MY DEAR FRIEND,—I have given your letter the serious consideration which it appears to me to deserve, and shall be most happy, if it be in my power, to render such advice as may meet your case, in which, believe me, I feel a deep and sincere interest.

I do not by any means regret that you have been led to feel the serious concern you speak of, instead of indulging in the idea that you are a Christian, without being able to render any sound or scriptural reasons for such a belief. If conscious that you possess not the marks of a regenerate soul, and that you have never felt real contrition on account of sin, I cannot think worse of your position because you make the frank and full avowal of it. I believe you to be conscious of the deep depravity of the human heart as an abstract truth; but, as my only alternative is to take you at your own word, you will pardon me if I gather from your letter that you have no personal interest in this truth, you do not feel—you do not realize-it in your own case. You cannot say with Job, "Now mine eye seeth Thee, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes," (ch. xlii. 5, 6.) You cannot find in your heart all those evidences of godly sorrow adduced by the Apostle in 2 Cor. vii. 10, 11.

You not only confess as much as this, but furnish a reason for it- a reason to my mind fully adequate to explain the whole. You are proud. Had you not told me this in plain terms, I should have inferred it from your curious and profitless questionings with regard to the possible motives of angels, the origin of evil, the conditions of salvation, the pleasure and purposes of God. We need not surely travel thus far for mysteries: they abound in all the objects of creation, and in all the proceedings of God's providence. Why, then, should his works of grace, alone, be without them? There cannot be a surer evidence that the heart is not right with God than a disposition to question His wisdom. We have, indeed, no other standard by which to measure it than his own revelation; and must therefore regard those very points which seem most opposed to our own notions of what is wise, and just, and right, as so many essential parts of it. Paul was satisfied to refer the prevalence of evil and its remedy by “the foolishness of preaching" to "the wisdom of God,” (1 Cor. i. 21) ; and that we are but indifferent judges on this point is evident from 1 Cor. i. 20; iii. 19; Job v. 13.

Your presumptuous insinuation that God is insincere in declaring his willingness to save "all who turn unto him ;" and that all should "come to repentance," proceeds upon a mischievous supposition actually denounced in these very texts. God works by means in which the sinner himself has a part to perform he is, on your own shewing, to turn: he is to come. You must not charge me with Arminianism, when I tell you that He makes the process of salvation, in a certain sense, conditional. The scheme appears to be thus laid down in the gospel-" By grace are ye saved, through faith"-Eph. ii. 8. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.-Rom. x. 17.

The perusal of God's word, therefore, and attendance on a gospel ministry, are the standing orders for admission into Christ's church. Now the pride of which you speak is quite a sufficient hindrance to the profitable reception both of the preached and written gospel. You must come with the simplicity and docility of a child-of a babe-desiring the sincere milk of the word, not with a view of questioning its mysteries; but that you may grow thereby."-1 Peter ii. 2.

66

There is no better way of getting rid of this pride than by prayerfully studying the representations which the word of God gives of the human heart. A careful perusal of the epistle to the Romans throughout, and especially of those Psalms usually termed 'penitential,' if honestly applied, will certainly be blessed to this end. Will you make the trial in your closet, and on your knees, interjecting such petitions as will point their testimony to your own conscience? There are, of course, many outward sins denounced in the word of God, of which I am well aware you are not guilty, but if you read our Saviour's own comments on the law of the Old Testament, contained in his sermon on the Mount, (Matt. v. vi. vii.) you will find you have much more cause for deep humility and self-abasement than I fear you at present imagine.

Paul, in rehearsing to Timothy the faithful saying that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, annexes to it something like a personal condition--" of whom I am chief." If you wish to lay hold of this precious declaration, you must take it as supposing a superlative sense of sin and guilt in yourself. Do not dishonor God by presuming that he has "given you up to the

pride and deceitfulness of your heart.” Such a thought, is in itself enough to quench the visitings of his Holy Spirit; for he has distinctly placed “the fearful and the unbelieving” in the same category as the open and flagrant violator of every law, human and divine. Rev. xxi. 8.

In conclusion, my dear friend, you have everything to hope. God has not put into your heart this anxious concern respecting your salvation that he may disappoint it. Look to Jesus. Look at the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of his compassion, and doubt if you dare; despair if you can. He is willing to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him; and are you not included in this “all,” or have you ventured beyond this uttermost?

