Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/agequestionorpleOOnevi THE AGE-QUESTION: CHRISTIAlsr UNION". 7 ALFRED NEVIN, D.D. " That they all may be one."— Jesus Chritt, " Ib Chriut divided V'—St. Paul. " lie has not the love of God who docs not seek the unity of the Church."— Augustine. "In things necessary, let there be unity; In things not necessary, liberty ; In all tilings, charity." — M'itgius, " I can as Willingly be a martyr for Lovk, as for any article of the Creed."— Baxter. "The union of all true Christians! That is the Iteformntiou of the Nine- teenth Century."— J. //. Merle D'Aubii/ne, J>.D. PHILADELPHIA: WILLIAM FLINT, 26 SOUTH SEVENTH STREET. lbC8. Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, by ALFRED NEVIN, D.D., In the Clerk's Office of the District Court, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. KIXO ii BAIllT), PKINTEKS, 607 i-iiiisom street, Phil^adelpliia. FKATERNALLY DEDICATED TO GEOEGE W. MUSGRAVE, D.D./LL.D. (8) " P^IITGETOIT N-^. THBOLO / COXTEXTS. Preface • 7 The Apostles' Cuked 9 The Lord's Prav:;k 9 Introductiox 13 The Union Contemplated 20 Testimony of Eminent Ministers and Laymen 45 Reasons for Christian Union 68 Objections to Christian Union Consideri.d 135 Means for Promoting Christian Union 157 Cultivation of the Spirit of Unity Ukgld L89 (5) » t » 9 PEEFACE. Tms little volume has but a feeble claim to originality. It mainly presents relevant passages of Scriptiu-e ; and the opinions of men (very much in their own words) whose piety, learning, i)roniineuce and usefulness, challenge for any thing from them on such a theme as Christian Union, the profoundest respect and strongest confidence. The arguments and ajipeals are given in as condensed and in- telligible a form as possible, that the "Plea," intended chiefly for the popular mind, may, if God will, secure general perusal and receive solemn attention, by reason of its plainness, directness and brevity. Whatever may be the result, the Author will have the comfort of know- ing that all such efforts, as this unpretending one, are in a line with the nonnal state of the Church and the Saviour's prayer for lis people's unity. May the spirit of that prayer pei-vade the reader's heart as he advances from page to page, gathering, as we humbly trust he may, some hints whicli he can himself more fully expand and apply And thus may it not only bo believed, but more widely and profoundly felt, as a living, majestic, and momentous truth, that "charity is the bond of perfect- ed) 8 PREFACE. ness." All that the Author asks is, that what he has said, may not be interpreted by what he has not said, and thus be represented or regarded as expressive of even the sUghtest indifference to the precious "truth as it is in Jesus." He yields to no one in the conviction, that an union, except on the basis of essential truth, would be not only dangerous, but disastrous, and bitterly to be deplored. He is persuaded, however, at the same time, that it is one thing to require assent that every thing in God's Word is true, and quite another thing to msist \\\)on the belief that all things therein are so importantly true, that difference of opinion in relation to some of them, is to be regarded as justifying schism in the mystical body of Christ. heaven and eaj|th : Jiind in Jesus ^ln;ist his onhj $on out] Xsor{i', Mho was conceived by the I^ohj QJhost, Borjn of the Virgin fRat|t}; iJufferiCd undeii Jfontius Jfilate, Mas ctiucified, dead, and l>uj|ied ; ^e descended into hell ; t$\ie thir^d day he rjOse {r,oni the dead; JiJe ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the ^ight hand of (pod the Jfathen ^^Imighty ; 3;Vom thence he shall corae to judge the quich and the dead, I believe in the J^oly Qhost; (^he "l^oly Catholic Church, t$he (i^ommunion of §aint5; (^he Ufoiifjiveness of sins,; t^he Besurrection of the body; }\nd the Life everlasting. jSimen. l^ur, J^athcr, a-ho art in heaven, !titallou'cd be thy ■^amc. tT'by Uinfldom come, (Jhy will be done on earjth, as it is in heaven, Qiive us this day^mi daily br,ead. ^n{l forgive us oui] trjCspasscs, as we for,give those who tr.cspass against us. J'knd lead us not into temptation ; But delivei] us fijom evil : Jj'oi| thine is the hingdom, and the powet|, and the gloiiy, foi; even and cvcii. .^mcn. (9) EVANGELICAL UNITY. EVAN'GELICAL UXITY. I. 'God, of one blood, o'er all the eai-th, All nations of mankind hath made , Nor age, nor clime, nor hue of birth, Can this blood brotherhood evade : But tainted in their Father Ilcad, The sons of Adam fail and die ; 0 The common tomb where all are laid Records a ghastly unity I II. ' The theme is dark, and sad the song ; Is there not kinsmanship beside? Yes ! sound the exulting chords along, And sing — O Death, thy soul hath died 0 Grave, thy vanfiiiishcd portals hide, Their broken strength returncth never ; For Christ the Brotlier spoils thy pride, His brotherhood abides for cvei'. III. ' Brethren of Jesus, sons of love 1 H9W lovelike, Godlike, these should be In earth beneath, and heaven above, Ouo undivided family ; EVANGELICAL UNITY. Bending at one blest throne the knee, Hymning one Saviour's sacred blood; By one sweet Spirit's energy Knit each to each, and all to God. IV. ' Ineffable accord ! O thou From whom the Bridegroom is not fai", — Wlio wearest on thy mystic brow The coronetting Morning Star In wh^m deep springs of music are, — ' Lovc-ransomcd thou, forbear to move One chord of heart, whose pulse may mar The harmony of holy love. V. ' Yes, rather, on the Patmos wing Of Evangelic eagle flee, Where thousand times ten thousand sing. O'er that Apocalyjitic sea Of ruby glass, love's melody, All golden-harped — and waft the story Down, till this groaning earth shall bo Baptized into celestial glory." NTRODUCTION. The voice of one, eighteen centuries ago, cried to Israel, waiting in the wilderness, " Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The voice of Providence cries in our day. Prepare ye the way of the Holy Ghost. " Receive ye one another, as Christ also received you." "I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that yc be perfectly joined to- gether in the same mind." "And grieve not the Holy S[)irit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice." The union of Evangelical Christians — in other words, of all who hold and advocate the doctrines of salvation by grace, through faith in tiie merits of the rigiiteousness and blood of a Divine Saviour — a faith which ' worketh by love' under the renew- 2 . (13) 14 THE AOE-QUESTION; OB, ing influence of the Holy Spirit — is, be3''ond ques- tion, tlie great problem presented to the Christian world of the nineteenth century. The divisions of the Church of Christ, which, ever since Paul had occasion to complain of the factions springing up in the Church of Corinth, have been felt to be an element of weakness in the Christian cause ; a scandal ; or stumbling-block in the way of the Lord's progress ; are now having the attention of men anxiously turned to them, and an intense desire cherished for their removal. Many hearts are relenting from the rigor of party organization and sectarian asperity. The love of Christ, that sacred flame which warms them and bids them strive together for the conversion of a world, also melts down the walls of partition, which might well enough keep Jews asunder from Gentiles, but was never permitted to sever one Jew from another, and much less ought now to sepai*ate a Christian fi'om his brother. Many are pondering these things in their hearts, and ask- ing, Ought brethren to be thus estranged ? Ought Ephraim thus to envy Judah, and Judah to vex , Ephraim ? It is true, there are some who look upon Chris- tian Union as an Utopian scheme. There are A PLEA FOR CURISTIAN UNION. 