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any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God."3 Here is brought out a great truth which is too often overlooked. We must live the teachings of Christ, if we would fully understand them. We must "walk in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiv ing." And surely we must "discern" the truth and incorporate it into our own souls, before we can make it effective in correcting the wayward propensities, and meeting the spiritual wants of our hearers. Let the preacher satisfy the highest aspirations of his heart, by intimate communion with the spiritual essence of revealed truth, and then he will be prepared to go forth into this world of sin and sorrow, and administer the healing balm.

III. The preacher must understand the peculiar relations and wants of the age, and be enabled to adapt his modes of instruction to them. Truth, indeed, is always the same. It never changes. But its application to the wants of the people must vary with the changes which society undergoes, and the improvements that are constantly taking place. In successive ages, it must be presented in different forms and relations. This ability in the preacher to adapt his instructions to the wants of the people is of more importance than we may, at first view, be willing to allow, as we shall see by referring to some kinds of preaching in vogue at the present day.

There is a disposition among some of our preachers to withhold several of the most important doctrines of the gospel, or only to present them occasionally, and then in so much obscurity that it is extremely difficult to decipher their meaning. They do not, like the old prophets, speak whether men will "hear or forbear" like Peter and John who, though rulers and priests forbade, could not "but speak the things which they had seen and heard;" or like Paul," declare the whole counsel of God." They dwell perhaps on the dignity of human nature, the beauties of virtue, the glory of a true life, or wage war with the customs of society. This is all well in its place. But the soul needs something more. It needs the gospel in all its fulness and power. We cannot be satisfied with the 4 Colos. ii. 6, 7.

3 John vii. 17.

2.0

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[July, knowledge of the effects of right action in this world merely. We must know what is to be in the future. We must know whether we are to exist in the world of spirits, and if so, whether that existence will be a blessing or a curse to us, and to our friends. Cold comforters are they who tell us that the Scriptures reveal nothing respecting the condition of the soul there. They contain not only an outline of our duty here, but a definite revelation of our destiny hereafter. This knowledge we all crave. It satisfies the highest wants of our spiritual being. The preacher, then, who withholds it from the people, falls into a fatal error which essentially detracts from his usefulness. In all his ministrations, he should keep constantly in view the consolatory element of the gospel.

But here we should avoid extremes. If we dwell constantly on one feature of Christianity,-if we continually keep before the mind the single fact of universal salvation, and banish all other features of this great system, the effect must be injurious. Our system embraces not one, merely, but many elements; and in order that it may produce its full effect in reforming the life and perfecting the character, all these elements must be presented in their appropriate form and connection, and pressed home to the heart of the hearer. Practical preaching must grow out of the doctrinal, as an inference from a proposition, and then it will have its highest, legitimate effect. And the preacher should have the ability to adapt these elements to the condition and wants of his society. Here we would remark that our denomination requires a different kind of preaching from that adopted by our preachers fifteen or twenty years ago. Then almost the whole community were opposed to us. We were obliged to fight, long and valiantly, against the hosts that came forward to destroy us. Now this opposition has in a great degree disappeared or assumed a new character. We do not hear so much said against the characteristic element of our faith, as against some particular modifications of it, in regard to which we, by no means, agree. In consequence of this state of things, we are not obliged to use our weapons of defensive warfare so constantly as heretofore. We are permitted to enjoy more leisure for the discipline of our spiritual nature. Our preaching should be less controversial, more addressed

to the conscience and the heart. Controversy, though essential to the introduction of any great, practical truth, is

in some respects always to be regreted, as it is necessarily RAN

attended by a belligerent spirit, often by a laxity of morals, and indifference to spiritual culture. But according to the laws of progress, it is usually followed by an age of comparative quiet, when the people pay more regard to the practical virtues. Such an age is now dawning upon us. We have passed through the din and strife of battle, and are now entering upon the peaceable enjoyment of the fruits of our well-earned victory. That this is so, is a matter of rejoicing; and we should be prepared for it. It is the natural result of the spirit of reform, operating in all the departments of society. We cannot stop it, if we would, and it devolves upon us to assist in urging it on.

