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 TJIE . 
 
 WAY OF TRUTH 
 
 IN 
 
 EVIL riMES, 
 
 FOR THE BELIEVER AND FOR THE CHURCH 
 
 OF G(,)D. 
 
 BY 
 
 W. H. DOR^f /VISJ 
 
 • • * • • « 
 
 • * » • • 
 
 • i('«>-i» t*^ 
 
 T (> 11 N T () : 
 
 MAOf.KAU, THOMAS & C (J, 1» K I N T E U S, 
 Iti KING STREET EAST. 
 
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THE 
 
 WAY OF TRUTH IN EVIL TIMES, 
 
 FOR THE nELIEVER AND FOR THE CIIUUCII OF GOD. 
 
 BY W^. £E. DORMA.ISr. 
 
 <i 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 It is probable that these pages niiuht never have been written, if T had not 
 promised, hastily perhaps, to revise my " lleasons fur retiring from the Dissen- 
 ters," in order to their being reprinted; and if sickness hud not thrown me 
 upon this, as perhaps my prcsei.i service, in the absence of strength to pursue 
 a more active and accustomed course. 
 
 However, in reading over my <' Ecasons," at such a distance of time from 
 their original publication, I found that my mind had travelled onwards, and 
 that events and principles had travelled faster than my mind, making anything 
 in the way of revision unsatisfactory, if not impossible; so that I had no 
 alternative but cither a mere reprint, which I did not think would meet the 
 exigencies of the times and the need of inquiring souls, or to pursue the object 
 of my former book, with any increased light which the study of Scripture and 
 divine teaching may have imparted. 
 
 But truths which regard the character, and position, and prospects of the 
 Church of God, lose none of their importance by the lapse of time : and their 
 re-statement at the present moment, and in their present Hjrm, may not, in the 
 wisdom of God, prove in vain. 
 
 At least, there will be this advantage in the present over the former work, that, 
 if the truths then stated were deemed to be theorctieakand therefore unworthy of 
 attention, or doubtful ia their application, they will now be presented in 
 combination with experience; which is, alas! in the estimation of many, a 
 surer guide than the unchanging word of God itself. 
 
 In niy former book there were many detai' interesting enough perhaps at 
 the time, as giving continuity to the thread . pecial circumstances, which, 
 without loss, may be omitted now; since the resifts of inquiry, rather than the 
 struggles of the process, are of intrinsic and lasting importance. 
 
 If it may appear that I have spokeu with unusual posltiveness in these pages, 
 it will be found, on examination, to be, I think, not the posltiveness of dogmatism, 
 but the result rather of a habit of unbounded deference to God's word, whose 
 statements, I thank God, have been for years to me in the place of all man's 
 boasted argumentation. For though I despise no helps for the right interpre- 
 tation of the divine word, I am not ashamed of the apothegm—" They have 
 their arguments, but I have my texts." 
 
 My prayer and hope are, that what I have written may be owned of the Lord 
 for the help and in?:truction of His people, and as a witness, though a feeble 
 one, in these " perilous times," for Christ and for the Church of God. 
 
 Reading, January, 1856. 
 
 57090 
 
 r\ 
 

 
 ]»r INTRODUCTORY UK MARKS 
 
 In the first ,,Iaco, it has fi.l.sifi,,, ,„,, ' f\ *''" ^-1 "wni;,. p„gcs. 
 ™ uttered 1^ tu.nd ami caleJhi;;^ ^^ ^.f S^^'^^ -'^''"^ to it, .hieh 
 
 i or, as IS co,n...or. iu all such cases here 1.' '""^\''* "'^ ^'^ecession. 
 
 '"' ""S l^ut inevitable ruin and fa ntic s m , "'""^ "'''"^^ tliat could /ure.co 
 
 it th'in a ir , ,, ". ^ ^""'■'^ t« encoura.rc the no,,.. f\ ^^''''V^, P''cscnco and 
 wit^i from l^J^i:klS.:!hZ 'o;']?.,?^"-"^'"? ?'-'* ^^^'^^ovcr I have met 
 '■•'u, uy that diviiie assurance as to it. T..,f , -^ that are rife on cverv 
 
 Amiir /''""^r" ^••^- ' ^ "'' ''^'^ "'^ «ui'jectiS;; J 
 
 AiniUst the endless confliof n., i • r . 
 
 of the doctrine." '^ The secret nffi t V- "''" ^^'^' '^^ '»« will ho sh.]]! n ^ 
 -11 show them his oo^Z^H^.^ 'i"^]^!} ^J^^ them that fear hi, '' .idi! 
 to his seal that God is true." ^'''^ ^'^^^ '''^'''^'^ ^Is testimony ha hsc' 
 
 However, the onlv assumntJon hefnr. .. • .i • 
 hns lurnished an unfailui-. directo for fr' *^''', ^^'^* <^«d, in His wisdom 
 
to my oxpcrlence, 
 'i'K''itioiijii Ui.ssoiit, 
 i ami it is due to 
 "«juld present, iu 
 
 ;:cs. 
 
 tiiiX to it, which 
 y ^cec.v.si()ii. 
 'lat couhi f'orcsco 
 e of loiivinj,' tho 
 Ppcaml to them 
 its defeiico ii-oiu 
 JO found by the 
 '•^ presence and 
 I halting,' soul in 
 thee in all thy 
 'cnt attached to 
 foio nic ; and I 
 ■tny pluck them 
 'hout covotous- 
 »th said, J uill 
 
 vor I Jiave mot 
 
 istinj,' goodness 
 a'lcl principles 
 ow, arc truths 
 
 id sorrowfully 
 isclf a prey/' 
 nscionco is at 
 Uy when the 
 rifo on every 
 subjection to 
 
 present day, 
 s of nominal 
 any <' u-aij 
 of God, will 
 ins— at least 
 ic spirit in a 
 
 peace to a 
 1", in effect, 
 ••uth?" it is 
 and not the 
 faith to the 
 \ shall know 
 'in ; and he 
 ny hath sci 
 
 fis wisdom, 
 
 and tliat 
 
 ^ich is His 
 
 ■•s 
 
 . 8 
 
 body ; and that the Holy Spirit's presence on earth is tho puaranteo of ('hrisf« 
 abnlM., ,,ve an. grace, as it is the power of the believerTe ance in o ho 
 
 Tli.s may bo little satisfactory to those who are looking to " pro.'re.s" and 
 . . lusophy as their stay; and also to those who are leani,'^. upon^mm. n tra i 
 >"" and ordinances as thc.r strength. JJut there are .nany hearts S,oi 
 
 s made ^,ft, and the threatened breaking up of all eecleistical eSbl hm I 
 
 us left w thoiita res ing-place, and forced into inquiry. To such and ,. • 11 
 
 to whom the doing of Christ's will is not a Hceondiry oinect, i w 11 t bo I 
 
 v.un to po.nt out that resting place which Christ has prJv ded f^r liT^^^^ 
 
 tJ':^^'::;^^^--^^-^--^ p-p-iL as eve^t";;^;^t 
 
 Fciv Cliristiaiis iiccj to bo rciiii.ulcd Hint ll,c prisout mwnciil Is oiio lint i« 
 
 wi i;:'Sh:r' "v^^r"^ °'H"'!' ""'°'"'' '""y ■■■»» i-V" °"i.'.' i.. 
 
 will 1)0 Its issue. Ihat things cannot long continue in their present Dosidon 
 
 equ.res but htt e prophet c sagacity to forsce, and the quc^ ion U tc r of 
 
 deepest praetiea moment is, whether or not God has given'that^n id ,ce i His 
 
 S^U" t ^^S' '' ' '^"^^^^ political, moral and ecisia^ 
 
 It IS passible that there may bo christian minds who have faith in cxi.tinc, 
 
 ,^ ttutions as having so tho power of God with them, that they will stand ad 
 
 afford a shelter, m the day of trial ; but this can oi ly exist in tl e abse ee of 
 
 The dispensation is drifting to its final close; tho shadows of the last dav. 
 arocomo; and the object of each faithful soul should be y-jlet^ itnm 
 firmly to grasp that revelation of God, if there bo such ^lichwiHcirv its 
 
 S'' sha Sf.T "^^ "nprcariDgof our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 
 T i.« n • w? -f \^'° '°''''''''' ='"^ t"=^'^ of the whole Church of God 
 It has been righly said, that "When truth becomes important, it be -ins to 
 
 bo questioned; and perhaps tho force of this remark was S^ver moie S^xr^^ 
 
 hcti uTSot t ;;?T Jf'f \^,' '' 'Y' ""'^■^•-"^ whieh^s ::;;gin: ted bj 
 
 led -^tH^J Si • ''?'•! '^'^^P^^^ipl'^^ ^-itli which I am\ow con- 
 timo nr otl, ,• ^ V '""P^^^^^ ""^^ severity of divine truth nu.y at one 
 
 unfold tho spring and ground of all right position and right acS in tbrChurch, 
 
 /J 
 
P7 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 ofOod, rathor than to insist on certain results which, liowovor important iu 
 their i.hice, nro utterly valueless, except as fluwing from this ilivinc and iin- 
 fuilini^ spnnp. 
 
 The opposite course to this nii-ht, iiulc.d, have hccn pursued, iCthe obicet 
 were to touiid or maintain a decent sect; or a scliool of doctiinc; ur a system 
 ot prophetic inttrj)retation; or even to Hcek the unity of Christians on a faNo 
 pround. _ IJut thus would he follv in one who judu'es all sectarianism to be the 
 truit ot sin, censured in its very beKinnin-s by the word, " Arc ye not carnal 
 and walk as men V Faith can bo contented with a single cluo to .^uidc its 
 onward footsteps, but nature asks n chart (d' the journ. and will see before 
 hand Its resources, and reckon up it ^ staf.'cs, and m'ark itsVestin-places. Moses 
 said to llokd), his father-in-law. (Numb. x. iJO, iJl, 33.) « l.cavc us not,' I 
 pray thoo : forasmuch ns tluju knowest how wo are to encamp in the wildernc-s 
 and thou niayest bo to us instead of eyes." But he said, " 1 will not .n, • but 
 i will depart to nunc own land and to my kindred." How, now, will Moses 
 and Israel Imd their way, seeing' they are deserted by their ..uide? Let the 
 bcripturo nn.swer. "They departed from the mount of the Lord three days- 
 journey : and the. ark of the nmnant of th,- Lo,;l wait hr/hre thrm." Nothinr; 
 but the guidance of the ]iord should direct our steps, "and nothin.r l,ut His 
 presence should satisfy our sou!^. Opinion and expediency may sufliTr f„r the 
 ways of men; but truth and faith arc required for the paths of the Loid •— 
 truth which discloses His counsels and ways; and faith which briie-s in His 
 power to nustain when the wake of these counsels is pursued. "" 
 
 Moreover, obedience to known truth— truth as given of Ood— is the «uro 
 path to further blessing; according to the word of'Christ, " Whosoever /<«/// 
 to iuui shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever hath 
 not, in.m hin- ahall be taken away, even (hat which he hath. The unv;;rvin- 
 eallof Christ, when on earth, to his disciples was, " Fo//ow 7nr ;" and" the 
 bpint (it Clirist in the apostle but rc-cchocs from heaven the same word to us 
 when ho says, " J}c yo followers of mo, even as I also am of Christ. 
 
 CHAPTiai I. 
 THE IMPORTANCE OF RIGHT VIEWS CONCERNING THE CHURCH OF GOD. 
 
 Tnouoii nothing can be farther from my thoughts than the idea of prcsontin.^ 
 m some human way, a solution of ecclesiastical difficulties, which on all sides 
 are making them.selvos felt, yet I may assert that the ground of all the leading 
 controversies of the day will be found in the question, " What is the Ch,n-<h ?^ 
 This question may as.sume different aspects, according as the mind which 'it 
 agitates Ls nearer to or farther from the just idea which Scripture furnishes 
 of the Church; stiH it is the question. Thank God, there is one fixed, un- 
 changeablo idea which Scripture presents when it unfolds to us God's "ideal 
 i nr, • .- • « • ■^^'''° 1' ""'^ inJ^^liblc character which God's eternal purpose 
 and Christ s infinite love have stamped upon the Church. There is one, and one 
 only position, morally, in the world, which Christ's glory and the Holy Sidrit's 
 presence have given to it; and there is one destination alone which G..d's 
 counsels of grace and Christ's relationsliip to the Church, as His body and bride, 
 have set before it It is not left-blessed be God that it is not I-to human 
 ■definitions to .settle what the Church k; nor to man's wisdom and wishes to 
 mould It according to his idons of what it .hovld he. Bo it tliat, practically, in 
 Its manifestation m the world, all has gone wrong, and that the Church has sunk 
 •down from her heavenly position, and well-nigh lost the hope of her heavenly 
 
 WW* 
 
'vcr iiiiportjint in 
 iH diviiif iiimI nil- 
 
 lied, il'tln- oliject 
 lie ; or a .sjhtcin 
 •iHtintiH oil u I'iilxe 
 •iaiii.siii ((» )j(. tlio 
 Vro y-if not canuil 
 duo to ;^uiilc! its 
 
 I will .SCO heforc- 
 ;j;-lilucL>s. Mases 
 JiC.'uvo UH not, I 
 
 II tiio wililcrncNs, 
 will not <j:n; but 
 now, will .Moscs 
 uido? l.i't the 
 Lord thr<'t' dnys' 
 hon." NiitliiiiLj 
 nothing but lli.s 
 ly siiflico for the 
 of tlio Loid : — 
 •li brings in His 
 
 0(1 — is (he sure 
 Vhosot'\('r /idth, 
 wlioHoever Imth 
 The unvj.ryiiif:; 
 ' Jne;" and' the 
 anic word to us 
 'ist. 
 
 IICII OP GOD. 
 
 I of presenting, 
 
 :-h on all sides 
 
 all the leading 
 
 the C/nirrh?" 
 
 mind which it 
 
 )ture Curni.shc.s 
 
 one fi.\ed, un- 
 
 God's "ideal 
 
 sternal purpo.sc 
 
 is one, and one 
 
 3 Holy Spiiit'.s 
 
 which Cod's 
 
 lody and bride, 
 
 t ! — to human 
 
 and wi.-hes to 
 
 piuutieally, in 
 
 lurch has sunk 
 
 her heavenly 
 
 glory; Ood's counsel has not sunk down to the level of the Church'.s ;h tual 
 deelcii'ion ; nor i,M the power of individual recovery withdrawn so K)ng an faith 
 can lay hold of (Jod's thoughts of what the Church is to Chri.st, and what ('lui.>^t 
 is to the ('hurch. 
 
 It is not for a moment to bo imagined, howovcr, that mere abstract views of 
 truth will accomplish this. Nothing — not oven tho clearest views of divine trutli 
 — can for a moment stand in tho place of devotedncss to Christ. Thii will 
 enable the soul to thread its pathway through ten thou.sand dillicultics and hin- 
 drances, while mere intellectual ptsiceptions and an earnest inainteiianco of 
 principles, without it, will infallibly leave the heart to a traitorous d .sertion of 
 (!hrist in tho hour of triid. Ignorance itself — at least ignorance of everything 
 ill truth but that which is most elementary — vhere tho heart is construinod in 
 its impulses by the lovo of Christ, one is almost tcmptcl to prefer to knowledge 
 in its brightest exhibitions and its widest range, where the aifections are left to 
 wither amidst cold abstractions. M.r, the heart ever remember the words of 
 Christ, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them !" 
 
 But, because (Jod's thoughts about tho Church arc not tho foundation of a 
 sinner's liope, or, as i)eoj)le express it, •' are not essential to salvation," let it not 
 be supposed that they may on that aeeoiint be studied or neglected, received or 
 thrown aside, v.'ithout entailing any consequences. For, if it were well examin- 
 ed, it might be found that the .secret of the want if peace and confidence before 
 Cod of many a soul, aro.se from the absence of atrue apprehension of the fulness 
 of (lod's grace presented in His counsels and dealings tOM'ards the Church. 
 Plainly the qu<<stion of justification is an individual ((uestiv^u ; and it is .so pre- 
 sented, in connexion with tho righteous holiness of God, in llomans and else- 
 where. lUit tho real portion and place of an individual believer can neither be 
 known nor enjoyed apart from the revelation which God has given of the place 
 and portion of the Church. IJccausc the highest blessing is not individual 
 blessing, but tho blessing of the body, f, as an individual, must come into it — 
 it is true ; but it is as a member of'Christ's body that 1 come into it, if at all. 
 For if it is said of believers, in their individuality, "Wo arc members of his 
 body, and of his flesh, and of his bones," it is because the Church is the body 
 of Christ, and believers are members of that body. 
 
 ^loreover, if the place of " the bride," and tho blessed affections that are 
 awakened by that relationship, and llie hold which it gives on Christ's afl'ections 
 bo considered, it must be remembered that it is the Church in its corporate 
 chiuaeter that is both the body and the bride. To talk about Christ being the 
 bridegroom of an individual is folly, and a degrad 'ion of Christ, and a proof 
 that the very idea of that divine and blessed relationship is unknown. " Christ 
 loved VAr Church and gave himself for it." 
 
