rit.

ANSWER. Certainly. Who can doubt it, or not know it, that has a bible to read? But the "latter days," properly — that is scripturally include this present age and the age to come. Both are ages of spiritual gifts and operation; but the one to come is more so than the present. As touching this present age the church is taught to pray without ceasing: she is taught to pray to the Spirit, and for the Spi"God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." "If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" But the Spirit is promised yet more fully; and whatever the Lord has promised, we are taught and required to ask in order to its reception and enjoyment: as it is written, (notwithstanding I have promised) "I will yet be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them."

But " if so, (if the more full and copious effusion of the Spirit is promised) where is it (where is that promise, or where are those promises) recorded ?" Three promises of this kind may be seen: - - Isaiah ivl. 3-4, Ezekiel xxxvi. 24-7, Zechariah xii. 9-14, xiii. 1. Beside these there are many others; but these are, or one of them is, sufficient to establish the principle. I take for granted, then, that these promises are made to the church of Christ, and the apostle declares that if we be Christ's then are we Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise heirs of the land, and of eternal life. This being the case, it is perfectly clear that the promise of the Spirit by Ezekiel remains yet to be realized to the church: for it is to be when the faithful seed are gathered out of all countries from among the heathen, and brought into their own land, "Then (saith the Lord) will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you," &c. It is in connection with, and in relation to, this promise, the Lord has set before us the necessity of prayer, (v. 37.)

E. M.

ANOTHER REPLY.-There are only two baptisms of the Spirit. Jesus the Lord, after his resurrection and before his ascension, conversed frequently with his chosen few, to whom he presented himself alive after his suffering, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Having assembled them together, he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, you have heard from

me; for John, indeed, immersed in water, but you shall be immersed in the Holy Spirit within a few days. After the disciples had seen their much-beloved Lord ascend up to heaven, they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey; and having become child-like and obedient to him, they entered the city, and went up into an upper room, the number of converts assembled on this occasion being, not 500, but about 120. These all unanimously persevered in prayer, with the women, and with Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all unanimously assembled in the same place; and on a sudden there was a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, which, having passed through Jerusalem, alighted on the chosen few, filling the house, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Surely this must have been not only a pouring out of the Spirit from God, but also an immersion of these disciples in, or by the Spirit. The apostles and others of the 120 were endowed with miraculous gifts, and with the pure, burning, lambent flame of the Spirit of God. When did the next pouring out or baptism of the Spirit occur?--In the house of Cornelius, some few years after, when the like gift was granted to the Gentiles, of whom Cornelius and all who were present constituted the first-fruits unto Christ, in the same manner as the 120 constituted the first-fruits of the Jews in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the world. There are, then, only two baptisms of the Holy Spirit recorded

in the Testament. All who were endowed with

miraculous gifts, excepting the apostles, were unable to convey them to a second person: the apostles alone were appointed to that work. But the question is, seeing that these gifts existed in the churches at Corinth, Ephesus, Rome, and other places, through what medium were they bestowed upon the brethren? We answer emphatically and without hesitation, by prayer and the laying on of the apostles' hands. This was one of the peculiar signs of an apostle, and constituted them pre-eminently the ambassadors of the Lord Jesus.

When Philip came to the city of Samaria, and announced the Messiah to them, and the people unanimously attended to the things spoken by Philip as they heard them, and saw

there

the miracles which he performed for unclean spirits which had possessed many, crying with a loud voice, came out of them, and many who were paralytic and lame were healed was great joy in that city. Now when the apostles (not the congregation) who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the

word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who, going down, prayed that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he was not yet fallen on any of them, only they were immersed into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them, and they received the

gift of the Holy Spirit. Why could not Philip do this? He was not an apostle of the Lord, and the miraculous powers with which they were endowed could not be conveyed by a second to a third party: hence the fallacy, delusion, and vain boasting on the part of those who plead for apostolical succession. Now when Simon who had previously bewitched the people, saw that the Holy Spirit was given by the imposition of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said, let thy money go with thee to destruction; since thou hast thought that the free gift of God (bestowed on us, Peter and John) might be purchased with money, thou hast no part or lot in this matter -we shall not lay hands on thee, for thine heart is not right in the sight of God. How presumptuous, hypocritical, and delusive, in this respect, are the ignorant pretensions of the Mormonites, Papists, and clerical pretenders! The particular design for which the miraculous powers of the Holy Spirit were granted, can be ascertained by all who study the epistles addressed to the congregations, as recorded in the New Testament, especially those to the Corinthians and Ephesians.

April 17, 1849.

Sunderland, April 11, 1849.

REMARKS.-It will perhaps be thought unnecessary to inform the brethren, that these meetings are not held from time to time to establish principles of faith and practice for the disciples of Jesus, nor to make rules and creeds for the discipline and government of the churches. These are already in existence, enacted by Him who is the resurrection and life of his people. The design, then, for which they are held is to promote union and cordial co-operation in the body of Christ, that by these means the disciples may walk in truth and love, and be greatly assisted in the more effectual and extensive diffusion of gospel light among those by whom they are surrounded. Nothing is now wanted to secure the conversion of sinners, but the zealous union of all who love and obey the Lord; and nothing is essential to this unity but fully to embrace, and steadfastly to maintain, the ancient order of Christian worship, viz. the apostles' doctrine, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer. This, punctually observed and regarded by all those who desire to be approved by the Lord when he comes, would cause the church to realize that spread of the truth so much to be desired. We shall beg to introduce to the notice of the brethren some

IN SUNDERLAND.

