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operation, that the stormy wind and troubled waves subside, and there is a sweet calm: the heart resting as in the arms of Jesus, and the sinner being clearly satisfied that all his 'iniquities are forgiven, and his sins covered.'" 6. REGENERATION.-We shall again extract from the Conference Catechism here.

Ques. What is regeneration, or the new birth? Ans. It is that great change which God works in the soul, when he raises it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. It is the change wrought in the whole soul by the Almighty, when it is created anew in Christ Jesus-when it is renewed after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness.

Ques. What follows from our regeneration, or being born again?

Ans. Then our sanctification being begun, we receive power to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ, and to live in the exercise of inward and outward holiness.

We are now led to a doctrine which, perhaps, more than any other in the Wesleyan system of theology, has been made the subject of adverse comment. The reader will anticipate

that we allude to the doctrine of

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till sin is separated from his soul; and in that instant he lives the full life of love." It is added, however: "Yet he still grows in grace, in the knowledge of Christ, in the love and image of God; and will do so, not only till death, but through all eternity."

We naturally pass from this view of the height to which the Wesleyans elevate the standard of possible Christian attainment, to notice their belief respecting

8. THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS.-They hold that a believer need never fall from grace, but that, on the contrary, he may and should gc on from strength to strength. But they also believe that, through temptation and unwatchfulness, he may fall into sin, and not only lose, for a time, but never recover, the favour and image of God.

This part of our subject may be concluded by a few words, stating the Wesleyan doctrine respecting

tain such feelings as those thus expressed in
one of their most popular hymns:—

"When from the dust of death I rise,
To claim my mansion in the skies,
Even then, this shall be all my plea,
JESUS hath lived, hath died for me!"

they believe that works, as the evidences of
faith, will then be inquired into; and, moreover,
that good works, springing from lively faith,
and performed through love of God, will be re-
quited with a reward, not the less precious
because it will be, not at all of debt, but
altogether of grace.

9. GOOD WORKS.-While the Wesleyans strenuously deny that good works can, in any degree, avail to the justification of the sinner, and that the unjustified man can perform any 7. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION, OR "CHRISTIAN work that has not in it "the nature of sin," PERFECTION."-The Wesleyans believe not only they as earnestly affirm that wherever justifythat a work of progressive sanctification is ing faith has been brought into exercise, its carried forward in the believer from the period genuineness will, and must, be attested by the of his conversion, but, moreover, that those who fruit of good works. And while, in anticipatseek the blessing by earnest faith, may attaining the judgment of the great day, they mainto a maturity of grace which will exclude sin from the heart, and fill it with perfect love to God and man. This attainment is what they call Christian Perfection. But, various mistakes on this point might have been avoided, if Mr Wesley's own statements respecting it had been attended to. For instance, he says: "To explain himself a little further on this head :1. Not only sin properly so called (that is, a voluntary transgression of a known law), but sin improperly so called (that is, an involuntary transgression of a divine law, known or unknown), needs the atoning blood. 2. I believe there is no such perfection in this life as excludes these involuntary transgressions, which I apprehend to be naturally consequent on the | ignorance and mistakes inseparable from mortality. 3. Therefore, sinless perfection' is a phrase I never use, lest I should seem to contra dict myself. 4. I believe a person filled with the love of God is still liable to these involuntary transgressions. 5. Such transgressions you may call sins if you please; I do not, for the reasons above-mentioned." The Wesleyans believe that this attainment of "perfect love" may be at once realized through faith. In Mr Wesley's "Plain Account of Christian Perfection," he thus speaks: "A man may be dying for some time; yet he does not, properly speaking, die till the instant his soul is separated from the body; and in that instant he lives the life of eternity. In like manner, he may be dying to sin for some time; yet he is not dead to sin,

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We have thus given what we believe to be a correct summary of those doctrines which are either, in some degree, peculiar to the Wesleyan-Methodists, or on which mistakes and misrepresentations have existed as to their opinions. We have thought it the better plan to select and extract passages from authorized documents on the several points, thus letting Wesleyanism speak for itself. This may have caused the statement of doctrines to wear sometimes rather an apologetical and defensive aspect, scarcely consistent with the impartiality we desire to manifest, so far as the composition of these articles is concerned; but this fault-if fault it be-is made up for by the authentication and verification of the statements which are thus secured.

