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Les disgrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 S e V ?* OHUROH MM s fe^ M£l — ANI>— ';'( }-^-id'J^- dHi -^i'] '/i.:i. lo ?'';'i'*wy4ilB^|iiiaiJ^^ ".^:i nl s:.-. ^>.t ■.. ) ,;. - :s(|,*'i ..y/fjfhr.K .*^ T'fir. • ■*■«:>».)' ^/.i-t^j^lf .sjfij-tjM' iB 1 5! HlI^LlfiB. i:- \ :"iM(> M, 1 ,*.H o:cri'A .i»^i f- )T Tk* Hkw^h *Ai Brtthreaisa. 4 ed iSt •d t as /'But there were false prophet* also Amon|[ the people, even m there shall be falae teachers among yov, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, OTen dtajing the Lor J that boQciit them, and bring npon them- selves swift destmotion. And manv shaB follow their permoions ways ; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken ot"—ind Peter, II, 1-g. You may bave noticed it published in one of our local papers that "the Gospel of God will be preached in the town of lioton" on certain evenings which are mentioned, and by two men whose names are given.* Now if you should happen in to hear these men you would simply find yourself listening to a vigorous appeal for men to "oometo Christ;" and it maybe (in fact it is almost sure to be) that you 'Would not detect a single thing in what is said that you could in any «ray take exception to, Yet these men are advo- cates of principles which can easily be shewn to be contrary to God's l^ord: You may naturally ask, then, why tljtey do not openly express these views. The reason, my brethren, is that the tinle has not come fot them to do that here yet. They understand how to msn- age theij: cause, and they are careful not to open the floodgi^^ of their' dbctx^es (which they know to be contraiy to the generally accepted prineiples of Christianity), upon a well settled conuniji- nity suddenly and without preparation. They seek first to c^ the confidence of ihoee who go to bear them, and then by degrees they instil intb iheir minds doctrines which tend to subvert neari^, everything wbi;^ tbey bact before been taugbt to bold sacred.-^ This is the plan they have pViVsued in other places, and they are com!]aending the process over again here. . Now we know WbiM^ tbese men: are. >Thtiy call themselves "Brethren," and idthougb their preacbei-s do not all agree upon some points tl* "doctrine," yet the leading fei>tures of theiir |ninoi- < pies are npw- pretty well known^ for they c^'be giitSered from their tracts, mU u> i us I believe it in not generally knowii w^hat th6 |)e^l^^^^ triiies of these people are ; and as I believe it io \^ of vlfal im- portance that people nhould know them, so as to^ be^o^ thdr gui^ •The names ^ven are "Lord A. Cecil and Mr. Bkkely^'* ' ' ' ' hi ■M against them, I have determined to place their doctrines before jon and prove to you that they are "false End erroneous." Xt my QnUbxtioo 1 |MB«|]9&ed to "bahiah, mA irlrtf. airay all erroneous' and strange doctrines contrary to Ood's Word," and the doctrines of these people are, in thQ highest degree "erroneous, strange and contrary to God's Word." The wprds of my text are, it is trii^,' ti^rpng words, yet I hope to fihow jpu that, atrong aa they are, they; apply to these people. I hope to she^ yon ; 1st. That their doctrines are peruicions her- esies ; 2nd. That they "bring in these doctrines privily" ; and 3rd, by implication "deny the Lord that bought them. I wish to shew yqu : 4th. That "many hare followed tiHeilr jlwraicioni^ Wtiys" and to give a reason for it ; dth. That by then^ "the way of truth is evil spokMi of ; and 6th. That their preachers are "fahe teach- eri»t^ I shall then examine what truth really is, and whore it ii^ to be fQUBid. ' Th t^ing Up these jiointjit confess X l^hpx \}i\d,w some disiUtrantftges, b^dause the brethren ht^vo no wnttf^n ,cre{EJa ,o|r foi'T miliar^ of belief from which I cfth prove w;hat their dpctfine^ really are, so I have to be content with what informa1|f(o4 ,|- oai^ get from their books and pamphlets, and reports of their sermons. But tftiU they hfive been so often iKBard iii this o:>iiiitr^ lately, atid theicittaots have been so extensively cil^uhtted everywhere that their 'Vajeed'^l* pretty well- known.* , I ;^*3ih it to be obs^rve trut)i, >w awuU such people t W^l never argud, 1 know eno^g^ of . t^ecfjp pc^opjle to b^'irt>li^ tb'statd that ^11 texts w^ph 49.^(>^t fsl^it ilifftiT }W9uluii^ vie#iii lAiey i^j^ct 6n tHe gix^un^s thft^ jthev; dp i^o\ ajiply tor^e predict •^^ y Chrutiamity, !For ini^^ti^^ if I fliipte o, spying of our Ijordrs which tfatly oontriftdicis ^^ir yii^ws they^ ,4^^.^® meant that only for the Jews, or oxAf for the ll^aribsees, or on)y for th6 Apoi^tles ^as th^ base might b«,) ' and not for «»' 'jr btrt any thing pur Lard i^d which suits them was lioeant fbr ti^ a» iffdt tu for the JjBws 6r the Bharises^i ov^e- Apoisties. One'pf their greiit preeohers^ S/lfi^., Niatedkaiq, ^an inet'pnee by a phdh) «ta(tement of o«v ,l<(nd'% !whi%< bkying^th^^^ouif'jLdrd 4t that time s^ybkei in irpiii^ !,^ , H<^ wiw.npt ^ ^a^ffi^ \ ■, Wi*fe wc^ people^ nn seiiai-: ; •4tXl v\.. *3M"'*f'slfhi of the World," in loo., where an admirable summarj- w' their doctrines is given^^ j tf, |,^^ Hr,^} j^ hiXfJ^-f\<- %'I 'r 'm fc 1 ■» rt-* '«! r^ i > » ■•t4 Any man that will tell me that what St. Paul said to the Co- rinthiami, or Gatla'ianR, or Thesgalonians, he meant only for thoue people and not for the world at lararo, except a few paHsages cai*e- fuUy picked out and selected by himself, is beyond the reach of sound argument. Be&ides, who is to be the judge of this ? Who is to tell wh^t St. Paul meant locally or what he m^-ant generally 1 The Plymouth Brethren ] A sect you may sAy of yesterday !^ A s^ct w^thput a creed, without a ministry, without t ven agree- meni among themseWes 1 Would they have us believe that they are the only infuUibie interpreters of Scripture ? And would they have a people follow them so blindly th«t they must tak^ their word, weir dictum as to whaw< to keep, Yqu may not noitice iihu pecttliai^y iti *hiem at' fitst ; but once allow yourse^to be drawn int^i^jl^ <^chosen band," and yoii will find yourself fin adept at exT^Klk^g ttway or rejecting altogether passages wl^(^ you now consididr saCred and preciotyi to your soulfB. n* Im*? )»> With such people, then, I for one will never arfl;u.e, ^d bave, therefore, no desire lor controtetsy with'thetn. Tliai is iafft,,my design in maMng th^se things ftUblic. M^ cl^si^ ^'s , to ba^i8ih or keef out of my parish the herefd^s 6f a |ieople, whoSOt tei^ciiing is "enx>lie«ls,> ttringe, and contnu*y to God'b Wdrd.** JA^d J now proceed t6 make Siis statmnent good. I shaJJf h^m with briQg^ng before you i their vieWs on oiie of the* gre&t leading doctrines. of Chriatiaiiity, vis'^j-^jn: -..•;.>:*-.-,•!} ' -X^-R] .w >n I #ikre sa^,, jf ye^ !de, not J^nowi Dcivolk ehout > thebe ' pe^le, you will le siirm^sed ,tp h^ar ^f^t ^ey , do* nqjt bdl6ve in mf siich thinff aft raMniance at all 1 And vet that m 'lunmi otJAkyi^^tiMhit^ ^■'■U "savei" t. e., unlewi he joins the "Brethren," nnd <|/^ he it laved repeutanoe it unneoeaMiry. Now here is an ea«y question in logic. Repentance is impossible b^ore salvation and unnecessary after- wards. Tlierefore there is no such thing as repentance. Aoeordin^ to this, if a man comes to me and says (as I have had them say belore now), "Sir, J. have been a wiokeq man all my days, but I wish to do better, what can I do f I am to say to him, "Yod can't do anything ; you must simply fold your arms, stand stUl and see the salvation of Ood." And if he should say, "Can't I pray, Sir ? Were I to do this, do yon think Ood would hear me t WiU he forgive me if %titk him )" I am to say, "No you can't pray f A man like you pray t You have just said you are a wioked sinner and Gk>d A«ar« not prayer from ntcK at you. You cafi't pray, wid therefore you can't repent." And there I am to leave him, and what is the poor man to do t Now such is the dootrine which has been taught by these revi- val preach '^rs As I said they have no written cre«d that I can appeal to to prove it, so I must be content with their assertions. An investigation was held not long ago by the authorities of the Pi'eBbyteriaii Church, at Oueiph, when evidence was given that two of thme revival preachers used such expressions as thes^, "Unconverted sinner, 1 implore you not to pray.