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times domestic devotions are conducted with a seeming thoughtlessness and want of solemnity altogether unbecoming. Anything, a slight mistake in reading, or a false note in singing, or an awkward gesture on the part of any assembled, provokes a smile, and perhaps calls forth some trifling exclamation, just as if nothing were going on more solemn than fire-side conversation. The effect of such apparent irreverence is very far from being calculated to impress the mind with proper and elevated ideas of the Divine worship.

Let there be animation and earnestness. How often is family worship conducted as if it were an irksome duty! Little interest is apparently felt or taken in it. It is looked upon as a decent, and perhaps necessary appendage to the usual routine of family business. And when the time comes for surrounding the family altar, the Bible has probably been mislaid; or, if reading in course is adopted, the proper portion or chapter is forgotten; and other manifestations of a want of life and earnestness in this domestic privilege from time to time appear. A smile of satisfaction, and a look of pleasing earnestness, should beam in the countenance of the head of the family, when he calls the members of his household around him to worship God; and it should always appear that the heart and soul are engaged in the service.

Let the exercises be conducted with brevity, Protracted religious services of any kind are wearisome to children, and not less uninteresting to servants. When the exercises at family worship are too lengthened, they are anything but attractive to the younger branches of the household; and more likely to produce dislike than affection for the worship of God. They may, and ought to be brief, without being hurried.

There should be regularity in surrounding the family altar. Nothing should be allowed to put aside domestic worship, or to interfere with its performance. Yet oftentimes there is a great remissness in this matter. In many pro

fessedly religious families even it is frequently neglected. Some urgent call in the morning, or the encroachment of business, or too late an hour in the evening, prevents attention to the duty. But this is dishonouring to God. It is offering to Him the halt, and the lame, and the blind. Nothing ought to interfere with this privilege which can possibly be avoided; and it will be eventually found that prayer in the family, no more than in the closet, ever hindered any man's work.

Let all the members of the household, who possibly can, be present. We have heard of a minister, who would not allow his children to be present at family prayer, lest they should become hypocrites, by engaging in that in which they felt no interest. This was something very like straining at a gnat, and swallowing a camel! Every Christian parent and master has authority in his own house, and it is his duty to request the presence of all his dependents at family prayer, that they may have an opportunity of hearing the word of God, and observing his ordinance in a Christian's household. It has occurred that an affectionate supplication at the family devotions in behalf of servants has been the means of leading them to think seriously, and pray for themselves. And children, when they leave the parental roof, never forget a father's or a mother's prayers at the family fireside.

If, then, domestic worship is to be what it ought to be-invested with an interest and an influence which all within the circle may feel-everything in the shape of formality, indifference, and thoughtlessness, must be banished from the precincts of the family altar, and the spirit of solemnity, fervour, and devotion from the inmost soul made to hover around it.

There are some Christian families in which domestic worship is attended to only once a day. Various excuses are pleaded for such omission, and some of them apparently plausible. Want of time-the pressure of business-the diffi

culty of getting the members of the household together in the morning-and other reasons, are given for such procedure. But is any one of them, under ordinary circumstances, in the sight of God, valid and tenable? We are persuaded of the contrary. Religion is not allowed to have its "perfect work" in the family where domestic worship is attended to only once a day. God preserves during the night as well as during the day; his mercies are new every morning, and fresh every evening; and morning and evening it is his due to receive the thanksgiving and homage of the family. Men have time for business, and time for their meals, and may not sufficient time be redeemed from these, or from relaxation, to worship God with children and domestics?

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It is possible that this paper may meet the eye of some Christian professor who has never yet instituted family worship in his household. What objection, friend, have you to erect a family altar under your roof? What excuse do you plead for neglecting to offer with up, dren and servants, spiritual sacrifice to the Lord at your own fireside. You surely cannot plead a want of time, and a pressure of business. If so, where is the evidence that you have ever felt the power of religion in your heart? If the pursuits of the world occupy all your time, what is your profession worth? Perhaps you plead inability to pray. Do you not pray in your closet? Do you not tell God all your feelings, and wants, and desires, in your retirement? Then why not in the bosom of your own family?

TRY IT. You know very well how to address yourself to a friend; why should you not know how to speak to God-your own best Friend, and the best Friend of your family? The consciousness of your personal and domestic necessities ought to be to you an unfailing "fountain of eloquence" before the throne of grace; and surely neglecting a duty is not the way to qualify yourself for its performance. And if, after all, you cannot trust yourself at first, there are many helps to family prayer, and it is far better to use them with the spirit of devotion, than to neglect the duty in the spirit of indiffer

ence.

