A DISCOURSE,
DELIVERED AT THE
OPENING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
IN ST. LOUIS, MAY 17,-1855,
BY THOMAS H. SKINNER, D. D.)
PROFE,SSOR OF SACRED RIHETORIC, PASTORAL THEOLOGY AND CHURTCH POLITY I.N THIE
UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
SAINT LOUIS:
1855.
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F,    WE'/    /,f J/" j
Sr. Lours, May 21, tI58'
REV. T1. H. SXIN-ER, D, D.:
Dear Sir: The undersigned having listened with great pleasure toc the openiiin
sermon of the present session of the General Assembly, delivered by you, nd
regarding it as a pre-eminently wise and apposite exposition of the denominational
and thleological positionl and duties of our church, the general circulation of which
would be adapted to foster a heathful interest in olir body, take the liberty ta
request   ofyu'a copy for publitationo
JAMIES P. WILLSON,
HENRY A. ROWLAND,
A. BULLARYD,
HENRY N ILL,
C. R. ROBERT,
HENRY B. SMITH,
WM. C. WISNER
ST. LotIs, May 2) 1855
Tilt  REx,. JAItEs P. WILLSO,, I). D., AND OTHERS:
Dear Brethren:  In compliance with your  request  I give  you  my discoutrse
for publication, althoiugh  it was not designedl for the press, and I fear is i:ot
Altogether suited for it.
Yotirs, with great regard,
TIHOMAS Hl. SKINNER  
DISCOURSE
I WRITE NO NEW COMMANDMENT UNTO YOU, BUT AN OLD COMMANDMENT, WHICH YE HAD FROe
THEI' BEGINING. AG..N, A NEW COMMANDMENT I WRITE UNTO YOU.-I JoAn M, 7, 8.
It is common, in popular discourse, to contradict our own assertions immediately after making them-to say what we go on to
deny, or deny what we have just said. We do not, however, in
such cases, either intend to be inconsistent with ourselves, or speak
inadvertently; our design is to set the thing we speak of into contrast with itself, under different aspects. We speak of the thing in
the second instance, in a different relation, or with a different reference from  that which we intended in the first.   The  apostle,
in our text, does  not mean  to contradict himself, when, after
saying, "I  write no new commandment," he adds, in the following sentence, " Again, a new commandment I write."  What
he wrote was, for substance,  "the word which the church had
had from the beginning."  It wa, therefore, nothing new.   But
yet it was new, in a sense, on account of the new light which was
shining in respect to it; the new associations and enforcements it
had received-the fullness of meaning which it had been shown to
contain.
There has been but one true religion. There are two Testaments;
but the religion they contain is one.  Christianity, the new commandment of the apostle, is but the faith of the  antedeluvian
elders, in its maturity and completeness.   The books of the New
Testament, in their historical, doctrinal, and ethical details, and in
their diversified style, diction, examples, illustrations, are but the
perfect edition of a religion, the rudiments of which were given to
man by his Maker, near the beginning of his existence: regarding
it in its date, it was old, regarding it in the stage of development
which it had reached, it was strangely new: eye had not seen, ear
had not heard it; the thought of it had not entered into the heart
of man. 
The apostle might speak of it as new, comparing it with itself,
under the latest of its antecedent forms; those not only of the last
of the prophets, and of tihe harbinger of our Lord, but of our 
THE OLD IN THE NEW.
Lord himself, previous to his ascension.  Even during his personal
ministry, there was scarcely the twilight of evangelical truth, when'
compared with the full-day brightness with which it shone after the
baptism of the Holy Ghost and of fire.
Nor have the epithets old and new ceased to be applicable to
Christianity. There has been progress in the knowledge of Christianity-progress from vagueness to precision, from obscurity to
splendor, in some points-since the days of the apostles.  There
have been no authentic additions to it; but new representations and
impressions have been given of it, from time to time, in virtue
of which it has been itself called new.  At different epochs, it has
become almost as new as it was at first, in its new manifestations of
power, and in the new impressions which men have had of it. It
was so in the early part of the sixteenth century, when its republication by the reformers, was as a resurrection of it to the nations of
Europe. Indeed, at every period of awakening in the church, the
ancient faith becomes new again. Nay, it is, as it were, constantly
rejuveniziag itself in the experience of individual Christians, to
many of whom  it seems to be always becoming more and more
novel. The old, primitive word, the same essentially, yesterday,
to-day and forever, appears to them each day more fresh than
when it first opened itself to the.   It is always recognized by them
as the same old commandment, but it has a new aspect; everything
in it looks perfectly fresh and young; its facts, teachings, tendencies, bearings, relations, influences, are ever and more and more
new.
This power of self-rejuvenescence, this-old-new, or new-old life of
our religion, is what makes it a religion for all time-for universal
man, till the end of the world. It would not otherwise have a permanently saving power. It does not possess this power, as being
simply historic, that is to say, not a myth or fabulous, but founded
in fact; this is necessary, but not sufficient: to meet the wants nf
man in successive generations, Christianity must be unlike other
religions in two respects-not only in having a ground, as they have
not, in veritable history, but also in having power to renovate and
reproduce its ground, so as to make it no less real and manifest to
others of the remotest times, than it was to those who lived in the
beginning.  The past must return in the present; antiquity must
reappear in novelty: a merely historic religion is not an available
one-does not, cannot answer the purpose of religion.  Dying man
needs a Saviour, and one inhabiting the present equilly with the
6 
THE OLD IN THE NEW.
past, and one, moreover, present to him, and with him, as he walks
through the valley of  the shadow  of death,  more  really,  more
perfectly,  than  any fellow-mortal can  be  at  any  time.   The
ability of the Christian history, of the ground-fact of Christianrity, to reproduce itself in the present, to be always fresh,
young, palpable, as at first, in the experience of believers, is, in
truth, its saving  ability.   Christianity, divine  in its essence -a
divine life, as well as a divine doctrine-bhaving its spring in Godand being vitalized and sustained by the indwelling spirit of Godbeing, moreover, not only historic, but the  key of history-its
Author being the Creator and Ruler of the world, who orders the
events of time with reference to its advancement, and to the same
end exerts, when He pleases, supernatural forces: Hence its permanent efficiency as a religion for man; its antiquity and also its
perpetual and progressive novelty, its venerable age, and also its
eternal youth and freshness.
This two-fold characteristic of Christianity has given rise to a
principle of classification and division in the church.   The epithets
old and new, from this, as the occasion, have been applied to different classes of Christians. Among Christians, as among men, some
are constitutionally conservative, some versatile and impulsive: hence
antagonisms,  " sides,"  " schools,"  " lights,"-one  called  old
from their attachment to the oldness, the antiquity of Christianity;
the other new, from their characteristic susceptibility to the power
of the novelty in which Christianity arrays itself from time to time.