** "Except a mati was certam f^aai^ation his prayer was only laughter /or devilt" and that, another deolassd that '^to tell tho unconverted to pray was the biggest lie dver forged on the devil's anvil." * I am sotty the "brethren'' do not choose better or more modtr-> ate laoguage in which to express their opinions, for B^oti fi'tntMli'' oes as the above are as shockmg for yOu to hear as they im^ focnb; to utter ; but I want to shew that I am nQ% nmking these stalie- mentb at. random, but that 1 know what I say. Nov, noty brethren, there is the first point which I characterize as petiiicSous heresy, because it is conti«ry to Ood's Word, as I shall shew by-tod«bye. Hqw can men who profess to have an undyinjf love lor their iellovr-crpatures propound sudi a cold, foiv bidding d[o9trlne 1 . Thr^r profess, indeed, .great reverence for our good MaibtiDr^ the Lord /enup C^st ; but they dot not imitate him in his great sjf^mpathy for the fallen sinner. They do no(t imitate Him who carefully oarriedi qu| wMttifaiajh M^ Written of Him, "a bruised reed shall he nbi oi^ajc an^ smoking ^^^ ohall he n^ qiiench." Tbay d^ not uiiMiKle Bim -ffho iteid; "Him tha^ eo thero i$ thi» ^hknoni* Uaii, "W^eU tfiiw^ 4ft t|i«t.iu»leae he ««pW|ti airrf t^iJi *^r iowf^mmM *ftfe,{tlMhw«'f '^NwUrf mahe^e teatt wa*, "When enough to shew that the doctrines of Brethr^skn with regaid to itiieotrnfr ata ii6llidiiild>, tmiii^^btotf^i^fi^^ orJiepent lMl^r*h«ii« M«iii ktmb^tjim^ Wkxi&j^^ wiisl have ^0«m' But for f6& I hivef ^6t beet enough on this point I wish to remind you of wl^at St. Peter ftaid to Simon who had been guilty of the (E), hut h^ught^ lot deVill*' Wow wMbh is the right thing, i^^ftt ^fc. ?^t#r di^ op rhat tb^ie hr^thi^, do ? Whicl^ is the fia^t^o^ .thi;ig 7 ^^; it a .natural thin^ fbi^ a nwn aU biirdiened . w^^ siQ to t^ sud^ie^ly! hoisted among 'tll^e taVed, ih(e choi^en' hreihren isl^ply .l^eca^sei .he .ories, with; , excitement and vigor, "I believe, 1 telieve 1" Is it not more . natmr;^ for.a m<^l;^l^8iMf iiU tohave<>QnM^ broken htort, l^e contrit^^ ^W^t ^'^ ^^^ > <^e^ litii^ble «oiifeiiuli0n W '^Alinighty Ood^imd prayei^ (wesjfc thoU j^, titely ' be) Ithii^ 0fof give him \ Xou wo)i]4 be supri^ed' to, seem phoit which you cimsi^i^ ' alinpst 4(«4!8^4^9Jiy springupand hold it» head a#liigh iisiihoiei ' • that' have^l^^^ipDqT^^itg, steadily i ia' ^P J!BPNr4*r was the ear, ai^d'ili^tlie'fUll iiarn in Wi twr. At the sapie time ^e oi^ot,4«|iy that tharsiirilwich li^hiny^as B'^dd«ii conVexi^biibr aw9j{)p9^)g[; hni I say tbatiif^ ttHflfttis^nd^^iih^ttg^l^^^ ed^pl first ;9^t(u«Nl/ «ft|p #iU be repemiimHxk^K^^ '^i;a W ttiiii^ q94;wUl|or(|ite.ihiBi, and4hflftnatakl\ft^iii I hkV^ she#^'1^ W to ,^|]lH»r,^j prayer^ in. hill niiffa«tttiB),»%cillt^al^ii'%d hliflio^ ju8l^B^«f»ai«rihail >ther;flRie«glttec^ HiatiN)^ Wlio, #lth j^^' ,i)i^th^^y4^,^mli(iit^4e ^^^ ^it j»p(B|^tm?> f^ that^lakh i« a {MriTetst mb^ n^j; fii^ ihoBo , , «rhi) havOi £«eee ungc^enuibl^ in^#^wifpi 1 A.Sm< i,* %i' •T 9 tempers and who care not to strive to keep them down, .it, may suit Mioh tooiy : — "I believe, I believe,'' nltiA%6 hii'dg^te iotnm' selvia the pofiition of a saint— a disciple of JetfDs.' 'It'*mdjricKifi|{ l!h(^ diflhonest who wish secreldy to carry' ttii h}(0 ' ! **Si^i^ M- on the weights," to trample down the necessity for \:^^h'tAii^ With' the shibbolMh ''I believe, I believe.*' In tmi c« --«n. hsA ever sounded that all impor&nt cry : 'bu't f'^ wish' people to it/ I wishiieni fii^^ of/ijlp^v^ 'A ■...!.).;•(• r --.'.^joi' IIhd ♦W -UJ '^Ifotf^ngeWa^ great orjmailr/mriiniAi'yMiif <*BVjit) iitrrblM.; ^yli ntt'iHt hiUi Wawy, woifldn^^.ploddini oiie^ «»/i^fe>^* fo^^SfrP'^''^^*!^'*;^ ^ m 9< the obJAcid^.MrM b«ve Uw mrg»|hiMfc Hrrth w pi wi f fjD^ only |>rovlBs tEaj^Jt^|9 b^j^tions a.T^-) lit'. I : ir Our blessed Lord did all his part well, Jt ;wa«, finished i and complete ; but it was only his part. The oth^r p4i*t rh^s to be; pBt* formed by man, and it is a life-long struggle for him to do it; it rHo must never relax in his watchfuhiess ; but, must ever. (be 06 hta. guard and to^e A^e^i ^< A«^^. . ■.,.,' ; , ; ,, "Faith, if it hath not works is dead,,6«i/M^^on«.^— |^J[awi'' J 7. J "Not every on© that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, yitit: unto the kingdom of heaven ; but he thkt dbeth the'i^ Winf Father which is in heAyen."— (Matt, wt., M.) ''Wbi* 6iit VSfc own salvation with/««w and trembling."— ('Phil. Hi, l2.J''^**B^U fast that Aou hast, thai no mem take thy croibn.'^^(R(iv. kl.| jf/.'j "Lei us not be weary in toell doing, for in due seaatiixi^efshjall ii^p if w faint not:'~(Gal. vt., 9.) ^ ^^ V''U'-'' ''i'"\ '-jj''-' !<■'"] '^''M'i Such is the teaching of Grod's word, and X i^^ it u^ %^.|ttii|uf«^ teaching. It is moi-e rational to say to a mau : "^W^c , Oiijtr ygg^^ own salvation, through Christ," than to ^ay ^ luin, 'gfe^^ Chziist, tfa^r^fore no one could be saved b^orewcfgBM»,;ohnot Miv^ •See "Errors o( the Plymouth Brethren," >y, ]^.j^f$tff^if^^»4kt9ft¥mH tresi, p 19. ' Jk.,„-. ; ■.'•1 ■ /...».tji*«%T'rsji!»B:' !^' 12 1,1 At ; jB^uirop^ I p^onounc* this teaching as false and heretical as it ijf^.l^ni^lfni^jfiji^ J^^ I look forw^aixl to heaven as a place of gr^.l^pjp,me^ if I ever get ihere, I Lope to meet these T^^^liilfiP^M^^Vp and ^prophets and kings whose hiotories now Are f|j^,en saved and ««^^^ fciith. , For, what iitiniM f ^'^^liith^ift t^^ubstance of things hoped /or, the evidence cihhiAgiikoi^fiM'^Heb. XI. 1.) and it iras faith like that whidh sKvied'the'nmnof^ola^n tikhes. HiBad tb^ 11th cba;{itei' of Hebrews and you will see how Enoch, and Koah,' and Abraham, ^^nd till these men <^ere saved, f'Tl^es^ ^U died in faith, not having re- c6tvt^%^k'piomj^Sf):^\i^ having, seeii them afar off." — (v,*- IS.) , ^9f^^£^,^m]^'^^t^^ tjtiie word "Church" plainly and unmistake*' a^.uf|a4 uP';,t]T9'01d^']^estamentv., If the brethren will consult the ^epfi^aginb'^ (^)iip|i tfbey are fond of appealing to) they will find ' ^iie ^0^ ''j^f^eaia'' (which is tbe Greek word for church, congre^ gB^j^9n|f>|;,AS9ei]((b]j^uj^ of the church of God in the Old Testa- ment as well as the New, and to that church the patriarchs, kinga and prophets belonged;, and I shall dismiss this painful subject, ^i^^ttptttlifttidb iide,)'Witiia clear decisive statement ofour Sayiour hl«^llP'6i^tM8'i)0^tf,'^^^^ ; "And i say unto you that many s|iall contlEi firdi(l'1^^e el4$t ^i^' -v^est ai^d shall ait down KntJi Abraham, IimWlJ(^db^M'Kihsdomoi Heaven; but the ChUdrsn of \fi>'ce^ out into outer darkness, tbere shall b(d m^fMmig'oi^^ 11-12.) ei Almi«am. isaj^jc imd j are now tol4) never belong-, eti'^^^he' church o: 4: tftrf.^ J^xe|i]weim$i|^,aJ^i<^^ views withregai'd to the, cntirch M Christ— ^^tht.p^jiurch ef the Ney Testament. They wiWt tell you tliat the visible^ chpc^ of Christ consists of ihe aoAoed only, and by holding that ddbttine they become a self-righteous intol- l^W^ftfll^pt'Mhoiibi^teiiheinfiifebres alone holy (and therefore al^e ^^ ch.^(r>Qh^)On^10ke(JBi^t of the Saviour and that all others i^lio ddivpcffo'lpiii^ieve MhtUey^do are unhdy tnreatures, unfit to be associate; ©iiWitlb'-i^T. i)iu. a'!«^i. '>.■ >.