If then, dear reader, you have hitherto not attended to this duty, or attended to it only once a day, begin now to give it that place in your family duties which it ought to have. Avail yourself of the commencement of another period of your existence the new year on which we have entered-to start in waiting upon God in this delightful ordinance. Henceforth let God have an altar in your dwelling-let your prayers and your praises ascend, morning and evening, to the throne of the heavenly Grace, that your household may be a pattern of "piety at home," and that you and they, through God's blessing, may become meet for spiritual worship in the sanctuary above with "the family in heaven." Oxford.

J. S.

*As Dr. Morison's admirable volume of Prayers for the whole Year; Dr. A. Fletcher's Family Devotion, &c.

DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY.

A SOURCE OF HOPE AND NOT OF DISCOURAGEMENT TO THE SINNER.

IN Rom. ix. 16, we have the following remarkable words: "So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth; but of God that showeth mercy;"

*The outline of this article, and some of its chief illustrations have been suggested by a brief sketch in the late Dr. Nettleton's Select Memoirs.

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words which have often been expounded so as to discourage the sinner, but which have no tendency in this direction, when rightly understood. The apostle's declaration is just as if he had said: "Salvation is neither the product of man's will, nor of man's effort;"-that is, no sinner was ever saved by his own

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good inclinations, or by his own unaided exertions. The true and only alternative, therefore, must be-that, "Salvation is of the Lord." 'By grace ye are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast; for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

This view of man's salvation is indeed humbling to the pride of the human heart; but shall it be matter of wonder that a lost and sinful being should be unable to restore himself? or that, if restored, the glorious work should be attributable to the love and mercy of Him who is emphatically. "the God of salvation ?"

As the doctrine of grace is the only sure foundation of hope for apostate creatures, it is very important that it should be clearly explained, and earnestly enforced. This is the more necessary, because every man, by nature, desires to become his own Saviour, and to work out a righteousness of his own. Hence all the warnings and all the arguments of Scripture against the pharisaical theory of religion; and hence all its express averments, that the recovery of a sinner, from first to last, is the work of sovereign and distinguishing grace. It is God's prerogative to save. "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy; and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy."

In endeavouring to lay open the doctrine of Paul here announced, it is proposed

I. TO PROVE THAT MAN'S SALVATION IS NOT OF HIMSELF, BUT OF GOD;

II. TO SET FORTH THE REASONS OF THIS DISPENSATION; AND

III. TO GUARD THE DOCTRINE AGAINST THE PRACTICAL ABUSE TO WHICH IT IS

EXPOSED.

I. WE SHALL ESTABLISH the GREAT

TRUTH, THAT MAN'S SALVATION IS NOT OF HIMSELF, BUT OF GOD.

"It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." If anything be asserted in these words, it is this,-that the salvation of a sinner is not from his own will, nor from his own effort, to obtain it, but from the mercy of God, freely cherished, and freely exercised towards him, without any other assisting or co-operating cause. This single view of salvation lays the axe to the root of every system that would make the recovery of fallen man to depend upon his own exertions. The declaration of God to every child of Adam, is this :— "Thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help found."

It may be desirable, however, to establish this doctrine by two or three plain arguments, which may carry conviction to every mind disposed to submit to the testimony of God. And,

1. It may be established by what the Bible teaches concerning man in his natural state.

In vain will you look in your Bibles for any flattering picture of the present state of human nature,-any representations of unrenewed man that would lead you to think of him as inclined to that which is good; as seeking after God; as desiring to be saved; as duly estimating the worth or peril of the immortal soul. On the contrary, the picture of man, drawn by the hand of inspiration, is dark and gloomy; the imagination of his heart is described "as evil, and only evil, and that continually;" both Jews and Gentiles are said to be "all under sin;" "there is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way; they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

If" the carnal mind, then," be "enmity against God;"-if it be "not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be;"-and if "they that are in the flesh cannot please God," it is a matter of absolute certainty, that the conversion of a

sinner can, in no sense, depend upon the purpose of his own apostate will, or the effort of his own depraved powers.

The intervention of the work of Christ does not, in the least degree, contravene the truth of this doctrine. It is as true now, as before Christ "died, the just for the unjust," that men are "dead in trespasses and sins;" that they love "darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil;" that "they will not come to the light," though it shine so benignantly upon them; that the Saviour himself bore this testimony of those amongst whom he lived and laboured, "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might be saved."

