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the virtues of both. Indeed, I think it very doubtful whether a society would gain real strength by a large admixture of persons whose views did not coincide with its distinctive, as well as its general, character. As they could not be permitted to administer its affairs, there would arise occasions for jealousy; while even their supposed influence, or the suspicion of a leaning towards their sentiments or measures, would repel those who wished to see the distinctive principle consistently upheld, and would furnish a theme of accusation to those who felt inclined to censure their brethren for unjustifiable compromise. In the case of the Church Missionary Society, I doubt not that many pious and conscientious Dissenters joyfully contribute to its funds; and that their liberality is accompanied with fervent prayers for its success, and with gratitude for the large measure of blessing which God has bestowed upon it. This may well be, seeing that though in union with the Church of England it forms no part of the national ecclesiastical establishment; and its paramount object is duly appreciated by numbers who do not agree with its conductors and the great body of its members, upon questions of church discipline. But Dissenters have their own institutions to support; and surely Churchmen are able, and ought to be willing, to support theirs: nor can any Christian Society rightly merge its specific character, in order to obtain extraneous aid; or, retaining it, expect that aid to be very abundant.

The above remarks are not intended to countenance either bigotry or spurious candour; but to bring to an issue the important practical question of the co-operation of different bodies of Christians in works of religious charity. I wish to shew that love is not necessarily infringed because there is not complete unity of purpose; but that Christians are still one, notwithstanding they do not think alike upon some points of belief and practice. They will not best prove their discipleship, or benefit the world, by attempting impracticable unions; but by each working in faith and differing in love.

A WEAK DISCIPLE.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FEAR OF GOD; WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO MINISTERS.

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

(Continued from p. 399.)

I PROCEED to shew the happy effects of the abiding fear of God, especially with regard to those who are dispensers of the Divine word.

The fear of God being duly and consistently before their eyes, would have a powerful influence upon their spirit and conduct. It would produce deep solemnity of mind and humility of heart; two things of vast importance, as they contribute greatly to the efficiency. of their ministrations. But I would notice more particularly, that this fear would secure the faithful discharge of duty, and restrain the workings of a fanciful mind and an innovating spirit-effects most beneficial to true religion.

1. This fear would secure faithfulness.

There is no minister, however situated, but is encompassed with temptations to deviate from the line of duty. These temptations are

extremely various: the fear of man, it may be, is the most common; but it operates in a great variety of ways. There are frowns, which some dread; there are smiles, which too many court; and there are scorns and reproaches, which others fear more than all. These things often prove great snares and hindrances. The two latter in the present day are the most dangerous: for the former can now, blessed be God, be no more than frowns; they cannot issue in tortures, and flames, and bloody persecution. Yet our dangers are, in one respect, not less, but greater; since being more concealed and less violent, they are not so much apprehended. But what is it that will guard Christians against these dangers but the abiding fear of God? This only will oppose and effectually neutralize the influence of the fear of man in all its forms. It is the antidote which our Saviour himself has prescribed. "Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do; but I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear fear Him, which, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him." (Luke xii. 4, 5.) The Saviour enforces this fear on the ground of the Almighty power of God, and that as exercised in the punishment of such as disregard his authority and greatness.

Besides these outward impediments, there are inward ones, arising from two powerful principles belonging to our corrupt nature-namely, self-interest and ambition; and the circumstances of the times are favourable to the growth and operation of these evil principles. Respectability in a worldly point of view, has become a matter of considerable importance in society, being one of the main grounds of influence. A form of religion, also, has become extensively popular; and to attain the good opinion of what is called "the religious public," is considered by many an object of no mean value: nor is it so, when sought in a right way, and for a good end: but in pursuing it, ministers may be tempted to withhold what is necessary, and declare what is acceptable, and thus violate the sacred duties of fidelity. To this combination of evils they are now peculiarly subject; and what is there that must be called forth to counteract their influence but the fear of God? Let the mind be enabled by the Holy Spirit to apprehend the greatness and majesty of the Omnipotent, and let the heart be impressed with his awful presence; and no worldly considerations, no prospects of gaining the honour which cometh from man, will be able to prevail and impede the faithful discharge of duty. The awful greatness of God, his power to reward and to punish, when duly realized in the mind and deeply impressed on the heart, will bear down and overwhelm every thing else by its own magnitude.