A few very brief notices of the RELIGIOUS SERVICES of the Wesleyan-Methodists shall conclude the present paper.

THE POOR COTTAGER'S DEATH.

PUBLIC WORSHIP.--This, on the Sabbath morning, is commenced in many of the most important congregations, by the reading of the Church of England service, in a more or less abridged form. The Conference has recommended that, when this is not done, the lessons for the day, as appointed in the calendar, should be read. Where this formulary is not used (and, indeed, where it is, only that the subsequent devotional exercises are then shortened), a hymn is sung from a hymn-book compiled by John Wesley, and subsequently much enlarged, of which, however, the compositions of Charles Wesley, of whom the Methodists delight to think as the "sweet singer" of their Israel, occupy a large portion. Extemporaneous prayer follows; then another hymn; then, unless the Church service has been previously used, reading of the Scriptures; then an extemporaneous sermon; and the service is concluded with singing and prayer. With the exception of the Church service, the same order is observed in the evening worship. A prayer meeting frequently follows, in which several accredited official or private members, under the superintendence of the minister, or some other known and responsible person, engage in

prayer.

WATCH-NIGHTS.-The custom of holding "watch-nights," originated with the converted colliers at Kingswood, near Bristol, who had been accustomed, when they were slaves of sin, to pass their Saturday nights at the ale-house. They now devoted that night to prayer and praise. Mr Wesley took up the idea, and resolved to make something like their practice general. Watch-nights may be held at any time; but the principal observance of the usage in the Wesleyan Church is on the last night of the old year. Then, prayers, a sermon, exhortations, and the singing of appropriate hymns, are continued until within a few minutes of twelve o'clock. The congregation engage in silent prayer, during the minutes immediately preceding and following the stroke of midnight. Then they arise, and, usually, sing a hymn, well known in the Connexion, which begins

"Come, let us arew our journey pursue,
Koll round with the year,

And never stand still till the Master appear."
Prayer closes the service.

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Amongst the peculiarities of Methodism, we must notice Class-Meetings and Lore-Feasts. CLASS-MEETINGS.-Their origin has been adverted to in the preceding paper. Persons "desirous to flee from the wrath to come" assemble weekly to relate to each other their religions experience-to receive from the leader such counsel or admonition as they may respectively require, to pray for one another, and to encourage and stimulate one another in the ways of piety. Band-Meetings are class-meetings on a smaller scale as to numbers, comprising usually only a very few persons, and on a stricter plan as to faithfulness in the interchange of mutual reproof or advice.

LOVE-FEASTS are a revival, in a simpler form, and with a more expressly religious purpose, of the agape of the primitive Christians. The members of society meet, sing and pray together; partake of bread and water, as an indication of kindly feeling; pass some time in the relation of Christian experience, as at classmeetings; and contribute to a collection for the poorer members of the Church. These "feasts of love" generally take place after the quarterly visitation of the classes, when the ministers have personally seen and inquired into the spiritual condition of the members, and have given to those deserving of continued membership, the "Ticket," with a text of Scripture printed on it, which is the token of recognition, admitting to those services which are not open to the public.

The ecclesiastical frame-work of the Wesleyan Church-its affairs, and the funds by which its operations are sustained-will form the subject in our next article.

THE POOR COTTAGER'S DEATH. "I WILL tell you what I think, sir," said a poor cottager, in reply to a Christian minister, who had been talking to him about the concerns of his soul: "I think God is too merciful to take much notice of what we poor creatures do. May be he will reckon with those who are learned and rich, and who know better than we, who are not scholars; but I do think, if I can only ask him to save me when I come to die, that I should fare very well in the other world, if there be one." "I endeavoured," said the minister, "to show him that though God has made a difference among his creatures in the distribution he has made of his bounty, yet, as sinners, we are on a level in his sight; that he notices alike the conduct of every ra RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT. This service is tional creature; that he has given us a revelation of held early in the new year-when practicable, his will, which shows us the way of salvation by his on the first Sabbath. It is a renewal of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ; and that this way of recovery from our perishing state as sinners, is so engagement of the members of the Societies to plain, that even the most unlearned may understand be devoted to God. A sermon or exhortation it; and that if he refused to listen to the truth when is delivered; extracts from a powerful tract, he had an opportunity of doing so, he would act as entitled "Directions for Penitents and Be-wickedly as if he really knew it.". "It may be so, sir, lievers Renewing their Covenant with God," are read; the officiating minister reads the "Covenant Prayer" from this tract; and the solemn service is generally concluded by the adminis tration of the Lord's supper.

perhaps; but I only mean to take care of the main chance, as we country folk say, till I am going to die, and then it may be time enough to see about the other world."