15 miiltitudes, however, by whom it is not so re- garded, and their number is steadily and' rapidly increasing. Many of the ablest heads and noblest hearts in Christendom feel called to review the ground which the Protestant churches now oc- cupy, because they know that much of this ground was assumed, pai'tly by inconsideration, partly by the pressure of controversy, and partlj'^ by the coercion of circumstances. Never, indeed, has such a yearning for unity been experienced, at least in the same degree. A growing impatience prevails of those divisions and separations, in which many were accustomed to acquiesce, as inevitable incidents in the free march of mind, if not even valuable and desirable, as proofs of that very freedom. Everywhere there is a disposition to ask if this checkered aspect, this parti-colored bla.'sonry, this crossing and re-cro.>i>sing of conflict- ing lines and clashing ranks, be indeed the spec- tacle which the Captain of Salvation designed his field of battle to exhibit. It will not do, therefore, to pass this question by with cold praise, as a very good thing in itself; but impracticable, and the men, be they ministers tor laymen, who can regard it with indifference, or dismiss it with a sneer, certainly do not occu[)y 16 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, fin enviable position. How can nny one, whose mind is enlightened by the Spirit of God, and whose heart is renewed by His grace, be without desire to see the people of God united? How can any one, who surveys the distractions of the Christian Church, who sees the parties into which, it is split, the virulence by which they are actu- ated, the angry controversies they maintain, the discredit they bring upon Christianity, the force they give to infidel objections, the gratification they afford to demons, the obstructions they throw in the way of the world's conversion, not desire the union of the Church? Had we seen even the seamless garment, which once covered the sacred person of the Saviour, rent and torn by violence, we could not have looked upon tiie njutilated robe v.-ithout emotion; how, tlicn, can we see His spiritual body torn by faction, and disfigured by bigotry, and yet be indillercnt to the mclauchol,y spectacle? Is it reasonably probable that the time for Christian Union is not distant? \7e believe it is. The very longing for it, already referi'ed to, is to be hailed as a token for good. It is tile in- stinct of brotherly love, implanted and revived in Christian breasts by the Lord himself — the Spirit; A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 17 and the very awakening of it, at any time, to un- ■wonted energy and intensity, is an indication that its gratification may be expected to be within reach. For God does not whet any si:)iritual ap- petite merely that it may suffer the disappoint- ment of a tantalizing dela}' : His having whetted it is, of itself, an evidence that He has its appro- priate aliment at hand. Thus, in the sixteenth century, a general sense of the necessity of a re- formation, accompanied by the desire of it, and a conviction that, in some way or other, it would come, preceded and paved the way for, Luther's republication of the Word of God, and the Gospel of His grace, and, if the necessity of the case now, in the nineteenth century, -demands an Apos- tolic mission on behalf of John's chosen theme — Love, and the divine fellowship of love — similar to that which Luther, following in the steps of Paul, accomplished on behalf of faith, and the free justi- fication which faith appropriates — the feeling of that necessity, in so far as it is of God, is the sure presage of its being speedily and adequately met. No surer sign need be asked of a revolution or reformation being nigh, even at the gate, than the feeling of a void, and the prevalence^of a desire in regard to it. And, considering all the circura- 2* 18 THE AOE-QUESTION; OB, stances, we nve inclined to regard the present feeling of the Church on the subject of Union, an auspicious sign of the times, a promising indica- tion, a hapi^y prognostication ; being like a streak of red, however faint, breaking the evening and western clouds, and giving some promise of " fair weather " on the morrow. But, whether Christian Union is, or is not, soon to be accomplished, it is certain that it will in God's set time be realized. Nothing can hinder it. Sectarianism and party spirit, no less than formalism and superstition, must give way before it. The day will dawn when the Church shall be '*Not by a party's narrow banks confined — Not by a sameness of opinion joined ; But cemented by the Redeemer's blood, And bound togetlier in tbe lieart of God." The many difficulties — prejudices, and sectional interests in the way of this grand result, which meet our eye as we look abroad upon the Christian world as actually constituted, might tempt us to consider it a vain and fruitless attempt to endeavor to harmonize such discordant materials. And, in- deed, it would be a hopeless task, had we not the promise of God, and the assurance of the Saviour that His people shall yet be One. With such a • A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 19 gnarantj^, however, we have no reason for fear or doubt as to tlie issue. What are difficulties to the omnipotent God ? " Who art thou, O great mountain ?" sa\"s Jehovah, " before Zerubbabel tliou shalt become a plain : and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shouting, crying, Grace, grace unto it. For who hath despised the day of small things ?" But, whilst we firmly believe that God will bring about His own purpose to malce Ilis people One, this ought not to make us indifferent to our duty in this direction. It ought rather to kindle our zeal, and excite our desire ; to be found cooperating with Him in the path of cheerful obedience. What has God wrought for His Church, in which He did not employ human instrumentality, while taking care so to order things that the glory should be His? The conviction, therefore, that Christian Union is God's cause, and that He will carry it on and carry it out, is the very thing to call forth our zeal and nerve our exertions. And, instead of sitting down in indolent activity, as, alas ! so many do, hoping that the good work may be accomplished, it is the part of a sincere Christian, after casting off any unjust prejudices of education and long-established habits, to lead others to do 20 THE AOE-QUESTION ; OR, so, as far as he may be able ; and to urge them to offer their praj-ers, blend their efforts, and conse- crate their influence, with his own, to the attain- ment of the consummation so devoutl}^ to be wished. JJnION jOoNTEMPLATED. It may be asked, Whether, in order to actualize the idea of Christian Union, it would be requisite for the various sections into which the Church is divided, to resolve themselves into their