befal the waters and the earth during the sackcloth-prophesying of the witnesses, and consequently during the lapse of the 1260 years. 10. Therefore the first, second, third, fifth, and sixth vials, and thence also palpably the fourth vial, which occurs in the very midst of them, must all be included with in the sackcloth-prophesying of the witnesses. 11. But, if the six first vials must all be included within the sackclothprophesying, they must likewise be all included within the 1260 years. 12. Consequently, since all the six first vials must be included, by the express terms of the prophecy, within the 1260 years; those 1260 years cannot expire previous to the effusion of the six first vials. 13 But Mr. Cuninghame makes them expire previous to the effusion of any one of the vials: therefore Mr. Cuninghame's arrangement must, even on his own acknowledg. ed principles, be erroneous. Mede avoids this difficulty, by placing most incongruously and arbitrarily the six first vials under the second wo, and by making the third wo and the seventh vial commence synchronically. Such an arrangement enables him to suppose, that the 1260 years expire at the com. mencement both of the third wo and of the seventh vial. But no expositor, who places all the seven vials under the third wo, where homogeneity manifestly requires that they should be placed: no expositor, who thus arranges them, can, consistently with the terms of the prophecy (Rev. xi, 6, compared with Rev. xv. 1, xvi. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12,) make the 1260 years expire at the commencement of the third wo, and therefore previous to the effusion of the vials. If Mr. Cuninghame, in short, retains his arrangement of the 1260 years, he must, so far as I can judge, give up his arrangement of the vials. The two cannot stand together. I take this opportunity of men. tioning, that I believe the French Revolutionary Government, from the year 1808, down to the present time, has been under the baneful influence of the fifth vial. It is not impossible that that vial may not be yet exhausted: should that be the case, we may expect the French arms to experience further reverses. I fear, however, that nothing will prevent the ultimate re-establishment of the Franco Roman western empire; though such re-establishment will only be the prelude to its final subversion, and though I much incline to believe that England, though scourged, will be safe in the midst of the whirlwind.-My principles of exposition led me to anticipate the downfal of the Bourbons and the restoration of the Revolutionary Government, even from the very first. My reasoning was of course hypothetical: IF my principles were right, THEN such and such events must inevitably follow. Yet I felt them to be so strongly established, that I had little fear in reasoning upon them accordingly. In a note to the 5th edition of my work on the 1260 years, which is dated July 28, 1814, I stated at large the grounds of my persuasion, that the Bourbons would not long reign in France, and that the Revolutionary Government would soon be restored. The reader will find that note in vol. ii. p. 400. G. S. FABER. To the Editor of the Christian Observer. HAVING ventured, some time ago, to offer a few remarks on a system of theology which appeared to me to proceed on a high and disproportionate view of some parts of religious truth,* I have been induced to bring before your readers the counterpart, as it were, of those * Vol. for 1814, p. 620. observations, by detailing the chief points in which a large body of respectable and, in many cases, as I hope, pious persons seem to me to fall short of the real standard of scriptural instruction. That there are dangers on each side of the question, can admit of no doubt. It may even be naturally expected, that in a period in which the church of Christ enjoys undisturbed outward tranquillity, there should imperceptibly arise a class of truly excellent individuals, who adopt, almost unknown to themselves, a low and defective system of religious sentiment, and, consequently, lose much of the grace of the Holy Spirit, and of the efficiency of their ministry. Errors of defect are, perhaps, more common than those of excess, and are certainly quite as pernicious. The principal difficulty which I feel in entering on the subject is that which pressed upon me when I was drawing up the former paper-the danger, or rather, in many instances, the certainty, of being misunder. stood as to the motives and spirit of the attempt. Such is the infirmity of our common nature, even in truly good men, that the most friendly and affectionate statements, if they are made to bear plainly on any class of erroneous sentiments, are incritably considered, by some of the individuals who are most concerned, as severe and hostile. I know no method of obviating this real difficulty, except by endeavouring to exercise increased vigilance over my own spirit, in any observations I may venture to make, and by fervently praying to God so to influence the minds of my brethren, that they may receive with candour and good will, any suggestions which may appear to them to be agreeable to the unerring word of God. It is only by this mutual charity that the ends of truth can be obtained, errors as they arise be detected, the snares of Satan broken, ardour for improve ment in the minds of ministers, en kindled, and the edification of our hearers and the glory of our God and Saviour promoted. 1. The first point to which I would call the attention of your readers, is, an inadaquate view of the real extent of man's ruin and depravity.