Thomas. If I could distinguish this by any name, I would call it ambition. Olympas. Can you tell me any principle, passion, or appetite in man not included in these three temptations? Thomas. There are, indeed, innumerable passions, propensities, and principles of action in man. But it occurs to me that they might all be reduced to three-the animal propensities, pride, and ambition. And if these three categories include the whole, then, indeed, Satan might well retire from the unequal contest. Olympas. You are almost, if not altogether, right. The impulses of our animal nature are sometimes called propensities, appetites, and desires. Of all these the supreme is the appetite for food in time of great or protracted want of sustenance, as in the case of our Lord, having fasted to the fortieth day before the temptation began. Where there is no fuel the fire goeth out. All the passions animal are perfectly tame and governable when the appetite for food is in full vigor. An overweening conceit of oneself, or pride, is the capital sin of all the passions; and ambition, sustained by avarice, consummates the whole train. Our Lord's triumph was indeed complete, and the victory glorious. Jesus kept the field, and Satan fled. What was the armor worn and the weapons used in this conflict of the great Captain, Eliza? Eliza. The sharp two-edged sword proceeded out of his mouth, usually called the Sword of the Spirit. The helmet of Salvation, the shield of Faith, the breast-plate of Righteous ness, the girdle of Truth, the greaves of the Gospel of Peace, and the Sword of the Spirit, completed his panoply. Thus armed our Hero stood, and Satan fled. Olympas. And what next, James ? the battle was over. Susan. They wait upon him now almost too late. William. Not too late, for he needed not their help. Olympas. And what ministry did he now need? Thomas. Bread, I suppose. Olympas. Food was certainly wanting, and a seasonable supply was brought by those who ministered to Elijah and others in distress. Rejoice we not, then, that our Lord resisted the arch apostate in his impudent, malicious, and murderous assault to seduce him to one of the three great sins-distrust or unbelief, presumption, and idolatrous ambition. The wouldbe "prince of this world," the rebel usurper, found nothing animal, intellectual, or moral in him that could be perverted, seduced, or alienated from the supreme admiration, service, and love of God. point. He is to be conquered by one sword, and by one only. On the broad shield of faith we may quench his fiery darts; but when we attack him we must use the Jerusalem blade, for, like the sword that beheaded Goliah, there is none like it. "IT IS WRITTEN" constitutes the omnipotent argument-the sharpest arrow in the Christian's quiver; and by the dextrous use of this cherubic sword, we need not fear the world, the flesh, and Satan-that triumvirate of ruin which has tyrannized over mankind times and ways without number, converted Eden into a wilderness, earth into a Golgotha, and superinduced on our race the untold curses of indignant Heaven here, with the dread and dismal forebodings of a misery to come, enduring as the days of eternity. A. C. WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN ? AND WHERE IS THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH? "The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch."-LUKE. "Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian."-AGRIPPA. "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed.”—PETER. IMPORTANCE OF THE SUBJECT.— To creatures such as we are, and occupying our position, the above queries and quotations, in overwhelming importance, are second to none. This will be admitted by all who believe in the authority of the New Testament Scriptures. Reader, may we indulge the hope that you will examine what we are about to lay before you on this subject in the light of God's unerring word that you will weigh every succeeding sentence in the balance of the sanctuary, the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. PROPOSITION STATED. - Then in all humility and candour we affirm, that no one is, or is entitled to be called, a Christian, unless he be possessed of the Christian faith, has undergone Christian conversion, attends to Christian worship, and practices Christian morality. We repeat, if a man possesses, has undergone,'attends The moral of this memorable temptation, in to, and practices Christian faith, conpart, at least, is Satan comes when we are version, worship, and morality, he is weakest, and always assails us in the weakest a Christian otherwise he is not. The whole four are necessary, for although a man be possessed of Christian faith, yet he is not a Christian till he has undergone Christian conversion. We must obey, as well as believe; and although, possessed of Christian faith, a man has undergone Christian conversion, yet he forfeits his title to be called a Christian unless he attend to Christian worship. Having commenced, we must continue; and although right as respects faith, conversion, and worship, yet a man's true name is hypocrite, not Christian, if he do not practice Christian morality. For the end of the commandment is love. IMPORTANCE OF DEFINITION. Terms must be clearly defined if we would understand propositions. Much vain wrangling, irritated feeling, and many serious errors, might be avoided by attending to this simple law in logic. Debaters who dispute without defining terms combat in the dark, and can scarcely tell on which side they fight. Let us endeavour to avoid this error, and as clearly as we can, briefly define Christian faith, conversion, worship, and morality. DEFINITION OF CHRISTIAN FAITH. -It is not merely the belief of the existence and attributes of the Deity, nor the doctrine of future rewards and punishments. This faith we have in common with Jews, Mahometans, and perhaps some others. Neither is Christian faith a mere vague assent to the divine mission of Jesus. Simplicity is an essential element of greatness, and we have the germ of the whole of our religion in