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its necessary consequences. If He is an absolutely sinless man, then He is a miracle, differing as He does not only in degree but in kind from every other human being, and is something new within the circumference of human nature. Entering into the community of our race, He is not the production of our race; a branch upon the tree of human nature, but the noble scion of this tree. He was conceived and born of woman, but not begotten by man. His origin was miraculous. It was only on this account that He could truly designate Himself the Son of Man. On the same account He was also the Lord of mankind- of the church-of the world-of each individual soul. He has an absolute relation to the world. But this His relation to the world depends on another and a higher-His relation to God. And here lies the deepest mystery of His nature. His relation to the world is depicted by the first three evangelists, as has been intimated by Mr. Gladstone in his popular papers on "Ecce Homo" in Good Words. But the hidden depths of Christ's nature, rather hinted at than expressly affirmed in the first three evangelists, form the special theme of John's gospel-where His origin is traced to its very roots, in the eternal essence of God, and where all that is told of His eternal being is summed up in the significant title, the Son of God. It was thus that He testified of Himself; and the confession of Thomas, "My Lord and my God," which He then accepted as the expression of faith in Him, has been adopted by the church ever since, and has been made the primary article of her faith, and the prominent theme of her teaching. The church's hymns, and prayers, and worship, and even her art, have borne testimony to His divinity, and its denial, if not quite modern, was certainly not primitive or very early.

On the great question, "Wherefore is the God-Man?" our author is both strong and clear. Briefly but convincingly does he shew the necessity, the possibility, and the reality of the God-Man. But we cannot cite all he says, and will not spoil it by partial quotation.

In the lecture on Christ's Work we are happy to find Dr. Luthardt adhering to the old custom of considering the three offices, His prophetic, His

priestly, and His royal offices. This inculcation of Christ's triple office prevailed from the earliest antiquity down to the days of a Leipsic interpreter, that is to say, Ernesti, who rejected it as a mere figure of speech. The more recent German theologians have restored this method, and Dr. L. contends for it as the most just because most Scriptural.

He

On the vicarious suffering of Christ he is discriminating and decided. "Christ must take upon Himself the whole burden of our guilt and its consequences; have borne them, suffered for them, and experienced the feeling of them in His inmost soul. In this way alone could He affect our deliverance. For this is the way of moral necessity. God 'made Him to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.' bore the consequences of our sin. The consequence of sin is the wrath of God, for God would not have been holy love if He were not angry with sin. God loves only what is like Himself; He loves in us only His own image; He loves us as He willed us to be. It would not be loving us as He willed us to be if He were indifferent to the marring of His own image in us. is this marring of His image: sin is opposition to God, and a denial of Him. God would not be what He is if He did not deny the sin which denies Him. This is the wrath of God. It is not a passionate, a hasty wrath, after the manner of men; but the opposition of His holiness to the sin which opposes it. His wrath is the obverse of His love. No man truly loves holiness unless he hates and opposes sin-at least the sin that is in him, and is angry with himself, the sinner. But God is the absolutely Holy One, and this could not be if He had that false tenderness which is incapable of anger. This anger of the holy God, the result of human sin, is what Christ bore from the time of His incarnation till the overwhelming fact of His death."

Sin

The closing lecture is entitled "The Last Things," and on the saddest, and, as we believe, the surest of these, we give the author's words, unaccompanied by any comments, but preceded by our heartiest commendation.

"Divine justice must have the last word. It has long suffered sinners to speak. But the last word will be its own,

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and this word must be a word of retribution, for it is the word of a judge. Depart,' will He say to the lost; 'Come,' to those who are saved. He will pronounce the condemnation or salvation of all.

"The thought of condemnation is an overwhelming one. It is true that He who occupies the judgment-seat is Infinite Love, but He is Holy Love. It is Jesus Christ our Redeemer who holds the final assize: but the Redeemer is also the Judge. He proclaimed this His future office while yet on earth. And the fact that it is Jesus who will judge us may assure us that divine justice will not pronounce the final sentence until eternal pity is exhausted. But then even pity will give place to justice. It is difficult to us to conceive that God, who is infinite love, can eternally condemn. But when eternal mercy has exhausted itself upon a sinner, and all has been in vain, what more can be done? Such is the greatness of human freedom that it is capable of resisting God. Such is our privilege, that our sinful hearts may be unconquerable even by Him. The whole world, indeed, must bow before Omnipotence, but the heart of man takes upon itself not to bow to the mercy of the Almighty. In this respect there are limits to the power of God which He has Himself ordained. We need to wonder, not that God can condemn, but that man can so obstinately resist. Certainly none will be lost who will let himself be saved, who offers even the slightest hold to divine grace. But for him who wholly and finally closes his heart, the mouth of divine justice has no other word than the complaint, 'And thou wouldst not.' As truly as God is the Holy One, and as truly as His holiness can have no fellowship with sin, so truly is he who has chosen sin for his portion excluded from God and from communion with Him -i.e. unsaved.

