Magog, by this extraordinary interposition of providence, will strike the surrounding nations with awe, who will allow the Jews to dwell in peace and realize great prosperity. Not only will they let them alone, but confer on them their favours, and assist them in their designs, for they say, the nations shall perish that decline to serve them, who are evidently the seed, the blessed of the Lord. While the Jews, however, proceed to the most important national arrangements, the division of the land, the erection of the city and temple, the restoration of their ancient worship, and the adjustment and establishment of their polity, the affairs of the Roman empire will undergo a mighty change. Though papal intolerance will expire when the Ottoman empire falls, Christianity will be no gainer, for the Eastern nations weakened as they will be by the predicted catastrophe, will also be easily subdued by the Western nations, and the old Roman empire, or rather Daniel's colossal image will appear in all its grandeur. Now, the principles of infidelity and republicanism are to be diffused through the nations, and the reign of atheism to succeed, to whose iron sceptre protestants and papists will unitedly bow. And thus consolidated and corrupted, the nations of the East and of the West will form Rome infidel, no less the wonder of the world than Rome pagan or Rome papal.

The Roman Empire thus consolidated, enlarged, and infidelized, will resolve on the extermination of the Jews. Determined to maintain and extend their dominion the infidel nations will unite their forces and give their power again to the Beast. They will then exemplify the awful temerity to go up against the Jews, determined to destroy them with an utter destruction. This trouble

will come upon the seed of Abraham, for some great national crime of which they will have been guilty, and to which they will be given up for their continued rejection of Messiah, to hasten the ruin of the infidel nations, and prepare the way of the Lord. Like a storm the infidel armies will descend upon the Jews, death and destruction will attend their march, and having laid waste the beautiful country of Judea, they will lay siege to the holy city of Jerusalem, get possession of the interior, rifle the houses, ravish the women, and utterly destroy two thirds of the inhabitants. This will be the day of trouble, such as never was before, such as never will be again.

Then, Gentlemen, according to these modern Seers, who appear to see the end from the beginning, will be displayed the sign of the Son of Man in heaven with power and great glory, when every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Then will the Lord himself descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God. Then will take place the first resurrection of Patriarchs and Prophets, Apostles and Evangelists, Confessors, Reformers and Martyrs. Then the living righteous will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and put on their immortalized forms. Then they who are raised, and they who are changed, will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so to be ever with the Lord. Then will the Lord descend with these ten thousand times ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment on the Roman Empire, and deliver the distracted Jews. Then will Satan be bound with a great chain, by the hands of Jesus, and be cast into the bottomless abyss for a 1000 years. Then will the Jews

a process of reasoning, thus: "The Bible declares that he who believeth shall certainly be saved;' now I believe, therefore I shall assuredly be saved." My own opinion is, that the Bible does not present the gospel message under one single form always the same, but under various forms, so that, when a person receives into his heart the gospel, as it is presented in some passages, assurance is, in fact, deduced from faith in a very clear manner, by means of the syllogism above stated, but that when the Holy Spirit communicates his saving influence by means of passages of another kind, assurance is then so intimately connected with faith that they almost form one and the same mental act or sentiment. I acknowledge that, even in that case, they are essentially distinguishable, for the truth is, that they succeed each other with so much rapidity, as that the interval which separates them, is scarcely perceived by the mind. If this representation be erroneous, the error is all my own, it is not the opinion of all my Dissenting brethren in Switzerland.

The writer of the first letter says of us, "These good men, whose faith has been so severely tried, and have yet found it sufficient to bear them up, cannot be supposed to be exercised with doubts," &c. The author is greatly mistaken in attributing our principles to our circumstances; our principles preceded our trials. I may even say further, that few persons are more inclined than I am to doubts and to fear; and that therefore neither my circumstances nor my disposition have been the cause of that full persuasion which I entertain of assurance being inseparable from full faith. The author here confounds spiritual joy with assurance. In several English books I have met with

• Vide, page 289.

this want of accurate distinction. The assurance of salvation, and the joy of salvation are two things which ought to be carefully distinguished. The neglect of this is the source of many unfounded objections. The author is also mistaken if he supposes me to maintain that assurance must, of necessity, be found wherever there is any degree of true faith. What I say is, that assurance is the immediate consequence of a full and entire faith. There is a difference between having faith and having faith in its fulness. Two men equally sincere may believe; the one fully, the other only to a certain extent. With respect to the case related in Mark ix. 17-25, if the writer of the letter will be pleased to examine verses 22, 23, 24, especially the words, "If thou canst do any thing," he will admit that the faith of the distressed father was not complete but imperfect; yea, wavering, though sincere. This case does not prove that doubt may exist in a faith which is entire, it only proves that the Lord who commands us to receive those who are weak in faith, receives them himself, and that faith, though weak, if it springs from the heart, is precious in his sight, and will never be confounded. The grand question is, What is faith when it exists in its fulness? That a faith still accompanied with doubts may be sincere, an evident fruit of the Holy Spirit, a precious evidence of the election of

the person who possesses it. I am so far from denying, that I, in the strongest manner, acknowledge it. But because a person has a beginning, a certain measure of true faith, it does not therefore follow that he possesses faith in its fulness.

