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The Church's Warfare

A SERMON

TRKACHEI) BEFORE THE SYNOD OK THE DIOCESE

OF TORONTO, IN ST. JAMES' CATHEDRAL,

ON TUESDAY, THE I4TII OF

JUNE, 1892.

THE REV. J. LANGTRY, D.C.L,

RECTOR OF S. LUKE'S CHURCH, TORONTO,

'Vublisbed at the request and expense of some who

beard it.

TORONTO :
TiMMs & Co., Printers, 13 Adelaide Street East.

1892.

i I'i

®he ®l)urch'0 ^at-fave

"That ye stand fast In one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the
faith of the Gospel."— Phil. 1-27.

No one can rejul St. Paul's Epistles attentively, without being
struck by the fact, that they are full of illustrations, drawn from the
battlefield, the- stadium, and the arena. Indeed it has beed com-
mented upon as a matter of surprise and reproach, that the chief
herald of the Gospel of peace, should have hjul his eyes closetl, as it were,
to the teaching of nature in heaven above, and on the earth beneath,
and should have moved so constantly as he does, amid the imagery of
war and confl! b. The Christian in his apprehension is, before every-
thing else, a soldier of Jesus Christ ; as such, his business is to tight.
And if he would not prove himself a coward in the day (»f battle, he
must prepare himself to endure hardness. He is exhorted to light the
good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life — to wage a gtXHl war-
fare, holding faith, and a good conscience — earnestly to contend for
the faith once delivered to the saints. His course is a race, a wrestle,
a pugilistic encounter, in which the utmost watchfulness, skill, and
energy, must be used, if he would not be defeated and overcome.
And so everywhere throughout the Epistles, we hear the clang of the
soldier's arms, and see the agony of the athlete's efforts. We have, if I
mistake not, two of these illustrations implied in the text, the word
stekefa, star i fast, calls up before our minds, the picture of a battal-
ion or an army, standing firm and unbroken against the assaults of their
foes. And the words atmuthlounteti, striving together, carries us away
to the stadium to witness over again the fixed purpose, the desperate
effort, the unflagging energy of those who ran in a race, or the
struggle, and the agony of those who engaged in the wrestle or the
pugilistic encounter. This is the picture which St. Paul presents to
us of the life to which we are called, and this, as a moment's reflection
will show us, instead of being as has been supposed, an incongruity in
the great Apostle's life, is one of those undesigned harmonies, which
go to establish the authenticity of the Epistles. The pictures he drew
were but the reflection of his own life's experiences And the exhor-
tations which he addressed to others, were but the echo of the voices
that were ever sounding in his own ears. His life was, as he has told us,
one long agony and battle for the faith of the gospel — lived among the
tumult of angry mobs, confronted everywhere with stonings, and

ite

together for the

without being
awn from the
jjis beed ctnn-
that the chief
»se(l, as it were,
tjarth beneath,
the imagery of
i, before every-
less is to fight,
ly of l)attle, he
ted to light the
;e a gtXHl war-
to contend for
race, a wrestle,
ness, skill, ami
and overcome.
le clang of the
. We have, if I
text, the word
re of a battal-
iissaults of their
carries us away
, the desperate
a race, or the
wrestle or the
lul presents to
lent's reflection
incongruity in
rmonies, which
ctures he drew
Lud the exhor-
lo of the voices
he has told us,
ived among the
stonings, and

shipwreck, and stripes, and bonds, and imprisonments, and ravenotts
beasts, and deaths oft, fightings within, and fears without. And so,
when the conflict was practically over, and the end nearing, he sums uphis
apprehension of what he had passed through with the exulting cry,
" 1 have fought a good fight, T have flnished my course, I have kept
the faith." Nor is this view of the Christian's lite peculiar to St. Paul.
It runs through the entire New Testjiment, and is plainly enough pro-
claimed by our Blessed Lord Himself. I am not come to send peace
on earth, but a sword. A man'.'* foes shall be they of his own house-
hold. I send you forth as sheep among wolves. Ye shall be hated
of all men for my sake and the Gospel. Yea, the time is coming, when
whosover killeth you, will think h > doeth God service. But he that
endureth to the end shall be saved. Straight is the gate and narrow
is the way. Strive to enter in. Conflict and strife and peril are His
representations of the life to which He has called His followers. And in
the closing book of the canon, which pourtrays the history of the Church
to the end. He himself is pictured as going forth to war, the armies
of heaven following Him, amid scenes of conflict, battle, and blood, to
the end. And what these figures imply, and these predictions proclaim,
has been, as you know, abundantly fulfilled in the history of the
Church. What a picture does the record of her life unfold as we look
back over it ! Victory and defeat, success and failure, humiliation
and triumph, have been strangely intermingled in her whole career.
Who can realize now the awfulsignificanceof the baptism of blood, during
those ten long persecutions, by which she had infused into her the
spirit of steadfast endurance ! Who can understand the humiliation
and anguish of mind endure'.? by those who were striving together
amid overwhelming multit ,»t- i heathen, for the faith of the Gospel,
when the Docetic, Arian, ana Macedonan heresies arose and spread,
and for a while triumphed. And who can fail, from our bitter experience,
to understand something of the humiliation, and weakness, and dis-
heartenment, which faithful men knew, when on mere questions of
discipline, the Montinist, Novation and Donatist schisms rent the
Christian host, and embittered the hearts, and the lives, of Christian
men. You know how the worldliness and superstition and debase-
ment, and then the unl)elief, fignosti. xsm and atheism have continued
the conflict, and fulfilled the predictions down to our own times.