The latter designation has been applied to the church before whose
representative assembly I am speaking. They have not taken it to
themselves; it has been given to them, from what motive, I say
not;  perhaps it was that which first suggested  "Christians"  as
an appropriate name for the disciples of  our Lord: but understanding it in a good sense-a sense which i. will bear-we need not.
I think, be reluctant to be called by it.  So taken, it imports no
comparison of old and new in Christianity itself, no ground or possibility of a difference between Chlistianity at first and afterwards,
but only a special liveliness or impressibility to new manifestations
of what is, in inself, old.   This implies no want of interest or
delight in the old faith-it is, in truth, this delight, this interest
itself.  The novelty, whose power is felt, is not absolute novelty; it
is antiquity in novelty; the new does but reproduce the old; it is
the same old Christianity which the apostles preached, giving new
proofs of its identity, and of its invincible, undying, ever-efficient
7 
THI  OLD IN THE NEW.
power to save.-It is not a reproach, it is not weakness, to be perfectly alive, to novelty, under this idea of it. It is honorable to
be called new for such a reason, and more so than old, if the latter
term is to be understood in a sense implying that the other is not
honorable.
I have thought, fathers and brethren, that it will not be a misapplication of our time, on this occasion, if we employ what remains
of it in considering our own interest as a church-what especially
concerns us as having, under the providence of God, a distinctive
denominational existence, and, doubtless, a aistinctive and not unimportant mission to fulfil, in our day and country. Our position
and circumstances have suggested this as an opportune subject. We
are manifestly in a transition state-emerging out of what has been
regarded as a precarious condition, into one of more stability.
Placed between, and, in some vital respects, mingled with two large
religious bodies, to one of which one part of us, to the other another
part had strong affinity, our absorption into them has been anticipated and predicted: there is no longer hope or apprehension of
this.  A  lively preference of our order, a high appreciation of its
specific advantages, has developed itself amongst us, under circumstances specially suited to foster and extend it. Possibly, we are
in some danger from a too active, too impulsive denominationalism. We are, at least, not without temptations to excess. Is it
not wise to look to ourselves, lest the perils with which we  are
threatened come upon us? How desirable that our movements as a
church be now specially marked by discretion, by soundness of
judgment, by the fear of God, by the meekness of heavenly
wisdom, and be under the direction of the Spirit of God.  Thus, only
thus, may we earnestly and safely pursue the means of our denominational success, to the consideration of which I have ventured
to.ask your attention.
The points which seem to me most deserving of our thought, are
the following: To guard against excessive denominationalism; to
regulate the exercise of the principle, the propensity, which in one
way or another, has occasioned our distinct denominational existence and name; to increase our corporate strength; to adapt our
activity to its appointed sphere and times; and, in our administrative measures, to give a higher regard to the end for which the
church was designed, than has been common in any church.
I. To guard against excess in denominational activity, I assume
the legitimateness, the expediency even, of denominationalism,
8 
THE OLD IN THB NEW.
diversity of order and form in the church. It has no necessary connection with sectarianism: that is the bane of Christianity, but
denominationalism, apart from the spirit of sect, is but diversity in
unity, which, in the scheme of the world and in Deity itself, is the
condition of perfection.   Within the pale of the church, denominationalism, or its equivalent, is inevitable and indispensable, unless no
regard is to be had to variety of circumstances-that is to say,
unless practical wisdom and even common sense should be renouncedin the organization and discipline of churches. If it be insisted,
that the different churches, with their diversities of form, might be
subject to the same ecclesiastical rule, this, supposing the diversities
to be adequate, would be precisely the same, with unsectarian denominationalism, and the controversy would be about only a name. It is
not, therefore, schismatical, or, in any respect, unchristian, for a
company of Christians, under certain circumstances and within
certain limits, to prefer a peculiar church order: simply denominational organizations are warrantable, doubtless, from the New
Testament; are, in principle, if not in practice, apostolical; are
organizations in behalf of simple  catholic Christianity, fittingly
arrayed as to externals by the influence of circumstances and accidents.  They are not only allowable, they are necessary-necessary
to the highest triumph and the speediest progress, if not to the
purity and permanence of Christianity. Denominationalism, nevertheless, is peculiarly liable to abuse: there is, perhaps, no extant
church which is not more or less an example of this abuse-not:ne
which is not more or less sectarian.  Has  not the sririt of sect, not
mere preference as to form, but an exclusive, unchurching, uncharitable narrowness. given origin to more than one of existing denominations?   In organizing  themselves, have they not erected mere
matters of ceremony, or modes of order, external forms, into walls
of separation, barriers to communion, among the members of the
body of Christ? In planting churches, in measures for extending
themselves, in administrative proceedings, to what extent have they
assumed practically, if not theoretically, that other churches of
Christ, even the best of these churches, were not his churches-disregarding their preoccupation of places- taking positions with
reference to proselytism from them, and either refusing offices
of brotherhood, or performing them with sectarian views? There
is no spirit, in the exercise of which our moderation, our tempernce, our vigilance, should be more exemplary, than in that which
inclines us to denominational movements. The desire to be first
9 
THE OLD IN THE NEW.
is often stronger in corporations than in individuals, and in
religious corporations, where it is most out of place, it is a,pt to be
stronger than elsewhere; and when this desire can disguise itself
under the show of zeal for purity and more effective working, as it
always seeks to do in its religious developments, it will suffer no
restraint, set itself,io limits, suspect itself of nothing  amisq,
though as craving, as unscrupulous, and as boundless in its ambition as anti-christ himself.
I cannot, therefore, allow myself to stimulate our denominationalism, without endeavoring to secure its activity against the
self-deceptive, self-blinding influence of the sectarian spirit, the
veritabled anti-christ.   It is, I doubt not, good, nay, even the
best, and may be the instrument of good; it ought not to be
inert; its vigorous activity is the condition of'our highest efficiency as a church; and, hitherto, since the unhappy dismember
ment of the Presbyterian body in this country, it has not been energetic enough amongst us. We seem to have been but feebly tempted
by the desire of denominational aggrandizement; we have done too
little, given too little thought to our furtheriance as a church; we
have, perhaps, been excessively inclined to a confraternal, cooperative type of activity, more to others' advancement than our
own.  It is time, doubtless, to awake out of our sleep, to redeem
the time in which we have been so delinquent in duty to ourselves
But let us not forget the peril to Christianity, the general
cause of  our own  and all churches,  in so far  as our activity
is to have its spring, in the  desire of advancing our distinctive
denominational interest. However legitimate or worthy this motive,
there is nothing that acts in this world amidst greater incidental
peril to the purpose for which it should aet, than the denominational
spirit.. What danger, that it will cease to be merely denominational? that it will become piously sectarian, piously ambitious,
piously manouvering,  piously  fraudulent? that instead of being
a means of advancing the cause of Christ., it will become its own
end, and push its own interests against those of other and all denominations; assuming the superiority of a part to the whole,-the
circumstantial to the essential, the variable to the permanent, making Christians to be exscinders of one another, and Christ to be
divided against himself; in a word, substituting the concision, in
place of the circumcision.
