us. It is, however, surprising, that such men as Lightfoot, Hammond, Whitby, and some others, who saw so far, were not led forward to see farther; or to perceive, that the legitimate extension of their own interpretations nullified those parts of the popular creed, which teach a future visible coming of Christ, a universal judgment, and a literal conflagration of our globe. They were evidently misled by the assumption of a false principle, that of double fulfilments, which Professor Lee has proved to be destitute of Scriptural foundation. See his Dissertations, Sect. iii. p. 267-280. Indeed, Doctor Lightfoot might have perceived his own restraining language, "nothing more"-" alone"-" not at all to be referred"-to be utterly inconsistent with more than one fulfilment.

66

ON THE MINISTRY.

To the Editors of the Biblical Inquirer.

R. R.

Sirs,-As you have given two important extracts, from Whitby and Marks, ON APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION," concerning which I fully agree with you, "that the whole fabric not only falls together but is overthrown by their own hands," I propose to follow them up by a few remarks on the more general subject of THE MINISTRY; taking, as a foundation, the memorable words of Peter:

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LOOK ON US. Acts, iii. 4.

The event is most interesting. After the outpouring of the spirit, according to the promise of Christ to his Apostles,-"Tarry YE in the city of Jerusalem, until YE be endued with power from on high." Luke, xxiv. 49.—which was to qualify them for the exercise of their office, we find the work of healing among the "signs" given to them, to demonstrate by whom they were sent, or show to the world at large that they were the true servants of the most high God." Mark, xvi. 15-18; Acts xvi. 17. The means of raising a sick person invariably was by "the laying on of hands;" but in this event the Spirit of Jesus beamed through these honoured instruments, when they said "LOOK ON US.” "And he," the lame man, "leaping up stood and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God." And the people were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.” Acts, iii. 8. 10.

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In taking a survey of this divinely-appointed, miracle-endowed BODY, who had "the first fruits of the spirit," Rom. viii. 23.—we may, "de

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1st. Turn to the commission given them. When Jesus was clared to be the Son of God, with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead,”—Rom. i. 4, 5.-This office of apostleship, was promised in the words, YE shall receive POWER, after the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and YE shall be witnesses unto me, &c., Acts, i, 8. And his continuance with them, thus: Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the consummation of the age." Matt. xxviii. 20. All this was given in promise; and to shew the faithfulness of the promiser,-mark the fact—while they were sitting in the house, "there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire: and it sat upon each of them." Acts, ii. 3, 4. And to show that this was a fulfilment of certain prophecies, the apostle himself declares, "but this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel." &c.-compare ver. 14, 21; with Joel, ii. 28-32. We might also turn to many others; but, for the sake of brevity, take one with its fulfilment.

EPHESIANS, iv.

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." ver. 11, 12.

"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." ver. 13.

"Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things." ver. 8-10. And he gave some apostles, &c.

ver. 11.

And, as a confirmation, take Paul's testimony, as given in the first, second, and third chapters of this epistle. Were it not for fear of intruding too much on your patience, I would notice much more contained in that beautiful portion.

Another testimony of importance we find in 1 John, i. 1—5. Thus one of the eye-witnesses of Jesus' glory, who said to the lame man "LOOK ON US," has testified

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with OUR eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life," ver. 1. And this LIFE was manifested unto us" the apostles, ver. 2. That the church might "have fellowship with us: und truly OUR fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." "These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." ver. 3, 4.

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Again these " AMBASSADORS,' "2 Cor. v. 20.-these MINISTERING SPIRITS," Heb. i. 14.—these "STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES of God," 1 Cor. iv. i.-these "ANGELS of MICHAEL, and of the Churches," Rev. i. 20; xii. 7-11.-these "KINGS AND PRIESTS," ib. i. 5, 6.—these BRANCHES" in the true VINE, John xv. 1-8.—these "TWELVE GATES," and "TWELVE FOUNDATIONS" of the Spiritual Temple, Rev. xxi. 12, 13. —these "LIGHTS OF THE WORLD," Matt. v. 14.-declared, under the influence of the Spirit, as a confirmation of their divine mission, “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." ver. 5. "and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." ver. 7.

Now let us turn to Peter's epistles, and take one quotation from the second epistle, i. 13-21, and then judge, whether there is not something sublime in the contemplation of his words,

"6 LOOK ON US."

Upwards of thirty years had elapsed from the time of his uttering those words to his writing of this epistle; and yet, how coincident the

language! He thought "it meet to put them in remembrance," knowing that his race was nearly run out. ver. 13, 14. And one particular point appeared to weigh heavy on his mind; "Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after MY decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly-devised fables, when WE made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of his majesty." ver. 15, 16. And beyond this ocular demonstration, he heard the voice of the Father, "from the excellent glory," declaring "this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; and this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount." ver. 17, 18. And independent of all this, 66 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts: ver. 19,referring, no doubt, to the sacred prophecies contained in the revelation which John, his fellow labourer, was the honoured instrument to receive.

