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Published April 11829 by Mef's "Holdsworth & Ball18, S.Paul's Churh Yard, London

CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE.

APRIL, 1829.

A LETTER FROM THE MINISTERS COMPOSING THE CONGREGATIONAL BOARD IN LONDON,

TO THE CHURCHES OF THE CONGREGATIONAL DENOMINATION WITH
WHICH THEY ARE SEVERALLY CONNECTED;

And to other Churches of the same Faith and Order in London and the Country, with their Pastors and Deacons.

Having obtained from the Congregational Board permission to insert the following valuable and interesting document in our work; we give it that prominence to which it is in every way entitled, and trust that its appearance in this form will enable many to peruse it before the day appointed for Humiliation and Prayer, who may not be able to procure it before that service as a distinct publication. -The Biographical Review of the Life of Laud is deferred till our next.-Editors.

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From the local circumstances in which, by Divine Providence, we are placed, as residents in the metropolis of our country, we are called to sustain a peculiar relation to the general interests of the Congregational Denomination; and we feel honoured in being able to render any service to our brethren, in reference to those secular concerns which may be connected with the prosperity and extension of our churches. Meeting as ministers only, in our personal capacity, and neither assuming, nor desiring to be considered, N. S. No. 52. VOL. XII.

as the representatives of an ecclesiastical body, we are, nevertheless, solicitous to lay before you our convictions on some points, which appear to be intimately connected with the welfare of our churches generally, and the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom in the world. This we do with fraternal affection and confidence; assured that you will attribute our communication to no motives, but to such as spring from a sincere desire to promote the greater efficiency of those principles which unite us to each other, in the faith and fellowship of the Gospel.

The appeals and inquiries which we are anxious to suggest for your consideration, proceed not on any principles or from any feelings allied to that morbid despondency, which would lead us to overlook or depreciate the reasons for devout congratulation which some aspects of the present state of the

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Christian church exhibit. The increase of evangelical ministers in the national establishment; the numerous societies formed for the diffusion of the Gospel at home and abroad; the prevalence of more just and enlightened views of religious liberty in every department of society; and the facility secured for all practicable exertions for the spread of Christianity around us, are facts to which we advert with grateful satisfaction. At the same time the churches of our own order have multiplied in every part of our country; and of late years, both in the metropolis, and in many of our larger towns, have exhibited cheering indications of prosperity. Notwithstanding manifold reasons for humiliation, we rejoice that God has not left us without witness" of his loving kindness.

We have, moreover, special reason for satisfaction, when we reflect on the service which has been rendered to the cause of truth and holiness, by the Independent churches of this country: nor can we conceal our recognition of the value of those principles which, under the divine blessing, have tended to secure these practical results. It would be only the natural effect of their operation, if the comprehensive and scriptural liberality which they inspire, and by which we are prepared for co-operation with all the friends of the Redeemer, without compromise or hesitation, should lead those who profess them never to forget their legitimate importance. But we can not conceal our regret that the temptations in modern times to a spirit of latitudinarian indifference, have induced too many to hold them lightly, or easily abandon them. It surely becomes us to maintain a firm and enlightened

attachment to the principles of our ecclesiastical polity, when we find them productive of such great results. At the same time we should remember that their true value arises from their accordance with the principles and precedents of Apostolic Churches, and their subserviency to the preservation and extension of the truth as it is in Jesus!"

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We e are, therefore, dear brethren, anxious to deepen the conviction, that all institutions in religion are important, in proportion to their connexion with the promotion of evangelical truth, and the influence of vital godliness. Let this connexion he forgotten, and the most eager contention for the external observances of a church, will generate only a barren and unproductive formality. The truth and holiness of the Gospel are inseparable; and the Divine Spirit renders the one the immediate cause of the other. It is in proportion as we "abide in Christ that our fruit will remain, and our Father in heaven will be glorified."

It is possible that a nominal orthodoxy may be maintained, while there is a most adequate sense of the value of spiritual religion. Amidst the general profession of evangelical truth, and systematic exertions for its diffusion, the very working of the moral machinery, which is employed for the purpose, may induce both mental and spiritual dissipation, and divert the mind. from what is personal and experimental in the great concerns of religion! On this account we are most solicitous that the state of things in our churches, and amongst the families and individuals comprising them, should undergo the most faithful investigation. Is there not reason to apprehend that while there are, we trust, many

exceptions of an encouraging na ture, vital and practical godliness is not in that flourishing condition amongst us, which is to be so ardently desired? Is not the line of demarcation between the church and the world, in many instances, either disregarded or almost imperceptible? Is there not a conformity to the maxims, and manners, and spirit of the world, which destroys what is characteristic of pure Christianity? Is not domestic religion awfully neglected? Are there not those calling themselves the disciples of Jesus, and publicly appearing as the supporters of his cause, who have no altar to God in their God in their household, and who indulge in habits and associations which tend to destroy all impression of the value and importance of divine things, and thus effectually counteract in the family all that is heard in the sanctuary? Is it because there is not adequate instruction and impressiveness in the ministry of the Gospel? Is it because the obligations and principles and appeals of that Gospel are not made with the directness, and urgency, and fidelity, which they demand? Is it because the application of truth is not marked by that discrimination and force which the message of truth and holiness requires? If so, let us be humbled before God and lament it! But may we not trace these evils to other causes? Is it not because, amongst many professors of religion, there is no hallowed flame of spiritual feeling burning on the altar of the heart, in the sacred recesses of solitude, where only God and the offerer are present-no babits of self-inspection, meditation, and prayer no fervent wrestling with the Most High for spiritual blessings-and no devotional study of the Sacred Volume for the promotion of per

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sonal, experimental, and practical godliness? Is it not owing to these causes that domestic religion is neglected the power of a public profession is withered and ineffective-conversions are seldom witnessed in the families of such as are called Christiansand few, comparatively, are " turned from darkness to light, and the power of Satan to God!"

Dearly beloved brethren, “suffer the word of exhortation." We apply to ourselves as Ministers of Christ, the topics of inquiry we address to you. Let us examine ourselves. Let us be faithful to our avowed principles and our acknowledged obligations. We believe that the Gospel is the power of God to salvation; that the faithful preaching of the Gospel is the appointed instrument for the conversion of men; that the agency of the Holy Spirit is essential to its success; that the exertion and the experience of that agency are connected with prayer; that all efforts without prayer are unavailing; and that God has connected the accomplishment of his own purposes and promises as much with the fervour of persevering prayer, as with any other order of means established by divine authority for the regeneration and the happiness of the world. Then, fearful and tremendous is our responsibility as the professed disciples of the Redeemer, if we are not acting and living under the habitual impression of these convictions. Then, while all the efforts of Christian zeal should not only continue but increase—it is the energy, the fervour, the constancy, the comparative omnipotence of prayer, that should prove the sincerity of our profession, and demonstrate the power of our principles. Then, whatever affects the state of personal, domestic,

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