integral elements, and to attempt the formation of one vast community, comprehending the good of every name and every sect ? To this question it may be answered, that such an issue, for the present, at least, is not contem- plated. However desirable it may be to obtain unity of religious sentiment, even in those minor matters on which Christians are not now agreed, and however certain it may be thu,t yd " there shall be one fold, and one Shepherd," it can i scarcely be expected now, that there will be unity j and concord based on absolute uniformit}' of opinion and practice. In the Apostolic age there A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 31 existed differences of opinion and practice between •Jewish and Gentile converts, far greater than those which divide some of the religious denomi- nations of our land, j'et they did not divide the Church under the guidance of the Apostles. On the contrary, the Apostles enjoined mutual for- bearance. The Church, in its early history, was one, as the human race is one. There was unity, and j^et considerable variety, in the outward forms and observances connected with the institutions and worship of each congregation. This diversity, in lesser matters, arose, from the different habits, manners, and ceremonies which characterized the different nations that embraced the doctrines of the Cross. A Christian of Asia, though Asiatic in his manners and observances, was at once re- ceived into communion with the Churches in Europe, without being required to renounce his peculiarities. Irenaeus says that, while each re- tained his own customs, "they held communion with each other." The Bishop of Caisarea, in a letter to C^'prian, in the year 256, says that the Church of Rome " has many particulars of divine worship which are not precisely the same observ- ances whicli i)revail in Jerusalem." " So, like- wise," he adds, " in a very great number of otlier 23 THE AGE-QUESTION; OR, provinces, many things vary according to the diversity of place and people, bnt, nevertheless, these variations have at no time infringed the peace and unity of the catholic (or universal) ■ ; Church." The Reformers held that uniformity was not necessary to unity — that the Church ad- mitted of variety in lesser matters, and that all were to be received as brethren whom God vouch- safed to take for sons. Said the Churches of France and Belgia, when addressing the other reformed Churches on the subjects of union and harmony — " There hath scarce been any age which hath, in such sort, seen all Churches follow- ing altogether one thing in all points, so as there hath not always been some difference, either in doctrine or in ceremonies, or in manners ; and yet Christian Churches through the world wore not, therefore, cut asunder, unless peradventure then, when the Bishop of Rome broke off all agreement, and tyrannically enjoined to other Churches, not what ought to be done, but what himself would have observed. But the Apostles did not so. Barnabas, indeed, departed from Paul, and Paul withstood Peter, and surely for no trifle, and yet the one became not thereby more enemy or stranger to the other but the self-same spirit A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 23 which had coupled them from the beginning, never suflered them to be disjoined from themselves. It is the fashion of Romayists to command, to en- force, to press, to throw out cursings, and thunder excommunications upon the heads of those that ■whisper never so little against them ; but let us, according to the doctrine of the Holy Ghost, suffer and gently admonish each other ; that is, keeping the ground-work of faith, let us build love upon it, and let us jointly repair the walls of Zion, lying in their very ruins. "* But, whilst absolute uniformity may not be ex- pected among Christians, it is certain that union is much to be desired. What we want is a formal^ visible union of parties — an approximation to each other, of which not only our own hearts shall be conscious, by a perceptible decay of our prejudices and a growth of love, but which shall be apparent to others, by some means of which they are able to take cognizance. It is not enough merely that, as ministers and Christians, we should cultivate more assiduously the obligations of brotherly love, but that, by some kind of agreement, organization, or means of public intercourse, we should give * Preface to the Ilarmouy of Confusaious, 1851. 34 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OR, visibility to this state of our hearts towards each other. Without this, we fail to let our light so shine before men as we should do. The diffused rays of love that are scattered abroad in the civili- ties and courtesies of life, are too faint to be seen, or, at any rate, to be seen in that intensity and force which they would gain when collected into the focal-point of a public organization. If we do not meet in public in some way, either because we will not, or cannot, the world will be slow to credit our professions of secret, though it may be sincere, love. "By this shall all men know that yc are my disciples, if ye love one another." This lan- guage of our Divine Lord seems to require a visible union, and, in the present state of Christen- dom, we cannot have visibility without organiza- tion or public intercourse of some kind. An essential feature of .such an arrangement as the right idea of Christian Union demands, is, That every chwch shall admit to its communion all who give credible evidence that they are disciples' of the Lord Jesus Christ. And why should not this be done? "Saints by profession," says the Westminster Confession of Faith, " are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 25 spiritual services as tend to their mutual edifica- tion; as also, in relieving each other iu outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, is to be extended unto all those who in every place call upon the name of the Lord Jesus." The same Confession expressly declai'es that " All Synods or Councils since the Apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred ; therefore, they are not to be made the rule of faith and iDractice, but to be used as an help in both," — thus showing that its com- pilers never dreamt of breaking up fellowship with other foreign churches of the Reformation that had Confessions of their own, differing in some points from theirs. Calvin, when addressing the Lutheran churches, said, "Keep your smaller differences, let us have no discord on that account ; but let us march in one solid column, under the banners Of the Captain of our Salvation, and, with undivided counsels, form the legions of the Cross upon the territories of darkness and of death." " I should not hesitate to cross ten seas, if, by this means, holy communion might prevail among the members of Christ." "I would ask," says the great John Howe, in speaking of the Sacrament 3 2a THE AGE-qVESTION ; OR, of the Suj^per, " whose is this table ? Is it the table of this or that luau, or part3'' of meu? or is it the Lord's table ? Theu certainly it ought to be free to his guests, and appropriate to them, and who should dare to invite others, or forbid these?" Robert Hall and Dr. Wardlaw main- tained that, wherever there is union to Christ, there ought to be communion, and that no man, or set of men, is entitled to prescribe, as an indis- pensable condition of communion, what the Kew Testament has not enjoined as a condition of sal- vation. What satisfactory reason can be assigned why Christians should not show their love for one another in partaking together of the Lord's supper ? In what capacity is it that we take our i)laces there? Is it as fellow-Presb^^terians, or fcUow- Congrcgationalists, or fellow-Episcopalians, or fel- low- liaptists? Is it not rather as felloiv-believers, fellow-disdiiles, fellow- Christians? If a Presby- terian and a Congregationalist, or a Ba^jtist and a Pasdo-baptist object to silting down with each otlicr at the table of the Lord, one of two inferences must follow: Eitlicr they must, on ac- count of their difi'erence of sentiment as to the government or rites of the Church, question each A PLEA FOR GERISTIAN UNION. 