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with the spirit without measure , nor did any of the prophets live in constant communication , as he did , with his heavenly Father , for ** he was In the Father , and the Father in him ;"—they were one in purpose and in will . After his resurrection " he was anointed with the oil of
gladness above his fellows , prophets , apostles , and martyrs ;—and being made Lord aud Christ , Prince and Saviour , he obtained a name above every name , and was constituted head over all things appertaining to his church , as well as judge of the quick and the dead .
The last time I saw Mr . Foster , on the Sabbath afternoon previous to his decease , he was calm and comfortable , discoursing most of the time on scriptural subjects . He said he had arrived nearly at the end of his journey , and with much emotion added " God in his
mercy put me in the right way , and in the exercise of the same mercy has pre-r served me in it . " Afterwards , speaking of the death of Christ , he said , " He had always wished to be guided by revelation j" and when I remarked to him , that our orthodox friends thought they were building upon a better foundation of hope , by their belief of the satisfaction which the death of Christ made to
Divine justice , he replied , " I can no where see that doctrine taught clearly and plainly in the Scriptures : there are a few obscure and highly figurative passages from which it is inferred , but not clearly and plainly taught ; but in the
ministry of reconciliation , the design of our Lord's death is unequivocally defined , as the reconciliation , not of God to the world , but of the world to God in or by Christ , and it is mo £ t expressly declared by the same Apostle , that * when we were enemies we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son . * " I directed his attention to the third chapter of Romans , the 23 d and 24 th verses : V Being justified by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ , Jesus , whom God has' set forth as a propitiation , or mercyseat in his blood , to declare his righteousness , or method of justification , in the remission of sins . ' * He replied , " Nor is the doctrine of satisfaction there
revealed ; but it is revealed that Christ is there set forth as the mercy seat , which he has consecrated with his own blood , and that as the oracle and messenger of God he proclaims or declares the righteous method of God's grace in the acquittance or remission of sin , he being tfre medium of the Divine communication of grace and mercy to the children of-men , ";—Often ha . a he been ,
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heard to aay , Since I have received Jesus Christ , according to the Apostle ' s definition , as * a man approved of God / 1 seem to know in whom 1 have believed ; and instead of loving him the Jes » ,
I love him the more ; and though my views of the design of his death are different from those of others , I believe it to have been most necessary and important : it was an appointment of God , the result of his love ; an act of the most disinterested and meritorious obedience on
the part of our Lord , and the constituted means of our ganctification . " ( Heb . x . 10 . ) Often would he exclaim , * ' Herein is love , not that we loved God , but that God . loved us * and gave his Son to be a propitiation for us . " Our friend always thought and spoke
of himself . in terms the most humble , ascribing all he had received , and all he hoped for , to the unmerited favour of God . He felt a deep interest in the welfare of the whole family of man , looking upon every human being as his neighbour . His views of religion bei » g the effect of diligent and persevering inquiry .
he was never backward to avow them * but at the same time held them in per * feet charity towards others . Remarking that he was the last relative of the same generation , he rejoiced in the recollection of the piety and holiness of those who had gone before him , and notwithstanding the difference of their creeds , he hoped to unite with them in ascriptions of praise to Him that sitteth upon
the throne , and to the Lamb for ever . For . several mouths he lived in the expectation of his approaching end , and would often say , " I am a coward ; I have , a dread of those pangs which sometimes accompany the dissolution of the body ; an ( J cannot help praying , that my spirit may be dismissed gently . " It is * consolatory to learn , that he departed in the easiest manner possible , without a struggle or a groan .
The last theological work which he read was Dr . Southwood Smith ' s on the Divine Government . He obseived , that he perused it a second time with increased satisfaction ; that the view which the writer has taken of the character and
perfections of God , and of his wise anq kind dispensations to all his offspring * , warmed his heart with gratitude , aud confirmed him more and more in the persuasion , that he could not be in safer and better hands than those of his Creator and heavenly Father .
He- has left a widow and only son to lament his loss . £ **\ ^^¦^¦¦ MMMB
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Obituary . —Mr . John Foster . - 495
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1831, page 495, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2599/page/63/
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