THE CHURCH. Built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone."-Eph. ii. 20. JUNE, 1849. BROKEN THINGS. BY THE REV. J. JENKINSON. What a world of broken things is this in which we live! We daily walk over broken stones, feed on broken grain, and are warmed with broken fuel; whilst every lumber-room probably contains broken toys, broken working-tools, broken articles of household furniture, and other broken things besides. Every coachmaker's yard exhibits broken vehicles, with broken axletrees, broken springs, broken shafts, or broken wheels; and every infirmary is occupied by patients with broken thighs, broken legs, broken ribs, or broken constitutions. Yes, verily, this is a world of broken things. And, alas, this is true in more solemn and important respects than those we have enumerated. The law of God has been broken. The substance of that law is, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matt. xxii. 37-40). This law, like its Author, is "holy, just, and good,"holy in its nature, just in its requirements, benevolent in its tendency. Yet, holy, just, and good as it is, it has been broken universally, constantly, fatally. Hence the certainty that by the deeds of the law no man living can be justified. Hence our guilty, lost, and ruined state. Hence our need of divine mercy. Hence the suitableness and preciousness of the work of Christ, who was made a curse for us that he might redeem us from the fearful, but righteous, sentence of the law which we have broken. The covenant of works has been broken. Reluctant as we should be to hold ourselves responsible for every thing which has been said on this subject, we think it cannot be reasonably controverted, that the relative position in which the father of mankind was originally placed, was substantially that of a representative of his posterity; nor, that this necessarily involved an engagement or covenant that obedience on his part should ensure his blessedness and theirs, disobedience entail upon himself and them terrific retribution. Sad, unutterably sad, is the reflection, that the latter of these alternatives has befallen us. The covenant has been broken,-its advantages abandoned,-its penalties incurred! Thus "by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men (Rom. v. 12). VOL. III. Ꮐ "Bless'd with the joys of innocence, Till he debas'd his soul to sense, "Now we are born a sensual race, And flesh enslaves the mind." This covenant and its infraction seems to be intentionally illustrated by that which was made with the Israelites at Sinai, concerning which we read, "If... ye break my covenant; I also will do this unto you: I will even appoint over you terror, and I will set my face against you," &c. (Lev. xxvi. 15-17). Yet in this case, as in that of our first father, regard neither to the Divine Author of the covenant, nor to its promises or its threatenings, was sufficient to induce compliance with its requirements; for thus saith the Lord, "Behold, the days come that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt (which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them), saith the Lord" (Jer. xxxi. 31, 32). The bonds of Divine Authority have been broken. The language of unregenerate men in reference to Jehovah and his anointed virtually is, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us" (Ps. ii. 3). And, alas, though not fully, they too fearfully succeed. In their infatuation they break through the fence with which God in his goodness had encompassed them,-reject his control,-abuse his benevolence, despise his authority,defy his omnipotence,-provoke his justice, and arouse his wrath! The sceptre of peace has been broken. Peace ever follows in the train of purity (James iii. 17), and flies from the transgressor, as the timid partridge flies from the sportsman. No wonder, therefore, that amongst beings so sinful as man her influence has been broken. The peace of the world has been broken. War, "The direst scourge offended Heaven e'er sent is at once the fruit and the penalty of sin. The peace of nations has been broken. Sin makes every man selfish; and thus excites anger, strife, envy, discontent, hatred, and a thousand other evils inimical to national prosperity and peace. The peace of families has been broken. How frequently is discord found where religion, reason, natural affection, and true self-interest might be expected to ensure uninterrupted harmony and love. Peace of conscience has been broken. This is the natural, the inevitable result of enmity to God; for where peace with God is absent, lasting peace of mind must necessarily be wanting. The limits within which it is requisite to restrict our remarks, prevent our specifying other things whose fracture furnishes occasion for unmingled regret. We may, however, notice one or two of a somewhat different character. The body of Christ has been broken. That body which was prepared expressly by God himself as the meet associate of his divine nature, was lacerated by scourges, tortured by crucifixion, and pierced by the spear. Still we question whether either of these is the chief thing denoted by our Lord's reference to his broken body. His heart was broken! not merely in a figurative sense, but literally. An eminent physician has recently shewn that, great