 J}ut 1 m.iygo a step farther, and say, that the divine truth of the resurrection 
 cannot bo known in its fulness and present power apart from the truth of the 
 Church's union in life with a risen Christ. 1 may know, doctriually, and on 
 the ground of divine certainty, that the bodies of believers will bo raised to life 
 and glory by the power of Christ — for " life and incorruptibility are brought to 
 light by the go.spel;" but when I see that God has a Church, and that that 
 Church is tho body of Christ, I learn thai T am a partaker of the resurrection 
 now ; and that the life which I pcssess now is Christ's life (Col. iii. 4) — eternal 
 life— for it is of tho Church as a whole that it is said, " Ho hath quickened 
 us together with Ohri;-t, and hath raised us up together, and hath IiukIc us sit 
 together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." 
 
 But if this question of the Church has often to be settled as a preliminary to 
 
p 
 
 i 
 
 (-'an alone bo maintained ? Hmv oT • 't P^'"^° '""^ autliority n the n.,,, V 
 
 l%""'y,f thoSpiHtintheboVdS'pe e^^^^^^^^^ ^o "endeavour to ll 
 
 the tru h that '< there is one body and ono 4 ' v '"^ "'^ practically stran-^ers to 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 sniped i„ ,|,c olmrcd 2 rtSc \W T ,"'■' ""'^''" 
 
 IJO, 1 10 owly incmborsliip ro(!0"n,7 
 
 n,ombo,,i,ip of tw b„d/„f c&ii The ,«„„■<,-;,■:,".■ T" T" ■'«•"'""" '"s 
 
 ,V'™ '» "'» nt'lil hand of Ood ll,„ H T ,° '" •=■■'»''•■'"»" of llio Lord Jo,i,^ 
 
 *-» than those .„„„„„ti3 wiirSr*.h"r"o 'tYli" f-'r-'-E 
 
 ^y'Jt, toi He now becomes the 
 
 t 
 
nvariablj icnit up 
 as he is called to 
 
 c-'hayo tlicmsclvcs, 
 '." if their minds 
 ■jiejarc unsettled 
 is ? or what is 
 'f 's, throuirli the 
 ity in the Clmrch 
 unshed to " walk 
 doavour to keep 
 callj stran,irers to 
 re called in one 
 J and Fjitlicr of 
 -"'0, therefore, I 
 ■n, some ^^encral 
 iG obedience to 
 'hurch of God. 
 
 S'G. 
 
 Dted,— 'f There 
 2xiun with the 
 
 it presented to 
 U'y position as 
 gi'Ciration. It 
 ), but which is 
 itJVcrs, as tlie 
 as tlie power 
 d to mc to be 
 'ei- di.stinctive 
 ilievcrs inij^jit 
 'estanient was 
 there is one 
 iiinistry exer- 
 " excepted,) 
 ippoiiitiHont. 
 I'o developed 
 of their ini- 
 "tially those 
 en of in my 
 
 question of 
 ir, thej both 
 Lord Jesus 
 m heaven as 
 evors in one 
 ennscrjueut 
 re extended 
 sconies the 
 
 divine centre and head of ever /thing in heaven and everythin"' on earth in the 
 counsels of God ; aiid to bo thus manifested "in the dispensation of thoVulness 
 ot tunes. (Lph. i. 10.) His death was neces.sary for Israel's blessin-, it is 
 nV but once accomplished, it gives scope and ground f»x deeper counsels of 
 Gods hidden love Israel's high priest, like another Balaam, uttered them 
 when he said, prophetically, that Jesus should " dU-.for that nation : and not 
 tor that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children 
 ot Crod that were scattered abroad." (John xi. 51, 52.) This " <TatherIn<^ 
 together of the children of God," apart from the world, is peculiarly distinctive 
 ot Christianity; and the idea does not meet us in the Old Testament, except in 
 the form of a moral attract-on, as expressed in I'salm cxxxiii., "Behold how 
 good aiid how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity •" or in 
 Malachi, " Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another'" The 
 posNition ot Israel in the Lord was that of an elect vation ; and the principles 
 ot God s dealings with them were in accordance with this position, consistinc^ 
 mainly in governmental regulations and providential displays : so that it wal 
 said " He hath not dealt so 'vith any nation." They were a nation bound 
 together, by virtue of a common parentage, and a national ritual, consisting of 
 carna ordinances; and they were thus owned of (Jod; that is, they were 
 owned as a nation separated from .cher nations to be an example of God's <rood- 
 ness and taithtulness ; for they were in alliance with Him. The salvation of 
 the godly 111 Israel is another question ; and is always a question of/«(VA, from 
 Abel downwards. '_^ee Heb. xi.) But the death of Christ gave occasion for 
 the bringing out oi ^ reverse of what was manifested in the position of Israel 
 lor Christianity is c . gathering together of saints in the power of a spiritual 
 Jite, presenting a body whose members are indeed on the earth, but whoso life 
 mail Us essential springs and formative character, is in heaven, " hid with 
 Clirhst in God. God has not now recorded His name in the midst of any 
 n«/(o»; but wherever two or three are gathered together in His name there 
 Jesus IS in themidst of them. What the temple\vas to the Jew, that the 
 gathering of saints is to the Christian. For God hath said, "I will dwell in 
 them, and walk in them ;" and the exhortation based on this is, " Wher.'fore 
 come out from among them, and be ye separate, saitli the Lord " ' ' 
 
 Too much stress can hardly be laid on the truth— thouirh God is theonly eflVctual 
 teacher— that, in consequence of Christ's exaltation, thr IMy GhM, a, a aicine 
 pcrwn,is here Oil earth; is here con.sequent upon completed redemption, and 
 he diyme witness of its power. This alters everything in re-ard to the posi- 
 tion of believers as to the world, their worship, their relationship and intercourse 
 with (.od, their hopes and expectations. And if the cursory reader should be 
 disposed to pass this by as a speculative statement, I beseech the thou-htful 
 Chri.st.an to ponder, m the presence of God, its profoundly practical bcarin-. 
 i;or It the fecrip urcs present us with doctrines that " make us wise unto salvS- 
 lon through faith that is in Christ Jesus," and so fully unfold the mind of God 
 that, through then., " the man of God may ho per/ert, throu-hly furnished unto 
 a good works they a so bring us, and that in a di^ ine way', ihrourjh the power 
 and presence oftlielM;, Ghost here on earth, into acquaintance with the living 
 person of the Son of God in heaven, and into living association with Him ; and^ 
 through Him, into the relationship and intercourse of sons with the livin-r 
 i'atlier. ° 
 
 Thus, and thus only can be known the profound depth and living strength of 
 that word of Christ, which tol.l of His victory in death, and burst Fvom IHs lips 
 in resurrection, but which could only bo known in its fulness after the desceutof 
 
th 
 
 8 
 
 .nd,v,-c,„„l „„J po™„„ liossin, ".h"4? 2o°"™ri:; af •'" ■ /''' «' '"'^^ 
 
 ihe Jiving ciierey of God's SniviV ,.-?,, r ""J'^/'-^s » far wider scone 
 
 fulness 
 
 of that eternal mlcmption which'HV w'""^ '^"'^'l*"' the soul, a 
 
 rople to maintain tlJeir pSt ion of f Uif-r^^P^'''!'^^' ^"" «'<^»« enable' "lli; 
 
 '■-- the will nf r.ni Z 1 .h'^'H"^^^? and service in these perilous 
 
 them into the posture of waiting for His con I T T'' > '' *^''* ^^'^ Put 
 argumentative refutation, that i1 need d to d i^f ^'l ^' ''l^'''' ^""^ "^^ "'^>-° 
 the reviving claims of Poperv and frmnln^ • , '''"''' ^" *^<^ one hand, from 
 which is the semiJ>operro7iwir- a^^ 
 
 less speculative assent to the tru hs of tU ' ""/'^t ?^^«-, to displace that hear ' 
 power from their application to the £ rfSe!^/!:'^' ^'^"•'^ it excludes God's 
 person and work of Him who is the onlv dl L '^ ^' ^."''^''^" "^ si", and the 
 as matters of philosophic disquisition ^ ''''' ^''"^ «'"' *° ^o reasoi^ed abou? 
 
 llow much is there for the eternal 'ro«f r,f .t, 
 ment of Scripture, '' Christ 4f suff Lj fo/ s 'n's 1" /" /''^* "^^ -"P^*-^ ^^ate- 
 thiit he might bring us to God I" ' ""''^ ^^"^ J"^* for the unjust 
 
 Christian position. It ..ives its dis nr ' i ^''"*™ ''"^ ^^J to the whole 
 t^on from bod, and is ^s::tS VZ^^I^':? ^ff^^'y - --^l- 
 bcains in the gospel from the God of goX?^,,S!, f^'* ^.'''''' S''^^^ ^'J"c-h 
 
 But this mission of the Holy Ghost w !^t / T , ^'''''' ''""^'•«- 
 Christ, has a two-fold result : first X iTis 1° ^ "'. ""^ '^'' ^^"'tatinu of 
 has formed in its own proper uni v "s tl 1 \w 7n/" *^'' ^^''''^'' ^''"eh He 
 head in heaven; secondly, in His t^S.n^'^.?^ ^ '""'''' ''^"'^ ^^ ""''ty with its 
 ^ He is here not only becai o Oh S ""^ "^ *'^', ^^^P^^ *« tlie world. 
 Co'"forter," but He L heinoeau e t le^df '"^^ ^ "^^^'^^ "'"'nofher 
 
 lished before God in heaven, tC if he tS'"f '^''''''T''^'' »^^"' ^«tab- 
 pei'foct divine love has been ^hown "toj Is nne • n' ^T^ '^'T ^^'''^''> ""^^ 
 « divnie witness on earth of that. None bu the V -'""^i '• ?"^ ^'^^'''^ "'^^^Jod 
 make known to the heart either the beliefs ^ r""'"° ^.^'''^ ^^ ^od could 
 withClmst,orthegloryofHispe2ia;^^^^^^^^ and blessing in union 
 
 obtained, or the infinite grace of God hJothu^, ft ''^°"^ *'^'« P°''tion is 
 foun ain to us. Christ has niado "Ix bo f Wo ^ J' ^'""''J!' "'""^ '^'^ P^Pcr 
 man in his sins ; for " God so loved die Todd tht?'' '" H^-^''^ P'-^^'* ^owfrd 
 Son;" and perfect righteousness for tl c f, h of n ■ f f ^"'^ «»^^ begotten 
 s our righteousness in His presence Vwl Tl' ^''^''"' ^"^ ) for Christ 
 
 If lum.;' And the Holy cZtllL sent dn' '"f ' ''^° righteousness of gS . 
 the divine witness of this Jove and -felUn ^"' ^f '"''^ ^^'"^ ^^ on ],ic.J, i, 
 er^on .li. . .„,. , ^^ ;|^«e. . ^gI^^^ ar^a^^i^^^ 
 
 0|S iStSi!?^; "fcilTs t^Sr-T^ «^^'^'«'^ *"o Holy 
 salvation, as is generally\allow ci jTut i doe , 'If*; '" *'^^ ^^'"owledge of 
 from Jew and Gentile the heaven^ oi„t 'If 'f n?'-"^''"'^ for it gat'hers 
 gathered them, the Holy Ghost unitesV^^^^^ of Christ- and hafing so 
 
 one body, as the membcis of Chi t in ted hfn ^uV^ "''^ Presence Into 
 Ilim be head occr all things ^/js church Ml "'T^" , " ^'"^ l'"<'» '".'ule 
 him thnt filled, „H i,, all." (E^ j'^'^J?'^; ^"?'^ '« ^is body, the fulnc.« „f 
 
 been baptized into one body,Mther"r be' Jows^^r ^eStile^i t^'^ '^if^^ 
 
%} ^fcend unto m;/ 
 • _ This is, indeed, 
 r wider scope. 
 
 ;soul, and the fulness 
 ill alone enable His 
 ce in these perilous 
 lie ; or that will put 
 
 isthis, and not mere 
 ' the one hand, from 
 means of ordinances, 
 displace that heart.' 
 l_e it excludes God's 
 :ion of sin, and the 
 
 bo reasoned about 
 
 - one simple state- 
 ust for the unjust, 
 
 •om above, as truly 
 
 key to the M-hole 
 
 |ianity as a revela- 
 
 livme grace which 
 
 nners. 
 
 the exaltation of 
 
 hurch, which Ifc 
 
 in unity with its 
 be world. 
 
 needed "anotber 
 ss has been estab- 
 '^esus Christ, and 
 ind there needed 
 it of God could 
 essing in union 
 n this portion is 
 ' from its proper 
 >d's part toward 
 is only begotten 
 God; for Christ 
 ^oiisness of God 
 IS is on high, is 
 "in the whole 
 ind also 2 Cor. 
 
 chich the Holy 
 e knowledge of 
 ; for it gathers 
 tnd having so 
 
 1 presence into 
 '0(1 hath made 
 
 the fulne.'i.s of 
 fit we have all 
 &c. (1 Cor. 
 
 xii. 13.) "We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." 
 (Eph. V. 30.) 
 
 lien > the believer is individually the tcmpic of the Holy Ghost, (1 Cor. vi. 
 19/; 1 the whole body also is collectively His temple, (1 Cor. iii. IG,) and 
 honcv ■ is that on earth believers " are builded together for a huhitatinn of 
 God (tiiey are his temple) through the Spirit." (Eph. ii. 20, 22.) Hence 
 also the apostle's statement — " ... lie not moved away from the hope of the 
 gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preaclied to every creature [in the 
 whole creation] which is under heaven ; whereof I Paul am made a minister ; 
 who now rejoice in my sufl'erings for you, and fill up that which is behind of 
 the afflictions of Christ, in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church : 
 whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God which is 
 given to me for you, to fulfil [complete] the word of God." (Col. i. 22 — 25.) 
 
 In this passage there are three things stated which it is important to distin- 
 guish. First, the apostle states that he was a minister of the gonprl, as a 
 testimony of God in the whole creation, which is under heaven, as observed 
 before ; second, that he was a minister of the Church, which, he says, is the 
 body of Christ; third, that in the dispensation which was committed to him 
 there was the completing of tlie word of God. Or, in other words, that a dis- 
 pensation or economy was committed to him, which had for its distinctive 
 object the manifestation of God's counsels of grace and glory concerning the 
 Church ; and that this manifestation was a necessary part of divine revelation, 
 in order to the completion of the word of God. Subsequent revelations were 
 doubtless given, as in the latter epistles, and in "the Ilevelation ;" but these 
 present oidy the history, and decline, and final condition, as to this world, of 
 the Church which had been already revealed. As to subjects, when the Church 
 had been presented, revelation was complete. Hence is seen the contradiction 
 and folly of Mormonism, and of every claim to another revelation. 
 
 The Scriptures, it may bo needful to say, (for some at least,) are occupied, 
 as far as regards man, witli three separate classes, termed, '' the Jews, the 
 Gentiles, and the Church of God," in connexion with whicli God's counsels and 
 Christ's glory are to be displayed. It is not merely that in these three classes 
 mercy finds its objects, and "wisdom is justified of all her children;" but 
 Christ has a separate title in connection with each ; while the Church stands 
 forth in her own peculiar place of union with Christ and as the participant of 
 His glory. 
 
 And let me add, that for all intelligent study of the divine word, these dis- 
 tinctions must be borne in mind. They mark the application of Scripture, and 
 are never confounded the one with the other in the oracles of God. 
 
 But it is of the Church alone that it is said, " There is one hmhj and one 
 Spirit ;" and it is the unity of this body that is to be kept in the bond of peace. 
 Admitting that the evil of man and the influx of corruptions have scattered the 
 members of Christ, and have substituted another unity than that of the body of 
 Christ, and have brought in another organisation for the unity of that body, the 
 obligation to maintain this unity, which is God's, is not on that account set 
 aside. The estimate which the believer is to form of the Cliurch, and his con- 
 sequent blessings and obligations in relation with that Church, is not to be taken 
 from the ruin and debasement to which man in his unfaithfulness has reduced 
 it; but froni the place in which God has set it in His grace, and from its unal- 
 terable roiaLionship to Christ, and its final destination in glory with Him as His 
 body and His bride. 
 
