with the current of popular error and vice; if these, and other like effects take place, they are in a considerable measure to be charged to the criminal negligence of the churches respecting the religious sentiments and the personal holiness of gospel min isters. ly doctrines, which exalt Christianity above the darkness of paganism. Must all these things be endured, as little differences of opinion, which should not lessen our esteem, nor interrupt Christian communion, and which do not unfit men for a church state, nor even for the sacred of fice? What a false moderation, what a mere show of candour would this be in the churches of Christ! What a forgetfulness of their obligations to him, and a betraying of his honour into the hands of infidels. At best, what an inglorious neutrality in a cause, which ought to be dearer than life! Fourthly. Negligence as to the sentiments, which ministers hold and propagate, is an implicit contempt of Christ and his gospel. Is it not his peculiar glory, that he is "full of grace and truth?" Is it not one great end of his coming into the world, that he might bear witness to the truth: that he might scatter the clouds which hang over the world, and Can we seriously survey New enlighten mankind with spirit- England churches, and compare ual knowledge? Is not the mis- their present state with their sion of the Holy Spirit to guide pristine purity, without grief and men into all the truth one great amazement of soul? What disadvantage of the gospel state? cerning man does not see, what In short, are not the doctrines of feeling Christian does not bewail religion the substance of the the apostasy of these latter times, revelation, with which God hath and the fatal success with which blessed the world? And is it the open and secret enemies of not through them, that God Christ have laboured to poison sanctifies his people? How impi- the souls of men, and to effect ously, then, do many churches the destruction of truth and undervalue the gospel of Christ, godliness? Can we be Christ's yea, with what contempt do they disciples indeed, and behold with treat him, and the design of his unconcern, the darkness of error labours, sufferings, and blood? overclouding the light of the To what a low ebb is religion gospel, and veiling its divine reduced, how are the impres- beauty? Must not our hearts sions of God our Saviour erased swell with sorrow, to see that from the minds of his professed men proudly dare to villify, or friends, when they can uncon- studiously to conceal the eternal cernedly behold a flood of errors truths, to which the Son of God overwhelming the land; when bore witness; that so many, they can carelessly see those, who know the joyful sound, who are set for the defence of should love darkness rather than the gospel, breaking down all the light, and offer their deluded boundaries of truth, and public souls a sacrifice to infernal mally disclaiming, treacherously ice; and that any who profess undermining, or subtilizing to believe the Bible, should be: into an airy phantom," those ho- have with such cold indifference, as if they were no wise concerned in the honour of the Redeemer; as if his cause might be innocently abandoned, and the treasures of wisdom in his gospel treated as empty speculations, or disputable, intricate points, and as if it were a trifling matter whether divine purity and light, or moral darkness possess our hearts, and prevail in the world. Is this the way, in which the friends, yea, the churches of God show their gratitude for the riches of his mercy? What perfidious treatment of that revelation, which his infinite love has bestowed! What an entertainment is this of those important truths, which flow from the mouth of the greatest prophet, and are supported by the strongest and most moving arguments; truths, which bear the stamp of ineffable wisdom, and are bright ened by the lustre of an eternal excellence. And what lamenta. tion is added to our grief, when we consider, that these evils exist in New England, where God hath made the clearest discover ies of himself; where he planted his church a noble vine, and his mercy cultivated it and rendered it fruitful from age to age; in New England, for which God hath done so much in his providence, and which he hath honoured and blessed, as a theatre of his abounding grace; in New England, whose churches have been justly famed for the purity of their faith, the strictness of their discipline, and the influence of their piety, and whose saints God hath set up, as illustrious examples to future ages. Can they, who love the Saviour, and duly value his word, view the apostasy of New England churches without blushing and amazement? And will they not seize every opportunity to show their adherence to the adorable mysteries of his gospel? What momentous arguments are these, friends of Immanuel, to raise your zeal, to add life and constancy to your endeavours and fervour to your prayers for the defence of the truth. The eternal