The Apostles were witnesses, "That Jesus sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" and Jesus says, " Again I leave the world, and go to the Father."

The Apostles assert, "That the Son of God upholdeth all things by the word of his power;" and Jesus declares," All power is given unto me, in Heaven and in earth."

The Apostles teach, That there shall be " a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust;" and Jesus says, "The hour is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and come forth."

The Apostles witness, "That Christ hath abolished death;" and Jesus says, "Whosoever believeth in me shall never die." The Apostles say, "God hath appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained;" and Jesus declares, The Father judgeth no one; but hath committed all judgment to the Son."

The Apostles testify," He that hath the Son hath life;" and Jesus asserts, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see

death."

The Apostles say, "Of his own will he begat us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures; and Jesus said, " The wind bloweth where it listeth, &c. so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

The Apostles say, "We can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth us ;" and Jesus said, "Without me ye cando nothing."

The Apostles taught, "That God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty," &c.: and Jesus adored Divine Sovereignty, saying, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight." The Apostles say, "To this end, Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living" and Jesus affirms, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father."

:

This specimen, which might easily be enlarged, shews the agreement between the doctrine of Jesus and that of his Apostles but he has taught us to expect to find the mysteries of his gospel more fully and explicitly laid down in their writings than in his own public discourses. He gave it in charge to them: "What ye (now) hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house tops." Yea, shortly before his departure from them, he assured them, that he "had yet many things to say unto them, but they could not bear them then." Howbeit, when the Spirit of truth should come, he would lead them into all the truth. Thus, after his resurrection, he opened the

Scriptures to the two disciples, with whom he was going to Eminaus, "beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, expounding to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself;" and afterwards it is said of the Apostles in general," He opened their understandings, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day; and ye are witnesses of these things:" and the importance of regarding their testimony appears from his prior declaration, "He that heareth you heareth me." Their words, therefore, are entitled to the same regard as if they were his own.

NECAR.

ON DISTRIBUTING BIBLES.

To the Editor.

Sir, The commendable zeal lately displayed by various Societies, in promoting the best interests of mankind, particularly in diffusing Bibleknowledge among the British poor in the villages, sending Missionaries to evangelize the Heathen, and in associating to multiply the number of Bibles at home and abroad, will, I doubt not, render the following Extract from a Sermon by the late Rev. Robert Robinson, peculiarly acceptable. It was preached in 1782, for the benefit of the Bible Society, instituted for the benevolent purpose of furnishing our Soldiers and Sailors with the Holy Scriptures.

Yours, &c.

"CHRISTIANS, we have been considering the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures, with a particular view to our soldiers and sailors; and, I flatter myself, I have not wandered very far from the design of this Society, who, in the papers put into your hands to-day, give it as their opinion, that "the Bible is the infallible word of God, which, when attended with a divine blessing, will be the means of making the army and the navy better members of society; and inspire them with real courage to defend their country, especially in times of danger." With this view the Society, which was only instituted in 1780, have distributed, at the charge of upwards of 15001. more than 11,000 Bibles among our regiments and ships' crews. — May God crown their efforts with success! and may an hundredfold be returned into their bosoms!

"How pleasing, at least, how alleviating and mollifying are the reflections which rise out of the doctrine of the sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures, under the misfortunes to which we often hear our brave countrymen are exposed. I sometimes fancy I see an old British sailor, having spent his days in the service of his country, sinking under the weight of age and infirmities;

ON THE SABBATH.

ANECDOTES.

know how to dilate upon, better than I can tell you:-Thirdly, As a sign of that covenant, by which believers are entitled to a rest that yet remaineth:- Fourthly, As the sine qua non of the Christian character; and, upon this head, I should guard against being misunderstood to inean no more than two attend ances upon public worship, which is a form complied with by thousands, who never kept a Sabbath in their lives. Consistence is necessary to give substance and solidity to the whole. To sanctify the day at church, and to trifle it away out of church, is profanation, and vitiates all! After all, I could ask my catechumen one short question: "Do you love the day, or do you not " If you lave it, you will never enquire how far you may safely deprive yourself of the enjoy ment of it. If you do not love it, and you find yourself obliged in conscience to acknowledge it, that is an alarming symptom, and ought to make you tremble. If you do not love it, then it is a weariness to you, and you wish it was over. The ideas of labour and rest are not more opposite to each other than the idea of a Sabbath, and that dislike and disgust, with which it fills the souls of thousands, to be obliged to keep it. It is worse than bodily labour."

ANECDOTES.

A CERTAIN minister lately paid a visit to a lady of his acquaintance, who was newly-married, and who was attired in the modern indecent fashion. After the usual compliments, he familiarly said, "I hope you have got a good husband, Madam." "Yes, Sir,' replied she, and a good man too.'"I don't know what to say about his goodness,” added the minister, rather bluntly," for my Bible teaches me that a good man should clothe his wife; but he lets you go half-naked!"

DOCTRINE OF GRACE ABUSED.

