of righteousness;-all, in all situations and relations, righteous, heartily, thoroughly righteous. It is not a superficial or an occasional excellence, which we say is demanded by the necessity of the times, and by the authority of religion; but an excellence, a righteousness-that is the word which I love to repeat-which shall reach down to the lowest strata of character, and reach up to its loftiest pinnacles; not like the snow which dazzles us from the Alpine heights, or the ore which meets us in spots as we examine the mountain's sides; but like the principle of organic matter which we find pervading every kind of soil and every species of mineral formation. It is not a partial correspondence between the human character and the Divine will, on which the interpreter of Christianity must insist, as he applies its requisitions either to himself or to others. But "as Moses so must was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle, 'See,' saith he,' that thou make all things accor ding to the pattern showed to thee in the mount,' the christian conform his whole being, in all its principles and details, in all its habits and exercises, to the mind of God, as expressed in the teaching and life of Jesus Christ. This is christian righteousness, which handles details as well as determined principles, which makes a man's carriage right in his family as well as beyond his own doors, and his heart right before the Omnicient Eye, as well as before the judgment of his fellow-men. Oh let me have this righteousness; and though I be stripped of everything else, I am rich, I am strong, I am happy. Let me have this, and I will go on through life with a consistent behaviour and tranquil mind, I will reflect from my actions the purity, and will entertain in my soul the blessedness of heaven. FAITH OF THE GOSPEL. It is not to be denied by the patrons of our holy religion that the gospel demands belief; but neither is it to be disproved by any one that the gospel also proposes something for belief; so that while it calls for faith it also offers something to our faith. The apostle in the xv. chap. of the Corinthians, having set forth the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as the great facts of our religion, says, "so we preached and so you believed." If, therefore, any one, the reader for instance, cherishes a desire to partake of the blessings of the true gospel, he must have true faiththat is, he must believe the things which the gospel pro poses for faith, viz. the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For says Paul," Brethren I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain; for I delivered unto you chief of all things what I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures; and that he was seen of Cephas; then of the twelve," &c., &c. Christian faith, therefore, is not faith in the divine existence merely; it is this and more too. It is faith in God most assuredly; and it is faith in the Son of God also; and yet it is not faith in the Son of God merely as such, but this and more too; it is faith in him as having been buried, as having been raised from the dead. Even this And yet does not come up to the apostolic propositions; for there was but little of the wonderful, in the fact of the Messiah's having died; but there is something of the truly particular the truly sublime in his having "died for sin.' this is not the entire of the first fact of the apostle's propositions; but that " he died for sin according to the scriptures." This is extraordinary; for all men die, and although all men die, and although the scriptures declare that all men must once die, they never say that any of us must die for the sins of another; they, therefore, never describe the means or manner or circumstances of our death; but God's son not only died, but he died for our sins and in a manner and under circumstances described in the scriptures or writings of Moses and the prophets. The Redeemer himself, therefore, says, "He that believeth in me as the scriptures have said," that is, the person who received him as the Messiah described in the sacred writings, "out of his mouth shall flow rivers of living water." The proposition of the gospel then, is that we should believe the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as matters foretold in the ancient scriptures; and this is not all neither; for the apostle says it was one of the chief matters, to the Corinthians that after his resurrection Christ was seen of Cephas, (Peter,) then of the twelve," &c. So that it was not the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord merely as predicted by the prophets, but also these as seen by a competent number of the apostles; so that upon the whole the apostolic proposition is, "The death, burial, aud resurrection of Christ for our sins as foretold by the prophets and witnessed by the apostles." It is not belief then in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for sins irrespective of the predictions of the Old Testament and the testimony of the New. It is not faith without evidence-belief without respect to the prophets and apostles, for this were to substitute credulity for faith; but is a rational conviction concerning the nature, intent, and certainty of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, derived from the combined testimony of the holy apostles and prophets as writ-" ten in the holy scriptures both Old and New. As then the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus are inseparably conjoined in the gospel, so are the predictions of the prophets, and the testimony of the apostles. And so are all these and our faith inseparably conjoined. Moreover while we speak of faith and the death of Christ, that is, of the principles and facts of the gospel we are not to dissever either or both of them from the privileges or blessings of the gospel. For the facts, the faith, and the privileges are as perfectly united in our salvation as are the other things which we have mentioned.