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self. Under the gospel, the divine command is-that disciples should not swear an oath at all to bind their souls with a bond. Mr. H. contends that this relates only to a religious vow, prohibiting the confirmation of a religious vow by any oath.' I shall not argue that point with him. The gloss has been sufficiently refuted: but I have no desire to interfere with the practice of those, who wish to think otherwise.

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Mr. H. justly says that there may be a vow or simple promise, however solemn, without any oath or imprecation.' (p. 62-64.) And in this language he seems to admit what I have asserted, that every oath includes in it an imprecation, either expressed or understood;in other words, that the man who swears an oath binds his soul with a bond, under the forfeiture of which he pledges himself to act so and so. That such is the intention of the legislature, in every oath administered in this country, has been shewn from the express language of Dr. Paley-a good authority upon such a subject.* If the christian reader should wish for any further confirmation of that point, he may find it in the Attorney General's speech at the opening of Carlile's late trial? where he asks the jury- If christianity be not a part of the law of the land, why did they thus pledge their hope of eternal life, arising from christianity, for the truth of their verdict?' The legal view of the nature of an oath is here unequivocally expressed; though the argument perhaps was weak enough, as it might equally be applied to prove that mahometanism is part of the law of the land, —a turk being sworn on the koran, However, I believe that no one, the most moderately acquainted with the law of the land, will question but that something called christianity is part of it. The disciple of Christ must only deny that the thing is Christianity; or that the christianity of the bible can form any part of the law of any land. Professors of christianity will choose, in this instance of oaths, and in every other, whether they will obey God or man. Here they certainly cannot obey both.

I shall only further assure Mr. H. that I should have no scruple about answering-on any suitable occasion-adjured by the most high God. But if I should do so, I must yet decline even saying that, in

On the imprecatory nature of every oath, some may consider the authority of an evangelical minister better than that of an un-evangelical archdeacon. I find the Rev. John Brown, of Haddington, expressing himself thus in his self-interpreting bible-on Gen. xiv. 22. All oaths are to be taken by God alone, and import-a taking of him to witness the truth of what we declare or engage, and calling him to avenge himself upon us if we utter falsehood, or neglect to perform our engagement.'-The authority of this reverend gentleman is of the greater weight upon the subject, because he quite agrees with Mr. Haldane in pronouncing it a most proper and useful thing, that men should thus engage for their future conduct under an imprecation of the divine vengeance on themselves in case of failure. I suppose if Peter had but taken an oath that he would not deny his master, it would have been a useful preventative against his fall.

Classical authorities might easily be multiplied, to shew that all nations have taken the same view of the imprecatory nature of an oath. The classical reader may refer, for instance, to Juv. Sat. xiii. 78-85.-But blessed be God! no human authorities are needful for proving to the christian reader the nature of the thing forbidden by the Lord. It is abundantly ascertained by the manner in which he enforces the prohibition, and by the reference to Numb. xxx. 2.

this, I swear at all by any oath :-I must decline even professing to violate an express command of the Lord.

On baptism, which occupies more than one third of Mr. H.'s pamphlet, he has given us again the usual routine of the stalest baptist arguments, without even attempting to meet mine. In my letter on the subject, I brought the question to the narrowest focus; purposely divesting it even of the mention of Jewish proselyte baptism. or any other matters not immediately and essentially bearing on the point. Mr. H. has chosen again to raise a dust by the introduction of these topics: and I shall not follow him into the dust which he has raised. I have shewn that his baptism is a thing essentially distinct from any thing, for which there is either a precedent or precept recorded in the word of God. He has chosen to leave all that position absolutely unassailed; and to amuse his readers with such questions as-whether Timothy was brought up from his infancy in the profession of the christian faith, or was born before his mother's conversion to it :-as if any one of my arguments turned upon that. I leave Mr. H. to the enjoyment of his baptism and his strictures.

SIX ESSAYS

ILLUSTRATIVE

OF THE

FAITH AND HOPE OF THE GOSPEL.

[Published at different periods, from 1807 to 1819, in the form of Tracts.]

I.

ON THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL SUBJECTS.

OUR attention to the things we hear, ought to be regulated by their certainty and their importance. There are some truths, which, however certain, we may disregard; because the knowledge of them is of no concernment to us. Other matters may be reported, the importance of which we shall acknowledge, while we reasonably slight the testimony as of uncertain authority. But your attention, reader, is now entreated for a few moments to a declaration, which at once comes attested by authority the most unquestionable, and relates to a fact of the highest and most universal concernment. It is that declaration which the Apostle Paul of old recommended by those united characters of certainty and importance, when, writing to Timothy, he said, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. ." 1 Tim. i. 15.

In these few words we have the great substance of that revelation, which God hath sent into the world in the Scriptures. It is the testimony which the God of truth delivers to us; and the man that rejects it is therefore said to make God a liar." 1 John, v. 9, 10.

The matter of it also, as we might expect in a revelation from the eternal God, is of import so high, that in comparison of it every thing reckoned most interesting, vanishes into insignificance; and when every thing that now most engages the anxiety of the world, shall cease to be of any consequence, the importance of this truth will continue to be known and felt.

