Volume 1. Number 7. February 2, 1824, pp. 42-48.

• The Clergy.--No. V. by Alexander Campbell, pp. 42-43.
• Address to the Readers of the Christian Baptist.--No. III. by Alexander Campbell, pp. 43-46.
• Queries [on the Popular Clergy], p. 46.
• On Teaching Christianity.--No. IV. by Philip (Walter Scott), pp. 46-48.
• Tithes (from Plain Truth), p. 48.

      WE left the young clergyman in the arms of his lately espoused congregation, living upon the dowry of his spiritual consort; duly trained divinely consecrated, formally wedded, actively employed in building up the cause of God, in which his own cause is deeply interested. Here again we find him, and hear him teaching that "they that preach the gospel should live by the gospel." With great eloquence he remonstrates against "muzzling the ox that treads out the corn;" and with zeal for justice and righteousness, he exclaims, "the laborer is worthy of his hire." That his congregation may not consider themselves doing him a favor when they pay him five hundred or a thousand a year, he argues with great pathos: "Our debtors you are, for if we impart to you our spiritual things, it is a matter of poor return if you impart to us your carnal things."

      Indeed, money is of vital consequence in the kingdom of the clergy. Without it a clergyman could not be made, nor a congregation supplied with a "faithful pastor." O Mammon, you wonder-working god! well did Milton sing of thee--

      Yes, Mammon, you have "skill" and "art," and treasure. You lead the stripling to the grammar school, and for years you give him skill, and art, and science; and when you have fed and clothed, and educated him with books and pedagogues, you teach him divinity, and crown him master of every art, and, chief of all, the art of winning you. God of this world, who is insensible to your charms! Your brilliant countenance sheds a charming lustre on every thing! You distil into the souls of priests and people an animating sweetness, and when every other "call" is disregarded, your voice wakens into ecstacy, zeal, and piety, the slumbering ear--it wakes obsequious to your nod.

      Money is the bond of union, the associating principle in all popular establishments. There is a "christian congregation." I think it is christened Associate Reformed, or, perhaps, Episcopalian, or General Assembly, or some other name. It has not met for three months. Why? It is "vacant." What do you mean by "vacant?" It has not the bread of life broken to it by a faithful pastor. Why? It is "weak"--not able to hire a pastor. It is not able to pay "supplies." Whenever they can "raise" four or six dollars, this sum brings them all together, and a faithful pastor with his mouth full of the bread of life. The little flock sit sweetly entertained under the "droppings of the sanctuary" for a few hours. He bids them God speed. They go home, and in the course of some time a similar sum brings them together a second time. May be they get so "strong" as to be a sixth or a fourth part of the "support" of one of "the watchmen of Zion." He is half his time in one congregation, a fourth in another, and a fourth in a third. Three churches, one pastor--one husband, three wives! Married to the three! To one congregation he gives half his time and half his divinity, and receives half his living, half his stipends for it. To the other two, share and share alike, because they are alike weak. Thus the strong becomes stronger, and the weak, weaker. Now who is so blind as [42] not to see that money is the cause of this mystery. It is another proof of the old text, "no pay, no preach."

      But let us look at this matter again. A young gentleman of fine talents comes forward; and from the same "divinity school" another one of slender talents, but he is "a well meaning man," a pious soul, humble and plain. They both push their fortune. The one is placed on the frontiers over a charge of three hundred dollars; the other in the city over a charge of two thousand.What is the cause of this mystery? Another text explains it. It is found in the chronicles of the British parliament. It reads thus: "every man has his price." Yes, and every congregation has its own taste. A wealthy and a polite congregation sits very uneasy under the pious efforts of a homespun, coarse, and awkward mechanic. His sing-song monotony, and sawing gesticulation, animated by the zeal of Elijah, freezes the genial current of their souls. It will not do. He tries it again. The pews are empty. Worse than ever. To the west he goes. In the wilderness he is like John the Baptist. His disgusting elocution, his awkward figure, and his frightful gestures, are all unsullied sanctity, unfeigned devotion. The rural saint is full of his praise. Of his whole performance and appearance he says--

      The young divine of fine talents is admired, is adored, where his class-mate would not be heard; not because of his supposed want of piety, but his want of talent and politeness. But when the fashionable orator places himself in the pulpit, the house is crowded, the galleries are full.

