to his own fortune in war, he did not | true religion brought to unite in love. ascribe it to any mere human means, We are also furnished with a lesson of but to God who commanded it, as if he grateful acknowledgment for the merhad said, It is he that has given us cies already received," Thy God hath one heart and one spirit; it is he that commanded thy strength;" and of has defended us against our surround- earnest importunity for mercies still ing enemies, and what we have of needed, "Strengthen, O God, that which brotherly love, and spiritual union, thou hast wrought for us." and true religion, of that righteousness which is the strength and glory of a nation, what we have of this, it is thy God, O Israel, that has commanded or that has produced it, and give him the glory. Finally, to these acknowledgments he adds a prayer which he offers up, in which the people were invited to join with him, "Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us." God had wrought much for them-they were considered as strong, but yet they were not so strong but that they needed the renewing of their strength; no people, no community, no church, no individual is so strong, as not to need prayer being added to praise-as not to need the supplication to be continually put up, "Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us." These few remarks may suffice by way of exposition. I proceed, secondly, to apply the subject. Methinks, my brethren, the ideas that are here suggested furnish us with a delightful model for Christian worship. Oh that it may be said of our assemblies, as it is said of this solemn assembly, "There is little Benjamin," and so on. There is every one in his place. Particularly we are here furnished with a lesson or with lessons of gratitude in all our assemblies, "Bless ye God in the congregations." We are furnished with a lesson of diligence in all our assemblies,-let every one be there. We are furnished with a lesson of unity, brotherly love, brotherly forgiveness, when we see that tribes which had hitherto been discordant were by Let us review these topics. In the first place, in all our assemblies together to worship God, let our worship be the expression of a grateful heart. Can you conceive of a more delightful employment than to meet with your brethren, the friends of your common Lord, to bless his name? This is our proper work as Christians; I might say it is our proper work as men, for man is the only inhabitant of this world capable of blessing God; all the works of God praise him, all things that exist in the globe offer up a tribute of praise to him that supports them; but man is the only being that understands what He is. Bless ye God then, ye high priests of God's creation, present the offering of the world to God; sing ye praises with understanding. But seeing that man has apostatized from God, that thereby God has lost his just revenue of glory, and that no one possesses a heart to bless his name but he who is renewed by the Spirit of God, let it be our employment, our delight, "Bless ye God in the congregations," pour forth a grateful heart in all our assemblies; bless him not only for the common mercies of life, not only for the means of grace, bless him for the hope of eternal life, and, what is still more, for his unspeakable giftthe gift of his only begotten Son. Never let there be a meeting together, never let there be an assembly, but there shall be some grateful expres sion of love and thanks to him that died for us and rose again. "Bless ye God in the congregations;" praise is comely for the upright, all his creatures praise him, but his saints must bless him. Israel had reason to bless God, and great reason, but how much more reason, my dear friends, has the Christian! God seems to be particularly delighted with the offering of blessing and praise," Whoso offereth praise," said he, "glorifies me." Beware that in your assemblings together you come not with a murmuring, fretful spirit. Is it not the case, that many of us come to the house of God with our thoughts greatly occupied about disappointments, difficulties, troubles, disagreeable circumstances in the world, and there sit, and muse, and pore over them? Is it to bless God in the congregation that such have come? No. If he has taken away, as in the case of Job, our herds or our flocks, and what more, if he has even cut off our offspring, if we have been bereaved of our children, and stripped naked, still let us bless God in the congregation, saying, with the holy man, “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." The tears of a mourner in God's house were considered as defiling his altars. Let us mourn and mourn deeply for sin, but tears of discontent, and fretfulness, and unthankfulness, defile the altar of God still. Enter not into his sanctuary loaded and encumbered with such thoughts as these, but "bless ye God in the congregation." But, secondly, we are here furnished with a lesson of diligence in worship. Those who neglect the public worship of God in consequence of trifling difficulties, show that their hearts are not interested, and when such persons do at times attend it is not to be expected that they shall profit. One cannot help being delighted at seeing the distant tribes all meeting together for the worship of God, and, methinks, if Judah and his princes, and Benjamin with his ruler, excelled Zebulun and Naphtali in their knowledge, perhaps, it may be said that Zebulun and Naphtali equally excelled Judah and Benjamin in their diligence. "There is little Benjamin," and it would have been a shame if he had not been there for the house of God was in his own tribe, he lived, as it were, next door to the temple. There is Judah and his council, and it was to be expected that he should be there, for it was also next door to Judah's tribe, but when it is said there is Zebulun, and there is Naphtali, tribes who had to travel, perhaps, two hundred miles and back three times a year, making not less than twelve hundred miles in the year, and yet they were there