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law), how that the law hath dominion over a man so long as he liveth (in hope of being justified by it)" Then he goes on to show that the law is the husband of every character seeking salvation by the deeds thereof, but if this husband be dead, she is free from that law, and is no adulteress, though married to another; then says Paul in 4th verse, "Wherefore, my brethren, ye (believing Gentiles and Jews) are become dead to the law by the body of Christ," &c. Now I would ask "W. F.” how could they become dead to the law if they were never alive to it? In the 6th, "But now ye are delivered from the law," &c. How they could be delivered from that they were never under, I am at a loss to conceive. See 7th Romans throughout.

How do we come at the knowledge of sin? Paul declares plainly (Rom. iii. 20), "For by the law is the knowledge of sin ;" and again, (Rom. vii. 7), "I had not known sin but by the law." What does the apostle John mean in 1 John iii. 4, "Whosoever (mind that, no limitation) committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law?" Perhaps "W. F." will say that the Holy Ghost convinces of sin. Very true. But in that nation where the law is known, it is by the law as an instrument.

My object for writing is not controversy, but to elicit truth; and if "W. F." can satisfactorily establish his point, I will as heartily embrace it as he can. But let us go a little further. I think more is said in the epistles to the Romans and Galatians on this subject, than in all the rest of the epistles together. The Galatians were a most heathenish nation. Prior to their conversion, they are said to have worshipped the mother of the gods, and to offer human sacrifices of the prisoners they took in war. Unto the Churches of Galatia Paul writes, and the 3rd Chap. 13 v. says, "Christ hath redeemed us (believing heathenish Gentile Galatians and Jews) from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us," &c., and I will leave it to "W. F." to settle, how that Christ could redeem them from the curse of the law, if they were never under it. It occurs to me that Paul and "W. F." were of a different way of thinking on the subject.

"W. F." talks of quoting Gill and Huntington. It is well he did not meddle with the Doctor, for I am sure he is against him. One or two quotations will suffice. Speaking of the use of the law, he says it is "To convince of sin. Sin is a transgression of the law, by which it is known that it is sin, being forbidden by the law. By the law is the knowledge of sin; not of gross, actual sins, but of the inward lusts of the mind. 'I had not known lust,' says the apostle, 'except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet' (Rom. iii. 20; vii. 7);" and a few lines lower down, "For it is the Spirit's work to savingly convince of sin, which he does by means of the law." Again, on the same page, "The law of God continues under the present dispensation for the said uses; Christ came not to destroy it and loosen men's obligations to it, but to fulfil it."-Body of Divinity, page 371.

What the coalheaver says I do not know, as I have not his works to refer to. Can any one say that Dr. Gill is of the same opinion as "W. F.?" I can well recollect the time, soon after the Lord brought

me to a knowledge of the truth, I was considering that I had not, as I thought, broken the whole law, and was getting a little self-righteous in consequence, when those words in James ii. 10, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all," were applied with such power as to cut me up root and branch as to any hope of justification by it; and, blessed be God, I embraced the Rock, for other shelter I had none; and he has made me to rejoice in a full, free, and finished salvation, by rich, sovereign, and unmerited grace; and I have not a shred of anything else to trust in, and hope I never shall have. "W. F." says, "The confusion of authors on this subject is astonishing;" but I would give him a gentle hint to beware lest he make confusion doubly confused. Let it be borne in mind that I by no means attempt to defend Mr. Hewlett in all that he has said, nevertheless should be very glad if there were a hundred times more of his stamp in the Church of England than there now are; there would then be but little fear of Puseyism raising its hated head therein. My paper is full. Wishing you," W. F.," and all your correspondents, every blessing from the God of our salvation,

Jan. 12. 1846.

I am, dear Mr. Editor,

Yours in love,

C. C.

THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY AND APOSTOLICAL

SUCCESSION.

LETTER II.

DEAR SIR,

To the Editor of the Gospel Magazine.

