at hand; but when he puts his foot near the border of the Borough, then with propriety it might be said, that he is not only coming but appearing. So John ii. 28, admonishes the church to "abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him, at his coming. Why not then make, and keep up those wide distinctions between his coming at Jerusalem in "unseen agency," and his coming and appearing to glorify and conform the church to his likeness?

وو

All argument appears to be useless until the term SECOND coming be obliterated from the mind and second appearing be established in its room. Then all those circumstances connected with his coming in "unseen agency," relative to the fall of Jerusalem, may with propriety be limited within the boundaries of that generation; and the full salvation and glorification of the whole church be accomplished at his SECOND appearing. Heb. ix. 28.

you

Will allow me to ask you in the most friendly manner,1st.-Do you expect after leaving this body of clay, to have an open, visible, and personal discovery of the Lord Jesus Christ?

2ndly. If so, what Scriptures would you produce to prove it? or, 3rdly. Is it your idea that your apprehension of Christ will be always through an unseen agency ?"

66

Your reply to the above will be thankfully received by

15, William Street, Plymouth.

Yours, very respectfully,

JOHN RYDER.

ON UNFULFILLED PROPHECY.

ANOTHER question may now be raised; but on this we shall not say much, viz: Whether any particular prophecies still remain unfulfilled? I believe there are none; for these reasons: 1st. The expressions of Scripture intimate, that, at the end of time, days, &c. vision and prophecy should be sealed, or cease. (Dan. ix. 24.) And again, Luke, xviii. 31, xxi. 22, "For these be the days of vengeance, that ALL THINGS which are written may be fulfilled." Ib. xxii. 37, xxiv. 25-27, 44; Acts, iii. 21-26; Rom. xv. 4; 1 Cor. x. 11, xiii. 8; Rev. x. 6, 7; xvi. 17. "It is done." xxi. 1-6. And 2ndly. I know of no such prophecies occurring in the sacred volume. General prophecy, indeed, stands now there in all its primitive extent and force; but of that which relates to particular events, I cannot find so much as a jot or tittle unfulfilled. There is, however, one often cited as decisive to the contrary, viz. Isai. xi. 9, "The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." See also Hab. ii. 14. I must remark here, that the chapter, in which this is found, manifestly refers to the times of our Lord and his apostles; and that it has been so applied by inspired authority: see Rom. xv. 10, 12, &c. And if this be the case, which I think is undeniable, any opinion we have to offer on the supposed inadequacy of such fulfilment, must stand for nothing. "All Israel shall be saved," (Rom. xi. 26,) is another, which, however, cannot be taken in its fullest extent, unless we suppose, what is contrary to the analogy of Scripture, that at some period there shall not remain so much as one infidel among the posterity of Jacob; and if so, only a part or remnant can be saved. If, however, we examine the passages to which St. Paul here refers, we shall find that they speak, beyond all possible

doubt, of the remnant to be saved in his day, and not to those of any other period; for that, according to Scriptural phraseology, contained all Israel: others refusing to receive the gospel being neither the true descendants of "Abraham nor of Israel, nor even Jews, in the just sense of those terms." "The system is now universal; and it is therefore generally promised, that "whosoever shall give to drink.... a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple. ... shall in no wise lose his reward." And I may conclude, that where a single command and a single promise, such as these are, will fail to produce the desired effect, it may reasonably be doubted whether efforts made and carried on under speculative notions on prophecy generally, will either be attended by the co-operating influences of Christ, or finally secure the blessings had in view. Professor Lee's Dissertations, p. 267-270.

PLAN OF A DOUBLE TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE.

On the Left Page.

An interlineary version, exhibiting, as much as a general preservation of the sense will admit, the same invariable translation of the same words. On the Right Page.

A free version, in which the words on the left page will be occasionally changed for others more suitable to the context, and to the idiom of the English language.

Advantages.

1. Owing to the absence or disparity of correspondence observable in the words of any two languages, the leading qualities of uniformity and precision, more requisite in a translation of the Bible than any other book, are unattainable in a single translation. On the present plan of two translations, this defect is remedied; uniformity being obtained by the one, and precision by the other.

2. A comparison of the two translations will supply, as much as possible, a want of acquaintance with the originals; particularly in those cases, which owing to the causes already mentioned, require the same translation of different words, and different translations of the same words.

3. This comparison might be made without the originals: but they are added for the purpose of promoting a more general knowledge of them; which, it is presumed, will be the result, not only of intentional study, but, in many instances, of cursory inspection. Many readers will probably be led, by the most natural and easy gradations, to notice and recognise the words and phrases of most importance, and of most frequent occurrence; and will thence feel encouraged to use more voluntary efforts towards a further progress, till the desired object is attained. Another cheaper edition, without the originals, might be published for more general circulation. R. R.