      And yet, with all his reputed talents, he is often a mere retailer, a mere reader:

      Money, I think, may be considered not merely as the bond of union in popular establishments, but it is really the rock on which the popular churches are built. Before church union is proposed, the grand point to ascertain is, are we able to support a church? Before we give a call, let us see, says the prudent saint, what we can "make up." A meeting is called--the question is put, "how much will you give?" It goes round. Each man writes his name or makes his mark. A handsome sum is subscribed. A petition is sometimes presented to the legislature for an act of incorporation to confirm their union and to empower them to raise by the civil law, or the arm of power, the stipulated sum. All is now secure. The church is founded upon this rock. It goes into operation. The parson comes. Their social prayers, praises, sacraments, sermons and fasts commence; every thing is put into requisition. But what was the primum mobile? What the moving cause? Money. As proof of this, let the congregation decrease by emigration or death; the money fails; the parson takes a missionary tour; he obtains a louder call; he removes. Money failed is the cause; and when this current freezes, social prayers, praises, "sacraments," sermons, and congregational fasts all cease. Money, the foundation, is destroyed, and down comes the superstructure raised upon it. Reader, is not this fact? And dare you say that money is not the basis of the modern religious establishments? It begins with money; it goes on with money, and it ends when money fails. Money buys Æsop's fables for the destined priest; money consecrates him to office, and a moneyed contract unites him and his parish. The church of Jesus Christ is founded upon another basis, nourished by other means, is not dissolved by such causes, and will survive all the mines of Peru, all the gold of Ophir. The modern clergy say they do not preach for money. Very well; let the people pay them none, and they will have as much of their preaching still. Besides, there will be no suspicion of their veracity.

EDITOR.      

      THE subject of our present address is the Sabbath day and the Lord's day. Either christians are bound to observe the sabbath day, or they are not. If they are, let us see what the nature of that observance is, which was prescribed for the sabbath day. The law reads thus: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work: the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God: In it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man servant, nor your maid servant, nor your cattle, nor the stranger that is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it." You will observe that, in this command, God positively prohibits all manner of work or labor on this day. Son, daughter, servant, cattle, stranger; are commanded to be exempted from all manner of work. In examining the particular precepts originating from this law, recorded in the Old Testament, we find the following specifications:--

      1. "You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations on the sabbath day." Ex.xxxv. 3.

      2. "Abide you every man in his place, (house or tent;) let no man go out of his place, (house or tent,) on the sabbath day. Ex. xvi. 29.

      3. "He gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Bake that which you will bake this day, and seethe what you will seethe, and that which remains over, lay up for you to be kept until the morning." Ex. xvi. 29. 23.

      4. "Bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day." Jer. xvii. 21, 22.

      5. "Not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words." Is. lxii. 13.

      6. "From evening unto evening shall you celebrate your Sabbath." Lev. xxiii. 32.

      7. "Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Every one that defiles it shall surely be put to death." Ex. xxxi. 14. 15. [43]

      "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died, as the Lord commanded Moses." Numbers, xv. 32-36.

      The above items are a few of many that might be selected out of the Old Testament on this subject. We believe them to be a fair specimen of the law given by Moses, as explained and enforced upon the nation of Israel.

      Now the question is, are we under this law! If we are, we pay little or no respect to it. For who is there that does not habitually violate the rest enjoined on this day! Those who make the most ado about sabbath breakers are themselves, according to the above law, worthy of death. They kindle fire in their houses. They go out of their houses, and travel on their cattle miles. Their sons and their daughters do some kind of work. They bring in burdens of water, wood, and prepare food. They celebrate it not from evening to evening, but from morning to evening they violate it. They speak their own words, and do many things worthy of death. Why then is not the penalty enforced! Assuredly their observance of this law is mere mockery. It is an insult on the Lawgiver!

      We know that some of the clergy have given, if not sold them indulgences to violate it. They have told them that certain "works of necessity and mercy" are allowable. But who told them so? They tell them they may prepare food, bring in fuel and water. But God forbade those under this law to do so. So far was he from countenancing such "works of necessity," that he wrought three miracles to prevent the necessity of doing a "work of necessity." He sent two days' portion of manna from heaven the sixth day; he sent none the seventh; he preserved that gathered on the sixth from putrefaction until the close of the seventh: all of which were special miracles, for the space of forty years. If he wrought three miracles to prevent an Israelite from crossing his threshold to gather up a little manna for his daily food, how dare any give a dispensation, in his name, to do that which is tenfold more laborious!!!