one simple proposition, "Thou art the Messiah, the Son of the living God." This is the seed of the whole plant, the root of the whole tree, the foundation of the whole building, and the centre of the whole system. If we had a perfect knowledge of this proposition, we would have a perfect understanding of the whole range of truth occupied by the Christian religion. Jesus says, "Upon this rock will I build my church ;" and when we know that the term Messiah signifies anointed, we can easily see the propriety of making this confession the one creed of all Christians, inasmuch as it sets Jesus before us, our Redeemer, executing for us the offices of prophet, priest, and king ; and thus working a work which could not be wrought by any mere created being. The evidences to which we are referred by Scripture for the "confirmation of the testimony" (i. e. the truth of the proposition) are, 1st, the testimony of John the Baptist (John v. 31-5); 2nd, Jesus' miracles (verse 36); 3rd, the testimony of the Father (37); 4th, the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies in Jesus (38 to the end); 5th, the testimony of the apostles (1 John i. 4); 6th, the spiritual gifts conferred on them at Pentecost (Heb. ii. 4); 7th, the fulfilment of New Testament prophecies (Luke xxiii. and 2 Thess. ii. 1-12); 8th, to these we may add, the heavenly nature, original idea, and purifying tendency of the religion itself; together with the undesigned testimonies of apostates and enemies, such as Josephus, Judas Iscariot, and many Greek and Roman historians, poets, and philosophers, from whose writings alone might be gleaned the principal matters of fact concerning Jesus and the Christian religion. Blessed be God, who, with equal and infinite wisdom and love, has supported the most important proposition under heaven, by the greatest and strongest body of evidence in the world. DEFINITION OF CHRISTIAN CONVERSION. To convert is just to change. But it is not every change of which man is the subject that constitutes Christian conversion. A man may change the single for the married state the State of New Jersey for the State of Virginia-and it is certain that we all underwent a great change of state when, out of the darkness of our mother's womb, we came into the light of day. ter and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Let us beware, then, of confounding conversion either with its cause or its effect. Let us on that, as well as on every other part of the Christian system, be "workmen that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." A man loves his wife before he is married to her; but his love is one thing, and his marriage another. A child is conceived before it is born; but its conception is not its birth. A Christian believes before he is converted, but his faith is to his conversion just what cause is to effect. Love leads to marriage, conception to birth, and faith to conversion. The ceremony of marriage may vary in different countries: not so the act of birth, or the act of conversion-for the one is a natural event, and the other a po Generally speaking, Christian conversion consists in a change of heart, state, and life. But this definition is neither strictly logical nor scriptural. A more exact one is that it commences in the heart, is evidenced by the life, and is, in itself, simply a change of state-a passing out of the state of sin into the state of grace. This definition applies to all the conversions of which man is the subject. They have all their commencement, act, and end; for we affirm now, and will prove immediately, that every change of state is the result of an act performed or undergone. Conversion is not, correctly speaking, a change of either heart or life. It has its cause in the heart, and its effect in the life; but as we said before we say again, it is just the passing out of one state into another, and may take place in almost a moment of time. For in-sitive divine institution. So long as stance, the change from the single into the married state, is not effected in the heart, however pure and strong the love we bear to the person with whom we desire to share it. Before we be married, we must go through the marriage ceremony. The transition from the state in the womb into the state out of the womb, does not depend upon the weakness or strength, the perfection or imperfection of the infant, as to its parts. Before it can be recognized as an inhabitant of our world, it must undergo the act of birth. We are warranted to use these similitudes, because they are scriptural, and employed by Jesus and his apostles for the very purpose of illustrating the same subject. Thus in allusion to the oriental custom of bathing brides, among the higher ranks, before presenting them to their affianced husbands, the apostle says, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with a bath of water by the word" (Eph. v. 25-6.) And in allusion to the natural birth, Jesus says, Except a man be born of wa 66 66 the present system of nature lasts, men will be born, just as men have been born; and while the Christian system continues, the law of conversion must stand, as embodied in the solemn words of its glorious Founder, "He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved" (Mark xvi. 16.) DEFINITION OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.