■ ■' ii&i it^)^I«^tlilft^idk they will quote such a ptosage as ldl^&m<^i4 S-{K^i^i4*c« r'<*I %i6te untb yo^ not to l^p compteij^' with k •nicat«il^f><^*««%' e^Veffcbus, 'bi^*feitorti6i4eriJ, or'i^lh idol- • atots, dec, witb sueh no not to eat ;" &nd tigain : "Therefore put ,111 1 " ' ^ ' '"" *Th« Old testament in Gnek. it'' ei,%i>.Sj>(iii- '''"r-Dt-i£L •■),■•„**» ViK^-jj it of ire of re- «i. 13 K6w that is a well-known ca&e ; but it makes exactly against their oyfn ideas, for it shews conclusively that the Church in Corinth did not consist of the righteous only, for if it had they would not have had these fornicators and extortioners and railera, dsc*) iu their midst at all, and therefore would have had none to reject. St. Paul recognizes the Corinthian brethi-en as the Church of God, for at the beginning of this his first letter to them he calls them "T/ie Churc/i of God which is at Co^m/A," and speaks of them as '^'•Sanctified in Christ Jesus," "Cajled to be SHints." — (1 Cor,^ %., 2.) ; and yet his whole letter is a bitter complaint against their sins, their irregularities and shameful delinquencies.* This shews that St. Paul did not consider that the Cfurch^ consisted of the vigfhteous and the "saved" only. It shews that he knew how to make allowaiices for the great depravity of man. He would have had a Church consisting of pure, holy, righteous people only, if such were possible here, but he knew the heart of man that hii^ de- sire is only to ^^do evil eontinuaJlli/" and theiefore he did not brand the Corinthian Church as no Church at all because they were guilty of iri-egularities. • .,„ It is true they were to expel from their midst the openly wick- ed, the profane, the licentious and not to admit them to church privileges. This was right. We do the same thing to^ay, for "if any man be an open and notorious evil liver," 4&c., he is not to bje admitted to the Lord's table until he become a thorough penitent, t But that is a different thing from saying that the church must consist of the holy only. Our Saviour likens the kingdom of heaven or his church to a net which is oast into the' sea which gathered of all kinds, both good and bad. He likens it to a field in which the wheat and tares grow together till the har* vest, but bretbrenism would not wait for that. Its votaries sep- arate the wheat from the tares themselves,— they themselves b©" in^ the wheat and all other poor deluded creatui^u, the tares. In Apts II, 47, we are told that "the Lord added to the church such as should be saved, i. e. (as the Greek word me^ns) wei-e being ' saVed or Were on ths road to salvation. X This is different from be- ing saved J^rs^ and then added to the church. "' vTjIie ehurch has a work to do against the evil influences (^f ^9t *See "jp^er^siea of the L'lymouth Brethren," )>y Bt. Rey2.Dr. Levripi, Biahop of Onti^do. , , ; , ^v v I ■f iSWSiibric at commencemeht of Holy Commii^bn Omcehi tue\Fra))/^«r Bobkr ^-^-- -'^'^ -.-■• ^ ■■- ■■■" , •■--• •■'• $ I am aware that the brethren make a distinction between the "ehwroh"- and the "kingdom," but after careful skidy o£ it I eui hot help tegmtdUig it a (Ustinotion without a difference. :4*i u devil : She has to draw- all within her fold that she poasibly can and place befora them Siilvatipn through Christ. If thejr shonld fidl away and not live up to their membei'ship, and if they should die in that state, there is the melancholy spectacle of members of the visible church foi-feiting the position which they were by right entitled to. That is the simple fact of the case ; but for men to judge as to who aro the saved and who. are not, and to consider themselves the church simply because thry suy they have more faith than other human beings is an act of intollerance which sen- sible people can not be expected to be guided by. Any people who will say, "Stand by thyself, come not near roe ; for I am holier than thou/' (Is. LXV, 5), ought to be able to, give a very good reason for holding such ground. But what reason, do they give." Simply they believe and we don't ; and they constitute themselves judges in the matter and so consider themselves the salt of the earth, whilst all others are the refuse and the vile and are not in any way to be a&809iated with "no not to eat." IV.— THE MORAL LAW. When people once hold false doctrine it is surprisini; to note the number of evil consequences which follow from it. Brethrenism teaches tibat Christ has done all the work of salvation, and as a consequence of this it has to teach (as we have i^en it does) that the church consists of the "saved'' only. And as a consequence of ikia again they are obliged to teach (as they do) that the membera of this "ohurch," L e., themselves, are not bound by the M^lai Law,-— the law of Moses.* Christ, they say, has discharged every debt that stood out against us, therefore, we are for ever delivered from the condemning power of the law. In plain language then, tiiese people reject at least the ten commandments as not binding upon Christians ; and if we could be satisfied that their teaching iu this matter is correct, I must say I think it would be a very easy matter for us all to become good Christians. In order to stipport Hob idea, they take (as in every thd^Gf else) one or tvro texts which suit them and you can not get them to see one lota beyond them. They quote, for instance. Bom. vii. , &, "But now we are delivered Jrom iJie law, that being dead wherein we are held ; that we should serve in newness of spirit and; i^>t in the oldn'^'ss of the letter." That is true enough. The ancient Jew was justified if he kept the fetter of the law ; but he might keep it fiom fear only, fear of penalty. In that sense the law is dead to us. A man may be exceedihj^ honest and upr^t, may Icf^p a^ the comipandments outwardly with most scrupulous att^- ti-- ''&IiS,''ad M- ^^SLMmta In Id )f It 4l 15 not evtn realize tbat lie has a Saviour, so that our moHve in kcf^p? ing the oommandmeuts is of importance in the sight of God. You keep the commandments, do you ? You don't steal, you don't take God's name in vain, you don't commit adultery, you don't murder and all that. But whi/ js it that you don't do these things ? "Oh ! because they lead to punishment and disgrace, and if I don't do them I shall be respected as a good neighbor and an honest man." "Is that your only motive 1" "Well, yes I think so." '*Then the law in itself w d«ad to i/mi. You nmst serve 'in new- ness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter,' for the law qf itt^fxH not all that is required of us Chinstians." That is all ^hat that text can honestly be made to teach ;.but that is a far different thing from saying that a saint, a righteous man is not bound by the commandments. That is a statement which naturally leads to the most pernicious results. What do tiiiey mean by it ? Do they mean, that if a man is a 6e/tever (if he joins the breUiren) he may break the commandments with im- punity 7 Do they mean that he is. not bound by a law against murder, adultery, blasphemy, covetousness, theft and such things ] I can hardly think they mean that, and yet it follows naturally from the doctrines they lay down. "Yes but," t|py will say, "a true Christian will hot break the command- i^its, for the love of his Saviour will keep him from these things. That is true to a certain extent \ but still that does not release the truo Christian from the ohligaiion tx) kibep the law ; and I assert again that to teach people that after "conversion" tiiey are not bound by the Moral Law (the ten commandments) is strange doctrine and logically leads to the most pernicious results. I now proceed to shew that while it is "strange" it is also "er- roneous and contrary to God's word." St. Paul, in Rom. Ill, 31, says, "Do we then m&ke void the law through faith ? Ood forbid. Yea we bstablish the .