      Because the Saviour of the world put to silence those who accused him of breaking the sabbath, by appealing to their own conduct in relieving animals in distress, this doctrine of "works of necessity and mercy," has been represented as of divine origin. What a perversion! An argumentum ad hominem converted into a general maxim!! But such a perversion shows consummate inattention to the laws of Israel. While Israel kept the law there never would occur an opportunity for a work of necessity or of mercy, such as these lawgivers tolerate. For while they kept the law, they should be blessed in their basket, stores, fields, houses, children, flocks, herds; no house would take fire; no ox would fall into a pit, &c. And if they transgressed the law, they should be cursed in all these respects, and no toleration of a violation of the law was granted as a means of mitigating the curse.

      Again: Let me ask, Was there ever a law published relaxing that rigid observance of rest enjoined upon the Sabbath! Was there a law published, saying, You must or you may observe the sabbath with less care, with less respect; you may now speak your own words, kindle fire to your houses, and prepare victuals! &c. &c. I say, Was there ever such a law published! No, indeed--either the law remains in all its force, to the utmost extent of its literal requirements, or it is passed away with the Jewish ceremonies. If it yet exist, let us observe it according to law. And if it does not exist, let us abandon a mock observance of another day for it. "But," say some, "it was changed from the seventh to the first day." Where! when! And by whom! No man can tell. No, it never was changed, nor could it be, unless creation was to be gone through again: for the reason assigned must be changed before the observance, or respect to the reason, can be changed!! It is all old wives' fables to talk of the change of the sabbath from the seventh to the first day. If it be changed, it was that august personage changed it who changes times and laws ex officio--I think his name is DOCTOR ANTICHRIST.

      But was not the sabbath given to the Jews only! And again, Was it not a shadow or type! This deserves attention.

      The preface to the law, of which it was a part, says, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; therefore, remember the sabbath day," &c. The preface to this law, as the inscription or address upon a letter, ascertains whose property it was. It was the property of the Jews. But Moses tells them this, not leaving it to an inference, Deut. v. 15. "Remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out thence, through a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm; therefore, the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day" Ezekiel says the same, or rather the Lord by the prophet says, chap. xx. 12. "Moreover, also, I gave them my Sabbath, to be a sign between me and them" Yes, said the Lord by Moses, "The sabbath is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever." Ex. xxxi. 17. It is worthy of note in this place, that of all the sins in the long black catalogue of sins specified against the gentiles, in all the New Testament, the sin of sabbath-breaking is never once preferred against them!! We conclude, then, that the sabbath day was as exclusively the property of the Jews as circumcision.

      But was it not a shadow and a type! Let us hear Paul. "Let no man judge you (condemn you for not observing) in meats and drinks, (for eating and drinking,) or in respect of a holy day, or of a new moon, or of the sabbath, which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ," or, according to Macknight, "the body is Christ's body." Paul, then, says it was a shadow. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, 4th chapter, he makes it and Canaan "types of that rest which remained for the people of God." The sabbath then was a shadow--a type given to the Jews only.

      Since beginning this article, we noticed, for the first time, a very correct note of Dr. Macknight's, the celebrated translator of the apostolic epistles, which expresses our view of this matter. With many, we know, his views will be received with more readiness of mind than ours. He was, strange as it may appear, a dignitary in the presbyterian church; yet he expresses himself in the following manner, on Colossians ii. 16. "The whole of the law of [44] Moses being abrogated by Christ, (Col. ii. 14.) Christians are under no obligation to observe any of the Jewish holy days, not even the seventh day sabbath. Wherefore, if any teacher made the observance of the seventh day a necessary duty, the Colossians were to resist him. But though the brethren, in the first age, paid no regard to the Jewish seventh day sabbath, they set apart the first day of the week for public worship, and for commemorating the death and resurrection of their master by eating his supper on that day; also, for private exercises of devotion. This they did, either by the precept or by the example of the apostles, and not by virtue of any injunction in the law of Moses. Besides, they did not sanctify the first day of the week in the Jewish manner by total abstinence from bodily labor of every kind. That practice was condemned by the council of Laodicea as judaizing. Lec. Suiceri Thes. Eccl. voce Sabbaton."