Perhaps, moreover, we have a special reason for caution. If we
we- in a transitional state-if we are passing out of an extreme,
10 
HE OLD Im THE NEW.
that of indifference as to our denominational standing, may we not
very naturally proceed to the opposite extreme; may not the swing
of the-pendulum, in this case, be too forcible; may we not advance
too fast, and go farther than we should, unless we are careful as to
our movement?  May we not part sooner than it is expedient to do,
with what has hitherto been our distinction-no dishonorable one that of a comprehensive and co-operative type of activity? Should we
not wish to retain this distinction, as far as we can do so, with just
self-respect and decorum?  Amidst our measures for compacting
and enlarging ourselves, which, I am persuaded, should not be  s
inefficiemt, as unsystematized, as few, as they have been, should not
this one endeavor surmount and overrule every other, namely, to
maintain the unity of the spirit ill the bonds of peace, in the Universal Church-the common cause and honor of all evangelical deno minations.  How melancholy a change in us, if our fellowship-with
the communion of all saints should deny or discredit itself, by refusing to interehange appropriate offices of fellowship with any portion
of that blessed and only true communion; if in advancing ourselves
into denominational magnitude and strength, we should make oae
church, not an example and a model, but a shame and a scandal to
other churches, and the world?
II. The next point is the regulation of the principle of our denominationalism-that susceptibility to the novel in the manifestations of
Christianity which has occasioned our distinctive existence and title.
This susceptibility, I repeat, we need not wish to disown.  If it be
true, that while other religions are becoming antiquated, decrepit,
effete, Christianity abides young and fresh as at first, and is always
to be giving new manifestations of its immortal vigor, there ought
to be some to recognize it in these fesh displays of itself; and if we
are quick to do this, it is certainly no disparagement to us-nothing
to incur reproach or contempt from our brethren. If Christianity
have indeed the character we have ascribed to it, and if its course is
to be parallel to that of knowledge, art, eivilization; or if the future
is to be judged of from the past; or if the prophecies have not been
misinterpreted, and the hopes and prayers of the church are to be
fulfilled, there is doubtless to be no abatement in the demand for the
exercise of New Schoolism; the only question is, whether the demand
is to be met, or whether Christianity, in its coming revelations of
power and glory, is to be ignored or disowned? The Old School, so
called, has one seeming advantage: the true faith is old, and so far
as disis concerned, the trie school must be an old one, and FUJ
.II
I 
I;    II THRE NEW.
questions, as to the claims of schools, are to be settled by referring
them to the primitive standards of truth. "Thus  saith the Lord,
Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths."   (Jer. 6^
16); but in regard to this, the New School concedes no superiority
to the other.  We have expressed the sense in which it submits to be
called new; ancl if it is reproached on this account, its reproach
reverts at last to those from  whom  it comes.  There is an Old
Schoolism with which no connection is to be desired-that which will
acknowledge nothing save error and fanaticism in any form of
novelty, though from Christianity itself. This, call it what you wil,
is essentially the same with that ancient traditionalism, that Jews'
religion, whi'ch stoned the holy prophets and crucified the Lord of
glory. There is, we must admnit, liability to abuse in the principle
of the New School; but there is liability to this, also, on the other
side. If, in the way of warning, the latter can point the New School
to extravagancies, fanatical excitements, sects, heresies, secession,
this, in return, can remind the Old how often the words of ihe
prophet have been fulfilled in those who have made their boast in
venerable antiquity:  "I Behold ye despisers, and wonder and perish;
for I work a work in your days, a work which you shall in nowise
believe, though a man declare it unto you." There is probably as
much danger of the abuse of principle in the one sbhool as in the
other. We recognise certainly no special disadvantage, no inferiority
of excellence or value, in the principle of our denominationalism.
We give it the preference before every other.
But excellent and noble as it is, there may be need of caution and
vigilance as to its exercise.  Perhaps it were well for it to be com
bined with the antagonistic principle. The two schools, as to their
influence on each other, perhaps, ought not to be disparted.  The
development of their respective tendencies might be purer, safer,
and. at the same time more effective and fruitful from their conjunct
reciprocal action on each other.  The new might gain, in one respect,
at least, from union with the old- our tendency is to be eager and
progressive; theirs conservative; both are needful; each needs to be
balanced and corrected by the other. There may be excess in conservatism; at remarkable manifestations of the Spirit, its devotion to
antiquity has sometimes restrained it from  full sympathy with the
new aspects and advances of the truth.  There is also, let us admit,
an inclination to excess in the activity of the other principle-the
susceptibility to the novel —the principle of progress.  Novelty may be
welcome, not as a new phase or exhibition of the ancient faith, bus
12 
TER OLD D TI N.
%r its own sake, or as absolute novelty.  Pleasure in novelty, sin ply
as such, is sometimes a predominant passion, so intense and' active,
that the subjects of it spend their time in nothing else but either to
tell or hear some new thing. The great adversary of the truth
depends, for his success against it, chiefly on his ability to satisfy
and actuate this propensity.   low vast the multitudae and variety of
lying wonders," the food provided by him for the love of novelty in
religion, with which the world, and especially this age, is kept so
fall!
And the actual state of mind in the church in respect of the former
belief-the old commandment heard from the beginning, is a startling
commentary on the remark now made.  " There is," says one of the
first of living authors, I"t there is little, perhaps, in the cycle of our
predecessors' confession of  faith, which, if challenged to relin quish, we should want to see erased.   But Whether we  be  dim
tinctly conseiouS of the fact or not, there has tome to stand
over against each article of that belief, a CounteYbalatce, an influence of abatement, an unadjusted surmise, an adverse feeling,
neither assented to nor dismissed, but which holds the mind in perpetual supense.  The creed of this time is, let us say, word for word,
the creed of sixty years ago; but, if such a simile might be allowed,
these items of -our "'confession,'  now fill one side of X balancesheet, on the other side of which there stands a heavy'charge which
has not yet been ascertained or agreed to."  Is it a predisposition to
novelty or aversion to orthodoxy, to'" the old commandment," Which
is revealing itself, in this misgiving as to the doctrines of the church
in other days?
