תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors]

Gospel Ministry, as the labour of their signed, in the important business of trainlives. Certificates of their proficiency ing labourers for the Gospel Harvest, to and behaviour, are required, also, from act for upwards of two thousand christheir teachers: strict economy, in all tian churches, embracing nearly two huntheir expenditures, is enjoined upon them dred thousand communicants. Why, as a sacred duty. The allowance, to then, it may well be asked, is our list of those who are at manual-labour schools, || Beneficiaries so small? We answer, not is limited to seventy dollars a year: Some because there are no more young men of have made filty dollars, in addition to the character contemplated, but simply their own earnings, answer their purpose. and solely because we have not been "No person receives aid, who does not able, in good faith, to receive any more, manifest a willingness to pursue such a with a promise of the assistance which course of education as the Board deems they need. Applications for aid are nuproper, or whose attachment to the merous and pressing, from various parts standards of the Presbyterian church is of our country; but we have not felt warquestionable, or, who is unwilling to re- ranted to entertain and encourage them. ceive his theological instruction in a We have been obliged, though with Presbyterian seminary. painful reluctance, to put them off for the present, with a conditional promise of aid, so soon as it shall be in our power to render it.

"The grounds upon which patronage is withdrawn, are such as these, viz: If the beneficiary change his place of education without leave of the Board; if his talents, state of health, or his prudence, or piety, or diligence be not such as to warrant its continuance; if he enter into the married state; if he put himself under the care of another education society, or refuse to make the requisite returns, in regard to his progress, expenditures, and purpose, in reference to the work of the Ministry.

"Beneficiaries are expected to submit themselves to the paternal care and counsel of the Corresponding Secretary and General Agent of the Board."

SUPERVISION.

RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES.

On this topic, the Board would willingly be silent, did not duty require them to speak out, and declare the truth. The whole amount received, during the year, including annual contributions, congregational collections, donations from individuals, and remittances from auxiliaries, as appears from the Treasurer's statement, is $5,525 69.

have been encouraged to expect aid, are importuning us for the means of going forward in their studies. Their necessities are urgent, and, if not speedily relieved, they will be obliged to suspend, for a time at least, their preparations for the Ministry; and, in all probability, a large number of pious and talented youth will turn to other occupations, in despair of being able to reach the sacred office, with the requisite qualifications.

This sum has been expended in appropriations to our Beneficiaries, and in defraying the necessary expenses of the Board; and there are now demands upon the treasury to a considerable amount, It is made the duty of the Correspond- which we have not the means of satisfying Secretary and General Agent, to ex-ing. Upwards of sixty young men, who ercise a qualified pastoral care over the beneficiaries; to visit them as often as practicable, at least once a year; and to hold correspondence with them as frequently as circumstances may require; which has been done, so far as could be, consistently with his other engagements. Frequent communications are had, also, with the principal teachers, under whose tuition the young men are pursuing their studies: and written advice is submitted to them, occasionally, through the medium of the "Education Register,' which, it is believed, they have all had the opportunity of reading. From their various location, it is obvious, however, that the offices of paternity cannot be extended to them so fully and regularly as might be, in other circumstances. PAUCITY OF BENEFICIARIES, AND THE REASON OF IT.

[ocr errors]

This state of things is, indeed, humiliating-it is appalling: and the question will naturally be asked, have the Board done their duty? Have suitable exertions been made to raise funds? Of this, the Assembly must judge. We can only say, that we have endeavoured to do our duty. And we believe all has been attempted, which it would have been wise to attempt, in the circumstances of the case. We may have been wanting in It may seem strange, that the number faith, but not, we trust, in solicitude, or is so small; that it has increased so little diligence. The fact is, the whole power beyond what it was a year ago: Strange, in this business, is, by the constitution of indeed, it is-nay, it is mortifying. This the Board, left in the hands of the PresBoard, ostensibly represents, and was de-byteries. All that is required of them,

}

denomination train its ministry in its own way, than could be accomplished by any attempt at union, so long as there exists such a diversity of opinion, as is known to exist among christians, in regard to the proper education and necessary qualifications of Gospel Minisiers.