2. The fear of God would restrain the indulgence of a fanciful mind and an innovating spirit.

This is a temptation to which some persons are more liable than others, from the cast of their mind. It is most dangerous to those who possess a considerable degree of mental activity, and a fertile imagination. But though the invention of what is new and fanciful belongs to such men, yet the adoption of such things is not peculiar to them. Persons of a directly opposite constitution of mind may easily fall in and espouse what is novel and speculative. The new sentiment may be congenial to the prevailing state of the heart; it may be flattering to some weakness of the mind; it may afford an excuse for the neglect of some irksome and laborious duty; it may

tend to soothe a conscience ill at ease in the indulgence of what is sinful; or the arguments alleged in favour of it may be plausible, and a mind deeply imbued with religion may, through weakness and ungrounded fear of resisting the truth, or swayed by the renown of the propounders and advocates of such sentiments, or the adoption of them by those with whom we are most immediately connected, be induced to yield assent.

Religion is not, like human sciences, capable of new accessions, unless a new revelation be made by Him who is its Author. Its doctrines have been fixed and established since the close of inspiration: and to add to them, or to take away from them, is a presumption which will be visited with an awful curse. The opinions of men differ; but the truly pious in every age have been of the same mind on all fundamental points; on others there has ever been a considerable variety; and any new thing is scarcely possible: certain it is that all that has been broached as new in latter times, is no more than the revival of what had often before been maintained. And could new discoveries be made, they would not be of much value, as they could not affect what is essentially important. The only point perhaps on which we can expect much additional light, is that of prophecy; not indeed by new schemes of interpretation, but by the the events of time. Time, and time only, without a new revelation, is capable of increasing our store of knowledge on this interesting subject. The notorious failure of all preceding interpreters should teach us wisdom, and preserve us from the rashness of attempting to forestall the decisions of time. On all other points of Divine truth we should do well to observe what the Lord said to his people of old : "See and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein; and ye shall find rest for your souls."

But in no recorded instance have the old paths, after an interval of ignorance, error, and corruption, been sought and found, without new paths, new things, being also inquired after and invented. This has been the case at every period of a revival of religion. It was so at the Reformation; it was so when the Puritans flourished; and it is in some degree so now. But we might go back to the very commencement of Christianity. What ages have ever been more prolific in new and strange notions in religion, than the first two centuries? And what then characterised the advocates of such sentiments, has in every age been the same; an unusual degree of confidence, accompanied with high pretensions to superior knowledge, and, as the natural consequence, with great contempt for those who did not adopt their views. The first innovaters laid claim to a wisdom superior to that possessed by the very Apostles. They were generally men of some talent, of active mind, and of prolific imagination, and evidently not under the restraint of the fear of God. Possessing some attainments, they became elated, gave full sway to their fancies, and fell a prey to the vain creations of their own minds. How often it happens that superior gifts or talents become a snare and a temptation, and sometimes an occasion of awful falling, and even of final perdition. Let us flee from ourselves; let our eyes be fixed on Him in whom every excellency and all perfections exist in a degree infinitely fuller than can ever be comprehended by any of his creatures; and then our own diminutive portion will appear as nothing-no more than the smallest particle of dust in comparison with the universe.

It is an evil which generally accompanies the adoption of what is new, that far more is made of it than it deserves, were it even true. Introduced into the mind by the enchantment of novelty, it acquires an immoderate share of attention; and being fondly cherished quickly rises to high importance, and is viewed as an essential part of truth. This being the case, other truths are partially, if not wholly, laid by and neglected, the whole mind being otherwise occupied. The consequence is, that the influence of true religion is weakened, and the natural principles of the heart acquire new strength, and will not fail to shew themselves upon any occasion that may occur. Conceit and arrogance, confidence and rashness, scorn and raillery, the natural productions of a heart freed from the restraints of spiritual principles, will soon discover themselves. Were what is new to do no other mischief than to engross that attention which is due only to the grand truths of the Gospel, it would be a sufficient cause for rejecting it. Temporal concerns in themselves innocent and lawful, often cause no small injury to the religion of the heart in the same way; that is, by occupying the mind too much, and thus diverting it from the great subjects of Divine truth. It is by bringing the mind into habitual contact with spiritual things, that it will become spiritualized. Whatever therefore intercepts this contact, and causes a separation, must prove injurious. And hence, on the same principle, it happens, that those whose minds dwell much on the higher and more abstract portions of Divine truth, are evidently not so much under the actual influence of religious principles, as those who usually contemplate the more immediately influential parts of religion. Whatever be the character of the truths on which we habitually meditate, corresponding with that will be the character of the effects produced on the heart. Now, as the absence or the weakness of the fear of God is one of the main reasons why such mistakes as have been mentioned abound; so this fear would prove of essential service in preventing them. A mind imbued with this holy principle, and a heart under its prevailing controul, would not easily be prevailed upon to give way to the wanderings of a curious fancy, or to receive what bears not the clear stamp of truth, or what is not calculated to promote spiritual religion. It would keep the mind fixed mainly on the essential truths of the Gospel, and the heart in an humble frame; it would restrain pride and arrogance, and prevent rashness and presumption. And even if what appears to many new and fanciful should be received, this fear predominating would prevent much harm ensuing, for it would keep the chief bent of the soul to things of the greatest importance, and the heart would still be preserved under the influence of the humbling and sanctifying truths of the Gospel.

