conducted by that standard of sound doctrine, to which by our subscription we are required to adhere. But, as we cannot rightly divide the word of truth, by the sole aid of human learning, or by our own unassisted efforts, let us frequently address ourselves to the throne of grace, in the words of that beautiful hymn in our ordination service,— Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, Thou the anointing Spirit art, Who dost thy seven-fold gifts impart. Thy blessed unction from above, Anoint and cheer our soiled face Teach us to know the Father, Son, APPENDIX. No. 1. THE past history and present condition of the Jewish people furnish, by a kind of standing and perpetual miracle, an indubitable testimony to the Divine inspiration of the various prophecies relating to that interesting people. The fulfilment of one portion of the predictions, which refer to them, is a sure attestation that the remaining portion shall not fail of its accomplishment. In like manner the signal completion of the prophecies of Daniel, of St. Paul, and of St. John which refer to the great apostacy of the Church of Rome, leads us to anticipate, with unwavering confidence, that signal overthrow which ultimately awaits the mystical Babylon and "its dependencies." When the souls of the martyrs are represented by the Apostle, in his symbolical vision, as looking forward with fervency and earnestness to the time when God would assert the honour of his name, and visit the persecutors of his people with a righteous retribution; although those pure and exalted spirits were incapable of being actuated by vindictive feelings; yet, they certainly were not aware that the Church of Rome had any strong claims on our admiration, reverence, love, and gratitude." But perhaps it may be said that this passage refers to the martyrs who suffered under the persecutions of the heathen emperors. Upon this point, I will quote the words of Mr. Pearson and of Dean Woodhouse, as cited by him in his valuable work on the Apocalypse." The prophecy contained in this seal has been applied to different periods of the Christian history by different commentators; by Mede and his followers to the martyrs in the Diocletian persecution; and by Vitringa to the Waldenses, Albigenses, and the other martyrs, who in different ages have suffered under the Papal Church. But,' as Dean Woodhouse has observed, 'there seems to be no reason why it should be restricted to any particular body of martyrs of any particular period. All are to be avenged; and it may perhaps be more fitly understood to comprehend all the martyrs to the Christian cause from the apostolical age to the time when such sufferings shall finally cease.'"-Pearson on the Apocalypse, p. 124. There are, however, other passages in this sublime and mysterious Book, which bear a fearful aspect upon the Church of Rome, and which ought to inspire theological writers with caution, lest, peradventure, they should seem voluntarily to take upon themselves something of the mark of the Beast. Let the following be attentively considered. He that leadeth into captivity, shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword, must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Rev. xiii. 10. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and Thou hast given them blood to drink, for they are worthy. Rev. xvi. 6. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. Rev. xviii. 6, 7. Upon the first of these passages Dean Woodhouse remarks-" After the fearful picture exhibited of the victorious power of the Beast, a comfort is derived from these words; which contain an assurance from the Almighty, that the wicked shall not finally prosper. The cause of iniquity sometimes flourishes during a long period, and under various instruments: but the individuals employed to promote its reign, have no lasting enjoyment or prosperity. They suffer in their turn the evils which they introduce and inflict upon others."-Annotations on the Apocalypse, by Dean Woodhouse, p. 268. As the words, Reward her as she rewarded you &c., are liable to be misunderstood, and have actually constituted the ground of a false and injurious charge against Protestants, I will here insert the remarks which Bishop Hurd in his sermons at the Warburtonian lecture makes upon them, in connexion with the monitory voice-Come out of her my people &c., by which they are introduced. This learned and elegant writer clearly shews that these words are to be understood prophetically and permissively-not preceptively. "If" says he, "these prophecies are rightly applied to papal Rome, and have, in part, been signally accomplished in the history of that church, it is beyond all doubt, that our communion with it is dangerous; nay, that our separation from it is a matter of strict duty. Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues* -are plain and decisive words, and, if allowed to be spoken of that church, bring the controversy between the Protestant and Papal Christians to a short issue. "I know, the advocates of Rome pretend, that, not a sense of duty, but a spirit of revenge operates in the minds of Protestants, when they affect to lay so great a stress on the Apocalyptic prophecies. Reward her even as she rewarded you't-is, they say, another of their favourite texts, by which they take themselves to be as much obliged, as by that which they so commonly allege for quitting her communion. It is not, therefore, to cover themselves from the imputation of schism, but to authorize the vengeance they meditate Rev. xviii. 6. + Rev. xviii. 4. against us, that we are stunned with the cry of Antichrist and Babylon. To this charge, I can only reply, That if any Protestant writers have put that sense on the words-reward her, as she rewarded you they must answer for their own temerity and indiscretion. They, who understand themselves, and the language of prophecy, disclaim the odious imputation. They say, That they neither admit the lawfulness of persecution in any case, on the account of religion, nor have the least thought of instigating the christian world to any sanguinary attempts against the papacy. What the event may be in the counsels of providence, is another consideration. But they neither avow, nor approve those principles which tend to produce it. They further insist, that the two passages under consideration, though both of them, expressed in the imperative form, require a very different construction. That the language of prophecy seems very often to authorise what it only foretels; and to command that which it barely permits: that, therefore, the sense of such passages is to be determined by the circumstances of the case; that, where obedience is lawful, there the preceptive form may be admitted; but where it is not, there nothing more is intended than the certainty of the event. That this distinction is to be made in the present case; for that christianity doth not allow vindictive retaliations, or holy wars, for the sake of religion, and that offensive arms taken up in the cause of God (how confidently soever some have justified their zeal by the authority of the Jewish law, ill applied) are abominable and antichristian. Whence we rightly conclude, that-reward her, as she rewarded you-are words not to be taken injunctively; while those other words-come out of her, my people-expressing nothing but what it was previously our duty to do, are very clearly to be so taken. 66 Lastly, we say that the context in the two places alleged, justifies this distinction. Come out of her, my people. Why? |