brought forward to that conspicuous station, which they should оссиру. To these I would, in the pages of the Orthodox Presbyterian, direct attention; because they address themselves with equal force to the highest and to the lowest capacity, and because they rest not on a verbal criticism, nor on a supposed mistaken translation, nor on an alleged interpolation, but by the plainest and most selfevident principles-on the authority of God.

The first argument of this class, we shall notice, is to be found in Mark ii. 7. And we notice it, because as being the opposition of the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ, it illustrates remarkably the fact to which we have been alluding, viz. the over-ruling providence of God making "all things work together for good," to his people; whilst, at the same time, it establishes the great truth, the full, the perfect Deity of the Son of God. There is no truth more clearly recognised, and not one more readily assented to, than that which is contained in these words,-" Who can forgive sins but God only ?" The God who made the world must be the God who governs the world. In other words, the world's Creator must be the world's lawgiver. This is a self-evident truth-an elementary principle-a principle recognised in the commonest arts of life. The artist who fashions a machine, is the person who gives to the spring its regulating power, and to the wheel its required movement. The man who organizes a society, or who establishes a kingdom, is the one who draws out the plan, and lays down the rules for its regulation. The inanimate works of creation are all under a law. The sun that rules the day, the moon the night, and the stars that move in their courses, are all obedient to that law, which was impressed on them at their very first movement, by the hand of their Creator. And to suppose that man, the most moral, the most accountable of all God's works, here below, should be left without a law to control, or a rule to guide him, would be a virtual impeachment of the wisdom, justice, and goodness of the Creator.

As might be expected, God has given to man a law. And St. Paul, in his admirable letter to the Church at Rome, grounds his argument for the accountability of the Gentiles on this very truth::-"For when the Gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto them

selves: who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, or else excusing one another." That God has given a law, and that he chose a peculiar people, to whom he committed that law in trust for the world, we have in his own word the most ample proof. In the 24th chapter and 12th verse of Exodus, it is declared, that the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to me on the Mount, and be there, and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments, which I have written." And in 15th, 16th, and 17th verses, the appearance of the lawgiver, as excelling in glory, is given; whilst, in Deuteronomy, 33d chapter, 2d and 3d verses, this is again from repeated:- The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up Seir unto them: he shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of his saints; from his right peo hand went a fiery law for them. Yea, he loved the ple, all his saints are in thy hands: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words." There are many other passages which go as directly to establish this fact, and to which we direct attention. Because it strengthens the argument, we have thus fully dwelt on it. On the glory of the lawgiver we love to dwell. It is the name "The Lord," given to Jehovah by the inspired writers. says Isaiah, "is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King, he will save us." And the Apostle James says, "There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy." The very idea of sin, presupposes the existence of a law; for as St. Paul reasons, where no law is, there is no transgression.

Another truth, equally plain and self-evident, is, that no one can dispense with the obligations of that law, but the God who gave it. Or, in Scripture language,-"Who can forgive sins but God only?" The claim to forgive sin, on the part of any, is, by the common consent of mankind, pronounced blasphemy. Sin is justly defined by the Westminster Divines, " Any want of conformity unto, or transgression of the law of God." And we entreat this to be borne in mind, that no one, without the highest blasphemy, can pardon the want of conformity unto, or the transgression of the law, but the God who gave it. This is the view of God's character, set before us by the Holy Spirit. Isaiah speaking by that Spirit, says: "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions, for mine own

sake, and will not remember thy sins." And Daniel, by the same Spirit, says: "To the Lord our God belong mer cies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him." "If thou, Lord," is the language of the Psalmist, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." And in that sublime manifestation of Jehovah, when he descended in the cloud, and stood with Moses there, and proclaimed his name, this was the glorious character, the "Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty."