"And this is perdition: to be far from God, who alone can appease the evergnawing hunger of the soul, and allay the anxiety of the guilty conscience by the forgiveness of sin; to be separated from God, who alone is the source of life and light, and without whom existence is dark and joyless; to be cast upon oneself in a solitude and silence where the sinful soul has no society but the torment of memory and the night of despair-to be thus alone eternally-this is perdition! Even to conceive, to utter, and to hear this is almost more than we can bear. And yet these are feeble words. What, then, will it be to endure the fact? Yet even the lost will be constrained to acknowledge what their very perdition attests, the holy justice of eternal love."

To this tenderly solemn passage the following note is appended :

"The eternity of punishment is the special point against which so many scruples and objections have been entertained, but as Nicolas rightly observes, Eternity is a necessary element of the idea of perdition. For a perdition for a time, to be followed by salvation, ceases to be perdition. The eternity to follow would obliterate it from the mind. Much

as feeling may revolt against it, it is not merely the unmistakeable doctrine of Scripture, but also a requirement of the reason. For no one is condemned who is not in unison with sin. Such an one has excluded himself, in his innermost nature, from communion with God. For him the love of God has played its part, and has yielded to power. But he who has withstood love will never be converted by power."

By

GOD'S PURPOSES AND MAN'S AC-
COUNTABILITY. A Dialogue.
R. S. T. London: W. Williams
& Co., 29, Moorgate Street.

THE author of this Dialogue, which extends to the size of a goodly pamphet, has written in a devout spirit, and has given evidence of a mind well instructed in divine truths. We happen to know that R. S. T. was trained among Calvinists, and had once no bias in favour of those views which are here advocated. These views are substantially such as are entertained in our section of Christ's church, and they are presented with candour, clearness, and force. The publication must win approval wherever it is calmly read, and we warmly recommend it as one which is fitted to give wider currency to Scriptural teaching on some disputed points of Christian belief.

CHOOSING, LEARNING, LOVING, DoubtING. A Series of Poems. London: A. W. Bennett, Bishopsgate Street. THESE So-called Poems defy our patience to read them through. They are in good type and are well got up, and are quite short; but why they were published or even written, we cannot guess. "Of making of many books there is no end;" and these are some of the many whose "end" (design) is not apparent. The only

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CHRIST IS COMING! is a kind of "Lo! here." It is to contain six parts -the last of which will be published in September, 1874!! The present instalment is on the "Evidences of the Existence of God and the Truth of the

Holy Scriptures." But the aspect of the pamphlet is startling, and its contents will either amaze or amuse the reader.

CARTER'S PRACTICAL GARDENER is published as a standard book of reference on every day matters of gardening. Its various articles have been written by some of the highest authorities amongst working gardeners, and it is issued from the seed warehouse of the proprietor at the low price of one shilling.

THE LIFE OF JESUS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, price threepence, has reached part the third, and is worthy of all the praise we gave to the first part. The second we have not received, but we feel sure that when completed the work will be one of superior value.

The new Teachers's Storehouse, published by Mr. Stock, called THE HIVE, improves on further acquaintance, and we can now honestly commend it to all workers in our Sunday schools. More especially would we advise younger teachers to make it their companion in preparing themselves for their weekly duties. They will find honey in it.

The Sword and Trowel, the Scattered Nation, and the Church are of average excellence; but the Sunday Magazine is as much better as it is larger than all together.

N.B.-We have received from the Rev. T. H. Hudson, of Ningpo, a copy of the CHINESE NEW TESTAMENT, and several tracts. The paper, the type, the binding, and the entire getting up of these works are strange to our English eyes, but withal very pleasing to behold. We thank our distant brother for this trophy of his toil, and wish him length of days that he may see the Word, in this tangible form of it, growing mightily and prevailing.

Poetry.

AN EASTER HYMN.

Translated from the Old Chant, "Plaudite cœli," &c.

SMILE praises, O sky! Soft breathe them, O air!
Below and on high-and everywhere.