      The sabbath was, by the Lord of the sabbath, set aside, as well as every other part of the law of Moses, as stated in our last address. The learned Macknight is with us also in this instance. His words on Col. ii. 14. "It is evident," says he, "that the law of Moses, in all its parts, is now abolished and taken away. Consequently, that Christians are under no obligation to obey even the moral precepts of that law, on account of their being delivered by Moses to the Jews. For if the obligations of the moral precepts of his law are still continued, mankind are still under its curse." I would just observe, on this item, that the Lord Jesus Christ observed the last sabbath that was obligatory on any of the human race, by lying in the grave from evening to evening. In the silence of death and the grave he celebrated it literally, "not going out of his place," until the sabbath was past. Then, very early in the morning, when the sabbath was past, the Jewish religion being consummated, he rises and becomes the beginning of the new creation.

      Christians, by apostolic example, which to them is the same as precept, are, in honor of the commencement of the new creation, constrained by Christ's authority and grace to meet on the first day of the week, to show forth his death and to commemorate his resurrection. When they assemble they are to be instructed and to admonish one another; they are to learn his statutes, and "to continue stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in breaking bread, in fellowship, and in prayers, praising God." Such was the practice of the primitive church, as the epistles demonstrate. The first day of the week is not regarded to the Lord when these things are not done. For if professors of christianity were to keep in their houses from morning to evening and celebrate this day as the Jews did the sabbath, instead of honoring they are dishonoring Christ. No two days are more unlike in their import and design, than the Sabbath and the first day. The former commemorated the consummation of the old creation, the cessation of creation work; the latter commemorates the beginning of the new creation. The former was to Israel, a memorial that they were once slaves to Egypt--the latter assures us that the year of release has come. The former looked back, with mournful aspect, to the toils and sorrows entailed upon the human body, from an evil incident to the old creation--the latter looks forward, with an eye beaming with hope, to perpetual exemption from toil, and pain, and sorrow. The sabbath was a day of awful self-denial and profound religious gloom--the resurrection day is a day of triumph, of holy joy, and religions festivity. The Jew, on a sabbath morn, from his casement surveyed the smokeless chimneys and the bolted doors of the silent tribes of Israel. A solemn stillness holds the streets of the city and the hamlet, and not a vagrant foot disturbs the grassy field. The flowers breathe forth their fragrance to the gentle breeze--no hand plucks the blooming rose--no ear is charmed with the mellifluous notes of the tenants of the groves. The banks of the limpid streams are not frequented by the noisy youths, nor does their clamor mingle with the murmurs of the vocal rills. Striking emblems of the silent rest allotted to the tenants of the grave. The christian welcomes the dawn of the triumphant morn. The new heavens and the new earth open to his view. The incorruptible, the immortal bodies of the saints, rising from the ashes of the grave, in all the vigor and beauty of immortal youth, fill his soul with unutterable admiration of the wondrous victory of the all-conquering chief. While he surveys his mortal frame and feels the sentence of death in every department of his earthly house, his soul forgets the infirmities of its partner, and soars on the pinions of faith and hope to the resurrection morn; it is lost in the contemplation of millions of every tribe and tongue clothed in the indescribable beauties of immortality. While overwhelmed in the extatic admiration of the glorious bodies around him, his eye ultimately fixes on the FIRST BORN of many brethren. While he adores him at the head of the innumerable host of ransomed immortals, his memory musters up the recollections of Gethsemane, Pilate and his judgment seat, Mount Calvary, and the sepulchre in the garden. To the assembly of the saints with eagerness he hastens, and, anxious to share in the praises of his glorious chief, to join in the recollection of his humiliation unto death, and to participate in the triumph of his resurrection, his soul is feasted with the abundance of his house and with the communion of those whom he hopes to embrace in his immortal arms on the day of the resurrection to eternal life.

