3. It is the preaching of a crucified Chrift, that God in his wifdom hath pitched upon as the way to reform men from their vices, and to bring in virtue, godliness and good order into nations, cities and congregations. The Heathen philofophers and wife men had, for fome thousands of years, tried all means, which the powers of nature or reafon could afford, to bring men to God and virtue, but in vain; for they remained ftill ignorant of God, and run farther away from him into all abominable impieties. Likewife in many places there are feveral masters of reason and eloquence, who excel in a fort of rational and moral way of preaching, ex. clufive of Chrift; but what fuccefs have they in it for converting fouls? Alas! their people ftill fink in vice and corruption; all their fine reafonings cannot change the perverfe will of one finner. They may, perhaps, entertain two or three, or a few of their audience, who have a taste of the beauties of fine reasoning; but the body of the congregation remain untouched and asleep, fo that all they hear is loft to them. Surely the value and usefulness of things are to be reckoned from their capacity and fitness to answer the end they are defigned for now the end of preaching is to win fouls to Christ, so that these fermons are the most excellent that ferve this design moft: and thefe, we fee, are the fermons which are fulleft of Chrift. Alas! Chriftless moral fermons bring few off from their vices to the practice of morality, and far fewer into Chrift. Such a way of preaching is a longfome unfuccefsful method to reclaim and reform the vicious; whereas the short and effectual way to reform finners, and make them moral, is to preach Chrift to them; if you bring them to Jefus, you turn them from all their fins, and make them moral at once, yea, inwardly holy, which is more. O then, let us preach Christ above all things!

4. If we look through the world, we will find it is only those ministers who preach Christ most, who have moft fuccefs and that the life and spirit of true religion rifes or falls among a people, according as a crucified Redeemer is faithfully preached among them

er

or not. And thofe acquainted with church-history obferve, that when God is about to leave a people, and his glory to depart from his houfe, he usually gives them up to a lifelefs and formal miniftry, who neglect the preaching of Chrift and the peculiar doctrines of the gofpel, fuch as free justification by the righteoufnefs of Chrift, and inward regeneration by the Spirit of Chrift; and do not inform their people that it is from a crucified Jefus the virtue must come for breaking the power of fin in the foul, and fubduing it to God. No wonder our flocks look poor and lean, when we take no care to lead them into thefe green pastures of evangelical truths, but fet before them the dry infipid ftuff of a Heathenish morality, which can never feed them nor keep them in good liking! How can we expect affistance from Jefus Chrift in our work, or the influences of his Spirit in preaching (upon which all our fuccefs depends) when we take no more notice of Christ in our fermons than the moral philofophers among the Heathens? Wo will be to this national church, if such a way of preaching fhall prevail in it, notwithstanding of the forefaid act of Affembly, and a found Confeffion of Faith, which all ministers subscribe to. God forbid that the church of Scotland become ever like the church of England in this refpect, whỏ subscribe to found articles of doctrine, and never mind them more afterwards.

Likewife, as by the word of God minifters are bound to separate between the precious and the vile, the clean. and the unclean, the fincere and the formalist; fo, by the forefaid act 1736 concerning preaching, all minifters are appointed, in application of their fer mons, to endeavour rightly to divide the word of truth, fpeaking diftinctly to the various cafes of their hearers, whether converted or unconverted, &c. Alas! it is to be feared, the making of this difference is too much neglected by many, both in dispensing the word and facraments.

THESE and feveral other good things did the Affembly 1736, but it is to be regretted they were not fteady and uniform in their proceedings; for, while they dif

couraged

:

couraged and stopt fome intrufions, they encouraged others and they gave no fmall occafion of offence by their management in the affair of Profeffor Campbell at St Andrews, who had vented feveral dangerous errors in his writings, fuch as his Oratorio Academica, his Erquiry into the Original of Moral Virtue, his Difcourfe concerning Enthufiafm, &c. wherein he afferts, "That men, by their natural powers, without revelation, cannot find out the being of a God: That the law of nature is fufficient to guide rational minds to happiness: That felf-love, intereft, or pleasure, is the fole principle and motive of all virtuous and religious actions That Chrift's difciples had no notion of his Divinity before his refurrection, and before that they expected nothing from him but a worldly kingdom; and, during the interval between his death and refurrection, they looked on him as an impoftor." Likewife, while fpeaking against Enthufiafts, he utters feveral things very difparaging and reproachful to the work of the holy Spirit upon the fouls of the people of God. Thefe errors were brought before the Affembly 1735, who referred them to their commiffion; and they appointed a committee to confider them, and prepare their report to the next Affembly. Mr Campbell laboured to give in found and orthodox explications of thefe his pofitions, which the committee brought before the Affembly 1736, with their remarks and cenfures upon them, and the recommendations they judged fit to be given him. The Affembly, upon hearing Mr Campbell at great length, were of opinion that the committee's examining and ftating the matter as they had done, was fufficient to caution against the errors charged upon Mr Campbell, without giving any judgment or formal fentence upon the committee's report; only they recommended to him not to ufe doubtful expreffions or propofitions, which may lead his hearers or readers into error. This iffue of the process many, in the Affembly and out of it, were highly diffatisfied with, judging that Mr Campbell did justly deferve a fharp rebuke for the many incautious and unfound expreffions