—It is easy, by a few rash and sweeping expressions, to exceed the statements of Scripture on this subject, and violate the plain truth of the case; but it is far more easy, by general and timid descriptions, to weaken the whole force of this fundamental doctrine. The Scripture describes man as "alienated from the life of God ;” as "dead in trespasses and sins,” as in a state of "enmity against God," as incapable of "discerning the things of the Spirit," as evil, "only evil continually, in the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart,” as “ without hope, and without God in the world.” But is this the view of man's condition by nature, which we often hear inculcated? Are not far softer terms employed in describing his moral state? Is the conviction that no one thing spiritually good can proceed from man, without the preventing grace of God, fixed deeply in the mind? Do not many amiable and estimable persons, though they admit the doctrine, yet fail in a full, and plain, and frequent statement of it? Do they not confound, at times, the civil and social virtues, which they justly admire in some persons, and the knowledge and decency which they commend, and properly commend, in others, with the fruits and evidences of spiritual grace? The whole of our instructions must be of a low and comparatively inefficient character, if we do not tho roughly understand the fall and depravity of man. The remedy can never be perceived, if the disease is not. The total ruin of mankind in the first Adam, and their gra cious recovery in the Second, have a necessary relation to each other, and lie at the foundation of true Christianity. We are manifestly in danger, in such a day as this, of courting the approbation of the superficial and worldly, by partial or qualified representations of this subject. To comprehend fully, and explain with becoming fidelity, the total apostacy of man from God, the corruption of his heart, and his impotency to what is good, requires no ordinary effort. It must be the result of unremitted prayer, constant study of the Holy Scriptures, elevated views of the nature of spiritual religion, clear perceptions of the evil of sin, and close observation of the history of man in every age. If our attention to these great topics decline, so will our capacity of estimating the true state and character of man. It is only in the pure light of Scripture, accompanied with the grace of the Holy Spirit, that we can fully discover, and adequately feel, the real bearings and funda. mental importance of the doctrine of the fall. 2. Connected with this error is a deficiency too observable in many ministers in unfolding the holy law of God." By the law is the know. ledge of sin." "Sin by the commandment," and by that alone, "becomes exceeding sinful." "I through the law," says the Apostle, "am dead to the law, that I might live unto God." It is by the moral law, as the "ministry of condemnation and death," that it pleases God to convince men of the danger and guilt of their state, and their need of repentance and salvation. If this eternal rule of good and evil is not plainly exhibited and enforced in its spirituality, extent, excellency, and sanctions, we cannot expect any considerable effect to follow from our labours. The general spirit of the class of ministers of whom I am now speaking, seems to me to incline them to shrink from the painful but necessary duty of dwelling on this great subject. Other and far inferior rules than that of "loving God with all the heart, and soul, and strength," and our neighbour as ourselves," are insensibly proposed by them. Other standards of judging of our. character and conduct are allowed to intrude. Their sermons are almost exclusively bestowed on subjects which only the truly Christian part of the congregation can rightly understand, and which the great body of it pervert, to confirm the favourite notion of a new or remedial law. In the mean time, plain and bold declarations of God's unerring commands; of their purity, justice, and goodness; of our infinite obligations to obey them; of the covenant of works; of the condescension and goodness of God in making this covenant; of the punishment threatened to every transgressor; of the sin and guilt of man; of the necessity of fleeing from the wrath to come, and embracing the mercy of Jesus Christ; of the distinction between the Law and the Gospel; of the impossibility of uniting the two in point of justification and of the condemnation which rests upon us till we are saved by faith in the promises of the Gospel, are not sufficiently urged or not adequately explained. The consequence is, that our ministry is far from having that efficacy which we might otherwise have expected. I am not here to be misunderstood as confounding rashness with strength, or intemperance with fervour. The most tender affection, the utmost kindness and compassion of spirit, the most wakeful consideration of circumstances should not merely be apparent in this part of our ministry, but should actually fill and penetrate our hearts. A coarse, inconsiderate manner of uttering the most solemn denunciations with respect to the law of God, counteracts the effect we should endeavour to produce. The union of modesty and affection with plainness and zeal, or, to use the language of the Apostle, the "speaking the truth in love," will most effectually ; I am 3 But I pass on to the nature and necessity of the doctrine of spiritual regeneration and conversion to God; in the statement of which the low description of divinity on which I am now venturing to animadvert is, I fear, particularly deficient.-A more widely pernicious error cannot, to my mind, be named, than that which confounds with the sacrament of baptism, or seems to confound with it, that universal change of the heart and life, without which our Lord declares a man "cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." aware this is stating the case strongly. I shall be told, that if the term regeneration is disused on this subject, the thing is retained: and I am ready to admit this to a certain extent. But still I cannot conceal my apprehension, that we are losing ground on this doctrine generally among our young divines; and if we are, most assuredly every other truth will decline with it. The whole nature and importance of true religion, the main distinction between spiritual life and spiritual death; all that forms the support and nourishment of holiness and love to God; whatever relates to the grace and influence of God's Holy Spirit; and the duties of communion with God and mortification of sin; must stand or fall with the doctrine of the Newbirth. No better evasion can be desired by the worldly, and vain, and self-righteous, than that which modern divinity seems disposed