IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V /. (/ 6> '■l^ ^ /y,. '^Sbi L<>^ :/. t/j ^ ^ fA 1.0 I.I ■- IIIIIM IIIIM •^ 1^ 1112.2 t ^ liiio 1.8 1.25 U ill 1.6 V] <^ /^ /a ■i! BllOKEN HEEDS; f^ lip. iHK HERESIES OF THE rLYMorTlI ERETIIHRN sucuvN III hi: COxMRARY TO SCRH^Tl RE & REASON. ^ 0) BY THE EEV. EDWAED HAETEEY DEWAET. They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.— St. P.\!-l. They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no ])eace. — Ji:ri;mi.\ii. And if the Wind lead the blind, both sliall faU into the ditch,— Thk Mastkr. —~0*- TORONTO: PRINTED AT THE WESLEYAN CONFERENCE OFFICE, KING STRKET EA.ST. Price Ten Cknts. [A liberal discount will be made to niiuister.s and the tratTb.] ■i^.. T-^" '- ^ i ^ # 'N •^ )^J^ 6-/ BROKEN REEDS; OR, THE HERESIES OF THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN . \ •Tl SHOWN TO BK CONTRARY TO SCRIPTURE & REASON. BY THE REV. EDWARD HARTLEY DEWART. They have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. — St. Paul. They have healed the hurt of the daught(!r of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. — Jkremiah. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. — The Master, TORONTO: PRINTED AT THE WESLEYAN CONFEIvENCE OFFICE, KINO STREET EAST. Price Ten Cents. [A liberal discount will be made co ministers and the trade.] \ o o BROKEN REEDS. V I. Introductory Remarks. During tlio ])ast year considei-ablo excitement has been produced in Gait, London, and otlier localities uy the preaching of certain " Evangelists," holding the sentiments of the sect, generally known as the Plymouth Brethren. Several small Societies, holding their peculiar views, have existed at different points in Canada for some years past. But the popular talents of the new preachers, and the fact of several ministers having invited them to preach in their churches, and co-operated with them in their labors, have enabled them to g-ain more extensive attention, than they had ever l)efore received in this country. Having heard that they were invited to the town where I reside, the question arose in my mind, as to whether, in case they came to labor here, I could conscientiously unite with thom in their services. I was acquainted with the history and teaching of Plymouthism in Ireland and Eng- land ; and had seen a little of its workings in Canada, and regarded it as a dangerous heresy ; but some denied that Russell, Needham & Co. were Plymouth Bretln-en. How- ever, I soon had an opportunity of hearing Mr. Needham and judging for myself. After hearing Mr. Needham's ser- mon, there was no room in my judgment for any doubt as to that point. Any one at all conversant with the theology of Darby and the D'Olier Street tracts, could have no hesita- tion as to the identity of the preaching of the ''Evangelists" with that unscriptural system. And the strildng rosem- JIKOKKN REE0S. \)hincci to tlic (loHcnj)tion of tlic Jjiiy Proachci-s in rrcliind, as given l)y Jacv. \V. Cvook iji his " Lay I'rojichiiig in Trelaud ;" by a writer in the J.ondou Quarterlit K*'.vlew ; by tlie Kcv. T. Croskory, of the I'resbyterian Cliurch ; and otliei'S, vindicated tlio trutlifiilneMs of these writers. Here was the same ili|)j)ant, easy, and witlial earnest exposition of riyinouth doctrine — the saiiu; air of oracnhir self-satislied infallibility — the same "luiished salvation" by r literal sub- stitution of Christ's sufferings for ours — the same hits at repentance and "doing" anything in order to salvation; and the same absence of any direction to sinners to confess their sins or pray for forgiveness, and of the need of the Holy Spiiit. Verily, I was surj)rised to find so much Ply- inouthism crowded into one sermon. At the close of the 8( rvice, the D'Olier Street tracts were distributed to the congregation, by boys at the door of the church. 1 felt the most unhesitating conviction that much in this teaching was unscriptural and misleading. A second sermon, though less outspoken in its I'lymouthisin, confirmed this conviction. Believing that this systtun is contrary to sound reason and to the Word of God, detriiiienLal to the })rogress of true religion, and misleading to the souls that embrace it, as a minister of Christ, " set for the defence of the Gos})el," I felt that this heresy should not go unchallenged, and have made up my mind to offer to the public a brief statement of their objection: ilde tenets, and my reasons for repudiating ^them. I have no prejudice against either "lay preaching,"^ L" revivals," or " sudilen conversions ;" and no object in * writing this pamphlet, but the defence of truth and the glory of God. As I purpose reviewing, in a brief space, a number of important points, I cannot insert lengthy extracts, in illus- tration of this modern heresy ; but I assure my readers, that the sentiments ascribed to them in this tract can be amply proved from their writings and sermons, and the testimony of unimpeachable witnesses. I deem this caution necessary, Ijecause they have no standards of faith, and their teaching is very confused and contradictory. When^ pressed hard, they are very ready to repudiate any authority] "they do not deem it advisable to acknowledge. They have/ ^ nnOKKN RKEDR. 5 no iinnio, no croc*!, no stundavcls. INfi-. DarUy juliiiits, ** tliiit in recent iU'tivilics, Cliri.sli;ins, outside tiiul inside, bi-etliren so-called, have statx-d many tilings less solxii'ly tlian was riglit. Tliey liave pressiMl tin; love of God and the freeness of tlie CT0S])el in a way that would not ])ear critical oxaininiition, I have no donltt that snch d<'fects jire to he found in their teaching." Mr. F. W. Grant, the header of the Toronto Sociiitv, in his mis-named "answer" to Mr. Crook, says, " I say ' we.' 1 do not hy that term mean, however, to link myself with the l^ay l*reacherH, as I know not who they are, nor exactly what they may have stated ; nor do I mean to i(h'ntify myself with I)'()lier Street and its publicati(jns, any more than with Dr. Malan, of Geneva."* This style of repudiation is very common. You will seldom find any one, wlio Avill frankly avow Plymouth sentiments. They are now rather un[)lcasantly well known to be can- didly confessed. This is certainly very convenient. But is it honest, or candid, for those who as really liold I'ly- mouthism, as a Methodist holds Methodism, to try to make a contrary impression l Is there not more Jesuitism than> Christiaidty in this course ? 