I hs re thought it well, my brethren, to recall to your remem-
lierance at the outset this predicted and verified character of the
Church's History. For I am persuaded that we are entering upon
days of great perplexity and peril to the faith of many. The manifold
divisions of the Christian host have practically destroyed all authora-
tative guidance. And now it is being whispered through the land,
that the very foundations, upon which Christians of every name have
stood in the past, are being undermined and dug up by the very men
who have been set as watchmen on the wall. No wonder, therefore,
that they who have but little knowledge of the history of the past,
and of the trials of Faith, which it enfolds, and who have looked for
peiM^ and sure guidance in the Kingdom of Christ, should be perplexed

i ■'.

! !

and (liHinayed, oh thoy Uxik out upon the Rpectacle of the divided and
distracte<l Christendom of to-day. In the face of this danger it is
surely well for us to reinendjer that no new thing is happening unto
us. Nothing that was not forseen and foretold, that the trial of our
Faith is the key to the i)erplexities of life, that we are called not to
j)eace but to war — that we are soldiers t»f Christ, and the time of
victory is not yet It is said by those who have experience, that the
surprises, reverses and disappointments of the battlefield are l)eyond
all conception amazing and distressing. The light wing or the left,
has made a desperate charge and is sweeping all liefore it, when
wtM'd comes that the centre has [teen crushed, and is falling back in
disorder. A seeming victory is in an instant turned into defeat.
And often when all seems lost, tiiumph is at hand ; or in another
departnient, a fortress hjis l)een made impregnable when lo, it is dis-
covered that it has been undermined by the enemy. It has been thus
in the conflicts of the Church, in the centuries past ; it will be so in
the years to come. Let us not then be discouraged by any dangers or
disasters that may threaten our time. We are still in the swirl of tlie
battle. It will often be ours not to reason why — but just to do our
best and die. We know that we are soldiers in the army of Him who
has gone forth conqueriny and to conquer. But enough of generalities.
Let me invite your attention to what I consider to be the special
dangers of our time. The enemies against whose Jissaults we hav^e to
stand fast, and upon whom we must wage war. They are tracable to
one source, the creeping materialism of the age, the growing spirit of
unbelief in the supernatural. But let us confront them as they present
themselves to us in the open plain.

Now the first and greatest danger of the present time is, I am per-
suaded, the renewed and wide-spread attack that is being made
upon the integrity, and therefore upon the authority of the Bible.
From the first general council of the Church at Nicea to the present
hour, when any matter of faith or morality was in dispute, the first
question asked was, " what saith the Scripture ? The testimony and
authority of the Church were invoked to settle what was Scripture,
and to witness to the intended meaning of Scripture, which is Scripture ;
but when once the canon was settled, and the true meaning ascertained,
the voice of Inspiration was an end of all controversy. But now, through
the spread of what calls itself scientific or higher criticism, the
most ancient and uniform testimony of the Church is ruthlessly flung
aside. We are practically told that there is no canon. The integrity, the
genuineness, and the authenticity of a large part of the Bible are
denied. And we are lieing taught that we must determine by some
internal verifying faculty, some real or imaginary testimoniunt Spiritus
Sancti, what part o^ the remnant that is left is inspired, and what is
not. The Penteteuch, they tell us, was not written by Moses. It is a
mere compilation patched together from previously existing docu-
ments by some unknown Jewish writer in the days of Manasseh or
Josiah. Its earlier narratives, before the call of Abraham, are of the
nature of myths; myth being defined to be the product of mental