love of God, who sent his Son to illuminate your souls with celestial knowledge; the wonders of the Saviour's grace; the native beauty, the divine simplicity of the gospel, surrounded with all the glories of redeeming love, recommended by every consideration of gratitude and duty, and testified by the loudest applauses of angelic hosts, furnish an endless train of irresistible. motives, and conspire to animate your hearts with holy ardour in the cause of Zion. Lift up your eyes, and behold your exalted Lord. From his glorious throne he looks down to notice the order, the purity, and fidelity of his churches. He directs your eye to the scorn of the multitude, the hatred of the learned, the blindness and rage of rulers, and the furious efforts of infernal spirits, which afflicted him, but could never shake his resolution, or drive him from his cause. He points to the shame he despised, to purchase honour for you; to his torturing cross and dying blood, which saved you from everlasting death. He represents to you the alluring glories of a forgiving God, the pure joys of faith, and the eternal pleasures of the sanctuary above. He reminds you of what his almighty arm wrought for your forefathers, and shows the blessings, which are deposited in this favoured land, as the goodly heritage of you and your children. And he waits to see what influence all these arguments will have upon you, and what return you will make for all this display of goodness. Will you, then, with an unfeeling heart, see him robbed of his majesty and glory, and his cause basely betrayed? Will you consider it, as a matter of indifference, whether his ministers preach, or his churches receive the distinguishing truths of his word? Can you, without emotion, see the dangers which beset unwary souls, and the approaching ruin of this declining age? Churches of New England, once comely and glorious, arise from your bed of sloth. Cast off the lukewarmness, which is so hated of God. Show your selves on the Redeemer's side. Sacrifice all other interests, however dear, to the interest of truth; all other passions, however strong, to the cause of Zion, and all other persons, however great and honourable, to the honour of Christ. Behold the grace of your exalted Saviour, and hear that voice of mingled love and terror, which once warned the lapsed Ephesian church, and now warns you; Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do thy first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. PASTOR. August, 1806, page 107, commenced some remarks, under the signature of J. C. on the difficulties supposed by the writer to be involved in the doctrine of saints' perseverance. Subjoined to these are some observations by another hand,* avowedly in reply to the former, and designed to elucidate the doctrine, and remove the difficulties suggested. The writer of the former remarks has no wish, nor design, to enter into a public discussion of the doctrine in question. The difficulties proposed were obvious. It was certainly desirable, that, if capable of a satisfactory explanation, they should receive it. These observations explain the motives of his first publication. He is about again to trespass on the patience of the public; and they may again demand his reasons. They will be found in what follows. He acknowledges, with pleasure, the spirit of candour, which apparently dictated the observations of LUTHER. He acknowledges, likewise, the force and pertinency of many of his observations. If we are to view the arguments of LUTHER as intended to defend this doctrine upon the ancient, Calvinistic ground, it is readily conceded, that many of them are by no means destitute of force and ingenuity. But were they intended to defend it on this ground? We certainly conceive they were not. We may have mistaken the design of the writer. If so, we assure him the mistake is in ON THE DOCTRINE OF PERSE- voluntary. The opinion of an VERANCE. THE reader doubtless recollects, that in the Panoplist for cient Calvinists was, that the re * Luther. generate do ever, and at all times, retain some moral qualities, which distinguish them from the unregenerate; that, in the language of the apostle, they cannot sin, unto death, because their seed remaineth in them. But this opinion, to our apprehension, is not the foundation, on which Luther's arguments rest. For, in answer to the question of J. C. What would have become of David, had he died in the midst of his crimes? LUTHER replies, "If he had died impenitent, he would have been lost." Here, it is conceived, the author fairly concedes, that, in his opinion, David did totally apostatize from God and holiness; that he fell, for a time, into precisely the same moral state, in which he was previously to his conversion. What LUTHER believes concerning David, he doubtless believes concerning other good men. He believes, that they are sometimes entirely holy, and sometimes entirely sinful. He not only believes, with the disciples of Mr. WESLEY, that