      Christians, what a difference between the Jewish sabbath, and this day of triumph! They have much to learn of the glory of christianity who think that going to a synagogue, and hearing a harangue, and returning to their firesides, is suitable to the design or expressive of the import of this joyful and triumphant day. On this day Messiah entered Jerusalem as son of David, as King of Judah. On this day he rose from the dead. On this day, after his resurrection, he generally met with his disciples in their assemblies. On this day, he sent the Holy Spirit down from heaven and erected the first Christian church. "On this day the disciples came together to break bread." On this day the Christians joined in the fellowship of the saints, or in making contributions for the saints. And, on this day, the Spirit finished its work of revelation on the Isle of Patmos, in giving to John the beloved the last secrets of the divine plan ever to be uttered in human language while time endures. If no authoritative precedent enforced the assembly of saints on this day and the observance of the order of the Lord's house, the very circumstance of such a coincidence of glorious wonders would point it out as the Lord's day; and love to him, the most powerful principle that ever impelled to action, would constrain all saints not to forsake the assembling of themselves on this day; but to meet, to animate and [45] to be animated; to remember, to admire, to adore, to hymn in songs divine, the glorious and mighty king. Christians, could you say, no!

EDITOR      

      AGAINST whom did the holy prophets of the Jews, the Saviour of the world and his apostles inveigh with the utmost severity!

      Ans. The popular clergy. Never were any things spoken by the Saviour of the world, or by the holy apostles with so much keenness, with so much severity, as their reproofs of, as their denunciations against, the popular clergy.

      Who were the popular clergy in those days?

      Ans. Those who pleased the people, taught for hire and established themselves into an order distinct from the people.

      Who are the popular clergy now?

      Ans. Those who are trained for the precise purpose of teaching religion as their calling, please the mass of the people, establish themselves into a distinct order, from which they exclude all who are not so trained, and, for hire affect to be the only legitimate interpreters of revelation.

      What are the most effectual means to diminish the power and dominion of the popular clergy?

      Ans. The same means which the Lord and his apostles used in their day against those of that time: chiefly to persuade the people to hold fast the holy commandments of the apostles, and to build themselves up in the christian faith.Jude. 2 Pet. iii. 2.

      THE ultimate design of these papers on christianity is, to exhibit a plan of preaching Christ to mankind, having for its authority the example of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, together with that of the apostles and others, who, in the beginning, were commissioned to promulgate the new doctrine. The design, indeed, may at first sight seem as adventurous as it is novel; but what of that? Christian pastors, for whom these sheets are more immediately designed, are not to be startled at the apparent presumption or novelty of my attempt. Their principal concern must be about the reality of what I propose. Is there one way, and only one, of preaching Christ to sinners; and is that one way supported by the above authorities? I answer in the affirmative; there is but one authorized way of making Christ known to men, in order that they may believe and be saved. And now it is my business to show, by scripture, that this is the case. The reader will remember that it has been shown in a former paper, that Jesus having died for sin and arisen again to introduce the hope of immortality, the great fact to be believed in order to be saved, is, that he is the Son of God; and this being a matter-of-fact question, the belief of it as necessarily depends upon the evidence by which it is accompanied, as the belief of any other fact depends upon its particular evidence. No one thinks of accrediting a mere assertion. Our blessed Saviour scrupled not to tell those among whom he alleged his divine authority; that if he alone said "he was the Messiah," his testimony was not to be regarded, and then reminded them of the testimony given by John the Baptist, whom they held to be a prophet; the testimony of the Father too, and of the Holy Spirit, and of the scriptures; and we shall see by and by that to preach the gospel is just to propose this glorious truth to sinners, and support it by its proper evidence. We shall see that the heavens and the apostles proposed nothing more in order to convert men from the error of their ways, and to reduce them to the love and obedience of Christ.

