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accompany the attempt by earnest prayer for a blessing on it, and" for victory over the fear of man which bringeth a snare;' and we shall assuredly find, that he who has promised that "as our day is, so shall our strength be," will enable us to persevere in the fear of the Lord; and we shall, by degrees, lose the fear of man, and follow the noble pursuits with a single eye to his glory, who has redeemed us unto God with his blood, and who hath declared, for our admonition and encouragement," Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels"-but " whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in Heavent." NIHIL.

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ON COVETOUSNESS IN PROFESSORS.

SITTING lately under the word, my ear was forcibly struck with the following assertion, viz. "That the covetous man is as much excluded from the kingdom of Heaven as the swearer or the murderer." On my return home, like the Bereans of old, I searched the Scriptures, to see whether this thing were so or not; and was soon satisfied of the truth of the remark.

This crime, in many professors, is not fully credited in an age of alms-deeds like the present; and even if adınitted to exist, does not excite that abhorrence which, from the letter of Scripture, it ought to raise in the mind.

If we refer to Cor. vi. 10, we shall find this character classed with thieves, drunkards, &c. and this dreadful anathema denounced, that "such shall not inherit the kingdom of God." And as it respects persons professing godliness, we find, in the preceding chapter to the one last quoted, that the apostle warns the Corinthian church" not to keep company if any man that is called a Brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or au ido later, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one, no not to cat' Hence we see in what detestation the crime of covetousness is pourtrayed by the word of God, and more especially in one who is called a Brother; for the apostle tolerates eating with such as are of the world; for if it were otherwise, we must needs go out of the world.

But how is the character of the covetous professor esteemed by the religious world in the present day? Do we not seek the acquaintance of such rather than shun him? and are not they too highly esteemed, even among good men, who are an abomination in the sight of the Lord? Is it not a common obser vation, Mr. Such-a-one is a pious man, but a little too fond of

money? Do we, agreeably to the apostle's injunction, shun the company of the covetous as we shun the society of the fornicator, drunkard, thief, or extortioner? No; and the reason is obvious; because we weigh characters in the false scales of human estimation, and not in the balances of the sanctuary!

Hence, then, I conclude, that he cannot be a child of God and a covetous man, any more than a man can be said to be a truly converted character, and at the same time a thief. Nay, the covetous man's crime is, if possible, the greater, as it is a more continued act of the mind than the commission of a crime now and theu; for the covetous man, like the young man in the gospel, sits down (as a pious writer has well observed) a violent professor before the Lord.

Reader, art thou a rich man? Thou art a steward, and must one day give an account of thy stewardship. Would it not be a very suspicious sign for the steward of an earthly lord to die very rich? Would it not be surmised that the heir to the estate had been defrauded? Apply this to your own case; you possess nothing but what you have received from the Lord; and when you give to his people, or to his cause, you give him" of his own" and ever remember, " there is that which scattereth, and yet increaseth; and that which withholdeth more than is mect, and yet tendeth to penury.” ZENAS.

IRREVERENT ATTENDANCE ON PUBLIC WORSHIP,

AND

IMPROPER FAMILIARITY WITH SCRIPTURE REPROVED.

Sir,

To the Editor.

I BEG leave, through your Magazine, to call the attention of professors of religion to two points; in which too many, in my opinion, are guilty of irreverence. The first of which respects their attendance on public worship; and, I think, I cannot be contradicted when I say, that attending later than the time appointed, where it can be avoided, especially on SabbathDays, inattention during the service, or quitting before the conclusion, except in cases of urgent necessity, come within the charge. How can it be an acceptable service from persons who know the time fixed for beginning, and yet frequently, if not constantly, go in during t time the minister and people are engaged in supplication at the throne of Almighty God? Such a practice not only disturbs the minister and congregation assembled, but prevents entirely such as are appointed to keep the doors, or to open the pews, from joining in the worship; and to such is surely cruel in the extreme. I therefore earnestly intreat ministers, and those who have influence, to use their

endeavours to correct an evil so glaring. Is it not a fact that, where the national church-service is read, many persons, who profess attachment thereto, are never present at the beginning; and that where extempore prayer only is used, the worship is disturbed the whole time of the first prayer with the noise oc casioned by persons coming in, and the opening of pews. The other point which I beg to mention is, the use of Scriptureterms or phraseology improperly or irreverently; and, in my opinion, this is the case when the Scriptures are quoted as a stroke of wit, or without any suitable design. The admonition to Moses appears to me to be very applicable, when approaching the sacred oracles, " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." "I do not think that the introduction of Scripture language jocosely is consistent with the Psalmist's spirit, when he said, "My heart standeth in awe of thy word;" or that it can have a good tendency; but rather that it may lead some to an improper familiarity with the inspired pages, as well as furnish argument to the Infidel. But to explain more particularly what I here intend, it may be necessary to mention a few of the many instances I have noticed, by way of example, viz. A person wishing to inform another he is alluded to, announces in Scripture language, "Thou art the man" or in excasing the attendance of a man lately married, that "he has married a wife, and therefore can not come." Another tells us, "I have found my sheep which was lost;" and I have heard a person, upon a piece of business taking a more favourable turn than expected, rebuke another jocosely in the words of our Lord, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt;" which was followed by a laugh! I have also heard, and not in a single instance, persons fond of smoking tobacco, invite others to have with them" a burut-offering." Some may think these hints trifling, and that they arise from a sourness or singularity of sentiment in one who has no relish for a jeu d'esprit; however that may be, I wish to submit to their consideration, Whether the divine oracles ought not to be held more sacred?

