6 the Doctor, formed with Christ, in the womb of the eternal mind, before they were formed in the womb of nature, and of consequence still more remote in the after stage of the womb of grace.'* Estimating as Doctor Hawker does the high relations, exalted privileges, and glorious destiny of the people of God, one might justly expect that, when called on to exhibit their characters and to enforce their duties, he would excel all others in selecting the brightest portraiture of character afforded by the sacred pages; that he would point out the most necessary and just obligations which arise from the immensity of favour conferred on them, and that he would in the most ear nest manner enforce the interesting and important duties which are so intimately connected with their relations, characters and privileges. But in all these most reasonable expectations we are utterly disappointed. The general characters by which the Doctor designates the faithful in Christ Jesus, are, Heirs of Promise, p. 5. Those that know the plague of their own hearts, and The regenerated children of God. By one or other of these phrases they are distinguished, in almost perpetual recurrence. For a person to be convinced of sin, and to have a knowledge of the natural deceitfulness and wickedness of his own heart, is undoubtedly necessary to his receiving our Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour, and is essential even to the commencement of the christian life. Yet this knowledge, asa feature of character, is chiefly, if not conly, evident to the person by whom it is possessed ; to others it can be known by its results calone. The inspired writers, there-> fore, generally bring home the charge of human depravity as an undeniable fact, or as a most humiliating doctrine. They uniformly exhibit the spirit, and the feelings with. which moral depravity is contemplated as features of character. To love and commit sin, and to be hardened in the ways of transgression, is characteristic of the " wicked.* Whilst the righteous "sigh and cry for the abominations of" others † and contemplate their own depravity with broken hearts' and contrite spirits with deep humility and with earnest prayer to be “ delivered from evil, and that their ways may be directed to keep the divine statutes.§ -For a person to know the plague of his own heart' is scarcely any description of cha racter: it rather points out circumstances of affliction than features of character. The phrase is found only in the prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple; and however justifiable the accommodation, it is exceedingly questionable that Solomon used it in the sense for which it is employed by Dr. Hawker. To those who are not aware of the influence which the Doctor's system has on both his sentiments and language, it must be matter of great surprise Psalm cxix. 136. Ezek, ix. 6. + Psalm xxxiv. 18. li. 10. Dan. ix. 3-19. Psalm cxix. 5, 6. Ps. li. 1-4. Rom. vii. 24. T1-Kings viii. 38. § Ps. cxix. 5. that he, who claims 'perfect harmony with Christ and his apostles,' should leave their multiplied descriptions of character, and go so frequently to a solitary phrase of Solomon, to designate the character of a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. The other phrase The regenerated child or children of God,' which he most frequently employs, does not once appear, in either the Old or New Testament. It is of human invention. It is also very doubtful in point of correctness. Dr. Hawker evidently considers the elect as the children of God before they are born of the Holy Spirit, and have faith in the Son of God; and he makes regeneration to consist chiefly in revealing to its subjects their previous state or relation towards God.* Whereas the scriptural idea of regeneration is so far from being a mere revelation, or even an amendment of any preceding state or circumstance, that it is an entire renovation. It is a new creation, and makes per See his comment on Gal. iv. 6. sons what they previously were not. A sinner, who by nature was a child of wrath, when regenerated, becomes a saint and a child of God. "Ye are all the children of God," says the Apostle, "by faith in Christ Jesus ;"* and "if any man be in Christ he is a new creature; old things are passed away, and behold all things are become new." But to speak of a 'child of God regenerated,' and becoming a new creature, appears as inconsistent in itself, as it is unscriptural in its derivation. In addition to this it may be observed that, whilst the scriptures most decidedly insist on both the necessity and reality of regeneration, they certainly never present the act of the Spirit as a feature of character. Doctor Hawker himself gives a very sufficient reason for this, when he says, To crown all, and to make the whole of this sovereign work truly blessed, the heirs of promise are themselves altogether as much passive in this new birth by grace, as mankind all are in the old birth by nature.'t + 2 Cor. v. 17. * Gal. iii. 26. |