The preacher should not shrink from controversy, when the interests of religious truth demand it. When we see error shutting up the minds of men against the truth, veiling the brightness of our Father's glory, turning his love into hate, cutting off all sources of joy, banishing happiness from the social circle, destroying the peace of families, increasing the sorrows of man, and plunging him into despondency and gloom, we cannot remain silent. We must speak in vindication of our Heavenly Father's goodness, and open the gospel in all its richness and universality. The Universalist pulpit that neglects to do this is false to its trust, and deserves the rebuke of Him whose spotless character has been thus slandered, and the righteous indignation of his injured children. But thanks unto God, the day has passed, when circumstances require that we should continually use the iron flail and the battering ram. Other strains than those of warfare should issue from the sacred desk. "A minister may be faithful to truth, without brandishing perpetually the weapons of controversy." We do not say that the contest is ended. No; it will not cease till all error is banished from the minds of men, and truth shall universally prevail. And our zeal for overcoming the errors of our opponents must not be laid aside, till all minds become free. The interests of truth and the determined zeal of errorists demand it. But there is a more effectual way of reclaiming them than meeting them, sword in hand. Let great truths be instilled into their minds, and they will gradually displace error and

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lead their minds into the elements which make up our system of faith. And if perpetual controversy is not beneficial to the errorist, it certainly is not to him who has embraced the truth in its completeness. We throw out these considerations as being, in our estimation, of some service to the young preacher, in enabling him to adapt his ministrations to the wants and tendencies of the age.

IV. The Christian preacher must have faith in the efficacy of truth upon the human mind. This is essential to his success, as, without it, he will not perform the work upon which success depends. If he believes that man cannot be reformed, he will not labor very earnestly to effect it. If he believes all his efforts useless, why should he labor? He cannot accomplish his object; and no sane man will enter the field with this prospect before him. The preacher must accordingly believe that however deeply man may become involved in sin, he can be reformed. He has, deep down in his heart, below all the incrustations of sinful habits and impure desires, "some sparse relics of humanity" which will respond to the outgushing sympa. thies and spiritual appeals of a brother's heart. Then he will labor on in hope, that sooner or later his ministrations will be crowned with success. Without this faith, the preacher can do little or nothing; with it, he can accomplish all things possible.

We have thus attempted to enumerate some of the qualifications of the preacher, and the kinds of preaching essential to the accomplishment of his work. There are other qualifications which are important; as, a belief in the divine inspiration of the Scriptures, an aptness to teach, love of his work, boldness and independence of mind, prudence, diligence, a willingness "to spend and be spent," if need be, in the service of truth and holiness. All these are essential, and their importance should be impressed upon the mind of the young preacher. His is no sinecure office. It demands the highest qualifications and most persevering labor. With these preparations, under the ordinary circumstances of life, he will be blessed of God in the success of his labors. Without them, he can expect only failure and disgrace. So long as God employs human means to promote the cause of truth, so long will they be needed by those whom he selects to perform his work.

J. S. L.

ART. XVI.

The New Testament Doctrine of the Coming of Christ.

By this phrase, Coming of Christ, we do not mean here to include his personal advent, eighteen centuries and a half ago. We refer to a subsequent coming, or to subsequent comings, which his own language, and the words of his disciples, announced. We offer but a brief apology for considering this topic. We should have deemed our work superfluous, had no new theory on the subject been broached. The fathers in our ministry showed clearly, in their controversies with our Orthodox brethren, nearly half a century ago, that an event spoken of in many passages in the New Testament, as the coming of Christ, and now commonly expected to take place at the end of the material universe, happened nearly eighteen centuries ago. They demonstrated that the very passages which foretold the event, also foretold that it would occur in the generation contemporary with the apostles. The evidence was so overwhelming, that our denomination generally have rested satisfied with this conclusion.

We presume, however, that not a few who believed that the Second Coming of Christ, as it is popularly termed, took place at the overthrow of the Jewish State, held that there is to be still another coming of the Saviour. To such an event they supposed Paul to refer in both 1 Cor. xv. and 1 Thess. iv. They understood the apostle to teach, in those passages, the doctrine of a literal resurrection of the dead. As such a resurrection has not taken place, they regarded the passages in question as clearly proving that another coming of Christ, let that expression signify what it may, is yet to be witnessed. While the controversies, to which we have alluded, tended to give definiteness to the opinions of our older clergymen, the same cause has not operated to shape the sentiments of their successors, or younger brethren. Direct, searching controversy between Universalists and their opponents, has, from some cause, almost ceased. Other subjects have VOL. VII. 21