 Allowing that there is a lack of power to restore this unity on earth, of which 
 
Churcl,,', ^ '^^' ^^'"'.^Mvdl i,s,s„,cti tl r^ T •.'' '^P''"''»te from al] (hat 
 
 iiiliiiiSii 
 
 ^^ IS I'l the ,md,,'t of them •" n ,V I '''-c^^re jrathercd together in }!«, 
 
 ^.oxerc,.od on such vanou;.Zl j-^"^-^"^ ^/"-tiou -^ cli.eussion and 
 
 Petti ^r^"y '''r'on.ihinty to the ]5d « "'t'"'"''""^^ ^" ^'' '^ « '»'-»- 
 
 presence ir thn Oh P°Y^^^> which was to the woW,] tl,„ • i- • -^^''^^•-'■cd be 
 
 "CIS w hen tile iiiessa..-o of iL ' , ■ ^ ^'■'" ^'^ ^o^'f i to the chiof nf • 
 tained in o£ I TT '^'' ''^'^^^ will ad rut T ^- "'' -'■«""^' ^'^ 
 
 Ho i„ay Co i;; Iv ?S ", !''° ""'»'•« of the LorJ to L ^r ''"■"""'« »'"l 
 
'Same; nor can any 
 '> because God hag 
 'ss is it a iiiatfer of 
 'parate froii al] (hat 
 ' J'/",ir, j^athor li is 
 ivJucli Jie call.s nic to 
 'Ejects, I am bound 
 ; for there roniaina 
 ven of tJie ruin iJiat 
 'pother in his name 
 jecasroalJy, ifjiot 
 
 nd discussion, and 
 'L'ly from tile truth 
 ^f the Jfolj Spirit 
 ^ the power of the 
 nt of Christ in its 
 i» it, as a mnn- 
 
 ■ ') 1 Cor. xii. ; 1 
 ■cised, in Christ's 
 tlie service which 
 fthe If olj Ghost 
 jy the evangelist, 
 
 ■ original word of 
 
 every creature.''' 
 like. 
 
 've disappeared, 
 cii. Blessed he 
 ;ation of God's 
 1 to bless those 
 Jis uionibers — 
 
 Y bo brought to 
 's love towards 
 'Cfore (Jod, on 
 '0 chief of sin- 
 ^vherever scat- 
 ' Gho.st work- 
 t nothing but 
 the ground of 
 ^ to be main- 
 'God and the 
 
 bo of greater 
 'S'itinia'tc and 
 saints, whom 
 tbe Church 
 ^ into which 
 ' peace with 
 "h and to be 
 alls them, in 
 1 Thoss. i.) 
 
 11 
 
 even as Christ Ilinisolf has said, "If I go and prepare a place for you I will 
 come (Kjain, and receive you unto myself; that whoro / am there ye may be 
 also." 
 
 After the Church h^s entered upon this, her proper hope, the power of evil 
 will be set aside, and Christ will establish the kiiujiiom in power, and blessing, 
 and glory. It is "the kingdom and /Kitinirc" now; then it will be "the 
 kingdom of God come with power." To make way for this, the merely nominal 
 church, or the aggregate of that which has stood in the outward profession of 
 Christianity (not the uicndjcrs of Christ) will be " spued out of his mouth," 
 will be rejected as the sphere within which Ilis poM'cr in grace has hitherto 
 worked, but shall (hen work no longer. For the time will then bo come for 
 the inunodiatc and definite application of the passage, " lie that is unjust let 
 him be unjust still; and he which is filthy l(^t him be fdthy still ; and he that 
 is righteous let him be righteous still ; and he that is holy let him be holy still." 
 Ovcv. xxii. 11.) Babylon will be judged, and the whole power of evil will be 
 set aside. 
 
 In a word, full communion and glory for tl.e Church with Christ, and the 
 judgment of the world, with the resulting blessings under the reign of Christ, 
 is that which believers ought to look for. 
 
 As to life, the eternal life which was with the Father, it has been uianifestcd 
 to us in the person of Christ, and He has become nxr life, nence His precepts, 
 and walk, and words, which were expressive of the life in Him, In the midst of 
 earthly circumstances, become the lule and direction of that life in us. " God 
 has given to us eternal life and that life /x I'n hi^ Son; he that has the Son has 
 life; and ho that has not fhc St.n of Gad, has not life." Hence, wc have fel- 
 lowship through the Spirit with the Son, in whom our life is, and, consequently, 
 with the Father also. But inasmuch as this life — our life — is in Christ in the 
 power of resurrection, ^ life which He took after death, we shall never have our 
 full place and glory until we arc risen, though " to depart and be with Christ," 
 as it is expressed by the apostle, " is far better." 
 
 In sum, it may be said, that the presence of the Holy Ghost, conscfjucnt upon 
 Christ's exaltation, when lie had, by His obedience, and sufferings, and death, 
 accomplished eternal redemption, and His coming again in glory, arc the prac 
 tical hinges of the true ch:iractcr and position of the Churcl:. 
 
 It may be added here, however, that the death and resurrection of Christ is 
 the witness of the world's being entirely lost ; for not oidy have men shown 
 their moral distance from God by the rejection and crucifixion of Him who, in 
 character and claims, was God's representative here on earth; but they have 
 proved themselves to be under condemnation and death, since righteousness and 
 life before God are alone in Him, and through Him, M'hom they have rejected. 
 Hence the righteousness established before God, in Christ as the second Adam, 
 is the foundation, and only foundation, of God's present working in love towards 
 the world, lo.st and ruined as it is ; and, as Christians, wc belong actually, as 
 well as morally, to a new crentUm. 
 
 Still the presence of the Holy Ghost, forming the unity of the body, is the 
 centre and hinge of the whole doctrine of Christ, now exalted on high until He 
 comes again in glory. As to the m<imf(»iation of that unity— a manifestation, 
 be it remembered, that once existed — all is scattered and ruined. Of this there 
 needs no proof; while the attempts that have been made to establish it upon 
 false grounds have rendered the difficulty of realizing its blessings and effects 
 still greater. But this difficulty has not altered the duty of the servant of 
 Christ ; nor has it enfeebled the love of Christ towards the members of His 
 
ie I W ' rnoWl^' r"? '^'V '""-^'''^ constitution, position, and 
 
 r^ith II n ri^H 1^^«^ '.no. cn-thodox truths, which 1 receive in 'co,n- 
 
 l ' ',;•""■• /'^"-3' ''';.)"et ,n writin.u. is not to present a confession of 
 
 hope 
 mon 
 faitli, 01 
 ffrou 
 
 sent ihy 
 
 I nv .> fw,..t;. e ^^ • V -^1 •' ""'"',-'" ""i- i-oT)resent a contession ot 
 
 , a t.eatise of divuuty, but merely to explain, for the profit of others the 
 nd of n,y personal course anudst the genoJal n.a.s of profession in the 'pre- 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 CONTRAVENTION OF BASIS PKINCIl.L.S IN THE CONDITION OP THE CHURCH 
 
 Ai JjAIiGE. 
 
 At this point I am conscious of enterin- on a thorny path, thou-l; controvorsv 
 in Its ordinary acceptation, is not in the least det-rce iny an. As li tk • ko is 
 
 V^'rZ^: ^TT' fi"^^ "' any Christian, whatever his ^^S ^i 
 path may be. I ruth indeed may wound, and the li^ht may make manifest the 
 darkness; but the truth will heal as well as wound f and JoS las led u ou? 
 
 thet ir'l ""' "'' ' -T' ""'r"""^^ ^'-''*' *« ^-"^ -' elHlcl..u of 1 e 1 ll t. ]]u 
 Ion, ^^^°" ««/^-'J-^ ■! ^Tnrture by the whole Church of Cod from the 
 
 fhW,^ ^^?i •'^■'''^^^ ''}'''} "''''^'' ^'^ ^^'"^ thouphtful mind, in such a state of 
 t lings as this, IS not the difficulty of avowed infidelity, wh ch is so common in 
 he wor d butof appealing to the authority of a .taud rd, whi h whi e t o 
 acknowledged ni word and confession, is, at the same tinie,\lisal o wed in tl o^tlit 
 and application. And that this is the position which the Scriptures lio^^^^^^^^ 
 niinds the majority of persons who profess to be auidcdW them one luJ 
 ^t::ii^'' '-' ""^'^-^■'^^^'•' ^"^^— ^vith ^e p5: of zt 
 
 ham^fw" '^ T'^""''' ^^'' '''"'^ ''^''^" ''^''»°«* ^'V'^'^'^'^ '«^^li"^ to know, before- 
 hand, that nearly every statement which depends, for its practical effect unon a 
 
 are pi ibi: "' ! frf n'^'''-",f/^ ^'' ncw-created. But - with God all thing. 
 
 to Xk in ..'race ami t ^'f '"''T'^^ '' '^'' ^"^'' '"'^ ^'" ^^''ti"^-^ 
 
 10 woi V in grace anudst every confusion and corruption in His Church is mv 
 
 SK;: S -s^^ffi?-. ''''' ' ''^'f ^i"'? ^y'-" 1 --'^ that a natSnal Z^- 
 iisnment is not that testimony; and as little is dissent either the presentaHon 
 
 Xr in 1 J J • • ? ^ ''■'"'^ '' '^"''"•- ^"- i'"'- n'-^itl"^'- ^^'^ one nor the 
 
 f dtS' at I 7 -n"'' "'' n ''"i""'^ "•^'^'^ "" ^^y '^"t'^- I"dividuals\nay bo 
 eie V linc^^l 1 • ""'^'f^'^^^y '<-T His own; but ih. time is come iu iiich 
 
so that the Chris- 
 sock souls in tlie 
 display od in the 
 patience, and the 
 ipcndencc on the 
 
 on, position, and 
 . receive in com- 
 5nt a confession of 
 'ofit of others, the 
 ession iu the prc- 
 
 op THE CHURCH 
 
 ugli controversy, 
 As little also is 
 ^ position or his 
 ake manifest the 
 has called us out 
 ' the linjht. liut 
 3f God from the 
 ; continued, that 
 ost extinct; and 
 present case, is 
 :ist, to be almost 
 
 such a state of 
 s so conunon in 
 h, while it is so 
 owed iu thought 
 urcs hold in the 
 thcni, one must 
 ' I)copIe of God, 
 
 :o know, before- 
 il eft'eet, upon a 
 is blunted and 
 I God all things 
 d will continue 
 Church, is my 
 national eatab- 
 le presentation 
 test against the 
 le one nor the 
 Popeiy and in- 
 iduals may bo 
 ioine iu which 
 )thing that has 
 
 18 
 
 It would bo a thankless task, and one little congenial to the heart that loves 
 the sheep of Christ, to dwell ou all the corruptions of the Establishment, which 
 the spiritual in its communiou are forced to groan under ; or on all the evils 
 which uuirk the various forms of Dissent, and from which many amongst them, 
 that have a heart for Christ, would be gladly freed. It will, therefore, be my 
 object, mainly, to point out the practical setting aside, by the one and the other, 
 as systems, of those basis principles which are essential to any adequate witness 
 for the unity of the Church of God, and for the true and divine grounds of the 
 fellowship of all believers. 
 
 Not only, then, is there no practical exhibition of the unity of the Church as 
 the body of Christ, or of the foundation and bond of Christian communion, but 
 there exists, as a fact, and has long existed, the prescriptive establishment of 
 "rounds of communion and bonds of fellowship so entirely opposite, that it is 
 difficult in the extreme to rouse the great body of professing Christians to the 
 thou"lit that the Church ever was, or ever could be, any other than the mass of 
 iar.'iTg elements, and worldly principles, and rival and discordant sects, which 
 it now presents. 
 
 If personal piety be cultivated, and such fellowship be cnjo,>ed as the sect 
 may afford — and especially if, through the ministry of the word, souls be con- 
 verted to God — in the apprehension of the majority of Christians there remains 
 little more to be desired, and little to bo mourned over, in reference to the 
 general condition of the Church of God. It is hardly suspected by them that 
 the freat body of truth presented in the apostolic epistles has as much to do 
 with'unfokling the blessings in which the Church as a body is set, and in 
 directin" the communion and ani^ocidfcd walk of believers, as it has with the 
 establishment of the grounds of individual jusudcation and the direction of the 
 separate walk of the children of God. 
 
 But, as an exhibition of the Church as the body of Christ, having one life 
 with Christ and one destination with Ilim in glory, what is the Church of Eng- 
 land ? and what is Dissent? 
 
 How, it may be asked, does the one or the other present the unity of the 
 body or the grounds of christian fellowship, so that there should be any place 
 for the exhortation, " endeavouring to keep the unitj tf the Spirit in the bond 
 of peace ?" I do not here invidiously inquire what are the manifest corruptions 
 of the Establishment, or what arc the practical evils o^ Dissent. I take the 
 principles of a national establishment and the abstract thtory of dissent ; and I 
 find that the one, in its very constitution, because it is national, and therefore 
 gathers the world within its pale, subverts the very basis of the Church as com- 
 posed of the members of Christ's body, and renders impossible any ^yitness for 
 the glory of Christ against an idolatrous world. The other also, in its endless 
 divisions and conventional rules of communion, even though it require a spiritual 
 confession in its menibers, is founded, nevertheless, on the non-existence of the 
 unity of the Church, such as the epistles of the New Testament present. 
 
 It is matter of history that in the settlement of the parochial system of the 
 Church of England there was a tiansfcr of all the inhabitants of a parish from a 
 popish to a protestant form; and that altogether apart from the question of 
 whether there was a single Christian in the parish or not. So that, from the 
 outset, the Church of England failed to accord with its own definition of a 
 church, as "a company of faithful men," &c., and failed in the scriptural 
 requirements of a church. 
 
 I may add here, in the words of another : "At the time of the Reformation 
 two great elements entered into the composition of the Church of England, as 
 
' i 
 
 14 
 
 It IS calleJ — one i power nf flio *^. .;,.;* en ■ , 
 
 was directed >n,u,. 1 1^010 cl f ' ^ "''' /" *''° I^'"'^''''''^^' ^^''^l. ^''ic"'' 
 
 land, then sulistin-. nd^w c • .1 't" ' "'' ^ '" ^''^"'■'■'' "^ ^^"'"^ "" i'^""- 
 Bcrnardtnipin.andl J'ot;^!^,;;"^^"^ 
 
 on earth, pr 'acl;in^. anV tea hh, Ju^l'/ f ''^'^ '^••'' ^'-^"^^•- ^^""wn in heaven than 
 or any suih tlun.^^bufc wS ^^s , ^^ ^ *''^??»';^'T. ^vithuut regard to parish 
 "CSS, and that was bl st T h^ oVkS'T !"'' 'T''^ '^'' ^''''' «* ^'"'-k- 
 churohn,en,, and n.ainiy thron 'h i„tr; ' 1^'^''! ^ t^'''^".^!^ the fears of 
 
 power,wa,sasysteM.inwhic h orW r -^^^ "'•*''" '''''''' ""'^ «*''«"l"r 
 and to conciliate JU.nuu. C thoH V . li n "'"'^ '? *''^' ^^'"'^'^ '^""■'^'T, 
 a vast mass of association with on , C . ,?"''''''''\"'r''^'" *'^'"^'^» J'^li^-abeti, 
 was preserved an.l asserted bv w ' I, V •''"" "'V' ^''" ''"'"« "^ ordinances 
 
 ;-pt up; which, althon'h 'tiS v^ :uZ'Z H '"^f "^^ *''P«'^^^"^'>' ^''^ 
 liuvc a Ion- while hindered its ofW / ^'"''\''"' the provideroo of Cod may 
 
 to show itsldi; and will i ;n' „ ^^^ T -^""''?" ^''•^''^-'•'^' '""' P"'^'i^-ly 
 it-result in this once c p u i 'v1~:".V' "? ' " • ^ '^!^°"''' ''^'^^ *° «=^y 
 given up to darkness and opp^Stion t I'ff^- "'""^''^ ^^^'"^ nnn,ersed in and 
 
 ^^£^:^:::isi:z:z S' hS ^^r'^^i '"^-^ ^-^^"^ ^-^ •- ti. 
 
 of the retention of this Tpisl ,,a o S 1 "''^'""^^''^'H"' '^^'^ ^''« consequence 
 Establishment of the title t. ^'"™ ""'^.y ^"^"Jved the forfeiture by the 
 
 account of its corru io \S hy S^'y:^:':', ^^'l'"'''^'^^ '-^V'" ' '-"'^ ^^^='* "'' - 
 It is not that nnnv , J,? i , ^^'^"•"'*'^"*'*'" ""^ «J«teni. 
 