1 know not whether the i Revivalists repudiate being Plymonth Bi-ethren or not ; ) but I know that if you take the Plymouthism contained in ] the Lay Preaching out of the system of the Plymouth / Brethren, there will not be much left for the "Brethren. 'i'* It is not very creditable to them, that, according to their own confession, they send out preachers without any guar- anty, either as to character or soundness in the faith. And wliat must be said of those Pastors of Churches, who deem this unnecessary ? Formerly a guaranty of member- ship in some Christian Church, and a satisfactory testimony, as to moral character and doctrinal soundness, were thought * Mr. Grant has published a pamphlet entitlefl, The New Gospel. Is it new? and is it wanted? liehm an ansicer to a tract entitled ** Latf Preachinly means, that they, being no longer ignorant of Christ, and of salvation by faith in his blood, were, through the grace of Christ strengthening them, enabled to fulfil the law, as they could not do when they were seeking to justify themselves by their own ' '.arisaic righteousness. Grace cannot be a rule of life as opposed to law. As Mr. Croskery forcibly remarks, " Love cannot he the rule of obedience — it can be / the spring or motive of it. This is to confound the railway track with the steam-power that drives the train. Love is the steam power and not the track. The moral law is the track, and not the steam-power. The law of love, therefore, j includes the moral law." But the testimony of the Word of God is most explicitly against this Antinomian heresy. Our blessed Redeemer says, " Think not that I am come to I destroy the law or the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." (Matt. 5:17.) St. Paul asks, " Do we then we yea. make void the law through faith ? God forbid xestablish the law." (Rom 3 : 31.) God's promise to His people under the new covenant is : — " 1 will put my laws \into their minds, and write them in their hearts." (Heb. 8 : 10.) " If ye love me," says Christ to His disciples, "keep my commandments." (John 14 : 15.) And among the closing sentences of the New Testament, we find the solemn declaration, " Blessed are they that do His command- ments, that they infty have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates unto the city." (Rev. 22 : 14.) There are many warning examples, in connection with the great religious revival of the last century, of persons who began by maintaining that they were no hniger under the law, end ended by gross wickedness. " Blessed are they 8 !' ! BROKEN HKEDS. that keop His testimonies, and seek Him with tlie whole heart." (Psalm. Hi): 2.) III. Erroneous Views of the Atonement. The revivalists in Canada, in common with all sections of the Plymouth Brethren, teach that Christ saffered the actual penalty due to the sins oj' those for whom He died, and thus freed them, from the penalty their sin^ had merited. ^ Mr. Needham, in a sermon I heard himpreacli, illustrated the statement, that salvation was by substitution, in this way. After a lengthy description of the execution of Jones in London, he said, he S8w himself in a similar condition as a sinner, with the rope about his neck, condemned and waiting to be hung, Mercy and iustjce liad tlie colloquy . which we have often THiarii . They seem to be very antag- onistic in some people's theology. He saw Christ coming\ down from heaven. He stood by his side, took the rope | from his neck, put it around his own neck, the bolt Avas \ drawn, and Christ was hanged in his stead, and he was thus) freed from the penalty of the law. A favorite way of stat- ing this dogma is to represent sin as a debt due to God, which the sinner is unable to pay ; Christ pays the debt on the cross ; and the testimony of the tScri})ture, to the fact of Christ's dying for us, answers to the receipt, which shows that the debt is paid. All evangelical Christians hold that Christ's sufferings were vicarious — that they were for as. That he " hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might . ^ / bring us to God," But what do Ave understand by this? ^^^ ^^-^ Not that he suffered the full penalty , that all men would^ ii-^^*^' yliave suffered m eternal perdition ; but an adequate sub- ^t,;^ /^^^ stitute for it ; so that the penalty itself may now be safely y^ ^ and consistently remitted ; which it actually is, in the case ^of all who are justified by faith in Christ, But the doctrine that Christ suffered the full penalty of our sins, in our stead, and cancelled our debt by his death, as commonly taught by the "Brethren," is open to grave and unanswer- able objections. -^^JV^ ^/t^f^r^ «*"t^ ^:.i^^ • V^*^ /^ 11^^ 10 iiTlOKEN REFDS, 1. Tt vendors faith imnoce«Siiiy to salvation. Wliatcver clilioronccs may exist, as to the nature of Christ's atoning ■work, it will be axhuittecl l)y all, that it is a finished and completed work. (lleb. 10 : 13). And if, by that work of atonement, he ictually paid our debt, and suffered the full ])onalty which our sins deserved — then, whetlier we believe or not, we are not ex])osed to the penalty of the law. Nothing can be clearer than this. If our sins against God were of the nature of a debt, and if Christ paid it in full, before it was contracted, it can never come against us, even though we never l)elieve it. Suppose a poor man owes his rent and cannot pay it, and that a friend pays it for him, and gets a legal receipt, and tells him that his rent is paid. Now, shouUl the poor man refuse to believe him, this may deprive him x)f some comfort, that he would otherwise have ; but it cannit ivhose salvation is ^finished? If we say, all mankind, then iiU shall certainly be saved. If we say a limited and select number, then none others but these can be saved. For none can be saved for whom Christ has not died. But as the Scrij)tures clearly declare that Christ died for all, if by his death he paid the full penalty for those for whom he died, Universalism is true beyond all /question. I leave the "Evangelists" to select between the two conclusioni?. For my own part, I choose neither. I rejcict ai false the theory of the atonement, from which BROKEN REEDS, 11 I one or otlior of tliCKo conclusions inoYita})ly follows. Cln'ist (lied for all. IJut, notwithstanding this, those who continue inij)enitent and unV)elieying will sutler the penalty due to y tlieir sins, even the^^ratli/of God f or ever. This theory confounds llie atonement — the great provision of God's infinite love and wisdom, for the displa y of hismercv in the salvation of sinners, — with the actual Gestowraent offorgive^ ness. ) Christ's atonement removes the governmental* barrier to the bestowment of forgiveness, and unfolds the infinite love of our Father in heaven, — the mercy that softens into penitence the rebel heart ; but it does not secure forgiveness to all for whom that atonement was made. St. Paul says, *' Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ diedy (Rom. 14 : 15). 