Fathers and brethren, while we rejoice in'our denomina.tiohal index
pendence of tradition, our openness to new m'anifesttlions of th'e
truth, let us not forget its temptations-let us rejoice in it with
trembling. As far from us as from any others be the absurdity that
substantive Christianity has not been understood, that the creed
of the church has not yet expressed, for substance, the meaning of
Scripture.  A faith which is not historic, the roots of which do not
strike quite through the past, even to the beginning, the roots,
trunk, or branches of which belong to a tree which has been planted
since the apostolic age, is not a saving faith, is a tree which has not
been planted by our Heavenly Father, and is therefore destined to
be rooted up. The apostle intended to make this assertion virtually,
*hen Se discbelaimed writing "4 a new commandment." Any writing
purporting to embody the gospel, would not be true, it would, be
13 - 
Tg.i T  NgEw
onothor gospel, if it were absolutely novel: even ever the signattre
of John, or Paul, or an angel from heaven, it would not be worthy
of our acceptation.  lgo, in the true faith, that once delivered to the
saints, there never is absolute novelty, there is absolute contimuity, as
unbroken as the course of the ages,  That faith may be as a river
which widens ard deepens, and moves with increasing fore, as it
advances towards the ocean, but it is ever the same, and the ark, the
only ark of salvation, is borne on its cwent,  We do not admit, in
saying this, the infallibility of the church, or its perfect knowledge
of the Scriptures, nor do we question the right or the duty of each
individual to interpret the Scriptures for himself.   We are to search
the Scriptures; we are to try by them every doctrine, every spirit,
every church; we are to call no man, or company of men, master;
we are to take as. our motto: " Let God be true, but every man a
liar."  Faithis not credulity; we cannot truly believe, except from
sufficient evidence, apparent and satisfactory to ourselves: never
theless, if wrhat we do believe is absolute novelty, or different, as to
substance, from what the chxurch has believed from the beginning; if
our interpretation of the Scriptures be essentially different from that
of our predecessors, if we have forsaken the "old paths". of former
believers, whether as to faith or practice, we have abused our liberty,
we have misunderstood or rejected the meaninrg of the Scriptures;
a deceived heart hath turned ts aside, and we are as wandering stars:
to whom the mist of darkness is reserved.
I have no suspicion that we, as a church, have any special proneness to aberration from the ancient faith. We have given no occasion
forthis suspicion   Up to this day, our love of the new in religion,
has given no proof that it is aught more or less than the love of the
old in the new; not disIoyaity, but fealty to orthodoxy,' has hitherto
Been as much our distinction as that of the Old School.  We  may,
have been freer than they as to our modes of thought and speech,
we have had differences from them  as to certain points of doctriner
but we have not been less constant to the harmony of the Protestant
confessions, and especially to th-e Westminster confession, our own,
and, we think, much the best of them alI,  We havre  of late gloew
special evidence of our orthodoxal soundness and firmness.  Previous
to the disruption of our church' it was charged that we were restrained,
from heretical outbreaks by ecclesiastical connections;;but since that
sad event, we have not declined in our orthodoxy; we have stood firm
and united on our old doctrinal basis; and this amidst a revival of'
outside errors and delusion, by which, hadl it been possible, the very'
1-4 
THE OLD IX T]B NEW.
elect might have been carried away.   To  God be praise, for this
testimonial of our loyalty to his truth. It cannot, without uncharitableness be discarded or gainsayed; nevertheless, let us not deny
that our active, progressive tendency has not been without a snare;
and that it is to the effectual grace of God that our steadfastness is
to be ascribed. Let us also keep ourselves apprised of the circumstances of peculiar temptation which still beset us; and finally, let us
admit, that in our isolation from our brethren, we have more cause to
be on our guard(i against excess in the exercise of our-denominational
principle, more need of self-superrision and self-control in respect to
it" than when we were more subject to their conservative oversight.
III. Under thie hedge of restrictions and cautions which I have
placed about the subject, I may now  urge, thirdly, the giving of
proper care in order to nourish and develope  our corporate strength.
I speak of strength purely denominational, not in any form or degree sectarian, strength to be used for our own purposes, only in so
far as they involve the common cause of Christians, tihe ultimate
end for which the church exists.   In this view it is an object of desire, and the acquisition and exertion of it, a duty as far as in us
lies.
But here, doubtless, it is at once felt that a special obstacle is; to
be encountered in the principle of our denominationalism.   This
principle, that of the highest freedom, of ready fealty to truth whether in an old or a new aspect, has little affinity for any forecasted
apparatus or machineryof church action; the only frame work it would
choose to put itself in, is that of spontaneous growth, the upspring
of its own free unforced dynamic life.  It is especially reluctant
to engage in the ordinary means of denominational consolidation,
the centralizing agencies through which the force of the body may
work most efficiently, to the strengthening and extension of itself.
It shrinks from factitious organisms suited to favor the aspirations
of place-seekers.  It prefers the most unmechanical, the most comprehensive, the most  unsectarian plans of working.   Hence,  no
doubt, the preference, the promptitude of our church, to co-operate
with other churches in evangelical labors.
But may there not be excess even here? A denominationalism
which has a right to existence, ought to have as vigorous, as useful,
as efficient an existence as possible.   As long as it remains pure or
unsectarian, it cannot be too efficient.  Such a church as ours, with
numbers so large, with such intelligence, talents, and' piety in its
ministers and people, should not be without an organific, directing
l5 
TIM OLD IN TUB  EW.
force, a force at once cohesive, concentrating and impulsive-a force
whereby the activity of the whole may be directed to particular points
for the achievement of particular ends.  Let us think, to what would
our collective force amount, if its full estimate was taken? Is there
any enterpsise of holy labor to which it could not supply the adequate means, whether material, intellectual, or spiritual?   Now
brethren, may we have such a talent, and be under no obligations to
use it?
The excellence of our denominationalism, the estimation which
we ourselves have of it, requires us the more to foster it. That
which in its principle is so free, so loyal, so devoted to truth, present
herself as she may, so catholic, so noble, shall this be the only weak,
the only uncultured denominationalism? Is its worthiness a reason
forneglecting it, or a security to it. against injury from neglect?
Does the actual state of it, under the neglect it has received from
us, prove that it is likely to thrive by means of neglect?
