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creeds and confessions of faith which have been received in the Church, at all times, in all places, and by all persons, and which thus possess antiquity, universality, and general consent. Of this description are the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds.*

Q.

CHAPTER XXIX.

ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES.

A FESTIVAL.

WHAT account do you give of the Apostle St. Philip?

A. St. Philip the apostle was a native of Bethsaida, a town bordering upon the sea of Tiberius; from which obscure and contemptible place our Saviour chose his disciples, in order to confound the wisdom and power of this world. He had the honour of being first called to be a disciple of our blessed Saviour, and was his constant companion and follower. He brought Nathanael, a person of great note and eminence, to the knowledge of the Messiah; and to him the Gentile proselytes made their application to see the Saviour of the world With him our Lord had that discourse concerning himself before the last paschal supper,s

* The rule-Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus, credendum est, is certainly the safest and best rule in the interpretation of Scripture. That error may, for a season, pervade the Church, cannot be denied; but to suppose that those doctrines in which the great body of Christians have in all ages been agreed, may yet be erroneous, is to admit that it is impossible to ascertain the true sense of Scripture. Had antiquity been sacredly adhered to, we should never have heard of the doctrines of transubstantiation, purgatory, supremacy of the l'ope, and other corruptions of the Church of Rome, in which she has departed from the primitive faith and usage; nor, among Protestants, of the doctrines of absolute election, irresistible grace, &c. which were wholly unknown for the four first centuries after Christ. Had primitive universal usage been followed, we should never have witmessed the rejection, by any set of Christians, of the Episcopal Order; which has been handed down from the apostolic age, and by which the priesthood is transmitted from the divine Head of the Church. Much Sound and useful truth may be derived from the Commonitory of Vincentius Lirinensis, in which the above rule for interpreting Scripture is stated, explained, and defended; and from the excellent notes of its learned and orthodox translator, the Rev. William Reeves, who has published this tract in the saine volumes with his translation of the Apologies of Justin, Tertullian, &e.

< John i. 45.

ƒ John xii. 21,

g John xiv. &

wherein our Saviour gently rebukes him for the small improvement he had made, after having so long attended to his instructions.

Q. Where did this apostle preach the Gospel?

A. It is thought he preached the Gospel in Upper Asia, where, by his preaching and miracles, he made many con

verts.

Q. Where did he suffer martyrdom?

A. He suffered martyrdom at the city of Hierapolis; where the magistrates, enraged at his success in preaching the Gospel, put him in prison, and afterwards caused him to be scourged and crucified.

Q. What is the design of the epistle and gospel for the day?

A. The epistle, taken from St. James, exhorts to patience under afflictions and trials, which assailed, with the greatest severity, the apostles and primitive disciples; and the gospel records the conversation of our Saviour with St. Philip at the last supper.

Q. What account do you give of the apostle St. James? A. St. James the Less was probably the son of Joseph by a former wife, and therefore styled the brother of our Lord, in the same sense that our Lord was reputed the son of Joseph. It is thought he was styled the Less, from the stature of his body, to distinguish him from St. James, who was of greater height and bulk, and therefore called the Great. But he acquired a more exalted appellation by the piety and virtue of his life, being styled, on this account, St. James the Just. He was chosen Bishop of Jerusalem, the mother of all other Churches; and was particularly active at the council of the Church at Jerusalem, in the great controversy concerning the obligation of the Jewish rites and ceremonies; for though the case was opened by St. Peter, and discussed by St. Paul, yet the final decree was pronounced by St. James; from which circumstance appear the fallacy of the papal claims for the supremacy of St. Peter.

Q. How did St. James suffer martyrdom?

A. The Scribes and Pharisees, enraged against him for his success in preaching the Gospel, cast him down from a pinnacle of the temple, on the feast of the passover, when he was addressing the people. Being very much bruised,

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though not killed by the fall, he recovered so much strength as to get upon his knees, and implore the divine mercy for his barbarous persecutors: and while he was thus praying for them, they loaded him with a shower of stones, and at length beat out his brains.

Q. What was the character of St. James?

A. St. James was a man of exemplary piety and devotion. Prayer was his constant business and delight. He governed the Church with zeal and fidelity. He was distinguished for the meekness and humility of his temper, and for his temperance and self-denial.

Q. What writings of St. James remain ?

A. His epistle, addressed to the Jewish converts dispersed and scattered abroad, in which he endeavours to strengthen their faith and patience, and to encourage them to perseverance under the trials that assailed them, is the only one of his writings which remain.

