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Jews, therefore, waited for the Spirit; and agreeably to the promise, the Spirit, as we believe, came on Pentecost to remain for ever with the Christian body -each member, as it is added, receiving its portion of this Spirit. "Be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins," | said Peter, “and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

M.-I certainly think with you, Sir, that what we have already received cannot, with propriety, be spoken of as the object of our hope; and as we are all made partakers of this Spirit, perhaps we speak improperly when we say, "we hope we have received the Holy Spirit." Our people, however, may mean more generally, that God has pardoned them, that he has forgiven them their sins.

Mr. S.-I doubt not, my dear sister, that many mean precisely this, when they say that before baptism they obtained a hope. I dare say many mean nothing more than that they hoped God had forgiven them; and yet, my dear child, this is a sentiment liable to the same exceptions which I have taken to your own views. The forgiveness of sins is no where the object of a Christian's hope with him it is a matter of faith: "Be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins," &c. All Christians are spoken to in the New Testament, as a pardoned people; and so the apostle's rule obtains here also, "for what a man enjoyeth, why does he yet hope for?"

Neither the remission of sins, therefore, nor the gift of the Holy Spirit, forms the object of hope with the Christian, he being put in possession of these things at the time his name is changed from sinner to saint-at the time he puts on Christ, which is in baptism. If, indeed, we should say we hope that God before our baptism, forgives us; then we imply to all who hear us, that God has promised to those who received his Son, that he will forgive them before they submit themselves to him. But this can no where be shown from the New Testament; baptism being appointed in the Christian institution, as the remitting ordinance—the ordinance in which sinners, as such, are pardoned, and made ostensibly and publicly the disciples of Christ Jesus the Lord.

M.-What, then, Brother Stansbury,

does the word hope point to, when used by the Apostles?

Mr. S.-There are three things which all mankind stand in need of: pardon for the past, strength for the future, and a resurrection from the dead. The Christian religion, then, my sister, purposes to put all its converts into immediate possession of the two first—pardon and the Spirit of holiness-and when the apostles use the word hope, it points to the resurrection of the dead. Yes, it is the resurrection that forms the object of our hope, and this may be learnt perspicuously from what Paul said to Agrippa: "Now I stand," said he, "and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers ; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God, day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews! Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself, that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth," &c.

The Apostle does not introduce the name of Jesus here, as if the doctrine of a resurrection originated with him, for this would not have been correct; the Jews we learn even from the New Testament, believing before the coming of Christ, in a resurrection, and in the hope of it, instantly serving God day and night, as the Scripture which I have quoted discloses.

M.-Pray, Brother S. why is opposition to Jesus Christ and the resurrection, spoken of here as being the same thing?

Mr. S.-For the following reason, I apprehend: God had promised that he would raise up the Messiah from the dead, as he saith in the second Psalm, "This day have I begotten thee;” and again, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in the unseen world, nor suffer thy Holy One to see corruption," and again, in conformity with legal institutes, the Messiah was to become the first fruits of them that slept, unless we can suppose a Jewish harvest being reaped without previously offering to God the first fruits; but this would have been contrary to law, the offering of the first fruits being, in the institution of Moses, a solemn ordinance. The great harvest of the general resurrection, then, was to be preceded by the offering

of the first fruits, which is the Messiah; and God having raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, according to promise, those who denied the Scriptures in relation to this matter, virtually denied the certainty, perspicuousness, and excellency of those promises which related to the resurrection in general; for, it was no where in the law, the prophets, or the Psalms stated more plainly that there should be a resurrection of the just and unjust, than that the Messiah should be the first that should arise from the dead, to give light unto the people and to the Gentiles.

The resurrection of the dead, then, is the hope that is set before us in the gospel; and it is called the "blessed hope," the "good hope," the "hope of salvation," the "one hope," the "hope of eternal life," a "lively hope," &c. And when a person says he has obtained a hope, he can be understood, scripturally, only as referring to the resurrection of the dead.

M.--What, then, Brother S. would you make the reason of your hope? St. Peter bid us be always ready to give to every one that asketh us, a reason of the hope that is in us.

M.-Brother S. you have given such an extraordinary position to my sentiments, that I fear to speak to you of my reason for entertaining them.