as are the pains of crucifixion, it is highly improbable that these alone would have occasioned the Saviour's death * one of the within the space of six hours. He, therefore, infers that he died of a literally broken heart; a fact which appears to be amply evidenced and designedly indicated by the statement of the evangelist, that " soldiers pierced his side, and forthwith there came out blood and water" (John xix. 34); his heart being ruptured by excessive agony, its contents had flowed out into the pericardium (or heart-bag), and had there naturally separated into crassamentum and serum, which in common language may, without impropriety, be termed blood and water. Nothing can present a more striking proof of the intense and overwhelming anguish which our Redeemer suffered; nothing more forcibly demonstrates the desert of our transgressions; nothing, therefore, more deserves to be borne in mind in the ordinance which he expressly instituted for the perpetual commemoration of his death. Hence the propriety and force of his injunction, "Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you: this do ye in remembrance of me." The sinner's heart has, in many instances, been broken by divine grace. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise" (Ps. li. 17). In this and similar passages, the phrase, "a broken heart," is, of course, to be understood figuratively. It denotes nearly the same thing as repentance. It essentially includes sorrow for sin and hatred to it; and is, therefore, indispensable to salvation; for the faithful and true witness has said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke xiii. 5). But to all who feel this brokenness of heart the greatest encouragement is given, for "the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit" (Ps. xxxiv. 18). "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds" (Ps. cxlvii. 3). These things have been broken, others will be so. Wicked men will be broken. "The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces" (1 Sam. ii. 10). "He shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor (Ps. lxxii. 4). All the kingdoms of earth must be broken. Where is now the kingdom of the Pharaohs, or that founded by Nimrod? Where the empire of Alexander, or the more mighty and durable one of Rome? All of them have been broken to pieces. And even thus will it be with those now existing; not excepting even that of our own beloved land; for the Supreme Ruler has said, "As the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers" (Rev. ii. 27). But amidst the broken things which meet us on every hand, and the more terrific breakings which will hereafter be exhibited, there are happily some things which never can be broken. The covenant of grace cannot be broken, for it is "an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure." The promises of God cannot be broken, for "they are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus, to the glory of God by us." The chain with which He binds his enemies cannot be broken, for it is the power of the Almighty. The kingdom of Christ cannot be broken, for though all other kingdoms, whether resembling iron, clay, brass, silver, or gold, are destined to be broken in pieces, and to become like chaff of the summer threshing-floor, yet the kingdom which the God of heaven has set up can never be destroyed. "That kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever, even for ever and ever (Dan. ii. 35, 44). * Dr. Stroud on "The Physical Cause of the Death of Christ." BAPTIST CHURCHES AND THE LATE SECESSIONS FROM THE ESTABLISHMENT. The rumour has reached us, (we know not how much truth there is in it), that a noble and beloved seceder from the State-Church is about to avow himself a Baptist, but, in all probability, not to join "our body." The first thought which occurred to us was, that we, i.e. Baptists, have no body. From the time of Luther we have been Independents or Congrega tionalists. Each of our societies is an independent republic. We were the first to re-discover that ecclesiastical territory; while those of our Pædobaptist brethren who arrived thither some hundred years after us, have, by accident, like Amerigo Vespucci, left the name of Independents or Congregationalists associated chiefly with their sect, and not with that of the original discoverers of this long-forgotten apostolic church order. Hence if the noble, esteemed clergyman alluded to should become the baptized pastor of a Baptist church, he will have joined "our body" in the more legitimate use of that word. It will, however, be owned that, practically, he might do what would be thought equivalent to joining such bodies as the Free Church, the Methodists, &c.; he might connect his church with one of our Associa tions, or with our Societies; he might throw the weight of his valuable aid towards advancing our churches in general estimation. The thousands amongst Pædobaptist sects all over England, who have long honoured his name, would doubtless feel their prejudices yield a little, were he to preach in our pulpits, or occupy our platforms, in their neighbourhood, as a Baptist. Now, why can we hardly expect this of him? Why not expect it of the many pure-minded men who will yet leave the Church of England, repelled first