," which the apostle seems to contrast with the former, the common privilege of every believer? And

wherein consists "the witness of the Spirit" or how is it, that the Spirit of God bears witness with the believer's own spirit, that he is a child of God? A scriptural illustration of this subject would be thankfully received, as it is humbly con

ceived that very mistaken notions of it are current in the religious world.

2 R

306

Theological Review.

Sermons by the Rev. John Martin, | more than forty years Pastor of the Baptist church, formerly meeting in Grafton-street, Soho, and now in Keppel-street, Bedford Square, London. With a Portrait. Taken in Short Hand, by Thomas Palmer. In 2 vols. 8vo. 550 pages in each, pr. 24s. bds. London. Gale and Fenner, 1817.

Nature had cast him in her finest mould and his pulpit endowments were of the most exquisite kind. Rich in invention, and with language at command, he could reason or he could ridicule as best suited the purpose of the moment he could indulge the sportiveness of a lively fancy, and the playful sallies of wit, or he could overwhelm the minds of a listening audience with an irresistible torrent of eloquence! At one moment you were charmed with the graces of his simplicity; and anon electrified by his bursts of sublimity. Mr. Martin appears to us to have been as nearly as possible the counterpart of all this! Without a spark of genius, and meagre of invention, contracted in an extraordinary degree in his mental capacity, and with only a very moderate share of learning, his Sermons are unavoidably destitute of all that is fascinating in the pulpit exercises of Mr. Robinson, whom he unhappily adopted for his model. The consequence is, that the very attempt to imitate him frequently serves only to excite one's risibility and too often our disgust. If the discursive flights of Robinson might be compared to the soaring of an Eagle towards heaven, Mr. Martin's attempt to follow him can only tend to remind us of the floundering of a barn door fowl, flapping its wings, and after a clumsy effort to rise into the air, descending again upon the spot whence it vainly attempted to soar.

THE reading of these Sermons forciBly reminded us of a pleasant anecdote respecting their author, which, as it is current among his friends, we see no impropriety in mentioning. He had, on some occasion or other, been listening to a discourse delivered by a junior minister from his own pulpit. At the close of the service a lady of his acquaintance, intending somewhat of a compliment, thus accosted him;" Why, Mr. Martin, Mr. (so and so) imitates you in his manner of preaching!" "It may be so, Madam," said Mr. M. "but no man is pleased to have his likeness daub'd!!" Our readers will no doubt expect to know what this anecdote has to do with a review of Mr. Martin's Sermons; and we shall therefore explain that point before we proceed any farther. Even a superficial glance into the volumes before us, cannot fail to impress the reader with a conviction that the preacher was himself a mannerist; yet we are much inclined to doubt whether in this he was original. It never indeed fell to our lot to hear him preach; but we had not read twenty pages of his printed dis- But that none may accuse us of courses, 'ere the idea suggested itself doing injustice to Mr. Martin by reto us-"this is a humble imitation of presenting him as an imitator of Robinson of Cambridge !" and every Robinson, we shall give a specimen subsequent examination of the work of his manner; and we put it fairly to only served to rivet that conviction the consideration of every unprejumore strongly in our minds. We diced reader, who is at all acquainted have called it a "humble" imitation; with the "Village Sermons," whether and such in truth it is a miserable we are not borne out in the charge. daubing after an inimitable original. Almost any one Sermon in the But how indeed should it be other-Volumes before us would furnish an wise? There not only existed a dis-example of what we have hinted at; parity between the artists--but that disparity actually amounted to a contrast. Whoever has read Mr. Robinson's Village Sermons with attention, cannot fail to have perceived that the author was a man of genius, and learning, and unquestionable talent.

but we shall select nearly at random, the commencement of the fortieth Sermon, founded on Ps. cxix. 75. "I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right; and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." Thus the preacher proceeds:

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