 labours, ^nd'cS;kZCJ£':i:^^i;T rii "? ^""•. -'^ ^--^' ^^^ ^^^ly 
 
 but that no ri.^ht inrlivi n f "/l/ """^ 'I'' ''•"'^^•* theK 
 
 rcease hin. from he ou£ n t^n ''i; ''?"'' p''rf '^ °^ sentin.ent, wUI 
 tboy are /,,.//, a,v>./...r/rn,eVwC . 'he n^^w.'V /'^' ""^''^ '^ ^^''''' ^^^'•'"•^« 
 be honestly denounces as .4bverto r^ F .o,i ' '^'^ ""converted, men whom 
 
 godly cleri^man may b. phccd in nn n 1 •' ""^ ^'''""'' "^ '^'''^^y ^"•«'-- A 
 and aim he knows to\e t^ kW th^ w'?]"',"^ ^T'^' ^ "^"^ ''^'''' ^^'^^'^''"S 
 it is connected with it" nt o nms tf P ^ '"'' T^ *''° "'^^'""' '^'^ <="' '''^ 
 anything to hinder this b t ^is bo.„d to"^""^', '-""J not only can he not do 
 and under legal penalties, at nr n as S A J '""' •' ^- "^'' ^'^ Y'' «^"^ subscription 
 of Christ, lie is con.r.c! cd o " : ow A n ti nT'/' '1""' ""^' ^'''''' «^" '^'' '^^eep 
 limit, to minister the'wor ^f m'Z 1 ' ,' '^'''' "^^^ "™-^« ^^"^ P^^ocbial 
 
 sboep of Christ, though ho knoJh t'^S V\ '\^''^^' "'^^ ^^'^^^'^ ^^o 
 sheep's clothing.'' A clissetr,m y t "f b^ n? l?""^ ?"1"" 'V'-^ ^^"'^" ^" 
 because ho is bound by no paroohi.1 n,,L '^''^tbe good ot souls at heart, 
 because the system of the LCh of FnJ f,"-'';^','-^"^ '"^ clergyman cannot 
 has placed in certain p rocl iT n L ^f .^"''^'^ '"^^^^ ^' «^" *h°«^ ^^'^'O'" it 
 matter that they are dest ovi ' in o 1 f ^'''*"'' "f ^^' '^'''P «f ^^ri^t. No 
 -there is no rLiedyT T '' a f "V"" T^''-'^'^ "^"«t be so owned, 
 
 every conscience that know t ^C m xdi of Cn.l 1 7''"'^ '\ •" '^'""-^^^ ^<^' 
 legal fiction return the answer ^ *" ^° something more than a 
 
 bod;,'tS ]^:^ t^tnS t::ul&;" ^''^ '^?^^ *° ^^^ professing 
 me.it, and that of voluntary a ociatmTn ° P""''P'° °^ P^^'^^^""^' «"^"gc- 
 is the liat of authority: thJd oicTof tbo 1 /' »PPo/ntment of ministry th?re 
 forence. And, it m^ be asked bt whJ v^ ' ■ ""'^ 1^'' "PPointment by con- 
 maintain the .'ightnes^ of U^ po^iHon T ^'^^'^''''^^^V^^l '''^' '''''''' ^^'^^ to 
 Testament Scriptures and tho F,^i- ^ ^ "ationah«t, by a reference to Old 
 
iclicd word, whicli 
 of Konio in J<]n<'- 
 laritics — Liitimer, 
 >wiiirilio!ivoiitli;m 
 it regard to parish 
 lie power of dark- 
 u^li the fears of 
 •own and .secular 
 le wholo country, 
 Queen Eiizabctli, 
 due of ordinancos 
 roat apostacy was 
 3rjo of (iihI in;iy 
 cily and publicly 
 ould liave to say 
 iimersod iu and 
 
 '/nWy men in tlio 
 the coM.so(|ucncc 
 orfeiture by the 
 
 and that not on 
 
 3ni. 
 
 heart, the godly 
 
 Kstablishniont; 
 
 scntiniont, will 
 ' Christ, because 
 •ted, men whom 
 ?adly error. A 
 whoso tcacldn" 
 lation, so far as 
 r can he not do 
 ^vn subscription 
 or of the sheep 
 ss the parochial 
 nd comfort the 
 i-is "a wolf in 
 50uls at heart, 
 gyninn cannot, 
 those wlioni it 
 f Christ. No 
 t be so owned, 
 r/uirrh? Let 
 ; more tlian a 
 
 the professing 
 chial arrangc- 
 ninistry there 
 raent by con- 
 :ction seek to 
 }rence to Old 
 Independent 
 1 affairs : the 
 
 15 
 
 Wcslcyan by the principles of expediency, because the founder of the sect so 
 arranged it, without any reference to Scripture at all. 
 
 In this state of things, apart from all ((uestions of corruption, it will at once 
 be perceived that the authority of man is paramount, and that the Church is 
 viewed, practically, as one in common witii the various existing institutions, 
 which arc moulded, by his plastic hand, according to the dictates of his will. 
 But how utterly alien is this from the scriptural idea of the Church being 
 ^^ biiililiil t'li/cthcr /<»• an /lahila/ion nf God throiti/h the- S/n'rif," where a 
 common relationship to Christ gives the common bond of luiion to its several 
 members, and where the Spirit's presence is the source, and power, and guiding 
 energy, of its Christ-appointed ministries ! 
 
 My reference to these things is with no pleasurable feelings ; but they must 
 needs be pointed out by the hand that would indicate the pathway of (iod's 
 people in an evil day j because it is in the midst of these evils that their path 
 is found. 
 
 The radical defect of both the Establishment and Dissent is the absence of 
 the recognition of that which tlie New Testameut emphatically calls thr. Vliurch. 
 I do not deny that there may bo a reference to "the visible and invisible 
 Church;" (a poor substitute for "the epistle of Christ, known and read of all 
 men ;") but i assert that there is the entire absence of the idea of what the 
 Church is, in its essential nature as the body of Christ, and of its distinctive 
 endowment by the presence of the Holy Ghost. And by conseciuencc there is 
 the absence of all practical recognition of the privileges and responsibilities of 
 believers, as connected with that ''one body and one Spirit." 
 
 Iiut the nature of the Church and the unity of the Church must be seen, if 
 the positive »,iound of a Christian in these days is to be seen ; and if there is to 
 be any true standard before the mind by which to judge what is, and what is 
 not, consistent with the unspeakable grace of God, in which believers are set; 
 consistent with the blessed and wondrous ends for which Christ died. 
 
 This — may God's children believe it I — is no <|uestion of expediency, to bo 
 settled according to one's views of the relative claims of diilcrent existing 
 systems. It is not a question between Evangelicals and Puscyites; of Church 
 and Dissent; of the appointment of ministers and their sustainment ]5ut it is 
 a question about the existence of the Cliurch as the body of Christ, and of the 
 liberty and functions of God's blessed Spirit as present in the Church, and of 
 the authority and suthciency of the Scriptures for the guidance of believers 
 according to the mind of Christ as long as the Church is continued here on 
 earth. 
 
 Hero Dissent is equally at fault with the Establishment. 
 
 Dissent in general, and especially independency, apart from its political 
 character, and increasing advocacy of worldliness, fails in even the recognition 
 of the Church in its unity, at least as to anything to do with earth. In heaven 
 it cannot be questioned. But there will be no need of "endeavouring to keep 
 the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" there. The unity, however, 
 spoken of in Eph. iv, "one body and one Spirit," a unity connected with the 
 earth, however it may be perfected iu heaven, has neither place nor consideration 
 in the system of independency or Congregationalism. It exists neither in fact 
 nor in desire. I do not assert that individuals may not recognize and desire it; 
 but if I look at the system, individual churches, or federations of churches, are 
 assumed to answer every exigency of Scripture on this point. 
 
 However, in the New Testament, it is unquestionable, there is the Church 
 in Its unity, as presented in Paul's Epistles, especially in Ephesians and Colos- 
 
IG 
 
 There in no othc^ „pp,ieition o? ot, ffttV' '" ^'^"^^'^ ''' '''" ''"«- 
 Ch--; However it .., ,e appl^^n V^i:[S ^^-^1 ;^,S:^ 
 
 Nc^S:;^S'S;:S;:t ^J;^^^ ^^-^ - ^'^^^^ of-netio„ i„ the 
 the title of chur'chcs in any i ^en ci t^^t^^^^^^^^^^ «^ ^''\"«ti«"H a-uming 
 
 »» the Now Testament. In ?I.e Lnv T^sf ! \ , r'''°' '•^''^ ^"« anjcxi.stence 
 aceord, it in a truth which cvcrVone r!'di ^ '/ " ''^' "" '^- ''''"''' *''^ ^'^'^''^'^^^ 
 Iiowever lur^e tlio number of bdievers mi ft bo !"^ '''?'''''\f<^' hin.solf that 
 actual y jnectin^ in one buildi Hr i nnnv l""^ ^''''" ^'^^^^^^ 
 Church of God, or God's assonrbK i t S !■ '^ T" '^''^"^''^^'^^ "« the 
 separate membership, or a sen-ir-.to nnW r i ^T ■ ^ '''P'''''"*^ "="»e, or a 
 even friendly, churcLe.s, in n.^" .0" own ' ZT\i '^^^"™^^' "''^ ''^^' ^ 
 corporation, may be niaintaincd by KrXn nr.n.' f 1" ''?'""""*' f^"'^^'^ °f '^ 
 teuce inScripture. "^ i^ia«tian arguments, but they have no exis- 
 
 Thia is no abstract question. For if tho n).,;,,,. r tj 
 or universal church are ustly repelled I v P, f. °^ ^?"" *'' '^« *''« ^''^^'oHo 
 assumption, on account^f IcVabo nd vufol^ n^ '' ''^ ^'''^''' ""^ ^ haughty 
 
 universal church is a true ^nd H unTone 'TJ'T'' ''^^ '^' '^'' '^^ "» 
 and .ndopendont churches has ser"ed -5 n^t to "l / ' '^f'^^^^^'^ "''tional 
 Chnstians that there is such a t£ n. ^ t o n. , 1 '"' ^""'^ '^' '"'"^'^ '^ 
 members of Christ, by virtue of thnn^.f) i >''»'^;'\ on earth, to which the 
 borship alone, belon/ ^ membersh.p, and by virtue of that mem- 
 
 to S;^ln -yS^iir?^ -^S;-^^^^ churches, are alike opposed 
 
 and action of believers ortle ^roZ "of the "l^'^^^^y ^^^<^^ the association 
 being born within certain -Jeo'CS^e ^ li^. i^« . ' "^, ^'"^' ^''' '^ '' "°* ^y 
 
 oy the necessity of divine -rSid j k I'- "'[ >' ''" ""^"''•'y association, but 
 am associated with the Chur h wWcM ' iTl , ^''Z^y^'' ^he head, that I 
 that which is vital; because thei^ei^bu -1 f^i ''V'' ^' undeniable as to 
 members of the Church are the member of tl ; / "p^n?"? ^^'''''" ""<J '^' 
 a thousand other things wron-^ imn^tant in f "^ ?"'*• T'^^''^ '""^ be 
 
 tliey have on the safety Tnd thoTod nf I '"" f '"''', ^''''''' ^^ *''« '^'^aring 
 error. For certainly Erast a. IsmT.s no n^n ' ' f"* ''"' ^'^ *'^« fundamental 
 regard to the form, and worsh n ,n^! • ? &" ""'" '^^^^"c sanction, in 
 .n^ent, than it had in rclron t^h fi?' 1 '^' ^""''^ ^" '^' ^ew Te.sta" 
 in the Old, where it was "id %Ci' 7"''!'?' '"'^ «"-^'^««' «f Israel 
 
 pattern showed thee inTh m u'nt " \ be" tt .' ' ' ' f'^^l r'^'^'^S to the 
 other are different and opposed Still if W* I ^"T"^^'' «^ ^'^^ «ne and the 
 necessary to keep the worshipper in he Jtl I'^f'"'"? "°^°^ '^'' ^'^ ^^^s 
 nation to present the divine tvne of l.! r • 1''^^' '"""^^ *« «"«We an elect 
 is the knowledge of son luVrce !. I'tnS tL' ^"t"^ ••''^"^*"^^^' ' "« ^'^^^ 
 Christ, and the faith of the presenTSVllTr ^?P''¥"'^^» "^ ""^i^n ^ith 
 to produce a walk, and wlh n a,id 1 . ^ ^\''*' '^^'"^ °» ^^rth, in order 
 divine grace, and brought nto the Irfru"'^ T'^ ^' '^'' Church,'as set in 
 ance, of the livintr Cra.V ° ^"'^ ^'Sht and presence, and the full accept- 
 
 comf o'rUoTetlK^^^^^^ T 7". '^' ^«"---' '^ '^^ -^" 
 
 ; mere cannot be a perfect church ;" and that '' Judas 
 
trious cities where 
 UH, or Jerusuloin. 
 iilatin, Macedonia, 
 Lirch la thr houae. 
 iieiit to buiiios of 
 to a promiscuous 
 
 )f sanction in the 
 rijstians .assuming 
 has any existence 
 hich the Epistles 
 for himself that 
 lace, and whether 
 ssifinated as the 
 rate name, or a 
 •atu and rival, or 
 irate guilds of a 
 ey have no exis- 
 
 be the catholic 
 3 and a haughty 
 11 the idea of an 
 Jnce of national 
 in the minds of 
 h, to which the 
 e of that mem- 
 
 •c alike opposed 
 the association 
 [^'or it is not by 
 issociation, but 
 e head, that I 
 deniable as to 
 irit;" and the 
 There may be 
 of the bearing 
 3 fundamental 
 e sanction, in 
 e New Testa- 
 vice, of Israel 
 wording to the 
 3 one and the 
 • the law was 
 able an elect 
 lary," no less 
 f union with 
 irth, in order 
 rch, as set in 
 e full accept- 
 
 17 
 
 was amongst tho disciples." I3ut bo it so. I am not seeking for a perfect 
 church. 1 nm occupied with a much simpler thing. I .im acekiiig a path for 
 7? self in which I shall not have my conscience bound by any uuthorily to do 
 or lo sanction what the word of (iod and conscience condemn. \J is a very 
 simple qucs'ion for a disciple of (,'hvist to ask hiiiself ]{y what authority ■nn 
 I bound to g(» on with what V see to bo wrong ? And wliy am I to acquicsco 
 in a state of things, ccclosiaMtically or othiTwise, merely because ite.Kists, when, 
 at tho same time, I see so many things in it which are plainly contrary to tho 
 record of Christ's will ? I speak not now of Church, or Dissent, or Free 
 Church, or any other sytem, in particular, but of all. And I ask, where does 
 Chri.st bind His disciples to association with that which is evil ? 
 
 Imagine what would bo Christ's Judgment of the present state of things if 
 lie were now personally present — if He were to appear in yA-zy/ ; the conclusion 
 is plain. Ten thousand things, which now find their place and approval in tho 
 systems of men, and which bind Christians to association with them, would bo 
 withered up by the very first beam of that glory; while " the shaking of heaven 
 and earth," which will actually take place when He does appear, will be but 
 the overturning of all that men are, in Christ's name, so strangely seeking to 
 uphold. But Christ has visited the scene. And Ho has caused a record to bo 
 made of His moral judgment about it. \\q has walked amidst the candlesticks, 
 and has declared that unless there were repentance, even in those early days of 
 decline, and doing the first works, He would " remove the candlestick out of 
 its place." He has declared that He (/•/// not put His stamp of approval upon 
 anything that falls .short of the expression of the Church's " first love." And, 
 alas ! the succeeding epistles to those apocalyptic churches only show tho 
 deepening .shades of moral declension, until Jjaodicea causes him to reject it 
 altogether. And then the whole book gives the programme of the whole char- 
 acter of evil of the latter days, until Uabylon'a corruption and 15abylon's doom 
 are the final issue. 
 
 I know well that any feeling of dissatisfaction with the existing state of things 
 is readily imputed to restlessness of mind, or to wildness of views. But, be 
 this as it may, one thing is certain, that (ioi) never binds any evil on the con- 
 sciences of His people, however, in departing from the evil, they may provoko 
 the opposition, not of tho world alone, but of those who have other objects than 
 to do His will ; or at least have another standard than His word by which to 
 judge of that will. 
 
 '' But where," it may be asked, " is the refuge for the isolated believer 
 amidst this confused and jarring scene V For if it be deemed a fruitless hope 
 to look for a restored-unity to the Church, it docs not set aside tho fact that 
 dioisum and sertarianism r..n'nt. And if so, it appears to me there exists but 
 this alternative for the Christian, either to coincide with that which the word of 
 God condemns, or to seek a path where, at least, ho may bo individually free 
 from fellowship witli the world and the evils of sectarianism ; and bo free also 
 from the spirit which at first produced, and still perpetuates, these evils. 
 " Are ye not carnal and walk as men ?" is as much a beacon to warn of danger 
 and shipwreck of the Church's interests now, as it was in apostolic days. 
 
 " But where," it may be repeated, " is any place of rest for him, if ho 
 breaks through those ties which bind him on every hand ?" The answer is 
 presented in one single sentence of Scripture— so much misconstrued, so little 
 valued, so often overlooked, aud yet presenting so perfect and gracious a provi- 
 sion by Christ Himself, that nothing but heaven itself can go beyond it. 
 " Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the 
 midst of them." J ' 
 
18 
 
 {5ilrS;ir::;;,;i':i;;t:i;;i!lrn:;;:;:!^,£;-,5 '^^ 
 
 ftot i.L'on the faith /»f fhis u.,.,1 „f <'i ; » ,' . ^ "'^ "' : """"""'^"t this moincnt 
 their bund of u..H.«iutu.n, but Laving u luart-ftl Z f ^r ,J , '. "' 
 
 would they leave lobi^U fh.n,, ,.„ tho- sto , il , " ./''", -""IT' v''"* 
 Of tin., .i.nplo but c..,rnpn.hcM..ivc u.ncV ^n "^ " t'^^^^^^ t''^,' '""'' 
 
 U . < ul ,„a „„,,Jsi every outward eluiiigc tlwt may mark lis prc-ro's Zn N 
 "sl brip ili.eM to Its darkest lieur, and ivliicli ovor-livci -dl it, ,wn.f!i , 
 
 .iicr„,tatiun« by Imn.au forms. ]lelicver» arc bou, d t , 'b a .1 '^■'' '? "". 
 "ot ,0 ,„„cl, by a voluntary ,,rofe..si„„ „| U, .Z ' H W ti, '■'':^'"''•'""''i• 
 eternal lifc-a life that link, tlioi,, with Ili, ,il f n.'l LK !l f"' «»"»" »' 
 
 .», andean bo, nothing short of the revelation which od I , soTh ,, d'', en" 
 Cod W.1I have a testimony to His graee until the day of ' „' i, elo,ed Id 
 
 ftim nrleJfl: ttSf testJl It sl^^ ST^I CZ'lli:1'f /J'" 
 blessed word. It is, therefore, no l4i,i„,al'e use o? 11 s blcs.h,Vw, ether in 
 
 f,oou or Jl.s peopio, to point to it as if it Rvre or eonld bo .: 
 
 praeliee of that whieh is contrary to Hi, . ! ',' °"e r„d „," t" '■" 
 graee, amidst the corruption and c^nfu.ion „, Uis ehnreh, to^^.^ tha ^latoof 
 
 liiui !" 
 