equally with those that lived next door; is not this, I ask, to the honour of those tribes? It must have been a lovely sight to conceive that all the distinct tribes were going up to the house of God, to the testimony of Israel; a lovely sight to see them going from strength to strength, or from company to company, the inhabitants of the most distant towns forming their company, and then the next, and thus accumulating their company from hundreds to thousands, and from thousands to millions, till at last they all arrived before God in Zion. And how delightful it is to see how God blessed the Israelites in these journeys, and provided for them. The rain, also, filled the pools, and thus they were furnished with a supply. It was in one of these large companies that our Lord's parents travelled three days on their return to their own country without missing their son, on account of the vast largeness of the company. How pleasant, how cheering, to see these distant tribes there! nay, I had almost said, how provoking. I do not know how it is in the city, but in the country we have sometimes to remark that those who have to travel ten or twelve miles to a place of worship (and that is no uncommon thing), are frequently there before those persons who live next door to the house of God. Diligence is most frequently seen in those who have the farthest to travel and the greatest labour to take. My brethren, let the example of these distant tribes stimulate us to be early, that so it may be said at the beginning of the worship, there is such an one, and such an one, there is every one in his place. Methinks this spirit would not admit of mere afternoon worshippers. I do not mean to say that there are not some individuals who are unable to attend public worship both morning and afternoon; but, alas! there are some making a profession of religion who prefer a delicious dinner before a forenoon sermon; and some in a higher rank who occasion their servants being detained from the house of God that they may partake of that indulgence. This spirit, my dear friends, would lead us to forego that indulgence of the appetite which would keep us from public worship, and it would lead heads of families so to order their families as that the sabbath may not be occupied by their servants in any works but those of necessity, so that they also may be present at the hour of prayer, and may have an opportunity of uniting in the praises of God. My brethren, let us be able to say, pointing to your respective seats, There is such a family, and there such a family, each in their place, now bless ye God in the congregation. vent your meeting together to praise God. It would have been a strange thing if, when all Israel assembled at Hebron in order to anoint David king, some had stayed away because others would be there. Here you see that tribes which had been engaged in destroying each other by thousands, feel a tender regret, a brotherly love-they all meet together before God. Oh what a motive is here to brotherly love and to forgiveness! here lies the strength of a people, of a community-brotherly love, forgiveness, and a forgetting of injuries; dwelling in your thoughts, not on past evils but upon that tender relation which subsists between you; dwelling in your thoughts upon your being redeemed by one Saviour, heirs of the same hope, expecting the same inheritance together for ever and ever, recollecting that you all stand in need of the same forgiveness from God, much greater than that which you are called upon to exercise one towards another. What a lovely spirit, I say, is here recommended in congregations, and in different congregations, and different denominations one to another-to feel towards one another as brethren united in one common Lord! Oh, what a happy day will it be when all the tribes of Israel shall forget their opposition, forget their animosity, and meet around one common standard, and when they shall all form one family, children of the same Father, stimulating each other in the high praises of God! But, fourthly, we are taught in all our assemblies to acknowledge that we are but what we are; to acknowledge that it is owing to God's grace that we are what we are; "The Lord hath com Thirdly, we are here furnished with a beautiful example of union, brotherly love, brotherly forgiveness. Here you anticipate me; you see what a lovely example is here afforded, as I beforemanded thy strength." Brethren, you remarked, by the burying of former animosities, and forgetting past injuries. God grant, my dear friends, that you may have no differences, but if unhappily you have, do not let them pre-some strength. I call it strength when VOL. XII.-FOURTH SERIES. possess some strength considered in a social view. Every Christian society that has walked in the spirit of Jesus Christ for a series of years has gained 4 K we have gained so much respect in the those would weaken, and divide, and consciences of even wicked men around scatter, and our churches would sink us, that they are obliged to confess, into ruin. It is God only that can "These are the servants of the most strengthen us, therefore let our prayers high God." If we have conducted our- accompany all our praises, that God selves as becometh saints in our respec- would strengthen us with his righttive situations, if we have been good eousness-righteousness exalteth a naneighbours, peaceable subjects, kind tion, and it exalteth a community. parents, obedient children, faithful ser- "Strengthen, O God, the things thou vants; if we have maintained a Christian hast wrought for us." Nor do we need spirit to those around us, such a company this less as individuals, our goodness has a certain degree of strength, and will be like the morning cloud and the whatever we may have gained in that early dew; how soon would the foremost respect, it is God that has done it; by and the best character among us, how the grace of God, we are what we are. soon would the most amiable, the most And if we consider ourselves in an indi- uniform, the most