he

he hath in his writings, however orthodox his explications might be and with these we do heartily join.

Though the Affembly gave no judgment upon Mr Campbell's pofitions or explications, yet feverals would charge the Affembly with adopting one of his errors; becaufe, when he explained his pofitions concerning Self-love he declared he meant no more but "that our delight in the honour and glory of God was the chief motive of all virtuous and religious actions." Now (fay they) this Delight is the fame with the Self-love, or the defire of our own happiness, which is the error charged on him yet the Affembly difmiffed him without quarrelling it. But this fhould be looked upon as a pure overfight in the Affembly, through their not adverting to the import of the word Delight, but taking delight in the glory of God," for the fame with regard to the glory of God," becaufe of their affinity. For when Affembly 1737 was informed that feverals had taken offence, as if the Affembly 1736 had adopted fome of Mr Campbell's offenfive expreffions on the head of Self-love, they vindicated this church from that charge, by making an act, declaring that they do ftedfaftly adhere to the doctrine expreffed in our standards on that head, particularly in the anfwers to that queftion in our Larger and Shorter Catechifms, What is the chief end of man?

In the year 1735 there was an effay made by an unknown hand to alter our Shorter Catechifm, which was printed at London under the title of The Affembly's Shorter Catechifm Revifed, and rendered fitter for General Ufe. The revifer cafts it into fuch a mould, as to make it agree with Arian, Socinian, Popih, and Arminian schemes of doctrine. Affoon as it was publicly known in Scotland, the commiffion took it under their confideration, as the fynod of Lothian had done before them, and past an act condemning it, and gave warning about it to all the prefbyteries in this church, that they might be on their guard against the fpreading and infection thereof. And would to God that our Affemblies had, in like manner, given plain and faithful warning to all the corners and members of this church,

against

against Profeffor Sim fon and Profeffor Campbell's errors, and others which have been vented and fpread in this church, and fhewn to them their inconfiftency with the word of God, and our Confeffion of Faith and Catechifms! May God in his infinite mercy revive our zeal for all the truths therein contained, and against all forts of error oppofite thereto !

After all, it is to be regretted that the national church was not duly humbled by all thefe awful rebukes for her manifold defections, and particularly for difregarding Chrift's flock in fettlements; neither did the amend her ways and doings, and turn to the Lord: wherefore we find the hand of the Lord ftretched out against her ftill, and a new fharp trial carved out for her from an airth that none could have expected. One Captain Porteous, that had been condemned to die for feveral murders, having obtained a reprieve by the intereft of fome great men, the mob rofe up notwithstanding, and executed him at Edinburgh the 7th of September 1736. The King and Parliament refented this affront fo highly, that they framed a ftrange and extroardinary act for difcovering the actors: and becaufe fome of the church's enemies fuggested, without all ground, that the Scots clergy, at leaft a fet of them, encouraged the people. in fuch mobbish actions, they appointed all the minifters of Scotland to read the faid act in time of Divine fervice in their churches every firft Sabbath in the month for a whole year, beginning in Auguft 1737: and the penalty for the first neglect of reading it was, that they fhall be declared incapable of fitting or voting any church judicatory;" and this was to be execut ed against them by the civil judges in Scotland. The moft part of minifters in many fynods and prefbyteries, though they fcrupled not to condemn the outrageous infult of the mob as murder, yet they had not freedom to read the faid act, because they judged the penalty forefaid to be properly a church cenfure, feeing by it minifters would be divefted of the power of church government and difcipline, which is given them by the Lord Jefus Chrift the Head of the church, and is ef fential to their office as preaching or difpenfing the facrament.

66

in