-Worship is either private, social, or public. Private and social worship are embodied in contemplating the existence and attributes of God with suitable affections, in the simple exercises of prayer, praise, meditation, conversation, and the devout reading of the Holy Scriptures. But as there is little or no difference in private or social worship under all systems, it is public Christian worship that we must define. The public worship of God may be defined as the solemn and devout performance of all those acts of homage and obedience which He has embodied in his ordinances, statutes, and laws, in such times, places, and manner, and for such ends and purposes as He has commanded. The first day of the week is the the church (1 Cor. xiv. 23-5); but to participate in it will not convert him, for this simple reason, that God hath not appointed it for that purpose. The ordinances of Christian worship are positive institutions of divine appointment. If any man, therefore, shall presume to alter, add to, or take from them, he invades the throne of Jesus, and perils, nay ensures, his own eternal destruction, together with the ruin of all who become his blinded followers. "If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." The ordinances themselves are all presented to our view in one very valuable, or rather invaluable verse, "And they (the baptized believers, or Christian converts) all continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts ii. 42.) First, they continued steadfast in the apostles' doctrine, which is, in extenso, contained in the whole Scriptures; so that this ordinance is observed by the reading, not of a single sentence or text, but of some considerable tion of Scripture, and of simple and practical addresses therefrom, in the shape of teaching and exhortationnot by one or two disciples, to the customary and understood exclusion of the rest, but by all the brethren in proportion to their several gifts and abilities. For Paul, in reference to Christian public worship, says to the brethren, " Ye may all prophecy one by one;" and enjoins them, when assembled together, (Heb. x. 25) to por The ends and purposes of Christian worship are the perfection of the converted in the enjoyment of all the blessings and privileges of that state of grace into which they were introduced by their conversion, with a view to their spiritual growth or moral perfection, and consequent introduction at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into his everlasting kingdom and glory. The idea of sinners engaging in the several ordinances of Christian public worship, with a view to being converted, is not only without all foundation of scriptural authority, but is contrary to, and is utterly subversive of, the divine method of converting sinners into saints by faith, penitence, and baptism, so fully and clearly presented to us in the Scriptures of truth and the instances recorded by John Wesley, of his mother and others thinking they had received the remission of sins while engaged in the ordinances of prayer, praise, or the sacrament, is the best comment we have on the Wise Man's words, "He" exhort one another." Secondly, that trusteth to his own heart is a fool;" and the words of a still wiser, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition”. "and many such things ye do." To be a public spectator of public Christian worship may, indeed, benefit a sinner, by leading to his belief in the Saviour, and falling down to his authority with a view of being admitted into they continued steadfast in the fellowship, or joint contribution, as far as their means allowed, and joint participation as far as their necessities required of their worldly substance. Thirdly, they continued steadfast in the breaking of bread, or 66 breaking of the loaf"-the scriptural name of that ordinance which, among various parties, is known as the supper, the sacrament, the eucha rist, &c. and which consists in solemnly breaking, giving thanks for, and eating of, a loaf of bread; and in taking, giving thanks for, and drinking of, a cup of wine, for the purpose of showing their faith in, and understanding of, the design of the Saviour's death the loaf representing his body, once whole, but now broken; and the cup his blood, once his life, but freely shed for us. These ordinances were commenced, accompanied, and finished by the hallowed and delightful exercises of prayer and praise; and in these "they continued steadfast"-i. e. on every first day of the week, for the proof of which see Acts xx. 7, and 1 Cor. xvi. 2. The manner in which these ordinances should be observed, may he defined as a serious cheerfulness. "Christians should be lively, not light; serious, not sad." Levity is abominable in the presence of Jehovah, and the sadness of an outcast is not becoming in the countenance of a beloved child, seated at the festive board in his Father's house. * which nothing can be taken without (To be continued.) SCRIPTURE DIFFICULTIES. NO. XXIII. The disciples' prayer, (usually but improperly called "the Lord's prayer.") Matthew vi. 9, Luke xi. 2. On this subject religious people have run into sad extremes, some having adopted the oft-recurring repetitions of the Papacy, while others have rejected the prayer altogether as unsuited to our times. Our aim should be, in all humility, to ascertain and follow the heavenward medium intended by the Great Teacher. By comparing Mathew with Luke, we learn the Lord did, on two distinct occasions, teach his chosen twelve this prayer: first, in his sermon on the mount, near Capernaum; and second, about a year afterwards at the request of a disciple, probably at or near Jerusalem the first time at length, the last time in short. For clearness sake I place them in juxta DEFINITION OF CHRISTIAN MORALITY. It has the words, life, love, and glory of Jesus for its principles, pattern, spring, and final reward. It is not heathen morality, as contained in the writings of Grecian or Roman historians, philosophers, and poets; nor even Jewish morality, as embodied in "Moses and the Prophets;" but while it lacks nothing that is great, good, pure, and permanent in these, it stands with its feet on their highest summits, and towers in majestic dignity, far above them all. Its grand peculiar elements are humility and love-humility which was not known to the heathen as a virtue, and love which the Jew was taught to prac-position: tice only towards his friends or brethren, but which the Christian is bound to extend to all mankind, not excepting his bitterest and most injurious In one word, it is the utmost perfection of all morality, to which nothing can be added, and from enemy. Luke xi. 2. Father! hallowed be Matthew vi. 9, &c. Thy kingdom come: Give us this day our Thy kingdom come: Give us day by day |