^law." Brethrenism does not establish the law. It destrays it as beins not binding upon Christians. In fact it does the very thirg which St. Paul said he would not do (God forbid that he should), i e., "make void the taw through faith.", I could not believe that fftith should bo strained to such an extent as thid. True fqith in Jssus is lovely, but to force it so as to exclude everything else, even re- pentance; and the moral law is extraordinary. But What did our blessed Loitl himself say about this matter % "Think hot that I am come to destroy the law and ilie prophets," H<^ ohoe 8aM| (Matt, y, 17), "I am not come to destroy but to ^titii jiyj, vwily I sa!y unto you till heaven and earth pass away mm: ^ ' ^■'."il one jot or one tittie akaU in no wise pa»$from Hie law till all be ^Bh \m 16 '.m ! •E fulfilletl" Bretlirenism does not seem to umlerstand these plam, these Holemu words of the Saviour, for if it did it would pay some regard to what folio w^, viz : 'Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least coinnianments and shall teach men so, hq shall be called tho least in th« kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall do ami teach them, the same shall he called great in the kingdom of heaven." Tliank God then the church does teach men to koep the commandments, and in doing so she follows her Ix)rd*s teach- ing. But why need, ^ give more passages, when the two 1 have quoted are direct contradictions of the doctrine of Br^threnism on this point ? But why do they, in the face of .such pjain texts, hold such views ? Why do they, in the face of common reason^ — for I hold it to be the most rational thing m ♦he world that the better a man is the greater is his obligation to keep the command- ments and the more careful he ought to be to do it — why do they in the face of common reason teach men such doctrines as th>\^ ^ ? What object have they in view in rejecting the Moral Law of Mosesi Is it not coritnay to the very "A, B, 0," of religious principles? Are they not people on whom there must be some strong delusion i Who can pdrsuade men into rational, scriptural views when they reject such plain teaching as that of Moses ? I fear no one, for a greater than any on earth — the blessed Saviour himself lias endorsed the following woi^s : — "Tf they hear liot Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead !'' ' V.^THE LORD'S PRAYER. .'.rv r. Another result of considering thepiiselves "saved finally" because, they belong to "the churoh" through faith, is tW they , rejejpi th^ Lord's Prisiyer as a thing not to be used by (Jhristians ! The Loi-d's Prayer, they say, was given to meet the individual wants of the disciples and was not meant to be ^(mtinued among!** Christians after th^ sl^edding abroad of the Holy Ghost on the day pf Pentie- cos^ _ 1 need not say, brethren, thai there is not a hint of this in Qod's Wprd, ai^d I asli, Woul^ the, Saviour have given that beaurs tlful prayer simply to mislead us f ,If he ^ad never intended \}» to fise it would he npti have told m «o ? Would h© »ot have said-^^ tQ J ;li4s 'disciple?, "I giyp, you a.pi-ayer to use »id,me^t^l^ prayet* to Demised by all his folio W ^^1 i^^ world 17 )me eak hall (hall iom bapn- Rome .{i both as a public i iid private form of devotion. For what are the facts with regai*d to the delivery of this prayer 1 We find that our Saviour gave it to his disciples on two separ- ate occasions, separated one from the other by a considerable space of time. The first time that he gave it was in his famous Sermon on the Mount when he delivered to his disciples the new princi- ples which through him were to be the guide of men's lives. And every word contained in that precious Sermon on the Mount is sacred to the lover of Christ, and who is thei subjection ; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others / myself should he a castaway.'* (Ist Cor., ix., 27.) These men have no such fears as that, for they never even have to ask God to forgive them their sins ! , Are they better than St. Paul again when he declared, *I know that in me (that is, in ray flesh) dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me, but ho •' to ])er'iorm that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not ; hut the evil which I would not that I do. * * * I tind then a law that when I would do good evil is present with me" (Rom. vii., 18, dtc.) Are they better than St. Peter who we know fell so often into humiliating sins 1 Perhaps they will say all St. Peter's faults were committed before his conversion, but I am not so sure of that. — Surely St. Peter was a converted man on and after the day of Pentecost> w^en, through his preaching three thousand souls were added to the Church of Christ, and yet, long aft&r that, we find St. Paul reproving St. Peter at Antioch and '-withstand.ng him to the face, because he was to he blawed," (Gal. ii., 11) and if St. Peter was to be blamed, as St. Paul cleaily shewed he was^ is it likely that he never prayed, "Father, forgive me my trespasses" 1 Brethren, io seems absolutely unnecessary to dwell upon such an extraordinary assumption of holiness as this. It is beyond all reason. Too holy to sa,y the Lord's prayer ! Oh ! God grant that I may be only able and willing tb say the Lord's prayer all my days ! VL-rTHE HOLY GHOST. We ar« not fturprised to find a people who consider themselves too holy to say the Lord's Prayer, asserting that it is wrong to ask for God's Holy Spirit because it is a thing that tHey always have 'M.:. i'^-- 20 with them. "The Spirit" they say having been onoe given it is mockery to ask God to repeat the g\fi."* Now, my brethren, they might as well »'ay that we should never ask God for Grace. Since they refuse to pniy for the spirit on the grounds that it has once been given (which I suppose was at "con- version") it follows that they do not deem it possible that God's spirit can ever be withdrawn^ and this is unscripturui. What Si . Faul says to the Ephesians (IV. 30), viz. "grieve not the Holy Spirit of God" only prepares us for the warning he gives the Th* sa- lonians, Quench not tu for Belie'"^rf»" (p. t>S) asserts that he does not admire t^ <..';•:' 'ion "second person" or "third person" in the Trinity be it ^euds to bring in a huhordination in the Godhead where ecriptwre does not : and yet it seems that though ihey consent to pray to God the Father v.>.d God the Son it becomes "almost blasphemy" to pray to God t'lv Holy Ghost. This is so comfracictory tJmt it requires no further observation. Any one who acli ( ' wledges that the Godhead consists of three Ptr- sonSf each by himself God must own the propriety of addressing each one of the three in prayer, or else he outrages common reason, — a thing which these people often do. Let them be careful how they slight the Holy Ghost. We ought to be very careful in speaking of Him, for it has been solemnly said by the S::.,*jur, "whosoever speaketh a word against the Son 9f man it shall be forgiven him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shf^ not be forgiven him neither in this world neither in the world to coifne.'' (Mau. xii S^.) — — ' * See a tract osUmI the "Holy Spirit and Prayer." ^1* • «.A VII.— THE CHRIt IAN ABBATH. fre*^ from t^< yttH ^>n the same principle that the ( nstiai law, and munt not say the Lord's V aver, the Brathreu tench th^at he is also under no obligation to keep the Lovd's day h v~a least more holy than any other day. Ev* v da}-, they ly, Ih Sunday to them. "The ancient Sabbath las »e»m done a\\ a} wi^h mad to a Christian every day is alike. " Now there is truth it. thit mixed up with error. The Hebrew word Sa-baih simply .iif-a^s to rest, the Sabbath day is the reH day, tl lay of rent ; mid ttie only great diflference between the ancient 2 J present ohwervatioii of the Sabbath or rest day is that we keep it m Sunday whilst tl^e Jews kept it on Saturday. It is true th. n tl %t the keeping of tlie day of rest on Saturday h&n been done away ' -ith,— but why done away with 1 That there might be no more -est days no more Sabbaths 1 No, but that it might be placed uj on Sunday the first day of the week, that day ever so glorious, ver «p blessed io Christians because, on it, our Lord rose from t le dead.