It is not mine to urge  specific measures,  or to say how fast, or
how far we should proceed with them. Ifwe are governed by our principle, we shall not be in haste.   While others will work with us, we
shall hardly be true to ourselves if we do not, as we have done, prefer to work with them as far as we can without compromising our
distinctive interests. But some specific means, some system of agency
for consolidating and energizing our church beyond  any hitherto
employed, ought, I must assume, to be undertaken; and without ind(licating measures, points may be named, to which our attention
should be directed. While the thorough religious training of our
ieople, their advancement in enlightened and solid piety, in spiritual
,knowledge and discernment, the rendering them strong individually in
Order to their becoming so collectively; while this should be diligently
.nd patiently pursued by every apprcpriate means-press, pulpit, cate.chism, school-they should also be well instructed in the character
of our denominationalism; the merits of our position when our dismemberment occurred; the nature of the novelty which has given
,us our name; our advantage, so far as this is concerned; our substantive orthodoxy, exempt, though we be, from bondage to names
Ead traditions; the type of our Calvinism; the character of our
authorship  and literature;  our place in the history of. religious
movements; the spirit of our ministry and churches; their unlati.
tudinarian liberality; their position among witnesses to the cause of
evangelical truth and religion; their open, unflinching, invincible
front, against every form of error and immorality; the energeti(,
aggressive, efficient character of our evangelism.
16 
oBE D M HIa IWW.
iAgain, we should nourish a denominational spirit, an esprit du
torps, in our church, whereby,; and by no other means, wil it be
able to combine the energy of the whole in particular enterprises
Above all, we should endeavr to augmaent, elevate, and strengthes
(ur ministry. the Tief means bf our denominational influence, our
thief concern, of cotrse, next to the purpose of our existence-that,
which being secured to the adequate extent, we shall watt fur
nothing else; which being, o  the other hand, negleoted, all or
andertakings will want tkeir chariot-whee, will be driven heavily~
if they advance at all. 
These, fwther  and brethren, are the centres of effort, the goals
to which our denominutionalism should press f ard, ad while I
,m aware of a special difficylly in its way, growing out of its prin ciple, this coiciousness is more than tounterbalnced  by &at Of
v fact which has, I think, the same soda  special homogeneity,
the basis of a real agreement among ourselves.  Th]e  is, I nm
confident, no extant church more capable of solidly comG,cg and
strengthening'tselif than ours-none that has the materials of,a
sore pure, dense, solid denominationalism-none, tie'.members of
which better inderstand, or more cordially love and  coufide incomw
another.  Tke freeness, the'exibility of our principle to the fore
of evidence, oby asserting its character in our history,'has made us
like-minded ltard  one another, whatever else it may  se, done
or not done for us.   Nor should the fwt that we He   ithero
none so lit-de in denominutiorlizing ourselves, discourage Atture
endeavors.   Our  circustaces  have scarcely allowed ts to -do
more. At the date of'the separation between the two schools,
seventeen years ago, we were connected semi-ecclesiastically with
thers, with wLom we expected still to cttrate as we had dat
and even to be more closely assocrted. We have been disappointe4they have preferred separaticn:  slowly, under the influence of
changes which have been occurring from time to time, w  have'haa
'to study the plat of agency proper for us: we could not anticipate what has happened; it has hindered -attempts at cosolidation
We are better prepared'to make them now: the time for beginning
them'has come.  We seem  almot shut p to them, by the course
ptalrea by others in regard to us; we may no longer refrain from
them.  At the call of Divine Providlence, -ad in gtreng& not.ur
I"M, 1' let us rise and build."
IV. I have said, fourthly, that we ought to adapt ouar etivity to
the Bge and sphere we live ia.  Cooaeeted t*tit'e iovelty ~fle
1'7  
TH lmOfD EIN tHE NeNw.
manifestation which Christianity has made  of itself at  diffcrent
periods,. its new displays of life and strength, there always haw
been, novel modifications of agency on the part of the church.  Thw
old faith and the old ordinances have been adhered to,. but- with new
means of appliance.  It was thus in the time of our Lord; it was
thus with his disoiples, after the- opening of the new dispensation;
it was.thus - the revival under Luther; it has been. thus at all subsequent revivals.   The oldness and the newness  of  Christianty
involve old and new forms of agency in its ministers and disciples
There are variations as to these, nt only in different times, but in
different places at the same time.   In  Germany, in France, in
Eigland, in Scotland, in this new country, the modes of religious
activity have always been, as they are now, in some respects very
different.   They have been so, in accordance with  the spirit of
Christianity and  apostolic example.   In no church  should this
pliancy to-'cireumstances, this variation of the form of aetivity, to
suit it to the exigences of time and place, obtain more readily and
completely than in our own.  We are specially committed to it by
the- principle, the law of our denominational life.  We  deny our
neB'schootism, if Ed  new m.tnifestations of the Spirit, and under
new circmnstances  there be not a- correspondent  novelty in themanner  of  our operations.   And- if the correspondene  in. thepresent case be complete-and in so far as. it is incomplete' it Will
not be faultless-what must be this manner? As to this, one thing
is clear, it will be without precedent in the history of former times;
for never, and nowhere, has there. been a parallel to our circumstances. In some cardinal respects, our country stands alone; and
from-the beginning, religion has had a beaxing and an aspect here,
whih it- has not elsewhere had.  And our nationality, combining
with- the type -of our religion, and this with that, and both with. a
conflux of new influences from abroad, have given us E most
marked, and singular status in the' history of mankind. Additional
to this, we experience, in. common with civilized man, the force of a
very novel' age,. before which all human. and' divine institutions seem
to' be shaking and bending.   Now, if our circumstances should give
fashion to our activity-, ought we to, look to other ages, or other
countries, to supply us with its pattern?   "Hence,"  said Dr.
Owen, two hundred' years ago, propounding an inference from 
passage of Scripture on which he had' been discoursing, "hence is
the suiting of great light and great work in our days;'" and' he
enforced this pithy inference-with this no less pithy remark: "Let
.19 
THE OLD IN THE NEW.
new light be derided, whilst men please;, he will never serve the
will of God in this generation, who sees not beyond the line of
foregoing ages."  Applying this for the regulation of our course,
what will be its tenor? Will Germany, or England, or Scotland, or
New England, or our own previous experience, give us its example?
Without attempting its complete delineation-a task how impracticable, amidst changes yet in progress, and new ones constantly
beginning-it may be sketched, perhaps, from a few points of view.
On the one hand, most certainly, our civil state, our very unique
nationality, should have influence on it. This, immeasurably beyond
parallel, affords us advantages for Christianizing the people, securing us perfect freedom of speech and of the press, and protecting
us against interference in the exercise of this freedom, opening
itself, at the same time, to appliances of Christianity-advantages
not given to the apostles, the reformers, the puritans, to any of
any other age or land.   On  the other nand, nevertheless,  our
activity should have a breadth, a universality of bearing, transcending all national, all local bounds.  Its stamp should be that of
humanity, more than that of our free, republican Americanism.
The world is intensely tending to unity;  the different races  are
flowing together, and becoming one; ideas, modes of thought,
language, customs, caste, aristocracy, are ceasing to separate the
children of Adam; and in this country, more than elsewhere, this
restoration of the human family is advancing: all nations are
here coming together and commingling; the human predominates
over the national and the geographical; the links of being are
becoming rather those of man with man, than those of country.