I 
 
 Jily in Ill's rinnic 
 u orciiri.-f, Ko is 
 of tlio kiukcd-flir 
 i.'^attiilH iiiiiiiiciit 
 'hrist'H naiiK' ns 
 liJit iianic, vliiit 
 ttilliiu till' limit 
 triricM nnii com- 
 1 '! — but liiimnn 
 ikl bu gained ? 
 s this enough ? 
 the heart that 
 , ns to a hcaveii- 
 of security and 
 le securify pre 
 
 la.s poin("d ouf. 
 rc'hof (jlod." 
 , in rhe profoa- 
 uiMiism in its 
 laracterizcs the 
 igrcHs, from ita 
 Drruptions and 
 -'ir living head, 
 possession of 
 with one ano- 
 e moral ehar- 
 ' assure their 
 3y II is living 
 r be tlie fates 
 ion of Christ's 
 d by the faith 
 
 be separate 
 'igation of (he 
 ast be judged 
 
 has given. 
 
 closed ; and 
 •uth to which 
 ted with the 
 light of Ilia 
 , whether in 
 ruth for thr^ 
 
 sa etion in 
 uU works in 
 at as a proof 
 3al antinomi- 
 if the system 
 
 ngs- 
 
 -things 
 
 hful is to be 
 3al with the 
 
 19 
 
 ovnngolioals, in the E^' iblishmcnt of this coTi.,y; and at the snino time, und 
 on the same ground, a wsoiiter with the l)i' ■■> ' ; and a Wesleyan with tiic 
 Wi><k'yanH; and if I had lived at the time, I .uust have been a Lutheran ul tlio 
 ll( irniation, and ii Papist with IWal and the Janscnists ! There is, however, 
 another cf)nc!usion which is often drawn from these premises ; vi'., that it Ih ii 
 proof of (iod's prt'sent iudif!( ivnco to these things, provided ho gospel is 
 preiiciied and souls ar> ived. My ,,iily answer ia, this is not ujtTely lutitudl- 
 mirian inditference, but it is the nulliticatiou "f the wisdom and 'are which 
 indited the Kpistles for the Ciiiireh's guidance ; and if is practically , lying that 
 God is inilill'erent whether the ( iiurch, which is the cpistlo of <'hrlst, presents a 
 true or a false transcript of His grace and character to the world. 
 
 It appears a strange thing to the heart which hi.s known, in ever so feeble n 
 measure, (idd's goodness, and has proved, pi;rhaps as scanti'v, the stability of 
 His ways, that in writing to Christ uiii» one should bo obli-ed to turn aside to 
 insist on a thing so obvious, so elementary, as that God may, at all times, and 
 in all circumstances, be surely trusted when the doing of His will by His chil- 
 dren is in .luestion. And that His word, which is but the expression of His 
 thoughts and will, however opposed to our notions, and contrary to flesh and 
 blood its dictates nmy seem, may be always confided in. 
 
 Yet it is ncccssiry. Or, if the observation be founded on a practical mistake, 
 those who are so hnp])y as to carry the reputation of it in their own confiding 
 trust in (lod, and their habitual subjection to the paraii. junt authority of His 
 word, will know how to forgive the anxiety which dietai d the remark. Hut 
 when thinlving about others, rather than oneself, as a ('In istian is called to do, 
 what rest is there for the heart, amidst a thousand thing, that try it, in that 
 declaration, "God is fathful, by whom ye were called iiro fellowship of his 
 Son, Jesus Christ !" And, when the results of labour are -uch as to present 
 but little to bo rested in, how does it dispel any feeling >f despondency to 
 remember, that " The eyes of the Lord run to and fro thn ughout the whole 
 earth to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward 
 him !" ^ 
 
 What is nccdc'i, especially in a day like the present, is, the hiving hold of the 
 principle uttered by the prophet, " Say yc not a confederacy to n'l them to whom 
 this people say a confederacy, neither fear ye their fear, nor be al aid. Sanctlfij 
 the Lord of hosts hinw/f, and let him be your fear, and let hin be your dread. 
 And he shall he for a sanctum-}/." 
 
 _ For one thing is certain, that if all Christians wore prepared t once to give 
 in their adherence to a perfectly scriptural system of church poll , as far as it 
 could bo presented, but little would be effected by such a movcn, at, except it 
 were accompanied by the faith which recognizes God in all the br- adth of His 
 claims and in present living association with the heart— a God liv tg and true. 
 
 In no ago can thcpaths of the Lord be traversed except by t o power of 
 faith ; and the conviction of this has determined me not to preser t a system 
 made ready to the hand which might guide persons in setting up rcaking-of- 
 bread churches or some such thing : but to present those principle- which, if 
 God IS actmg on the soul, and the conscience bo in healthful ex'erc <e, will be 
 sufficient to help it in the pathway of inquiry from the word. Thi.- may per- 
 haps create a feeling of disappointment for the moment, but I trust i may turn 
 the heart of some one or other to enquire of God. 
 
 There are, however, several points which I feel called to dwell upt i a little 
 more particularly. One, indeed, especially, in order to obviate wh;; appears 
 to be a general misconception. I mean the bearing of the truths wh ch have 
 been stated upon what is popularly termed, " the ministry." 
 
20 
 
 ON iMINISTRY. 
 
 It is true the apostle, in CorinS/.^: Th \' pt'4t " /' ""^'''"'^f ^'" 
 u anything that the ministrv be not blamed '' hnfj. 'i ^ '''"". "" "^^'•''"^'^ 
 
 nate the service of tlie gospel in Te ab a<?t^„Kllt a^^ ',!' '"'^ '' '^'''^ 
 
 separate class of ncr^ons^ The \Vw ,r ,' ' '"' ""* "^ "'' "s characterizing a 
 of clergy and laitv nor indeed of tnfT"* ^""f "'^''""^ of the distinction 
 people/' when they u^e used to mrk out "'' /"°^r' '"''"'•' " "''"'^^*^^'' ='»d 
 to belong, and tlioJe to whom t d oeS , ^he ^imn'r" TT^ 'V^r^^o^^^ 
 ment is this, ''as every man ha' roSiv ,1 ./''''..^'"'P^^ ™Ie of the New Tcsta- 
 
 ono ^ anotl^r, ...ooIZJ^^ S' U^l.^?t5 ^^ ^ ^t% ''' '''''' 
 speak, as the orac es of God • if inv ,.,n„ , ;„• / "7. , ^*^"' ^' "">' "iim 
 
 and of theiranproach to Him liutth.- T. ,',f'^ ^''•^ "'ct'>»i" of their worship 
 
 nuoGod'sp^Lnce,)t";::t:S:i^ ;;;^is:'i^s 
 
 Jesus, the vail was rent, because the iustico .f "'"/'^"'.""J'" J*;'='thot the Lord 
 vindicated, and lILs presence as th 'nWnl . • !■ • ''-''"""^ "" '^''^^ ^^^» ^""y 
 .iisclosed, there was fl s doub " ff i-tlfe wo;.".'"'' ^""'i f "'^ ^"^"' ^^'^^ ^^ 
 individually, and directly by irtue oH ^n i T T .'°'''^ ^'"'^ "'^'^^ t» <'od 
 tbe Holy (Jhost, whicrj^syvenTa d utt;;/'''"-' ^^V^^ *''^: J^'*-^''"^' 
 sence, by virtue of the work'^of CI ri a t in, , ot^h/r T ^'^^'^ ^"'^ 
 to dnjwthem to Himself as well a. tu'bliKh 2. 'i i sSe ^ """ '" '^^"" 
 This IS what ministry is exercised about 
 
 J; •::gr!:J,^;:^S!^^!^;-.;f ;|;^^ by which Cod 
 
 the blessings and obligaHSesSuin'fi!^ r^'e "'"'"" '"^''^ '""^ 
 and teaching every man in all wl., ,7 fT / S'»cc— " warning every man 
 
 feet in Christ." Estry f ilb ru t^ T'^^^^^'l ''^^' }"' P''^'^^^"*^^ P^^'- 
 istic of the ^ssel to whSb U^tnl^^tX^jf ^/-^yi^"{ character- 
 efficiency to the measure in which the newer of fWirf a-' ■ '^ V"''''^ '^^ 
 power of man. '' We are not " s.v, Fhl n t ' S^''"'^ '" '*' ""^ ""* the 
 Think anything as o'lZCs) b^fo ^^.uTeSy fo^S .^' h^'T^'^ ^f 
 made us able ministers of the kw Testamen .' ^aL -Sn ^MVe 1 " ^''f' 
 treasure in earthen vessels tbnf f),« <,^„„ii d ^^ °' '* '^ "'^^'e this 
 
 not of us." ' *''" ^-^^cellency of the power maybe of God and 
 
 of a humanly appointed minhtrv U Zl iVu ""''T ?'"" the disalknvancc 
 
 of that which i^divi- :' T'-L d n rt-f'-n^^^^^ 
 
 culty in rcco^nizin- -is serlntnr..l ! i^/i ^' • '^ '* '' *''""'''^' t^^ere is no difH- 
 
 appointed m n stry, which set^ n^i.lo n. T '^""^°""".'^" ^^'th an ccclcsiastica y 
 gift apart from thJso wim Ce been'dosira^^^^^^ f^ "•^^^' "" ^-7--^- o'f 
 ministry as an ofHce. For ,/., oX n7.f.hS ' thi i P' "'' '■^''''- '' '^'' 
 lu the i\ew Testament. It is nlain' thTt Tn nnS r *• ^"^^lority wiiatevcr 
 
 bu. th„30 „„. wo.e gifted of ."^tby'l' n:';rsl«XIur'' b':";?^: 
 
igined that there 
 sacortl(jt;il caste, 
 iving 1)0 otleiico 
 it onlj to desi}^- 
 •haractciizinjv a 
 f'thc dLstiiietion 
 " minister and 
 -17 i''' t^upposc'd 
 the New 'I'ljsta- 
 lister the same 
 • If any man 
 'ity wliieh (jod 
 'hrist." 
 
 t' priest was the 
 )f'tlieir worship 
 licst()ra!!,(/.r., 
 :itIiot'fhe.L(jrJ 
 lad been fully 
 love, could be 
 le m,jk to (iud 
 f the power of 
 in tJod's jire- 
 men in order 
 
 y which Ood 
 ig more fully 
 ig every man 
 resented por- 
 lal eharaeter- 
 ud it owes its 
 ; and not the 
 ourselves to 
 ho also hath 
 iVo have this 
 le of (lodand 
 
 he free cxer- 
 of the body, 
 of a stated, 
 disallowance 
 io a rejection 
 re is no diffi. 
 brist for the 
 clcsiastically 
 ic exercise of 
 ithcr, to the 
 ily wiiatevcr 
 ihl minister 
 • But it is 
 
 21 
 
 equally plain that wherever the gift was possessed an unlimited freedom, subject 
 to Seripturoorder for its exercise, was given ; or rather, the obligation, in grace, 
 for its exercise was imposed. 
 
 This (luestion of ministry is not to be summarily settled by the assertion that 
 the l:.'th and 14th chapters of Corinthians could only be in force while miracu- 
 lous jiifts were present in tlie Church : much less by the untena1>le notion that 
 the_ lOpistlc to the Corinthians presents only a provisional local order • a 
 notion contradicted in terms by the address of the Epistle, which is strictly 
 universal. " Unto the Church of God which is in Corinth .... with 
 all that in cccry place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Loiu), both theirs 
 and ours." (See also 1 Pet. iv. ; lloni. xii.) 
 
 ^ There is but the alternative, either to avow that the ministry of tlie word, 
 since apostolic tinies, and the edification of believers, rests on the basis of human' 
 competoney, and is subject to human training;, and is to be guided, in it.s exerei.se, 
 by the human will, expressed by vote or otherwise; or to ackncndedge that it 
 is diviue,_and that the source from whence it flow.s, tlie directions for'" its exer- 
 cise, its limitations and grounds of responsibility, are to be determined by an 
 appeal to the New Testament Scriptures alone. If the latter be accepted, it 
 will be seen at once that an ascended Christ (Eph. iv.) is the source from whence 
 it flows, and by whom it is perpetuated; that the Holy Ghost is the power of 
 Its exercise, and its only limitation the possession of the gift bestowed by Christ, 
 and its exercise in charity or love, according to 1 Cor. xiii. ; while the ground 
 of Its responsibility is the known character of Christ and His relationship in 
 grace to the soul. 
 
 _ One thing which has greatly tended in practice to destroy this ba.sis of mi- 
 nistrv, and to limit its blessings, as in the hand of Christ, is tliat almost all the 
 religious systems that have been formed by men have been looked upon as a 
 more or less extensive sphere for the preaching of the gospel ; from which this 
 double conse((uence has resulted, viz., that the work of the evangelist has been 
 impeded by local bonds and obligations, and the Church of God has not been fed. 
 and bulievcrs have not been built up on their most holy faitli, hramc almost 
 all stated ministry has become ostensibly that of the evangelist, or the preach- 
 ing (if the gospel to the unconverted. V>v\i beyond this there has been this 
 further ju'actical con.sequence, tliat the competency of the Cliurch to worship 
 and to_ enjoy Christ's presence has been utterly lo.s't. This absorption of every- 
 thing into the act and function of preaching leaves neither place nor power for 
 the worship of tlie united church. 
 
 It is not pretended, here, that there is too much zeal in carrying the fospel 
 message into the highways and hcd-es to poor neulectcd souls that are dc^ul in 
 trespasses and sins; but the Church of God is a thing to be cared for, as well 
 as tlic salvation of souls to be sought. " Feed my sheep," '' feed my hu.ib^ ' 
 as mucli expresses the will of Christ as, '' go ye into all the world, and preach 
 tlie gospel to every creature." It is the same activity of His love workin-' in 
 another sphere. Ikt worship, which is the Church's special function, whether 
 It possess ostensible ministry or not, rests on the ground of Christ's presence 
 wherever two or three are gathrn-ed together in His name ; which has been 
 already insisted on. Worship is, or at least ought to be, the happy occupation 
 otUie Church when met together in Christ's name and in the power of the Holy 
 Spirit: but thft_ preaching of the gospelis the proper work of the exan-elist, 
 who goes out with the message of mercy to ruined souls in responsibility to 
 Christ. Or there may be teaching in the Church according to the gifts which 
 Christ may have bestowed for that end, according to the word of the apostle, in 
 
22 
 
 ORDINATION. 
 