^ And we have every reason to conclude this from scriptui \ We v^i^d that, **upon tlie first day of the week when the disciple came ^ogetn^r to break bread, Paul preached to them, (Act XX, 7). We also read that St. John was in the spirit on the LorJx dayl\ (ReV^ I, 10), and since the Sunday is called the Lord's day, and since ye read of the disciples coming together for worship and communion on that day, and never particularly on any other day, we conclude reasonably that it is more suitable ag well as sciintural for ,the Christian to keep his Sabbath on the Sunday instead of Siatui-day. But brethrenism does not even allow this. It would sweep away the observation of the Sabbath altogether y on the giouniis i|iai to the Christian every day should be alike. It is true that, in one sense, every day ahould be dj^yote special tim« t^) the service of God ; but when vre have men #p^k- ing against the keeping of the Christian Sabbath, then I say;, we should have nothing to do with them but leave them toprj^ficlti to those who are fond of novelty and change. Foi: what would be the result if their teaching on this point should be carried out 1 The result they expect is that eikfi^^day wmld he kept holy, hut they would soon find that? iSife^'^iie wjsii^ would be that we wovM hmje no holy day at cM 1 knoWf t l^th- ren, there is too much Sunday religion amongst us.. IL Jcn^TfjIjIihat too many people try to crowd all their religion ii^t^ |^|y^and I •' '% 22 that they think if they attend strictly to all their duties on that day, they are free to lay it aside for their ferm, or their merchan- dise, or their pleasures, or their' fi[ayeties. But nevertheless, do away with i\ie ohligation to keej) the Lorl's Day and you will soon find every land-mark of religion swept away and buried far down aniidst the whirl and bustle of a busy money -making world. Aye, destroy the obligation to keep Sunday and you wil find even the ire^Areri thiemselves loudly calling out they "believe," they "be- lieve," and yet working and toiling away, never even giving a day to God while they cry that to a Christian every day should be alike. Why do they speulc against the keeping the Lord's day liolv T Would tliey have us work and toil and slave on that day tlie saipLie as on all the rest, or would they have us rest every day as we do on Sunday and do no work at all ? One of these two things must be done, for if every day is alike it will be lawful for lis to woi'k every day, oi" else, if work be improper we must never work, at all. But men tyi/^ work, they mihe contrary 1 Mahomet laid claims to supernatural gifts, but he inade no prc^ess until j^olitical events favored him. Then he took up the sword, and by the help of i*. and frightened fanatical soldiers he propagated his peculiar theories ; but they have turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes that the world has ever been cursed with. So we have to be careful in dealing with people who pretend to have supernatural gifts, even as Scripture tells lis, "Beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits whether they are ol God ; because many false prophets a/re gone out in the world (J, John, iv, 1). And how are we to knOw that the spirit which a man professes to have is of God ? We want something more than a man's word foi* it, or else we can not submit to him as a guide or a teacher. . But I deny their statement that men may preach on the author- yity of an inward call only. It is not the plan we find Md down in Scripture. You find there that men were called to God's work . iaoternaUy, The^ did not first offer themselves, but they were called and bidden to come. Was there ever a better or more holy man of God than Elisha, and yet how was he called to his work ? He was plov/ing with twelve yoke of oxen one day and Elijah thQ prophet passed by and simply threw his mantle Over Elisha's shoulder&i tod "Elisha then arose and went with Elijah." (Ist Kings, xix., 19.) God wanted Elisha to do his work, yet observe the steps He took to get him. He did not simply operate upon his heart so that Elisha should come of his own accord and preach and • torophesy, but he commanded his properly authorized prophet Elijah to ^0 and anoint "Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meho- lah to be prophet in his room" (v. 16.) Aaron was called to the priesthood externally. Jonah was called externally to go and preach to the Ninevites, and so far was this from being an irU^tnebl call that Jonah tried his best to evade the commission, yet God forced him to go. And when we come to the New Testament we find that our blessed Lord always called men exUrwdly to go and do the work of the ministry. He ' saw Matthew sitting at the receipt of custom ; he said to him, "fol- low me.' He saw Peter, James and John fishing iri the waters ' of Geneasaret, and he said to them, "follow me." ^ And it is a re- XA^Arkablis thing that when men offered of their own. accord to follow him he refused thsm. A certain man said to him, "Lord I will ' follow thee whithersoever thou goest." (Lulee ix., 57.) Another ' isaid, ^'Loi-d I will follow thee but let me firat go and bid them farewell that are at home at my house." But in both these cases X ^'y. : •I- : 25 our Itord seeniH to have tu;iininecl iind declined their oflfer. But ho 8Hyii imuiedintely after to another, ''follow me" ; and although he hesi ated on the grounds that he wished lii-st to go and bury his fath* r, Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preaJi tJie Kingdom of God" There was an external call even when the man faltei-ed and hesitated. This was the Savioir's un- dle. ii ting rule. Ho did not operate only upon the inward spirit of a rann, but he commissioned him externally to go and preach the word. But aft«r our Saviouj-'s ascension into heaven, what do we find ^Ue rule ? Why men were still called to the minisiry externally. The very first thing that the Apostles did was to look about for a 8ucce8.sor to Judas Iscai'iot who hud hanged himself. And how did they do it \ Did i'ley wait till some one came and said he was **invvai-dlv moved" by the spirit to take his place 1 No, but they ap- pointed two, an(jl out ot the two they elected 07teto take tlis po$t. And yet Brethrruism asl Philippians ad- dresses his letter to the "saints which are at Philippi, with the 'Bishops i^nA rank) and Deacons (thiixi rank.)" Andi>etinthe lace of idl this and a great deal more that might beadduoed, self-con- stituted preachers, without any authority, commission or ordina- tion whatever, are now crying down the office of God's ministers as unscriptural. They might as well say that the Bible itseli is unscriptural, for it abounds from Genesis to K^velation in proofs that in God's church therr was always a regularly appointed min- istry* And such a ministry we want. When you hear a man preach, you ought to ask yourself the question what right has he to preach to me ? A man must have a commission to do it, and if you ask me where he is to get it, I say from God's properly ordained min- isters, who have i-eceived their position direct from Christ and the Apostles. I can sheW you such a commission, and I can proi^td you that themiynwbogaveitto me, had every aiithbritativeand A.t>o8tolic right to give it which it is possible fw mortal man to have. And •See Acts I, 23. •■*;■• •'3 DUin- ^ . 