P.

Sir,

ON THE EXISTENCE OF DEVILS.

To the Editor.

If you think the following remarks on the Socinian mode of reasoning (if reasoning it can be called) will serve the cause of religion among your Readers, you will, by inserting them, oblige your humble servant, Rumsey.

J. B.

A SOCINIAN Writer, well known as one of the bulwarks of that system, has lately published" Conversations.on the Divipe Government," in which, attempting to disprove the exist

ence of the Devil, he says, he is only introduced as machinery, to give effect to the representation of the trials to which men are exposed.

It is not my intention to enter into the general question of the existence of the being" called the Devil and Satan" if it were, I do not think it would be difficult to prove the affirmative. The possibility of the thing is evident, independently of the dispute between Materialists and Spiritualists. That there are no other rational creatures but men, is highly unphilosophical to suppose. If there be, their frame, though material, inav be so totally unlike and superior to ours, so differently affected by the light of our sun, as to be to us invisible. That such beings may have revolted from their allegiance to the Creator, and become leaders of rebellion and tempters to vice, is not at all unsupposable. As we see, in fact, that God suffers one evil man to be a tempter and seducer to others,-who has sufficient data to assert, that it is incompatible with his character and government to suffer an evil being of a different order thus to be the test of our virtue and constancy?

But apart from all this, I design now to offer some cursory remarks upon the mode of argumentation by which this gentleman and his coadjutors seek to rid themselves of the Devil, Does it not remind us of what the Psalmist says of the wicked man," as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them;" for by one puff of their contemptuous breath, they attempt to blow a whole order of inimical beings off the stage of existence. The writer alluded to, with imposing nonchalance, asserts, that the personage called the Devil is only the machinery which the apostles introduced, to give effect to their narratives and exhortations; just as the moderns employ fairies, genii, and spectres. Now, if we were to admit this sweeping assertion concerning the beings introduced in Scripture, who can assure us that the Deity himself (to adopt Socinian phraseology) shall not be swept away with this besom of destruction? Upon this plan, were to turn Atheist, I might still retain the Scriptures. Why may I not be allowed to say, " Moses and Isaiah, Matthew and Paul, were too philosophical to believe the existence of a being, whom no one has ever seen, or is able to conceive, much less explain. It is all bold figure; the grand machinery by which they convey their doctrines concerning nature and morals. The personage whom you call Jesus Christ must not be conceived to exist, except in the writer's bold imagination. Like Fenelon's Telemachus, he is designed to embody the prin ciples and effects of virtue. As to his miracles, they are daring representations of the powers which a superior teacher of science and morality may posscss, to illuminate a blind intelJect, to feed a mind hungering after knowledge, or resuscitate a prostrate character."

But our soi-disant rational Christians will sometimes admit,

that the apostles believed the existence of angels and Devils; yet, as the good men were mistaken, we, who are wiser, have detected and exploded the mistake. If this be the case, might they not also be mistaken in their notions of a general resurrection, and a future life, and of every other doctrine which they have taught? Who shall set bounds to their mistakes, or tell where they were well informed concerning what they assert? Our opponents make a stand for the resurrection; of which, as a single fact, they say the apostles, being men of common sense and established veracity, are credible witnesses. But as a simple fact, it is of little or no use to us, whatever it might have been to Jesus himself. Upon the principles of Socinians, all the apostles' reasonings on it might have been false; and if there can be no certain deduction from the resurrection of such an extraordinary person as Jesus, what shall be the case with men in general, who are all so far removed from his singular character?

ANSWER TO A QUERY.

"Whether a person, who profits more from occasional hearing than by the preaching of his own pastor, may not attend constantly the mini. strations of one whose sentiments, in some respects, differ from his own" To this question I would offer the following answer:

1. There are some differences of sentiment which do not form sufficient ground for the formation of separate churches. If the particular sentiments of your enquirer be of this kind, they, of course, oppose no obstacle to his removal into another church, with which he may agree in the grand essential points; though there may be other reasons, which may make such removal highly improper.

2. If I be allowed to address the enquirer, as face to face, I must ask, have you adopted right views and motives in hearing the word? Ought not the divine glory to be the polar star by which you are guided in hearing the gospel, as in the whole of your religion and existence? Whether, therefore, ye eat of drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Your profiting should be considered not as a final end, to be pursued for its own sake, which would be seeking your own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's, but as a mean for accomplishing a farther end, to glorify God. Have you, in at tending upon the ministry of the gospel, acted upon these pure, evangelical principles? Upon this the propriety of your present state of mind, and the lawfulness of the future steps which you may take, will very much depend.

3. Still, as your profiting under the divine word is of great

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