6 6 those both of providence and nature. See 45th Psalm. But by cunning fables, devised from the doctrine of moral agency and human accountability, saving grace,' as sovereign grace,' is in point of fact derided, and a specious scepticism has taken place of the simple testimony of Jehovah's will. We would cheerfully go on with the subject, but we will not neglect the discourse before us. Many conceive this to be an attribute that should rather lie concealed, as thinking such absolute sovereignty would rather appear a deformity or blemish, than a beauty or glory. Yea, some have been for discarding it entirely, as conceiving the language of complete sovereignty to be the language of a tyrant, and not of a God And no wonder; for this is that perfection of deity which human nature in its present state most of all dislikes and rebels against, both doctrinally and practically. It is what' mankind can scarcely relish or digest. But those who plead for and adore this peculiar perfection of Godhead, may well be kept in countenance against all the oppositions and reflections of fellow mortals; since it is clear that the Lord himself glories in that which the pride of man cannot endure. It is very remarkable that Jesus Christ, who was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief all the days of his flesh, and that to such a degree that we never find him rejoicing but once, had his spirit elevated to joy and praise, upon this particular account and occasion. Luke x. 21. "At that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." For the proof that saving grace is sovereign grace, a variety of arguments are produced. 1. From express scripture. 2. From scripture consequences. 3. From the analogy of faith. 4. From the real condition of fallen man. 5. From experience and observation. Under the third head, a bold and unanswerable reproof is given to those who limit the Holy One of Israel, by accounting such only to be chosen of God unto salvation, as are brought unto a belief of the truth,-governed by certain degrees in experience. However, I am far from being so strict in this matter as to imagine, that no person is, or can be saved, unless he apprehends and professes this doctrine of sovereign grace with entire clearness. There are many whose minds are clouded, and perhaps are so drawn aside by the popular outcry against this doctrine, so hated by the world, as to express a dislike to this truth; and yet these very persons will freely acknowledge for themselves, that they never did nor could contribute any thing toward their own state of salvation; they know that their own salvation is in Christ; they dare not lay the least stress of their hope upon any but him; they know and own, that it is the Spirit alone that hath convinced them of sin and righteousness; that they themselves could have no hope if Christ were not a complete Saviour in all respects; and that they themselves would never have known and embraced this hope, had they not been led by the word and Spirit of God into this blessed truth, and unto this only sure foundation. So then, I may venture to affirm, that every true believer does in his heart believe what comprehends this doctrine, or what plainly supposes it; however he may be so clouded and confused as not to see that it does, or however unwilling he may be to admit it, because of the odium that is cast upon it, and the frightful colours in which it is drest up by many. In defending the doctrine from the opposition of unbelievers, and the insiduous means resorted to (as at the present time) to shade its glories, our divine advances the following admirable argument. But I apprehend, that the root of all these objections is this. Men do not see how absoulute sovereignty in God is consistent with the freedom of man's will: they think the former overturns the latter. They cannot raise their thoughts so high as to see how a person can be praise and blame worthy in his actions, if God over-rules his conduct. Whereas it is beyond all doubt, that the great Jehovah manages or ascertains the actions of his creatures in such a manner, as no way enters into their consideration to be a motive for influencing their conduct. There is no occasion then for a christian to disturb or perplex himself, by the disputes among philosophers about the freedom of man's will. For notwithstanding all that must be owred concerning the secret purposes, and absolute sovereignty of God, yet it is still true that every person acts freely, and judges of himself according to the sentiments of his own mind and heart. So that we may without any reserve appeal to every man's con; science in the sight of God, whether he does not act with sufficient freedom to render him account able for his actions. Yea, we way go so far as to apply this to the very case in hand. For a person either believes this doctrine of the sovereignty of divine grace, or denies and dislikes it. He that believes it, as seeing his natural condition, and knowing that nothing but such grace can suit his case, he acts freely upon this plan in a way of dependence, love, and obedience; while on the other hand, he that disowns and rejects this doctrine, he acts as freely upon the conditional or self-righteous plan; and must take the consequences according to the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every one according to his works. With considerable regret we must decline making further extracts, indulging the hope, that what we have already given will rather excite our reader's determination to procure the work, than tend to afford a satisfaction limited by the approbation we have expressed. The arguments for the illustration and application of the subject are worth a world! The Christian's Life and Death. A Sermon occasioned by the decease of the Rev. J. Whitehouse, delivered by the Rev. T. Lewis, of Islington; together with the Address delivered at the Interment, by the Rev. Geo. Clayton, of Walworth. Westley, Stationers' Court; Baynes, Paternoster Row. Although the deceased, during his latter moments, recorded with his own hand, this request, "I beg that God may not be "offended, or provoked, by any one extolling me after death," the reverend preacher has devoted a considerable portion of the funeral sermon, to the purpose of paying homage to his moral virtues and excellencies. And the reverend speaker of the address, with the plea of rendering a tribute of public honour to the grace of God, has proceeded in the same strain of pompous adulation. We presume, as now-a-days it is unfashionable to depart from the practice, that it would be at the peril of losing an unmerited popularity to desist from the delusive employ. Would to God the aboundings of divine grace were less scandalized than 32 THE SPIRITUAL MAGAZINE, 6 they are, by the mockery of woe,' and the vain shew of fleshly excellence, which are exhibited in such profusion in moderu funeral orations! The Blessedness of the Dead who