activity not i

or, in other

what is fact

book of Deut<

but not writt

it claims to h

never took pi

tabernacle of

existence, ex<

years afterwa

of the Tempi

elaborate fict

delled accord

•were falsified

Levi had beei

dated from tl

that the Psa

David, but b

and that the

hundred yea

writes Bisht

" should mee

and startling

considerable

occupying hi

But it is so '

length of th

subject in a i

Gore, for ins

lessen -unset'

of Christ ; *'

intentions D

patible with

says, with n

the English

always be s

accept any r

Dr. Driver,

of ourselves

of Wellhaus

in his intr

extravagant

Kuenen wa

by Colenso

and introdi

Ranan. B

any narrati

prophecy oi

consideratic

divided and

danger it is

ppening unto

e trial of our

called not to

the time of

Mice, that th«'

d are l)eyond

g oi- the left,

ore it, when

Uing back in

into defeat.

or in another

n lo, it is dis-

has been thus

will be 8o in

any dangers or

he swirl of the

ust to do our

y of Him who

of generalities.

be t)ie special

ilts we hav^e to

ire tracabie to

owing spirit of

as they present

le is, I am per-
is being made
of the Bible.
bo the present
ipute, the first
testimony and
was Scripture,
jh is Scripture ;
ig ascertained,
i now, through
criticism, the
uthlessly flung
3 integrity, the
the Bible are
rmine by some
mium Spiritus
\, and what is
iloses. It is a
sxisting docu-
l Manasseh or
am, are of the
iuct of mental

activity not yet distinguished into history and poetry and philo8«)phy;
or, in other words, a compilation in which it is impossible to tell
what is fact and what mere fancy. Practically they tell us that the
book of Deuteronomy is a fiction, founded, perhaps, on floating tradition,
but not written for eight or nine hundred years after the date at which
it claims to have been written. That the whole solemn scene of Sinai
never took place, that the Law was not given by GcmI at all, that the
tabernacle of witness, and everything connected with it, had never any
existence, except in the fabricated history, written nearly a thousand
years afterwards. That so far from the Tabernacle being the prototype
of the Temple, it was the Temple that suggested the delilierato and
elaborate fiction of the Tabernacle. That the older Bo<jks were remo-
delled according to the Mosaic form ; and that Chronicles especially
were falsified by Priests and Levites to sustain a l)elief that the tribe of
Levi had been set apart from the days of Moses, and that the Priesthood
dated from that time (Bishop Ellicott's charge) ; — They tell us fui'ther
that the Psalms, with perhaps one exception, were not written by
David, but by some one, unknown, at the end of the Babylonian Exile
and that the Book of Daniel is practically a forgery, written at least four
hundred years after the death of the prophet ; " That such a view,
writes Bishop Ellicott, in his now famous Christius Comprobator,
" should meet with acceptance in any Christian country, is sad enough
and startling enough ; but that it should meet with acceptance to a
considerable extent, at the hands of members of our own Church,
occupying high positions, is full of very sad augury for the future.
But it is so " It is true that the English advocates do not go the full
length of their (ler^nan teachers, they for the most part approach the
subject in a reverent, believing spirit. The aim of some of them, Mr.
Gore, for instance, as he tells us, was simply to remove perplexity, to
lessen ninsettlement ; to enable earnest encjuirers to rest in the Faith
of Christ ; " to succour a distressed Faith." But in spite of his good
intentions Dr. Liddon at once denounced his concessions as not com-
patible with loyalty to our Lord Jesus Christ. And Bishop Ellicott
says, with reference to the moderation of statement so far observed by
the English advocates of this new departure, " this however, may
always be said — that the tendency of unbalanced minds is — if thfy
accept any modified view — to pass onward to the unmodified." Besides,
Dr. Driver, the leader of the English section, has, we are told by one
of ourselves who knows his position, frankly endorsed the conclusions
of Wellhausen and Kuenen. He has almost copied Knoble's preface
in his introduction. And these are the authors of the monstrously
extravagant statements about the Bible which I have given above.
Kuenen was translated into English and introduced to English readers
by Colenso as justifying his position. He was translated into French
and introduced to the French people, as endorsing his position, by
Ranan. Both these writers start with the a priori assumption that
any narrative that implies the supernatural, that is, that contains a
prophecy or the account of a miracle, is to be rejected, without further
consideration, as a myth or fiction or forgery.