there are some instances, in which saints fall from holiness; but, that they frequently do this; indeed, that the life of every Christian is little else, than an alternate rising into holiness, and sinking into sin. But though he agrees with the disciples of WESLEY, in believing that saints fall from holiness, he does not believe, with them, that any regenerate person will finally perish. He supposes, that the covenant of grace, though it does not prevent those who embrace it from becoming just as sinful as they were before, does, how ever, secure them from eternal perdition. On supposition that J. C. agreed with the Methodists, as to the final defectibility of saints, what would LUTHER have him do? Would be have him believe, with Calvinists, that those who are born of God are always distinguished, by the temper of their hearts, from the unrenewed? No: he would have him believe no such thing. He is to meet the common opinion of Calvinists only half way; he must embrace their belief of the final salvation of the regenerate, but reject their belief that the regenerate always continue possessed of a holy principle. If these be indeed the sentiments of LUTHER, it is impossible for us to perceive the pertinency or propriety of his remarks. On the ground, which he occupies, unless we have mistaken that ground, we conceive it impossible to defend the doctrine which he advocates. This is the reason of our again requesting the attention of LuTHER and the public to our 'remarks; because his arguments, however clear and forcible, in themselves, yet, resting, as we conceive, on an unstable foundation, have no tendency to obviate the difficulties we before suggested. Consistently enough with his scheme, God may be said to persevere in his determination to glorify the saints; but with no propriety can the saints be said to persevere, unless persevering, and not persevering, are terms of the same import. Nor is it true, according to this theory, that God perseveres in his love to saints. If they be, at times, destitute of every moral quality to distinguish them from the unregenerate, he cannot, at those seasons, love the one more than he loves the other. If it be said that he loves them because he designs to render them holy, and save them; it is obvious to reply, he had these designs when they were unrenewed; and yet he had, then, no more complacency in them, than in any other persons of the same moral character, not comprehended in his designs of salvation.. Heb. vi. 4, 5, 6. It is impossible for those, who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance. LUTHER tells us, that these words relate to real saints, and not, as some have supposed, to awakened sinners, partially reformed. Between these two opinions we make no decision; but would ask how this sense of the text coincides with the doctrine under consideration? The apostle, if speaking to renewed persons, tells them what would be the consequence should they fall away. It would be impossible to renew them again again to repentance. This is LUTHER's explanation of the passage: but he still be lieves, that David did fall away, and that every regenerate person frequently falls away, and yet is renewed again to repentance. How is this? Somebody must be wrong. Will it be said, that by falling away, the apostle did not mean simply falling away, however complete, but an irrecoverable falling away? Then the text will amount precisely to this; "Those, who fall irre coverably, it is impossible to recover;" which would be true indeed, but not much in the apostle's way of writing. Did any person need to be informed, that if he remained impenitent till death, he could not be renewed, by repentance, before death? Pray what defection was it, against which these Hebrews were so solemnly warned? Did the apostle mean to convey this sentiment; "If you are once excluded from the covenant of grace, it will be impossible to introduce you into it again"? How could they be excluded from this covenant? Not in consequence of total apostasy, according to LUTHER'S doctrine; for David is supposed, by him, to have been in the same moral state, during his fall, as Paul, or John before his conversion. therefore, apostasy could have excluded him, he would have been excluded. If, LUTHER very justly observes, that "it is the method of inspiration, to shew saints, on the one hand, the crown of righteousness which awaits the faithful; on the other, the certain ruin which will overtake them, if they turn again to folly." But do not they turn again to folly, who lose every particle of holiness, and become perfectly sinful? Yet he does not suppose, that certain ruin awaits such. Nay, he supposes that many such will certainly be saved. We are told again, that "the doctrine of perseverance ought never to be viewed in such a light, as to render persevering diligence in well doing less necessary, than it would be, if the doctrine were not true." We are by no means disposed to controvert this: But does not |