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Mr.

N S,

OBSERVATIONS;

DELIVERED IN SEVERAL LECTURES.

By the Late REVEREND,

Learned, Pious, and Faithful Servant of JESUS CHRIST,

JOHN BROW N,

Sometime Minister of the Gospel at Wamphray in Annandale, and afterwards Minifter
to the Scots Congregation at Rotterdam in Holland.

Carefully printed from the AUTHOR'S OWN MANUSCRIPT.

EDINBURGH:

Printed by DAVID PATERSON,

And fold by him at his Printing-houfe, LAWN-MARKET, and by the Bookfellers
MDCC LXVI.

HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY

SHELDON FUND

JULY 10, 1940

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PREFAC E.

T is faid, The righteous fhall be in everlasting remembrance, Pfal. cxii. 6. and, The memory of the just is bleffed, Prov. x. 7. Altho' it is now near a hundred years fince the Rev. learned and pious author fell asleep in the Lord, and is gone to receive the fruit of his labours, from his Lord and Mafter, whom he ferved in the gofpel; yet the wifdom of Divine Providence cannot but be noticed in the prefervation of the author's own manufcript of the following lectures fo long, and now raifing it from the duft of obfcurity, and bringing it forth to the light, which, under the divine bleffing, will no doubt be useful for clearing up and fetting in a proper light, the neceffary truths of the chriLian faith and doctrine, therein contained, efpecially the great and fundamental doctrine of juftification fo fully and largely treated of in the infpired epiftle, and fo confequently by the judicious expofitor. It is prefumed, it will be needlefs to make any apology for the publication of the following lectures; as they who are acquainted with Mr. Brown's fingular judiciousness in the management of fuch fubjects as he has undertaken, will certainly make any of the remains of fuch an eminent minifter and Chriftian very acceptable. Those who have been converfant with his writtings will ftand in need. of little other voucher of genuinenefs befide the lectures themselves, as they evidently carry in them fuch marks as have always diftinguished his performances.

It is not without ground to be feared, that, to the bulk of the prefent age, the following lectures will feem as idle tales, yet to fuch as have their fenfes exercised to dif cern good and evil, they will appear words fitly fpoken, as apples of gold in pictures of filver, wifely calculated both for informing the judgment and reforming the heart.

It appears that the author defigned the following Lectures for the prefs, on account of the correctnefs and compleatness of his manufcript; fo that unless it be the prefixing a title. preface, and introduction to the first feven chapters, it has flood in need of no other help, either by adding or impairing. Such as hefitate any manner of way with refpect to the agreement of the printed copy, in any word or fentence, with the manufcript, may be fatisfied by comparing, as the manufcript is preferved in the hands of the Publishers at Edinburgh. That the public has been fo long deprived of fuch a valuable and useful expofition, can no otherways be accounted for, than that the perfons into whofe custody it has been, had never fallen on proper means for having it publifhed. What further feems neceffary in this way, fhall be only,

I. More particularly to mention a few things concerning the author.
II. To notice the fcope of the facred epiflle, and the author's expofition.

III. To point out a very few reatons which appear to render the prefent publication the more neceffary.

1. The deferved reputation the author has already gained in the church of Christ, not only for his extenfive abilities, fingular piety and holiness, but his useful labours in the work of the ministry, and fruits of bis ftudy, many years fince gone abroad in the world, will very justly fuperfede almoft any thing neceffary to be faid about him; such fingular and excellent treatifes, both in the polemic and practical way, have undoubtedly evinced to unprejudiced perfons, his good learning and folid judgment,' and that

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