"And so," said I," you really think that taking care of your temporal interest, and obtaining food

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and clothing, is the principal thing which man has to do in the present world?" "I think so, and so does a power of other people." "If you had a box," I asked, "which contained a thousand guineas, which would it be best to take care of-the box, which was decaying, or the money?" "Oh, the money to be sure!"" And if you have a soul which must live for ever and ever, and a body in which it lives only for a little while, and will then decay, which should you care for most?" "Ah! sir, that is all very good, I dare say, but we must take care of the body now, that is certain; and the soul must be thought of by-and-by."

I could make no impression on his mind, but retired, praying that He who wept over the impenitent sinners of Jerusalem would be pleased to show this man his folly, and lead him to seek that salvation without the possession of which no man can be saved from the wrath to come.

Several years passed away, when I was one day informed that a man, in breathless haste, had come to say that John Wilkins was dying, and that I must immediately go to see him. I hastened to the cottage, where I found the poor old man with whom I had the conversation I have repeated. He had met with an accident while engaged in his labour, and had just been informed by his doctor that he could not survive it many days. "O sir!" said he, the moment he saw me enter his room, "O sir! my soul is lost!-my soul is lost! Save me, O save me! I am dying-I cannot live;-you must save me! O sir! do

save me!"

He was in unutterable distress; nor was it without cause. He had neglected the great concerns of immortality through life, and how could it be expected that he would be happy in the prospect of death! He had neglected the service of that Being who requires us to seek his favour as soon as we have heard of his requirements; and how, then, could he expect to be favoured with joy in the prospect of appearing at his bar! "I cannot save you, John," I replied; you have been an awful sinner for many years; you have broken the law of God; you have long refused to hear how he could save you. No man or angel could save you; nor can anything short of the infinite grace of the almighty God save you from endless misery." He cried out, "I know it, I know it; but what can I do? Will God anyhow have mercy on

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me now?"

I sat down, and endeavoured, in the plainest and simplest manner, to explain the way of salvation, by Christ's dying for our sins, to him. I showed him how we had all failed to obey the holy and righteous law of God; that we had done many things which we ought not to have done, and had left undone many things which God had commanded us to perform; that, as the effect of our sins, we had drawn on ourselves the anger of God, who has said: "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them" (Deut. xxvii. 26); and that, therefore, we could not by any means make atonement to his justice for the sins we bad committed. I then told him that so great was the love of God to poor sinners, that he sent his only Son into the world to publish the holy law, and to die, that sinners by him might be saved; and I assured him that even the greatest sinner, who believed our Lord Jesus Christ, and placed his hope of salvation on him, as the only and all-sufficient Saviour, might enjoy the eternal blessings of his mercy. He listened with eagerness to the communications I made, and to the prayers I offered on his account; but whether his entire neglect of all the means of grace previously might not have prevented his being able to understand the way of salvation, I am unable to say; it is certain, however, that every

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The awful prospect of this poor man's future state has often been to me a source of much anxiety. At times, I have indulged a hope of meeting him before the throne of God, as a trophy of the grace of Jesus, shown at the last hour; but far oftener have I feared that his long rejection of the mercy of Christ only prepared him for the torments of hell. It is true, he appeared to repent of his past sins; but it might have been only the fear of future punishment, rather than grief of heart on account of offending a holy and gracious God. What a warning! Oh, sinner! repent now-even now, while it is called to-daylest, when death comes, you bind your bands too strong.-N. Y. Observer.

THE ALTOGETHER LOVELY. AUGUSTINE'S prayer was: "Lord, give me thyself!" And in this spirit the believer is ready to exult: "Whom have I in the heavens but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. The Lord himself is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup; thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel." Surely the whole world cannot weigh against the comfort of being able to let all go and look up: "Thou art my portion, O Lord." For, leave him a destitute and indigent God, it is imposunless his perfections should moulder away, and sible that his people can be impoverished. This portion, however, can never be enjoyed, even by a child of God, unless He who is the essence of it be supreme in the soul-not only above all, but in the place of all. Other objects may be subordinately loved; but of none but Himself must we say: "He is altogether lovely."-Rev. C. Bridges.