The black troop of storms has yielded to calm,
Tufted blossoms are peeping, and early palm.
Awake thee, O spring! Ye flowers, come forth;
With all your hues tinting the fresh green earth.
Ye violets blushing, ye sweet roses bright,
Gay Lent-lilies blended with pure lilies white.
Send tides of rich music the new world along,
And pour out more freely, ye lyres, your song;
Sing aloud, for He liveth; He lives, as He said;
The Lord has arisen from the realm of the dead.

Lift your voice, O ye mountains! ye valleys, resound!
Leap for joy, O ye fountains! ye hills, catch the sound!
Triumph all, for He liveth; He lives, as He said,
The Lord has arisen unhurt from the dead!

VERNAL THOUGHTS ABOUT GIVING.

THE clouds give to the thirsty field,
And to the woodland and the plain,
At gentle morn, or quiet eve,

The timely and refreshing rain;
And, lo! the green trees clap their hands,
And give sweet incense to the skies,
And from a thousand joyous hearts,
Glad anthems of thanksgiving rise.

The morning zephyr, straying through The bowers where sleeps the rosy June, Gives life and beauty to the flowers,

But carries off a rich perfume; We scatter in the morn of spring,

Spare handfuls, o'er the furrowed plain, And in the harvest time we reap

A hundred-fold of golden grain.

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Correspondence.

CHURCH DISCIPLINE.

ANSWERS TO QUERIES.

TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir,-Is not the very important question-No. 1 of "Querist❞—in the March Magazine open to two widely different answers, according to the time when the knowledge of his having committed the "open sin" comes under church discipline, and according to the time when such fallen one wishes to withdraw? Can you apply one rule to very varied cases? In fact, do not the features of particular cases take away all the supposed difficulty of "Querist"?

A man is exposed to temptation, is overcome, and falls; but on coming to consciousness is keenly sensible of the injury he has done to God's cause, abhors himself in God's sight, and his "sin is ever before" him, and, in this state of mind, says, "I will not injure these people and the cause of my insulted God more by my continued connection with them. I will withdraw from them for a time at least." And up to this time the church has not taken action.

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into deeper worldliness: the church takes action; he is written to, with a request to meet the church and explain his conduct he replies by a letter of injured dignity, requesting to withdraw.

In two such opposite cases both coming under "Querist's" question (No. 1), will not justice with the same hand award liberty to the self-punished and repentant one, whilst it records its sense of outraged consistency in expelling the defiant, self-righteous one?

Can expediency touch such vital questions as church discipline? In any ordinary case of church membership does query No. 3 need any answer? Are we not volunteers? and, whilst consistent, do we not enjoy liberty to continue or discontinue our union with a church as our varied changes of bode, &c., may demand?

Yours, &c.,

Barnstaple, Devon.

J. B.

THE PAPER ON POSTURE. TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir, I was so much pleased with reading T. W. Mathews on "A Becoming Posture in Public Worship," that I should much like to see it in the form of a tract or small book, and I would gladly purchase 200-about the

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dents for the ministry to the value of £3 for three years; but these grants are not renewable. The books are chosen by the grantees, but supplied by order of the treasurer; and as he gives the grantees the benefit of the bookseller's allowance (twopence in the shilling), it makes the grants amount to £3 128. a year, or £10 16s. in all-a very valuable addition to a young student's or minister's library.

A service of more than forty years on the board of management enables me to speak of the impartiality of its distributions; and I can, beside, confidently appeal to the testimony of those managers who belong to the New Connexion, among whom are two of your most esteemed ministers, the Revs. John Stevenson, of Derby, and Thomas Goadby, of London.

Our income amounts to about £104 a year, of which all but about £2 arises from the dividends in funded property contributed by the piety of our fathers. Out of this, aided by a small balance in hand, we granted last year to poor ministers £55, for books £20, and to institutions for educating ministers £30. The expenses of management are under £2. The list, which I enclose for your own inspection, shows that nearly two-thirds went to the New Connexion—a further evidence, if needful, of our impartiality, a majority of the managers belonging to the Old.

Our funds will not admit of our taking on any new cases for the next two years, yet I have received several new and interesting applications which we must reject, or at least defer, unless Christian, and especially General Baptist, friends will swell our revenue by their contributions. These once furnished an important item in our account: the list now before me for 1806 amounts to £72 5s. 3d., and that for 1820 to £44 12s. 11d.

I am aware your churches have other urgent claims on them, yet I venture to plead on behalf of this ancient and useful fund.

Yours truly,

JOSEPH CALROW MEANS,
Treasurer.

I shall be happy to receive contributions in money post office orders (on the office in St. John's Road, Hoxton,

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