honourable character, vidual capacity, it is God that has given if left to himself, become worldly and us what strength we possess; all that carnal,-shall I say a useless-characstrength of understanding, all that ter, and worse than useless, unless God strength in grace, that being strong in by his Holy Spirit were to keep up his the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, all work and carry it on? This work he that growth in grace and in heavenly- keeps up and carries on by means which mindedness which any of us may possess, he has appointed. He has appointed be it little or be it great, it is our God the word and ordinances of God; he that has commanded it, and to him it has appointed the throne of grace; he becomes us, in all our solemn assemblies, has appointed prayer and watchfulness to ascribe it. as the means by which we are to be strengthened; and in the use of those means let us in all our assemblings together, pray, "Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us." Finally, we are taught not only to praise God for what we possess, but to importune him for what we still need; we are not so strong, either in a social or in a personal capacity, but that we need strength. "Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us." God has done great things for us personally, in regenerating us by his Holy Spirit; and he has done great things for us as societies, in rendering the preaching of the gospel instrumental, in adding to the church those who have been called by divine grace, in keeping our churches in union and in peace, and in granting success to our exertions for the promotion of the Redeemer's cause, but should he leave us as societies we should presently fall into divisions, a scandal would be brought upon us by some among those who compose the company, divisions would ensue, and But are there any present who are strangers to all which we have been describing, who come as God's people, and sit as God's people, but who do not participate in the holy joy of the spiritual worshipper, who utter merely the words of praise, while those words die upon their lips, and from whose hearts ascends no prayer for a blessing on the church, or on their own souls? I charge such seriously to consider the awful state in which they are. God searcheth the heart, he will discriminate the precious from the vile, and those who profane his courts he utterly abhors. Oh! turn unto the Lord while he is waiting to be gracious, and pray that he will begin a work of grace in your hearts! ON THE INSPIRATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. ON Lord's day evening, March 10, 1793, the late Rev. R. Hall delivered a sermon at Maze Pond on the words, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Copious notes were taken; but, through the rapidity of the preacher's enunciation and the lowness of his voice, portions of the discourse were lost, and it does not exist in a state of sufficient completeness to justify an attempt to give it to the public. One topic on which he treated at considerable length was the inspiration of the New Testament, and his remarks on this important subject being more full and exact than other parts of the sermon, we have great pleasure in presenting them to our readers. THE term Scripture, it is well known, is given to the divine books,-to those books that were considered as of divine authority; but the apostle Peter gives this same description to the Epistles of Paul where he speaks of certain persons who perverted the scriptures; that is, the apostle's writings, wrested them to their destruction as they did the other writings, being unstable and unlearned; thus, by placing them upon the same footing with the other scriptures, he seems to intend that they should have the same title to Divine authority. There are many who, I doubt not, with very upright and sincere intentions, aim to make a distinction between the inspiration of the New and of the Old Testament, and even to disclaim any particular inspiration of the New Testament at all, while there are others who believe that error has been infused, though without any design to mislead. To me, however, it appears that the admission of this would not only lessen our reverence for this part of scripture, but would deprive it of its hold upon the conscience: we should not, in my apprehension, let it regulate our practice or direct our sentiments. We should not manifest the same reverential awe to the New Testament that we now do, were our notions of its inspiration to be impaired. I shall mention a few particulars that seem to me to have weight with respect to the determination of this question, How far the New Testament is to be considered as entitled to the same authority as the inspired books of the Old, and whether it is comprehended under the description here of the whole? "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." The apostle Peter's language, I have mentioned already. In addition to this, we may remark that our Lord himself declared that his apostles and immediate disciples need not take any thought what they should say when called upon to give an account of their faith before rulers and kings, for it should be given them in the self-same hour. "Take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak." Now if it was necessary, for the purpose of making a proper defence of Christianity on a particular occasion before magistrates or great men, that there should be inspiration, communicating what was proper to be said at that particular hour, is not the instructing mankind to all ages a much more important office? Would they not need in this case a much greater and more immediate inspiration than was necessary then? If the means be proportioned to the end, we should not suppose that that Being who had sent down his Spirit to inspire them upon a particular occasion would leave them to run into any error and mistake when they were committing to writing those records which were to be considered as the standard of Christian truth to all ages. |
