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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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following is the statement of his views on the second of these important topics : " I believe , that of the will , the purposes , perhaps even the existence of Jehovah , we should have remained in ignorance , had he not revealed himself , partially by patriarchs and prophets of old , and more gloriously by Jesus Christ , his well-beloved Son . Him I acknowledge as the Mediator between
God and man , who was appointed to produce by his life , and yet more peculiarl y by his death , an unprecedented change in the spiritual condition of mankind , and to open a new and living way of salvation . No pledge of Divine love to the human race impresses me so deeply , as the voluntary death of Jesus Christ , and his exaltation to that position which he now holds above all other created beings , where he lives for evermore , and from which he shall hereafter judge the world in righteousness . I receive and reverence him , not
merely for that sinless excellence , which renders him a perfect pattern to our race ; but as the commissioned delegate of heaven , on whom the Spirit was poured without measure—as the chosen representative of the Most High , in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily . As authorities for our duties , as fountains of consoling" and elevating truth , Jesus and the Father are one ; and , in all subjects of religious faith and obedience , not to honour him
as we honour the Father , is to violate our allegiance to him as the great Captain of our salvation . When Jesus commands , I would listen as to a voice from heaven : when he instructs , I would treasure up his teachings as the words of everlasting truth : when he forewarns of evil , I would take heed and fly as from impending ruin : when he comforts , I would lay my heart to rest as on the proffered mercy of God : when he promises , I would trust to his assurances as to an oracle of destiny .
" Hence , I regard it as my duty to lead my hearers to this Saviour , as the way , the truth , and the life ; to urge on them his injunctions ; to awaken in them a vital faith in his mission , an awe of his authority , a reliance on his predictions . "—P . 27-A consultation having taken place among the ministers , after which an unanimous approbation of Mr . Martineau's sentiments was announced , ( by
the way , we should be glad to be informed what would have been the consequence in the conceivable case of the statement not proving satisfactory , ) Mr . Taylor offered up the ordination prayer , in the course of which the ceremony of the imposition of bands took place , and at its close the right hand of fellowship was presented to Mr . Martineau by each of the other ministers present , and by a lay representative of the congregation . The service is concluded by a charge to the young minister and to the congregation , from Dr . Drummond , which is alike admirable for beauty of sentiment and elegance of language , for judicious advice and impressive exhortation , for just views of the Christian doctrine and character , expressed with honest and manly sincerity . Where all is excellent , it is difficult to make a selection ; but we extract with pleasure the following forcible and eloquent reflections on the history of the church , the study of which he recommends to the Christian minister :
" Nor is the history of the Christian Church to be less carefully studied . You will contemplate it in its primitive purity and simplicity , when the disciples were known bv their mutual love , ami their state of society upon earth seemed no faint similitude to that of blessed spirits in heaven . You will then consider how it fell from its happy state , and lost the beautiful image in which it was created ; how corruption gradually creeping in , tarnished its lustre , and added the inventions of men to the oracles of God : and how that desire of domination , which our blessed Lord reprehended in the disciples ,
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4 \ 4 Ordination Service .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1829, page 414, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2573/page/46/
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