from that man, notwithstanding his practice and character evinced his hypocrisy, and proved that he was in reality a stranger to faith working by love, however his professions might operate on the minds of his brethren.

The apostle Paul, therefore, communicated to them another law to be observed in cases of this nature. It is reported commonly,' said he, that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who hath done this deed, might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already as though I were present, him who hath so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto satan, for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus,' *

Here, then, we have another plain law laid down for the preservation of the purity of the communion, and for the promotion of charity in the house of God.

When a man professing the name of Jesus, appears by habit, or a train of circumstances, to be under the dominion of any of the lusts of this world, his practice gives the lie to his profession; and the latter is therefore not to be believed. When he first professed the faith of Christ, he must have acknowledged it to be his duty, to deny himself to the lusts of the world to cut off his right hand, or his right foot, or to pluck out his right 1 Cor. v. passim.

eye, if it should offend him. If therefore, after due trial, it does appear, from his practice, that his profession has not had such a command of him, as to estrange him from the gratification of the lust, to which he was formerly addicted, it is evident that he prefers that lust to Christ. His profession of love to him therefore is hypocrisy.

If he ever understood what he professed, he has drawn back-He has made shipwreck of the faith and a good conscience-He appears, by his practice, to be under the dominion of satan, the god of this world-His words are not to be believed in contradiction to his practises, which constitute bis character-He appears not to belong to Christ; and therefore the people of Christ are commanded, in his name, that is, by prayer, to deliver snch an one unto satan; or, which is the same thing, to return him to the world from whence they received him.

The apostle beautifully illustrates the necessity of this law: 'Your glorying,' said he, in retaining among you this person, whose character is a fornicator, is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?' A mass of dough is not fitter to be leavened by a little leaven, than the whole members of a Christian church are to be corrupted or contaminated by the wicked practices and example of one of their number thus giving the lie to his profession. 'Evil communications corrupt good manners-Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the un

leavened bread of sincerity and truth.

If Israel, according to the flesh, in going about the ordinance of the passover, which was a type of Christ sacrificed for his people, were repeatedly commanded to put away leaven out of all their houses, on pain of being cut off from the congregation, is it seemly, can it be supposed allowable for Israel according to the spirit, in commemorating the death of the Lord, sacrificed for them, to pollute his body, the church, by retaining among them any one whose practice shews that he still delights in those lusts for which the Lord suffered unto death.-Are any words, any professions, to be regarded, when belied by practice? In opposition to the leaven of malice and wickedness evinced by this profane conduct, Christians are to keep their feast, to celebrate the ordinances of Christ's house, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. For let a man's confessions be what they may, let him speak with the tongues of men and of angels, yet if he have not charity, if he love not the Lord Jesus, he is become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.' If he lives in the habitual gratification of the lusts, on account of which the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience, who can believe that he loves the Lord in sincerity, or truth? His words cannot be believed, because his actions prove him to be a wicked person, a dissembler, and a hypocrite. As the preservation of the body of man depends on the amputation of one of his members, in certain diseases; so, in cases such as the Apostle here treats of, the body of Christ cannot be saved from contagion and corruption, otherwise than by

• Exod. xii.

cutting off, or putting away from among them, those whose practises shew that they have made shipwreck of the faith and a good conscience.

Having thus directed them how to proceed with the person whose case had given occasion to the revelation of this law, the apostle proceeds to enumerate other characters, to whom the same law was to be likewise applied-'I wrote unto you in the epistle, not to company (or mingle together†) with fornicators. Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters, for then ye must needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you, not to keep company, if any man called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one, no not to eat.' That is to say, if any one of your number, distinguished from the world by the appellation, brother, in quence of having professed the common faith, shall turn out to be a fornicator, or covetous, &c., do not keep company with him, have not with him that intercourse which you must have with such characters in the world, so long as ye are in it; nay, with such an one do not so much as eat; which is the same with saying, 'Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.'

conse.

Such, then, is the conduct of christians, with regard to those of their number whose habits or practices mark their characters. For, in such cases there is no room for dealing, or receiving any verbal profession of repentance. These are not as offences given by one brother to another; nor are these cases like that of a man overtaken † συναναμιγνυσθαι

In a former paper it was attempted to be shewn that Divine knowledge was most excellent, 1st because it was the only knowledge which excluded all Monopoly. 2nd. The only knowledge which revealed the character of the True God, as infinitely superior to the Gods of the nations, and 3rdly because it revealed Him as the just God, and the Saviour, and we now go on to show, 4thly that it is the only knowledge by which we attain mental peace, and personal purity. Mere pardon would not fully meet our case: it would not be a full salvation, It could change our state, but not our nature. An acquitted felon leaves the dock a felon still. The essence of salvation is expressed in one word. shall save his people from their sins." Not merely from the guilt, or from the penalty, or from the power, but from the very being of their sins, and make them as holy as God himself. No other knowledge can make depraved man holy and happy, Are the most learned men the most holy and happy? Were not most of the eminent philosophers slaves of the grossest vice, and subjects of the deepest misery? Is it not still true, and shall it not continue to be true, that he who increases other than divine knowledge, increases sorrow?