27 that is scriptural, and I say it is natural too, and reasonable. If a man r^we to you and said, "I Rri'est you in the Queen'* name," you would naturally ask him to sliew his authoiity or commission to do so ; and unless he has the proper document, and from a pro- per source, you would refuse to let him take you. It is exactly so in delivering the gi-eat message of the go8i>el. The Church must have some protection, or jjeople will never know what gospel is being preached, and their gi-eat piotection is that her ministeiti must have proper couimission to do their work. The ministerial office is a sacred one. "No man taketh tJiis honor imto himself, but he that was called of God as was iaron. (I/eb. V , Ji. ) When then we find ])eople flinging to the winds the most sacred office t^at God has established on eai-th, it is little wonder that they teach doctrines which are "erroneous, strange, and con- trary to God's Word." CONCLUSION. I now proceed to wiiid up all the points that I have mentioned above. I am well aware that some of the brethren would deny some of the things I have dwelt upon, (although they are drawn directly from 'their own writings), beciiuse they have no agreement among themselves. Every one does as he likes, and the consequence is that every one preaches what doctnne he likes, and so, when lire put their teaching all together we get amass of erroneous and strange teaching which is contrary to God's word and which common rea- son can not but repudiate. At the same time I do not believe these men are tiying to do mischief ow purpose. That they do do mischief is certain, because the tendency of their preaching is first to excite people and then unsettle them altogether. But I am iar from thinking that their o&/«c< is to do harm. I have no doubt they think they are right. I am told they are very earnest in what they say. I have no doubt of. it. I believe that they have got to such a point that they consider it their bonnden duty to try and get all men to be "altogeth^i as they are," and if that is their' idea they can not help being in eainest. If they think Christianity has gone all wrong, which their writings cldarly shew that they d(> ; and if they think they are the chosen vessels to set it all light again^, which they evidently do, I do not wonder at their being in eameHtl -But their earnestness is no proof that their cause is good. Men fiave^ been intensely (-arnest before now' in advocating most pernicious things; and so men may become so devoted to a cause that they will be blind to everything else but it and then .they .can not help being in earnest y^, afljvocating; it. But when we hear n]^en making the, serious st^ten^entlhat the piinqiples and dfl^tnaes by which the Churdi tTniversal has been governed for liundreds 28 of years are a delusion, a fatal mistake, tlieu I fiay such inn«t het prepared to have their statement ehallensied, and to make good . their position by "many infnlUble proofa," which is a thing they have utterly failed to do. 8t. Paul tells the Cot inthians that there must he herenie* (i. e. false doctrines) among them, that ''they which are approved inay be made manifest amoag them," and so these falne doctrines which are taught in our very midst may serve a good purpose. If thry tend, by being held out in contrast to true ohui'ch principles to strengthen you, my brethren, to build you up in your most holy faitb, then a good object will have b«?en attained. When we find what is called the "gospel of God" coupled with a series of unscnp- tural errors, then I say it ceases to be what it is called, and people should avoid it altogether. And this is the case with these preach- ers. I do net wi«h to be hai-d upon them, for though much mistaken and sadly led away, I believe they think they are doing good and are in earnest ; but I do wish to deal very plainly with their doctrines, which indeed 1 think I have done. When I find people rejecting portions of GikI's word, aAd only keeping what suics them ; when I find them teaching that a luan can't pray till he is saved, and therefore cari't i-epent ; when I tind them stating that the work of salvation wan done bj- Christ alone and that man has nothing to do towards it himself; when I find them declaring t^iat Christ's church consists of the saved only ; when I find them holding that a "converted" man can re^'9r fall from grace, and therefore is not bound by the moral law, must never say tide Lo)xi's prayer, because it is out of place for Mm to ask God to forgive his sins, and must not ask for God's Holy Spiiit, because when once given it can never be taken away ; when I find them refuMUg to pray to the Holy Ghost>'< although they acknowl- edge Him to be God, co-etenial a%id co-existent with God the Father and God the Son ; when I find them teach itig that God had no church on earth till Christ came and that therefore Noah, and Abi^am, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Old Testament worthies never received salvation ; when I find them trying to do away with the Lordb Day's rest, the Christian Sabbath, and to make all days alike ; when I find them crying down an oitlained ministry as a thing earthly and not of God, then I can not retrain lifting up my voice against them. I feel very jealous for the true oause of God^ and "for Zion's sake will I hot hold my peace and for Jcrusaleiiai's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof at a lamp that bumeth.^' How you may remember that at the commencement of this sub^ ject, I stated that the words of my te:kt can Ve i^rovea to apply to t (,; • f ■ 1 < %1. i, \f ' iM?L' 29 t;'. ■1- i! ^i these people ; and there at-e several points in it which I wish to dwell upon in connection with the doctrines of Brethrenism. I. St Peter tells ua that "as there were false prophets amon;; the people, so there shall be false teuchei-s among us/' and these "evangelists" I take to be false teachers. The office of a preacher (or proclaimer) of God's word is a holy and sacred one, and there- fore men, to occupy it, should be properly commissioned. "No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that ia called of God ; but how called 1 Not irUemaUy only but exttrnally **aa was Aa-, ron^' (Heb. v., 4) i. e., by a proper commission and authority. — "How can people hear," says St. Paul, (Rom. x., 14-16) without a preacher ? and how shall -"hey preach except they be sent 7" And whp is to send them now ? Clearly God's proper officer in the church must send them with an external commission or otherwise, they become false, unauthorized teachers. « II., Since, then, they are "false teachers" it is little wonder th»t their doctrine is found to be false. St. Peter says of false teach- ers that they shall "privily bring in damnable heresies." When the Bible was translated the word "damnable" was in common use. It was used of anything that deserved censure, and therefore the heresies spoken of by St. Peter are simply those which deserve ceusui-e. Now if you look at Gal. v., 19-21, you will find heresy classed with the worst kind of sins, such as even murder, adultery or theft. Therefoi« it is something that we have to be very careful: to avoid. And since heresy is false doctrine, the views iroulcated by ".Brethrenism" are clearly heresies. Is it not heresy, for in- stance, to teach people not to ask for God's Holy Spirit 1 Is it not hei'esy to tell "believeis" that it is out of place for them to say the Lord's Prayer or to feel bound by the ten commandments ?-— And KO I might ask with regard to all the other points 1 have men- tioned. And it these aie not hci'esies, then it is clear that I do not know what heresy means. III. I wish also to atti-act your attention to the word "privily", . mentioned in our text. They brirg in these heresies privately ;. and this it is well known these people do. They begin by preach* ing ^'Oome to Christ," and theii- addresses are of a stirring and ror^ viving nature, and people are carried away by them especially aa they do not notice anything- wrong in their doctrine. But after their minds are drawn towards them in this way they begin cau- tiously to inculcate their peculiar tenets. When once ^ person cries "'I believe," or when, according to their expression, he has "found Christ," he is gradually told thait he must no longer fc- knowledge him'»elf to l^e a miserable sinn^, because Jhe .is a happy Cbrifttian ; he must no longer use thel^nd's Prayer and so on untU i'-i.