A Glossary.

ABSOLVE, v. To set free from guilt, or to release from the punishment which is the consequence of guilt; to forgive or pardon.

ABSOLUTION, sub. The act of absolving, or pronouncing a person absolved, or released from sin and its consequences; and pronounced by authority from God to all persons who " truly repent, and unfeignedly believe His holy Gospel."

ABSTAIN, v. To refrain from anything; to exercise selfdenial, especially in respect to those things our flesh longs for and delights in. As St. Paul did, 1 Cor. ix. 27; as he orders, Col. iii. 3; and as St. Peter recommends, 1 Pet. ii. 11.

ABSTINENCE, sub. The act or state of abstaining, or exercising such self-denial.

ABUNDANCE, sub. Great plenty; more than sufficient to supply all wants.

ACCEPT, v. To receive kindly and favourably, so as to answer one's request; as Ahasuerus did Esther, Est. iv., v. 1-4; and Artaxerxes did Nehemiah, Neh. ii. 1-8.

ACCEPTABLE, adj. Worthy of being kindly and favourably received. This, men's prayers are only when offered through Christ, and their persons only when they have the righteousness of Christ to adorn them.

ACCEPTANCE, sub. The act of favourably receiving. ACCOMPLISH, v. To perform fully; to bring to a successful issue; to complete a thing.

ACKNOWLEDGE, v. To confess or admit openly; to own to a thing; as David did to his sins, 2 Sam. xii. 13. ACKNOWLEDGMENT, sub. The act of acknowledging, or

confessing.

ADOPT, v. To take into a family one who is not of that family by birth, to take a son by choice; as Ex. ii. 10,

and Esther, ii. 5-7. When spoken of God it refers to His choosing and adopting the children of men, by nature children of wrath, and of the family of the Evil One, and making them His own sons and daughters: His exercising over them a father's care, guarding them with all a father's love (see Ps. ciii. 13; 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18), and giving them the blessings and privileges of sons (see Rom. viii. 14-17, and Gal. iv. 4, 5).

ADOPTION, sub. The act of adoption; or the state of one who is adopted.

ADVOCATE, v. To plead for another, or for some cause, in order to procure some good, or to avert some evil. Thus did Tertullus advocate the cause of the Jews against Paul before Felix at Cæsarea, Acts, xxiv.

ADVOCATE, sub. One who pleads for another; a title given to Christ in 1 John, ii. 1, because of His pleading for men with God, in order to their pardon and forgiveness.

ADVERSE, adj. Opposed to, acting contrary to us, turned against us.

ADVERSITY, sub. A state of affliction or calamity; anything which causes sorrow or hindrance, whether in body or mind.

AFFECTIONS, sub. Desires; passions or emotions, or feelings of mind or body; used chiefly with reference to the sinful desires or lusts of the flesh, our "corrupt affections," "unruly affections." The abstinence or self-denial enjoined on us in Scripture, is for the purpose of overcoming and mortifying these sinful affections.

AGREEABLE, adj. Pleasing; but in the Collect agreeing with, suitable to, not contrary to, in keeping with. Things agreeable to the profession of a Christian are such as those mentioned, Rom. xii.; Gal. v. 22, 23; Eph. iv. 1-3, 22-32; 2 Pet. i. 5-11.

ANGEL, sub. A messenger, but especially a messenger from God; an inhabitant of the spiritual world; generally a good spirit, but used also of evil ones (see Ps. lxxviii. 49). In Rev. ii. and iii. it denotes the ruling bishops of the several churches there spoken of.

ANNUNCIATE, v. To bring tidings, to come with news; as the angel Gabriel came to Mary, Luke, i. ; and the host of angels to the shepherds, Luke, ii.

ANNUNCIATION, sub. The act of bringing tidings or

news.

APOSTLE, sub. One sent forth on any commission or errand. It is used of Christ, Heb. iii. 1, as One sent on a mission into this world; but usually denotes one of those twelve special heralds of the Gospel chosen and sent forth by Him to preach that Gospel, Luke, vi. 13, 14. To this office others were, however, afterwards added, as Paul and Barnabas. See Acts, xiii. 1, 2; 1 Cor. ix. 1-6.

APOSTOLICAL, adj. Appertaining or belonging to the Apostles, derived from the Apostles, connected with the Apostles.

APPOINT, v. To fix, order, determine, or establish anything.

APPOINTMENT, sub. The act of fixing a thing, any law or decree fixed and ordered.

ASCEND, v. To go up; to mount upwards in the air; as Christ to heaven in the clouds, and Elijah in a chariot of fire.

