establishment, have been various. For many years past, the publishers have been the only editors. They have felt greatly indebted to a few who have aided them in their labours. They could not, however, but have often regretted and wondered, that in a diocese and a city, to say nothing of other portions of our church, so rich in theological and literary talent, they should have found so few willing thus occasionally to make an offering to a cause so full of benefit to the human race. Within the last few months, however, we have been favoured with an unusual number and variety of contributions. We are authorized to anticipate a continuance of this aid; and would respectfully solicit its increase.

When the Journal was commenced, it was, we believe, the only religious periodical belonging to our church. Since that time, a number have sprung into being, and about half of them again ceased to be. Among them we have gratefully and respectfully owned several valuable co-adjutors in what we fully believed to be the true cause of Christ and his Church. We would especially pay a just tribute to a fellow labourer in the same diocese, our little friend the Gospel Messenger, published at Auburn, in this state; a work which, in reference to the immediate field designed for its circulation, and the objects more particularly desirable to be answered by it, we hesitate not to pronounce one of the best religious publications within our knowledge. We consider it a peculiar blessing to that vastly important and interesting portion of our diocese, to have true evangelical religion defended and promulged so ably, so clearly, and in so interesting a man

ner.

We heartily bid the worthy and peculiarly well qualified editor God speed, in this renewed evidence of his untiring and disinterested zeal in the best of causes.

With our sincere wishes for God's choicest blessing on our readers,through this and every other year of their pilgrimage, and the humble hope not entirely to fail in our desire to minister both to their gratification and instruction, we ask an interest in their prayers, that in the discharge of our

functions, we may have a right judg ment in all things; and be directed in all our doings with God's most gracious favour, and furthered by his continual help.

For the Christian Journal.

A Sermon, delivered before" The Auxiliary New-York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society," in St. Paul's Chapel, on the evening of the 25th Sunday after Trinity, November 23, 1828. By the Rev. John A. Clark, A. M., Assistant Minister of Christ Church, New-York. Published by request of the Board of Managers.

Romans x. 17-" So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

THE moral condition of a large portion of God's intelligent creatures, is one that the imagination delights to contemplate. Theirs is a state of freedom from sin, and, consequently, of exemption from misery. The lofty intelligences that people heaven, and crowd around the Eternal's throne, are all pure and sinless, and therefore drink unceasingly of the pleasures that flow from God's right hand. Their happiness is the natural and necessary result of entire submission to the will, and perfect obedience to the commands, of God. Such obedience wherever, or by whomsoever rendered, converts the place into a paradise, and puts the individuals rendering it upon a level, in point of happiness, with the angels of God. I know not but such may be the moral condition of the inhabitants of all those unnumbered worlds which are scattered through the regions of illimitable space, and which rose into being at the bidding of God. But such is not the moral condition of this earth's population. They, alas! are in a state of awful departure from God-in a state of guilt, condemnation, and ruin; and by their derived and acquired depravity, are so "fur gone from original righteousness," that it is equally the decision of reason and of revela tion, that "by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified in the sight of God."

If, therefore, any of our undone race

are delivered from wrath and condemnation, it must be by an act of pure mercy; if any of them attain unto celestial happiness, it must be solely by the grace of God. Through the tender mercies of the Most High, the fact that we can be delivered from wrath and condemnation, and the terms upon which we can be delivered, have been made known to us. Among these terms, that which stands highest, and is primary and fundamental, is faith; and we are told that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God"

We trust it will not be irrelevant to the object for which we have assembled, to offer a few cursory remarks upon this passage of Scripture; that object, as I presume you are all aware, is to consider the claims, and by extending pecuniary assistance, to bear your testimony in favour of "The Auxiliary New York Bible and Common Prayer Book Society," an institution whose praise is in all the churches.

"So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

It is not necessary to our present purpose to enter into an examination of the train of reasoning with which this passage stands connected. The passage states a general truth, which it will be our business to illustrate, to wit, that the word of God, or the os pel, is the great moral instrument by which men are brought into a state of salvation.

"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

This phraseology is derived from the manner in which religious instruction was formerly conveyed. This was not through the medium of a written record, but by the mouth of a prophet. The communications of God. to his people, therefore, in ordinary cases, were addressed to the ear. But the canon of Scripture is now complete. All the information necessary for the regulation of our lives, and the salvation of our souls, is embodied in the sacred volume.

1. And this volume, we affirm, is the great moral instrument by which men ure brought into a state of salvation.

"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Evangelical faith is not only an assent of the understanding to the truths of the Gospel upon the authority of divine revelation, but it also implies a consent of the heart, by which we cheerfully and joyfully receive Christ, as he is revealed in the Gospel, trust in and rely upon him, and his righteousness, alone for justification and salvation. The religion of the Gospel, therefore, is emphatically a religion of the heart. Fear and hope, joy and sorrow, love and aversion, are necessary elements of influence in forming the new character of the Gospel. But these emotions cannot be awakened without the existence of an adequate cause. Fear does not rise up in the mind, unless there is brought within its view real or apprehended danger. Hope does not start into being, unless there is brought before the mind some attainable object of desire. And so of all the other emotions. Hence, although the religion of the Gospel is peculiarly and emphatically a religion of the heart, it is through the medium of the understanding alone that the heart