3. I object to this theory of the atonement, because God's claims upon us were not of the nature of a debt ; and Christ's work of atonement was not a commercial transaction, in which he purchased souls from the Father by his blood. Clirist was our ransom ; but the Scriptures nowhere say that Christ paid our debt. This view results from forcing ,X- a coarsely literal interpretation on figurative statements of ' Scripture, such as Isaiah 53 : 6 and Peter 2 : 24. In the same way the Romanists prove the doctrine of transubstan- tiation, from the words of our Lord : — " This is my body." But all our expositions of Scripture must have regard to the harmony of truth. All such views of the atonement obscure the truth, that the Father is as merciful as the Son. and the Son as just as the Father ; and represent Christ, at the time he was giving the gralidest display of the love of God to our fallen world, and fulfilling the will and purpose of God, in the most perfect degree, as the object of the Father's wrath, for an imaginary, imputed guilt. For what | iwas the Father angry with Christ ? Certainly not for I /making an atonement for sin. The thoughts and judg-7 1 ment of God are always according to truth, and not accord-^ ling to the figments and fancies of men. It is well said, by a recent writer, that " it is possible to hold a doctrine of atonement, without holding the doctrine of the word of God on this vital question. And it is pos- sible to say a great many glowing things about the blood of / 12 BROKEN ilEEDS. Clii'ist, as the fouiidittion of oar peace, witlioiit presenting that blood in the sanie relation to pardon, and to the entire system of evangelical truth, in which we find it presented in the Word of God." lY. False and Misleading Directions to Sinners. The question,, — What unvst an impenitent siitner do in order to be saved ? is 7iot one of speculative theology. It is a vital and practical questioii. I hold that, to this ques- tion, the Canadian Evanyelists, and all the teachers of the Plymouth theoloyy, give a false and defective ansv.ier ; — false in what it embraces, and seriously defective hi what it omits. Sinners are told thai they need not repent or pray — . that repentance and prayer, before jnstiti cation, are not only useless, but " splendid sins ;" — that they are first of all to believe, and receive the finished salvation, which Christ has purchased for them that believe in those declarations of his Word, which declare that He hath " put away " our sins and borne our iniq\iity, in such a way that God has now no claim against us, that Christ has not satisfied. To every point here I take serious exception. 1. I object that tlie thing which sinners are exhorted to believe, is not true ; and if it were true, it renders faith unnecessary. I have clearly shown above that Christ's death was not the payment of a debt, or the c. ^celling of a penalty, but the removal of the legal barrier, so " that God might be just, and the nistifier of him that believeth C in Jesus ;" and the unveiling of His infinite fatherly tender- ness and grace in the death of Christ. Stripped of all con- fusion, then, this view of faith amounts to this, — You are saved because you believe you are saved. This doctrine is substantially the same as that taught by the English Rationalists, who say that all men are the children of God, only they do not know it ; and that the beginning of a new life is the reception and belief of this truth. 2. But not merely is the thing the sinner is directed to believe not true, in the sense in which he is urged to re- ceive it ; but the idea of faith which it suggests is a wrong idea. It is merely the reception of an alleged fact by the ■■ BPOKEN REEDS. 13 / mind: but jusiiryiiig faith, while it pre-siipposes the assent of tlie mind to th(; truth resj)ecting Christ, is a full ti-ust in the person of a living Saviour. We may believe all that the Sci'ipture reveals respecting the incarnation and deatli of Christ ; but if we do not trust in Christ himself we cannot be saved. The " Brethren " exclude trust, by the , very nature of what they say a sinner must believe. We 1 believe a fact — we trust in a person. Mr. Darby says, " I don't believe faith means trust ; though I believe trust will infallibly be there, if faith is. To say that trust is an essential and leading constituent of faith, is ditierent from saying faith is trust in Christ. I could almost assent to the first, for it (trust) ca nnot fail to flow froni i t (faith.) To the latter, — i.e., that faith is trust in Christ, — I wholly object." 3. But one of the most reprehensible points in the teach- ing of the Plymouth Evangelists is that it completely re- pudiates as unnecessary Scriptural Repentance ; which the Word of God distinctly places before justifying faith. Even when they use the term Iloi)entance, they do not use it in its scri[)tural sense. What they mean by it, Mr. Darby, says, " Is the judgment of the new man in divine light and grace, on all that he who repeafjs has been or done in ilesh." A sense in which the ternipis never used in the New Testa- ment. This view of Rdpeutance I heard Mr. Needham en- force in Ijondon. Repentance, then, in its common scrip- tural sense, they blot out of existence. And here I must protest against the unworthy and dishonest quibble, which they all so constantly flourish ; viz., that to put Repentance before faith is to sa y that a man can repent and-fluitakjaUiis sins without faitli. / ^ow t|jia- is assaulting with great valo / a position TEaF no one defends.,, i There is not a Christian! minister, inTahy^cliurch m Tlhristendom, that would main tain that a man can I'epent and forsake sin without faith. All agree that a measure of faith is essential to Repentance. And the Darbyites know that very well. They ignore all d ejgrees in fait h, and si)eak of it as if it were one act per- formed