NOTICES.

It having been suggested to us, that, for the sake of the unlearned, it would be desirable to accompany Hebrew and Greek words with their pronunciation in English letters, this advice will be adopted in future.

We must decline entering into any discussion with Mr. Lane on the propriety of some expressions in our advertisement, to which he objects, further than to observe, that we have adopted them as sufficiently significant of the principles, on which our work will be conducted; and, as to his arguments on other points, they are so much the same as Mr. Ryder's, whose letter appears in this number, that we should occupy our pages to no purpose by their insertion.

Mr. Mence's letter will appear in our next.

Correspondents are requested to send their communications a month before the day of publication.

Printed by W. C. POLLARD, North-Street, Exeter ;

And published by LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMANS, Paternoster Row, London; D. MARPLES, Liverpool; NETTLETON, Plymouth; and

COCKRAM, Torquay.

Price 4d.

THE BIBLICAL INQUIRER.

VOL. I.

JULY 1st, 1844.

No. 3.

ON THE DISPENSATIONS.

Continued from our last.

HAVING given these remarks on the genealogy down to Christ, I shall now offer a brief explanation of the four separate and last states or divisions presented in the Diagram.

The first state extends to the first boundary line, containing the ministry of John the Baptist, as the forerunner and messenger, to announce the coming of our Lord.

This was a ministry ordained and appointed of God. John had a special commission from the Lord: he had a course to fulfil-Acts xiii. 25., a baptism to minister, and prophecies to declare; he was a burning and a shining light to the House of Israel, but had no commission to the Gentile world. This messenger of God with his ministry was prophesied of before his coming, Isa. xl. 3. "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a high way for our God." And Mal. iii. 1. "Behold I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me." Although our Lord declares that John was a burning and a shining light, and that he was greater than all the prophets that had arisen, yet that the least (prophet) in the kingdom of heaven, or apostolic state, should be greater than he. I lay particular stress on this circumstance; that, notwithstanding John, as the announcer of Christ, at his first coming, had the lowest commission, yet it was a commission which God, in his infinite wisdom, had foretold by his antient prophets; and it is a matter worthy of our highest consideration, that as the different commissions, foretold by the prophets, were opened and unfolded, so they advanced in their importance and extent. Before the conception of John the Baptist, a messenger of God was sent to his father Zacharias, who was one of the priests ministering in the Jewish temple, and who, as well as Elizabeth his wife, was righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. This was according to the law of Moses. At this time it devolved on Zacharias, the priest, to offer the incense in the temple; and this messenger appearing, said to him, "Thy prayer is heard; and thy wife, Elizabeth, shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth; for he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. And he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb; and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God." Luke i. 13, and following. Zacharias, being old and well stricken in years as well as his wife Elizabeth, doubted of the accomplishment of the birth of this child;

in consequence of which he was struck dumb, and remained speechless until the birth and circumcision of John had taken place; and when he was brought on the eighth day, to be circumcised according to the law, Zacharias being still speechless, a question arose among the friends relative to the name of the child, and as they were desirous to know the will of the father, a writing-table was brought before him, and he wrote, "His name is John." "And his mouth was opened immediately and his tongue was loosed, and he spake, and praised God; and he was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,-Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began." In process of time, John is called to fulfil his commission; and, in the 3rd chap. of Matthew, we find that he commenced "preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand"—the kingdom of heaven was at hand, but not come. This was to take place in a more advanced state, which will be noticed in its proper place. Then it is said, verse 3, "This is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." This is the fulfilment of Isaiah's and Malachi's prophecy respecting John; and he went forth, baptizing the Jews in Jordan, who came to his baptism "confessing their sins." He said to them, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." He thus prophesied of Christ, who was to appear with a greater and more extended ministry. But we find that Jesus, in consequence of the commission with which John was invested, came also to his baptism; and when he came to John, he "forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus, answering, said unto him, Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness." And when Jesus had received the baptism of John, the heavens were opened and the Spirit descended on him; "and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." After this John bears testimony to the person of Christ; he points to him and saith, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me; for he was before me. And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him; and I saw and bare record, that this is the Son of God." John i. 29, &c. John continued his ministry, fulfilling his commission to the time of his death. There is no successor to this ministry. Now after Christ had passed the baptism of John, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil; and, after having passed 40 days in fasting and the temptation of Satan, he overcomes the tempter by faith in the written word of God. And, when the Devil had ended the temptation, he departed from him for a season, and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Gallilee ; and then commences

HIS MINISTRY.

This state begins with the first boundary line of the Diagram, and ends at the second. The ministry of Christ was peculiar to this state. He had spoken of John as a burning and shining light, and as the