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I'. 
 
 
 THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 '■H 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACUED DM 
 
 THE REV. WILLIAM STAUNTON, 
 
 RECTOR OF ST. PETER's, MORRISTOWN, NEW JERSEY, 
 
 IN TIIK 
 
 CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF ST. JAMES, 
 
 TORONTO, 
 
 ON SUNDAY, THE 5th JUNE, 1842. 
 
 
 POBLISHED BT RffiQCTEST. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 PRINTED AT THE DIOCESAN PRESS, 
 
 DY JI. & W. ROWSELL, KINO STREET. 
 1842. 
 
 v 
 
SERMON, kc. 
 
 There is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy childrm shall 
 come again to their own border. — Jj!:remiah, xxxi. 17. 
 
 \' 
 
 On no topic is tlie Bible more clear and explicit than in 
 setting forth the everlasting love of God for his Church. 
 Maniiold as were the sins, and grievous the apostacies of the 
 Church before the coming of Christ, yet, we may read how 
 tlie Almighty, in the m^dst of his just judgments, always 
 remembered mercy, declaring again and again that those sea- 
 sons of awfiul declension should be succeeded by times of 
 refreshing, and periods in which, through the gracious influ- 
 ences of hiB spirit, the decayed places of Zion should be 
 restored, and the temple of the Lord shine forth in its beauty. 
 The tyranny of the enemies of '^od might trample the holiest 
 things in the dust, and defile the sanctuary, for a time, with 
 abominable idolatries; but after the painful discipline thus 
 forced out for the rebuke of men's wickedness had lulfilled its 
 purpose, In the humiliation of a sinful Church, the Lord was 
 ever ready to stay the Imnd of punishment, and not to suffer 
 his whole displeasure to arise, seeing that to Abraham and his 
 seed were the promises made, — promises of ultimate pros- 
 perity, and of a renown which should fill the whole earth with 
 evidences that there was indeed a God in Israel, 
 
 Nor did this remarkable feature in the course of providence 
 cease to manifest itself on the dissolution of the Jewish Church. 
 For God is ever the same in the r'^ministration of his moral 
 government — allotting to bodies of men, as well as to individu- 
 als, the just reward of their sins and the penalty of their 
 declensions. Thus, when the seven Churches of Asia began 
 to fall from their first love, immediately the warning came, 
 that unless tliey should repent and do their first works, the 
 
cjindlostick would he roniovcd from tlieir midst, and tlu* Lord 
 would spiHMllly visit tlu'm with the sword of his mouth. Yet, 
 couph'd witli those throats, wo do not fail to meet tho ovidoii- 
 ces of God's ondurini;" h)VP, in a train of oncourafi^infj^ promises 
 of l)lossinj^s on their obedience, fully equal in strength to the 
 calamities denounced aj^ainst the inexcusable failure of their 
 zeal. 
 
 So also at a later period; when the ambition and worldly 
 power of Konie had sj^ained access to the Apostolical Church 
 of England, and brought in a ti<le of corruption, destructive 
 of the purity of the ancient faith, and crowdinjj down the 
 souls of men with a burden of errors, superinduced on the 
 intei>Tity of tlie primitive system, — Gwl permitted the wilful- 
 ness of man to be the instrument of His wrath upon the 
 Church; and sorely was it j)unishcd for aj^es by the natural 
 and necessary results of those errors, which, though remon- 
 strated against in successive periods by the rulers of the 
 Church, were too much encouraged by the servile Spirit, 
 covertly, or by threatening influences, infused into the great 
 mass of its members. Still, bad as the case was, Christ had 
 not forsaken his Church, nor had his blessed promise failed. 
 A time of restoration came; and after the Church had borne 
 with the iniexampled tyranny of the Roman pontiffs for six 
 hundred years, she was made able, in God's strength, to purge 
 her temples, and to become purely Catholic, by getting rid of 
 Popery. 
 