once and forever; and then disingenuously argue, as if we used it in the same sense ; while they know we do not. Faith may exist in different degrees, and have different / 14 BROKKN REEDS. El I / tnitlis for its objoct. Fniili in tlie lioliiiess an God, and do works meet for Repentance." (Acts 2G : 2u,) Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, Reperdnnce toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." • (Acts 20 : 21.) " The times of this ignorance God winked at ; tt 710W commamieth all men every ivtere to repent^ (Acts : 30.) Could any language more conclusively prove that ey have rejected the testimony of God, and are teaching for doctrine the comnuindments of men, who dare to say, that im[)enitent sinners can become children of God without Repentance % " But," says one, " was not the answer of St. Paul to the question, ' What must I do to be saved f * Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, a ad thine house?'" Most certainly. And who questions the jro})riety of this i^ IJUOKEN RREDS. 15 juiKwor to t1io poiiitont and trenil)]iii;nr jailor ? His qnrstion sliows, tliat lie I'elt tlie need of salvation — that he earnestly desired it; and that he was willing to do whatever God re- (nuircd of him, in order to obtain it. Is not this the answer of every evano,elical Cliristian to every repent- ing sinner that asks a similar qnestion ? But did ever Paul, or any one else, possessing common sense, to say nothing of higher graces, tell any sinner that it was no use to pray or repent, till after they are fully sanctified ? Why do our Plymouth revi\'alists allow prejudice to blind their eyes, to the force of every text that does not support their perverted and mutilated gospel 1 At tlie day of Pentecost, when the multitude asked, " Men and brethren, what shall we do T' did not Peter reply, " liepent and be haptizeAl, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost V Did not the Master Himself say to the young man who asked, " What shall I do to inherit eternal life X' " If thou wilt enter into life, keej^ the command nientsV But texts like these, that are not in harmony with the "religion made le?iHy" of the Evangelists of Plymouthism, are never quoted, except for the purpose of being twisted and perverted to make room for their Antinomian crudities. Would my readers believe it, I lusard Mr. Neodham distinctly suggest, in order to get this last quoted passage out of his way, that the Saviour ironically taunted the young man by his ; answer! . " The fact that faith alone, without repentance, is frequently mentioned as the condition of justification, does not prove in the slightest degree that repentance is unnecessary Justifying faith implies repentance. / The last link in a chain of causes is often spoken of as the cause of an event, without mention of previous links. When we are told that a ride Avas fired, we know that it had been previously loaded, although the fact may not be mentioned. If you tell a poor man, that if he call at 3^our office to-morrow morning, at nine o'clock, you will give him a dollar. Though you have mentioned no condition but calling at a certain hour, yet it is clear he must awake, and get out of bed, and travel over the distance betwetm his house and your office, or he :) ^-A- ■^.u -^i^l^ t^^:j^ J J VT^t, /^\i/i ^/^, ^^ /// ^ -^^^if^'^J^ — f i 10 BUOKFN RKKDS. 7'^ I? \ Ciin Dovev citll ;it the }ij)pointe(l hour. ITow absuid it would be for any one to say to him, *'Yoii need not awake, or ^ , arise ; you liave notliing to (h) but to call at the otKce to y^^/^'/^/'y^get the money." So saving faith in Christ always implies^ Oiryi ^ ^ whether mentioned or not, pre v'ious p enitence and desire ^ ^^^ J ^'^or salvation. If a sinner ha i no sens'^ of tho evil of sin, no sorrow for his wrong-doing, no })urj)ose to forsake sin, and no sincere; desire for delivei-ance from its guilt and power, how can he come to Christ and believe for forgive- ness % I have no hesitation in saying, that any one who tells an imi)enitent sinner, that he does not need to repent and forsake sin in order to salvation, that he should believe at once, that his sins have; been blotted out by the death of Christ, is a blind leader of the blind, saying, " Peace, peace, when there is no i)eace;" and yet, I have heard, rnyseif, just such instruction given to the dying on the brink of the grave, by the disciples of this new gospel. The reader will pardon me for dwelling so long on this point, but the vital ini}»ortance of the question, the promin- ence given to it by the lay })reachers at present laboring in Canada, and the fear lest souls should be misled by this plausible heresy, must be my excuse. In almost every con- gregation there are a number of unconverted men, who accept the gospel as true, and desire to get to heaven, but who remain unsaved. Why do they remain unsaved % I answer, the gr(3at hindrance, in most cases, is that they are the slaves of some forms of sin, which they are unwilling to give up. This they actually feel in their own consciences. In one case it may be dishonesty, in another licentiousness, n a third a bitter and unforgiving spirit, in a fourth love of pleasure, and so on, through the whole rounds of sin. Now, vl ask, and the question is a very important and solemn one, can these men be saved and sanctitied without any change in their feeling respecting their sins, or any purpose to for- sake them, with no sorrow for past transgressions, and with no deep desire for deliverance, with nothing but the com- mon, shallow desire for salvation and heaA^en which may co-exist with the greatest wickedness, — can they believe and be saved % The Plymouth Brethren say, — Yes ; if they only believe certain alleged truths, they are saved. Tiie Psalm- ^l BROKEN REEDS. 