The instructions on the nature and design of the Christian ministry contained in the New Testament are both numerous and explicit. Paul, in his letter to the saints at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus (Eph. i. 1), expressly assures them and us that faithful ministers are Christ's royal gift to his Church, and are vouchsafed for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the body of Christ, till all the members thereof come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, even unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. The rule by which the Christian ministry should be invariably regulated, and the grand subject which it was instituted to publish or make known to the Church are alike prescribed by Jesus Christ. Hence it was in allusion to the theme of the Gospel ministry, that the Church in her triumphant song to her risen and ascended Lord (Psalm lxviii. 18), says, "The Lord gave the word; great was the company of the preachers" (Psalm Ixviii. 11). Peter, when speaking, or more properly writing, on the same subject, says, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ; " and Paul, in his epistle to Titus, his own son according to the common

faith (Titus i. 4), not only declares the design of preaching to be the publication of the word of God, but also mentions, as a chief qualification for the Episcopal or pastoral office, a firm and uncompromising adhesion to the same word, that by means of sound doctrine gainsayers may be admonished and confuted. Hence Paul, when writing to Timothy, his dearly beloved son in the faith, lays upon him this injunction, "Preach the word."

From the above Scripture warrants, it will be obvious to every enlightened and unprejudiced reader, that the word of God forms both the rule and subject of the Gospel ministry. Thus Jehovah has put peculiar honour upon his word, magnified it above all his other works, and made it, in the hands of the Spirit, the grand instrument of accomplishing his gracious purposes to his ransomed people. It is through the medium of the word of God-read or preached-that the knowledge of spiritual things is communicated to the babes or simple ones in Christ. Accordingly the Psalmist says, "When thy word goeth forth it giveth light and understanding to the simple (Psalm cxix. 136). It is through the use of the word that the gift of faith is conveyed to the Lord's people; hence Paul says, "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. x. 17). It is through the agency of the word that believers are born again (1 Peter i. 23)-begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, even to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, reserved in heaven for them (1 Peter i. 3, 4)-separated from the world (John xvii. 17) lying under the dominion of Satan, and set apart for the honour and service of God according to his revealed will. In short, it is by the faithful word, which is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the Lord's called people are perfected and thoroughly furnished unto all good works (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17), which God hath before ordained that they should walk in them (Eph. ii. 10). Indeed, so close and intimate is the relation necessarily existing between the Christian ministry and the word of God, that the former can never be effectual to the pulling down of the strongholds of sin and Satan, and the building up of the Church in its most holy faith, without the free and unreserved manifestation of the latter. Paul and his companions in the ministry were so fully persuaded of this, that he declares to the Church of God at Corinth, they endeavoured in all things to approve themselves as the ministers of God (2 Cor. vi. 4), and to commend themselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God, by a bold and faithful proclamation of the word of truth (2 Cor. iv. 2)-the whole counsel of God. Hence a firm and unconquerable adhesion to the faithful word constitutes the primary mark by which the true ministers of Christ may be distinguished from all others. The other tests are doubtless their character, their conversation, and walk (Matt. vii. 16, 17, 18, &c.), and the success of their ministry (1 Cor. ix. 1, 2). It is to these characteristics alone that our Lord and his apostles uniformly allude as the infallible proofs of a divinely-commissioned ministry.

Such, Mr. Editor, are the Scriptural marks of genuine Gospel ministers, Now, what do Puseyites and Romanists say on these subjects? Why, they speak but one voice, and declare, with unblushing effrontery,

that no ministry is valid which cannot trace its descent to the apostles of our Lord. Nay, more, they zealously maintain that no Church can be a Church of Christ at all, unless its ministers have been ordained by bishops who are able to trace their ordination, in unbroken line, from the college of apostles. As may be expected, they boldly affirm that their present bishops are the heirs and representatives of the apostles by successive transmission, and that every link in the golden chain, as they style it, from Peter to their present bishops, is satisfactorily known. These are the high-sounding claims and pretensions of Romanists and Puseyites. Let us bring them to the infallible touchstone and see whether they can be established or not. What! the Bishops of the Romish and English Churches the heirs and representatives of the apostles by successive transmission of their office and prerogatives! Why, this presumes that the apostolate is successional, which can never be demonstrated by the Scriptures. The cases of Matthias (Acts i. 21, 22), and of the apostle of the Gentiles (1 Cor. ix. 1), clearly prove, that to have. seen the Lord Jesus-to have derived their commission immediately from him, and so to be his personal witnesses-even witnesses of his resurrection (Acts ii. 32; iv. 34), were indispensable to the apostolate ; in this respect there can be no succession.