That God may soon lead you with the cords of love to the green pastures and still waters of his favored ones, giving you grace upon grace here, and glory hereafter, is the prayer of, my dear friend, Your's faithfully and affectionately, PHILAGATHOS.

Zaccheus.

SIR,-Will you, or any of your correspondents, kindly inform me whether it was a spirit of ostentation, or a desire of repentance, that made Zaccheus say to Jesus, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods, I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold ?"-Luke xix. 8. A READER.

We see nothing indicative of a desire of repentance in this exclamation. It appears, on the contrary, to have been uttered in a boastful, pharisaic spirit; and is with equal fidelity and tenderness reproved by our Lord in verse 9. “This day is salvation come to this house, for so much as he also is a son of Abraham." " Notwithstanding these good works, long practised by you, Zaccheus, it is only to-day that salvation has become yours, and that, not because you have earned it by those good works of which you boast, but because as a son of faithful Abraham you have believed on Me."

Sin before the Law.

DEAR SIR,-Would you be so kind as to insert in your valuable Magazine, at your earliest convenience, an explanation of Romans v. 13.

I have ten youths under my care and instruction on the Sabbath. Whilst reading the chapter in question, I was making some remarks on sin and its consequences, &c., when one of them raised a query on the 13th verse, which I answered according to my ability. Among other questions, I was asked the following-"How does the first clause of verse 13 agree with the fact, that the first sin was not committed until after God gave his first law to man?"

If you could give me any additional light upon this subject, you would be rendering an important service to a class of young men whose study is God's word. A SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER.

"Until (or before) the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law." Sin was imputed to Adam, and therefore the law existed when he transgressed; or, in the words of our correspondent, "the first sin was not committed until after God gave his first law to man."

Calling.

SIR, Will you, or one of your correspondents, favor me with an explanation of 1 Cor. i. 26, 27? I cannot exactly understand whether the calling there mentioned, refers to the work of the ministry, or to final salvation. I am, yours, &c.

A CONSTANT READER.

The parties referred to are apparently those mentioned in verse 24-"Them which are called, both Jews and Greeks." The terms there employed seem too large to be restricted to the ministry, and are certainly true of Christians generally, whatever may have been the mind of the Spirit in this particular passage.

The Resurrection of the Just.

SIK, I should feel obliged if you, or any of your correspondents, would explain to me the meaning of Rev. xx. particularly verses 4-6. Am I to understand that the just shall rise a thousand years before the wicked? If so, there will be two resurrections, which I think is not generally understood, and to me, verse 9 seems rather to contradict such a supposition.

An answer to this, through the medium of your valuable Magazine, will be thankfully received by yours respectfully, J. B.

We confess our incompetence to explain the whole of this chapter. To give even a general idea of its scope and bearing would occupy far more space than we could allot to such an enquiry. We do not think the verses referred to indicate the doctrine of two resurrections in the strict sense of that expression. The souls only of the confessors and martyrs of the church are mentioned as reigning with Christ, and this, as Dr. Whitby has observed, is a strange expression to signify the resurrection of the body.

Delivering to Satan.

SIR,-Will you (if convenient) give me an early explanation of 1 Cor. v. 5, "To deliver such an one to Satan ;" and 1 Tim. i. 20, "Whom I have delivered unto Satan." These passages have long perplexed me, and doubtless many others. By explaining them you will greatly oblige, Your sincere well-wisher,

THEOPHILUS.

It would appear from the above texts, that Paul was authorized to denounce flagrant offenders in these terms, which do not imply final or unconditional condemnation in a spiritual sense, as is fully evident from the first-cited passage. In the case of Job, (ch. ii. 7,) Satan was employed to chastise and torment the flesh in a similar manner to that implied in the apostolic imprecation, (1 Cor. v. 5,) and though in 1 Tim. i. 20, no allusion to bodily suffering is expressed, Doddridge, and others of our best critics, presume that it is implied.

Faith and Works.

SIR,-I should feel much obliged if you would reconcile Eph. ii. 8, 9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast," with Rev. ii. 23, "I will give unto every one of you according to your Yours respectfully,

works."

JANE.

The first of these texts refers to the gospel scheme generally, of salvation by grace through faith. The other is a message of reproof and threatening to the members of the church at