 ^^^2z:^in\:s!::!t^::7^^^^^^ rests aito. 
 
 act for that end. If it goes lyo rcLm^W; V^.u^"^^^ '' ^""'Potency to 
 part of the godly, those whom Sr st h" ' " w.*^' "™^<^ «^" ^^"d, on the 
 
 at once the whoLjuestion of del " feS ^TsC^?^^^^ ^''l^^^^-^^^' ^^ '"vol ' 
 thing meant by the popular phrase "anostnll""-^ authority, which is the 
 plain that in the appoifitmenfo elde f or b'shor'^r"" ^''' '' '^ P''^''^^^% 
 were concerned but the apostles or fhnL T ^'^ !' *^'^ ^™^ office) none 
 direction and authority. fcCAcL iv TitusT^T ""'^'^ ''^T'^'''''^ "P-tolic 
 verse 28. Ordination, or appointment fn/ ' '"'"P'"" ^''^s xx. I7, with 
 
 was confined, in New TestaStrsN "eltro" th" "'''' ^" ^^^^ 
 
 to the office of ruling and teaching in the C S of r T *^"*, T' <^°'"P«tent 
 these elders or bishops in the local cW;j,„-,^^'^i and the plurality of 
 
 what ground dioeesan\i«eopaey mus re f Jhin ^^ '""P 'T''> ^''-^ «« 
 removes from under the feet of the so it-x?f inli \'"^ • ^ '^'' '''''' '»»« it 
 Scripture on which he has been sup^os d io £ T . "1!,"^'^^ '^' ^'"^^'^ of 
 teach, (See 1 Tim. v. 17,) though itwn. n 7-\ , ^" ^^'^^''^ however did not 
 that he should be'' apt t;\Sj'\TTi^/.?^^^^^^^^^ - - b^^C 
 
 ject to the will of God will find another or" ;r of mi ni^ ' "''"'^ ^'^'' '' ^»b- 
 and in exercise, where there had been no Tnno; -.f 7 ^-.^cognized n« valid, 
 
 when apostolic appointment was in force "PP^j't"'"!"* ""', '' ^'^^ ^cry time 
 the house of Stephanas, that it is he fi st fruif, nf f ^J-'"^ ^'"^^''■^"' ^^'e know 
 addicted themselves ( ra|av e«o-r-Wo tT • •'^'''"'''' '''"'^ that thoy have 
 submit yourselves unto sZ/^^ndlV '"'"'' '^ '^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^''^s) that yc 
 aboureth.'^ (1 Cor. xvi. IflG^) ere KnT.'^'•'•^'P^/'^ ^''^ "« -d 
 
 the apostle, for which there clanno be pi^ed'hhl""'^ ^'^ °^^"^^' J^J 
 
 ordination, or choice by the people a.u tW n .> "P"'*''^'" ''' ^l>^^<^op^ 
 
 appointment ofelders was inSr < 'xhe J 'll T^ '"'^ ^'''^" ^i°«tolic 
 
 o=Sn:^i:;;a^-«* --« ^^'- -"S^stri:::} 
 
 ot^;^:!;-;t:;tt£r:S^;^^^^^^ over them by 
 
 exists no example of such a thin^, nor^L 1" ,, v n, '•' , ■^?'^*"'»^»t- 'J'hcrJ 
 ot His Church on which the pracTice cn^ bo hn,:^^ P"nciple ,n God's ordering 
 grounds; but there i.s no JnClTli^^^^^^^^ 
 
 would think, should be a serious cons dention tn r ^'"T"''' ^'^''«' «"« 
 they are '^ sn-i^na-all, .onstitut.d cZZ^^^J^^ ^''\ ^T' '' *''«^' 
 the least scriptural authority for the vci-y ba« s n innt ' Trh t>'cre is not 
 sy.stem rests. ^ ^ ^'^'"'^ pnnciple on which their whole 
 
 The churches of the New Tpstimnnf ,^ 
 fellowship all Christians ortle^^iund tS reir:,? - to embrace in 
 ministry tliey were taught to receive without diffio"t?i • ^ ''^' ""^ ^'^ 
 nient from Christ. The apostle savrall thi.t; ^ "' *'''"■ ^""^'» *^"dow- 
 Apollos, or Cephas; and A^ s wis^. ^.t^bVlo \^^^^^^^ ^'-'- ^r 
 
 cisely on the same ground as he had Len we'l^Ld !( t-h -' ''4''"'''' ^''^ 
 '.vas his abihiy to help them in the truth Mn„ \ * ^^yh^^irn. ILat ground 
 the counterpart of this now ? ^'' '^'^ ^^"^- ""^ xix. A\iiere is 
 
(aching evcrj man in 
 ist Jesus." 
 
 ;ion, and rests alto- 
 ;r or competency to 
 ace of Cod, on the 
 
 service, it involves 
 lority, which is the 
 
 l''or it is perfectly 
 ! same oflice) none 
 nniediato apostolic 
 
 Acts XX. 17, with 
 g more in (J reek, 
 at were competent 
 id the plurality of 
 ajipcar, shows on 
 t the same time it 
 Iter the ground of 
 s however did not 
 ition in a bishop 
 
 mind that is sub- 
 ognized nn valid, 
 It the very time 
 ■'^thron, (yeknow 
 i that they have 
 
 saints) that yc 
 th with us and 
 lat is owned by 
 lie or E])iscopal 
 
 when apostolic 
 not in word but 
 His orders and 
 
 ' over them by 
 tamont. There 
 God's onlcrin" 
 irgued (»n other 
 ;nt. This, one 
 2 boast is that 
 h there is not 
 ih their whole 
 
 to embrace in 
 'hrist; and all 
 inown endow- 
 (ther l>;iul, or 
 'f Achaia pre- 
 
 Thai ground 
 X. M'here is 
 
 23 
 
 _ It would bo folly to argue the point that to bo permitted to occupy, in occa- 
 sional service, the p«//>i<, which is supposed to be in the power of its proper 
 occupant, is the same thing as coming in Christ's name to minister, on the 
 ground of gift committed for the good of the body by the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and seeking no other sanction than the consciences of them that believe. As 
 to preaching tlio gospel in the world, the evangelist was not the servant of the 
 C/iiirrh, but of Christ. Ho was not sent forth by the Church, neither was his 
 gift under its control. The Church is neither the founder nor the director of 
 missions, though glad to help forward, after a godly sort, those whom the Lord 
 of the harvest .sends forth. 
 
 In stated labour also, for the servant of the Lord to bo occupied here or there, 
 as the Lord Himself may guide, asking only the recognition of the power which 
 Christ may have given for edification, is not the same thing as being chosen by 
 the people for the exclusive office of minister ; and it ought not to be argued as 
 if it were : to say nothing of being bound by an appointed salary to the perfor- 
 mance of this exclusive duty. But the whole foundations are out of course ; 
 and the modes of thought and expression current amongst Christians generally 
 are exprcsive of anything but the ideas of the New Testament. 
 
 It is true indeed that no position, however scriptural, which is not held in 
 faith, will long displace the spirit of the world which is ever stealing in upon 
 those_ who are most desirous to be apart from it. It requires not "only true 
 principles and a true position, but the constant exercise of faith to overcome the 
 world. Incessant vigilance and walking with God, with affections in heaven, 
 are necessary to counteract its power. But alas ! for that state of things where 
 the credit and power of the world are, on principle, sought by Christians, and 
 where ministerial faithfulness and power are reckoned amongst the rest of the 
 
 Dinmodities of this trafficking age ! " There, sir," 
 
 ■ Chapel, in a day not 
 
 purchasoable and saleable comniod,... 
 
 said the manager, to the newly-elected minister of .,„..i,v.., ... .. «aj uuo 
 
 long gone by,—" there, sir, is the chapel ; and when the sittings are all let, it 
 will produce eight hundred pounds a year; and if you can fill it, it will be all 
 your oicii.'l ^ I make no comment. I only ask, " could the servant of God, in 
 such a position, say, ' I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel ? ' " 
 
 GEXERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 I am conscious that in the statciuonts of the foregoing pages many principles 
 have been assumed to bo true and scriptural, whicli, it is to be feared, are not 
 always admitted to be so by Christians generally, even if they would not venture 
 to deny or question them in terms. For example, it is assumed that the know- 
 ledge of thj mind of God should bind the conscience of a Christian to obedience, 
 m whatever circumstances, and at whatever cost; whether that mind be 
 expressed by direct injunction, or gathered from the known character of God, 
 or from the general principles of Scripture, which are clear to the spiritual mind. 
 _ It has been assumed also that, in the Scripture of the New Testament there 
 IS to bo found a perfect revelation for the guidance of the Church and of the 
 individual Christian, whatever may be their altered circumstances, or whatever 
 changes may toko place in the world up to the end. 
 
 ;;^More ver, it is assumed, that it never can be right, nor according to the 
 niind of God, to continue in practical association with any evil, on the ground 
 of expediency, when once the evil is seen, or when it might be seen by an 
 honest examination of it in the light of the divine word. For ''whatsoever is 
 not of faith is sin." 
 
 fli 
 
!l';::| 
 
 m 
 
 m 
 
 2t 
 
 fact at lea-st, IheL the r c o Sn o^ corruption, and lind tha^, as a 
 
 evil charact rizin' the . non " oLI? f "/i " •^"'P "^ things of good and 
 to the parable of '' the ^.^e 0/ h^^] ) ^/ ^^TT^' •^•^'^ "«' ^'"■'^ ''^^^'^■^ 
 wron-ly referred to •.. .Ci;? ' '" ^^""liew xiii, which is often 
 
 the .v^Wd f^r f ;; one wo S n T"'T '' *^"^ "''-^^ure of Cliristians wi l" 
 urging the woIltZ pl^ :'' < S'L ^ *""'? ^^ 1'- r^J^^^^ when he is 
 would see it stated, -tKeld is tt , /f'°'' *"^' ''"' *'" *''« ''"'■^'^^t/' ^e 
 contrary, when speaking f'l' CMt'l^::: ''? S'"'^^'- ^^"^ °" ^^^^ 
 leaven Jeaveneth the whole I, mn i ' ^"".^"•''f^o of yenpture is, ''a little 
 "I have written unto y u ,0 Mo jlX""^ therefore the old leav;.n- and 
 brother, be a f;n.,ic.ator,Ce v tons o?..n 7??' '^ ""^^ "r '^'' '' ''''^^'^ ^ 
 or an extortioner ; with sueh Inn're. nV'nVt'r'' I^ "'"' " ^ '™"^^-"'-^' 
 
 nndt ^U.^i;S:;^:;:j:;:^-i- t7''^^ I^V^' ^" ^'^^ ^-^^ of Revelation, 
 these eases have a prop tl be rit ^%"'"'^'f r'"'''''- "^ '"''^- ^'^' ^otl 
 incipient evils when Kp^tlcs £ b t^^tho 7 '"^''^'^'^ Y'' ^^^^ ^ho 
 to the final corruption of 7hprofJ" ion o^rvlJ;'" •''''"' '""^ J"^*^ ^^'^ ^» 
 responsibility of n an In Judo Jiofn^ Christianity as committed to the 
 
 the same may be said as to th^eC H f '^^,^^'"^'^"^'t^^^'"' 'i''^' ' '^^^ 
 in the llevelations. However the oltln^fl'^rJ^'' \^'' .^""°-^'"'- ^'»"''^J>^« 
 if God has stated propheS wlU tol be h' ^u^'^ ^V'",'?^^ *'"^' ^''^^ 
 and his failure in' r^onsibiLy in etrd to ^j^ n^ V'^' ^'^ 
 Christianity, to his tru^t thit bk r^nn^l • i . , ^'"^ ^'^*^" committed, in 
 the evil,,bei;g thus fo ^a ned ofTtt ir'/f ' ""''h '''''''^'^'^ ^^^^"« ^hey'see 
 guidance can'never vary No outwa'rd .! ' P""''^'"'' ' ^^'' -'''' f^'' '^^r 
 the Church on earth ca^; ever be : ettr?"X?f ''"'^' ''''■ ''''''' '' 
 individual walk or corporate assoointin S. • V' "■'^^»" « separating, in his 
 "A little leaven leaven'eJuhe whdeLp '' """"P^" '' ''"^""" ""'^ «-^<^- 
 
 witness for Christ, in tl S' ir ni r^'T '" "',^''^'^'^^ ^^ ^^^« ''^ ^' a 
 
 withwhiehtheChurehi eoTin Se wC- 'in^ "" ""' '^^ ^'^^P-'-^ion 
 instead of universal blessin- ■ 'nd tin tl.l ^^ of apostacy and judgment 
 
 personal appearing for l"? 'Xrv n 1 "'^P^«P'^.^''"P« «f the Church is Christ's 
 nieans of th^e preaching of tfe "J^p"' "' " '^^■"'""^ nnllenniunr through the 
 
 diilll^ln'nS '^Th ' 8^SS^ Zi^d':; t? 1 'f'' '^ °^™^« »-^"^- or 
 asserted or assumed so th 't i^is 1 .^ I ''''' ^^'' truths that have been 
 word of Cod. Mor'eo -e ey are p t tTl^ "' "n ^ •'^"^''""*^ ^"^ ^he 
 tlie mind that is brou-^ht to s udv ufo sl- ^^ '','" ^' "* ^"''^ obvious to 
 
 and that is not biassed by the Sn "of f^nrw"^ 7"'"' l" ^' ''''''''' 
 subjects noticed, and the limits of il!!n Vowever, from the nupiber of 
 
 g.-™.,c,s of each ,.i„H;^/j;3 1 :5reo5"fs:.,s -:: •'°^-*'« "-' "■« 
 
 ft 1 have insisted strondy, and it nnv ho J, i")? 
 cloctnne concerning the Church T h^vedonL.K T' ^^^P^^^'tion, on the 
 
 on all the practicafquestions which Im-obT ''f' f'*' ""^ ^''''^""S 
 
 time a,ntn!in.. the minds "f n'^'^'^"'" ^'.^-^ 
 
 which relate lo its 0" n pi tS d"nrivi lo' ""' \T'-' ^'"^ ^^'^ ^'^-"P*"-; 
 apprehended, unless the 'c^ S "tC S"' ""' '"''"■ ^''"^"^ ''^ "'""" 
 
 the Church is seen, but 
 
 even 
 
 i 
 
s, to lionost-niinded 
 iite from evil, wheu 
 and find that, as a 
 things of good and 
 
 I do not hero refer 
 iii, which is often 
 of Cliristiiins with 
 iualle, when ho is 
 
 II the harvest/' he 
 urch. But on the 
 ripture is, "a little 
 
 old leaven;" and 
 an that is called a 
 !or, or a drunkard, 
 
 3ok of Revelation, 
 f evil. JJut loth 
 It have been the 
 and Judo look on 
 committed to the 
 •essed apart ; and 
 jllowing churches 
 simply this, that, 
 he hands of man, 
 on committed, in 
 ed when they see 
 is grace for their 
 th the course of 
 ieparating, in his 
 iness and grace. 
 
 )n the part of the 
 it was set as a 
 the dispensation 
 3y and judgment 
 tiurch is Christ's 
 urn through the 
 
 viate mistake or 
 that have been 
 ithority but the 
 once obvious to 
 t to be .studied, 
 the number of 
 ssible that the 
 
 ctition, on the 
 lortant bearing 
 lich are at fliis 
 the Scriptures, 
 not be rightly 
 seen, but even 
 
 I 
 
 25 
 
 the truths of the Old Testament, nnd the prophetic scriptures, will infallibly be 
 wrongly applied without it. 
 
 It is a matter of rejoicing that so much attention is being given to the subject 
 of prophetic interpretation, and that there is an awakened expectation of the 
 speedy coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; but tliore never can be an appropria- 
 tion of prophecy to its legitimate objects, as long as the distinction between 
 Israel and the Church, and the absolute contrast of the past and the present 
 dispensation, are not seen. 
 
 The Church, as the body of Crist, h not, and cannot be, the subject of 
 prophetic declaration ; for it was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the 
 world, and is associated with n hearcvh/ Christ, or a Christ rejected by the 
 earth. Until Israel had rejected Messiah, as the nation's hope through the 
 promises given to their fathers, the Church could not be revealed. For however 
 glorious the person of IMcssiah, as the Sou of David, might be, it was the glory 
 of a iw.rwn who was to reign and rule : there was no place for the idea of His 
 being the head of a body of which believers were the members. I'ut tlie proper 
 r^d distinctive character of the Church is that it is the body and bride of Christ. 
 It is not, as is so often argued, the introduction of Gentiles into Jewish privi- 
 leges, and giving to Israel's national hopes a spiritual interpretation which find 
 their issue in what are termed gospel privileges. Such an interpretation fr.hifics 
 everything in Scripture, to the mind that has not been schooled in the use of a 
 spiritual alchemy that changes the application of the simplest terms, and alters 
 the nature of everything, and that in the end brings the clearest truths, as they 
 are stated in Scripture, to a mere negation. 
 
 It is simply a truth that the Jew nationally is spoken of, and the Gentile 
 also, in a passage of the New Testament where the distinctive character of the 
 Church is presented. "Give none ofTence, neither to the Jcick, uox to the 
 Gcntilrx, nor to the Cliunh of Cod." (1 Cor. x, H2.) For if the distinctions 
 of Jew and Gentile, circumcision and uncircumcision, in the case of those who 
 once bore thein, cease when faith unites them to Christ ; so, it will be remem- 
 bered, do the distinctions of "bond and free," "male and female." And this 
 shows at once the Church's peculiar relationship to Christ, leaving untouched 
 the question of nationality on the part of all that arc not brought into this 
 association with IJim. 
 
 Now it is as simply true that, in its terms, prophecy relates to Jews and to 
 Gentiles, not to the body of Christ. This is not argument, but fact; and the 
 Scriptures may be searched for its confirmation or its refutation. The same also 
 may be said of G od's covenants and j)romises. The Scripture, speaking of hracl, 
 says, "To whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and thv covcnavts, and the 
 giving of the law, and the service of God, and thr promises ;" while speaking 
 of the Gentiles it says, they were "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, 
 and strangers from the covenants of promise;" but when it speaks of the Chiireh 
 of God, and its peculiar title to the promises, by virtue of its union with Ilim 
 ■who is the heir of them all, it says, "All the promises of God in him are yea, 
 and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us." 
 