The apostles were also the first heralds of the Gospel; and for this high office they were immediately inspired by the Holy Ghost, whilst miracles attested their inspiration, and established their divine commission; and it must not be forgotten that inspiration ceased with them. Moreover, it was their prerogative to found the Christian Church; hence their names are on the twelve foundations of the city (Rev. xxi. 14; Eph. ii. 20). All this was special and personal; for thus it is written, "Other foundation can no man lay " (1 Cor. iii. 11). It is then clear as noonday that the apostolate is not successional. The structure of apostolic succession must necessarily fall, as its foundation is entirely overthrown by the Scriptures of truth. It is impossible that it can stand with the word of God; and this, I conceive, is one reason of the apathy of Romanists and Puseyites to that word, and of their doting fondness for tradition and the writings of the fathers.

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It is lamentable to observe, that many of the so-called evangelical ministers of our Church are infected with this unhallowed leaven. In defiance of the spirit and principles of the Gospel which they profess to preach, they assert the apostolic authority of men of licentious principles and character, though our blessed Lord himself said, 'By their fruits ye shall know them." "O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour be not thou united" (Gen. xlix. 6). All that have received episcopal ordination, and are in what they term the succession, are acknowledged by them as lawfully commissioned ministers of the Gospel, though their doctrines be most corrupt, and their lives too scandalous for description. Surely such persons do not understand what they read. John says, "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed" (2 John ix. 10).

The purport of this passage is so obvious that it cannot admit of any doubt or cavil; and it is this-that believers are not in any way to identify themselves with any professed ministers of Christ who preach unsound doctrines.

With these remarks I conclude this epistle, and remain,

Dear Sir,

Yours affectionately in the unity of Christ,
JOSHUA LAYCOCK.

Harewood, Dec. 9, 1846.

A LETTER FROM THE VICAR OF C-- TO THE
VICAR OF H-

VERY DEAR SIR,

When the apostle addressed the saints and faithful brethren at Colosse, he adverted to the great conflict he had for them and others, and "as many as had not seen his face in the flesh." In our Adam nature there cannot be attachment, friendship, or love, where the natural senses and the judgment do not reach unto, and where there is the absence of all personal knowledge. But the case is widely different as it respects the deep things of the Spirit of God, and as they are felt and experienced in the family of God by the workings of the same Spirit. "The communion of the saints" must imply some blessing possessed by them, and peculiar to them, and which must be "Christ in them the hope of glory ;" and further, being one family, and having the same object of faith, and hope, and love, the Lord the Spirit engenders in them a family feeling, a mutual regard and sympathy, operating in the Spirit, although they never saw each other in the flesh.

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I have never seen you, my dear Sir, and can have no expectation we ever shall meet in this life; and as a mere man of the world I can respect you in your station, and for your character-but no more; yet, as a child of God, a brother in Jesus, and viewing you as bound in the bundle of life with the Lord," I can feel a sympathy with you, can joy and rejoice with you, and can truly say, I love you in the Lord. I feel obliged by your gift of your last published tract, which I hope the Lord will bless. Your tracts are known and much appreciated here; and, if I may venture to make the request, I should wish you to send me one of whatever others you may publish during our joint lives. The truth as it is in Jesus is rare in the world; but little of it seems to be experimentally known in our Church, and I fear as little, or even less, among Dissenters. A form of godliness without the power-a Gospel phraseology, and outward appearances, but a coming short of Christ, seem to be the characteristics of the religion of the day. Very many, perhaps most, of the clergy denounce Puseyism, and yet retain a secret attachment to it, being ignorant of what regeneration is, and of the spiritual character of the ministry of Christ. You know, my dear Sir, it is often said, those lies are the most mischievous which are truths perverted; so the most pernicious errors in the visible Church have arisen from our holy doctrines, corrupted and distorted by human wisdom and the craft of Satan. Thus baptismal regeneration is made to supersede

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