 It seems, then, from these examples, (to which many others 
 might be added), that though Goif may visit the Church, for 
 her sins, with a long course of tribulations and adversities, yet 
 there is hope in the end, that his mercy will interpose, and, 
 by some remarkable turn of providence, revive again the 
 faded beauty of Zion, and build up her waste places in greater 
 glory than at the first. 
 
 Let us now bear this maxim in mind, and reverently inquire 
 whether there are not strong evidences, tha^at this very day 
 the spirit of God is abroad, working with a mighty power for 
 the deliverance of his Church from the evils, which, for many 
 years, have kept her wandering and weeping like an exile in 
 the wilderness. Let us first inquire — 
 
 L What is the present state of what is called "the Christian 
 world?" Is it such as it ought to be, — the New Testament 
 being judge? The glory of the Church is, that it should 
 ;i])poar as a city that is at unity with itself. Rut vhen- is this 
 
6 
 
 unity? No nhert' ! Larj^e numbers of men, who profess the 
 name of Christ, iu:e rent and torn into a thousand parties, — 
 each boastinjj^ of its own inilopendence, — all claiming the 
 IJible, and yet believing or not believinjf just what they 
 pleaiie, — some contending for this creed, others for thatj and 
 many spurning the restraint of any creed at all; while another 
 Bturciy race, in the hind of Calvin and Luther, honestly tell us 
 they have found out that Moses and Homer, St. Paul and 
 Cicero, David an<l Milton, were all moved by the same kind 
 of inspiration, and that one-half of the Bible is nothing but a 
 series of fine oriental fables. This is the kind of unity we 
 have now to contemplate. A man or woman, with a fluent 
 tongue, starts up, — modestly asserts that the Church is, and 
 ever has been, in the wrong, — digests a new scheme of faith, 
 — proclaims it with all tlie authority of a messei:ger from the 
 skies, — and forthwith a new sect comes to life; — men call it a 
 Churc/if — it grows, — makes its own ministers, — rears its pul- 
 pits, — becomes wealthy, and therefore respected, — and, in a 
 few years, falls into the tnun of older brotherhoods, silencing 
 every rebuke by its noisy appeals for charity, and branding 
 the reprover with the title of bigot. This is not fancy, but 
 what we may see and read with our own eyes. Nay, so little 
 do men fear the awful sin of schism, that they pride themselves 
 on the privilege of c(mimitting it; and so far may division 
 extend itself in the existing forgetfuluess of accountability to 
 God, that the case may arise of a man originating a new 
 system of doctrine, and, in the iailure of getting disciples, 
 becoming a Church to himself. 
 
 And, worst of all, myriads of children now rising up, are 
 taught from infancy (especially in this sect-ridden land) to 
 look u})on the Gospel as a religion in which there is no cer- 
 tainty, aiul upon salvation as equally sure whether a man does 
 the will of God, or follows the devices and desires of his own 
 heart. I say, that this is and will be the practical result 
 flowing from the present state of things. 
 
 But, if all this be true, you inquire, how is it that pious and 
 sensible men are willing to bear with the grievances and 
 hazards imposed upon them by the systems to whose support 
 they have committed themselves? 1 answer, that every day 
 brings fresh proofs of the very reverse. Such men are to be 
 found in every denomination of the age, who groan for 
 tleliverance from their liability to be " tossed to and fro with 
 every wind of doctrine," — who are heartily wearied and 
 
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 \ i 
 
 6 
 
 dispirited under the contentions which rob their souls of rest, 
 Jinn convert the religion of Christ into u scene of pious 
 quarellin^, for which no counterpart can be found in the feuds 
 of either Jew or Mahometan. Yes, there is evidence enough 
 that in every sectarian body there are men of integrity and 
 courage who liave set themselves to inquire why these things 
 are so, and what is the remedy for them ; — men who, with the 
 fear of God before their eyes, and with the history of the 
 Church and the ancient Fathers in their hands, begin to see 
 the everlasting foundations of primitive truth, and from before 
 whose eyes the mists arc rapidly dispersing, which had hither- 
 to hidden from them the glorious beauty of the Church of the 
 living God. I speak thus confidently, because the appeal is 
 to facts, and because facts are truth, and because truth can 
 offend none but the dishonest, and because I take for granted 
 that none such are here present before God. 
 