Q. What instruction does this festival afford us?

A. From the readiness with which St. Philip obeyed our Saviour's call to follow him, we should learn readily to obey the secret calls of God's holy Spirit, and to receive the divine truths of the Gospel. The zeal and resolution of these apostles in promulgating the truth, should animate our exertions in the cause of religion and virtue. The example of St. James, in praying for his murderers, inculcates on us the duty of forgiving our enemies; and his remarkable self-denial should impress on us the importance of this duty.

Q. Explain the duty of self-denial.

A. The duty of self-denial consists in mortifying and restraining our appetites and passions; in being willing to give up all earthly comforts, and to endure the greatest hardships, sooner than do any thing contrary to the commands of God; choosing, like Moses, rather "to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.'

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Q. What are the precepts of our Saviour in regard to this duty of self-denial?

A. "He that loveth father and mother more than me," says our Saviour, "is not worthy of me." "If any man cometh after me, and hateth not wife and children, brethren and sisters, he cannot be my disciple." "If he forsaketh

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not all that he hath, and hateth not his own life, and doth not bear his cross, he cannot be my disciple."

Q. What is the meaning of these precepts?

A. These precepts teach us, that no consideration of pleasure, or fear of pain, should allure or intimidate us from our allegiance to our divine Redeemer; that even the commands of our parents, to whom we are bound by the strong ties of affection and reverence, should not be obeyed, when they contradict the commands of God, whose authority is paramount to all others; and, therefore, affection for the nearest friend of our bosom, and tenderness to our own offspring, will not justify the transgression of the laws of God, who claims our supreme love and obedience. These precepts imply, that we should relinquish our worldly subsistence sooner than violate the dictates of conscience, and thus forfeit our eternal inheritance; that we should even part with life itself, sooner than disobey that God, who, as he has prepared for his faithful servants immortal rewards, is able also "to destroy both soul and body in hell;" and that, finally, though in the service of our Master we should be assailed by the severest afflictions and persecutions, we should patiently sustain them all, sooner than renounce him who, for our sakes, endured the shame and agony of the cross, and who, if we deny him before men, will deny us before his Father who is in heaven.

Q. Is it not necessary that we should sometimes restrain the indulgence of even our innocent appetites?

A. If we gratify our appetites in all things where we lawfully may indulge them, they will, at length, obtain such power and dominion over us, that we shall find it very difficult to oppose them at all. In order, therefore, to prevent our appetites from gaining too great an ascendency over us, and in order to preserve our command over them, we should sometimes deny them even in those indulgences that are innocent and lawful.

Q. Is not self-denial a reasonable duty?

A. God has promised to assist and support us in the mor tification of our sinful passions; and has also assured us, that for whatever temporal sacrifices we may make for his sake, we shall be rewarded a hundred fold." It must certainly, therefore, appear reasonable and proper, to deny ourselves in things of small moment, in order to obtain

Luke xiv. 27, 33

everlasting rewards. God, as our Creator, Benefactor, and Redeemer, has a supreme claim to our service; and no consideration should ever come in competition with our duty to him, who "hath given us richly all things to enjoy," and hath "redeemed us by the precious blood of his own Son." In the practice of self-denial, we are animated by the example of the blessed Jesus, whose whole life was a course of pain and suffering.

CHAPTER XXX.

ROGATION DAYS.

FASTS.

WHEN does the Church observe the fast of the Roga

tion Days?

4. The Rogation Days are the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Holy Thursday, or the Ascension of our Lord.

Q. What was the origin of these days?

A. About the middle of the fifth century, Mamericus, Bishop of Vienne, upon the prospect of some dreadful calamities that threatened his diocess, appointed that extraordinary supplications, accompanied with fasting, should be offered up to God, on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednes day before the festival of the Ascension. Rogations being the Latin name given to these supplications, the days on which they were offered were called Rogation days; and the observance of them soon became general in the Church, Q. What is the design of the Church in observing these days?

A. The design of the Church in enjoining these days to be observed, is not only to prepare us to celebrate, with proper devotion, our Saviour's ascension; but also to appease God's wrath, that so he may be pleased to avert the judgments which our sins have deserved; and that he may vouchsafe to bless the fruits with which the earth is at this time covered. Christians should therefore observe these days as days of extraordinary humiliation and devotion.

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