If our agency is to conform itself to its sphere, will it permit
itself to be stereotyped into the forms of the past; will it endure
the restrictions of sect, of tribe, of tradition?  Shall we preach,
write, pray, labor, live, as did our predecessors, who, if they
should appear again on earth, might not recognize the world which
gave them birth, so changed has everything become in its condition.
In another particular, the character  of'the requisite agency
is apparent. We shall not have to do with unlettered masses:
popular education is advancing. The country abounds in schools,
books, pamphlets, newspapers, lecturers; the people hear, read,
think on all subjects, political, scientific, moral, religious; they
are becoming familiar, they will be more and more familiar, with
the objections of infidels and the difficulties of Christianity. Swift
as the sun's rays is the flight of knowledge through the land.
1.9
w 
THE OLD IN THE NEW.
Hence, a necessity will be upon us to make more use than we have
done. of the great energies of  the  press; we  cannot otherwise
make effectual aggression on the irreligious masses, or even get
access to them. We must employ abundantly a vigorous, attractive,
popular, solid literature.  We must have the mastery in knowledge
and learning; in criticism and interpretation; in science and philosophy; in writing and book-making, as well as in eloquence and
public speaking.   This necessity will not abate; it will greatly
increase the demand for spiritual-mindedness and self-consecration.
It has been thought that the pulpit is to have less to do; that
preaching itself is to become secondary to the press.   There is no
probability of this.  The  province of  preaching is distinct from
every other, has a distinct and independent ground; and if every
other means should attain its end and ce:,se, this would remain,
and be more than ever in demand, and more than ever productive
and useful. Preaching has two purposes; one of instruction and
persuasion, the other of worship-a means of faith and spiritual
discernment of divine things.  If for the first it were no longer
needed, for the other it would be needed more. If preaching
and every other agency were no longer required to make converts;
if there were none left to be converted-to say to his neighbor,
or brother, know the Lord, because all would know him, frm  the
greatest to the least-  there would  be  for this  cause a larger
use of the pulpit; there would be more and better preaching,  and
it would be more  effective  and useful.   The supremacy  among
means was given to the pulpit, not for a time, but till the end
of time.   Its sphere is, and will remain, the upper, the upholding,
the all-actuating and all-strengthening sphere. The form of preaching will change; other changes will bring on this; the mould
and fashion of sermons, with everything else, will become new; but
sermons, instead of ceasing or being less in dempand, are, doubtless,
to be both more abundant and more excellent and efficient than they
have been generally in any former age. In its own sphere, the
press has immeasurable power; but, like everything else, it is
subordinate to the  pulpit, which, in proportion to its success,
it must aggrandize, stimulate, and strengthen.   "I many a time
say," remarks a very original author, "the writers of newspapers,
pamphlets, poems, books, these are the real, working, effective
ehurch of a modern country." In one sense, they may be, perhaps,
but not in a sense which implies the supersedure of preaching,
Without the continuance and the supremacy of which there would
. 20 
THE OLD IN THE NEW.
soon be no church, though all should be writers and book-makers,
and better than the best, whether of the living or the dead.
But will not preaching, it has been asked, be less exclusively professional, less confined to an ordained ministry, more as it was in the
early days of  Christianity, before  the clergy became  a caste, a
guild of priests; before the return of sacerdotalism suppressed
the exercise of speaking-gifts in the laity?   As to this, we ought,
perhaps, to anticipate a change; indeed, a change is now taking
place, and the exigenices of the age seem to require that it
go on.   If it may but proceed without indecency and disorder,
is not its consummation to be desired-?  " In  a convert-making
church," says one of the strongest and best of modern writers, "in a convert-making church, to which, after the apostolic
model, believers are added daily; in such a church, neither its
onward progress nor its permanence, can, in the nature of things,
be provided for and secured, except by calling forth the gifts,
and by allowing and  favoring  the services of  laymen,, locally
connected with each single congregation.    A  church, which, in
the spirit of rigid and arrogant adhesion to certain principles and
rules, persists in refusing all such aid, and will do what it does only
by means of educated and ordained ministers, must abide by the inevitable consequences; that is to say, must fail in a main article of
Christian duty, and be content to sleep with them that sleep." If
this be so, as a general fact, much  more  in the scenes which
are before us.   It will not be  for us, certainly, to  suppress
lay-agency; the question as to lay-preaching is a delicate one,
which we cannot now examine; but let not our views as to order
imply that order must be at an end, when all, in the use of whatever gifts they possess, are abounding in the work of the Lord:
perfect church-order requires this precisely. Then is true order kept
perfectly in a church, when every gift of every individual, lawyer,
physician, tradesman, artizan, male and female, is fully and' regularly developed. Order is a positive thing;' otherwise, who more
orderly than the dead in their graves?   All have not the gift
of speaking; all who have it are not to exercise it in the pulpit,
but exercise it they must in the service of the church, or incur a
grave responsibility.   "There is, one would say," says an author
before cited, "there is, and ever must remain, while man has
a tongue, a distinct province for speech, as well as for writing and
printing." Yes, a distinct province, undoubtedly, and it is, I add,
the uppermost and overruling province.
21: 
THE OLD 1N THE NEW.
V. I mentioned as yet another object of our attention, greater
regard than has been common to the end for which the church was
designed, in administrative activity-measures of government and
oversight. The government of the church should have paramount
respect to this end, no less than should that of a state to the end
of its appointment.   The church and the state have different purposes.   A  state exists for itself, for self-wellbeing; accordingly,
all procedures of government in it are carried on: a state must not
interfere with the rights of other nations; incidentally its administrative measures may advance the good of mankind; but a state
exists, not for benevolent ends, but for its own advantage. It would
be forsaking its sphere, renouncing its proper end and character, by
setting itself to the improvement of mankind, and, with reference
to this, administering its affairs. If this nation should manage its
finance, its army, its marine; conduct its elections, hold its assemblies, arrange its cabinet; in a word, carry on its government for the
reformation of morals in Europe or elsewhere, it would mistake its
mission, it would disown its character as a nation. The church, on
the contrary, would be doing precisely what it was intended for, by
administering its government with reference to such an end.  The
church exists, it is true, for its own benefit, its self-edification; but
this object has reference to a further one, which, as Dr. Arnold has
well said, is the putting down of moral evil, whether in itself or in
the world.   The kingdom of Christ, though not of the world, was
for the express intent of acting on the world, as a reclaiming and
reformatory instrument. It was to be intensely and ceaselessly
aggressive-to conduct its government analogously to that of an
ambitious state, aiming at universal empire, and pursuing, in every
direction, wars of conquest.   Though its weapons were not to be
carnal, its battles not for, but against the objects for which nations
fight, it was, in its ultimate bearings on its obstinate adversaries, to
be more terrible than "an army with banners."   See how she is
characterized in the inspired Word: "Behold, I will make thee a new
sharp-threshing instrument, having teeth: thou shalt thresh the
mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff:
thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the
whirlwindshall scatter them." (Isaiah xli, 15, 16.) Taking, hence,
our idea as to the design and work of the church, what a misnomer
will it seem to us, to call by this name any inert or introactive cor poration? A church government, which does not assume that it is
to have reference, first and last, to a ceaselessly agonistic con
.22 
THE  OLD IN TIM  NEW.
