image of heaven, and, therefore, beauteous: Thankfulness is the tune of angels, and, therefore, melodious. But what is Faith good for? Yes, it is good for every good purpose; the foundation and root of all graces. All the Prayers made by Devotion, all the good works done by Charity, all the actual expressions of Holiness, all the praises sounded forth. by Thankfulness, come from the root of Faith; that is the life of them all. Faith doth animate works, as the body lives by the soul. Doubtless Faith hath saved some without works; but it was never read, that works saved any without Faith.-Adams on 2nd Peter.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE SPIRIT.

LET but God come into the soul by the operation of his blessed Spirit, then there will be a renewing of the mind; then that tongue, which was ere while set on fire of hell, will become a trumpet of God's glory; those hands, which were once reached out to do wickedly, will now work that which is honest; those feet which were swift to shed blood, will now walk in the paths of peace; instead of an itching ear, there will be an attentive ear; instead of a wanton eye, there will be a covenanting eye; there will be a new will, new affections, new qualities; all will be new.— Skinner.

GILBERT & RIVINGTON, Printers, St. John's Square, London.

NO. 237.]

[VOL. X.

THE PENNY

SUNDAY READER.

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No. 237.] THE PENNY SUNDAY READER. [Vol. X.

July 14, 1839.-Seventh Sunday after Trinity.

THE COMMINATION.

THE SENTENCES.

[Deut. xxvii. 15.]

BEFORE any one takes upon himself to object to this Office, let him bear in mind the circumstances under which the Church has herself declared that she has been enforced to appoint it; and let him also see that he rightly understands in what sense those words and phrases are employed which have causelessly given offence to some, who have deemed them unsuitable to the spirit and dispensation of the Gospel. Let us recollect that declaration with which the Office commences, in which the Church feelingly deplores the decay of primitive discipline, and expresses her desire for its return; but, mindful of the spiritual health of her members, and anxious to adopt such means as are in her power for alarming the presumptuous sinner, and for reclaiming the wanderer, she solemnly proclaims that she is no unmoved spectator of the transgressions of her erring children, although circumstances have for a time deprived her of the means of enforcing her ancient and more effectual mode of dealing with them. But though her hands are, in a measure, tied, her voice is not silenced, and she raises it with all the earnestness of maternal c 2

VOL. X.

affection to warn the guilty and the secure of their great and awful danger. Secondly, these warnings are not imprecations, but declarations; not "cursed BE the man," &c. but "cursed is the man," &c. Now what is the meaning of this latter expression? It is simply a declaration (a very awful declaration, surely), that the man who is guilty of the sin in question, is subject to eternal condemnation. Is this declaration untrue; is it uncharitable; is it unfit to be uttered by the Church, or to be re-echoed by her children? No; it is true, for it rests upon the authority of Scripture; it is charitable, for it is designed and adapted to awaken the slumbering sinner to a sense of his danger, that he may avoid it; it well becomes the Church to declare it, for she is the appointed witness of the truth; and it becomes the congregation to respond to it, for they thus set to their seal, that God is true, and that his judgments are right.

'Though the dividing the twelve tribes upon two particular mountains, and some other circumstances in the Jewish manner of reciting these curses, were purely ceremonial; yet doubtless the main of the duty, and the end for which it was prescribed, was truly moral, tending to the honour of God and of his laws, and the promoting of real holiness. For, to publish the equity and truth of God, and to profess our belief that his laws are righteous, and the sanctions thereof just and certain, is an excellent means of glorifying God, and a proper method for converting sinners; so that it cannot be unfit for the Gospel times, nor unsuitable to our Christian worship, especially when the necessities of the Church require that sinners should be warned and brought to repentance. And if any object "that Christ hath taken away the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:" I reply,