Mr. S. Sister Mary, you do not imagine that I use this plainness of speech, because I doubt your sincerity in religion-because I question your election of God? You have by faith been immersed into that most holy name, by which we are called; and your life has been in strict conformity to your holy profession. Believe me, then, I speak these things only to correct you, not to wound you.

M.-I never can deny my experience. Mr. S. the joys I felt I never can forget! They will, I hope, be evidence to me for ever and ever of my acceptance with God; yes, when creeds, and confessions, and articles of faith are burnt to ashes, I shall remember the happy moments, when by grace, I was enabled to say, " My beloved is mine, and I am his!"

Mr. S.-It is not necessary, my sister, that you should either forget or deny your experience, if it has any tendency to make you press on to those things which are before; nor do I question the reality of your former and early joys; I only wished to know precisely the reason of your hope of pardon, through the Redeemer, which I now perceive to be your experience. When it is said such a one has obtained a hope, we are to understand then, that the person hopes he is pardoned: and the reason of his hope is his experience. But we shall settle this at another sitting.

W. S.

NOTES OF LECTURES

Mr. S.-The hope of the resurrection of the dead is a very extraordinary one. That we should expect those who have slumbered in the dust for ages, to arise again that we should hope all the dead of all ages, and generations, and places-continents, islands, rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans-to be raised from the dead, is truly wonderful; and if men ask us a reason for so singular an expectation, we should not be astonished. To the person, then, who should put the question to me who should ask why I expected to be raised from the dead-I should answer, that God has raised up his Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead, and has graciously promised to raise us up by Jesus! You, then, sister, hope that God has forgiven you, NO. XXIII.-ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK and I, already forgiven, hope for the resurrection. The difference is precisely this the object of your hope is the past, mine is the future; my hope is set before me in the gospel, your's behind you in your articles of faith, creed, catechism, or some thing else; my hope is an anchor keeping me from being driven back, your's is an anchor keeping you from going forward. Pray, what reason do you assign those who ask you for a hope so singular?

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BY A. CAMPBELL.

OF ACTS (CONTINUED.)

THIS book is the proper beginning of Christianity, for it does not begin with the commencement of the New Testament. It had its proper time, place, and circumstances of beginning. The Apostles, during the life of Jesus and John, merely preached a coming reign. They could not preach His reign until He was crowned in heaven, and had received His kingdom. The Saviour

taught this constantly in parables, and the Prophets likewise foretold it. Isaiah -760 years before Christ-said, "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem" (chapter iii. 3.) Micah, 710 years before Christ, said, " But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." These two witnesses establish the place where (Jerusalem), and the time when, of this kingdom, (the conclusion of the Jewish age.) It was at Jerusalem the Messiah was dishonored. They had brought against Him the double charge of blasphemy and treason. The grounds of the first charge were based upon their supposing that He assumed the power of God in forgiving sins, and also His saying, that He would rebuild the temple in three days, if they destroyed it. The second was based on the fact, that He said He was a king. He told Pilate publicly, that He was born to be a king, but not of a kingdom like Cæsar's. The place where a man loses his character, is the place where to find it. By His enjoining it upon His disciples to remain at Jerusalem, indicates that He would wipe off the stain upon His character in that city, and give them boldness to preach Him elsewhere, for they would not have been believed anywhere, if they had gone abroad to preach a man who had been put to death for blasphemy and treason. I trust now you can see the philosophy of the charge, "Tarry in Jerusalem.' It is a remarkable fact, that there was not a lawful preacher in the world for fifty days-not a single man who could stand up as the minister of Heaven. The Jewish age was completed, and the Apostles were silenced until they received power from on high. The last question they asked him-" Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts ii. 7-8)-and its answer "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in His own power: but

ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth" Acts i. 7-8) contains the map of their future way. After Jesus ascends, they fill up their number. Two men are selected, and their qualifications are named: they were to be personally acquainted with every thing that transpired in regard to Jesus from John's time.