We bid God-speed to our brethren of

faith, in their efforts to fill up their ministerial ranks. We hail them, as fellowlabourers in the good work of the Lord; but we wish to share in these labours of

is, to hand over to us their surplus funds,
for distribution. They were expected,
indeed, to become auxiliary. A few of
them have done so, in form; but none of
them have afforded efficient aid, beyond
the wants of their own Beneficiaries.
Pastors of churches have, in some instan-
ces, remonstrated against our going in
among their people, to solicit contribu-other denominations in the household of
tions. We are not willing to be obtru-
sive; to cause divisions in congregations,
or to interfere with other benevolent in-
stitutions. We have not been able to
procure agents, to operate, where an ap-love. There is ample room, and a loud
plication would probably be welcomed.
Several appointments have been made in
different sections of the church; but they
have been declined, with the exception
of one or two, perhaps. We are told,
in very pathetic terms, that the pressing
of our object, at present, would interfere
seriously with other good designs, of a
local character, dear to the hearts of the
people. Agencies, moreover, are expen-
sive. Men cannot be expected to engage
in them, without adequate support; and
we have not felt quite at liberty to give
pledges, which it might not be in our
power to redeem.

call for the exertions of all who love the
Redeemer, and care for the souls of men.
It is our deliberate purpose, therefore,
to go forward, in this great work, in the
name and strength of the risen Saviour.
In the hearing of the high command, as
it issues from the lips of redeeming love,
"go, teach all nations"-and, on the
margin of "the fountain tha cleanseth
from all sin," we invoke the cordial co-
operation of the two thousand one hun-
dred and fifty-eight churches, with
which we stand connected by a solemn
profession of attachment to the same sys-
tem of christian doctrine and ecclesiasti-
These are a few of the causes that have cal order. Our aim is to raise up well-
operated against the success of this en- taught, and holy pastors for our seven
terprize. Others might be named; such hundred vacant congregations; evangeli-
as the supposed efficacy of manual-labour cal labourers, to perform missionary ser-
establishments, which, though helpful vice in the waste places of our own great
to some extent, and worthy of public fa- country, and to assist in bearing the glad
vour, certainly cannot be made to super-tidings of Gospel Salvation to six hun-
cede the necessity of other pecuniarydred millions of heathen. The Provi-
aid, unless young men are required to dence of God is calling upon us to en-
spend some twenty years, of the best gage in this work, with renewed zeal,
part of life, instead of eight or ten, in and strong confidence. The spirit of re-
preparing to labour in the Gospel vine-vivals is abroad in the churches. Large
yard. Some people profess to have scru- numbers of young men are brought into
ples, in regard to our general design, be- the kingdom of Christ, and are disposed,
cause, in a few instances, young men who by his grace, to serve him in the minis-
have received gratuitous aid, have disap- try of his gospel. They are saying, in
pointed public expectation; a result to view of the plentecus harvest, and scar-
be guarded against, with all care, but, city of labourers, "here are we, send
by no means, forming a valid objection to us." The time to favour Zion is come.
the cause. With another class of per- The Macedonian cry, comes from every
sons, it is a question, whether an institu- quarter of the peopled world. The in-
tion, so limited in its scope-confined as habitants of the isles are waiting for Mes-
this is, in its appropriations, to indigent siah's law. Can we, in such circumstan-
youth of our own denomination, exclu-ces, and in such times as these, be inac-
sively, comport with the spirit of the tive, without treachery to our blessed
age, or be consistent with good feelings Master? We cannot. "He that is not
towards other portions of the great chris- with me, says Christ, is against me; and
tian family. On this point, the Presby- he that gathereth not with me, scatter-
terian Church, in the exercise of chari-eth abroad." The maxim is divine and
ty and good will towards all that love our incontrovertible. Let us endeavour to
Lord Jesus Christ, expressed her judg- imbibe and manifest its spirit; and our
ment when she instituted this Board.labour will not be in vain in the Lord. A
Nor has it been proved, as vet, that her pious ministry-able, and in number,
decision was erroneous. It seems rea-adequate to the work that is to be per-
sonable to expect that more, in the ag-formed, is indispensable, in the grand
gregate, will be done, and done with less design of evangelizing the world.
danger of sectarian jealousy, if every We hope to be excused for these ex-