Beholding so much concentrated in THEM; who can refrain from obeying their mandate "LOOK ON US?"-and seeing they were sent forth to minister "for" (not unto) "us,"-(see Heb. i. 14)—how can we look on any other class of men, since such proof is annexed to the apostolic testimony? As a confirmation, let us turn to 2 Cor. x, where we find in one short chapter, thirty-six personal allusions to the apostles, in their ministerial calling and, in the following verses, the arguments are most striking-for example-"we dare not make OURSELVES of the number, or compare OURSELVES with some that commend themselves; but they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without OUR measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not OURSELVES beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you; for WE are come as far as you also in preaching the Gospel of Christ. Not boasting of things without OUR measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to OUR rule abundantly, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand." ver. 11-16.

But it is vain to attempt to give extracts: the whole must be read to be appreciated.

Again, to contrast the temporal reward of the ministers of Christ, with those who have assumed the office, and do assume it, let us secondly, refer to a few passages which treat of

THEIR SUFFERINGS,

and judge whether the SHADOw bears any resemblance to the BODY, which was demonstrated as the true, by signs following them.

Paul, in various parts of his epistles, gives such a picture of the fact, as proves the present hirelings only officiate, in consequence of the smooth and easy path which is connected with the office. Take 2 Cor. iv. 5-12, as proof that THEY had to endure persecution as their earthly lot, and Acts, xx. 32-35, to show how faithful they were to that whereunto they were called, and that the Ephesians knew how those hands had laboured for his own necessities, and had refrained from being chargeable to them, or had coveted their silver and gold. The same argument he uses to the

Thessalonians. 1st. Epist. ii. 6-9 and in the 2nd. iii. 7—9. “Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you." Also, 1 Tim. iv. 8-11. Again, take 1 Cor. iv. and mark his reward after labouring near a quarter of a century in the work of the ministry. "For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men; we are fools, WE are weak,

WE

are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and LABOUR, WORKING WITH OUR OWN HANDS; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, WE entreat; we are made as the filth of the world, and are the off-scourings of all things unto this day." ver. 9-13.

"Unto this day," that is, A. D. 59. For if the expression could with propriety be brought down to the present period, then it would follow there were SUCCESSORS, to these suffering individuals; but will any mitred head dare assume the office as a SUCCESSOR? Should one be found so weak of understanding as to think he is, he has only to do as his predecessors did; that is, "work with his own hands," and experience "hunger, and have no certain dwelling place," to

nakedness,

thirst,
be a perfect resemblance of the ORIGINAL!!

But, Sirs, I will not at this time attempt to intrude further on your patience, but subscribe myself,

London, April, 1844.

Yours respectfully,

J. C. MENCE.

NOTICES.

We must request some of our correspondents to bring new matter into their controversies, and not to impose on their respondents the task of meeting the same arguments by a repetition of the same answers. W. B. takes no notice of the remarks in p. 4, &c. of our first uumber; and R.- produces, as examples of "general prophecy," events, which would not be classed by Professor Lee under that head.

R. R.'s answer to Mr. Ryder and other favours are unavoidably postponed.

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I resume my observations on the Diagram, as promised in your first number; and, having concluded my remarks on the ministry of Christ, I need not enter at length into the circumstances connected with his sufferings and crucifixion, by which he put away sin. See Hebrews. ix. 26. The prophets abundantly foretold this wonderful event, Isiah liii, Psalms xxii, and lxix. It would be almost endless to quote them on this head, as they dwell so copiously on this great subject of "the love of God in the gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." Rom. iv. 25. The third division of the Diagram, to the third boundary line, represents the space from Christ's resurrection to his ascension, which was prophecied of Ps. xvi. 10, “for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." In this third state of the Diagram, the converse of the Son of God was confined to his disciples; and although the apostles were witnesses of him after his resurrection, their understanding appears to have been very limited until the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They did not understand the Scriptures of the prophets at this time; and, when some of the disciples were reasoning among themselves, on their way to Emmaus, concerning what had happened, Jesus being present, but unknown to them, said, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into HIS GLORY? And, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself." How important are the Scriptures: they testify of Jesus, in all he has done and completed for the redemption and salvation of his people. No one who treats the Scriptures with indifference can understand the value of true religion. How many are there who utter with the mouth, Sunday after Sunday, "from all hardness of heart, and contempt of THY WORD and commandment, good Lord deliver us," and probably never hear a word, or see one syllable of the sacred volume again till the following Sunday. I have seen persons sitting at places of religious worship while the Scriptures were read, apparently as careless and indifferent as though it were a part of the service of the day which is only to occupy the time and attention of the reader; whereas, if the importance of the sacred oracles of truth were duly considered, that part of the service would have by far the greatest share of attention bestowed upon it: here we have the pure and unadulterated word of Truth. May it please the Majesty of Heaven to endear his word to his people, and to grant his family wisdom and understanding to understand the Scriptures :-may his