of all by its baptismal regeneration service, and hence naturally predisposed to Believers' Baptism, as the only consistent and scriptural contrast to that fatal error, and the proper remedy for it? Why not naturally hope that they will, in the sense we stated, join the Baptists? This, brethren, is a valuable, a searching question for us to ask. It is not because we are a comparatively poor sect. Those who have already made such sacrifices for Christ and a good conscience, are not the men to shrink from association with the poor followers of the Lamb. Nay, we believe that circumstance would be an attraction to them. It is not because our views of baptism are generally despised. first-rate scholars in christian history are now beginning to give them the honour of being the only views on the subject found in the scriptures, nor would those who have encountered the reproach of deserting the most fashionable church, care for the second reproach, though almost as great, of joining the "sect every where spoken against." Nor is it because our ministers are of necessity men of less highly-finished education, of less good-breeding, and of less cultivated tastes, than the connexions of the aristocracy educated in the Universities, as most of these brethren are, and that they shrink from association with them. Oh, no; none more than the truly well-bred find pleasure in converse with those who, however humbly born, have learned their courtesy from Jesus of Nazareth. The manners and behaviour of one who holds frequent communion with the Court of Heaven, are always attractive enough to the christian gentleman. The republican independence of our members, is indeed the reverse of the deference to which they have been accustomed. It is not, however, christian independence which repels, it is only rudeness in the manner of shewing it which is revolting. These good men have shewn their own The independence, and cannot be unwilling to see others do likewise. True independence is above rudeness. No, brethren, let us have the humility to ask the question humbly, Do our churches present that exemplification of our Master's spirit, which we might expect would attract these men? Our Denomination ought, of all existing ones, to be a natural home for them. God be praised for the grace given to many of our churches; but 'surely we must be very self-deluded if we do not see the many repulsive circumstances which may strike an observer from without. These circumstances may ever be justly regarded as the very greatest hindrances to the Anti-State-Church movement. Were dissent more attractive in its spiritual manifestations, hundreds of uneasy consciences in the Establishment would seek repose with us. Were this the case, mighty as are the efforts of priestcraft, superstition, pride, and ambition, in building new churches and buttressing the old ones, the State-Church would be irrecoverably enfeebled by such losses. It would be like the ebbing of the vital fluid amidst the convulsive and expiring efforts of diseased energy. Let each Baptist church ask itself, Are we a band of christians which might well attract a Noel or a Dodson who have left the Church,-a Bickersteth or a Jordan, who cannot consistently remain in it? Are we a people whom a self-sacrificing seceder from the Church-a man of christian courtesy, christian meekness, and christian unworldliness, as well as a possessor of pastoral gifts-might well feel it pleasure to dwell amongst as our under-shepherd? Has he not heard of tempers and behaviour amongst us, the very opposite of the character we have supposed to belong to himself? Brethren, these are profitable questions, and especially pertinent to the present time. It will do us far more good if, avoiding "comparing ourselves with ourselves," we thus compare ourselves with the unquestionably best christians of a different circle,—if their approach towards us become an occasion of self-purification rather than of vain glory. Oh, that Baptists, who have been honoured of God to commence so many good movements, might be honoured with the grace to commence the best of all-to commence such a purification of their characters and elevation of their piety, as should render them the true reformers of the age. The tendency of the present day is too exclusively towards mechanical increase. We accumulate ore; but we need also to refine and burnish the gold which we have. The preacher is deservedly esteemed who attracts large numbers to hear the converting truths of the gospel (and his deacons find it pecuniarily very convenient when the " pews are all let"); but it should not be forgotten, that the end of the ministry is always described to be the "edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come, in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Eph. iii. 11–16; also, 1 Cor. xii. xiii. xiv.; 1 Tim. iii. We hope to return at an early period to this topic. We are convinced it is the one which we all need to ponder. See F. CLOWES. THE SONS OF GOD. Jehovah determined not only to save his people, but to raise them to the highest possible honour and happiness; therefore he predestinated them to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself, to the praise of the glory of his grace. In the fulness of time he sent forth his |