can be affected. The man must be made acquainted with his own moral character, and with the high and lofty demands which the law of God makes upon his obedience. He must be made acquainted with God, and his moral attributes, before he can fully apprehend the nature of his own situation, or see the extent and magnitude of that ruin which hangs over him. When he sees this, doubtless his heart will be agitated with fear, and his soul filled with trembling; but his understanding must apprehend the nature of his situation, before these emotions can be awakened; and the word of God alone can give him certain information in reference to this subject. If a deep. conviction of sin, an alarm on account of our undone condition, and a fear which makes the man distrust his own powers, and look away from himself for deliverance; if these be preparatory to, and under the influence of, the Holy Spirit, productive of the faith of the Gospel-then is it evident that the word of God, which is alone capable

of imparting these views, and awaken ing these feelings, is the great moral instrument by which the man is prepared for the reception of evangelical faith.

tor.

2. Although without a divine revelation, there never could be attained that perfect knowledge of the extent of our moral degeneracy, and of the exceeding sinfulness of sin in the sight of God, still, by the light of nature, man might be convinced that he was guilty, and feel himself condemned in the eye of that unknown Being, who called into existence, and upheld by an unknown energy, the visible creation. But it would be utterly impossible for him to conjecture any method of cancelling his guilt, or appeasing the of fended majesty of the invisible CreaGod has reserved to himself the high prerogative of developing the mystery how he can continue to be just, and still extend mercy and purdon to the violators of his law. When men are deeply convinced that they are in a condemned state; when they are convinced that, by violating the law of God, they have opened at their very feet the pit of perdition, and drawn down upon them the weight of Almighty wrath, doubtless the divine disclosures, which set before them the Son of the Eternal God crucified for their sins, and expiating on the cross their guilt by his blood, and agonies, and death; the disclosures which represent him as from that cross stretching out his arms to the lost and the ruined of this world, and in the most kind and affectionate terms inviting them to come to him and receive pardon and life-doubtless these disclo sures, attested by the seal of God's veracity, when addressed to conscience smitten and despairing sinners, will be received with gladness, and lead them to repose with unreserved confidence upon this proffered mercy. And the mind, while in this attitude, is in the exercise of the faith of the Gospel, of that faith which exerts a prevailing influence upon the will, draws the affections, and renders the whole man obedient to the will of God. But these disclosures, which huve been addressed to the understanding, and have called

into existence and vigorous exercise this principle of faith, are to be found in no record, except that record which God has given of his Son. If, then, these emotions could not have been awakened, nor this principle of faith lodged in the heart, without the disclosures which are contained in the word of God, we have the most conclusive proof that faith cometh by the knowledge of the word of God; that the Bible is the great moral instrument by which men are "turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." Viewed solely in this light, viewed solely in reference to the influence which it is capable of exerting upon the eternal destinies of men, what a vast and unspeakable importance attaches itself to the sacred volume!

I ask you not to consider the myriads of immortal beings that, from generation to generation, have peopled this earth, and whose destiny is for ever decided. I ask you not to look over the map of the world, and estimate the number of immortal beings that now dwell upon its surface, whose eternal destiny is undecided. I ask you simply to consider the number of immortal beings within the limits of this city; the multitudes that repose in ease; the multitudes that pine in sorrow and wretchedness; the thousands that traverse its streets, that throng its markets, and spread over the whole extent of its territory the scenes of business and activity and then consider, that all of these beings will live for ever, and live either in the enjoy ment of inconceivable happiness, or amid the groans and agonies of reprobate souls and ruined angels-and that that which is to decide their destiny; that which can alone "open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sin, and an inheritance among them which are sanctified," is the word of God. These facts admitted, the sacred volume gathers upon it a value which no finite mind can fully comprehend, and which no arithmetic can compute. To distribute this volume among the poor and the destitute, and

thus to place within the reach of the "ignorant, and them that are out of the way," the only knowledge by which they can become "wise unto salvation," is one of the objects of the society whose claims I wish to place before you this evening.

3. But the oracles of God have always been connected with the Church of God, to which they have been committed as to a safe depository, and a channel of conveyance to the rest of the world. When, therefore, the record that God gave of his Son was to be published, the Christian church was instituted for this specific object. The Christian church is the appointed and defined mode of propagating the Christian religion-the mode appointed and defined by God himself. As this mode was devised by infinite wisdom, and settled by divine authority, it can never be made better by human wisdom; it can never be altered by human authority. The Church of Christ has in view, for its sole and only object, the spiritual and eternal interests of mankind. Our attachment to this church, therefore, rests upon the same foundation with our attachment to the Bible. They both aim at the same object; they both emanated from the same source. The Bible is the word of God; the church, which is "built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone," is the Church of God. The word of God is the great moral instrument by which men are brought from a state of ruin into a state of salvation. The Church of God, in its ordinances, its institutions, and its ministrations, blessed by the Holy Spirit, contains the moral force which moves and gives efficiency to this instrument. Considered in this light, it is with the highest propriety that, in distributing the word of God, we associate with it the Book of Common Prayer, which, according to our views, exhibits the Church of God in its primitive and apostolic form.