, !P

"The real harm, then," writes Bish* p Ellicott, " that has Ijeen (lone
by recent English writers lies in the plain fact that they have actually
prepared the way for shaken and unstable minds to arrive at results
which will at last l>e found to involve inability to accept the super-
mitural, and so lead to a complete shipwreck of faith"

I am quite aware that this is not what they intend or desire.
They speak in glowing terms of the inspiration and authority of the
Bible, and express their belief that tlie disencumbered faith will glow
out more brightly than ever when their work of criticism is finished.
But what kind of inspiration, I would ask, could we assign to a l)ook
made up to a large extent, at least, of myths and ttctions and forgeries ;
whose solemn divine enactments, as we have believed them to
be, turn out, we are told, to be only the expression of cumulated
human wisdom? What authoritv would such enactments have for the
selfish, the tempted, and the weak ? And, indeed, when we come to
enquire what they mean by all this fine languige about inspiration, we
find that their definition of it would make every man his own inspired
teacher, law giver and guide. " We determine the inspiration of the
Book," writes r e of them, who seems to be speaking for the whole com-
pany " from its internal character, and the voice of the Holy Spirit speak-
ing in it to the believer." In a word, the settlement of this vital question
becomes wholly subjective, a mere matter of individual feeling. The
testimony of the Church, the canonicity of the Book, the judgment
of Catholic writers, the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, must all
become as nothing ; the judgment of the individual who, whatever his
character may be, is at liberty to assume that the Holy Ghost is speak-
ing to him, is the sole arbiter. " It is not now," writes Dr. Morgan
Dix, " so much a question of historic testimony and external evidence,
but the implement for settling date and authorship is human intuition.
The firm ground of history is abandoned for that of theory, impression
and conjecture," And so, as the Essay and Revicv^ people taught long
ago " truth will vary according to the individual who is looking for it."
" Nothing," writes Bishop Ellicott, " is more melancholy in this whole
controversy than the reckless manner in which the judgment of the
Church, which the Apostle declares to be the ground and pillar of the
truth, is set aside by Christian teachers in endeavoring to find some
new basis for belief in God's Holy Word.

No one can seriously consider all that the new teachers are present-
ing for our acceptance without feeling that, in the first place, they are
going to give us, instead of the Word of Life, a topsy-turvy Bible,
beginning, as some of them tell us, with the Minor Prophets, and even
in its fragments, deprived of all divine and constraining authority.
No one, I venture to think, can ponder the lucid statement of this
whole question by Principal Cave, the powerful argument of Stanley
Leathes, the dispassionate and masterful consideration of the more than
four hundred endorsations of the Old Testament contained in the New,
by Bishop Ellicott, the powerful protest of Canon Liddon, the two
able articles in the Church Quarterly for January, 1892, without feel-
ing that the whole truth of God is involved in this discussion, and that

m8 Ijeeii (loiif
have actually
fvo at results
fcpt the super-

nd or desire,
hority of tin*
[lith will glow
in is finished,
ign to a l)ook
nd forgeries ;
ed them t(»
•f cumulated
have for the
n we come to
ispiration, we
own inspired
ration of the
e whole com-
y Spirit speak-
i vital question
feeling. The
the judgment
hrist, must all
, whatever his
i host is speak-
!S Dr. Morgan
rnal evidence,
man intuition,
ry, impression
le taught long
looking for it."
' in this whole
gment of the
1 pillar of the
I, to find some

's are present-
'lace, they are
-turvy Bible,
lets, and even
ig authority,
sment of this
it of Stanley
;he more than
\ in the New,
Ion, the two
without feel-
Jion, and that

the concossions <hat we heingg rashly made are inconsisteiit with Ih'liet'
in our Lord Himself as our Infallihle Teacher and (iui*le.

When we encjuire what are the reasons for this tren..Mulous change
A front, the answers that are given are far from being clear or satis-
factory. Canon Driver says that it is im{X)ssible to tell us how he
has arrived at the results which he so unhesitatingly accepts (Pre. p. ix).
We are only told that schfilars have proved the conclusions an-
nounced. That all critics are agreed almut the composite character,
for instance, of the Hexateuch, thenumWr and order of the documents
quoted, the modern date of the different parts of the Bible, and that
they have retvched results that are scientiHcally sure. " The 'Critic "
writes Moi-gan Dix again, when, asked how he has made these
astounding discoveries, replies, "my criticism proves them, modern
learning estaV)lishes them ; they are the ascertained lesults of the
best thought of the day," and yet they are nothing Ijetter than guess-
work and fancy. They are the result of the process correctly descriljed
as "free conjecture operating upon the sacred text." And s«j, when
we enquire further, we find that scholarship is not specially involved.
That literary criteria, according to the confession of their leaders, are
altogether unreliable. That the conclusions do not, to any large extent,
depend upon linguistic distinctions, but upon the contents of the
Books and their history ; so that it is not the knowledge of specialists
which others cannot grasp which is alleged i:^ justification of this
tremendous change.

