that is born again, must grow and increase much, before he reaches the measure of the stature of a perfect man in Christ Jesus. This growth is sanctification. It is an increasing renovation,-a growing conversion and conformity of the soul to God. "We are renewed (says the catechism) after the image of God."-As sanctification increases, that moral image of our Maker which was lost or obliterated by the fall, is retraced, and progressively restored to the sanctified soul. As it becomes more holy, it of course becomes more like God, till, in the article of death, the saint becomes perfectly sanctified, or in his measure "holy as God is holy." The answer before us states, that the saint is renewed in the whole man. Our bodies, strictly speaking, are not capable of holiness. Yet they may be the instruments either of a holy or a sinful mind; and as the mind is sanctified, all the members of the body become the instruments of holy mental acts -They are, like the vessels of the ancient sanctuary, appropriated to holy purposes, and therefore considered as holy in themselves. Hence the apostolic injunction, "yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness,"-and elsewhere he says "I pray God your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blamel coming of on stant assistance from the Spirit of grace. After the greatest progress in sanctification, the saint is not sufficient of himself for any good thought or act. He incessantly depends on grace, to be imparted for the discharge of every duty;-depends on it as the streams depend on the fountain. To die unto sin, is to have the power of sin in our nature so far mortified, as not to delight in it, but to hate it in heart, and abstain from it in life. To live unto righteousness, is to have our souls so quickened by the vivifying power of grace, as to love and obey the commands of God, truly, heartily, prevalently, and perseveringly. And both of these, in every sanctified soul, will take place more and more. The sanctified person will be still making gradual advances in the divine life. Some advance much more rapidly than others; but none who are sanctified fail to "grow in grace." There may, indeed, be seasons when they do not grow, but decline; when they do not make progress, but backslide, or stumble and fall. But the Spirit of grace will never forsake his own work. The declensions, falls and backslidings, of those who are truly sanctified, are overruled to render them more careful, more steadfast, and more rapid in their progress, afterwards. On the whole, then, the indispensable necessity of sanctification may be stated thus-It is necessa not for our justification before 1, but for evidencing our justifion both to ourselves and others. is necessary for glorifying our avenly Father, and showing th his praise; for adorning the ctrine of God our Saviour; for oving our union with Christ; for omoting inward peace and joy; r maintaining fellowship and ommunion with God; for stopping he mouths of gainsayers; for making us useful to men on earth; and for qualifying us for heaven; be cause "without holiness no man shall see the Lord." The marks of sanctification are -a cordial respect to all God's commandments-loving them because they are holy; a hatred of all sin, and avoiding the appearance of evil; a spirit of watchfulness and warfare against sin; a delight in doing good; communion with God; a conversation becoming the gospel; an habitual use of the precious promises of God, particularly with a view to increasing holiness; and a constant improvement of the blood of Christ, by faith and prayer, for cleansing from the filth, as well as the guilt of sin. The chief motives and inducements to sanctification are, the will of God commanding it; the love of Christ constraining to it; the inherent excellence of the thing itself; an abhorrence of sin, which is its opposite; and the dignity of resembling God, to whose image it conforms its possessor. To promote sanctification, we should cleave to Christ by faith, for we are "sanctified in Christ Jesus;" we should pray earnestly for the Spirit of sanctification, for by his aid and influence alone the deeds of the body can be mortified; we should associate with the saints, for association begets assimilation; and we should make a right and diligent use of all God's ordinances the dispensation of his word, his sabbaths and sacraments; and of the mercies and chastisements of his holy hand. Amen. THE DUTY OF SOCIAL WORSHIP. Essay III. It remains to specify those extraordinary circumstances that will justify us, in not attending on social worship. That circumstances of the kind here referred to may occur, is too evident to need proof, and has hi therto been considered by us as a conceded point. It is, however, a matter both of some importance and of some difficulty, to ascertain with suitable precision what these circumstances are. It is of importance, because conscientious persons are sometimes at considerable loss to determine the matter of their duty in this particular; and it is difficult because there are extremes on the one hand and on the other, and because the just medium between them is a line not easily defined. Let us, however, take up the subject, endeavour to state the cases, and to offer such remarks on each as may assist a candid mind in ascertaining the demands of duty. 1. There are many occurrences of an incidental nature, which will justify us in an occasional omission of social worship.