 Throughout what is commonly called the religious world, 
 there is at this time an appetite, growing every day more 
 and more intense among men who "love our Lord Jesus 
 Christ in sincerity," for certain views of religion which shall 
 satisfy the soul, and leave no anxious doubts to distress the 
 mind, or apprehensions that the will of Christ has not been 
 fairly and fully met. And, taking the simple facts of the 
 case, it is not difficult to see what it is that men want, and 
 what at all hazards they are resolved to have. For instance, 
 they want, and will have, ainore truly catholic spirit and feeling. 
 They learn from the New Testament that the Redeemer 
 founded one Church and no more, — that all Christians through- 
 out the world were to be of one name, thoroughly joined 
 together in the same mind and in the same fellowship. 
 Divisions and strifes were to be unknown — nay, they were 
 denounced by the Apostles with a vehemence which was truly 
 alarming. And, by consulting the Acts of the Apostles and 
 the history of the Church, these inquiring men have found 
 that for many centuries this state of universal harmony did 
 pervade the whole christian body. A man who was a member 
 of the Church anyichere, was a member of the Church every- 
 where. He might travel from pole to pole, and from one end 
 of the earth to the other, and find himself at home in every 
 Christian temple, and as fully in the enjoyment of all his 
 privileges in one place as in another. Every baptized man 
 m Europe, Asia, or Africa, was his brother. From every 
 pulpit he heard the same doctrines. He might kneel at every 
 
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ultar, niul no man would usk him waetlier he belonj^ed to this 
 ur thill ''tltMioinination/' for the simple reason tliat there were 
 no ^'(irnoniinations hut one," — for all were strivinjf toj^ether 
 for tlie uni' oviu "faith of the Gospel." And from the same 
 Ki»un-(>s of intormation, he learns that thin lovely spirit of 
 
 unity pervaded the whole mass of the Clerj^y. A Minister 
 of (iod need(>d only to show the testimonials of his ordination 
 hy a Catholic IJiMhon, and however distant from his native 
 land, he would find his iiuthority respected, and every brother 
 C'lerj^yman would give him the right hand of fellowship, and 
 a free participation in all ministerial office-. There was no 
 schism in the body, and the spirit of peace bound the host of 
 (Jod's elect into one firm and compact body. 
 
 Now, as I have said, there is at this time, a rapidly increa- 
 sing desire for the restoration of this undivided communion, 
 among all classes of religious men who read the New Testa- 
 ment seriously, and who are convinced that godliness cannot 
 flourish amidst strife and separation. And it is not in the 
 
 1»)wer of men to check the movement to which this feeling 
 las given rise. Satisfied that nothing less than unity in the 
 one Church, is to obey the will of Christ, they are determined, 
 so far as their individual exertions can go, to have it. Hence 
 the numbers who are forsaking the societies of their former 
 attachment, and reverently seeking for the old paths and the 
 ancient ways, that they may walk therein. 
 
 II. Men who have courage enough to face the prejudices 
 of the age, arc looking for something that shall satisfy them 
 as to the real authority of those who claim to have the rule 
 over them, as ambassadors of the Lord — the head of the 
 Church. It is clear that no man can say he has a natural 
 rii/ht to feed and govern the flock of Christ. The right must 
 he (/iven to him. Hut who is to give it? — certainly not the 
 projdf^ for the Lord Jesus alone is the source of ministerial 
 power. No congregation of laymen can make or constitute a 
 Minister of Christ. For, what is such a Minister? Is he 
 simply an educated man who has the ability to preach sermons? 
 But many a layman could do this. Is he simply a pious person 
 who has the faculty of being useful ? — But many a religious 
 woman may have tne same faculty. Is he simply a person of 
 ready utterance, who can make prayers and speak consolatory 
 words to the sick, and set forth to sinners the threats and 
 