On the morning of the Pentecost, a strange noise was heard, and all were filled with the idea that some great event was about to transpire. Jesus had been dishonored at a national assembly in Jerusalem; but now, on the morning of the very next national convention- only fifty days from the former - the anniversary of the day in which God had descended on Sinai to give Moses the Law, when the whole nation were assembled around the base of the mountain so now, all were standing around the city of Jerusalem, and at ten o'clock, when they were beginning to move toward the temple, a noise was heard like to that which was heard on Sinai's top, but the cloud, at which all Israel trembled, was not seen. At a particular point in the city, the sound is concentrated-the crowd rush to the spot, burst in, and find a little band of disciples in an upper room. The Apostles were silent up to this moment, but, at the sight of the multitude, rose up, and delivered the discourse we have recorded in the second chapter of this book. It was spoken by all at once in different languages, so that every person present heard it in his own tongue. This was the first Christian discourse ever delivered. It is a strange fact, that three thousand fell at the base of Sinai at the giving of the Law, and that here three thousand were saved. We have now seen the place where Christianity began - the why-and the time when. There is one thing more that ought to be named here, viz. the person by whom the reign of Christ was first announced, or His kingdom opened. The Messiah promised this honor to Peter, and Luke tells us that he it was who opened the kingdom. These facts, then, all agree, and show that Christianity did not begin, as some suppose, at the beginning of the New Testament.

FAMILY CULTURE.

AQUILA. The spirit of bondage is then cast out; for, indeed, it is an unAn ac

CONVERSATIONS AT THE CARLTON clean and a tormenting spirit.

HOUSE.-No. XLVII.

ROMANS VIII. 18-25.

OLYMPAS.-James will read our lesson for the evening.

JAMES.-" However, I esteem not the sufferings of the present time, as worthy of comparison with the glory which is hereafter to be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God. For the creature was subject to frailty, (not of its own choice, but by him who has subjected it,) in hope that it may be liberated from the bondage of a perishing state, and brought into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Besides, we know that the whole creation sigh together, and travail in anguish till the present time. And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the first fruit of the Spirit; even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption; namely, the redemption of our body. For even we are saved by hope. Now, hope that is attained, is not hope; for who can hope for that which he enjoys? But if we hope for that which we do not enjoy, then, with patience, we wait for it." OLYMPAS.-We must view this passage with what precedes it. The sonship of Christians, as adopted into the family of God, is the grand theme of this lesson. At the close of our last lesson, the Apostle says, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, are the sons of God." The proof of this declaration is found in the fact, that they have received the spirit of adoption, crying Abba, Father!

Abba, said to be the first breathing of an infant in its earliest effort to speak, and in all the ancient languages indicating father, is beautifully prefixed to the word father by our apostle-thereby intimating that the first breath of the new-born children of God, is an indication of its possessing a filial spirit. Because they are sons, they cry Abba, which means Father. What a change! From being enemies of God, we become sons of God, by the reconciliation we enjoy through Christ, the only begotten of the Father, the Son of the Living God. He makes all his brethren his brothers, and joint heirs with him. What a change! Sons and heirs of God! But we must, and well we may, suffer with him in a wicked world, seeing, with him we also shall be glorified.

cusing guilty conscience is the greatest plague we can endure. We cannot flee from it. It enslaves, pollutes, debases man. Peace with God is heaven upon earth. The richest promise that Christ bequeathed was expressed in these words-"My peace I bequeath to you," "Not as the world gives, my friends! do I give." Its bequests are not rich legacies. But the sufferings of the Christian are all blessings in disguise. The sufferings of earth and time are not worthy to be compared to the glory, the bliss, and the beauty, to be revealed, developed, and enjoyed in us. What think you, Brother Clement, of "the creature," and "the earnest expectation of the creature," here spoken of.

CLEMENT. By the creature I have been led to think the apostle alludes to the body, or mortal portion of our present personality; and by vanity, its frailty.

OLYMPAS.-This is, Brother Clement, a difficult passage, and largely debated by our most profound critics and commentators. Volumes have been written on it. It belongs to the passages called, by critics, loci vexatissimi-vexatious, perplexing, intricate passages. The drift of the passage is easy and definite; but what means this ktisiscreature, or creation? What precise idea should we attach to it? question. It occurs but nineteen times in the New Testament, and is, in the Common Version, once rendered ordinance, once building, six times creation, and eleven times creature.

is the

Professor Stuart, after writing twenty five octavo pages on this passage, leaves it as he found it-a perplexing passage.

