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to mise tb <* se who receive aod understand it to all the acts of benevolence antf £ H piety , # r , in the language of tl * e Apostle , * ' to make the man" or servant " . of : God perfect ,, thoroughly furoished uiito all good works . " * , Such a kind of preaching you will
fitntl > I am persuaded , most agreeable to the great ends of the Christian ministry . There will , no doubt , be frequent occasion on which it may be necessary to defend your own particular views of the gospel doctrine , and to expose and confute the errors of others : but to be
constantly eagag ^ dm this way , as it is apt locause some evil impressions , and particularly to sour the tempers of those who enter ioto the conflict , so there is danger lest it should exclude the weightier matters which it is the Apostle ' s object
to recommend to his young friend—the display , I mean , of Divine Grace and Mercy , which we have in the life and conduct , the . doctrine and promises of Jesus , and that it was his great design to lead us to become " a peculiar people , zealous , otf good works . '' ¦
' , -: OTae Apostle ' s next advice is " to exhort , " i ^ hich , as the former , may be considered as extending to the faith as weU as the practice of those whom his young friend was to address . For though pur speculative faith is not a matter of our free choice , but we must believe as things appear to us , yet there is a faith w&ich may be made the proper subject
of exhortation . The faith to which such high things are attributed in Scripture depends not so much on the understanding as on the heart , and rather proceeds from a disposition of miud open to receive the truth , than any great atftlitiee for its discovery . To one who contemplates the goodness and love of God in his providential dealings with his creatures , and especially in the measures which he has taken by Jesus Christ
for leading the penitent , sincere , and faithful , to glory and happiness hereafter , it is surely impossible to restrain the emotions of gratitude , or not to feel the heart prepared to receive the declarations which he -ha « made to this effect by Christ . This may ansist us to understand what the Apostle means by * belieyUig with the hea * t , " -f and by ** an ^ yil li ^ ft < pf unbeliefy % and will shew you the reasonableness of exhorting youV hearers to faith— -that is , exftortlttg them to guard against those
* 2 Tim . ' 111 . 7 . t Rom . x . 19 . X Heb . iii . 12 .
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evil dispositions which might create a prejudice against the truth , and to cultivate that candour and simplicity of mind , that love for truth , and for the virtuous character connected with it , which will prepare them , according to the words of St . Peter , ** As new-born babes to receive the sincere ( or pure ) milk , of the word * that they may grow
thereby ; ' ** the meaning of which $ ou will Shew them is , not that they should resign their understandings to the direction of ethers , -and receive whatever doctrines their spiritual guides may thiuk fit to teach , but only that they should attend , with an open and ingenuous spirit , to those divine and heat venly principles which have the best
influence on the virtue and happiness of men , with the same confidence and readiness of mind with which infants receive the food that is provided for them . Still , the exhortations of the Christian teacher will chiefly turn on that virtuous practice , to which the principles of religious truth are intended to lead . It will be his great aim to produce iu others those virtues which are
the highest ornament of the Christian character , and to form them to that wise and exemplary conduct which is the great means of their present and everlasting happiness . The third particular in the Apostle ' s charge to his young friend is , to convince or reprove ; for the word eXsyKs ,
it should seem , is capable of both these senses , and perhaps both may be intended here ; that he should endeavour to convince those who have prejudices against the Christian religion , and reprove those whose temper , character , and conduct , are inconsistent with and . a disgrace to it .
It is plainly the duty of a Christian minister to endeavour to convince the prejudiced , and to lay before them such arguments as may be most , effectual to display the truth and excellence of the Gospel . And if he meet witrj any who actually oppose it , he should be provided with the best answers to their objections . , .
But the worst enemies to the gospel are those who , professing Christianity , act inconsistently with it , and dishonour it in their lives . These the faithful minister will admonish , and reprove where it can be done with any hope of success , it is , indeed , an office of the greatest delicacy , and requires great prudence
* 1 Pet . ii . 2 .
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784 Intelii&enee . —Man £ M 8 t& * College , York .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1829, page 724, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2577/page/52/
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