I will conclude by alluding to some of the means to be adopted with a view to promote this fear.

Every king of Israel was commanded to write out for himself a copy of the law, and to read in it all the days of his life; for this end, that he might learn to fear the Lord his God. The principal means therefore for attaining this fear, is the habitual study of the Divine word. It was not enough for the king to read the book once or twice, or several times over, or to read it so far as to become intimately acquainted with its contents: he was to read in it all the days of his life. This was necessary, in order that he might effectually learn to fear the Lord. It is not mere knowledge that can profit, but

the abiding of that knowledge in the mind; and as other things are apt to intrude, it is needful to replenish it daily with Divine things; and the good they effect is in proportion to the degree in which they are embraced and retained with faith, and love, and hallowed obedience.

The principal medium through which we become acquainted with God, is his written word. In our present state, we can see and know but little of Him, except through this medium. This is the glass through which we behold Him in the majesty of his power and in the benevolence of his mercy. This is the light in which we see light; and that we may continually enjoy its exhilarating influence, we must be continually exposed to its cheering rays. Those who neglect an habitual contemplation of the truth of God, though possessing some knowledge, and even an accurate knowledge, of them, are like men living in darkness, yet retaining some recollections of light, but not being in it, they feel none of its invigorating and reviving effects.

The value of the Divine word appears, not only from the directly inspired communications which it contains, but also from its recorded facts; from the instances of manifested power, wisdom, and mercy, which it relates. A large portion of it speaks of the actual manifestations which the Almighty has made of himself as the only true God. Those acts and deeds in which his greatness is exemplified, are continually referred to and dwelt upon, and form a very large portion of its contents. The mighty works of creation and the wonderful evolutions of providence, the miraculous wonders and the great deliverances which had been performed, the gracious blessings bestowed and the awful judgments executed, constitute the chief materials employed by saints of old as subjects of meditation, to teach them the fear of God: and these also are the chief points on which the prophets founded their arguments when remonstrating with the people on their great sin of forsaking God and relinquishing his fear. It was principally as God Almighty that He manifested Himself to the Patriarchs. The wonders which He did in Egypt were for the purpose of making known his power, that his name might be declared throughout all the earth, as the universal Sovereign. The awful and terrible exhibition which he made of his greatness on Mount Sinai was for the same end, that men might learn to fear Him. The pecu

liar object, no doubt, of the Old Testament, is to teach the fear of God; and therefore his awful majesty is mostly brought to light but the peculiar object of the New, is to teach the love of God; and therefore it exhibits an extraordinary manifestation of his love: not that there is no discovery of his love in the former, or in the latter of his greatness, but this is the prevailing character of each. And as all Scripture has been written for our learning; as every discovery which the Almighty has made of himself is valuable, and intended to produce a corresponding feeling in our minds; we ought to study the whole, and ministers ought to exhibit the whole to the view of their hearers. This alone is rightly dividing the word of truth.

To confine our attention to a simple or partial view of the attributes of God; to consider and represent him, for example, exclusively as the God of love and mercy, will not fail to produce impressions unfavourable to true religion. The effect will be similar to what we observe in children whose parents combine no authority with kindness. There may be affection, but it is weak and sickly, not hale and vigoCHRIST. OBSERV. No. 20.

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