-Therefore when we speak of having faith in the death &c., of our Lord and Saviour, derived from the conjoined evidence of the Old and New Testaments, it is that the believer may by this have the forgiveness of his sins. I say to the reader, therefore, that if he believes in Christ, on the proper evidence, he can, upon reformation and confession of the truth, be baptized for the remission of sins; after which he will stand on a footing with all saints and become a partaker of the blessings and graces of God's spirit, “ And you shall receive the gift of the holy spirit." The gospel in this type is not exhibited by any sect of professors on earth except our brethren and those who have taken it from them. Those called Christians in the west, have received it, Barton W. Stone being their chief brother. Mr. Marsh is now editor for the Palladium their principal organ in the east; he is seemingly an excellent man. His last number contains a piece in favour of the true gospel by one of the brethren. It is hoped they will all yet receive it. Dr. John Thomas, St. Charles, Illinois, has retreated from the reformation, and commenced a new party on, he says, the true gospel. Finally the Mormons, we are sorry to say, have built themselves upon our views of the gospel. They received it from Rigdon, and Rigdon received it from the writer in 1827, as documents in my possession will show. WALTER SCOTT. 110 QUERIES. MR EDITOR.-Will the writer of that excellent article, headed" Merle de Aubigne, the Historian," be so kind as to reconcile the following statement he has made on p. 48 of the Christian Messenger:- "And what remained after this impulsive doctrine was buried? the bodiless phantasy of complete enjoyment in the imtermediate state; a thing which can neither be proved from the word of God, nor apprehended by the mind of man," with the following passages of scripture, Luke, xvi., 22-24; xxiii., 43; 2 Cor. v. 8; Phil. i. 23 ? J. G. IF" the last enemy," death, is to be destroyed at the coming of the Lord, how is it, as some are teaching, that "he who has the power of death, that is the devil," is to live a thousand years longer, after that? Is not death to be completely swallowed up in victory, at the resurrection of the saints? If so, how can death be the last enemy, if Satan lives a thousand years longer? Is not the devil an enemy, and one whom Christ was to destroy? I wish somebody who can, would untie this knot. RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. A. G. C. From the N. H. Baptist Register we learn that 4622 persons were immersed within the bounds of the Dover Baptist Association, Va., last year. Also, that 200 had been immersed by the Baptists at New London, Ct., and 400 or more at Portersville and Groton, Ct., and at Four Mile Creek, Va., 76 have been recently baptized. SONNET. "Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching."-Luke xii. 37. THE glorious morn is breaking o'er the earth; The church is travailing in agony. Awake! ye careless saints, who sleeping lie; Behold, he cometh! Hear the bridegroom's cry. We fondly long for Thee, and would not roam E'en now by us thy gentle voice is heard, Behold, I quickly come !"-'tis thine own word; Our joyful hearts reply, "Lord Jesus, come." THE NATURE OF THE CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATION.-No. IV. A FEW more facts on the subject of apostolic precedents, deduced from the book of their acts and deeds, indicative of their views of the unity and co-operative character of the church, may be gleaned from other tours of Paul beside that of him and Barnabas. We shall, therefore, examine the details of the tour of Paul and Silas. Through Syria and Cilicia they took their journey, commended to the favour of the Lord by the Antiochan brethren; and as they went they employed themselves in confirming the churches. It was not episcopal confirmation, by imposition of hands; but the communication of more light on the faith and hope of Christ. The decision of the apostles, elders, and church in Jerusalem on the great questions concerning Gentile rights and immunities, prepared the way for much mental enlargement on the genius and character of Christ's gospel. Its aspect to Jew and Gentile, so full of grace and equality, so benign and so impartial, was a fruitful topic for many a lesson and many an exhortation. At Derbe and Lystra Timothy appears upon the stage. He stands before Paul well reported of by the brethren of two churches. The churches in Lystra and Derbe both gave their commendation of him to Paul, indicative of their conjoint interest in this young man. Paul would take him from them both, in order to educate him for a larger field. His horizon greatly transcended theirs; and as he was half Jew and half Greek, (a noble extraction,) Paul would make him a whole Jew, so far as outward circumcision would go, K |