of evangelical preachers, and the dis- is the Abaddon, Apollyon, the destroyer of all religion, the abomination of desolation and astonishment, the liberty of perdition, (as Austine calls it,) and, therefore, the Devil follows it night and day, working mightily in many by writing books for it, and other waysall the Devils in hell, and their instruments, being at work to promote a TOLERATION. "The Devil, for some thousands of years, had not found out this engine, nor made use of it to support his king. dom. Nay, the greatest patrons of liberty of conscience do confess, it was not in existence under the Old Testament; men might then be punished by the Civil Magistrate for their false wor ship and doctrine; but it is the will and command of God since the coming of his Son, the Lord Jesus, that a permission of the most Paganish, Jewish, Turkish, or Anti-Christian consciences and worships, be granted to all men in all nations and countries. Upon the coming of Christ in the flesh, the lying Oracles were dissolved, and that voice heard that "the great PAN was dead;" and the Devil finding his kingdom weakened in the world by the fall of those Oracles, and by so many being converted to the faith of Christ by the Apostles-the Devil then bestirred himself, and set pretended liberty of conscience on foot, after the experience of some thousands of years in the world, as the most likely means to recover and strengthen his kingdom, and has ever since from time to time made use of this engine, especially in times of Reformation, when he is a casting out—as a means to keep his own possession, or being cast out to enter in again. The English Presbyterians trod in the steps of their Episcopalian forerunners. EDWARDS, the accredited organ of that formidable association in 1646, writes thus-"A toleration is the grand design of the devil, the master-piece and chief engine he works by at this time, to uphold his tottering kingdom; it is the most compendious, ready, sure way to "He strongly set it on foot in the destroy all religion-lay all waste-and primitive times by the Donatists and bring in all evil;-it is a most transcen- other heretics, and, in later ages by dent, catholike, and fundamental evil. the Anabaptists, Familists, Arminians, As original sin is the most fundamental Socinians, and in our days by all the sin, all sin, having the seed and spawn Sectaries, now bestirring himself to of all in it so a toleration hath all keep a footing in this kingdom by errors in it, and all evils; it is against toleration; yea, being wroth at his castthe whole stream and current of Scrip- ing out in Popery, superstition, and Preture, both in the Old and New Testa-lacy, he strives and endeavours by this ments, both in matters of faith and pretended liberty of conscience to enter in manners, both general and particular with seven other spirits more wicked commands. It overthrows all relations, than before, and to dwell here, and to both political, ecclesiastical and econo- make the last state of England worse mical; and whereas other evils, whether than the first. O how are the times errors of judgment or practice, be but changed! Persons professing religion against some one or few places of Scrip-in England were wont to look upon these ture or relation, this is against all;-this two things as most hateful-first, the : ON THE EXERCISE OF FORGIVENESS AMONG CHRISTIANS. corruption of the doctrine of religion; secondly, a toleration of all religions. O what ado did we keep in England many years ago, about Jackson, Montague, Cozens, and such like! And now we make nothing of worse Arminianism, and far greater errors! What was said of Hannibal's army, colluvies omnium gentium, may be said of us for all kinds of sects and sectaries, Anglia colluvies omnium errorum et sectarum." And yet, to give the Devil his due, the Presbyterian adds, that "the errors of these times are vented by men looked upon as godly and holy, who in the 207 ters pray, pray, pray, yea, fast and pray against the sects, and against the much beloved toleration: saying with David, I will yet pray against their wickedness!" "The Magistrates should yet put out some declaration against the errors of the Sectaries, declaring that they shall yet be proceeded against as vagrants and rogues; and if any that are dipped fall sick and die,* they shall be indicted upon the statute of killing the King's subjects, and proceeded against accordingly." [To be continued.] Bishops' days, suffered, and were strict ON THE EXERCISE OF FORGIVE- NESS AMONG CHRISTIAN BRE- "Be ye followers of God as dear children.”—Eph. v. 1.† THE manner of address adopted by the apostles when writing to their Christian brethren, is most affectionate and engaging. If they urge us to the performance of duty, it is by the most cogent and powerful motives, and which to enlightened minds, are suited to operate on all the springs of human action: and so to produce a compliance with the exhortations given by them. We are here addressed, not merely as the children of God, but as his dear children: as those who are greatly beloved of their Father, and the objects of his tenderest care. We are not, however, naturally his children; no, alas! we had forfeited all claim to so high and distinguished a benefit. The Scriptures inform us, that we were by nature children of wrath, even as others;-dead in trespasses and sins. And if we have been introduced into a better state, and are now sustaining a different character to that which formerly distinguished us, it is to be attributed exclusively to sovereign grace and mercy. To be the dear children of God, is a privilege which ought to excite our warmest gratitude and love; particularly when we reflect, that it was not for our righteousness' sake, nor for any thing praise-worthy in us, distinguishing us from others, that this in * 'Tis related of the Senate of Zurich, Epist. Zuingl. l. ii. f. 84, that "the illustrious Senate decreed, that whosoever baptized any that had formerly been baptized, he should be cast into the water, and drowned." A precedent worthy to be cited by a Christian minister! + Much has been said and written, and strong prejudices are entertained by many, against the practice of private brethren exhorting one another, during the time of public worship, which we contend was the custom of the first churches. We take this opportunity, therefore, of saying, that these remarks were actually delivered by a private member, in a church which conscientiously follows "the footsteps of the flock," so far as they are enabled to trace them. They were afterwards written out at the request of one of the Elders of the church, and forwarded to us for insertion. We fear it happens to but few of our dissenting congregations in the Metropolis to have their duty set before them by their Ministers, in a more faithful, scriptural, and forcible manner.