die in the Lord. A funeral Sermon occasioned by the lamented death of Mrs. Rachael Harbottle; with a brief memoir of the deceased. By W. Roby, Manchester. Westley. This minister is not behind his brethren in panegyrising the 'moral' actions of the subject of his discourse. One serious evil, invariably resulting from the system is, that it steals from the minds of the weak and ignorant, on occasions of the deepest moment, the impression which the solemnities of the service might otherwise effect; and thus, they who are hearers of the word only, are amused by statements of what the deceased once were, instead of being faithfully informed what they themselves are! And though, here and there, in this discourse, a passage might be selected worthy of approval; we dare not, at the risk of seeming to sanction the whole, recommend it to the notice of our readers. If this author and other ministers will rest whatsoever things are honest, and whatsoever things are just, as between man and man, on the fair and legitimate ground of human conduct; we shall feel bound to applaud the cognizance taken of them, and the service to which they are devoted: but if they are made to supply the place of the nobler characteristics of a saint, we shall continue to disapprove the practice, and to apprehend its consequences. POETRY. JESUS THE ONLY HOPE OF A PERISHING SINNER. Convinced of sin, To Jesus alone For he did atone: O this is my cry, August 6, 1824. No! hold thou me up, Lord, And I shall be safe; Of sad unbelief. At the foot of the cross, Dear Lord, I would be, Till my pardon I see; If strength thou wouldst give me, My hope is in Jesus, And shall I despair? No! none ever perish'd That Thou hast brought there: There waiting that I J. L. M. THE Spiritual Magazine; OR, SAINT'S TREASURY. "There are Three that bear record in heaven; the FATHER, the WORD, and the HOLY GHOST; and these Three are ONE." John v. 7. "Contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." Jude 3. (For the Spiritua! Magazine.) ANNUAL CIRCULAR LETTERS OF THE SUFFOLK AND NORFOLK ASSOCIATION OF BAPTIST CHURCHES. LETTER II. ON JUSTIFICATION. Brethren, beloved in the Lord, RECEIVE this epistle from our hands, as a token of the unfeigned love of our hearts. Your souls, the objects of divine delight, and the purchase of the Redeemer's blood, are precious in our eyes. We desire, and we seek your godly edification; sincerely praying, that the Spirit of infinite wisdom and power, may, in the freeness and riches of his grace, effectually dispose and enable you to prove all things, and hold fast that, and that only, which is supremely good. Do you ask, what is supremely good? we answer, divine truth:-the truth of God, of his being, his persons, his attributes, his counsel, his works. Divine truth, when written in the heart of man by the finger of the Almighty, illuminates his mind, corrects and informs his judgment, subdues his will, naturally stubborn and rebellious, bringing it into cheerful subjection to Jesus Christ. It dethrones and casts down his proud imaginations of self-righteousness, and every high thing that exalteth itself against Jesus, and his free, full, and complete salvation. It purifies and heals the conscience, defiled with guilt and stung with remorse. It imparts to the heart a vital glow of unfeigned love to God and his ways; kindles in the breast ardent desires to enjoy, serve, and honour him for ever; yea, it enriches the soul, inspiring it with principles the most exalted, and with sentiments the most refined and sublime. In fine, it is the grand means employed by the Holy Ghost in regenerating God's elect; in performing in them the work of faith with VOL. II.-No. 15. F power; in sanctifying them; in making them meet to possess and enjoy the undefiled and blissful inheritance of the saints in light. 3 Having made these remarks in reference to divine truth in general, permit us now to invite your attention to a very particular and most important branch of it, viz. the JUSTIFICATION OF THE CHURCH IN THE SIGHT OF GOD: in the view of him whose eyes are too pure to behold iniquity, and whose judgment is, and ever must be, according to truth. The doctrine of JUSTIFICATION is an article of faith, of no inferior, but on the contrary, of most momentous and important consideration. O what a forlorn creature is man! and how dreadfully wretched must his future state for ever be, without justification before his righteous judge! Guilty, and most righteously condemned by that divine and holy law which he has broken in every point, he can neither enter heaven nor escape hell. With his transgressions wreathed about his neck, and bearing the prodigious load of his awful crimes, each insupportable, he must, if left to himself, leave this world under the direful frown of his dishonoured Maker; and, borne down by omnipotent vengeance, sink, for ever sink in the fathomless gulph of perdition, the tortured prey of cruel despair, and the sport of fierce unrelenting torment, world without end. Justification makes a most noble, and, to sinners divinely taught, a most interesting appearance in the christian scheme. It is one of the richest jewels in the cabinet of theology; a star of the first lustre and magnitude in the evangelical firmament; one of the choicest fruits of that tree of life designed for the healing of the nations; a most precious stream from the fountain of eternal love; an all-important link in the golden chain of salvation; yea, a focus where all the refulgent beams of divine grace meet and unite in the salvation of the church of Christ. This blessed doctrine, brethren, powerfully arrested the minds of the holy writers of the book of God, and led them in pleasing captivity. It wakened the zeal, and called forth all the seraphic eloquence of the prophets; employed the sublime genius of the psalmist, and gave intenseness to his poetic fire; it inflamed the apostles of the Lamb, and with invincible ardour and holy ambition they proclaimed it in the ears of their fellow sinners, in all its unrivalled freeness, and exhibited it before the nations in all its transcendent glory. In a word, IT WAS THEIR GRAND THEME, and with it they beautified, enriched, and aggrandized their conversations, their sermons, and their epistles. The justification of sinners in the sight of God is an act by which they are constituted completely righteous in his estimation. It is an act of God. It is an act neither angelic nor human, it is divine. It is the sole prerogative of God the righteous lawgiver, to justify the transgressors of his law from their iniquities." It is God that justifieth;" it is God, the insulted and dishonoured lawgiver; God, the judge to whom vengeance belongeth, and who actually taketh vengeance, that justifieth-justifieth freely, completely, eternally. The justification which he hath condescended to grant, is totally irrespective of personal worth or desert in its objects-it flows from his |