A FRIEND of mine overtaking a man on the road one Lord's Day evening, began to speak to him about his eternal concern; and finding the man tolerably ready with an answer, "Well," added he, "I hope then you have been fed with the bread of life in the house of God to-day." 'I feed upon that every day,' replied the man. Every day is a Sabbath to me: I have spent the whole of this in travelling.'-" But then, do you not think it necessary to go to a house of prayer on the Lord's Day?"I pray always,' said the other: in short, I am not under the law, but under grace.'- Alas! how ignorant are such deadhearted professors of what the real grace of God which bringeth salvation is, not knowing the Scriptures, nor remembering the words of our Lord Jesus, how he said, "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it.".

ACAD.

him, to all that call upon him in truth. Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee." Would not such information as this put into his heart, if not a joy unspeakable and full of glory, yet a calm resignation to the will of Providence, which, in his condition, would be of more value than the whole world. Were such a man to enter into the spirit of the holy Scriptures when he saw the carcases of his late companions floating on the waves, he would hear one voice saying to him, "Be still, and know that I am God ;" and another subjoining, "Behold the goodness and severity of God: on them severity, but towards thee goodness." I repeat it again, All this is possible; and possibility is ground of action here.

"Brethren, Was it a prospect of possible good, or was it a foresight of the late unhappy fate of the Royal George, that induced you to act as you did? That was the first ship to which you gave Bibles! When she sunk, there were 400 Bibles on board! Whether the men made a proper use of them or not, you have done your part. I am happy to be able to say, that, by letters from some on board that ship, written before the sad event, and which I have been reading again this morning, there is sufficient ground to believe that the holy Scriptures had made some of that crew wise unto salvation. "When the sea shall give up her dead," perhaps you may have the honour of saying to the Judge, "Behold us, and the children which thou hast given us!"

ON THE SABBATH..

[Extract of a Letter from W. CowPER, Esq. to the Rev. Mr. UNWIN.]

"WITH respect to the advice you are required to give to a young lady, that she may be properly instructed in the manner of keeping the Sabbath, I just subjoin a few hints that have occurred to me upon the occasion, not because I think you want them, but because it would seem unkind to withhold them. The Sabbath then (I think) may be considered, first, as a Commandment, no less binding upon modern Christians than upon ancient Jews; because the spiritual people amongst them did not think it enough to abstain from manual occupations on that day, but, entering more deeply into the meaning of the precept, allotted those hours they took from the world to the cultivation of holiness in their own souls; which ever was, and ever will be, a duty incumbent upon all who ever heard of a Sabbath, and is of perpetual obligation both upon Jews and Christians (the Commandment, therefore, enjoins it; the prophets have also enforced it; and, in many instances, both scriptural and modern, the breach of it has been punished with a providential and judicial severity, that may make by standers tremble): - Secondly, As a Privilege, which you well LI

know how to dilate upon, better than I can tell you: -Thirdly, As a sign of that covenant, by which believers are entitled to a rest that yet remaineth:- Fourthly, As the sine qua non of the Christian character; and, upon this head, I should guard against being misunderstood to mean no more than two attendances upon public worship, which is a form complied with by thousands, who never kept a Sabbath in their lives. Consistence is necessary to give substance and solidity to the whole. To sanctify the day at church, and to trifle it away out of church, is profanation, and vitiates all! After all, I could ask my catechumen one short question: "Do you love the day, or do you not " If you lave it, you will never enquire how far you may safely deprive yourself of the enjoy ment of it. If you do not love it, and you find yourself obliged in conscience to acknowledge it, that is an alarming symptom, and ought to make you tremble. If you do not love it, then it is a weariness to you, and you wish it was over. The ideas of labour and rest are not more opposite to each other than the idea of a Sabbath, and that dislike and disgust, with which it fills the souls of thousands, to be obliged to keep it. It is worse than bodily labour."

ANECDOTES.

A CERTAIN minister lately paid a visit to a lady of his acquaintance, who was newly-married, and who was attired in the modern indecent fashion. After the usual compliments, he familiarly said, "I hope you have got a good husband, Madam." Yes, Sir,' replied she, and a good man too.' "I don't know what to say about his goodness," added the minister, rather bluntly, " for my Bible teaches me that a good man should clothe his wife; but he lets you go half-naked !”

DOCTRINE OF GRACE ABUSED.

A FRIEND of mine overtaking a man on the road one Lord's Day evening, began to speak to him about his eternal concern ; and finding the man tolerably ready with an answer, "Well," added he, I hope then you have been fed with the bread of life in the house of God to-day." I feed upon that every day,' replied the man. Every day is a Sabbath to me: I have spent the whole of this in travelling.' "But then, do you not think it necessary to go to a house of prayer on the Lord's Day?"— I pray always,' said the other: in short, I am not under the law, but under grace.' Alas! how ignorant are such deadhearted professors of what the real grace of God which bringeth salvation is, not knowing the Scriptures, nor remembering the words of our Lord Jesus, how he said, "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it." ACAD.