test against moral evil, wherever it is to be found; that it is to
set itself to,the pulling down of the strongholds of iniquity, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ —to
set itself to this as its appointed"work, through the length and
breadth of the earth-overlooks the purpose for which Christianity,
with its church and all its provisions of grade and power, was
intended.  And know we not, fathers and brethren, that this mi
take has been made, and that it is still almost universal? Among
moral mysteries, this has the pre-eminenee. After eighteen centuries, the world remains unsubdued, the largest part not acknowledging Christ, so much as in name, and where he is acknowledged, not
a few denying him in works.
In view of this fact, some assert that the church and Christiaity
are failures; but failures it does not prove them  to'be, unless
experiment As to their efficiency has been made; and can we think
that this experiment has been made, when we look at the character
of  the business which, since the days of the first Christians, has
engaged the activity of the church, and especially that of ohurchconventions and councils, met for administrative purposes.? As to
the result of experiment, there has been no failure, no possibility'of
one; the only failure'that can be charged, is, that the experiment
has not been made.
There is, let it not be overlooked, a special cause for what is so
much to be deplored.   The church, almost from the beginning, has
been harrassed by intestine evils; its members, its ministers, in many
instances, have been its chief enemies; its doetrines have been
corrupted; it has been annoyed incessantly by unholy alliances with
the world; it has been obliged to look narrowly to its internal state.
The condition of the church has resembled that of a country, which,
while foreign invasion calls for all its resources, has to carry on civil
wars. But giving this fact its full force, the chureh's negligence of
the main purpose for -vhich'it was founded, especially, and above all
in its administrative functions, remains before us as a'characteristic
fact, throughout nearly its whole history. -This, which may be well
termed the summiit of moral blindness and perverseness, is not always
to remain.   The experiment as to the efficiency of the church will at
length be made.  A change promising this has begun.   The piety
of the church is becoming more outwardly active, more  combattive
against evil, more missionary. The character of its administrative
business, must of coursebecome, indeed, is becoming, correspondingl different. Not the settlement of domestic disputes,'the trial f
28, 
gi.BB oLi), rt-.'.
appeals, the review of records, the censure and correction of viola tions of order, the search after, and the  coldemnation of heresy,
the testifying against errors anl irregularities; these, however neces sary and importai-t, will wt' be the chief things to be attenRded to
no, they wilT be, comparatively as nothing, even as the land which
the church Em gained, is a  nothing compared with the vast regions
ef heathenism, imposture, superstition ail irreligion, which remain to
be conerted into the vineyard, the garden of God.  The devising
ewe ways and means of aggression, the conduting of itineracies
and missions, the increase ansd improvement of the ministry, the
rendering all the churches missionary institutions, and engaging  all
their members one way or another, in missionary work, pIans for de-.
veloping the resources of the church in carrying on evangeicat labors,
far, near, and everywheiedle, and such as these, should be the
chief articles of business-the starting, points of newadmministra tive activity and wisdbm.
I have thus, fathers and brethren, presented most imperfectly and
feebly, I am aware, what I take to }e the outline of Ecclesiaatical
Prudence, the course of wisdom ant expediency for us, as a religious
denination.  Assmng it to be. so, and that the completion eof it
is neccessary to our highest elesastical efficiency, we cannot but feel
eurseves bound to adopt it.  It is an authoritative law which we may
not cast away from us. We have no strength which we should not use in
the service of Him whose we are. - We owe to,Him, the whole of our col lective as well as individua strength.  To deny this, is to assume thata
church or society, as such, is not perfectly under law to Christ-an as sumption generallyated on, it is true, in the corporations of earth,
sacred as well as seular-but not therefore the less illicit, or the
less fraught with evil.- Nothing is denouiwed  more emphatically
by our Divine Master, the. ord and Judge of all, than th  non-use
ef his gifts.  Nor is this terrible severity without reason.  What
greater provocation of. his displeasure can there be, than  thas prw tically counting as worthless, what-it cost him the sacriffee of Hin self to obtain.  This, it truly is, that solves the mystery of the
imperfect and transciett successes, the so-called failure of Christian ity.  It is, altogether from  this, as the judicial cause, that the
agency of the Holy Spirit has been so restrained,  and the world,
util this dsay, left unerangelized..
It is not to be forgotten, nevertheless, that, as I have Wore said'
zeal for denominational consolidation and advancement, is spe~ially
e tothe caseof. Christianity —the eaase for which all chlhea
2i' 
TE OLD N THE N'W.
exist. There is an aptitude in it to become sectarian, selfish, selfagrgandizing; an aptitude which, perhaps in no instance, his altogether been suppressed. If it begins pure, it is in danger of degenerating into the ambition and pride of sect, of building and glorying in
a Babylon of its own, and using its strength more against other
churches, than for the salvation of mankind.    We may perhaps
think ourselves less exposed to this peril, from the peculiararity of
our principle, but we may be deceived by this very presumption.
"Let him who thinks he standeth, take heed lest he fall." Our
duty is plain, we must give our whole strength, our utmost collective
efficiency to the cause of Christianity. We incur risks, we may,
through the want of watchfulness and the deceitfulness of sin, fall
into abuses; but the alternative is disloyalty to Christ, and the violation of conscience. The principle which would excuse us from
the utmost effort in this case, would allow us to forbear all moral
agency, because of the possibility of sinning in the exercise of it.