hortatory remarks. An earnest desire to reach the ear, and secure the assistance of the churches, through the medium of the General Assembly, must be our apology. One suggestion more, and we have done. If every congregation, by its minister or eldership, would become responsible for the support of one beneficiary, or more, as may suit their ability, and make punctual payment, semi-annually, or annually, we should, no longer, have occasion to complain of he want of funds. At a late meeting of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, pledges were given for the support of seventeen beneficiaries; and we are happy to learn, that this simple and practicable plan has been recently adopted elsewhere. How easy it would be, for this great Assembly, to set an example, in this way, that would animate and move the whole Presbyterian church, and give an impulse to the cause of Ministerial education, that might pervade this land;-nay, this entire world, and be had in grateful remembrance, in the millenium. Would not the people, here represented, sustain such an act of confidence in their liberality and zeal, for the promotion of a design so closely connected with the glory of Christ, and the salvation of souls? We throw out the idea, in the hope, that, before the rising of this venerable body, we shall be authorized to say to our present incumbents-go on, in your preparations, for the Lord's work: you shall be supported; and to many others, in waiting for an answer to their application,—yes; we will receive you, also:— For "the harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few."

[blocks in formation]

MEMBERS OF THE

BOARD OF EDUCATION,
Elected by the last Assembly.
MINISTERS.

Rev. H. R. Weed
Sylvester Eaton,
Eliakim Phelps,
Ashbel Green, D. D

Robert Steel,

Samuel G. Winchester,
W. L. McCalla,
C. P. Storrs,

J. Mathews, D. D.
Jas. Blythe, D. D.
John Witherspoon,
Alexander Magee,
Obadiah Jennings,
George Potts,
W. J. Frazer.

ELDERS.

Mr. Thomas McKeen,
Aristarchus Champion,
Matthew L. Bevan,
John McMullin,
Henry McKeen,
Zalmon Fitch,
James McCay,

Robt. J. Breckenridge,
David Patton,
Felix Grundy,
John Henderson,
Thomas Lindsey,
Samuel Thompson,
H. B. Funk,

C. McIntyre.

Receipts by the General Agent for the Board of Education, from May 4th to the

6th inst, viz:

United churches of Fox Run and Bullskin, Ky.
Abraham B. Hutton, of 6th church, Philadelphia,
John Fletcher, McConnelsburgh, Pa.

John Brewster, per Rev. Mr. Musgrave,

Church of Snow-Hill, Md. per Rev. Mr. Mustard,
Church of Frankford, Pa. additional,

Church of Freehold, New Jersey,

Rev. P. Hassinger,

Church of Hillsborough, Ohio, per Rev. S. D. Blythe,

Church of Newburyport, by Rev. J. Proudfit,

Rev. William Finney, Md. Harford county,

John Morrison, Esq. Abington, Pa. per Rev. R. Steel,

Rev. Nathaniel Calhoon, Va.

Church of Upper Marsh Creek,

do.

[blocks in formation]

Churches of York and Hopewell, Pa. by Rev. Dr. Cathcart,

do.

Mrs. Jane Whiteside, Oak Mills, Pa. by Rev. Mr. Hutchinson,
Rev. Samuel Davis, by Mr. Barklav,

[blocks in formation]

JOSEPH B. MITCHELL, Treasurer.

$199 18

Church of Buffalo, Ohio, by Rev. Mr. Wallace,

THE

CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.

JULY, 1831.

Beligious Communications.

LECTURES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM OF THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES-ADDRESSED TO YOUTH.

LECTURE LVII.

After considering and explaining the various duties enjoined in the Decalogue, or the summary of the moral law contained in the ten commandments, it is with peculiar propriety that the question is immediately asked in our Catechism "Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?" The answer you are aware is "No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them, in thought, word and deed."