Then, — as was abundantly proved by Principal Wace, in his
masterful reply to Huxley's savage attack upon Christianity — on
the ground of the conclusions of the higher criticism, and more
recently by the second essay in the Church Quarterlif, the scholars and
critics, so far from bein<r agreed, are at hopeless contradiction on
almost all the points that are claimed to be settled. So that when
Principal Grant announces that he feels bound to accept the conclus-
ions of these specialists, we may ask him which specialists 1 Those who
say that the writer of the Penteteuch copied from two documents, or
those who say that he must have had three ; or those who insist that
there were four of those who say that there were none. Must we ac-
cept the conclusions of those critics who assert that the Priests Code,
as they call it, was the oldest of iihese decuments or of those who say
that it was the latest, or those who say that the Psalms were written
during the exile, or of those who say that they were written after the
time of the Maccabees. Surely with this beautiful unanimity we are
at liberty to believe any of them we like, or far better for the present
at least to withhold believe from them all.

Then further we find that these scientifically certain results are not
scientific at all. They have not been reached by the scientific method
of careful collection of facts and extended induction. They are mere
theories. Each writer adopts the conclusions of his favorite precede-
cessor and then tells that all scholars are agreed. That critics have
proved what he says. He however takes good care to rule out of the
category of critics, all who have adopted a diflferent theory from his

■51

own. HcngsU'nljerjyf, Euwaki, Keil, Kurtz and even DeleitZNclj are coii-
teiiiptuously <'X[)elle(l from the company of the critics, and after all
Dr. Driver's main positi(»n as to the hitedate of the Priest;s C<Kle is only
endorsed by three critics Wellhausen, Kuenen and (.Jrabe — -And yet
ujKin this the whole fal)ric of his destiuctive criticism is based.

T ask your attention brethein to these facts that you may not Ix;
dismayed by the rash and confident assertions of these new teachers.

1 am (juite aware that some of you, who are listening to me are
saying in your hearts, wliat f<»lly ! what an ill judged thing, to bring
this subject b'^fore a general assembly like tliis, and so liefore the
public. It is only calculated to awaken needless alarm and to create
a panic in the public mind — I can only say, Brethren, that I am not
responsible for bringing the ({uestion l)efore the public — The new
opinions are being sedulously propagated by every possible agency, in
Ser*nons, in Reviews, in Magazines, in Newspapers, in Novels and in
College halls. And I want to sound the alarm. I want to create a panic,
I want to put unsuspecting Christians on their guard, I want them to
know that this insidious attack which deprecates alarm does not rest
upcm any such sure foundations as its advocates assume. It is no new
thing in the world. It was propounded more than 100 years agj by
German sceptical writers. It was known and the foundations on which it
rests were known to such masters of Hebrew and theology as Dr.
Pusey and Dr. Joseph McCaul and Bishop Wordsworth, and they re-
jected it deliberately — yes! and there have been no new facts discovered
which give it the overmastering potency which its advocates assume.
It is thefashion, just now, like other fashions ; it will have it's season and
pass away. But for individual souls, the fashion is full of peril and so
I entreat you in the words of the apostle " Stand fast " in the old faith
Hold the traditions which teach and have taught from the l)eginning^
that the Bible is God's own inspired word. Let no man's heart fail
when he reads strange and painful statements made by learned
Hebraists about the Bible and its inspiration. There are many just
as learned Hebraists who entirely deny the validity of modern
scientific criticism and stand firmly in the old paths. *' The ark is safe'
though the oxen may shake it."

Another great danger of our time against which we must stand
fast, and upon which we must wage, war grows out of the same root,
and is akin to the last. It is the popular dislike to what is called dogma,^
that is to all positive and distinctive doctrinal teaching ; for dogma is-
only the Greek for doctrine, and doctrine is only the statement, in the
most exact language we can command, of the facts and truths of Re-
velation. " This is a fact," writes Bishop Ryle, in his last charge,
" which I am loth to say wants realizing and recognizing far more than
has been the case lately. Whether we like to hear or not ; it is a sore
disease in the land. It is a pestilence walking in darkness, and
threatening the well being of the rising generation ; the evidences
of this dislike to positive doctrine are abundant all around us.
Look at the subjects of the sermons that are advertised — and the
preached sermons that are published, all sorts of popular topics, are-

treated just as
of Christian w(
only tli«^ vague
the vague ton«'
subjects. Tin
Christian doct
if treated with
all Christian
l^<ok at the p<
doctrine in t
Christian is li
a root. Then
more todenou
of intellectual
this to have t
morality and
of this growin
very serious ii
an inunense a
fall into it, to
of doctrine, ^v
grasp of the <
that is in th<fi
know what t
peril as this t
ers to strive 1
for the Faiith
to l)elieve it,
children, to )
tunity. Let
worship of C
teach clear, (
course an en
it reveals Ch
guards His j
ceptions con(
for the Faitl
I have s]
of Life, and
shirk the ba
to stand fasi
one or the o
inch.