27 other's Christianity, — or it must be, not as be- lievers, disciples. Christians, but as Presbyterians or Cougregationalists, Baptists, or Pagdo-baptlsts, that they, respectivelj', consider themselves en- titled to a seat at the feast ! But who, bearing the name of Jesus, will defend so anti-scriptural and nar- row-minded a position ? It should be remembered that no particular denomination of Christians is able to say of the Sacrament of the Supper, "This is our table." It is the Lord's table. How, then, can any one branch of the Church consider itself entitled to shut the door of admission to that table against any whom, there is every reason to believe, the Divine Master would Himself receive? Is there no presumption in this ? It is not, we repeat, a Presbyterian table, or a Lxitheran table, or an Ejyiscopal table — it is a Christian table. How, then, can it be for a moment doubted, that all who are " of one heart and one soul" in regard to the essen- tial articles of evangelical truth, and who give evi- dence of their attachment to those blessed truths by "a conversation as it becomcth the Gospel of Ciirist," — should welcome one another to a joint participation of the symbols of the same broken body and tlie same shed blood, which arc tlie ob- jects of their common faith, the ground of their 28 THE AGE-qUESTION ; OB, common hope, the charter of their common free- dom, and the spring of their common holiness and their common joy ? Look at the catholic spirit Tchich was breathed by the large-hearted Apostle of the Gentiles, when, in writing to "the saints who were at Ephesus and the faithful in Christ Jesus" — expanding his affections, and teaching them to expand thtiii's, bej'ond the little circle of their own immediate fellowshijD, to th* whole " honscliold of faith"— he prayed, " Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity !" How would Paul have delighted in personal fellowship with each, and in collective fellowship with all, whom he thus designates ! iS'othing, surely, would have charmed him more (had such a thing been possi- ble) than a convention of Jewish and Gentile be- lievers, from all the countries into which the Gos- pel had penetrated — constituting at the time " the general assembly and cluirch of the first-born which are written in iieaven" — around the table of their common Lord, partaking together 'at the feast of Christian love, the symbols of His body and blood — His body broken, His blood shed for them all, thus pledging tlieir union on earth, and anticipating its pei fection in heaven. A PLEA FOB GUBISTIAN UNION. 39 Let it Idc remembered, also, that " all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," are objects of tlic love of that Lord himself. They have a place in His heart, as the children of " his Father and their Father" — the people of "his God and their God." lie "calls them brethren." He intercedes for them, " that they may .be with him where he is, to behold his glory." He " rests in his love" toward them. And He will welcome them, as the "blessed of his Father," to th© inheritance of " the kingdom prepared for them before the foun- dation of the world." How, then, should the people of Christ, whose duty it is to be like Him, shrink, with a trembling sensitiveness, from the idea of any one being owned by Him, that is not owned by them ; of any one having the place of a disciple in His heart, that has not the place of a fellow-disciple in theirs ; of any one having a part in His intercession for God's people, whom they, in their intercessions, class with the world ; of any being welcomed by Him at last into the heavenly kingdom, wliom they, in censorious uncharitable- ness, are excluding from it I We cannot but think that the communion of Christians, one with anotlicr, is a dut^- plainly' ne- duciblc from the unity of the Church. That all 3* 30 TEE AGE-qUESTION ; OR, true Christians are members of the catholic Church, or the mystical body of Christ, will not be denied. Nor Tvill *it be disputed that all its members are entitled to its communion, and to all its privileges which they are capable of enjo3'ing, and more especially that the injunction, " Do this in remembrance of me," imposes on all the dis- ciples of Christ the obligation, and imparts to them the right, to come to the Sacramental Table. But if these things are admitted, and if it be ad- mitted farther, that unity is prescribed as an essen- tial feature of the Church, it will follow, that the gate of admittance into any particular Christian so- ciety ought to be exactly of the same dimensions as that of admittance into the Church at large ; that, since all genuine saints have a right to the com- munion and the privileges of the Church, nothing ought to be demanded as a condition of their ad- mission to anj^ section of it, but satisfactory evi- dence that they are saints ; that, consequently, where this evidence is furnished, they ought to be received to tliat communion and these privileges, and that forbearance ought to be extended to their mistakes and deficiencies, however great and mani- fold. And, witli regard in particular to the Sacra- ment of the Supper, it aviU follow, that to debar 1 A PLEA FOB GHBISTIAN UNION. 31 others from our fellowship, for any reason which does not cancel completely their title to the ordi- nance, and render it unwart'antable for them to celebrate it by themselves, is to withhold a privi- lege, the right to which is conferred on them by their Saviour — to violate unnecessarily the unity of His body, and to inflict a punishment most cruel and unjust. Certain it is that a very differ- ent course from this was i^ursued in the Apostolic age. Then, as soon as men embraced the Gospel, and were regarded as genuine saints, they were forthwith admitted to the communion of the Church. Of this fact we have a signal illustration in the case of the first converts from among the Gentiles. "When " the gift of the Iloly Ghost was poured out " on Cornelius and his friends, " Peter answered. Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we ? And he commanded them to be ba})tizod in the name of the Lord."* On his return to Jerusalem, " they of the circum- cision contended with him," and in strong terms disapproved of his conduct. " IJut Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it * Acts X. 47, 48. 