"He

But

"Grace and peace are multiplied to us through the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might be made partakers of the divine nature, and escape the corruptions of the world through lusts." Partakers of the divine nature! Here is a moral and spiritual elevation of character, condition, and felicity, for greatness, grandeur, and duration the most inconceivable; a state of holy and heavenly blessedness, which, when fully attained, will be commensurate with our enlarged capacity, and interminable as our immortality. Partakers of the divine nature! What this divine nature includes we as yet know not; for it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know we shall be like Christ, and shall be ever with him. Thus what the knowledge of good and evil falsely promised our first parents the knowledge of God our Saviour positively confers. "Ye shall be as gods, said the lying serpent, knowing good and evil." This fatal knowledge: however, instead of raising man to the dignity of deity, sunk him below the level of bumanity; but the knowledge of God our Saviour, not merely restores the divine nature to the fallen man, but, if possible, raises him to an

elevation superior to that which Adam possessed, and brings him into a nearer alliance with his Maker than that in which he stood in paradise, or than he could have ever attained, though he had remained there in innocence to this hour.

In the next place, this knowledge affords us the sweetest and safest asylum in any possible state of providential distress: whether comming from the oppression of man, or the visitation of God; and this, in a world of woe, is an excellence of no ordinary character, and is entirely peculiar to itself. "I considered" says Solomon, "all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power, but they had no comforter." But "the Lord" says David, " is a refuge for the oppressed; a refuge in time of trouble, and they who know Thy name will put their trust in Thee." In the sweet and experimental knowledge of this precious name how many oppressed widows and orphans: how many poor and oppressed debtors; how many sick and afflicted christians; how many poor and oppressed servants have found a refuge? Yea, the annals of slavery in America, and the West Indies, abundantly show how many oppressed christian negroes, shivering under the lacerating lash of the savage driver, have found refuge in the knowledge of this name, when on the side of their oppressors there was power, and they had no comforter. And was not the sweet Saviour of this name experimentally felt by all who knew it during the long domination of religious intolerance, persecution and oppression in our own land

during the reign of the House of Stewarts, when the pious Puritans of the South, and the intrepid Covenanters of the North, suffered pains and penalties, fines and imprisonments; yea, and even resisted unto blood, striving against sin? But entirely irrespective of such more violent times, man is born to trouble, personal, domestic, or circumstantial. We may have our lucid intervals, and, during which, the knowledge of other things may amuse us, as toys do children in the day of health, but what would the mother give for a toy which could please her child in the hour of sickness; and who but he who knows the joyful sound ever yet found the place of rest in the day of darkness. Many of the miseries of men would be entirely banished, and all of them would be greatly mitigated were all men to believe and obey the gospel. National wars would give way to universal peace, and personal slavery to civil liberty; commercial swindling to public confidence, and midnight burglary to domestic security. Diligence in business, and economy in expenditure would generally secure the comforts of life, while personal temperance would contribute to bodily health, and conscientous conduct would impart mental peace. Men would love each other as brethren, and serve each other with a willing mind. The primitive community of good might not be literally restored, but its generous spirit would so pervade the social system that the poorest of the people would have bread to eat. Such a fraternal state of society the Millenium may be expected to produce, and even if it did so, much moral and natural evil would still remain ; but from all their evils the name of

the Lord would still remain a strong tower into which the righteous would run and be safe; for all who know this Name will put their trust in it. Many are the other excellencies of this knowledge but let one more suffice.

Lastly, this divine knowledge imparts to its possessors the inestimable blessing of eternal life; "for this said Christ," is life eternal to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." And again, "We know," says John, "that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true; and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols."

What is a man profited if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Let us rate the advantages of other knowledge ever so high, they all terminate in time. Let us even suppose, though the supposition be utterly extravagant, that they ensure the possessor of all worldly honour and eminence; surround him with wealth, and exalt him to power; relieve him of pain, and fill him with pleasure; yet what is the present life of man but the germ of his existence,-the bud of his being. Of what avail will it be to the learned man, who ranges on the left of the Judge on the day of the Lord, though, while in this world, he enlightened others by his knowledge of all science: raised himself to honour and to opulence; presided in the Cabinet or commanded in the Field; rode in his gilded chariot, or paced on his velvet carpets; fared sumptuously every day, and was attended by a train of liveried lackies? When shall we cease to be dazzled by

superficial splendonr, or be deceived by imposing appearances? Or when shall we learn to estimate every thing according to its intrinsic value? But the true value of things cannot be estimated by the mensuration of their advantages in time, where everything perishes with the using. A worldlywise merchant estimates the value of his trade, not by the accidental gains of some fortunate market-day, but by the balance in his favour at the close of the year. On this just commercial principle, in estimating the value of secular knowledge, let us not look at the learned infidel philosopher in the day of his worldly prosperity, or in the meridian of his sunny life, but, taking our stand at the side of his deathbed let us estimate the value of his temporal attainments at the close of his career. Thus posted on the margin of the grave-a position which commands a view of both worlds, with one foot in time, and the other in eternity, let us look down on the dying man and ask; shall all his attainments in the knowledge of secular science enable him more patiently to endure the last agonies of expiring nature, or shed a single soothing ray of spiritual consolation into his disquieted mind? Shall his accumulated lore instruct him how to die, or tell him one fact about the dark eternity before him? His mind illuminated on every subject, relative to the present state, in dense darkness that can be felt in relation to the future. His acquirements have guided him through all the journey of life, but cannot conduct him one step into the shadow of death. His whole life has been spent in acquiring the rudiments of a world he is about to leave, but he has yet to learn the first principles of that on