*t L »' '^ ■ - 30 he becopnes luastei* uf true BrethreniHiu. And then that person is well skilled in thinking himself and a few othei-H righteoits uiid despising others. Many of their doctiines they do not preach openly. They reserve them for the better ins^nlc^ion of the Brethren. This I call bringing in doctrines •'privately." - ,IV. The next statement in ihe text is that they "deny the LoW that bought them." It may seem strange to accuse a people whose watchword is "Come to Christ," of denying the Lord who bought them, yet some of their doctrines certainly d" this. They ha v« loaded belief in Jesuo with such a number of curious doctrinep that He is not held Up in a proper light before niei^. We may weli say of them, "'They have taken away our Lord, and we know not where they have laid him,' People who refuse to do what our Lord commanded &re guilty of denying him. And this is their , case. Jesus said, "I am not come to destroy the law" — they say the law is destroyed through faitli. Jesus said, "when ye pni;^, say, Our Father which art in heaven," tfec. They say this pray€*r is not to be used. Jesus said, "the Sabbath is made for man" — - they saj that to a Christian there is no Sabbath, for every day is alik» 31 The fii-st reason is the .'utpuse earnestness of the preachers. — . Though their doctrines arc false as false can well be, yet wo must give them cn-dit for eaniestnesa, and this attracts. Then again, thej sound the moat lovt^ly cry of the gospel, "come to Christ." — They art in earnest in this. They want men to tind Christ, and no o Ae could want men to do that more than T. I would to God men knew Christ more than they do. I would to God every one would hie him to Jesus, — * "While the gathering w.:tcr8 roll, VN'hile the tempest still is nigh. " But though they ceitainly have zeal in this resi>ec^, they have -w not according to knowledge. Their only ideii of ''coming to Christ" is to i*euounoe all former professions and to be joined to themselves. But this is often not found out till it is too late, and l^eople who were simply attracted by the cry, ever fre^h, ever lovely, "come to Christ," tind themselves in the midst of doctrines attractive in tbemfcelves, but different from all the teachings they Iwd received in their life-time before. These are some of the rea- sons of their sr.ccess ; but there is another laid perhaps (in the case of some) a more powerful one. '^hese preachers are generJly men in some h%h btation in life, and by this means they gain ready ttceess to the ear and to the heart of the people, who are in the same position as themselves, or who aim at reaching it. This weighs I am soiry to say, a great deal with the religious princi- ples of some people. And this is the way it is that the bvetluren sometimes "ei^p into houses, and lead cjiptive silly Viomen" (2nd Tim., iii;} 6) f who, alas ! are too often foHowed by the men. ,j WhiBn then you combine high social standing with apparent zeal ttnd' earnestness and love for Christ, you have the reason ^^hy "ttUiny folloMT their pernicious ways." But you may ask, why do you apply the word pernicious to them, whpn they seem to be only mistaken men. Ah ! brethren, a great deal of niisdhief has been done in this world by "only mistaken men," and generally speaking the doctrines of mistaken^ men tend to ruin, and that is all we mean by "pernicious." VI. , St. Peter next declares that "by reason of these the way of truth is evil spoken of ;* and this is true of : Bretlu-enism. \ Di- rectly a person joiUs it he begins to "despise others." He cannot se^ how a man can be good and remain a Churchman, or for that omtter a Presbyterian or a Methodist. "Bow can I remain in the Church of England V said a young convert to his Sunday School teaqher. ♦♦/ am converted /" And this is jufet the i^ea that un- derlies the vhol© of their teac^ng. TIiq way of tjruth is evil spoken of. They hoJbd luost; uncharitable views wijth regard to the gi-eat 4-^i 32 ^K religious bodies of the day. They declare the Churcli of EngUnd an Apostacy and they declare that "DisHentera (to use their own words) have marshalled themselves in the mnks of the Infidel and the Sooinian, and are grasping at all the powers and privileges that the world can give them." The:e are quotations from their own tracts, and their meaning is plain. All the great anti-papal re- ligious bodies of the day are wrong. No one can be a *rue Ghiist- ian and remain in their midst. He must come out cf them and break bread with the brethren, and then he is a ChriiAtian. Some of them may perliaps try to deny this, yet jiractical results have shown »t to be the case, and some of the more outspokeu brethren decla/re it to be iso. So on this point I bid you bewtiro of these people. , Their first cry is "come to Christ," but a little afterwards you will hear the (jry, "come out of the Church," and wlien you yo out of the Church you will find yourself nc better off. The wear and tear of life will go on just the same as e'er, and soon the aivlor 0^ excitement will cool down, and you wkll And youi-self in the midst of a hollow, wicked world as before, beset vith the same temptations, harassed by the same passions, surrounded by the same evil, and "Brethrenism'' no reasonable remedy. Then you are unsettled and at once the "way of truth is evil spoken of." I^et us remember that we want religious principles that will last a lifetime, and not only those which serve mei*ely for a passing mo- ment. When first we take up Christ, i. e., when wg first tako up- on ourselves the vows mad^ at oiur Baptism, if we do it sincerely, everything seems fresh and easy, and the heai*t whispers to itself that it is not so hard after all to be a Christian ; and if death should ttep in then thebe would be an easy transit to rest iii tlie Para4i8e of GUid. But death does not always come at such convenient iimes, and after our promises and vows (which seem so easy to keep) ar(; made, we find ourselves back again in the midst of a tascinatiug, wicked world ; and the edge of religious ardor is soon worn aw«y against the many rocks which obstruct the Christian's course. And then after many a mistake, many an error, we settle down with a cool resolve to fight the world the fiesh and the devil, calmly and deliberately. To do this we want the help o!f God, and we want the assistance of man. We want the Lord's Day's rest, the ten <;ommandments and the Lord's Prayer. We want the two great sacraments Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Wt> want the word of Gtod, not mutilated, but complete and whole. We want the help- ing hand of God's Ministry, properly ordained to perform . holy tactions. We want daily, hourly supplies of the Holy Spirit/ and a humble prayerful trust that it we hold the beginning of our oon- fid^n<^ steadfast unto the cnid," (ffeb., iii, I4.) we shall be saved. Believe ine thoU is what we want t6 see us safely through a life {Luid own t and tliat own •1 33 time full of battles against the never-flagging teir |itation8 of the devil. It i« not an ariof,'ant, self-rigliteors confidence that we must he right because we believe we are. No one believed himself right more strongly than did Saul of Tarsus bf/ore he ums convert- edf but q/iir t/iat bis boastful confidence was gone, and we find him clothed with huMHiti/, trembling lest, after he had preached to others he should himself be a castaway. Faith must not be confounded with an arrogiiut, self-conceited confidence, f«r it is pos- sible for a man's faith to be V)uilt upon the sand, instead of on the rock. These men will ask you, "have you found Christ 1" and you must say, "I have, / know I have" It will not do to say, "I trust so," or **I hope I have." Tf you 8>vy that, it is a proof, according to them, that you have no faith. . But, my brethren, I would mth- er have some feeling of humility ; I would rather have some of the "Lord I believe, help thou mine wnhelief" than I would an ov^r-weening confidence that knows no danger or tha* leai* no fall. The principles of Bri tlirenism then are not calculated to benefit the Christian