      I am not ignorant that there are thousands, who, like a certain able divine in Canonsburg, stupidly suppose that there is something else far more necessary than this. They are ready to say that every body believes Jesus to be the Son of God, and to have been put to death for sin. To this it may be proper to reply, that not a single soul who attends the popular preachers has ever been convinced of this fact, that "Jesus is the Saviour," by its proper evidences. Clergymen do not preach the gospel with its proper evidences. They proceed in their annual round of sermonizing on this capital mistake, that the audience have believed Jesus to be the Saviour; so that their very best harangues, generally denominated gospel sermons, seldom deserve a better name than rants about the everlasting fire that shall consume the despisers of the offered salvation. But every body who has read the New Testament must have observed that the scriptures never propose the rewards and punishments which are appended to the belief and rejection of the gospel as a proof of its truth; and every one who knows how the apostles preached the gospel, must know also that they never did so; that they never produced the sanctions of everlasting burning in order to secure the faith and obedience of their hearers. If, indeed, their hearers were sometimes refractory, and would even dare to despise the gospel when set before them with its proper evidences, the gifts, the miracles, and the prophecies, then indeed, the apostles made known the terrors of the Lord--not the terrors of the law. Then, indeed, they, made it known that the Lord should be revealed from heaven to take vengeance by fire on them that obeyed not God, i. e. believed not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ; but this, not to prove the truth of their gospel, not to prove that Jesus had been put to death for sin, and was the Son of God; but only to warn those who might be disposed to despise or neglect that splendid evidence of gifts, miracles, &c. which proved their gospel to be true, which proved Jesus to have been crucified for sin, and to be the Son of God. In short, the apostles proceed thus: they first proposed the truth to be believed; and secondly, they produced the evidences necessary to warrant belief; and thirdly, if any seemed to despise the gospel, or resist the Holy Spirit, i. e. the evidence afforded by the Holy Spirit in gifts, miracles, and prophecy, then they warned these despisers of the consequences, and thus freed themselves from the blood of all men.

      But let us see if this be the method of making the truth known, pursued by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the apostles; and to begin with the last, the apostles. Did the apostles begin to preach Christ on a plan of their own; or at the time when, and the place where, they themselves judged most proper? By no means! In every thing that regarded time, place and manner, they acted in entire subjection to the commandments of the Saviour; and this we learn from the first chapter of the Acts. Our blessed Saviour did not treat mankind as modern ministers do--scold and insult them for not believing or having faith in a proposition, for which they are no way careful to adduce the proper evidence. He well knew that such a wonder [46] as his being the Son of God, crucified for sin, and raised from the dead, could not be believed without the most transcendent testimony; and, therefore not permitting the apostles immediately to blaze abroad his resurrection, he ordered them to remain in Jerusalem until they should be endowed with power from on high, i. e. until the Holy Spirit should descend and furnish these unlettered preachers with proper evidences to establish the gospel fact! With regard to place, the Lord Jesus was very precise, telling them to begin at Jerusalem, then to proceed to the country of Judea; then to Samaria, and lastly to the Gentiles, the uttermost parts of the earth. Now if we would ascertain the apostles' plan of preaching Christ, we must follow them to those several places, and examine, in train, their sermons in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and among the Gentiles, and to begin with them in Jerusalem. The day of Pentecost was fully come, and the apostles were in Jerusalem, when the Spirit of the Almighty moving as he lists, blew athwart this valley of dry bones, and lo! a noise from heaven as of a mighty rushing wind--in a moment blazing tongues like fire shone upon the heads of the disciples of Jesus; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. Great was the shaking in Jerusalem. The dry bones came together to be clothed with sinews, flesh and skin, and to receive breath; to repent, believe and be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit! Parthians and Medes, Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, in Judea, in Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, all, either Jews or proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, rushed to the place where the apostles stood, in all the grandeur of this fiery spectacle. They beheld and were amazed. They listened and were in doubt, exclaiming: "What means this? Do we hear them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God? Are not all they who speak Galileans? Others mocking, said, these men are full of new wine." Illustrious crisis! Great and glorious day! The moment destined by heaven for proclaiming the mystery of Christ, was now arrived; the Spirit was already poured from on high; the apostles were now constituted able ministers of the new covenant; the truth and its evidences were now both in their possession; and men, devout men from every nation under heaven, stood calling for an explanation of the surprising phenomena before them--What means this? The apostle Peter, (Acts ii.) standing up, addressed them solemnly; and having showed them that all they saw and heard was agreeable to the prediction of their own prophet, Joel, he takes occasion to introduce the truth, the saving truth, viz. that Jesus was arisen from the dead. "Men of Israel," says he, "hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth," &c. Will the reader please to read the second chapter of the Acts? "Him," says the apostle, "being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. Him God has raised up from the dead," &c. The apostle then shows that this fact also was according to prophecy; and having cleared both the truth to be believed and its evidences from all suspicion, by showing that they had been plainly foretold by their own prophets, he tells them that Christ was in heaven, and having received the promised Spirit from the Father, he had shed down what they all saw and heard--the multitude of separated tongues that blazed on the apostles' heads, and the gifts of languages, concluding thus, "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus whom you have crucified both Lord and Christ."