There i
growing ou
against whi
the Cause o
alize, natur
or the trutl

tzsfh are cuii
and after nil
« CVnle is only
be— And yet
ItiiNed.
[u may not 1m?
w teacherH.
!>g to nie arc
ing, to biing
"» before the
lind to create
hat I am not
ic — Tlie new
•le agency, in
Novels and in
•reate a panic,
want them to
doe.v not rest
It is no new
years agj by
lis on which it
"l<jgy as Dr.
and they re-
cts discovered
)cates assume.
it's season and
i peril and so
1 the old faith
he l)eginning
"s heart fail
by learned
re many just
of modern
e ark is safe

'■ must stand
lesame root,
ailed dogma,^
for dogma is-
ment, in the
^uths of Re-
last charge,
ir more than
; it is a sore
rkness, and
e evidences
around us.
J — and the
topics, are

treated just as a lieatlien pliilosophor might treat tlieni, with a spice
of Christian words and phrases and sentiments thrown in ; but witii
only the vaguest si^tting forth of the fiiith »f the (jos|h;I. L«M)k again at
the vague tone of our newHpa|H>rH, win they ttmch u|H)n religious
subjects. They ai-e always reiwiy to praise Christian morality, but the
Christian doctrine u|kmi which that morality is based, if not sneered at,
if treated with scant courtesy. See li<tw r<'ady they all are t«» shovel
all Christian truth aside under the vague name of ' Sv<ctat-ianism.'
[^«/ok at the popular fictions and ntivels, how they avi<Ml anything like
doctrine in the potraits they give us of Christians. Their nuMlel
Christian is like a cut tlower at a Hower show, a mere bliHim without
a root. Then you know how (Hipular siHtakers an; growing more and
more todenouncf? all dogmatic statements as tnly f(>ttering the freedom
of intellectual activity. There is a morbid unreasoning desire in all
this to have the fruits of Christianity without the nntts. Christian
morality atul welldoing without Christian doctrine. Theconse«|U(!nces
of this growing dislike to positive and distinct doctrinal teaching are
very serious in the j)r<went day. It creates and fosters and keei)s up
an inunense amount of instability in r<;ligion. Jt exposes those who
fall into it, to great jxirils ; tlu^y are tossed to aiul fro by every wind
of doctriiui, ever ready for any new thing liecause they have no firm
grasp of the old," and utterly unable to reiuler a .'eason of the hop«>
thatis in tlufm. They Imvii such dread of dogma that they do not
know what they l)elieve or where they stand. It was against such a
peril as this that an Apostle wjis guarding, when he called his follow-
ers to strive together for the Faith of the Gospel earnestly to contend
for the Faith, and so T would entreat you Brethren tt) hold the Faith,
to l)elieve it, to teach it, tleHnitely, clearly, unhesitatingly, to your
children, to your Congregations, to your neighbors as you have oppor-
tunity. Let others catei* for the patronage of the word ; turn the
worship of Cod into Sunday entertainment. -But let us resolve to
teach clear, distinct and well defined doctrines. Doctrine is not of
course an end, Imt only a means to an end. It brings men to Christ,
it reveals Christ, enshrines Chi'ist, proclaims His excellent greatness ;
guards His pearless honor, saves men from base and unworthy con-
cei>tions concerning Him ; therefore, let us resolve to strive together
for the Faith of the Gospel.

I have spoken to you v)f the struggle that is upon us for the Word
of Life, and for the Faith once djBlivered to the Saints — we cannot
shirk the battle, we cannot avoid the result ; we can, however, resolve
to stand fast ; we can determine that they who would rob us of the
one or the other will have to fight their way foot by foot, and inch by
inch.

There is another attack peculiar, I think, to our own time,
growing out of the same root, and closely allied to the other ; but
against which we must stand ever on our guard, if we would not l)etray
the Cause of Christ. It is the attempt which is being mode to ration-
alize, naturalise, and theorise out of existence, not the Holy Scriptures,
or the truth which they teach, but the Church of the living God which

('.-It

i T:

the Apostle declares to be the "ground and pillar," of that truth, and
which we profess to believe in as the witness to, and keeper of Holy
Writ.