DEAR BROTHER,-I duly received your note respecting the meeting to be held in Sunderland, and beg to apprise you and the brethren that the church here has recently had a consultation on the subject. In accordance with the resolution of the brethren at the meeting held in Glasgow, in September last, that the

next one be held in Sunderland, the church has concluded to hold it in the lecture room at the Athenæum, Farwett-street. The brethren, on leaving the train, should go to Mr. Bewick's, Crown and Sceptre Inn, High-street, Bishopswearmouth, where a preliminary meeting will be held on Tuesday evening, May 29th, com

order of the meeting.

1st. That a president and secretary be chosen to manage and record the resolutions of the meetings.

2nd. That each meeting commence with singing and prayer.

3rd. That the churches in England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, be called over in rotation as they stand on record in the report of the Glasgow meeting.

4th. That a report containing the statistical increase or decrease of each church be sent to the meeting by letter, or by one or more delegates.

5th. That reports respecting the district and

OBITUARY.

The church at Nottingham has recently sustained a serious loss by the removal from this state of sin and death, of a blameless, circumspect, steadfast, and beloved sister in the Lord. Elizabeth Powers, the wife of one of our deacons, is no more. She has fallen asleep in Christ, aged 55 years; and on Friday, the 30th of March, her remains were consigned to the silent grave, in hope of a joyful resurrection.

Afflicted as she was without the shadow of a

hope of restoration to health, leaves little or no cause for regret, inasmuch as our loss is unquestionably her gain. With this for our comfort and support, is it not our duty quietly to acquiesce in this dispensation of Providence, and say, "Thy will be done?"

To eulogize the departed is a common practice, whether it be deserved or not; and in the latter case it is a sacrifice offered at the shrine of hypocrisy, merely to gratify the unhallowed desires of living vanity. Those best acquainted with the character of our departed sister, and have witnessed her conduct in varied situations, at home and abroad, in the family, in the church, and in the world, will have pleasure in stating, that she was as free from the imperfections common to our nature as most we know; and it is but common justice to class her with the really good and excellent of the earth.

It may not be amiss to remark-"So long back as the month of November, 1815, I had the peculiar satisfaction of immersing her, upon a public confession of her faith, into the death and resurrection of Christ: and it is pleasing to reflect, that from that period to the termination of her earthly pilgrimage, she evinced one uniform unvaried course of Christian behaviour. At my last interview, the king of terrors was evidently advancing with rapid strides -and yet all was tranquillity and peace. She said she had been asked if the doctrines and practices she had received and cherished, were still retained with conviction of their truth. Her reply was, 'If we, strenuously adhering to the letter and spirit of the New Testament, and to the gospel as taught by Jesus and proclaimed by his inspired apostles, were wrong, she could not possibly conceive that any who differed from us were right.' After she had again expressed her confidence in Him unto whom she had committed her whole self, I bade her a final adieu, in the hope of meeting herin a better and brighter world. Her last words to me were, That I may win Christ, and be found in him.' Then shall I be satisfied, when I awake in his likeness." "

MISCELLANEOUS.

J. H.

MISTAKES ABOUT MINISTERS.-Christians have committed a grievous mistake, in supposing that entire consecration to the sacred office is necessary, or at all times even desirable,

in the case of teachers and pastors of stated churches. Surely, the example of apostles, and especially of Paul, might have prevented so egregious an error, had but that example been duly considered. We have not space to enumerate all the bad consequences of this mistake. One of the most obvious is, that in order to supply a sufficient maintenance for a pastor "wholly devoted to the work," it leads to the formation of churches too unwieldly for any one pastor effectually to oversee; while, in despair of the accomplishment of an impossible task, the attempt is in reality abandoned. Every large church ought to have more pastors than one; but, with very few exceptions, the largest churches are not able to support more than one pastor; and yet neither churches nor pastors will relinquish the foolish and unscriptural notions, that no one who is not actually devoted to the work-who has not been ordained

who is not styled reverend-can, with propriety, be admitted to the pastoral office. In smaller churches, the evil is scarcely less, though of a different form. Here a worthy man and his family are set to starve-for it were ironical to say subsist-on £30, £40, or £50 a year, raised with difficulty by a poor and scanty flock. Now, why, in the name of scripture and of common sense, should not the pastor of a rural church be some substantial farmer or tradesman, who has grown up within its bosom? There would surely be no greater harm in the pastor being in business, than in the deacons getting an honest independent livelihood by their own exertions. It would scarcely detract from his weight and influence with the flock, to be able to repeat the boast of the apostles, that his own hands ministered to his necessities. On the contrary, it would rather commend him to their increased esteem to know, that, although entitled to claim their carnal in return for his spiritual things, yet, in consideration of their poverty, he preferred foregoing its assertion. Starving country ministers are the opprobrium of dissent, from which neither the Regium Donum, nor the profits of the Christian Witness, or any other unlawful or lawful succedaneum, will ever relieve it. Nothing can reflect greater discredit upon us, except it be the seeming admission, that our churches are so ill acquainted with the verities of their religion, as not to have the means of mutual edification within themselves.--Eclectic Review. [The preceding remarks are alike sound in principle, and fraught with common sense. wish they may be read, and duly considered, in every circle of the religious world. Let there be a plurality of speakers in each church, and let their teaching and exhortations be selected from the writings of the prophets and apostles of the Lord. Why should it be difficult to obtain a plurality of speakers in the Christian church? Is the Bible a sealed book except in the hands of ministers? May not the gifted of the people edify their associates ?-ED.]

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