17 are ist says, " If I ro^'anl niiqnity in my lieait, tlie lord will not hear me." (I'sjilm GG : 18.) Tlu^ Redeemer distinctly deelarea, '* If ye foi'give not men their trespasses, ncntlu^r will your Father forgive your trespasses." (Matt. vi. 15.) The l*r(jdiut nothing but the anost wilful st\i- ])idity would confound the selfish })rayer of a wicked and imi)enitent sinner, with tlu; prayer of him, who, though un- forgi\'en, feels deep sorrow for his past sins, and breathes the })rayer of his burdened and contrite heart, through Christ, to llis Father i)i heaven, for forgiveness and accept- ance. Could any one, not bewikhired with the confusing puerilities of the " new gospel," have the effrontery to say, that the declarations that relate to the one are equally ap])licable to the other ? This error, respecting prayer, is not only without the sup])ort of the Word of God, but is in direct contradiction of its explicit declarations. Did not the I'ublican, before he was saved, pray, "God be merciful to me a sinner"?" And did he not go down to his house justified, as the re- sult 1 Was it not said of Paul, as the expression of Divine api)roval, '■'■ Beliokl he prayetli" before Ananias came to him and said, " Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord?" Did not Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, on the day of Pentecost, proclaim to the multitude the truth, before spoken by Joel, "that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved?" (Acts 2:21.) Listen to the Apostle Peter's exhoi-tation to Simon, whom he perceived to be "in the g;^!! of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." BROKEN REl^DS. 19 'g *' UkPKNT TTIKKKFOIJK of this thy WFf'KKDNK.SS, ANP PllAY Gt)l), IF I'KUHAI'S TIIH TllOl (iJIT OF THINK HFAHT MAY BF FOiioiVFN THKF." (Acts 8 : 24.) roorSiiuou ! Wluit u jjity tliiit he was left to tliis " low Weslcyunisni" of PetcTjiis J)arl»y would call it ! I'etor was evidently not ac((uainted with the " Kelijifion made Ensy " of Itusssell, ^^'cdliani & Co. What a eoiiifort it would hav(! hecii to Simon, had he been favored with the more enlightened niinistiy of these Evan- gelists, to tell him that — "Nothing, cither great or small, remained f<5r bim to do !" Tliat Jesus Christ had already hoi-ne and blotted out his sins ujioii the cross, and that he had nothing t.i do, only believe the fact, and he was saved, now and for ever, lint I ask the rciider's pardon. E* en this was unnecessary. He was already saved, with the Plymouth salvation. When Phillip " preached Clirist " unto the ])eople, Simon believed and was baptised ; and must thei'efore have been saved already. Well, we ought to feel thankful that we do not live in those dark days, when even apostles thought it necessary to rei)ent and pray in order to be forgiv(;n ! Mr. Grant carries this heresy concerning prayer so far as to say, that teaching souls " to wrestle with God for salva- tion " might well be called blas}»hemy, but for the igno- rance it dis})lays. 1 think the blasphemy might be found nearer home. Is it a truthful representation of those, who believe it right to i)ray for forgiveness, to represent them, as thinking that God is made willing and merciful by their prayers, and that goodness in man is the cause of grace in God 1 Did ever Mr. Grant ponder the sentiment of Dr. Paley — that it may seem right to the wisdom of God to give us, in answei to our prayei's, what it does not seem good to the same wisdom to give us without ])rayer 1 Did ever he read the pirable of the imjjortmiate widow ? Or the circumstance of the Syrophenician woman ? Or the declara- tion of St. Paul, that our great High Priest "offered up prayers aiul supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death!" It really seems as if some people have an expurgated Bible ; or else, on some pretext or other, they pass over and ignore what- 20 nilOKEN ItKEllS. t f ovor (loos Tiofc soom in luinndnv \\\(h llicir nnvrow niiscon- (Xijtlioiis. This gross error of Plymouth tlioology, tliat it is nscltisH for inou to pray or repent till al'tcr they are saved, arises from tli(! iiiisciiptuiil a;ssum|)tion, thiit tlui Holy Spirit is not given till aftei' men are saved. And, as man ean do noth- ing of hims(^lf, it follows tint In^ ean do nothing Ixsfore n;- gcnoration, acceptahhi to (jod, or eondueivc^ to salvation. I'hcy ei'roneously assmiu; thiit thciH! nre no degrees in faith or ]K^nitence — that a nnui is wholly wicked, or wliolly sanetilied. With them, a man who has believed and ro- ])ented in any degi'ce is saved. A man who is not savcnl can hav(; nothing good in him. Then, with ehiiracUa-istie nn- fairn(3ss, they argue from this ground as tjHobodi/ on him i'or salvation, they can never be Haved; for nuni dead in ti-csjiaHses and sins cannot rep(?nt and ])elievo without the .aid of tlie Spirit. Mr. Crook, in ids nunarks on this y)oint, ]»resse.s an important (picstion, which the " Hrethrcn " will find it.' soiiKnvhat dillicult to answer. " l>ut what, we shoidd like to ask here, is prior to th(! exercise of saving faith i Is a sinner in a regcuierate or nu regenerate state ] If reg(;n- erated prior to flw exercise- of smnn;/ J(f,ifh, faitli cannot have been the instruiaent of his salvation ; if then unregenerate, how comes it to pass that the J'cifh of an nnregenerate man is acceptal)le to Ciod, if nofJiittt/ on his part can be'{" I need scarcely pause here to notice the reiterated charge, that we, who reject these unscriptural fictions, and call n})on men everywhere to repent and believe in Christ, are legalists, preaching that men can repent without faith, and save th(!mselves by their own works. Is the rcujection of repentance and s[)iritual influence, prior to justilication, essential to justiiication by faith ? Do not the ministers of every evangelical section of the Church constantly urge ni)on their congregations the importance of immediate de- cision — the danger of delaying to close in with the offers of mercy, — tho folly of trusting to any thing that we can do, as the ground of pardon or acceptance — the infinite willing- ness of our Father in heaven, to receive and forgive all who come to him — and the com})letene.ss and sulliciency of the atoning work of Clirist 1 and is not our uniform answer to every penitent soul who asks what he must do to be saved, — " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou slialt be saved V No one can deny this ; except perhaps in the case of tlie extreme High Church party. And if this be indisputable, what shall we say of the untruthful insinua- tions and allegations, thrown out in almost every sermon of the " Revivalists," and in every pamphlet of the " Brethren," that the gospel is not preached in the Churches ? Are they true? Are they candid? Are they Christian? These people arrogate to themselves the name of " Brethren," as if there w^as no fellowship or brotherhood in the Churches but what they possess. They might be more truthfully 22 BROKEN HEEDS. W.: and appropriately designated " Fake accusers of the Brethren." Viewed in the light of the blessed