      The first of all Christian addresses merits a more than ordinary share of our attention, if we would preach Jesus as the apostles did; moreover, the reader ought to watch Philip very closely here. He says that there is but one authorized method of proposing the saving truth in order that men may believe it. Now he must have learned this from an induction of particulars, i. e. from an examination of particular addresses, or preachings, found in the New Testament. And if Philip's scheme is true, it follows that all samples of apostolic preaching, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, or in the Evangelists, or any other where, are essentially the same. The truth to be believed and its evidences will form the spirit of every gospel address made by the apostles. Is there any thing else in the Pentecostian address? Does Peter speak for any other purpose than to convince them that he who had been slain was now in heaven? or does he employ any other means for convincing the crowd of this fact, but the testimony of the Holy Spirit, the power of miracles, and the gifts of tongues, with which he and his fellows had been endowed from on high? The apostle, (verse 36,) in the conclusion of his address, makes use of the illative conjunction, therefore. "Therefore," says he, "let all the house of Israel know," &c. The word "therefore" has reference to the evidence which was then before the multitude; and the apostle pointing to what they saw and heard, told them from these things to know assuredly that Jesus was the Lord and the Christ. The evidence was so obvious that it pierced them to the heart; and, in agony of terror, they exclaimed, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" And now we see that in this most primitive of all Christian speeches, there are just two things that are essentially obvious: the fact of the Saviour's resurrection, and the testimony of God which proves it. That is what all men are called to believe in order to be saved; and this is what warrants their belief, the gifts, the miracles, and the prophecies. And now it will be necessary to compare with this the other apostolic addresses delivered in Jerusalem, to see whether they are essentially the same; this, however, must be the business of some future paper. At present I shall only remark, that if Heaven intends that the belief of this glorious fact shall save the world, it has certainly afforded a most glorious evidence in support of it. In furnishing the Christian with such accounts of our Saviour's miracles and the miracles of the apostles, Heaven has certainly put it in a preacher's power to proclaim the truth with success; and he who contrary to all scripture examples, would select a scrap, and prefer this to preach Christ from, instead of displaying before his hearers that glorious chain of miracles recorded for the very purpose of preaching Christ, must certainly have a very bad taste. And let no one think that any thing more is necessary to our salvation than to believe this fact--it is perfectly operative in all who receive it in the love of it. The three thousand Pentecostian converts had nothing else proposed for their belief; and when they received it, gladly they lived together, had all things common, sold their possessions and goods, and distributed to all as every one had [47] need. The belief of this same fact caused them to continue in the apostles, doctrine, and to praise God in public and private; and we may well say that if the belief of this glorious fact fails to make a man obey the Lord Jesus, every thing else must fail.

PHILIP.      

      A certain woman found by the way side a lamb perishing with cold and hunger. She had pity upon the lamb, and took it to her house and nursed it, and brought it again to life.--And it came to pass, that the lamb grew up and was a goodly ewe, and had a large fleece. And the poor woman sheared the ewe; when, lo! the priest came to the woman and said, "The first fruits of every thing belong to the Lord and I must have the wool." The woman said, "It is hard;" the priest said, "It is written"--and so he took the wool. And it came to pass, that soon after the ewe yeaned and brought forth a lamb; when lo! the chief priest came again to the woman and said, "The firstling of every flock belongs to the Lord--I must have the lamb." The woman said, "It is hard;" the priest said, "It is written"--and he took the lamb. And when it came to pass that the woman found that she could make no profit from the ewe, she killed and dressed it; when lo! the chief priest came again to her, and took a leg, a loin, and a shoulder, for a burnt offering. And it came to pass that the poor woman was exceeding wroth because of the robbery; and she said to the chief priest, "Curse on the ewe! Oh! that I had never meddled therewith!" And the chief priest straightway said to her, "Whatsoever is cursed belongs to the Lord"--so he took the remainder of the mutton, which he and the Levites ate for their supper.

[Plain Truth.      

[TCB 42-48]