PRAYING TO SAINTS.

THE rich man cried out and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy upon me!" There was a time when he might have prayed to the God of Abraham, and have found mercy; now he dares not approach that God, whom in his life he had neglected; and he addressed a creature, who has neither power nor authority to dispense blessedness. This is the only instance mentioned in Scripture of praying to saints; and to the confusion of the false doctrine, which states it to be necessary and available, let it be remembered, that it was practised only by a damned soul, and that without any success.-Adam Clarke.

DEATH OF CHILDREN. LEIGHTON thus wrote on hearing of the death of a child: "Sweet thing, and is he so quickly laid asleep? Happy he! Though we shall have no more the pleasure of his lisping and laughing, he shall have no more the pain of crying, nor of being sick, nor of dying. Tell my dear sister, that she is now so much more akin to the other world; and this will be quickly passed to us all. John is but gone at an early hour to bed, as children use to do, and we are undressing to follow. And the more we put off the love of the present world, and all things superfluous, beforehand,

we shall have the less to do when we lie down."

THE CHRISTIAN TREASURY.

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REPENTANCE.

BY THE REV. DAVID KING, LL.D., GLASGOW.

Ir we inquire what is meant by repentance perish."

Such is the solemn asseveration of among evangelical Christians generally, the term Him whom we call Lord and Master; and can may be found nearly equivalent in their appre- we be in truth his servants, or can ours be that hension to penitence or contrition for sin. Repen-repentance which averts perdition, if we despise tance, as so understood, stands distinguished from remorse, which partakes more of an appalling nature, viewing God as unpacified and implacable, and filling the mind with a horrible misery. It is also distinguishable from regret, which is a milder term, expressive commonly of minor concern, and which, besides being moderate in degree, may have respect to mere consequences of conduct apart from its intrinsic hatefulness.

the announcement, and so utterly despise it as to take no pains for ascertaining its import? Let us not be unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. His will is to be learned only from his Word, and not from the suggestions of ingenious speculation; for genuine repentance is a scriptural grace, and we must find in Scripture itself the true account of its nature. We apply ourselves, then, to determine the scriptural signification of the term repentance. There are two words so translated in the New Testament. One of them occurs seldom, and is used with considerable latitude of meaning. It is employed in a good sense, as when the Jews (Matt. xxi. 32) are censured for not repenting, that they should believe on the Baptist; in a bad sense, as when Judas (Matt. xxvii. 3) is said to have re

silver, and thereafter to have hanged himself; and in a sense that may be called indifferent, as when Paul says to the Corinthians (2 Cor. vii. 8), " Though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent."

The other word which our translators have

Many have entertained views of the Christian virtue now under consideration differing widely from those above stated, and also from one another. The Church of Rome has confounded penitence and penance; and numbers, without subscribing to a Papistical creed, have conceived of repentance as essentially bitter in its character-a mental misery which the hapless transgressor must both inflict and endure-pented, and brought again the thirty pieces of a present purgatory, the hidden flames of which must be fanned by the spirit on which they prey, as a painful but indispensable preparation for spiritual joy. Recoiling, perhaps, from these stern conceptions of the subject, some of late ays have passed to an opposite extreme, and have maintained that sorrow for sin, instead of being the whole of repentance, is no part of it whatever. The word, they have argued, denotes in the original, change of mind, by which they seem to understand mere change of opinion and, therefore, brokenness of spirit, they assure us, cannot be one of its constituents, though following after, as one of its sequences. Another interpretation, distinguishable from all the foregoing, has been ably advocated-that scriptural repentance is equivalent to reformation of conduct, and that the sorrow which it implies for former misconduct is a secondary matter at most, and not the principal idea suggested by the language.

These discrepancies of opinion have been noticed, not to create any doubtfulness about ascertaining the truth, but to stimulate earnest ness and diligence in seeking it where alone it can be discovered. "Unless ye repent, ye shall No. 11.*

rendered to repent, occurs often in the New Testament. It is always employed in a good sense, invariably representing the repentance which it denotes as a religious duty; and it is of this word we speak in the following observations.