 The Scriptures of the Old Testament speak very distinctly of national blessing 
 to the Jew and to the Gentile; while the New Testament declares that the 
 mystery of God's grace to Jews and (J entiles, brought together in one body, in 
 Christ, was not revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures at all ; but was the 
 special subject of manifestation by the apostles and prophets of the New. It is 
 declared to be "the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from genera- 
 tions, but now made manifest to his saints : to whom God would make known 
 
26 
 
 of a Chnst la glory, the life%f Chrisrin /hoi ' ' '^ ^^'^ ^'''"^ '»'« "'ombcrs 
 form of a hop«; that is the hope o UeLmbor."r- '''"'• ''^ /"'^'^ "^ '""'^^^ ^^ 
 JJuo this ,s not the way Christ is spoken nft. f"" '" ^'^''-^ ^^th the head 
 aua.Gent.les is in question. Whrsn" nf TJ-'" V^''''^^ blessing of Jews 
 Chnst was a minister of the c re i n e S ^ ^ "! *'"' "^^ '''Po^tle says! -Jesus 
 pvonusos „..A, n„to the fathers dUntthP ''1^ ^' •^^°^' ^'^ '«»«'•■» ^o 
 
 A *• mercy; as it is written, For this r,„t T n^'"l'''' '"'-^'''^ P^^^ify God for 
 1 OS, and sing unto tliy nanie And T \ '"" T^''' ''^ ^^''^ ^"»on^ the Gen 
 
 «nd the judgments ^and blessings ;o1S"ilTrr' '^■'^' '■'''^^ -•« ''« objec 
 
 d ' TI '"; '-^^'^ '^ *™° of ^he^Vew 'W Lnt "" T' '" ^'^'^'^ Punishmen 
 t)ld. rhoy have to do with the corn L;!"?^ '■''^"^- ''"■•"■' »« well as of the 
 the age, within the limits of whicuK f 7'l'^\'"'V^? ^^'^ .^'oneral cour e of 
 though belonging to Christ in h 4 bt? f 1 '?,' ''"^ "'^ '^-^'^^°»«^ «« ea^-th 
 that heso prophecies contemplatr (Matt ^iiV x\-''' --urse of the world,' 
 - l^et. ; Kev. from iv. to xx.) ^ ^^ ^'"■' ^^'^- ' ^'^om. xi. ; 2 Thess • 
 
 f^^^^^^^:^t:itti^^2;^i'r'' ''''' "^ '^^ --^^^v^ -r i„' ' 
 
 dispensation. Ifonce the bc^ r S^" ,? "' ^"»*«'"P'''ted in itl fid u." as ^ 
 
 therefore the goodness and severUv of C ?''''"^' "' ^^"•»- -^'- -^2 : - Eehold 
 
 owjjrJ thee, goodness, if thou c ftinu In •■/;" '^'"f ^^'''^'^ f'^"' severity • but 
 
 Shalt bo cut off." It;anftl,„ jr'"'"»<^.i» A'« goodness: otherwiso thL i 
 
 J^" jnd^'od; and is warned also ofdio V ir "^ ^^'' dispensation wldcl will 
 
 - ^je blesLg^ whgl^^rS^SS "'? JT;^'^^^''^- -'^ -'^n. - well 
 for their centre, and will include the n.tonwr "'' ^^'';'-*'°'"' ^'" have Israe 
 with Israel's judgments, and blessed TlT -'^ "'^ ^' ^' ^'"^'^^^ ^n connexion 
 However the Church will be as;tiled S^^^^ Israel's final bkw" 
 
 we be dead with him, we shalNk. I vn •!< V ""''* '"''en He reigns; for "if 
 
 rem w th him." (Selj r ix " Drur'xxvi""// T- f «'^'-' ^''' ^^a also 
 Christ's /cinr//,/ r}„hfi n.-o In 7 ' ,. ''"t- x^xu. 43 ; Isaiah xix &c ^ 
 
 ^lon and Jerusalem as the place of T .oJ, : - ^f ''''^' ^"^^ will have Mount 
 
 of Jerusalem also that the wu' ess to Hi" " ^ '^'^'^'.^Z ^'^pl^^^ ■ It is in the mid t 
 coming, and in the remaanrof iSll n ! '""' 7'" ^'^ ''"^'^J "P prior to 11 is 
 
 ;;^f,andnot to the cS'^^r.-r ,'''"'' ''^^'"'•^ ^' establislfed T. T^ 
 boiou.ra Hfiii /ii„.- ,. ' ""^ esiiioii.siimont of (^hn'vit'i! t;.,.v,7 ~" "V" 
 
 the sni .„ .. i^ \"l^i^"! .^'•^ C'-'UeJ to recognize tt . ! * ' >" «^/*^.'" "".^''"•th 
 
 the spl: 
 
 '-0.0 which Hi, ti„ga;7txrx 
 
 izc the claims of Cirrist 
 lOUsrh thron.rh Tu,.„^l'„ ,. 
 
 as 1 
 
 king in 
 
 ■ough Israel's rejection of 
 
5 Gontilcs : which is 
 y being the ineiubors 
 ■ takes in them the 
 ?lory with the head, 
 'lal blessing of Jews 
 postle says, "Jesus 
 jod, to confirm the 
 ■;Iit glorify God for 
 bee amonn: the Gon- 
 ', .ye Gentiles, with 
 'Hi laud him, all yo 
 Jesse, and he that 
 les trust." (Cora- 
 
 3ut the earth is the 
 ii'th are its objects; 
 
 I their punishment 
 , as well as of the 
 general cour.se of 
 ^istcuco on earth, 
 )ur.so of the world' 
 »■ xi. ; 2 Thess. • 
 
 niegrity ; nor in- 
 > its failure as a 
 '• -^2 : " EeJiold 
 '11, seventy; but 
 'Twise thou also 
 •"bors of Christ, 
 I" truth, the great 
 '10 Lord, in those 
 1; and to point 
 ii'e paramount to 
 10 coming of the 
 ition which will 
 the corruption 
 
 id reign, as M'ell 
 will have Israel 
 od in connexion 
 
 fi'ial blessing, 
 oigns; for "'if 
 
 we shall also 
 
 &c.) 
 he scone, and 
 
 II have Mount 
 is ill the midst 
 
 prior to His 
 ihod. To Is= 
 ;dom on earth 
 i"ist as king in 
 's rejection of 
 
 27 
 
 Ilim, and for the accomplishment of other divine counsels, the kingdom is for 
 a while in abeyance. For to say tlmt Christ is reigning now, is to say that His 
 reign may sanction evil, in every form, instead of its being a reign of righteous- 
 ness, as tlie Scriptures invariably represent. 
 
 JJut the most of Christians r'.istake the very standard of consistency, because 
 tliey mistake their own position in the world. They arc satisfied generally with 
 being converted men of the ^^'orld — men who tiave the profession of Christ's 
 name, and the ultimate hope of heaven superinduced upon tlicir worldly posi- 
 tion — and who do not see that they have been by grace taken out of the world 
 and sent into it again to maintain a special character and a special testimony in 
 it ! (See John xvii.) For such surely is the testimony of our blessed jNIaster : 
 " I have manifested thy name unto the men which thuu (javed me ovt of the 
 world." .... "They are not of the world, even as J am not of the ivorld." — 
 " As thou hast sent nie into the world, even so have I also sent them into the 
 world." Hence the confession of the kingdom of Christ will not be connected 
 with any attempt to validate or establish His claims in the world, but will be 
 found in His servants maintaining a walk in accordance with the principles of 
 His kingdom, and in a testimony to His rights against the usurpation of the 
 world. For if the affections and hopes of the Church are formed by its special 
 relationship to Christ, still the characteristics of " the children of the kingdom" 
 should bo upon believers, in their walk and spirit, in the world that has rejected 
 Christ the Son of (jod, not as Saviour of sinners so much as earth's only rightful 
 king. Hence all that should mark the allegiance of those who own a rejected 
 kingj belong to the spirit and position in the world of a Christian now. The 
 time will come when He who is thus owned will " take to himself his great 
 power and reign :" and then those who have owned Him will reign with Himl 
 Such is the precious purpose of His grace ! 
 
 But if this truth concerning the Church needs to be insisted on, because it 
 has been so lust sight of by Christians ; no less, perhaps, is it neces.sary to recall 
 the truth of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the believer and in the Church 
 of God, because it iias practically been so overlooked. 
 
 Very greatly indeed has my purpose in writing been misconceived, if it be 
 imagined that the (juestion at issue is, whether Christians should meet once a 
 week around the Lord's table, as well as to hear the preaching of the word — 
 though the practice of the New Testament on this point is plain ; as well as the 
 meaning of the act and the character of the Lord's day; or whether there should 
 be in the Church of God the ministry of one or of many ; or whether those who 
 minister should do so by the choice of the people, or by virtue of the possession 
 of the gifts of the Spirit. These things, have, indeed, their place, but their 
 importance flows from this, that the owning of them results from the recognition 
 of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church — a truth which, as has been 
 already stated, gives its distinctive character to Christianity. As to individual 
 believers, it is declared that the possession of the Holy Spirit is God's seal and 
 earnest with them, until they come, as joint-heirs with Christ, into possession of 
 the inheritance in glory. (Eph. i. 13, 14.) " In whom ye also trusted, after 
 that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation ; in whom also, 
 after that ye believed, yo were scaled with that Holy Spirit of promise, which 
 is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased posses- 
 sion, unto the praise of his glory." IMoreover, the personal indwelling of the 
 Spirit is asserted as their distinctive privilege, and made to be the ground of 
 the holy consecration of their bodies to the "service of Christ, and not to the 
 lusts of the flesh. " Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy 
 
i- w 
 
 « 
 
 "ot that ,0 arc Ulo to^l^ ^^^rZatu^ t"^"^ ^' ^ "" '' K n" ^ 
 If any .nan defile tl>e te.nfle o ' (td i ' I ) V'r'f '^" ^''^^^ '''-^^'''^^ ^^ 
 
 ^ - .-0 ..Idea .,... ./.n ;;s,----;:4j c... ..^, 
 
 a wayward I.oart and an unbroken wH I mn " rT ''''' ''"^ l'J"'"«^^t 'oad nd 
 thorns. That painful course of n I • V*'"' '^ f'""^ ^' pleutifulhA ih 
 
 doubts and questionings, hesita ion / ^^ ^ .'" "' "'"^ ^'^"'^'^ ^^''^"''^ eonsumcd n 
 have been brought to 'dcJ^nT^n^rcT'1'^7'^' '^■'''^•^' '^o' ^s 
 
 not so nmch of the difficulty of th '."l tj'lf '' ^T '' "'^ '''"'hority, tel 
 reasonings which required to bo correSd L? 1^ ^'''^' "^ '^^'"'t ""^1 car, a 
 pleasant to the soul. <^oncctcd before the way of obedience eouid be 
 
 COx\CLUSION. 
 Whatever statements niav hu-o r,.nf 4i 
 
 through these pages, nothing/hnnrL?l''''^r/° ^''^ ?''««'•«««' hitherto 
 view to .nisrepresent the princir'o 'TP^ T'^^'h ^''' ''^'*^" "'^^'""•^^^J with ^ 
 tiou to God's word has compellc!d thf ^rSfoTo "^^'"" '^'' ""'"'''^'y «f ^"hjec- 
 -^ de.r, he trust, .0. tile evil ^^^Z:::::^^:^;:^^ ^^^ 
 
 ;froni a 
 purpos 
 of Diss 
 and thi 
 ishow t 
 to the 
 that lie 
 to rem 
 the roc 
 as a Pi 
 bark. 
 
 And 
 politic; 
 of thei 
 philoHc 
 Cis likel 
 which, 
 ing th( 
 
 The: 
 heaven 
 is not ( 
 ^ apostle 
 s| for the 
 bias hi 
 as the 
 
 Tol 
 the tes 
 why St 
 you in 
 heaver 
 the cflF 
 tical al 
 word c 
 from il 
 divinit 
 the he; 
 search! 
 effect 1 
 brings 
 those 1 
 brings 
 God. 
 
 But 
 like th 
 ciples 
 ofby t 
 this " 
 stages 
 
 But 
 Ifitb 
 of soci 
 attract 
 
 t!l 
 
I not your own '(" (I 
 
 ■, inthesciiscof beiiiL' 
 born of the Spirit is 
 _nf\v nature, than is 
 ^pii-it dwells in him 
 
 10 Spirit of God r/«v7i 
 I'iiii^edup Jesus from 
 
 ^'ad .sliall alsofpiickon 
 Koni. viii. 1].) j^^ 
 
 Jsti.stobcrec'o<>;nized 
 ' the exercise of nifts. 
 inliiients shall carry 
 
 Church ; whether 
 
 1 Spirit shall bo per- 
 tholivin<r(j„d; for 
 
 lown by the Fa (her 
 
 cned believers into 
 whelher they relate 
 -'xample, the special 
 the Father, and he 
 iMcrrr." (John 
 Holy Ghost, whom 
 ii.ir.'^, and bring all 
 -■•" In such p;is- 
 h as it is called, or 
 !tl and distributed, 
 i'JJ- " Know yo 
 il (hi-cllclh in you. 
 (1 Cor. iii. 10, 
 ough the Spirit." 
 
 iplexity our walk, 
 I' appeal; and if, 
 idof " conferring 
 
 10 path, makes it 
 ainest road ; and 
 plentifully with 
 ais consumed in 
 lich .some of us 
 is authority, tell 
 oart and carnal 
 ■uionce could bo 
 
 ;?ress, hitherto, 
 dvanced with .■>, 
 '!-'.sity of subjcc- 
 irate in position 
 'pa-ate in spirit 
 
 I 
 
 29 
 
 Ifroni any who arc fuithful to Christ. The corruptions of the Establishment have 
 purposely not been meddled with, and, for the same reasors, the practical evils 
 of Dissent have been left untouched. The fundamental principles of the one 
 and the other have been noticed, and there has been no scruple in attempting to 
 show their contrariety, as systems, to the New Testament, and their hindrance 
 to tlio development of Christians on the basis of the Church of God. It is true 
 that he has a difliculty in imagining how Christians can satisfy their con.scienccs 
 to remain in connexion and communion with the Establishment, 'when they sec 
 the rocks toward which it is drifting; and on which, to its utter destruction, even 
 as a Protestant institute, its pilots arc sparing no efforts to urge their ill-ftited 
 bark. 
 
 And if I turn to ] dissent, I can have no pleasure in thinking of the stron" 
 political spirit by which the great body has of lute years been distinguished, nor 
 of their systematic advocacy of worldlincss. Nor do I think that the pseudo- 
 philosophical intellcetualism of the ministry, which is ri.sing up amongst them, 
 ' is likely to help the children of God, except it is toward that semi-inlidclity 
 which, together with high-church principles and superstitious notions, is corrupt- 
 ing the profession of Christianity on every hand. 
 
 These things of themselves systematically exclude the idea of the Christian's 
 heavenly calling and subjection to Christ in the confession of a kingdom which 
 is not of this world. They are entirely antagonistic to the statement of the 
 apostle — " Our conversation (citizenship) is in heaveu, from whence also we look 
 for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus." It may be questioned, indeed, how far this 
 bias has to uo with the almost universal rejection of the coming of the Lord 
 as the hope of the Church, by dissenters, and especially by their ministers. 
 
 To boast of being the advocates of Christ's spiritual reign in opposition to 
 the testimony of the two men in white apparel, who said, " Ye men of Galilee 
 why stand ye gazing up "nto heaven, this same Jesus, which is taken up from 
 you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into 
 heaven," may indicate a good deal as to the effect of philosophical study, or of 
 the effect of systepiptic theology; but it speaks little in favour of sound exc'C- 
 tical ability, or, as .Scripture expresses it, the ability of " rightly dividintr The 
 word oi truth." Few persons, I am persuaded, who have not been delivered 
 from its trammels, can have the slightest idea of the baneful effect of systematic 
 divinity on the study of the word of God. Its legitimate effect is to put aside 
 the healthful and free study of the divine word, and to reduce it to a mere 
 searching for texts in support of tjic dogmas it presents. But there is a worse 
 effect than this. For while the prayeri'ul, diligent study of the word of God 
 brings into direct contact with the divine mind, systematic divinity at best settles 
 those who trust it in the narrow conclusions of tl mind of man, and neither 
 brings into the breadth nor the living power and authority of the thoughts of 
 God. 
 
 But if it be asked, what hope can there be of the Church's revival in a day 
 like this, or what can be accomplished by the adoption of the truths and prin- 
 ciples that have been insisted on ? my reply is, that if things arc to be judged 
 of by their results in this world, there may be little encouragement to set out in 
 this "way of truth," or to persevere, if already on the road, in the toilsome 
 stages that may yet remain. 
 