-These will sometimes fall out even in a family, so as to cause an interruption of the regular exercises of worship there. They will more frequently occur to men who are involved in much worldly business, so as to prevent their attendance on those exercises of publick social worship which are performed on secular days, and the general utility of which has already been shown: And they will sometimes happen so as to render an absence from the stated worship of the sanctuary on the Lord's day, by any individual, lawful and proper-The state of the weather is an occurrence of this kind. We have no reason to expect, as some seem to do, that the usual influence of heat, or frost, or storms, will not be experienced when we attend on publick worship. That more fear is usually apprehended from this cause than is justified by any reason or experience, is undoubtedly and lamentably true. It is a shame to those who call themselves Christians, that they will make an excuse for staying from church of a trifling change in the atmosphere, when they possess vigorous health, and when the same cause would not have prevented their going abroad on any other urgent occasion. Still, however, it is undeniable, that the state of the weather, in connexion with the state of our own health or constitution, and the distance of our residence from the place of publick worship, may justify us in an occasional absence from the sanctuary. Works of necessity and mercy, as they form a warrant for an attention to secular business on any part of the Sabbath, so they may render it our duty to abstain from publick worship, when their performance is really incompatible with an attendance on it. Physicians, soldiers, and sailors, are the classes of men, whose professional engagements most frequently expose them to these calls. But whatever be the occupation or situation of an individual in life, occurrences may sometimes take place that are so important in themselves, or that demand such an immediate attention, as to render it proper to forego an attendance on social worship. To these cases apply those words of our Creator himself "I will have mercy and not sacrifice." The example of our Saviour, too, is a justification of the omissions here stated, who refused to censure his disciples for relieving themselves from pressing hunger on the Sabbath. Neither is it difficult for any one who truly loves to worship God, to ascertain the matter of duty, in almost every case to which we have now referred. Let any one make conscience of doing every thing in his power to prevent the occurrences specified, by a seasonable, = careful and diligent attention to his secular business; let him make every practicable arrangement to prevent the interruption of his religious duties; let him cherish in his heart such a love to social worship that his inclinations will strongly lead him to it, whenever opportu nity favours; let him resolve to make some small sacrifices on the side of worldly interests and business, rather than be interrupted in the immediate service of JehovahLet him do this, and his practice will be sufficiently guarded. The cases that would seem doubtful to others, will be plain to him. Nothing but instances of real necessity will tempt him to forego what he loves; and in such instances, he will feel that he does not act of choice, and therefore will act without doubt and without a sense of guilt. To lay down rules for those whose hearts incline them to find. excuses, is wholly impracticable; and were it otherwise, the rules would at last be useless, because they would be disregarded-In this, as in every thing else, it is surprising to see how many plausible excuses can be made by those who wish to find them; and on the contrary, how few hindrances will ever occur to those who are truly and deeply concerned to avoid them. 2. Personal sickness is a cause which will justify absence from social worship. When sickness is extreme, there can be no doubt on this head. But when it is slight, or complaints, though real, do not wholly prevent an attention to other duties, it is more difficult for a conscientious person to decide on the part that he ought to act. It is clearly the opinion of the writer, that when indisposition is not great, and only incidental, it does not form a sufficient reason for refusing to wait upon God in his house, especially if the party affected possesses a good constitution. There can be, in many cases, no more inconvenience in spending the time at church, than in any other place. Nay, if we love the service of God, it may enable us to forget in part our bodily complaints, and prove a real benefit both to our bodies and our souls. But in cases where indispositions are habitual, and the whole frame weak and delicate, perhaps nothing but experience can ascertain the point of duty. If experience has proved that attendance on publick ordinances has been productive of