It was customery with those who in the sixteenth century
separated from and assailed the Church, to maintain that Holy
Scripture gave positive and detailed directions aiM)ut the constitution
and government of the Church ; and those directions, it was main-
tained, were cleanly contrary to the historical order of things
retained in the Chuich of England. So arrogant, and overbearing
were the maintuineis of this new theory, that the great Hooker was
fain to cry for quai'ter, and set himself in his immortal book to prove
that the ( lovernment of the Church was not necessarily everywhere
the same, though his argument proved that it had been always the
same, and that same the i-e verse of the conteiition of the Innovators.
The calm and exhaustive discussion of this question, that has since
taken place has so completely reversed the position of the contending
parties that those who maintained that Holy Scripture taught their
system, and no other, are now fain to take shelter in the contention
that not only does the New Testament t«ach no definite system of
organization and government, but that there was no divinely con-
stituted (.'hurch at all; that Christ, therefore never fulfilled His promise
— "upon this rock / vxUl build my Church." That St. Paul was mis-
taken when he proclaimed that He luwl built it upon the foundation of
the Apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the head Corner
Stt'ne. Tluit He just taught His truth, and wrought His miracles
and . ved His life, and died His death, and left them to produce whac-
ever e ects they would upon the world, and that the Church instead of
having any divine origin or authority grew up in a natural v^'^ay like
.any other society. The people who believed Christian doctrine or held
Christian sentiment, formed a club, and the club or guild, thought it
would be a nice thing like other Cuilds to have a Club meal. The meal had
to have a chairman to preside, and waiters to distribute. Under the influ-
ence of the superstitious spirit of the next age, we are told the club meal
grew into the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper ; the chaiiTnan into the
Bishop or the Presbyter ; the waiters into the Deacons. This is the
folly that is gravely propounded in Brampton lectures, and taught in
Canadian training colleges of young men for the ministry, when it is
pointed out that this contention is contrjwlicted by the plain statements
of Holy Scripture ; and every child knows that it is contradicted,- -then
some of the bolder spirited, a Hatch, or Phleiderer, deny the authen-
ticity of the Scriptures, which contradict their theory ; and grave men
and earnest, grasp at this desperate remedy rather than abandon the
btiseless belief which they have inherited. This is another enemy
against which we must stand fast. It is a part of the great revolt of
an unbelieving age against the supernatural. Either we mnst abandon
the Scriptures as our guide, or we must abandon this contradiction of
their plain and oft-repeated statements. It is an evident part of the
great enemy's plan of attack at the present time, to set aside not only
the guiding light of divine revelation, the guiding voice of the Faith

once delivered,
tuted, to he not
God through th
for extending
activities whic
the world one
developed out
building of Gck
of authority v
its fellowship li
Therefore, s
selves like mer
not be made tl
1 had intei
not on the def
"standfast" c
as presented t<
determined, ui
our duty now.
in the Faith,
realizing its ti
and then seco
bined, concen
vieing with oi
Lord, and for
ing men. T
recall. Is ii
we not conte
make almost
and escape t
together for
coldness am
This half-hes
people, for ii
bet and win
money in h»
of the bal
of what is
doubt, but t
shame by tl
we are falli
the noble s
Now I
upon you v
parish or i
clergy in m
visitors, or
about you I
anyway re

mt truth, and
3eper of Holy

eenth century
in that Holy

ie constitution

it was main-

ier of things

id overbearing

at Hooker was
book to prove

ly everywhere

sn always the

he Innovators.

hat has since

the contending
tiiught their

he contention
inite system of
[) divinely con-
ed His promise

Paul was mis-
3 foundation of
le head Corner

His miracles
produce whac-
urch instead of
itural way like
octrine or held
ild, thought it

The meal hfid
^nder the influ-

theclub meal
i-man into the
This is the
nd taught in
y, when it is
lin statements
dieted,- -then
y the authen-
nd grave men
abandon the
other enemy
reat revolt of
nnst abandon
itradiction of
It part of the
lide not only
of the Faith

once delivered, but the guiding fellowship of the society divinely consti-
tuted, to he not only the ground and pillar of the truth, the habitation of
God through the Spirit, but the Body of Christ, and s(» the instrument
for extending the incarnate life, and of carrying forward all the
activities which the energies of that life awakens anumg men. Let
the world once l^lieve that the church is only a hi)man device,
developed out of human wisilo'n to meet human needs, and not a
building of God, which His Spirit created and ccmiinues, and its voice
of authority will soon be silenced, its oracles questioned and rejected,
its fellowship lightly esteemed and easily forsaken.