33 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OB, by order unto them," and Trhat was the conse- quence ? " When they heard these things, they hcUi their i)eace, and glorified God, sajang, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."* The prejudices entertained by Peter, and b}^ his brethren of the circumcision, against the admission of the Gentiles to intimate inter- course in private, and to the fellowship of the Church, were exceedinglj'' strong, and, consider- ing the i3artition-walls which for ages had sepa- rated the Jews from other nations, it would have been strange indeed had it been otherwise. It may well be supposed, too, that these new converts were not all at once freed from their former errors, that their views of the Gospel were.oomparatively crude and confused. But no sooner did Peter and his believing brethren of the circumcision perceive that God had " granted to the Gentiles repentance unto life," than their Jewish prejudices gave way, and they hastened to imitate the Divine example, by recognizing as brethren those whom God had recognized as His children. In view of this ex- ample of Peter and his countrj'men, how can those who have no such prejudices to struggle * Acts, si. 18. A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION 33 with as they had, refuse to imitate their conduct, by declining to admit to communion in the Church persons whom yet they acknowledge to have " re- ceived the Holy Ghost," and "re]^lntance unto life," as well as themselves ? The whole tenor of the New Testament, indeed, indicates that, in the Apostolic age, notwithstand- ing there were churches which were distracted by controversies and divisions, those Christians who resided in the same town, or in the same district, being incorporated into one holy association, re- garded each other as brethren in the Lord, and observed in conjunction every Christian ordinance. Considering themselves as a component part of " the holy catholic Church," they welcomed to their communion the members of every other church, when accredited by " letters of commen- dation," and were admitted in their turn to simi- lar privileges by every Christian society. " I wrote unto the Church, but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words ; and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddcth them that woukl, and ca£teth them ont 34 THE AOE-qUESTION ; OB, of the Church."* Here is an instance of a man who, under the influence of an arrogant and domi- neering temper, refused to receive the acknowl- edged servants of the Saviour, and who expelled from the Church those that did receive them. But how strong and emphatic the terms in which ithe beloved Apostle reprobates his conduct 1 Are there not some in our own days, who would feel indignant to be ranked with Diotrephes, but who imitate his conduct in its spirit and almost in the letter, "bj refusing to receive those who are minis- ters of Christ, and by excluding from the Church persons who give satisfactory evidence of saint- ship and who must, of course, hold every essential truth, but who difler from them on points of sub- ordinate importance or of dubious evidence ? What the diflferent branches of the Church now greatly need is, the spirit which would lead to " forbearing one another in love." We mean for- bearance not only in reference to things on all sides allowed to be indifferent, (for this scarcely deserves the name of forbearance,) but in refer- ence to opinions deemed to be unscriptural, and to practices considered to be wrong — provided * S Jolin '.), 10. A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 35 these opinions and practices are not incompatible ■with a state of gtace and salvation. Not but that we are to use assiduously all legitimate means to reclaim our Christian brethren from their errors, and to induce them to relinquish practices which seem to us to be sinful, but that we ought not to exclude them from the Church, or to debar them from our private intercourse or our fraternal love. If they " hold the Head," they cannot be charge- able with vital or essential erroi-, and, though the points in which they agree with us may be few in number, they must be greater far in magnitude and importance than the particulars, however nu- merous, in which they differ from us. If, then, we separate from them, or compel them to separate from us, by making our differences terms of com- munion, we are guilty of schism — of a causeless and unwarrantable rupture in the Saviour's m3's- tical body. " When the lovers of Christ," says an eminent divine, " cannot sit down at the same holy table, the blame of schism must rest with those whose sentiments or behavior is the cause why they cannot do it." We are well aware that it is alleged as an ob- jection to the principle of union now advocated, that it requires the sanction of error and sin. This 86 THE AOE-QUESTION ; OB, objection, however, is far more specious tlian sound. " ComaQunion with a church or her mem- bers," saj-s Dr. Mason, "does not imi)ly our ap- probation of all things belonging to her actual condition as an organized hoAy, but only approval so far as this act expresses — a unity of faith or practice, and no farther." So far is the forbear- ance which Christians exercise in communing with their fellow-believers whom they regard as holding certain notions, and following certain practices, which are unscriptural and pernicious, from imply- ing approbation of these notions and practices, that it implies the reverse. It implies that the opinions or practices in reference to which it is exercised, are regai'ded as less or more criminal, but that they do not involve such an amount of criminality as to render the individuals holding or following them deserving of exclusion from a Christian society. And in such a woiid as this, where perfection is not the attainment of human- ity, how is it possible to resist the demand which is made upon us for forbearance ? Choose what- ever chu-rch we may, we will not find in it a single member who is not chargeable with some mis- conceptions and errors, and with sinful infirmities of temper and conduct. Even we ourselves are A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 37 not exceptions to this remark. Forbearance, then, we must exercise, as well as expect, if we are to be connected with a Christian Church at all, and we may be sure it is not extended beyond proper limits, if it reaches just as far as Jesus Christ extends His. We are always safe in adher- ing to the Apostolic order of the graces, faith, hope, and charity, and in believing that " the greatest of these is charity." " Ilini that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful dispu- tations. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not, and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth : for God hath received him. We then that are strong ought to bear the iuQrmilies of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Chi-ist also •ceived us, to the glory of God.''* Another essential feature of Christian Union is ministerial felloicship. And why should noh this exist ? As the conduct of Christ constitutes our model in reference to the ordinary members of the Church, so should it constitute our model in rela- tion to the ofllcc-bearers of the Church. If, then, there be persons whom we are persuaded Ho * Rom. xiv. 1, 3,- and .\v., 1 7. 