-EDITOR. estimable blessing was conferred upon us. It was procured for us when God, of his infinite love, sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem us from the curse of the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And it was actually conferred, when God, of his own will, begat us with the word of truth: when we were born again, "not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." Then, and not till then, were we constituted the children of God, by faith in Christ Jesus. And if children, then heirsheirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus. Surely when viewing the magnitude of this blessing, Christians may exclaim with the apostle John, "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed on us, that we should be called the sons of God."-" Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." From this instance of distinguishing mercy, of our adoption into the family of God, we may learn, the deep obligations we are laid under to act in a way that is becoming our high dignity; and walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith we are called, by being followers of God as dear children. necessary. And, alas! such is the remaining corruption of our naturesuch is the partial influence which divine truth has upon us, that occasions but too frequently occur for the exercise of this duty. Our Lord informs us that offences will come; and all the exhortations in the Divine Word on this subject proceed on the certainty of such events taking place. To be followers of God, is to be imitators of his character; to copy in our lives and conversation those moral perfections of Deity, which are so conspicuously exemplified in the economy of redemption. Here the divine truth and veracity-the holiness and justice the boundless love, compassion and grace of our God, all blaze forth with unsullied lustre. But that attribute or quality in our heavenly Father, which we are here more particularly called to imitate, is his forgiving mercy, which he exercises towards his people for Christ's sake. This will appear evident if we read the last verse of the preceding chapter, which contains an exhortation to mutual forgiveness among brethren, with the motive by which it is enforced; and the verse under consideration is the inference which the apostle deduces from what he previously said, "Be ye, therefore, followers of God as dear children." The duty enforced, therefore, in this passage, is that of forgiving one another, whenever occasions occur to make it The first observation I would make on this subject is, that according to our Lord's doctrine on this head, no man has any right to expect forgiveness with God, who is not exercising this forgiveness towards his Christian brother. Hence his instruction runs thus: "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any, that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven, forgive your trespasses." And, further, our Lord has so constructed the prayer which he taught his disciples, as to cut off all ground of expecting forgive ness in the person who adopts it, if he be indulging a relentless, unforgiving temper towards others. In the mouth of such a person, it is a prayer that he may not be forgiven; for thus runs the petition, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.' we are But, perhaps, it may be objected, that the blessing of forgiveness is not suspended on any duty we may performthat we are justified and pardoned freely by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; and this when we first believed the Gospel, irrespective of any work or condition we had per formed. This is freely admitted; but we should recollect, that as daily sinning and coming short of God's glory, we stand in need of daily forgiveness; and, blessed be God, this is promised. But then it is important to observe, that this is only obtained in the way of daily confession and repentance; and, therefore, we have no reason to expect it if we are not forgiving our Christian brethren. Our Lord gives us a striking illustration of this point in his parable of a certain king, who had, in the most free and generous manner, forgiven his bankrupt servant the im mense sum of ten thousand talents. But he, instead of being deeply affected with his Lord's generosity towards himself, violently seizes his fellow-servant ON THE EXERCISE OF FORGIVENESS AMONG CHRISTIANS. 209 his ancient people, but for the consola. tion of his church throughout all generations-"I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgression for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sin. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgression, and as a cloud thy sins." The Lord Jesus, who came to declare his Father's name, hath said, that "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men." And it is a capital promise of the new covenant, "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." But that which heightens our conceptions of the boundless nature of divine forgiveness, and which ought to endear it the more to our heart, is, the channel through which it flows to the guilty, and through which it will continue to flow to the latest period of time. God does not bestow this blessing in an absolute or arbitrary manner, irrespective of the principles of equity and justice ;-no, it is for Christ's sake; on account of what he has done and suffered, and the satisfaction rendered by him, both to law and justice; for his blood was shed for many for the remission of sins. He is set forth as a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare God's righteousness in the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus." It is, therefore, through Christ Jesus, the Saviour, that we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of divine grace. It is in his name that forgiveness is preached, or proclaimed, to a guilty world. And it is HE, who has loved his people, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. by the throat, who owed him the comparatively trifling sum of an hundred pence, and threw him into prison, till he should pay the debt. When the circumstance of his base and unfeeling conduct was told to his lord, he called him and said, "O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me; shouldst not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him." Now let us observe the solemn application of this parable: "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." Matt. xviii. It is deeply to be lamented, that we should ever feel the least reluctance to the practice of this duty. But experience teaches us, that when differences arise among brethren, we often require to be urged with every motive the Gospel proposes, to engage us heartily to exercise this virtue, and are too frequently reminded of the wise man's saying, "a brother offended, is harder to be won than a strong city." The causes of this are, the natural backwardness of the offender to make a candid and ingenuous confession of his fault-the remains of unsubdued pride in the party offendedthe quick sense we all have of an injury, prompting us to retaliation and revenge and the repugnancy of our nature to lower our standard, to soften, relent, and exercise a more yielding disposition, when mutual concessions are requisite to an amicable adjustment of differences. But all difficulty in the performance of this duty will vanish-all hardness and implacability of mind will be subdueda disposition to retaliation and revenge banished-and a merciful and forgiving temper will be produced, if we are but properly influenced by that forgiving mercy which our heavenly Father shews towards us. Christians, therefore, ought to be much engaged in contemplating his character in this respect, and be imitators of him as dear children. Here the blessed God proposes himself as our examplar; and surely we cannot imitate a more elevated, more amiable, or a more attractive object. He is the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin. He hath said for the comfort of, not only VOL. X. Not only, however, is there a full and free pardon extended to us on our first believing; but there is a provision made in the everlasting covenant for our daily forgiveness. Jesus is the great High Priest over the house of God, whose blood cleanseth from all sin. He is our Advocate with the Father, whose powerful intercession will always prove availing. A throne of grace is established in heaven, to which we must daily repair, to obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hence, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all 2 E when God, of his own will, begat us with tions in h the word of truth: when we were born Sp pitieth eth them ren, I have ciful conduct of order that you d if this fail of aslikeness-if this ject proce The on th Lor h 70 k Mts in Baptists at staken in saying, as early as the days of zabeth. The book is entitled, Confession of Faith of the several congregations or churches of Christ in London, which are commonly (though unjustly) called Anabaptists. Unte which is added, heart-bleedings for professor's abominations," &c. Printed at Leith, 1653. To this edition (which is the fourth) a preface is prefixed by some Baptists at Leith and Edinburgh, which contains nothing of their history. It is el pro merciful and for- dated, "Leith, the 10th of the first to prophe effect. to you, we be sufficiently efficacious wards each other, no month, vulgarly called March, 165. ents that I could ad- Signed in the name, and by the appointmotives I could presentment of the church of Christ, usually meeting at Leith and Edinburgh, by Thomas Spenser, Abraham Holmes, Thomas Powell, John Brady." This is all the information to be got from the book. They appear to have been in the time of Oliver Cromwell; were probably English Baptists, who had come But if we are it is impossible in Cut things, for us to contemaubject, so as to have a just plars of it on our own minds, and d our pride humbled, our im placallity subdued, and our hearts sof- Scotland during the civil wars, and for a some short time formed a society, which femd w tenderness, compassion and thy brother, therefore, trespass met at Leith and Edinburgh; during astimet Hice and repent, forgive him; which time they republished the above the sin against thee seven times Confession of Faith; but I imagine they a day, and still give evidence of a have been very little taken notice of, for s of mind, we must forgive him, I do not remember to have read of them restore him to his wonted place in in any history of those times, nor indeed affections. Let our forgiveness be of any other Baptists in Scotland. , hearty, and without reserve; I am obliged to you for the account ***** will it resemble that of God you have given me of your journey to ****** us: he remenbers our sins no Wales, and of the state of the churches H. They are, by a striking figure, there. I see no warrant for imposition led as thrown into the depths of hands on reception of church mem #; and so for ever buried, and bers. I do not recollect that the apostles |