 1)romises of God's word? Why, surely all this may be done 
 jy many who never thought of claiming a part and lot in the 
 
8 
 
 
 Ministry. So then, though a Minister ought undoubtedly to 
 possess all these qualifications, yet there must be somethirijr 
 besides these, on which he shall ground his^right to appear 
 before the Church in God's name, and as Christ's ambassador. 
 For the people might very naturally inquire, " by tcfiat 
 authority/ doest thou these things, and who gave thee this 
 authority?" And if he should refer them simply to his rtpu- 
 tation for piety and usefulness, still the people might say, 
 "no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called 
 of God, as was Aaron;" and their question would yet remain 
 unanswered. And it he should allege that he was ordained 
 by such and such men, the people might have good sense 
 enough to go back to the previous question, and ask, "who 
 ordained them?" And, if this were answered in the same 
 way, it is not unlikely that intelligent laymen might have 
 their curiosity excited, to know ho7o Jar back this series of 
 ordinations reached, — and who hegan it, — and whether he who 
 did begin it, had aiithoritf/ so to do; for if he had not this 
 authority, he could communicate nothing to those whom he 
 ordained, nor could they to their successors; and so, the whole 
 series to the world's end would be claiming powers which 
 their founder himself had no title to c(nivey. 
 
 Now, as I have intimated, there are at this moment thousands 
 of men in Europe and America, who {!re looking into this vcrif 
 serious question; — they are inquiring for the pinfccful Church 
 of the Redeemer, and for the pastoral authority of those who, 
 beyond all donht, can trace their title to feed and rule the flock 
 from no other hands than those of Jesus Christ, and his inspired 
 Apostles. And, not a few of ti.em have found out, that the 
 Apostolic office has actimlly been contitnicd to the present 
 day, in the persons of those called Bishops; and als(», tiiat 
 (Scripture and the united voice of the world for 1500 years 
 being witness) to these alone, and to those onlained by them, 
 is the promise given, "whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, 
 shall be bound in h.eaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on 
 earth, shall be loosed in heaven." As a result of this spirit 
 of inquiry, we hear almost every week of preachers, belonging 
 to various denominations of Christians, resigning their offices, 
 and soliciting ordination at the hands of the Bishops. "There 
 is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall 
 come again to their own border." 
 
 III. There is another fact wliich goes to prove that a 
 beneficial change is rapidly taking place in religious scnti- 
 
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 ment. I refer to the revival of those sound, reverential, and 
 scriptural views of the Sacuamknts, which men were accus- 
 tomed to entertain in the purer a^os of the Church. 'J\» 
 satisfy any one that there is ahiimlant room for such a revival, 
 it is only necessary to compare with the words of Scripture, 
 the common practice and phraseology of the dsiy respecting" 
 these ordinances of the Hedeemer. Thus, baptism is consi- 
 dered by many, and so spoken of, as the act of giving a name 
 to a child ; or as an ancient religious custom, which, on the 
 whole, it is better to observe than to neglect. And hence, 
 the grand point of spiritual blessings connected with it7 as a 
 Sacrament^ is altogether overlooked; so that many men no 
 longer regard it, in serious truth, as "an outward and visible 
 sign, of an inward ami spiritual grace.^^ Nay, some have pro- 
 ceeded so far as to question the necessity of it at all; and 
 thousands pass from childhood to adult age, and even through 
 a long life, without receiving that ordinance which, in the 
 very lowest view, is yet a badge to distinguish them from the 
 heathen. And yet we have bibles tolling us, that "as many 
 as are baptized, have put on Christ," — that we are buried 
 with Christ in baptism unto death, — that we must be baptized 
 for the remission of sins, — that he that believcth and is bap- 
 tized, shall be saved, — that baptism doth even now save us, by 
 the resurrection of Jesus Christ, — that it is the laver of 
 regeneration, and that "except a man be born of water and 
 of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
 Can any thing be more striking and alarming than the 
 contrast ! 
 