 But everything depends upon the iioint from which the question is vi^w-^d 
 If it be judged of by expediency, I have not a word to say. Or, if the rewards 
 of social or ecclesiastical reform be sought, I do not think that the path will 
 attract. The age is philanthropic and reformatory in its spirit ; though ever 
 
80 
 
 iJio world is tloluiro,! with nil.l,.. i 
 the a,o are i„oreasi,r,. T ' ^'Jft ^''' ^ '« ■""''^''•tJ and «upcr.titio„ of 
 
 tatcs, and .n this country osnccilly^^V T'"'" «f P"litieianH in civ ii.J| 
 ation wh.ch neither n.orals, nor aw llZ. "^'"'' '^ ^'"'^ l"""' "f' tlu- r ,u 
 "cereal spirit of ,ho aoe uk ke/„ o ''aslfT''^'"'''"^'".^' ™" ''■strain. The " 
 
 St tdith in God, or His word, thev"no-in} v i, "" '""■"^'^' *"iH' ;" but 
 
 "Uh i„ human nature, in order to wirk ol L- -T"".*- -^ "' ^"'''' '" tl'o.n,se ves- 
 
 if the foro-tokens of " tlie conii.m. «? "^^ ''"''^'^ '^ ^^v'" 1">1» <lc.stin v A n^ 
 
 cannot be evaded, a voi is r J to r'^'" ''"'''" '''« "='''""« o .^'ear h" ' 
 
 are m the earth, to this coun ^ , ^J^' "X'';.'"""'^^' "'>^'» <''^J'h Jud" tts 
 
 prophet. For they are the sp t of d^ ' '" T "^ ^''« '»«"'»' of 1 fi L 
 unto ^/,. i,-„,, ,,yl, ,,,,;X"^^ ^f;J on •, -working miracles, which .o 1 1 th 
 
 of the great day of God Ahni.rhtv " Ztr'''-' ^'' -'"^^^^ thorn to the halt e 
 
 yple dictates of G:d':'wi.r;;,tt^^^^ ''- -thing but the 
 
 of lenee toGod's word in VllTTCottl^'''] 'h,"'""^^' ""'^^^ '-^t,: 
 1 taiUi bo not in exorcise in the soul W -/fP { ^'"tlo, indeed, it is owned 
 stability of that word, and can Took on to tho W ''''"' ^•''" ''^'^t on' the e e nal 
 Sll r:/' enough to stinuilato '^° '"^"''^ ^eeomplishnient of GoS's 
 
 Comforter; XVls'^s^blo'^^^^^^^^^^^ "' S^ory; the presence of the 
 
 the gathering of the saints, by ChW /o h f"^'" °^ ^^^rist's resurrection 
 e tornal home of God's prosence ; toSer with tf "''' ^'^'^ ^^'"'^^'^ and the 
 -til things, t\^ttheetorLalkingd;>wlthe^'l' V^ P»-°""f of the shaking of 
 --these are the elements of Chri7t a^ tv T \ ^' '"*''''^' "^'-^^ heestablisfred • 
 from the course of this y^oM 1^aT~ "" i'^""'"*« ^y which God delivers 
 
lolifie, whieli tell of 
 of bcnovoloneo and 
 
 and miporstitidii of 
 "IS of Jiiiiclioration, 
 'liticiaiiH ill civili/ed 
 at ])art of the popu- 
 <>«train. The coin- 
 ed breath, and yet, 
 eadly war ! ('].„•«. 
 a niediiuval super- 
 
 luti(.nar_>-priiifi])Ios 
 •irnc8t faith ;" but 
 til in theinKflves — 
 i^h destiny. And 
 'f's^ ot' the earth " 
 ii(iud'HJudjriueiitH 
 'iJ,^Io-Saxua raeo," 
 and reIi<;iou,s free- 
 of heaven i* An 
 possible to recon- 
 shc has been the 
 •" Or, in other 
 
 turn the vials of 
 3nce. thou<;h they 
 In the last days 
 boasters, proud," 
 
 deceit, when it 
 e mouth of the 
 Jth of the false 
 
 which ii;o forth 
 em to the battle 
 lini— the estab- 
 
 of the book— 
 
 ^thin,^' but tho 
 1 unseen results 
 'cd, it is owned, 
 on the eternal 
 ment of God's 
 
 resenco of the 
 resurrection ; 
 Jiself, and the 
 ic shakiniif of 
 »c established; 
 ' God delivers 
 ^yer, but tho 
 '■ in the world. 
 
 . where there 
 and coldest, 
 
 81 
 
 i nnJ most uninfluential kind. In livinu; exhibitions, alas, the >uiiie Christianity 
 is seen hand-in-hiind with all the frivolities of life, or allied with ail the ^;raver 
 and niorc seriously mundane icatures of the age. Jt is no bar to the reckless 
 speculation, or to the di.nicditiiblc tricks of trade, which conscience must wink 
 nt in the competition for rapid fortunes in this intense money-loving age. " I 
 would ride all day backward to see a real Christian," was the diy remark of a 
 young man who had been brought up in the bosom of a large and wealthy con- 
 gregation of dissenters, and had iormed his judgment on the intercourse aliordcd 
 him at his father's table. 
 
 If Christianity itself, in the statement of its doctrines, has been reduced to 
 its last and lowest elements, it is no mere recovery of orthodoxy that is needed, 
 but the resuscitation of Christianity itself in its truth, nud spirit, and living 
 power. 
 
 It is a living Christ for the affections that is needed, and not the cold ab.strac- 
 tion of a semi-reasoned creed. It is a God known — a God who is light and love 
 — with .vhoni the (Spirit holds communion, and loves and trusts, that can alone 
 raise the heart above the attractions and the frowns of this present evil world. 
 AVhat our hearts need is the simple and hearty I'aith that God has come down 
 to us in love; that our justilicatiou in His sight rests on no doctrinal tigment, 
 but that God's Son has, in infinite grace, been under our sins in death, and has 
 risen up without them ; that heaven has been opened in His resurrection, where 
 grace has put us in reality of life with our risen Head, .'■o that we should be in 
 spirit there, while passing through this world. The cross is the world's con- 
 demnation, while it is the sinner's hope ; and the coming again of Christ will 
 be its judgment, but w ithal deliverance to those who are looking for Him as 
 their bright and daily expected hope. 
 
 The true termini of a Christian's course are the cross and the glory. His 
 spirit should be that of utter separation from the world, because its works are 
 evil, and because it cannot and will not bow to the claims of Him whom it has 
 crucitJed. 
 
 That difficulties should mark the path, and opposition from every side arise 
 to discourage those who would seek only the Lord's objects in a time of univer- 
 sal declension, is to be expected ; and that feebleness should mark their outward 
 condition is only in accordance with the encire of God's dealings and ways with 
 a people in such circumstances. 
 
 'Jod has " called us by glory and by virtue j" and has given to His servants, 
 " not the Spirit of fear ; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 
 AVhat then '/ If faithfulness to Christ calls for the sacrifice of present case and 
 credit in the world, and tho sundering of many a cherished tie, and the relin- 
 quishment of many an earthly scheme, and to have tho heart set only on things 
 above, is He not worthy ? Is it asked that wo should pursue a path which 
 Scripture does not illuminate, and in which Christ does not take the lead ? I 
 have no value for any other path ; and I have an utter distrust of any other 
 guidance. 
 
 But is it a rare case to find even the children of God starting aside from the 
 way of obedience through fear of the spectres with which their own imaginations 
 have filled it; or which some " Worldly-wise-man," has conjured up to hinder 
 their parting company with those " who mind earthly things ?'' Is light never 
 possessed that is not acted up to ? Have none ever shrunk from wliat their 
 own consciences have told them was the light of God, because it began to inter- 
 fere with their love of this present world f* 
 
 What then is sought, on the part of Christians, in these pages, to which their 
 
82 
 
 attention 1ms boon fnllml v To :» _ .1 
 
 la.dtothow.rToral\.,r:u^.^ 
 
 af?.un.st then, either in their .^m r: V -^^ 7''"^''^ ^^''''^'' "'«»th, 
 
 anythin- heen urced in s ,ir f ' "livulual walk an.l wn y.s i* II„s 
 
 lum hear what\ho Spirit ..itKKi^^ 
 
 " oast, the irulividual hmr. U not tl r I /? r ''';;;'l "••<-'•' <li^'r.-anl, let, 
 
 dition of faithrul„es.s to Christ ? " ^' ""^ ""' " necesaary eon! 
 
 If, a.s the Scripture shows, the (Miiir..li h ■ .w 1 1 
 faithful witness or Christ in le w ,1 ' '^^ '""f^ ^'] '''^^'^' "« f'>r "h a 
 christian p.ofbssion bo atl^dtwoaW*;?^; '"'''' ^'" "-'-'"'.I'-'y of 
 ot I^.n.. the sanction oPanyp.., ^^^f tl.J;liHt^-?:S:!.ta 
 
 objects-has u^ule vvay for w..r(lly i?.H .c; , f ;'' ''"'V"' f^*'^ 1"^"''^»" f'"'''« 
 Kuidance-has not "held the S ' ^ ^ 'V'"'^'''''^''' from the Hpirifs 
 
 boliever with Christ the ri eu 1 'of h b T" r "''• ' f "'" ""'"" '^ 'l'° 
 hoklinK the head"-is notw.S 1 Jod'/'s" t " ^' '""'"'"-' "^ " ""' 
 tlHug is it to turn aside fron. h li.! utjl^Zl'T Y''''''~^'''' ^'"'" « 
 pnnejples, or walk, or association as' a CI ^ • „ f ; ; . I ! I 1 -".'^ ,'^"?''^"' "'' 
 already condemned. If Scripture te Is , e '. ' J 1 '^ /'''>'''. "'" ''-^'t has 
 will fail, and be the subject ot" un v- ,s •" ''""i'''' '" '*' Profession, 
 
 value can its sanction be Jo me i onn . i "TT'v '.'^ ^''^' ''^' ^^^''''^ P»'^'*ihlo 
 
 But let the Christian, who sc' ^ 'thi ' ' ^'"''' '^ '''^' ^^'^''"^ ^''"'l ? 
 
 profession around him, u.l yJ^t he tal' o " "'j'^V'^'-'^/ron-. in the mass of 
 which would strip him' of cvorv all c - „,1 r'""'' '"'"'"'^ '" " ^''^h of obedience 
 which springs from the prSe f k^^ ^"'^'''-^^ 
 
 nexion with the prophecies of II" .d and 7 h ■ T^ "'1 ^"^.'^^ '''^™ '" ^'o"- 
 not find there a sample of tt Lord's w L wl/h '' ' ""^^ Y '"" "''^'^ '^' '^" ^^i" 
 Israel wliich will encoura-^e is C f f, ? f f ^'''''. ^^'-^P'^^^^ ''"•""•^"t in 
 
 and looking only for His appro vd' ^" ""''''^'' '''"'*'"" ^^^^ '" ^he Lord, 
 
 Hero he will find the Lord's recorrniflnn r>r . 
 were delivered fron. the Babylo si "c , Wtf ' T"""' """"r.'^'^ ^'''' ^''^^ 
 ing of the temple, a work to which tb.r^' fl '^V"" ""-"-'"<' '» the rebuild- 
 pursued un^idst evor^^^r^^^^l^^ ""^^'^ '^"'^'l^'^J- and which they 
 the neglect of the nmss of thet^ ami h J.ff T"!''^' '^ '"'''^''''''' ""^ 
 but the Lord was with them ' ' """' ^"'^'''^^ ""^ ^hcir enemies : 
 
 the moral eondition^of?he people '' '^ °"' '"^'" '^^ ^^ ^«'^''""" '"^ test of 
 
 asylum in Babylon, aK^l ases ancVw^lt'J^T \^^^'-°-^« 
 
 cording y the majority of f ho non.>i ^ '"'^3 ;i™s they hud planted there. Ac- 
 
 from J^Lalenrindtttbrfi "^ '"^ clistanee 
 
 God and of rearing again" the rubed wal?: "i rt-d m'^'T^f l" '""1 ^' 
 were willing to leave to other hands " But , « // r 7 ?^"' ''°°°"'" ''»<^y 
 is in the estimation of Ezra a ^ eater moTa C '" '^"^'"'^ ?"^^ ^«v^va/..^■' 
 a palace in Babylon " ^ ^ ""^ ^""^ ' "^°rcy to His people than 
 
 God 
 
88 
 
 purpose of tho I...id ill their (lolivcruiieo. Ihit wlioii tlio li;:rht i>f propliooy, 
 which brouf^'ht in thn thoii-^ht^ uf (iml, bo^'iiii to .shoil its beuiiis upon their 
 unilcrtiikiii-, ii showed tliat th . ^bh; and dcspiMMl movement was connected 
 with ull dud's future purponcs lolatini,' to hnwVn, linal bhssiticrand ;:lory. " Jjo 
 strong, all yo people of the hmd," Hays the Lord, by the prophet, "and work; 
 for I ntn with you, saith tli(> Lord of hosts. Accordinj,' to the word that I 
 covenuntod with you wlieu yc came out of Kjrypt, so my Spirit reniainoth amonu 
 you : fear ye pot." 
 
 His j)0W(M had sustained them, and II is Spirit had secretly -^niided them wlieii. 
 as captives in I5abylon, " they liunj^ed tlieir harps on tlie willows," and refused 
 to sinp,' « the Lord's song in ii strun;j;e land." And it was Ifis hand that led 
 them forth from their captivity, to build His liouse in Jerusalem, however weak 
 their condition and contemptible their numbers. 
 
 Still, as their hist_ory proceeds, and the difficulties increase, and the freshness 
 of their scn.se of <leIiveranoe and of the divine presence becomes dim, their faith 
 for awhile j^ives way. 
 
 They refused, it is true, to be confederated with those (whatever their prc- 
 tcnsionsj who were "the adversaries of Judah and JJenjanun ;" but their faith 
 1,'avc way under the storm which tlie spirit of separation had raiseil. 
 
 The same opjKisition was a^ain roused when, fourteen years afterward, the 
 work, which had ceased, was re-commenced; but then the sense of the JiOrd's 
 presence rose far hi.,dier; and they answered with boldness to the challen^ie of 
 their enemies, " We are the servants of the (lod of heaven and earth, and build 
 the house that was buildcd these many years a^o." 
 
 Faith in (lod's presence will alone carry His people through the opposition 
 that is always rai.sed against the prosemition of His objects. Hut when faith 
 fails, everything, as to the work of (i,.d, fails with it. Our own objects may be 
 pursued without it ; but farewell to all those with which (iod can connect His 
 name and power. 
 
 The very end for which this remnant was delivered from Habylon and brought 
 to Jerusalem was in abeyance when //f buif<lin>/ of the house of (Sod ceased; 
 and yet they could bo found '> running every' man to his own house," and 
 dwelling in their ceiled houses, while tlie liouse of the Lord was lying wa^^c. 
 
 Satan and the world will have no controversy with us while seeking our nvn 
 objects and our own glory. They are (Jod"s objects and Christ's glory that he 
 is against. A few years can make this remnant" forgot the object which brought 
 them from Babylon ; or, at least, if they had other thoughts, to silence them 
 with the ready answer of unbelief, " the time is not come, the time that the 
 Lord's huHsr should bo built." J}ut when, in the mercy of the Lord, the voice 
 of the prophet is sent to rouse them from their lethariry, every excuse vanishes, 
 and it is found that a lack of faith and the love of 'ease was the real cause of 
 the cessation cf tlieir labour. 
 
 The history does not present this, but only their adversaries in the reign of 
 Artaxcrxes causing them to cease by force 'and power. (Ezra iv. 2;>.) '"' IJut 
 prophecy brings out the moral condition of the people, and lays open the springs 
 of action, from which the events of history take their character in the si^ht of 
 God. 
 
 Their enemies might concjudg t]nt the wovk. i-o.ii^d.luu-llv.be of (iod, since 
 there were no iiianifestedinkv\t,'Ju5aiis oi" jits jxiwor ; .iUul ;thoir brethren in 
 Lauylun might conclude in l*i.\-oui-'OPiheir own wLsiloni in tioi, f|uitting Babylon, 
 when they saw the work sti^pped Uvtho advevsM'(esj nnc^ ihc people discouraged 
 as to Its further prosecutiou,'-. B|ii:{^«ii Uii.s'if I^.v^nl<o toAck 'Hi* people, which 
 
m' 
 
 34 
 
 can only bo learned in a sot.sc of their own insufficioncv thxt " Tf i. nnf T> 
 bccn<.„coe<'.blLlHvlf)innl I ?'".''"'''' ^"'^^•^^^ ^"d the city had 
 
 -but i, ,„„ ,™, ' „,. ,„„ ,„„,« f ■'-- ' I , ; , *a n'tw!. "* ' 
 
 those tl,i„s, whi.l, cannot bo .Imke,^ ,, y cm 'in °' ''"S» '''^" "«>"»*.. *« 
 WnKdon, Ihat cannot be niovcl '■ A°c ' '"'' "'"""•'"g » 
 
 nunt .0 precede ,l,ei,- nnn,.!,, no, n.nnna to fhll ,Z„ ,ei Jen ■ AlT Zt 
 lie would coiTect '^th, I?] r? ' ^^'^\^''' ^'^i ♦''« occasion of the evils 
 
 »„ «bnt itTvpibon.£Si;^x;r;rb: :- •: rn'^r,°„5 ■ 'ir ■"^° 
 
 I 
 
It is not by 
 
 ; and in do- 
 housc, and 
 ucct it with 
 f prophecy, 
 od, and the 
 le gates of 
 ic city had 
 lie counsels 
 ind also to 
 hole earth. 
 the voice of 
 
 -and it has 
 it was set ; 
 1 glory, 
 id what, it 
 lear. The 
 cl to build 
 nd now it 
 »ro I shake 
 , signifieth 
 made, that 
 'cceiving a 
 
 are God's 
 els of the 
 jlished in 
 doctli tlic 
 
 , nor out- 
 the cove- 
 All these 
 in divine 
 he source 
 ted on in 
 
 2t, divine 
 irk of the 
 the Lord 
 
 niust be 
 od, even 
 he midst 
 Ho takes 
 the evils 
 
 no man 
 le . . . 
 from the 
 lat dwell 
 ast, that 
 
 # 
 m 
 
 »• 
 
 I 
 
 
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