truth, that God gives liis Holy Spii-it to tliem that ask Him, to enlighten, quicken, and strengthen their souls, how utterly false and delusive is the Antinoraian nonsense, so constantly repeated, that we can do nothing at all, — that we have no more to do with se- curing our salvation, than with the areation of the world ; or, as I heard Mr. Needham state it, that to say that man can do anything conducive to his salvation, is to say that the atonement of Christ is not suffi- cient, that we must add something of our own to it, to complete it. This dogma is fully expressed in an Anti- nomian ditty, which was sung, tiolce over, the first evening Mr. Needham preached in Ingersoll : ^' Nothing either great or small remains for me. to do ; Jesus died and paid it all — all that I was due. When he from his lofty throne stooped to do and die, Everything was full i/ done, " 'Tis finished," was his cry.' • Weary, working, plodding one, wherefore toil you so ? Ceas^. your doing, all was done long, long ago. Till to -Jesus' tvork you cling by a simple faith " Doing " is a deadly thing, "iJoing " ends in deatL Cast your deadly doing down, down at Jesus' feet ; Stand in Him, in Him alone, gloriously complete. " This needs no comment to explain it It has the merit of clearness. It is no use to sfiy that it merely means that the atonement was finished. It says a very different thing. If it be the atonement, it is the (atonement in an unscrip- tural and antinomian sense, which amounts to the same thing. How comforting to the sinner, that had scripturally thought it necessary to "crnfess and forsake" his sins. And this wretched falsehood is sung by " believers '* and " sin- ners," as the truth of the gospel. I say, without fear of contradiction, that there is not a single text in the Bible in support of this teaching ; and there are a thousand passages, that explicitly contradict it;. The Bible assigns a very different place to doing, and juaces our works in a very different relation to our ultimate salvation from what Russell, Needham & Co. do. " Not every one that saith mito me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ;. ill BROKEN REEDS 23 hut he that, doeth the v'ill of my Father v^hich is in heaven^^ (Matt. 7 : 21.) " Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Phil. 2 : 12.) Labor for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." — (John 6 : 27.) " Blessed are they that do his commayiduients, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." (Rev. 22 : 14.) ^^ If any man serve me, him will my Father honor." (John 12: 2G.) '■^ A7id let us not be lueary in well doimj ; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Gal. 6:9.) "And behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man accordimj as his work shall be" (Rev. 22 : 12.) (See also Matt. 7 : 20-29, and 25 : 31-46.) I ask any candid readerA who is willi .g to be taught of God, from his Word, if it j be possible for any sophistry or cuttle-fish mystification, ' even of those who have won the highest distinction, in the art of " darkening counsel with words without knowledge," to pervert, or twist these plain statements of Scripture, into harmony with the sentiments of the above hymn? Lan- guage must be emptied of all meaning, before the doctrine of the hymn and these texts can be reconciled. A gentleman in Ingersoll, aftei- hearing Mr. Russell preach this favorite do-nothing doctrine, asked him, " Do you believe that all men might be saved?" He said he did. " Do you believe that some will be lost ?" He assented, " But," said the (piestioner, " if those who are lost could, as you teach, do nothing towards securing salvation, it cannot be their fault that they are lost ; and the blame of their per- dition must l>e with God !" I need not say, that Mr. Russell could not evade the conclusion. For it follows in- evitably from the premises. Is there any scriptural sense, in which it can be said that anything that Christ did, either in his obedience or death, cancels our obligation to do anything that we have the power or responsibility to do ? Will any have the temerity to say, that because Christ offered a perfect obedience to God, that we are not under obligation to obey the com- mandments and requirements of God 1 Even if Christ had never made an atonement, it would not " remain for us to do;" for we could not do it I say, therefore, the scnti- 'f 24 BROKEN REEDS. ment, " Nothing either great or small n^mains for me to do," is as imscriptiirai as it is unreason aide and pernicious. It is nothing, whatever, to tlie point to say, in reply^ that man can do nothing of himself. I have shown conclusively above that he is not left to himself. God has promised to " give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him." The power to repent and believe is God's gift, through his Spirit ; for the exercise of that power man is responsibl . The grace of repentance is from God ; tlie act of repenting is man's act. It is sometimes strangely assumed, that to say any thing can be done by man at all, contlucive to his salvation, is derogatory to the divine glory and the work of Christ. But if all our works are wrought through God's imparted grace, how does tlue accomplishment of what God himself gave us the grace to do detract from his glory 1 Does it not on the contrary magnify his grace, when slaves of sin *' yiehl their members, as instiniments of righteousness unto God r Will Christ at last say, " Well done good and faith- ful servant," to any that have not done well ? ■ ''A / V. Unscriptueal Ideas of Salvation. All the apostles of the " new gospel " teach unconverted men that salvation is a perfected and finished thing ; that, 1 as soon as we believe, wo are complete in Clirist, fully / ^ sanctified as well as justified, — put in possession of "finishedX y '' ■ . '^salvation." In the Holy Scriptures we hear nothing of a i'^^ 1^^^'^' " finished salvation." There is, indeed, the maturity of ^i!^Cu {H^if*' gi-ace and holiness, to which believers attain, through the ■ sanctification of the Spirit ; but the idea of a salvation *' finished" beforehand, and handed over, like a sealed parcel, or a finished garment, is no where presented. " As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God." (John 1:12.) But to talk about salva- tion, as if it were an article made up and finished before we received it ; or to tell men, living in sin, that their sal- vation is " finished," is absurd and unreasonable. It im- plies a total misconception of the nature of salvation. What is salvation % I answer, it is a change of relation to NsGod and of personal character. It consists of thej ict , of fully ition aled As orae ilva- fore sal- im- EUOKEN REEDS. 