 Nor will our sorrow for this falling away from the truth bo 
 alleviated by viewing the errors which have grown up respec- 
 ting the Lord's Supper. How many have reduced it to a 
 simple exercise of the memory, — a mere rememhering of the 
 death of the Saviour, and the soeiniiigly superfluous partaking 
 of bread and wine ! No doubt it is a memorial, "in remem- 
 brance" of Christ; but it is also vastly more. What means 
 the Apostle when he calls it the "communion'' and the 
 "communication" of the body and blood of Christ? — when he 
 charges some with not discerning the Lord's body? — when he 
 speaks of men eating and drinking damnation or condemnation 
 to themselves? — and of those who were guilty of the body and 
 blood of the Lord ? What means the Saviour when he says, 
 "except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his 
 Wood, ye have no life in you?" Let it be realized, that this 
 
10 
 
 is the very language of inspiration. Let it be seen by intel- 
 ligent men how tenderly such Scriptures are used, — how they 
 are evaded, — how they are explained away, — how they are 
 made to bow to public sentiment, instead of making public 
 sentim«ent bow to them; and can such men do otherwise than 
 look with longing interest to that ancient Church, which has 
 embodied all these gems of holy writ in her sweet liturgy, 
 and at every Communion gives full play to thcip faith, 
 unchilLed by the interposition of frigid comments and meta- 
 physical theorizing on the manner in which all this can be true? 
 \\. Men are inquiring for some system of public worship, 
 which shall call forth and inflame their devotional feelings, 
 and give them ample security that their rights, as participants 
 in that worship, shall not be invaded. Every Christian man 
 has an inaUenabU> right and title, not merely to a passive but to 
 an active part \\\ the celebration of divine service. He does not 
 go to Church to hear his Minister jtray, but to offer up prayers 
 wtitedly tcith his Minister. And, in the nature of things, it is 
 nex"^ to impossible that this can be done without the use of a 
 form. There are extemjmre forms, and there are u-ritten forms; 
 but in all cases a congregation must follow a form, so long as 
 one man only gives the words, and the others are expected to 
 give their assent to it. But in public extempore prayer, how 
 can the worshipper be assured that his devotions will not be 
 disturbed by some expression, some local allusion, some 
 doctrinal error, to which he cannot freely say, " Amen ?" — 
 He is committed entirely to the course of thought in which 
 the speaker chooses to indulge. And even if he were safe on 
 this point, yet, one-hp,lf of his attention, at the least, must be 
 given to the lanyuaye and sentiment of the prayer; thereby 
 abstracting his thoughts from the right object, and quenching 
 the ardour of that spirit of supplication, on which depends all 
 the benefit he can hope for at the throne t)f grace. And 
 besides, where is his active participation in the offering of the 
 sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving? Is he not altogether 
 deprived of it ? since he knows not beforehand wJiat he is to 
 pray, and at the very time has no part assigned him but a 
 solitary and forlorn " Amen." Worse than all, if the Minister 
 should happen to be under depression of niind, — if he should 
 happen to be languid, cold, slow of speech, deficient in talent, 
 or easily affected with private griefs and anxieties, it is certain 
 that his feelings will give colour to his prayers, and influence 
 tlieir style far more perhaps than he would wish ; aiul all this 
 
11 
 
 transfers itself immediately to the conp;re«j^atioii, ctoadeiiinq^ 
 their devotion, distractinj^ their thouj^hts, making them ploo 
 their weary way to heaven's gate, when, it' ever, they should rise 
 "on faith's sublimest wing" to the presence of "the majesty 
 on high." 
 