That admirable discrimination, united with conciseness and perspicuity, which characterises the whole of our Shorter Catechism, is strikingly visible in the answer before us.

1. The inability to obey the law of God, of which the answer speaks, is predicated, or affirmed, only of every mere man, among the descendants of Adam. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was truly man, and descended, according to the flesh, from the primitive parents of the human family: and he did, "in this life," that is, through the whole of his abode on earth, perfectly keep the commandments of VOL. IX. Ch. Adr.

God. Being "conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the virgin Mary," he was not "conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity," like every other descendant of the fallen progenitors of our race. He had no taint of native depravity; and through the whole of his life on earth, he did, in thought, word and deed, perfectly obey the law of God. Having been "made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law," if there had been the least moral stain of his nature, or the least defect in his obedience, he could not have been "made of God unto us righteousness." But we are expressly told that "he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth," and that "such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." Such then was Jesus Christ as man; but you know that he was not a mere man. While he was truly man, he was also truly God-"God and man, in two distinct natures, and one person forever;" as your Catechism elsewhere. teaches, and we have had occasion to demonstrate from the Scriptures of truth. Not being, therefore, a mere man, his having perfectly kept the commandments of God, does not invalidate the assertion that all mere men are transgressors of those commandments; that is, they have been so—

2 X

2. "

Since the fall," but not previously. For Adam, before his fall, was able perfectly to obey the divine law; and for a season he did actually thus obey it. Having been created "in the image of God," he was perfectly holy, and was, in his very formation, endued with all the power or ability necessary to his resistance of every temptation, and to his rendering to the law which his Creator gave him, a perfectly sinless obedience. It was therefore proper, that the answer before us should carefully limit, as it does, the moral impotency of man, to what has become his condition

"since the fall."

3. Another limitation is, that it is only "in this life" that the inability in question will continue. For it is a most comfortable thought to the people of God, that "in the life to come" they will be, and for ever remain, as entirely free from sin as the angels of God in heaven. There they will eternally and delightfully obey the whole will of their heavenly Father; and find that in this entire conformity to his blessed will, the happiness of their glorified state will essentially con

sist.

4. Another, and the last qualification of the assertion contained in the answer before us is, that it relates only to a perfect obedience -"no mere man since the fall is able, in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God." This must be noted and remembered, because every real child of God certainly does keep his commandments, truly, sincerely, impartially, and without reserve; although a degree of imperfection cleaves, for the present, to all that he does; and although he is liable to fall, and does sometimes actually fall, into aggravated sin. It is not easy for us to understand how any one who has just conceptions of the holiness of God, and the spirituality and perfection of his law; and who is acquainted with the depravity and deceitful

ness of the human heart; and who reads in the book of God, that "there is not a just man upon earth who doth good and sinneth not," should still believe in a state of sinless perfection, as the attainment of any child of Adam in the present life. So far is this from being the truth, that our Catechism is borne out by the plain testimony of the sacred scriptures, when it asserts that every mere man since the fall, and in the present life, doth "daily break the commandments of God, in thought, word, and deed." Recollect that the commandments of God are broken by the want of perfect obedience, as well as by the actual violation or transgression of them; then think of the summary which our Saviour himself has given of these commandments—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself"-and then say, whether in your own judgment, there has ever been a day of your life, since you were capable of moral action, in which there was no defect of obedience, nor any actual transgression of the Saviour's summary of God's holy law. Can you lay your hand on your heart, and looking up to Him who searches it say"Great God, I appeal to thee, that on such a day my thoughts were all in perfect harmony with supreme love to thee, and with love to my neighbour as to myself; and when all my words and actions were without a fault?" I hope there is none of you that would dare to do this; because your doing it would be a demonstrative proof that you were most awfully blinded and infatuated, by the very sin which you denied. Consider attentively the following plain citations from the oracles of infallible truth, and you will see that the statement of the Catechism does not go to an extreme-Gen. viii. 21-The imagination of man's

« הקודםהמשך »