25 > y -^/,. / God, -whereby he pardons the sinner who repents and be- lieves in Christ, and of the work of the Holy Spirit within us, quickening and renewing our hearts. Now,, although God is ever infinitely willing to do this for all who come to Him through Christ, to talk of this work as "finished" before it is even begun, is, in the very nature of things, a confused absurdity. And then, just think of Mr. Needham and all the rest, proving this absurdity, from the words of Christ on the cross, — " It is finished !" Just as if one was at liberty to make the "it " here represent anything their fancy chose. No one questions that Christ's atoning work is finish-^d ; but there is not the shadow of evidence, either from reason or Scripture, to show that when Christ said, — "It is finished," he meant that salvation was finished. On the contrary, it is clear, whatever was meant by these dying words, they could not possibly mean this. i The assumption that all who believe are wholly sanctified, is contrary alike to the testimony of Scripture and the facts of human experience. The main idea of Regeneration is the beginning of spiritual life. The believer is a " new creature " in Christ Jesus. And the idea of life implies growth and development. With this the Scripture images all accord. They all suggest growth and increase. " Being confident of this very thing, that he tlmt Imth begun a good loork inyou will perform it until the day of Christ." (Phil. 1:6.) " Grow in grace." (Pet. 3:18.) " Let us go on unto perfec- tion." (Heb. 6 : 1.) " Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (2 Cor. 7:1.) These texts show the falsity of that miscon- ception of the nature of salvation, which they derive from tlieir false and unscri^jtural theory of atonement ; — a theory which, by representing a man's sins to be " blotted out^" before they are committed, logically leads to the conclusion that no guilt ever attached to them, and thus opens a plenary indulgence to sin, quite as objectionable as that of Popery. 26 BROKEN REEDS. VI. Errors respecting the ground of Assurance. The question, — " How can I know that I am an accepted vhild of GocH" must always be one of profound p actical interest. To this question the " new gospel " gives a very- unsatisfactory answer. They reject the inward witness of the Spirit and the evidence arising from the fruits of Regeneration, and place the ground of assurance solely on those declarations of Scripture thaf testify to the atonement of Christ, and otfer foi-giveness through His blood. They aay that a believer has just the same e\7idence that he is a child of God, that he has for any other fact mentioned in the Scriptures. But as every testimony in the Bible was there before he became a child of God, as well as after, the whole operation consists in applying to himself, because he has believed, certain truths that he felt did n'guing in a circle. Mr. Crook unanswerably shows that as there is no text of Scripture giving to any person by name the assurance of forgiveness, that the most such a ground of assurance can amount to i.s an inferential argument, thus : — " Christ has promised pardon to all who believe : I believe, therefore I am par- doned." But this makes the sinner's opinion of the genuine- ness of his faith — which is the very point to be settled — the ground of his confidence that he is a child of God. Mr. Grant, in his "Answer," notices the objection, but evidently has no " answer " to it. Indeed none is possible. But there is now a people, as in the days of Solomon, that are " wiser in their own conceit than seven men that can render a reason," The remaining points I must touch very briefly. VII. Views op the Ministry. They do not believe in an ordained ministry, in any dis- tinction as between minister and laity, pastor and flock, though in their own sect they have practically the same thing which they denounce in others. Their views of the BllOKEN REEDS. 07 can ministry are similar to those hold by tlie Qiinkors. Tliey say that they meet under tlie direct presidency of the Holy Ghost ; but that we, by a])})ointing a pastor over a church, and to preside in our asseml^lies, put a num in the place of the Holy Ghost. Wherever they exist in suliicient num- hiiva they neglect the ordinances of the churches, whom they regard as all wrong, and meet together in select private conventions. As a minister of a church that has given the widest scope to lay agency, I have no objection to lay preaching. I believe in every man and woman exercising every gift with which God has endowed them, for the edification of the Church and the glory of God. But I ciinnot i^g.ird their oj)j)Osition to every section of the Chui'ch, exce})t their own little sect, and their opposition to the institution of the ministiy, so signally owned of God in the past, widiout feeling that the success of their principles would be the ovei'throw of the different churches in this country. The ministers are the standard-bearers and leaders of the Church ; drag them down from their official position, and divest them of authority to lead and administer discipline, and you will drag down the Church along witli them, and lay her banners in the dust. Did not Paul ordain elders at E})hesus, and command Titus to ordain elders in every city ? Is not a bisiiop, or elder, spoken of clearly as one who is appointed to the oversight of the Church 1 Do not the qualifications required, and the duties which St. Paul enjoins on bishops, conclusively show that they were set apirt to a special otlu j, and invest- ed with authority for the discharge of its duties ? Do not the epistles addressed to the "angels" of the Asiatic churches, in the Revelation of St. John, clearly establish the same thing 1 It may Ije said, that whatever may be the case in England or Ireland, that Russell, Carroll, Needham & Co., who are enlightening the Canadian churches, do not entertain such views ; as they have cordially co-operated with the ministers of several churc'ies. People must be easily satisfied that deem this satisfactory. They are not so devoid of all earthly A\4sdom as to denounce the ministers and churches, on