2. This doctrine may be equally established, by what is taught in Scripture upon the all-important subject of regene

ration.

It is unnecessary to waste the reader's precious time, by proving that this great and vital change is not effected by any outward rite; "for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." To attribute regeneration to baptism or to any other symbolical ordinance, is to corrupt and vitiate the whole scheme of Christianity; and to teach men to rely on ceremonies, instead of grace. Nothing is more manifest, from the teaching of the Bible, than that regeneration is an inward spiritual change, affecting all the powers of the human mind; not imparting new faculties, indeed, to man, but giving a new direction and bias to them all.

If this change is spoken of under the emblem of light,-if the new creation is illustrated by a reference to the old,then inspired men speak of it in the following striking terms: "God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." If it is represented as the product of the divine, and not of the human will, then the regenerate are described as "born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." If it is traced to free grace, and not to human

merit, then is it. "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost." If it is seen to emanate from the immediate and direct agency of God, then is it affirmed, that "Of his own will begat he us, by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." If it is viewed as a new and spiritual creation, then you hear Paul, in the name of all the regenerate, exclaiming: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them."

It is true, indeed, that all God's people do will, and do run; but this is the effect of grace, and not the procuring cause of it. God first "makes them willing, in the day of his power," and then, when their hearts are enlarged, they do run in the way of his commandments. He says to them, and not to the world, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do, of his good pleasure,”and he that hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." The grace, both to will and to do, is ascribed to his own sovereign operation. All the blessings of the new covenant are the fruits of sovereign and efficacious grace; not the result of any favourable tendency on the part of the creature. "I will put my law into their inward parts, and write it in their hearts;" "I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever;" "A new heart, also, will I give to 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 an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."

All this continuous and varied teaching of the word of God proceeds upon the principle, that the great change which passes upon all regenerate persons

is the result, not of human will or effort, but of the sovereign and effectual grace of God. And so clear is the light of Scripture on this head, that all that enters into the essence of religion is traced to Divine operation. Our calling, our justification, our holiness, our perseverance, our final glory and felicity-are all attributed to grace. We are "called and saved with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace;" we are "justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;" we are made holy, "through sanctification of the Spirit;" we are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation;" and we obtain mercy of the Lord in that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed.

If any should be disposed to plead against the doctrine, "that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy;" that there are certain conditions upon which salvation is suspended in the representations of Scripture, I would ask, then, what conditions they are that are thus pleaded? Is it faith? But is not faith expressly declared to be "the gift of God?" Is it repentance? But is not Christ "exalted a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel, and the remission of sins?" Is it love? But does not God promise to circumcise the hearts of his people that they may love him? Is it works? But does not God create his people anew unto good works? Is it endurance to the end? But does not Christ say, "None of my sheep shall perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand?”

And thus it is, brethren, that every scriptural representation of regeneration, and all its blessed fruits, distinctly prove, that "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth; but of God that showeth mercy." But,

3. This doctrine may be established, by what is taught in Scripture respecting the inadequacy of all means to the conversion of man,

Nothing is more emphatically taught in Scripture than the powerlessness of all instruments and means to change the human heart. "The treasure of the gospel is put into earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." "I have planted," said Paul, "and Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." "Who then is Paul? and who is Apollos? but ministers by whom ye have believed? So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal; but mighty, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds."

Does not all this style of language indicate, that there is something in the conversion of a sinner beyond the reach of all created power;-that it is, in a pre-eminent sense, the work of God;that the sinner is, in no sense, the author of his own translation from darkness to light; and that, therefore, "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth; but of God that showeth mercy." Those who would call in question this grand doctrine, have no correct idea of the nature of human depravity; nor of the work of God in regenerating the human spirit; nor of the place which means and instruments occupy in the economy of grace. They have yet to learn the deepseated corruption which lurks within them; the mighty power of God in quickening those who are dead in trespasses and sins; and the egregious folly of relying on the best system of means, without the promised agency of the Holy Ghost. The new creation is as expressive of omnipotent energy as the first; and all who are made new creatures in Christ Jesus, will be monuments of sovereign grace through the countless ages of eternity.

It may now be proper

II. TO SET FORTH THE REASONS OF THIS DISPENSATION.

Why, then, is it so, that "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy?”

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