I concur with him, that ktisis means either the act of creation, or the thing created. It means the creating, and the thing created the action and its effect. It means the human race, and it may mean the human body—the mortal part of man.

We sometimes use the word creature in contempt. This would meet your view of the passage. The mortal part of man, his body, is subjected to frailty and corruption, and the passage might be safely construed to meet this view. The human body is doomed to corruption, not as a matter of choice; but it has been, to the Christian, made acceptable, in the hope of being raised

incorruptible. Indeed, the whole creation-that is, the whole human race, as Stuart and some other interpreters understand it—mankind universally have been longing after a higher and happier state. Even Christians, too, in their present highest state of perfection and happiness, are groaning, being burthened, for the manifestation of the sons of God in their incorruptible and glorified bodies; not, indeed, that they might be divested or unclothed, but invested or clothed upon, with their house or spiritual body, which is to be from heaven. AQUILA. That sounds very harmonious in my ear. It is in accordance with what the apostle elsewhere says, as you have quoted, and suits, in my judgment, the spirit and scope of this | passage. We are all waiting in hope for the adoption, namely, "the redemption of our body;" not for the redemption of our soul, for that we now have, but for the redemption of our body. What an argument this, clear and invincible, for the separate state! The body returns to its origin, the earth the spirit returns to its origin, God, at death. How accordant with the words, "Absent from the body, present with the Lord." But now we (our spirits) present with the body, are absent from the Lord. Here we walk by faith, hereafter by sight, for then we shall see him as he is. We patiently must wait that day.

OLYMPAS. And, Brother Aquila, "the spirit helps our infirmities," for we often sigh for what we know not. We are like an afflicted child, we cry, and know not for what we cry. But the Spirit of God rightly interprets these cries and groans, and makes intercession for us. We, therefore, wait patiently for the adoption, for the apokalupsis-the revelation of the sons of God. Here our sonship is invisible and unappreciated, even by ourselves. Hence, we look forward to the full development of that glorious relation, when we shall appear to ourselves, and one another, as the sons or children of God.

AQUILA. Truly we are well said to be saved, or sustained in our present trials, by hope. Let us, then, patiently wait for the day of our deliverance. But let me ask the question, Does the Holy Spirit, in person, act the part of an intercessor for us? Is not Jesus our intercessor?

OLYMPAS.-The Spirit of God is said to do for us what he has, in bearing witness to the truth which he imparted, inclined, and enabled us to do for ourselves. Hence, the Spirit of God being the cause of those desires in us, when our spirits express them to God in harmony with his teachings, he is figuratively said to intercede for us. That this is not a personal, or official intercession of the Holy Spirit, is indicated in the words, "He that searches the hearts of believers, knows that the desires arising in them, and expressed by them, are the fruits of the Spirit of God, and not the offspring of their own spirits." Our unutterable feelings, emotions, and desires, are properly interpreted by the Holy Spirit, for he knows what we mean, and what we desire and ask, infinitely better than we do. Hence there is a meaning in the inarticulate groans of a saint, which he himself cannot express. He knows not what he wants. But the Spirit of God having, by the truth and promise of the gospel, occasioned these desires, comprehends them; and God the Father, to whom all prayer is ultimately directed by the Spirit, and through the Son, understands, receives, and answers these inarticulate sighs, and groans, and desires of the saints, being in accordance with his will. Moreover, I am pleased to say, that in this view of the passage we have the concurrence, if not of the multitude, certainly of the most ancient and celebrated interpreters, from the Greek Chrysostom down to the present day.

"All things," then, "work together for good, to them that love God;" and these are they whom he purposes to save-those, both of Jews and Gentiles, whom he has called according to purposes and promises announced from the earliest annals of the world. God's eternal purpose and counsel is, that his people shall finally be conformed to the image of his Son-as like to him as the younger members of a family are to the the first-born. And those so predestined he has called, is calling, and will call, till time shall have an end; has justified, is justifying, and will justify; has glorified, is glorifying, and will glorify. The apostle places all in the past tense, with reference to the time he wrote. But only with reference to that time, because the family is still a growing family. And as he had done so he

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