But there are subjects, which, though of weighty moment, are yet of a forbidding character on account of their gloominess. This is not such. It is a truth, as joyful in its nature, as it is weighty in its moment, and certain in its authority. Those that believed it of old

were "filled with all joy and peace in believing it :" Rom. xv. 13. and it will have the same effect on you, reader, whatever be your circumstances or character, if you receive the declaration in its real import. To lay that before you is the object of the following pages. Withhold not your attention from them; and compare what you read, not by the opinions of fallible men, but by the unerring standard of the word of God.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This is a divine declaration of mercy to the guilty, of blessedness to the wretched, of salvation to the lost. Salvation, or deliverance from ruin, is the joyful subject of it-unspeakably joyful, even while it is most humbling to human pride, and awakening to the carnal security of a sinful world.

That all men are sinners, is a truth which all men readily acknowledge; while most take encouragement from that very fact to flatter themselves, that their sin cannot subject them to any destructive consequences; as if a deadly plague were less fatal to individuals on account of its being general throughout a country. But sin is, in its nature, an act of rebellious opposition in the creature to the infinite Creator; and must not they think little of him, who think little of sinning against him? He is the righteous and holy Governor of the universe, which he has formed; and has "revealed his wrath from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." Rom. i. 18. He has denounced "death as the wages of sin." Rom. vi. 23.-its appointed and deserved recompense; and however light an ungodly world may make of it, however they may deceive themselves with the hope that it is but an empty threat, the eternal God changeth not his purpose. He is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent," Numb. xxiii. 19. and will not in any instance revoke the sentence that has gone out of his mouth,

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The belief of this might well sink us all in despair, were it not for that "faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation," which reveals the provision God himself has made for the salvation of sinners: wherein He appears at once making good all his most awful denunciations against sin, and delivering sinners from condemnation : -at once "just and the justifier of the ungodly." Isaiah xlv. 21. Rom. iii. 26. iv. 5.

For this gracious purpose, He sent his own Son into the world, clothed in human nature, "made of a woman, made under the law," Gal. iv. 4, 5. iii. 13, 14. to redeem them that were exposed to its curse, as transgressors, by becoming a curse for them; to die the just in place of the unjust, that he might "put away sin by the sacrifice of himself," Heb. ix. 26. 1 Pet. iii. 18. “bearing the sins of many in his own body on the cross." 1 Pet. ii. 24. Matt. xxvi. 28. For this gracious purpose Christ Jesus came into the world, humbling himself to take upon him the form of a servant, and willingly offering himself to do that work, Heb. x. 4-9. Phil. ii. 6-8. which none in heaven or on earth could do but he, who is one with the heavenly Father, "God over all blessed for evermore." Rom. ix. 5. John x. 30. And that work, which he undertook on behalf of sinners, he accomplished unto the uttermost, by his obedience unto death.

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John xix. 30. "He has finished transgression and made an end of sin." Dan. ix. 24. Heb. x. 11, 12. He has magnified the divine law and made it honourable." Isa. xlii. 21. He has made peace, and opened a new and living way into the holiest for sinners, by his blood. Heb. x. 19, 20. Acts x. 36. JEHOVAH has declared himself" well pleased in him," and for his righteousness sake, Isa. xlii. 21. Matt. xvii. 5. and has given assurance of this unto all men, in that he has raised up his Son Jesus from the dead, and exalted him high above all principality and power; "giving him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as have been given him by the Father." Rom. i. 4. John xvii. 2.

This testimony of the person, and work, and office of the Lord Jesus Christ, is called the Gospel, or good news, which God sends throughout the world, proclaiming peace made for the rebellious: yea, beseeching them to be reconciled to him, 2 Cor. v. 18-21. setting forth Christ crucified as the propitiation for sín, Rom. iii. 24, 25. and assuring acceptance in him, and on account of his work of righteousness, to every sinner who believes the record of God concerning his Son; John iii. 15, 36. Acts xiii. 38, 39. Rom. x. 9-13. Isa. xlv. 17, 22-25. and this, without any difference or exception; so that "whosoever believeth is justified from all things," and shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation.

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Many are seeking earnestly, and striving hard to make their peace with God but they shall never succeed. A sinner can do nothing in this work and those who attempt it, manifest that they are, though under a religious form, fighting against God, and rejecting his testimony against themselves. Rom. ix. 31, 32. For his testimony is, that Christ-his righteous servant-came into the world to do this work, which they vainly imagine themselves capable of doing, and that he has finished it: so that, as nothing acceptable in the sight of a holy God can be done by a guilty sinner, so nothing more needs to be done for the acquittal and acceptance of the most guilty, than Christ has already done.

Reader, is not this joyful news? Certainly it was regarded as such by those who received it of old. We read, Acts ii. 41-47. of three thousand, who on one day received this testimony; and one of the effects related is, that they did "eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God:" though an apostle had a little before addressed them as those, who " by wicked hands had crucified and slain" that Jesus, through whom he preached to them the remission of sins. Again we read, Acts viii. 39. of one, who "went on his way rejoicing," having believed what Philip declared to him concerning Jesus Christ. And again, Acts xvi. 25-34. of another, whose hand was at one moment raised against his own life; but "the same hour," having heard the word of the Lord from Paul and Silas, "he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God."

In all these instances, and many other recorded in Scripture, what they had heard and believed concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, was the great matter in which they rejoiced. And, considering the previous character of the persons to whom it afforded this joy, it is

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