 No wonder that men have begun to look with a loving eye to 
 the ancient liturgies of the Church, where they may realize 
 all that their hearts can wish for, — prayers, which touch their 
 souls with "a beam of light divine, to guide their upward 
 aim," — prayers, which bring consolation to the weeping peni- 
 tent, and confirm the joys of the ripest saint, — prayers, which 
 call into action both the hearts and voices of all the Lord's 
 people, from the little child to the veteran in Christ, — and 
 prayers, too, which raise an insurmountable barrier against 
 the intrusion of petitions and allusions expressive of the 
 peculiar opinions, or arising from the personal frailties and 
 griefs, of the Minister who offers them. 
 
 Would the time permit, 1 might go on to show that inquiring 
 men, of every religious name, are not only looking for satis- 
 faction in the points now enumerated, but are also resolved to 
 embrace some systein of religion which shall make them 
 confident in the persuasion that they are in the enjoyment of 
 the whole Gospel of Christ. Doubtfulness is one of the worst 
 of all spiritual diseases, — eating into the soul "as doth a 
 canker." To enjoy true peace in believing, a man must not 
 only suppose that he mat/ be in the right, because many others 
 agree with him ; but he must have the best assurance the case 
 admits of, that he reallt/ is in the right. And, to be sure of 
 this, he must so receive and practise the gospel, that if any 
 one text raises in his mind a suspicion that he may be in error, 
 he will take no rest till, in God's help, he has found and 
 conformed to the truth. Not only is this true in Christian 
 doctrine and morals, but also in relation to all things ordained 
 by the Saviour for the building up of men "in their most holy 
 faith." If, then, any one should read in every part of the New 
 Testament that Christ founded a Church, into which all good 
 men were to be gathered, and to which his promises were 
 made, such a person wUl honestly see to it that he is actually 
 in that Church; and he will cease to regard this as a trivial 
 inquiry, when ho observes how the Apostles speak of the 
 sinfulness of schism, and of the importance of preserving 
 unity in the body of Christ. 
 
If 
 
 I mention this, as an example to show fiow every man is 
 bound to act, who desires to suomit in all things to the will of 
 the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. It is true, that such 
 a course may not be the most popular; it may even excite 
 odium, and meet with much resistance from prejudice; the 
 man may be accounted exclusive, or even bigotted, because 
 he sees certain truths in a clearer light than others who have 
 not accompanied liim in his investigations. But all this is 
 only a necessary evil which time will wear out, and which, at 
 '••ly rate, will not disturb his death-bed. He will remember 
 these words of Christ, "Wo unto you, when all men speak 
 well of you;" and will meet reproach by asking, "Am I 
 become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" 
 
 Thank God, we do not need merely to mppose a case. We 
 have arrived at a period in which the powerful energies of the 
 Church are again breaking forth in the sight of a wondering 
 world, while, at the same time, those who have wandered from 
 her care, are hastening to throng her courts. How beautifully 
 do the words of the Prophet apply, "Tliore is hope in thine 
 end, saith tlie Lord, that thy children shall come again to tfaeii* 
 own border." "7%y children," and "their own border:" 
 because as the Church was designed to embrace the whole 
 company of the faithful, all good men are hers by right, and 
 her privileges are theirs : therefore, in fleeing to the Church, 
 they do not transfer themselves to some other sect or party, 
 but they return to the noble heritage which their fathers, m 
 the infirmity of their ji dgment, forsook; — they return to their 
 ancient home, and to the fostering care of tlicir own true Mother. 
 Let religious men think of this, — let them compare the 
 blessings of peace, concord, and Christian unity, with the 
 appalliiig evils of division, and the time may be hastened 
 when God will cease to punish the Church, ^d when, as in 
 the Apostles' days, there will be no schism in the body ; but, 
 under that authority which Christ gave "for the perfecting ojf 
 the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
 body of Christ, we [shall] all come in the unity of the faith, 
 and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, 
 unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."