4 38 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, recognizes as His ambassadors and servants, it is our duty to recognize them in that capacity, recol- lecting that he ■who receiveth the messenger re- ceives Him that sent him, and tliat he that despiseth the servant virtually despiseth the Master. And in spite of the multitudinous and vexatious con- troversies which have been agitated respecting " the proper channels for conveying, and the legiti- mate mode of vesting," the office of the Christian minister, we cannot but think the subject would not occasion much perplexity in practice, if there was a controlling desire to follow the example, and to comply with the injunctions, of Jesus. It is the direction of Paul to his son Timothy — " The things thou hast heard of me, among many wit- nesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." In thin passage there are two qualifications specified as indisgensable to a Christian minister— piety and ability. He must be a "faithful man;" he must be a believer, and he must have correct and en- larged views of " the truth as it is in Jesus," together with a capacity and a disposition to com- municate instruction, so as to be "able to teach others also." In judging of the reality and the degree of these indispensable requisites, there is A PLEA FOE CHRISTIAN UNION. 39 room, of course, for a considerable diversity of opinion. If, liowever, it is ascertained by us, eitlier from personal knowledge, or competent tes- timonj', that any minister belonging to another department of the Christian Church, possesses undoubtedl}' these qualifications, "we cannot gi'eatly err in acknowledging him, but we maj- greatly err in refusing to acknowledge him as "a servant of Christ," even though he should dissent from us on many points of ecclesiastical politj', and even on the minor details of Christian doctrine. If, as we hav^ seen, to exclude from the Supper of the Lord, those whom the Lord Himself invites, seems manifestly repugnant, not only to the enactments of Scripture, but to the natural perceptions and the instinctive feelings of the new creature, surely there is something unnatural in refusing to ac- knowledge, as servants of Christ, and ministers of His word, persons who are evidently accredited by Christ himself. "There is surely something unnatural," says an eminent Scotch divine, in an Essay published some years ago, "in refusing to acknowledge as servants of Christ, and ministers of His word, persons who are evidently accredited by Chris.t himself. And yet, how extensively lias this incon- 40 THE AOE-qUESTION ; OB, gruity been exempliflecl in our own country ! Few evangelical ministers of any denomination, (and it is only of them that we now speak,) but are glad to consult the excellent Commentary of Mat- thew Henrj', when preparing for their weekly ex- positions of Scripture, aud few of them but would recommend in the highest terms Dr Doddridge's invaluable treatise on ' The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul.' But, su^jpose that Henry or Doddridge had appeared in Scotland a few years ago, how would they have been treated? Five years ago, Henry would with difRcuI^ have been allowed to deliver one of his inimitable exjjo- sitions, or Doddridge one of his beautiful and * tender sermons, in a pulpit belonging to the Estab- lished Church, many as were the excellent minis- ters it then contained. And fifty years ago, each of these admirable individuals would probably have experienced similar treatment in both branches of the United Secession. Is there not something not only sinful and absurd, but monstrous and shock- ing in such exclusiveness and intolerance?" It is, indeed, utterly incomprehensible to us, how the ministerial standing of those evangelical minis- ters can be denied, who have been regularly set apart by their respective Churches to the work of A PLEA FOR CEBISTIAN UNIOW. 41 preaching the Gospel, and upon whose ministry God sets the seal of His approbation. Are not sinners converted by the Divine blessing, under their minis- trations, and prepared for heaven ? Who will, or does, venture to deny this ? What", then, do they lack to make their ministerial standing complete ? What more can those do who fail to recognize them, than serve also as instruments in God's hands for fulfilling His gracious purpose of salvation ? A third essential feature of Christian Union is a rejjresentative assembly, Clerical and Lay, to meet at stated^periods for consultation, supervision, and direction in regard to the interests of religion in I'll', various denominations represented. In regard to this representative and delegated body, we pre- sume not to enter into any details as to its con- stitution and its powers. It is not necessary that we should do so. It is enough for us to suggest the idea, and to intimate that it does not propose interference with any form of government or wor- ship, but to leave each denomination, as now, at liberty to determine those matters for itself Well assured we are, that with such an arrangement, the divisions of tlie Church would be almost en- tirely healed, and her unity re- established. There would still be denominations, but whatever is most 4» 43 THE AGE-qUESTION ; OB, malignant and hurtful in such divisions would be exterminated. It could not perhaps be said that " there was no longer Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian and Scythian, bond and free," but it might be said that " they were all one in Christ Jesus," and that " Christ was all, and in all." There would still be the Episco- palian, the Presbj'terian, the Lutheran, the Con- gregationalist, the Baptist, and the Methodist, but they would be perceived to belong to one heavenly community, and would be separated by a distinct line of demarcation from "the world ot the ungodly." Amid comiilexional differences, which would impart to them variety and beauty rather than deformity, they would exhibit con- spicuously a family likeness, and the influence of their common Christianity, though slightly modi- fied by their individuual peculiarities, would be unequivocally stamped on them all— " Varied in all, and yet in all the same." What has been said in reference to the worshippers in the celestial sanctuary, and will be fully realized only in them, would thus be in no small degree exemplilTcd also in the worshippers on earth: " Ten Ihousaud thousand arc their tongues. But all tlicir hearts arc one." A PLEA FOE CHRISTIAN UNION. 43 Would it be impossible to find a suitable basis for such a couventiou as has been proposed ? We think not. Look at the main points on which all Evangelical denominations agree. They all hold : 1. The Divine inspiration, authority, and suffi- ciency of the Holy Scriptures. 2. The right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures. 3. The Unity of the Godhead, and the Trinity of Persons therein. .• 4. The utter depravity of human nature, in con- sequence of the fall. 5. The incarnation of the Son of God, His work of atonement for sinners of mankind, and His Mediatorial intercession and reign. 6. The justification of the sinner by faith alone. 7. The work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion and san^tification of the sinner. 8. The immortality of the soul, the I'esurrcction of the body, the judgment of tlie world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of 44 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OB, the righteous, and the eternal punishment of the ■wicked. 