to concede to them on this question. The fact, I apprehend, in many cases, is, that those who use language which favours the supposition of the identity of baptism and regeneration, have already too much conceded the real point in debate. The doctrine has been accommodated to the emergency. Such low and inadequate opinions of the ruined state of man, and of the necessity of an entire renewal in the spirit of his mind, have been formed, that it has at length appeared an easy concession to allow that all that is included in the notion of the New-birth is necessarily con nected with the administration of the external sacrament. I would be far from affirming that this is universally the case, but so far as my observation has reached, the extent and spirituality of the doctrine of regeneration itself have been imperceptibly lessened in proportion as the position with which I am now contending has been maintained. That God is pleased, in some instances, to connect the gift of regeneration with the due administration of baptism, no one can doubt; any more than he can question the strict propriety of the language of our church on this ground. But to imagine that this universal change of heart has actually taken place in every instance, contrary to the testimony of Scripture and of fact, does in my mind involve a sentiment, not merely erroneous,but one which tends to undermine the whole superstructure of Christian doctrine. Let the young divine examine carefully this important subject: let him highly esteem, as he ought, the sacraments which Christ hath ordained in his church; let the utmost charity he exercised in his judgment of partic. ular cases: let him even form his own opinion, if I must make the concession, as to the frequent use of the mere term which is so much now the subject of controversy: but let him stand firm as to the doctrine itself. Let him dread any approaches to the popish error on this subject. Let him press upon the consciences of his parishioners, the nature and evidences of that inward "birth of the Spirit," that "awakening out of sleep," that "resurrection of the soul from the death of sin," that "translation from the power of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear Son," that "new creation in Christ Jesus," which is a funda. mental branch of genuine Christianity, and indispensably necessary to the life and practice of all real religion. We never can ex pect a large effusion of God's Spirit on our ministrations, till a strong and definite view is taken of this great truth, and its unspeakable importance is clearly apprehended and honestly enforced. 4. The next point which has occurred to me, as deserving especial notice, is the defect of not exhibiting sufficiently the doctrine of justification by faith and the glory of the cross of Christ. We almost insensibly fail here. We admit in theory, that "Christ crucified"should be the main topic of our ministry, and that the various other subjects which it is our duty to unfold, should be kept in due subordination to it. But do not these minor and dependent subjects too often obscure, in the present day, the fundamental truth which they ought to illustrate and enforce? Is not the salvation of the Cross rather taken for granted and alluded to, than brought forward with that affection and frequency which we our selves allow that it deserves? The doctrine of righteousness through the obedience of the eternal Son of God, is not soon apprehended by our hearers; and when it is apprehended, is not soon embraced with the heart and expanded into all those important topics, which are involved in the stupendous mystery. The pride and self-righteousness of our hearts are as deplorable as the sensuality and worldliness of them. It is only by long and patient instruction, combined with the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and the gradual conviction of the impossibility of establishing any righteousness of their own, that our hearers are at length induced to receive with simplicity and gratitude the gift of righteousness by faith. The notion that we do not need to be justified absolutely by a gracious act of mercy, independently of our own works or deservings, is ever obtruding itself. We form a wrong conception of the nature of Christianity, as well as of our own desperate ruin; and these views can only be corrected by repeated details of the plan of salvation, of the vicarious sufferings of Jesus Christ, and of the mercy of gratuitous justification as the introduction to every other part of the Christian life and duty. We can scarcely imagine how slow our people are in learning this grand lesson. For the difficulty is not merely on the part of those who are not yet sufficiently contrite, but also on the part of those who are. The really broken spirit is not soon raised to faith and hope in the sacrifice of Christ. It droops and sinks into despondency. The mercy which before it did not appear fully to need, now seems incapable of embracing and relieving its wretchedness. Only the most scriptural and simple displays of the grace of Christ, and these repeated and varied in almost every form, can, under the blessing of the Holy Spirit, lead the mind by faith to real repose and peace. And, after this point is in some measure attained, what is to be the source of all the instructions which regard the believer's spirit and conduct? What is to nourish the principle of the Christian life? What to animate to duty? What to support under suffering? What to rescue from the world, the flesh, and the devil? What to make the commandments of God delightful? What to be the joy, and strength, and foundation, and stay of the Christian in his whole conduct? Are not the name of our adorable Lord, the grace, the Spirit, the promises, to be made the spring of all these various duties and efforts? The full exhibition, then, of this great subject is a matter of the very first moment. It is not indeed to be the exclusive topic, but it is to be the prominent one. It is not to supersede the many important subjects which are connected with it in the word of God, but it is to give life and efficiency to them all. It is to he "the leaven which is to leaven |