But there is another view under which we shall at present consider the expediency of sending the Prayer Book with the Bible. I would say, Distribute the Prayer Book for the

same purpose that you distribute the Bible; to make men pious; to reclaim sinners from the error of their ways; "to turn them from darkness to light." I need not, at this time, nor in this place, speak of the beauty, sublimity, and spirituality of our liturgy; for that beauty, and sublimity, and spirituality, have been too often and deeply felt within these sacred walls, to need any illustration, as these ascended, borne on the united voice of thousands, and breathed from the palzied lips of age, and the lisping tongue of infancy, its penitential confessions; its deep-toned and fervent responses, and its hallowed anthems of praise. I may safely say, that this liturgy, next to the Bible, has had more influence in making deep impressions of piety upon the heart than any other book extant. The cause of this will be found in the fact, that there has been transfused into it more of the spirit of the doctrines of the Bible than exists in any other book. The sacred volume consists of separate pieces of divine communication made at different times, under different circumstances, and addressed to different communities of men. Ow ing to this fact, those truths which are best suited to affect the heart do not always readily meet the eye of those who are but slightly conversant with the sacred volume. Now the Prayer Book martials these portions of divine truth in one concentrated array before the sinner. As the optician's glass collects the diffused rays of the sun into one point, and thus by their concentrated power produces an intenser degree of heat acting upon that point; so the Prayer Book, bringing together from various parts of the word of God, the great practical doctrines of the cross, and exhibiting them in a connected view, produces, by their combined force, a deeper impression upon the mind of the sinner. And when the man, penetrated with an humbling view of his own sinfulness, anxiously inquires, "What must I do to be saved ?" he cannot go to his Prayer Book, he cannot read one of its prayers without finding an answer to this inquiry. Every one of those prayers, every petition in that book, is put up

in the name, and urged through the merits, of Jesus Christ, the ruined sinner's only friend, the ruined sinner's only hope. And when the penitent is bowed to the earth in sorrow and contrition, no language can so adequately express the feelings of his troubled soul as the penitential confessions of the liturgy. I speak not at random in saying, that the Prayer Book possesses so much of the spirit and the unction of the Bible, that considered as a means of promoting the great work of spiritual renovation, it bears an affinity to the sacred volume which no other book can claim.

It has been our happy lot to witness, in the northern and western sections of this state, some of the beneficial effects resulting from the gratuitous distribution of the Book of Common Prayer. I speak from personal knowledge, in saying, that there are many individuals in those sections of the state now the brightest ornaments of our church; whose first knowledge of the church, and whose first religious impressions were derived from the Prayer Book, which the missionary left at their dwelling. There are, in those sections of the state, many individuals now bright and burning lights in our Zion, washed and sanctified servants of the living God, whose feet were in the broad pathway to destruction, and whose families were descending along with them down to the gates of hell, until their course was arrested by the Prayer Book, brought to them by the hand of the missionary, with which he was furnished by this society, in conjunction with the parent society. O! my hearers, could you see in how many places "the wilderness and the solitary place has been made glad, and the moral desert has been made to rejoice and blossom as the rose," by the noiseless and persevering efforts of this society, you would lift up your hands with one accord, and bless its members as the best friends of Christ and his Church. They who are engaged in this benevolent object do not need my applauding testimony, as they have already the testimony of an approving conscience; and in the day when God

shall gather together his elect, we doubt not many sons and daughters, rescued from guilt and misery by their efforts, will take them by the hand, and say, "We were an hungred, and ye gave us the bread of salvation; we were thirsty, and ye gave us the water of life; we were strangers and exiles from heaven, and ye took us into the family of Christ; we were naked, and ye clothed us with the white robe of the Redeemer's righteousness; we were sick with guilt, and in the prison-house of sin, and by sending to us the word of God, and teaching us how to pray, ye visited us with salvation." And, my brethren, shall we not all share in the glories and triumphs of that hour, by contributing to an object that will furnish themes of rejoicing through eternity?

As may be seen from the last report of this society, their funds are by no means adequate to the demands yearly made upon them. Our penitentiaries, alms-houses, and hospitals; our seamen in the navy-yards and upon the deep; our missionaries carrying the tidings of salvation into the new and thinly settled parts of our country; our Sunday schools, in which thousands are rescued from guilt, and trained for the skies-all these are looking to this society for the word of God, and the knowledge of his Church. And the question is now to be decided, whether they shall be fully supplied or not? I would not depreciate that benevolence which explores filthy lanes, and penetrates the depths and darkness of cellars, to carry medicine to the sick and bread to the hungry; but I can conceive of a higher benevolence than this-a benevolence which traverses those lanes, and penetrates those cellars, to carry to perishing sinners the bread of life. In this work of benevolence, there is an opportunity now furnished for us all to participate. Give to this society the means, and they will carry the word of God, and the knowledge of his Church, wherever ignorance is to be enlightened, or sinners are to be purified. A thousand famished souls are crying to you, "Send us the word of God, and along with it