no material or lasting inconveniences, it ought certainly to be continued. But if, on the contrary, it has been found in fact, that going to church has very sensibly increased bodily sufferings, and has thus disqualified the suffering person for an attention to other important duties, it is surely an evidence that the cause of these calamities is to be avoided. In all such cases, the individuals concerned must judge and act for themselves, sensible of their accountableness to the all-seeing God; and remembering, on the one hand, that he will not be mocked and 'cannot be deceived, and on the other, that he is merciful and gracious-that "he knoweth our frame, and remembereth that we are dust." 3. Persecution in the extreme, is a justifiable cause of abstaining from publick worship. Blessed be God, this is not a case in which the inhabitants of this country, generally, have ever had a personal concern. Yet it may serve to throw light on the general subject, and on the next particular especially, to give it a short consideration. That there are cases of persecution in which publick exercises of religion are to be suspended or omitted, at least in a particular place, appears evident from the command of our Lord to his disciples-"When they persecute you in one city, flee ye unto another:" and also from the conduct of the primitive disciples, who "were scattered abroad, on the persecution that arose about Stephen." Notwithstanding this, however, it seems to be the opinion of most commentators, that in the very passage on which these essays are founded, the case of persecution was particularly referred to; and that the apostle's design was to warn the Hebrews not to suffer the fear 4. Nearly allied to what we have justify and demand an absence from publick worship. When the great plague prevailed in London, many people confined themselves to their houses, and refused an attendance on publick worship, till toward the close of the calamity, when finding the attempt neffectual, they rushed in multiudes into the churches, regardless of all danger. Some have supposed hat this was a proof that what they lid in the last instance, they ought o have done in the first. But the ust inference seems to be, that hey did right in both cases. They ndeavoured to avoid the danger ill they found it impossible; and hen went to the house of God, vithout increasing their jeopardy, o unite their prayers for his graious interposition in their behalf. But it has always seemed reaonable to the writer, that those vho by the necessity of their circumstances are confined to a place vhere the pestilence exists, and who expose themselves to it in every other way, are not bound wholly to forbear assembling themselves together, provided they do not draw around them those who would not otherwise be exposed. Guarding against this evil (which ought to be done with care) a numer of praying Christians may, it would seem, lawfully and properly assemble, in a more private way, for social worship-In so doing, they may comfort and encourage each other not a little. Neither is every trifling alarm of danger to drive us from the house of God. We are required to hazard something for the enjoyment of so precious a privilege. It is only real and imminent danger that constitutes our warrant to forsake, for a time, the assembling of ourselves together-and of the existence of such danger, every person must judge for himself, as he will answer at the judgment scat of Christ. R. TRANSLATION OF MARCK'S MEDULLA. Something more than three years since, a very handsome edition of Marck's Medulla was published in Philadelphia; and in the March number of our work for 1824 it was reviewed. In that review, to which we would refer our correspondent, we gave our opinion of the Medulla, and our sense of the want of a good Theological System in the English language; as well as our estimate of the comparative merit of the systems of BERNHARDIN DE MOOR, and the celebrated Geneva Professor PICTET. We also remarked at that time, that "Latin is far more favourable than English to the forming of a summary, at once perspicuous and complete." We are however not sorry to see an attempt made to translate a part of this very excellent work of Marck into English, and cheerfully give it a place in our Miscellany. The translator, it appears, has felt the difficulty of his undertaking. We have compared only a small part of his version with the original, and made but a few alterations. The general sense of Marck is retained But the precision and force of the Latin work are unavoidably lost. The ideas communicated are, nevertheless, so important and so well arranged, that they will richly reward the trouble of noting and remembering them, although the medium by which they are conveyed is not the most alluring. FOR THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE. Mr. Editor-I have had it in contemplation for some time, to translate Marck's Medulla into the English language; as well for the benefit of serious readers in general, and the encouragement of theological study among the people, as for my own instruction and advancement in knowledge. Frequent translations have been made in this coun |