I admit as fully as the author the necessity of self-examination. Neither let him for a moment imagine that I rashly assure men of their safe state without probing them to the heart. I am so fear

ful of leaving souls under an illusion, that when I am led into conversation with any one who professes to belong to Christ, I consider it my sacred duty to employ every means of discerning whether he is serious and sincere before God, deeply sensible of his misery, urged by a deep sense of his need to the cross of Christ, and fighting the good fight. I regard it as criminal unfaithfulness in a Christian to spend some time, and often considerable portions of time with a person who professes to be a converted person, but whose character there may be reason to suspect, without endeavouring to dispel the illusions of his heart; but abets his going to believe that he is in a safe state, instead of employing all possible means to inspire him with just alarm. I often sigh with sorrow for the coming of that time when the children of God shall no longer contribute to lead the blind into the pit by a culpable silence, and by keeping up quite worldly intercourse with them; a course which tends to cherish deep slumber with regard to spiritual things, and to make the deluded persons think either that their state is good enough, or that the difference between them and pious persons is very unimpor

tant.

But I consider it as a great sin against the word of God, to charge with presumption the sinner who from his inmost soul, believing himself to be utterly condemned, and coming to Christ as his only refuge, entertains an humble but firm certainty that he will not be cast out, in virtue of the solemn promise which the Lord of truth has made, “him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out."

As the Bible declares that he who has faith shall certainly be saved, and as the writer of the letters seems to think that assurance is a rare enjoyment and difficult to be obtained, he thereby necessarily holds that it is a diffi

cult and rare thing to know that one has faith; a proposition upon which I must invite the serious reflections of all whose souls are not devoid of spiritual sensibility. "I do not know whether I have faith; then I do not know, if I were to die to-morrow that I should not be cast into everlasting fire. It is a difficult and rare thing to rise above such a doubt, since it is a difficult and rare thing for a person to know that he has faith." Where then is the peace of the children of God?

Further, this doctrine contributes not a little to make men contented with a vague generality in religion, and a species of indolence which is very prejudicial to their spiritual progress. Resting upon the supposition that it is extremely difficult for any one to know that he has true faith; and that very few can be sure of it; they feel no uneasiness in being quite at uncertainty on this matter, and in leaving the question of their spiritual state covered with obsurity; and far from being urged by these principles to search their hearts, they are turned away from examining themselves whether they have true faith by the notion, that it is almost impossible to arrive at a certainty about it.

It appears that the author of the second letter has not rightly understood mine; I should dread as well as himself to represent faith as a mere assent to the truth of speculative notions, or to say to an unconverted man that his sins are forgiven him, that he is one of the elect, or the like. I am continually more convinced that the mischief of controversies lies in men not understanding each other, so that I am less and less disposed to controversial discussions. But as the author of the first letter says, that I have very confused ideas of faith, he is thereby engaged to communicate to me the light which he thinks I want. I come forward then to

assure him, that very far from repelling instruction, I desire it, and consequently I beg of him kindly to give me, through your Magazine, a concise and exact definition of SAVING FAITH.

I do not ask for a description but a definition of faith; but I would also hint, as a friend, that I cannot admit such a definition, as I have found in one of your most esteemed authors, namely, that faith is to believe that Jesus has the will and the power to save him who believes. This is what we call, in logic, reasoning in a circle, it is saying that faith is to believe that Jesus saves him who believes; to which the ejoinder will ever recur, "What is believing?"

I will also inform him that if, as the same author does in another place; he were to answer me, that to believe is to confidently cast one's soul, and all one's eternal interests into the hands of Christ, I should ask him, is it with a confidence entire or not entire? I

think he would no more than myself venture to say that faith in Christ is to cast one's soul on Jesus, with a confidence not entire; on the other hand, if he should answer that it is with perfect confidence, I would ask him again what logical difference he can find between perfect coufidence and

assurance.

What is saving faith? I shall gladly receive whatever information shall appear to me well founded according to the Scriptures. I fervently seek for light, and I will publicly acknowledge whatever truth I shall find supported by convincing evidence; but I ask for a definition plain, clear, and rigorously exact.

Without knowing the author of this letter, I beg him to accept my fraternal regards, &c.

I have the honour to remain, Gentlemen, &c.

C. ROCHAT.

Hastings, June 18, 1827.

ON THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

No. II.

(Concluded from p. 422.)

THERE are many who deceive themselves by resting on a system very different from the Gospel, though called by its name. But let it not be inferred from this that the Divine word is obscure, or that it is an uncertain means of obtaining peace. This fact calls, indeed, for solemn caution as to what we receive or teach, as the truth of God; it ought to impress us with a sense of the danger of resting in distorted or partial statements of truth, and should put us on our guard against that confident spirit which originates in ignorance, error, and pride. But let us not disparage the divine record. There is a light and an energy in the truth of God, by which it is distinguished from the systems of men. "What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord." His word operates like "a fire and a hammer," Jer. xxiii. 28, 29. And in proportion as the evidence or demonstration of the truth itself strikes the mind as an exhibition of the character of God, of the absolute perfection of the work of Christ, and of the unfettered freeness of Divine mercy through Him, is the consequent peace and joy of the heart. We accordingly find that the first Christians were distinguished by the spirit of adoption, and by the possession of sacred peace and humble joy, Acts ii. 44. viii. 39. 1 Thess. i. 6. Rom. v. 1, 2. xiv. 17. It is thus that there is produced in the heart fervent gratitude for the kindness, and profound esteem for the worth displayed in the whole scheme of redemption through Christ.

Now, by the joint influence of these active principles, the spirit of God attracts the believer to the character of the friend of sinners, and brings him under its trans