9. The Divine institution of the Christian Minis- try, and the obligation and perpetuity of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Would not these tenets, with the distinct under- standing that the selection of them, and the omis- sion of others, is not to be held as impljang that the former constitute the whole bodj'' of important truth, or that the. latter are unimportant, be a broad enough basis on which to estg,blish such a Convention, or Assembly, or Synod, as we suggest? A PLEA FOR CERISTIAN UNION. 45 ESTIMONY OF tSMINENT /VUNIS- One of the sad effects which have been produced by divisions in the Church is the insensibility to their criminal character and their ruinous conse- quences evinced by many who have witnessed them,, as well as by many who have contributed • largely to thoir production. Like the apathy with regard to the spiritual miseries of the heatlien ■world, and the disregard of the departing Saviour's last injunction, manifested for centuries after the Reformation, the insensibility to schism and its necessary concomitants presents a phenomenon somewhat hard to be explained. As the man who is accustomed to breathe a tainted atmosphere becomes insensible to its nauseousness and its noxiousness, and as the most revolting scenes of pollution and blood cease to shock those who are every day doomed to witness them, so something analogous occurs with respect to moral and spiritual objects. The statement of the poet, when he tells us that TERS AND AYMEN. " Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, Afl to be bated, uocds but to be seen," .46 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OR, must be understood with some limitations, but experience amply corroborates his assertion when he adds : " Yet, seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first eudure, then pity, then embrace." Thus, certainly, it has happened with regard to the evils resulting from divisions in the Church. We are so familiar with the hideous spectacle of animosities and separations, that it fails to excite those emotions of amazement, and grief, and hor- ror, with which it would undoubtedly be contem- plated, if our ideas of the Church were copied cor- rectly from the pattern shown in the Mount. It is, indeed, to be acknowledged, and ac- knowledged with devout gratitude, that in con- sequence chiefly of the Missionary, Tract, Sunday- school, and other similar enterprises, undertaken within the present century, the asperities of party have been considerably' abated — that more liberal views and kindly feelings have begun to be cherished, and that among the truly good of al- most every sect, there has been manifested a tendency towards a mutual approximation. Still it is true, that even in our own highly-favored and much-loved land unsoeml}' dissensions exist, and A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 47 the garden of the Lns of our laud exiiibit any thing else than the "same care" for the other members of Christ's body ? If one de- nomination suffers, fails of success, or meets with disgrace in some unworthy members, do not sur- rounding denominations rather, at least tacitly A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 93 and cheerfully, acquiesce, if not rejoice, hoping that thus more room will be made, and facility offered for their own enlargement ? Not thus is it in the family: if one member is visited by any calamity, the others do not rejoice in it. Nor thus would it be among those who profess the name of Christ, if the community of interest in the Saviour's family ifad not been impaired by sectarian divisions, which place several distinct, religious families on the same ground, with sepa- rate pecuniary interests, with conflicting preju- dices, with rival sectarian aims ! In the Apostolic age, and for centuries after it, only one Christian Church occupied the same field, and thus three- fourths of the causes which originate contentions among modern Christians were avoided. These separate interests will always create contention, rivalry, and jealousies among fallible men, sauc- tified ])ut in part, as long as they are not removed, or their influence in some way counteracted. VIII. Christian Union icould produce a f uU devel- opment of Chj-istian Character. This character being essentially one of love, and generous and aflcctionatc, is marred and injured by every feeling of narrowness or bigotry. These aro 94 THE AGE-qUESTION ; OB, directly opposite to its native largeness and open- ness. Moreover, since one of the cliief means of spiritual improvement is brotherly intercourse, we do certainly deprive ourselves of this advantage, so far as we alienate ourselves from fellow-Cliris- tiaus. And especially we encourage pride and injure the grace of humility, if we do this upon grounds which imply the thought of their inferiority to ourselves, while we still dare not deny their Christian character. The subject, in this view, de- serves far more consideration than, it is to be feared, it receives. Open immoralities will startle the conscience of one who scarce takes thouglit of his unchristian tempers. He would esteem his piety to suffer much by absence from the place where he is accustomed to meet with brethren of the same name, and yet pays no regard to the evil his mind and heart sustain hy a narrow separation from Christians of another name. Yet the sectarian "stand by thyself" may be a gangrene upon his soul, and a grief to the Holy Spirit of God. Certainly a ncccssarj^ requisite to each Chris- tian's growth in grace is, that he cherish a right spirit towards other members of the body. A branch of the true vine cannot grow while in irri- tating collision with adjacent brandies. One mem- A PLEA FOR CHBISTIAN UNION. 95 ber of the body is not strengthened by a wounding of the others ; the hand -weakens itself if it inflict pain upon the foot. If we do an unchristian act, or cherish bitter feelings towards a fellow-Christian, we not only violate that common sj-mpathy of the members of Christ's body by which they par- ticipate in a common life and strength, but we turn from us the heart and approbation of Christ, from whom we receive our life. If we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us. And as individual piety cannot grow where the members of Christ's body wound each other, so neither can the aggregate piety of a church- Where mutual love is wanting, there cannftt be the desired flow of spiritual life in the use of the means of grace. Coldness and mutual alienation among assembled worshippers repel the action of that Spirit whose very breath is love. The Rcvi Dr. Wardlaw says : " I pity the bigot ; I detest his bigotry ; I pity him.sclf He denies himself enjoyment, but it is not the denial which his Lt>rd enjoins ; it is denying himself what the whole character and genius of the Gospel far more than warrant ; tliat ol' wiiicii the free indulgence ia not appropriate to it inoroly, l)ut by its principles imperative, and indispeusahlc to the heart's being 96 THE AOE-qUESTION; OB, iu true harmony -with its own nature, and with the example of its Divine Author. 