Dr. Porteus on Matthew xviii. 1—14. to offend; that is, to renounce his faith in Christ, and these are persecution, sophistry, ridicule, immoral examples, and immoral publications. After considering each of the above modes of making our brother to offend, he observes :-"I have dwelt the longer on this interesting topic, because few people are aware of the enormity of the sin here reproved by our Lord, of the irreparable injury it may do to others, and of the danger to which it exposes themselves. But when they reflect that by the commission of this crime they endanger the present peace and the future salvation of their fellow creatures, and expose themselves to the woes which our Lord has in the passage before us denounced against those from whom these offences come, they will probably feel it their duty to be more guarded in this instance than men generally are. "Our Lord, after having said "Woe to the world because of offences, for it must needs be that offences come, but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh" adds, Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee &c. Our Saviour here applies to the particular sin, which he was then condemning, the very same words which he had used before in his sermon on the Mount, with reference to the crime of adultery, and the meaning is this: You must go at once to the root of the evil; you must extirpate your corrupt passions and propensities, though it may be as difficult for you to part with them as it would be to pluck out an eye or tear off limb from the body. "He then returns to the main 371 subject of his exhortation, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven-that is, I again repeat to you, take heed that ye treat not with scorn and contempt such little children as you now see before you, or those believers in me, who resemble these children in docility, meekness, humility and indifference to all that the world calls great and honorable. Take care that you do not consider their welfare, their salvation as below your notice and regard, and wantonly endanger both by giving way to your own irregular desires; for I say unto you, that however contemptibly you may think of them, your heavenly Father regards them with a more favorable eye. He even condescends to take them under his protection, he sends his most favored angels those ministers of his that do his pleasure, and stand always in his presence ready to execute his commands; even these he deputes to guard and watch over these little children, and those humble christians who are like them in purity and innocence of mind. "The verse that comes next in order is this: For the Son of man is come to save that which is lost. The connexion of this verse with the preceding one is somewhat obscure, but seems to be as follows: You may think perhaps that man is too mean, too insignificant a being to be worthy the ministration and guardianship of celestial spirits: but how can you entertain this im- ' agination when you know that for this creature man, for fallen I devoutly served him. This can never be imagined, nor would it correspond with the illustration. "The shepherd himself does not set a greater value upon the lost sheep, than he does upon those that are safe; nor would he give up them to recover that which has strayed. But his joy for the moment at the recovery of the lost sheep is greater than he receives from all the rest, because he has regained that and is sure of the others. The whole therefore that was meant to be inculcated by this parable is, that God's parental tenderness extends to all, even to the sinner that goes astray, and that he rejoices at the conversion of the meanest individual and of the most grievous offender. This is the very conclusion and the only one which our Lord himself draws from the parable. "Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." WHAT ARE THE BEST EVIDENCES OF A CHRISTIAN CHARACTER? THE question now proposed, must appear of great importance to those who seriously hope for salvation through Jesus Christ; and who believe that there is no other name given under heaven whereby they must be saved. On no other question are bumble christians more frequently perplexed From preachers and writers of different sects, they hear so many discordant tests of piety and goodness, that they hardly know what to think of themselves. But if they could open the New Testament, and read that carefully, free from the influence of human systems, they would meet with less difficulty. In the preaching of our Savior, and the writings of his apostles, various evidences of a christian character are clearly stated. At this time I shall confine myself to what is plainly stated as evidence by our Savior, in his discourse with What are the best evidences of a christian character? his disciples the evening before his crucifixion, and what John says in his first epistle. At a future time a more full display of evidences may be expected. "By this shall all men KNOW that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John xiii. 35. "He that hath my commandments, and KEEPETH THEM, he it is that loveth me; and he that love eth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and manifest myself unto him." Ch. xiv. 21. "Herein is my father glorified, that YE BEAR MUCH FRUIT; SO shall ye be my disciples. If ye KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. This is my commandment, that ye LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. Ye are my friends, ifye DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU." Ch. xv. 8, 10, 12, 14. "For the Father himself loveth you, BECAUSE YE HAVE LOVED ME, and have BELIEVED THAT I CAME OUT FROM GOD." Ch. xvi. 14. Thus plain and decisive are the instructions of our Savior. Let us now listen to the language of one who had leaned on the bosom of his Lord. "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." "But whoso KEEPETH HIS WORD, in HIM verily is the love of God perfected: hereby KNOW we, that we are in him-He that saith 373 he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now: he that loveth his brother, abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one who doeth righteousness is born of him.” 1 John, ii. 