wliose shoulders they have been borne into a more popular prominence, than they could have otherwise 28 BROKEN REEDS. attained. Have they repudiated Plymouth opinions re- specting the ministry'? Though douV)tless circumstances demanded more prudence on this point than on some others, are they not themselves self-appointed preachers, having no connection with any church, living examples of the Ply- mouth principle? And as there is no room for doubt as to their real sentiments on this subject, the concx^alment of their opinions, when they interfered with their success, would not very much commend them to any who did not believe in Jesuitism. But whatever prudence may have dictated on this point, I venture to predict;, if any perma- nent result remains fix)m their labors, it will be found antagonistic to the ministry, and as a thorn in the sides of the church. " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?" Neither will Plymouthism yield different fruits in this respect in Canada, than what it has borne in other places. And yet the divisions and quarrels among the "Brethren" have been a sad commentary on their views of the ministry, and their assumption of being under the leadership of the Holy Ghost. Mr. Grant, of Toronto, says : "Is it presump- tion, if the Sjnrit of God 1ms taught me truth, to say, '/ hnow it.' Does He teach truth in such a ivay as to lead me to saij afterward, '7 do not know for certain if it he so' This must justify me if 1 speak mo're positively than some may think becomes me."* Such a man has evidently got a long way beyond tJie point, where he could feel the force of an argu- ment or of a Scripture quotation. But though each teacher is under unerring guidance, there has been a good deal of coUision and strife among the infallibilities. At different points there have been pope against pope, party against party. Mr. Darby says of his opponent, Mr. Newton, who claims to receive the truth as directly from inspiration as himself, " / have not the least doubt that Mr. Newton had his system by direct inspiration from Satan, analogous to the Irving ite delusion!' *Answev ta "Lay Preaching in Irelaud," page 6. I '! RUOKKN ItKEDS. 29 Vlll. VaUK.US irNSCIlIPTURAL ElHlORS. Til ore are various other iinscriptural peculiarities of this heresy, which I cannot now discuss. They have a great deal to say about self-righteousness ; but their exclusiveness, their dogmatic assunij)tions, their denunciation of the churches, and their iiiu'easoning attachment to their iinscrip- tural })latitudes, })oint them out as answering very fully to the descri])tion of some mentioned in the New Testament, as *' certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." The Bible says, " Remember the Sab- bath day to keep it holy ;' the new gospel sa^^s all days are equally sacred. St. Paul says, " Goil hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness." (Acts, 17:31.) Mr. Darby says, "A}>art from funda- mental truth, I do not know a more mischief contradiction of scripture, than a general resurrection." Our blessed Lord says, " After this manner, therefore, pray ye," gor)('rj»t,ion in tho fiicility -with which it niak(!s (]iscij)l(!.s. It is just tho thiu^ that siniHTS have lorif^ been looking for, viz., how to he saved without repenting and forsaking tlndr sins. But 1 have shown con- clusively, that the alh'ged fact, which they tell a sinner to believe in order to obtain peace, is not true, in the sense in "which they use the words ; hence we cannot avoie, with a good deal of a certain kind of cant, and very little of manly, scrijitural, catholic godliness. All the Plymouth Evangelists have a good deal to say against self-righteousness. It should not be forgotten, however, that there may be just as much self-righteousness in boasting of being complete in Christ, and in assumptions of superior wisdom and goodness, as in trying to merit ral- vation by our works. Then, to say that there is a good deal Mi' BROKEN REEDS. 33 of truth in thoir teaching, is a vory lame argiimont. Any teacJiing, conijjObod of imniingled falsehoo(l,could vill get more than you Itargained for, and [>ay more t\\v.n you anticipated. Some Oalvinism you will })n)l)al)ly got ; l>ut you will get a good deal more. If the meniherH of your churches, who have imbibed the sentiments of the Plymouth Evangelists, continue as humble, as ardent in thidr attachment to the cliurch and regard for the ministry, as formerly, it will be something new under the sun. . Some, who had to dejjlore the neghfct and indiliei*enc(i of the peoj)le to the ordinances of the church — neglect, alas ! too common — would naturally feel a degree of satisfaction with seeing their churches crowded, night after night, by an interested auditory ; and their gratification at the result would naturally prevent any very close scrutiny, as to the means by which it was accom- plished. The stream that brings water to our mill, even though it nuiy be rather muddy, will have a charm for us, that no other stream, no matter how silvery, can claim. Some people say in efi'e it, let us have a religious sensation of some kind ; as to the means to be used, or the character of it, these are secondary. Against this sentiment I enter my unquali- fied protest. The church, or the community, with which the love of truth and the hatred of error has ceased to be a strong and controlling sentiment, has already sunk into darkness and feebleness. Shouhl this little pamphlet fall into the hands of any one, in danger of being ensnared by the plausible platitudes of the " Lay pi'eachers," I hope the thoughts here presented may show you the importance of studying the word of God, for yourself, rather than through the prejudices and fancies of men. Or should any who reads this tract be still unsaved and unforgiven, listen, I intreat you, to the voice of your pleading liedeemer, " Come auto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." " Strive to enter in at the strait gate." Ask God to give you his Holy Spirit, to show you your guilt and danger, and to enable you to come to Christ and trust — not in an historical fact — but in the faithfulness, love, and power of a living Saviour. Ingersoll, Feb. 11, 1869. k CfT^Jr^ f^ IN THE PRESS, jxjj HILL /;/■; rn:LL'iiJ:i) fauly l\ avuil, SONGS OF LIFE: VOLUME OF OinCiNAL POEMS. IIV THE TtEY. K. H. DEW ART, /■/.;, ot i:.(.f:iis. 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