Thei'efore, stand fast against this third insidious foe and quit your-
selves like men who can read and think for themselves, and who will
not be made the dupes of any blind leader of the Blind.

1 had intended, when I Viegan tliis sermr»n, to speak t«» you chiefly,
not on the defensive side of the Christian warfare as enjoined in the
"standfast" of the text; but of the j)ositive, active, aggressive side
as presented to us in the picture of the Athletes detinite aim, and
determined, unflagging effort. I can only touch upon that side of
our duty now. It is a most imj^ jrtant side. We can only continue
in the Faith, and stand Arm and unmoved in its defence, Hrst by
realizing its truth and solenui significance to ourselves and to all men ;
and then secondly, by setting ourselves, with fixed resolve and com-
bined, concentrated effort, to live the truth and to propogate the truth
vieing with one anothei-, to be first in holiness eind in nearness to our
Lord, and foremost in bearing the glad tidings of salvation to perish-
ing men. That is the picture which the contests of the stadium
recall. Is it the picture, my brothers and sisters, of our lives ? Are
we not content with the lowest attainments in holiness 1 AVilling to
make almost any compromise with the world that we may live at ease
and escape the peril of the battle ? The effort and the t(»il of striving
together for the faith of the gospel ? Is not this the very secret of our
coldness and deadness, and want of success in the things of God.
This half-heartedness, this compromise with the world. Who are th*
people, for instance, here in Toronto, who throng the theatres ; who
bet and win and lose on the race course, who get up and lavish their
money in barbaric display or on the senseless panide and extravagance
of the ball-room and the party ; who perform in the silliness
of what is called Rotten Row ? They are not all Church-people, no
doubt, but two-thirds of them are. No wonder that others put us to
shame by the generosity of their giving to the cause of God ; that
we are falling behind those who have not htul half our advantages in
the noble strife for the Faith of the Gospel, as they understand it.

Now I want to press this matter upon you laymen, and especially
upon you who are here as the representative men of the Church in your
parish or mission. There is a good deal of complaining al)out the
clergy in many places : they are not good preachers, or they are not good
visitors, or they are not as conciliating as they might be. But what
about yourselves 1 Does your parish or missions present a picture in
anyway resembling that drawn by the Apostle's hand ? Are you as a

congregation striving together for the Faith of the Gospel ? li(M >' » -!y<»!a.i.,
taken pains to ascertain that Faith, to understand it with your minds,
to embrace it with your hearts, to live it in your lives? Do you
confer together about the interests of the Kingdom of God?
Do you combine and organize, and strive togetlier, each one doing his
best — not merely in giving, but in working to extend and to defend
the Kingdom ? Is that the picture, or do you just fold your hands,
and leave all to the Parson ; go to church, })erhaps, (mce on a Sunday ;
perhaps criticise the sermon ; jierhaps go to sleep. Never pray for tlie
clergyman; nevorread a lKK)k in explanations orillustrationof the Faith;
never si)eak to a neighbor about the interests or the claims of the Church,
well content to leave him alone, if he will leave yt)u alone — is that the
picture ? And then you wonder that the clergy don't attract large
congregation, that the Chureh does not succeed. The loftiest com-
mendation that Newman ever gave of his fellow-workers in the
Tractarian Movement was, that they were "brimful of schemes for the
Church's good." Is not that just what is lacking in most people's lives?
They are brimful of schemes for their own good — for the good of their
childi en — for the good of society — but for the Church of Christ
never a thought or a plan or care. Brethren, to be indifferent about
the truth, to be inactive in the cause of Christ, to leave things tc^mke
their own course, not to use the best thought and judgment and
energy and skill that we have, not to stand fast, not to be striving
together for the Faith of the Gospel, is to be a traitor to our Captain
and our King, and to prove ourselves unworthy of our privileges and
of Him. The kingdom of God was meant to be a kingdom of workers,
as it exists in most of our parishes it is a kingdom of drones. What
are you doing ? I ask you, one and all, that you can think of as a
striving together for the Faith of the Gospel, what are you doing to
extend the Truth, to defend the Faith to uphold the Kingdom ? What
would you think of an army whose generals and colonels and captains
were the only men that ever tried to learn their drill, that bore arms, or
tired a shot in the day-battle ! would you be surprised at their failure,
at theii utter defeat ?

Soldiers of Christ arise,

And put your, armour on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies

Through His Eternal Son.