We have here then two truths established on a foundation, which nothing can move. These are, first, that the Creator of the world, is the Lawgiver of the world;-and second, that no one can forgive the violations of that law, but the God who gave it. And for any other in earth, or in heaven, we care not who that other may be, to attempt to forgive sin, is not only an impious opposition to God, but a blasphemous assumption of his power. And It is this claim that has branded on the forehead of that Anti-Christian power, which opposeth and exalteth itself against all that is called God, and is worshipped, the black and the burning character of the man of sin. The Scribes were then right in their declaration, when they said," Who can forgive sins but God only ?" But they were wrong in their application of the blasphemy to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now it is to this point, particularly, that we entreat inquiry. For if the Lord Jesus Christ forgave sins, it is an establishing of his right and title to be God, yea, "God over all." Let us appeal to the fact. The circumstances of the case before us, were these:- -A man sick of the palsy was brought to Jesus Christ, so grievously afflicted, that he required to be borne by four friends; and when unable to make their way to that Saviour, on account of the multitudes who passed around them, they uncovered the roof, and let him down immediately to the place where Jesus was. It was a signal act of faith in that Saviour's power, and most signally was it rewarded, even by de claring to him the forgiveness of his sins. The Scribes, of the expounders of the law, who were present, in their

hearts charged him with blasphemy, for thus laying claim to a power which belonged to God alone. But he who, forgave sins, showed, that he could also discern the thoughts and the reasonings of the heart; and to these thoughts and reasonings, he replied, not by reasoning alone, but by a miraculous display of his power, "But that ye may know, that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house." And what was the result of this command of the Saviour? It was a complete and triumphant, reply to his enemies. For, "immediately he," the man who had to be borne by four, "arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all." We have the same things related by Matthew ix. 1, and Luke v. 18.

Here then we have the matter brought to an issue. Either the Lord Jesus Christ had power to forgive sins. or he had not. If he had the power, then he was God, for none but God can forgive sins. If he had not this power, then was he a deceiver for laying claim to this power. But that he had this power, in other words, that he was God, be gave a visible proof, by healing the body of the palsied man.

There are some other sentiments of this class, to which, if it please God, I shall claim a place in some future Number of your Magazine.

H.

THE REV. CHARLES MASTERTON, M, A,

IN a former number, (page 83,) we promised to give an account of this eminent Minister. This pledge we shall now redeem by a brief sketch of his life, and an enumera. tion of his works ;-a specimen of which we trust, is by this time, in the hands of many of our readers.*

Mr. Masterton was a native of Scotland, and a graduate of one of her Universities. He was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Linlithgow; but, removing to Ireland, he was received and recognized by the Synod as a licentiate, in the year 1703. He was not long under its

* We allude to the edition of "Jones on the Trinity," recommended in our last Number, to which is appended, Masterton's valuable Essay on the same subject.

care until he was invited to be the Minister of Connor, one of its largest and most respectable congregations. He accepted the call, and was ordained to this charge on the 17th of May, 1704. Over this congregation he continued to preside for eighteen years; till the agitations which afterwards terminated in the separation of the Presbytery of Antrim, opened the way for his removal to a more important and influential station in the church.

The installation of the Rev. Samuel Haliday,-who refused to subscribe the WestminsterConfession of Faith,to the charge of the First Congregation, Belfast, in the year 1720, offended many of the Orthodox members of that congregation, and caused them to withdraw from his ministry. In the following year, by their commissioners, Messrs. Smith, Lennox, John Young, Wm. Simms, and others, they memorialed the Synod to erect them into a distinct congregation, and afford them supplies of preaching. Their request was granted; and hence originated the Third Presbyterian Congregation, Belfast. This infant society, situated in a populous town, and surrounded by many talented opponents, required a learned and able Minister to support and defend their cause against the attacks of their adversaries. Such a Minister they found in Mr. Masterton. With the advice and concurrence of the Synod, they invited him to be their pastor; and he was accordingly installed as the first Minister of that rising congregation, in the latter end of the year 1722. In the following year he was chosen Moderator of the Synod, then assembled at Dungannon; and from this period he took a prominent part in the debates and proceedings of the body.

His first appearance from the press, was occasioned by the controversies respecting subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith, which were then so keenly agitated. In the year 1722, Mr. Abernethy of Antrim, had published, anonymously, in Dublin, a pamphlet entitled, "A seasonable advice to the Protestant Dissenters of the North of Ireland; being a defence of the late General Synod's charitable declarations." The brevity of this sketch precludes us from giving any more than the mere titles of the publications with which Mr. Masterton was connected. To this work he immediately wrote a reply, which was published at Glasgow, early in the year 1724, with the following title. which we give at length, as it tends to explain the