But, supposing our programme of activity perfect, and our activity
itself unobjectionable, what then? Is our success certain? If we
shun the rock of sectarian ambition, may we not still fail as to
the great purpose, the goal of our denominational activity?  As
to this, unquestionably, we must acknowledge our dependence, our
absolute self-impotence. Machinery, however perfect, cannot move
without the application of the power. It is not his diligence in planting and watering that gives the husbandman his increase. The
bodies in the prophet's valley of vision, though exquisitely organized,
remained lifeless until they were breathed upon by,breath from the
four winds. In the present case, above every other, the result is not
the product of finite forces, however great or well-directed —not of
might, or of power, but of the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts.   And as
to the co-operation of this Spirit, there is at least one condition of
its being granted: the spirit of grace and of supplication must be
poured upon us:  "I will be inquired of by the house of Israel
to do it for them." This is indispensable; talents, gifts, labors,
are no substitutes for it; and if it be wanting,  all else will be
of small avail. And in regard to this, at least, is there not a
deficiency? Amidst all the machinery of the times, and all that
has been done, and is being done by means of it, is not that one
thing absent, without which everything else is unavailing-even as
soil, seed and tending can produce nothing when the heavens are
shut up, so that there is no rain or dew?  Among the new measures
and movements of this most remarkable age, has prayer in the church
25 
THE OLD IN THE NEW.
the prominence which it has in the Scriptures, as an appointed means
of spreading the gospel through the worlds The guarantee of success
in this work is not in our advantages, or in any use we may make of
them. The way of God, in the sphere of his saving power, has not
been after the method of natural processes, or in the sequence of
secondary and dependent causes. Not thus, but strikingly the opposite, has been His way, in this supernatural sphere of His agency:
While he has wrought in it by a continual influence, and through
stated means, he has ever and anon asserted the supernatural character of his operation, by supernatural phenomena-by extraordinary
manifestations of his Spirit at special seasons of mercy.
It is not given to us to anticipate with assurance, the coming times
and seasons-to bind or loose the influences of the Eternal Spirit. We
have no absolute knowledge, therefore, as to what is predestined for
us; but we know as much as we should know:  We have no cause for
despondence at the prospect before us.  Our motives could not be
stronger or our encouragement greater.  We have passed through the
wilderness-state of ourI church: we stand to-day on the shores of Jor
dan, and 0 what a land of promise is opened to us! and what clearer
warrant, what more imperative command, could we have to take'possession of it in the name of the Lord! What animation to effortgreater than has been heretofore given to any church-in our sphere,
in the age, in the state of the world! and then what advantages, also!
All parts of the earth accessible; the distance to its very ends virtually only a few miles; the subtilest and strongest forces of nature
subsidized as means of operation: Other denominations, too, in the
advance; effort, wherever made, crowned with success-this is one
view, and it could not be brighter. There is another, of a different character, not less exciting: The enemy, like a flood, is
spreading over the length and breadth of the land, compassing the
camp of the saints, filling every place with the deadly miasma of his
delusions, wielding the enginery of the age, material and spiritual,
against Christian truth and piety, and the scenes of his proudest triumphs here directly before our eyes.
Such are the circumstances in which our church finds itself, at this
transition stage of its career. Detatched from incongenial associa tions which we did not wish to disturb, disappointing hopes and fears,
falsifying predictions as to our permanence,  surmounting many
disadvantages and obstacles to our progress, we have grown
into comparative strength and magnitude, and are in a position
of great interest and animation: I need not say that our situa~
26 
THE OLD IN THE NEW.
tion and circumstances are a call to us from'God, a loud and
imperative call, to make full proof of whatever we may have of talent
or advantages, for the furtherance of the cause of Christ. And if we
cannot fully obey this call without applying our collective strengthwithout a complete development and concentration of our denominational force-then the obligation to do this is upon us, and we
must not throw it off; we are shut up to the discharge of it by,,n
absolute necessity, from which there is no escape, bait by a violation
of palpable duty. Perils may be incidental to our undertaking. We
do not claim to be better than others. If our denominationalism
be better, or the best, our heart may deceive us; ere we are aware
we may bind ourselves, as others have done, in the cords of sectarianism, and enter into a strife to be great among the sects, and
cease contending  for the advancement of Christianity, except as a
means of our own advancement. There is a possibility of this, and we
may be wanting in the vigilance necessary to its not becoming a
reality. Still no choice is left us; if there is risk in advancing, it is
the risk of unnecessary inadvertance or wilful perverseness: at any
rate, the alternative is rebellion.
Other denominations will not blame us: they have set us an
example, and are blamable themselves, if it be not right for us to
imitate it. Moreover, what else can we do? They have compelled
us to this course. It is not we who have ceased to co-operate with
them; it is they who have preferred to work by themselves. They
are industriously building themselves up in denominational strength;
shall we be committing an offence, if we walk in their footsteps?
No; we shall thus command their regard, and take the surest way to
secure the return of a more comprehensive activity.
Fathers and brethren, how intense, how profound, the interest of
the meeting which we are to hold in this place! How solemn the
assembly, in which seventeen hundred churches are to consult and
act together, in the name of Christ, and for the cause of Christ,
the cause for which he died on the cross, arose from the dead,
ascended the throne of the world, and adminiisters the government
of God! How great, how sublime, the representative activity, in
which we are to be engaged, as the delegates and organs of these
churches! In virtue of his own wisdom or holiness, which of us is
sufficient for the part he has to perform in this sacred convocation?
For a just discernment of the character and relations of the work
we are to do, for the state of heart, the spiritual understanding,
the motives, the views, the ends which should control us, how
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THB  OLD ID THE NEW.
incompetent are we all, apart from the illuminating and gracious
unction of the  Holy One!  Nay,  what  a special baptism  of
the Spirit do we need, in order to be furnished as we should be
for the business with which we have been intrusted by the churches
we represent?  Can we imagine any measure of spiritual discernment, anyvividness and freshness of spiritual views, any exercises
of sanctity, too great for the functions we have to discharge? If,
under a sudden illapse of the Eternal Spirit, we should be moved, as
the disciples were at first, should we have a needless, wasteful measure of His influence? If the Blessed Spirit should actually fall
upon us with such fullness of power and light, ought we to receive
the visitation with a misgiving mind? we, above all, who, by our
very title, are marked and committed as expectants of novelties
like this? There are, doubtless, to be divine interventions scarcely
less novel, less wonderful, than that which signalized the instalment of the new dispensation. Our hope of the great triumph of
the gospel, rests on them as its only adequate ground. Not our
arrangements, not our labors, not the combined labors of all the
churches, not the great advantages of the times-no, fathers and
brethren, no-but mighty manifestations of the Spirit: these, these
are to accomplish the redemption and renovation of the world.   And
one thing more, these manifestations do not come when  men  are
expecting them; they come in an hour we know not of. " In every
instance," says a profound observer, " the return of truth and
piety has been a bright and sudden visitation from on high, as in the
thickest gloom of the night." It was all of a sudden, that the
sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, was heard by
the first disciples; and was not this according to the word of the
holy prophet: "The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come unto
His temple."  What if He should suddenly reveal himself, in the
midst of our assembly?  What if we should enter upon the business
before us with impressions of His presence, new and fresh as those
imparted by the pentecostal baptism! If we have expected no such
manner of beginning, neither did the disciples expect what came to
pass on the morning of the day of Pentecost. Not our expectations,
not our prayers, but His own purpose and the exigences of His cause,
are the measure and the reason of the outpouring of the Spirit from
on high.
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