ASCENSION, sub. The act of going up; used chiefly of Christ's ascending to heaven forty days after His resurrection, as recorded, Acts, i. There should, however, be a spiritual ascension of the Christian every day; and our thoughts should so constantly arise to heaven, that we might almost be said to dwell with the Saviour there, Phil. iii. 20, 21; Col. iii. 1, 2.

ASSAULT, v. To attack violently; to rush with force upon any one; as the Jews at Thessalonica attacked the house of Jason, Acts, xvii. 5.

ATTAIN, v. To arrive at, to come to, or reach any desired object; as the sailors, Acts, xxvii. 12; and Paul sought to do, Phil. iii. 11.

ATTAINMENT, sub. The act of attaining what we desire, or the state of having attained what we desire.

AUTHOR, sub. The first beginner of anything, the producer of anything, the writer of a book. Christ is called the Author of our Faith, Heb. xii. 2; because the planting of faith in the heart, in common with every other process in the way of salvation, is His work, wrought by Him through the agency of the Holy Spirit. See 1 Cor. xii. 3; iv. 7; Phil. i. 29, and i. 6; 2 Pet. i. 1-3; 1 Cor. iii. 6-9.

A A

BAND, sub. A chain or bondage by which anything is confined; a company of individuals.

BAPTIZE, v. To administer the Sacrament of Baptism, to receive into the Church of Christ by baptizing. This is an ancient Greek word, though now adopted into most of the modern languages of Europe. It signifies at times to plunge or immerse in water, at times to wash simply: and great stress is laid upon it by some parties in arguing as to the proper mode of administering Baptism. But if we allow all the force claimed for the original word, still that does not decide the question. Words often vary greatly from their original meanings; and the mode of Baptism cannot be said to be determined by the original meaning of this word alone. It must also be shewn that Baptism was always performed in the way the word is held to indicate; and further, that a charge was delivered to the Church of Christ always to perform the rite in the same way, and forbidding any modification thereof, or variation therein, under any circumstances whatsoever. The essentials of Baptism are, not the mode in which, and the persons to whom it is administered, but the element in which, and the words with which, it is performed. These must never vary or change.

BAPTISM, sub. The Sacrament by which persons are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's religion, and made members of Christ's body the Church; the act of administering the Sacrament of Baptism.

BEAM, sub. A ray of light proceeding from some lightgiving body.

BEHOLD, v. To look upon with our eyes; as Moses the burning bush, Acts, vii. 31-33; to regard with kindness, as God did Hagar in the wilderness, Gen. xvi. 7-14.

BELIEF, sub. Credit or confidence given to any statement or history with which we are not personally acquainted. The name usually given to the Articles of Faith set forth in the Liturgy of the English Church. That spirit of trust in God which leads to a reception of His Word as true, and an obedient walking in accordance therewith, and thereby secures for us the favour of God.

BELIEVE, v. To give credit to any statement which we have no means of knowing personally. To receive the

truths of the Gospel into our hearts, to embrace them so as to rely upon them for salvation.

BENEFIT, v. To do good to any one, or to any thing. BENEFIT, sub. A good done to any one, a favour conferred upon any one.

BETRAY, v. To give up into the hands of enemies; to make known a secret in treachery, or with a treacherous intent.

BETRAYER, sub. One who betrays or gives up. Judas was so called because he betrayed his Master to the chief priests and scribes. See all the Gospels.

BISHOP, sub. An overseer; especially one who oversees the Church of Christ. See Acts, xx. 28; 1 Pet. v. 1-4. One of the highest order of clergy, who has the power of ordination and confirmation, and the direction of a diocese.

BLAST, v. To ruin; to destroy with some sudden blow or plague.

BLAST, sub. A sudden gust of wind soon over and gone. BLESS, v. To make happy, as God blesses His people; to wish happy or to pray for happiness for any one, as Jacob did for his sons.

BLESSED, adj. Happy because enjoying blessings, and possessing good things. "God as the holiest, and therefore the happiest, of Beings, is called the Blessed." So also is Christ equally; and in a lower degree His saints, Luke, i. 42-48, and xi. 27-28.

BLESSING, sub. Some good bestowed on us; the act of bestowing some good upon us; or praying that some good may be bestowed on another.

BODY, sub. Some material substance; matter as opposed to spirit; the outward framework of man, his limbs and muscles, not his soul; a collected mass or company. The collected company of professing Christians is called the Body of Christ; and of this body each particular Christian is a member, and as such has his particular office, like the members of the human body. See 1 Cor. xii. and

Rom. xii.

BOND, sub. A pledge of union; a chain or cord which confines the body; a writing or instrument by which any one is bound or restrained; a yow or obligation. BOUNTY, sub. Liberality, generosity.