It has been stated to mean, as we have already remarked, 'change of mind;' and this is no doubt a fair enough translation, if we view the mind as inclusive of the heart. Strictly, it represents a person as otherwise minded afterwards; that is, on reconsidering his conduct. The question, then, arises, If repentance be a change of mind, in what does that mental change consist? It will be readily perceived that we cannot, by a direct act of the will, make the mind, as to its essence or powers, different from what it is; nor does the work of the Holy Spirit properly consist in annulling certain faculThe signification, ties, and creating others.

then, is, that we are to change our minds in rela-ness." Did this repentance import any change of mind as to sin, short of deep-felt sorrow for it? Certainly not; and if so, such sorrow belongs to repentance.

tion to certain subjects; in other words, we are to ponder them seriously, and thus become otherwise and more justly minded concerning them. To put the case more explicitly, we may lay down the proposition that

Repentance denotes a change of mind in relation both to evil and to good.

It may be useful, for the sake of illustration, to divide this twofold statement, and consider its different parts successively.

First, then, repentance involves a change of mind in relation to evil. To exclude the idea of mere opinion being hence altered, while feeling remains unaffected by the process, I think it may be of some moment to prove satisfactorily that repentance, as a change of mind in relation to evil, comprehends sorrow for sin. The accuracy of this sentiment must be judged of by its consistency with Scripture, by collating it with those scriptural passages in which the term repentance occurs. We are informed (Matt. iii.1, 2) that "in those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This was the sum of the Baptist's preaching; and, as an exemplification of its success, we are told of many (verse 6) who were baptized of him in Jordan," confessing their sins." Now, when repentance was the duty enjoined, and confession of sin was the ostensible compliance with the injunction, these seem to be associated in the record as expository of one another. We are told (Matt. xi. 20) that "then began Jesus to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done." He subjoined that “had | such mighty works been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in dust and ashes." But dust and ashes were not put upon the head to bespeak mere change of notion, or visible reformation: they were the appropriate emblems of deep, sorrowing, and self-abasing humiliation. We find our Lord saying (Luke xvii. 3, &c.) "If thy brother trespass against thee rebuke him, and if he repent forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seren times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him." This passage I regard as very decisive of the point at issue. It would be a waste of time to show that repentance in this connection means anything else, or anything less, than a sorrowful acknowledgment of one's fault: and so often as this satisfaction shall be rendered, the offended party is ordered to forgive. We learn (Acts viii.) that when Simon Magus had manifested blasphemous impiety, Peter said to him (verse 22), “Repent therefore of this wicked

It would be easy to adduce more citations of kindred character, but further multiplication of them appears superfluous. These may suf fice to excite our marvel that the love of paradox could be carried so far as to induce any to denude repentance of all penitence, in opposition to such Biblical testimonies, as well as the general sense of the Christian Church in all ages.

Secondly, Repentance denotes a change of mind in relation to what is good.

It may be admitted that this view of the subject, though by no means expressing the whole duty, is too much overlooked. In speaking of repentance, persons are too apt to think of penitential grief exclusively, and are led by this misapprehension into great practical dangers. They are tempted to suppose that affliction of the soul separately, and by itself considered, constitutes a virtue; that to be troubled about sins, and to repent of them, are one and the same thing; and that this mental penance is all the mental change which they require to undergo. Whereas they must repent of wickedness in such a manner as to practise repentance towards God. There must be a turning of mind from it to him. Where the one of these is genuine, the other must attend it; and, indeed, they portray the same frame of soul directing its contemplation to different objects. When we come to loathe evil, we must, in the nature of the case, love its opposite. Proportional to our abhorrence of evil will be our admiration of good, and more especially of the God of goodness; so that, deprecating what we once esteemed, and esteeming what we once deprecated, we inhabit a new world; "all things are changed, and all things become new."

Some have taken exception to such an exposition of repentance as being twofold, and therefore complex, and as placing its constituent ideas in a false order. It calls upon sinners, they say, to change their minds first in relation to sin, and then in relation to the Saviour; while an afflictive sense of sin cannot be experienced before looking to Christ; and a just view of him, instead of coming after contrition, is the grand and only source of genuine self-abasement. In reply we repeat a former observation-that the two views which have been offered of repentance, denote but one frame of mind. We do not first sorrow for

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