world, for let us imagi*^ a moment that they have become successful. Supj»ose for instance that this whole country was perverted to Brethrenism what would be the result? Why we would at once have a period of religious and civil anarchy ; and rule and authority would be broken down. Our blessed Sundays would be brought to the same level as Mondays or Saturdays and no Christian Sabbath would be found throughout the land. Our churches would be closed and our ministry degraded and thrown to the winds. There would be no standard by which to interpret Scripture, but every man might keep or reject what passages he chone. There would be no law against murder, adultery, drunken- ness, theft, and such things, for the Christian is not umler the law. We should hear no more Christ's beautiful prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name," «feq., and there would be no more calls for God to ^ en I his Holy Spirit to guide us in the wpy of truth. I ask, is a system like, that calculated to cany on a war against wickedness and vice ? There is such a thing as too much liberty, and when every one is free to do as he chooses every one becomes a tyrant. And Brethrenism would level all ecclesias- tical authority and make every man his own monitor r nd law. — What sort of a country would we have then 1 No Sabbath bell to warn us ihat time is flyiiig ; no properly authorize'' men of God to tell us messages from heaven. We should have here what Eilgland had in the reign of Oliver Cromwell, when men^ grown mad with mistaken zeal, would tie their horses in God's temples, and preach for doctrines, the ravings of fanatacism which soon ex- panded into blasphemy. That is what happened when tJu reyu- . iH»ii*J-j»rf7^ V . 34 larly iyrJaiueJ mivutry were mspewfei/. God's ministers, I know, are nut always wlmt tliey ()iin;ht to be, for chey are men ot" like paSHionB with all ninDkiud, yrt an a rlum tlioy wield a ti fujeiidou* influence for gu<, We have to take all thfse things into account when we hear l>eople talking pgainst the time-honored princii)le3 of Christianity, and seeking to bring everything to one common level. <'onimnn- isni will not answer in ChrisHanity any more than in the Stnte, fur she must have authority to carry on war to the knife with the bad results of men's wicked passions. Beware, then, of those who come |>reaching what they call the **Gosi>el of God," but who "despise goveinment, and are prestimptuous, self-willed, and are not afraid to sjicak evil of dig^iitiefi." (^rul Pet., ii., 10.) I promised, my brethren, to tell you betoi-e I closed this series of semons what truth is, and where it is to be found. Truth is a won- derful tiling, hard inde iull of it is water the same as the whole vast body. So truth must be look d at in a broad way, or else we shall never see what it really is There are many truths contained in one grand truth, and yet every one of these ti-uths has to be believed' or else we fail to find out truth itself. And this is the pritociple we have to apply in f)elieving and interpreting Scriptu-" The Bible is truth. From bt%innino; to end it is truth, and yet it is made up of ever so many particles and each particle is truth. Now we have to belitve the whole tnith, and also mch particle oj truth which f/oes to make up the whole. Arid this, my brethren, you have bein taught to do. The church of England teaches you togi-asptnith, and also all truths, which together make up truth itself. There are some papsages of Scripture which* seem to oppose one another, in ow to believe one of these is easy, but to believe both together is the way to gi-asp truth, and that is the way we are taught. Scripture says, for instance, that our blessed Lord is man. It says alpo thMt he' is God. Each of these is a truth. The Unitarian believes only/ one. He says that the Scripture de- clares Chiist to be man. So it docs. But it also teaches that he is God. So we try to believe as it is written, our Lord is God and, man. One religious body of the day teaches predestination ; an- other, m&n's free agency. Now "predestination" is plainly taught in the Bible. It is a truth, and those who hold it are right ; but ^they ai'e wrong in not acknowledging the other to be a truth. T'^e Scripture plainly teaches man's free-agency. It is a truth, and they who hold it are right, but they are wong in rejecting pre- destination. Put both together, and believe both together (which f i^i' . S6 N ibr that I was a name of WP are tatiglit to do,) and wo get a combined truth which will itand every test of Scripture, This \h tlie only fair and proper way to deal with Scripture. We must take eac/i nefmrate truth or else we will tind ourselves rejecting a truth, a thing that is oangerous to do. This is the sort of tnith that you are taught. The Prayer Book is Scripture from beginning to end, and evei-ything that is tatight in Scripture, the church teaches to-day. She tries to look at everything as a truth in itself. And heie it i*^ that Brethren- isni makes its mistakes. It giasjtH a few things which, if taken as parts of a whole are (some of them) truths in themselves ; but which, if taken alone, cease to be triths because other jjassages contradict them. We must then weigh passages together and if two seem to o[)po8e one mother, we shall generally find it not very hard to believe both. And before I close I wish to draw a j>icture, which I hope you will ever keep befjre your eyes. There is a member of our chuit;h gone to Brethrenism.an d now look how he tramples underfoot the dearest principles s. elders, (presbyters,) deacons or any other orc'er MPiPllllfeK^? ^^though, indeed, I remember reading of th'^m in t^TJ^e'^^^tament. 3rd. I don't believe in saying, I am a "miserable sinner" for now I h.m a happy Christian. 4th. I don't believe in keeping the fc'abbath day, though I remem- ber hearing every Sunday that I ought to do so. 5th. I dor't believe that I am bound by the ten commandments, for as a Chris- tian 1 am not under the law. 6th. I don't believe in asking God for his Eoly Spirit, although I remeiLber being taught to pray, "Take not thy holy spirit from me." 7th. 1 don't believe in teaching my children to pray, or even praying with them, although, it is true I remember hearing that "of such is the kingdom of hrjaveh." 8th. I don't believe anybody was ever saved befoi? Christ came, although I remember being taught that Abra- ham, Isaac and Jacob will be in heaven. 9th. I don't believe in saying the Lord's Prayer, although I can't forget my dear mother taking my little hands in her's and teaching me that prayer; but she was (iuuch as I revere Ler memory) mistaken, for no Christian need ever ask for his sins to be fprgiven. Is not that a painful picture '< yet 1 know of such a oa^ ab that There is something fascinatiisg in the peculiar tenets of Brethren* A-.i ^tlki. 36 ism, which first misleads and then tends to destroy everything that people had before been taught. And I think now you are faith- fully warned, I have been as fair to these people as I possibly could, and be obliged to place their doctrines before you. They attempt a retival, but alas it is a revival in the wrong direction. I am no enemy of revivals. I think we are too apt to grow cold in the cause of Christ, and we want something to arouse us to duty ; but there are right ways of conducting a revival, as perhaps we shall see some day hei^e.''^ In the meantime be attentive, my brethren, to your own reli- gious duties, and be not carried about by every wind of doctrine. "Stand ye in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein and ye shaU find rest for your souls, {Jer. vi., 16,) "Believe not every spirit, but try the sjnrits whether they (we of God, for there are false prophets .jone out INTO the world." {1 John, iv, 1.) THE END. * I refer to "Church Kissions," which h«^e been attended with cuoh good resolta, wherever they have been tried. «,-, t' i'^rif