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 29. er. He "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brothWe know that we have passed from death unto life, BECAUSE WE LOVE THE BRETHREN. that loveth not his brother, abideth in death. My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but indeed and in truth; and hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.-And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandments; and he that keepeth his commandments, dwelleth in him and he in him; and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the spirit that he hath given us." Ch. iii. 10. 14, 18, 19, 23, 24. "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth, is BORN OF GOD and KNOWETH GOD-lf we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. -If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar; for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he 374 What are the best evidences of a christian character ? love God whom he hath not seen!" Chap. iv. 7, 12, 15, 20. "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments." Chap. v. 2. On these passages we may briefly observe: First. In giving the marks of a true christian, our Savior and his beloved apostle have totally omitted to mention a belief in those doctrines which have been the greatest sources of animosity among christians. In the passages now quoted, so far as believing is made essential to the character of a christian, it is believing in Jesus Christ as "the Son of God," as one who "came out from God" with a divine commission, as God's Ambassador and our Savior. But what is urged above every thing else, as evidence of genuine faith in him, is keeping his commandments, or loving one another as he loved us-loving "not in word or in tongue" only, "but indeed and in' truth." Such love as Christ displayed "worketh no ill to his neighbor." Such love in us, is the proper evidence that we are his "disciples," his "friends," that we love HIM, and love God, and that we are beloved both by the Father and the Son, that we are in Christ and in God, that God dwelleth in us by his holy spirit, and that we "dwell in him," and "are of the truth;" that we are "born of God" and have "passed from death unto life." But Second. Let christians be careful that they do not deceive themselves by limiting the word "brother," as the pharisees did by limiting the word "neighbor." A "brother" is a fellow being, one of the human family; and to all such, who come within our knowledge, our love is to be extended, whether they be friends or enemies. If we love those only who are of our sect, or who love us, "what do we more than others?" Publicans, sinners and pagans do the same. To be christians indeed, we must exercise those kind affections which will restrain us from doing injury, or rendering evil for evil; and which will dispose us to do good to all as we have opportunity. Such was the love of Christ which we are required to imitate, and such is the love of our heavenly Father. Third. How happy it would have been for the world if these evidences of a christian charac ter, had been uniformly understood, regarded and urged, as the best and the surest marks of a christian disciple! How many angry and disgraceful contentions, about doctrines, which no body understands, would this have prevented! and how many millions of human beings would it have saved from a violent and untimely death! By establishing other tests of a christian character than those given in the gospel, millions have been so delud. ed as to fancy that they could be followers of Christ in reviling, torturing, burning and butchering one another. When christians shall return to the gospel standard, and make love to God, to Christ, and one to another, the test of discipleship; then, and not till then, will they "behold how good and how pleasant it is Hurricanes in 1815. for brethren to dwell together in unity"-then, and not till then, will wars cease to desolate the christian world. Fourth. Let it not be supposed that we depreciate the doctrines of the gospel, by attaching such importance to keeping the commandments of our Savior. The doctrines he taught are all important, as motives to obey his 375 benevolent precepts. This is their proper use; and our belief in them can be of no saving benefit to us, unless it disposes us to obey him, and to walk as he walked.-Such a faith in Christ, or hope of salvation through his blood, as does not work by love and purify the heart, is no more of a saving nature, than faith in Mahomet. HURRICANES IN 1815. "They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind." Hosea. THE natural, the political and the religious worlds are all liable to destructive hurricanes. For many years prior to 1814, the continent of Europe was almost incessantly afflicted with political tornadoes; and vast and dreadful was the desolation. Before the tempest subsided in Europe, it spread across the Atlantic, and involved the United States in the general calamity. After the first abdication of Napoleon, the hurricane subsided in Europe, and hopes were excited of lasting tranquillity. But scarcely had the tempest done raging in our country, when Napoleon suddenly escaped from Elba and appeared in Paris All Europe was again in agitation. Almost as soon as we had been delivered from the political tornado-and near the time of Napoleon's arrival at Paris-signs of a religious or an irreligious hurricane appeared in our vicinity. Some who had been in the habit of observing the "signs of the times," readily foretold the approaching storm. Their pre diction was verified about the time of the General Election. From that period till the sun passed the equinoctial line in September, the hurricane raged with considerable strength. But at this last period a'tornado took place in the natural world, which filled the stoutest hearts with terror; and through a vast ex⚫ tent of country its destructive effects were witnessed and felt. It is however supposed by some, that this natural tempest had a favorable influence in giving a check to the moral hurricane. The causes of natural hurricanes we shall not attempt to unfold; the causes of those of a moral nature are more obvious. But in both cases there are probably predisposing circumstances. The moral hurricanes are generally produced by the restless spirit of aspiring individuals, who are not contented with their just share of rights and fame, and who flatter themselves that the public good will be promoted by their invading the rights and diminishing the respect shown to |