0 let Christians con- fine their self-denial to ' the lusts of the flesh and of the mind,' and let them enjoy in unstinted measure, as their Lord intends they should, the delight imparted by the wide and unrestrained flow of their spiritual affections ! I would not, for the world, be the man who thus locks up his heart in an ice-house ; who puts the short chain and the galling collar of bigotry on the neck of his Chris- tian charity ; who can look round, with a narrow sectarian satisfaction on the members of his own little sect, and with cold iudilTerence, or something worse, towards all beyond the jjale can count, one by one, the number of those whom alone he owns as his brethren ; who estimates the Chris- tianity of his party, and the evidence of its being J the true flock of Christ,* by its diminutiveness, I finding in this his solace for what others can trace I to far different causes — to the wildness of its I dogmas and the uncharitable censoriousness of its I members ; who is a very miser of his love — if, \ indeed, he can be called a miser who has no stock i in possession beyond what he gives away." I A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 97 IX. Christian Union is enforced by the considera- tion that the wisest and best men of each denomina- tion have most earnestly desired it, and that now they are perfectly One in the Church Above. Many of them (men of whom the world was not worthy) have left their desire on record, as we have elsewhere noted — a fact which will be adduced in evidence against the troublers of the Church in the day of final account. Some of them died with the desire on tlieir lips ; tliey could not bequeath a legacy of peace to the Church, as their dying Lord did, but they approached His example as nearly as thcj' were able, by earnestly desiring it for those they left behind. Some of thera who had contended too eagerly concerning minor points, saw and acknowledged their error, even on this side death. And can we sui)pose that they who Avere the mediators and healing spirits of their day have now any thing to regret, except tiiat liicy were not mo7-e in earnest? O, could we taive our dilfercnces into their presence, could we convolcfc and consult a synod of the blessed, how certainly should we behold those. whose disciples and descendants have ever been 9 98 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, at variance here, sitting together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ! how earnestly would they unite in admonishing those followers, if they honor their memory, and would enhance their happiness, to blot from their writings the controversial and contentious page, in which once they gloried — to merge their names at once and for ever in the great Christian name, and to emulate the union of heaven, if they would obtain an antepast of its joys I X. The Union of Christians would tend to hai-mo- nize their views on those points ichich are now the Sources of Division. This is the gracious way in which God seeks to terminate our guilty quarrel with Himself. In- stead of moving off from us to the greatest pos- sible distance. He has come nearer to us than ever, dwelt among us, established a minidry of reconciliation, and invited us to "come and reason" with Him at a throne of grace. And by pursuing this gracious course, is He not intention- ally sliowing us the right way of becoming recon- 'ciled to each other ? and would He not honor and bless the imitation of His own methods? Refer- A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 99 ring to the advantage that -wonkl accrue to Chris- tians from their being engaged in some common enterprise of well-doing, the Rev. Dr. Chalmers says : " The habit of acting aright is one of the most powerful auxiliaries to the faculty of thinking aright. Speaking of. this matter subjectively, such is the alliance between the moral and intel- lectual parts of our nature, or speaking of it objectively, such is the alliance between righteous- ness and truth. The one expedites the other. To be one in practice, is the likeliest w'aj' of becoming one in faith ; and if a right practice, it will, with the help and under the guidance of that Spirit who is given to those who obey Ilim, become a right faith. Such is the affinity between the good and the true. A common desire and common effort for the one, are rnost fitted, of all other things, to clear up the intellectual vision, and to lead onward to a common perception of the other. And when men come to see things in their real dimensions, it will save the Church from a twofold mischief — not only tlie mischief of extenuating that which is great, but the mischief of exagger- ating and distending that wiiich is little. In earnest dealing with human souls on the question of their salvation, they will feel themselves to be 100 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OR, in busy occupation with the weightier matters of our faith, and be unwilling to relinquish this for those smaller matters which belong not to the essence of faith, however magnified they maj- have been in the mists and din of controvers}'." XI. To oppose the Union of Chrisiians is a Sin. There are sins which pertain exclusively to un- converted men, and cannot be committed by Christians. There are sins wliich may be commit- ted, though in a diifcrent manner and degree, both by the men of the world, and the disciples of our Lord. And there are sins, also, which, by their verj- nature, cannot be committed but by the children of God — sins which Christians commit, and worldl}' men do not — iniquities found in the heart of those whom Jesus has purified, and that can have no existence in those over whom the Prince of darkness reigns. It is a sin of this class a Christian commits in opposing Christian Union. The inward experience of salvation and regen- eration opens our ej-es, and causes us to perceive wliut tilings are essential to salvation, and what are not. It causes us to realize, almost as if we grasped it with, the hand, both the faith that saves, A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 101 and that which it believes, confesses, teaches. It reveals to us a mysteiy of God — a new creation, wrought both in us and in others. It says to us : " In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth an}- thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." (Gal. vi. 15.) We are culpable, therefore, if we do not act according to the light thus given to us. Wherever we find this new creature, we are bound to love and to cherish it, though united to forms which are mainlj' opposed to our own. Christians are those who have been made par- takers of Christ. (Ileb. iii. 14.) Now, if it is Christ whereof they are all thus possessed, they are bound to be more alive to that in which they all partici- pate, than to that in Avhich they differ. They ought to say with the Aj^ostle, " I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord." When they condemn their l)reth- ren, who stand in dilferent ecclesiastical circura- stances from their own, they often condemn that which they do not actually know or understand, and tills is sinful. We are aware tiiat many jjcrsons regard the ■want of Christian Union as al/ofjcthc?' and oul}' an error. Doubtless it is an error of understanding and of Christian judgment to attach more import- !)* 103 THE AGE-qUESTION ; OR, ance to that which, in matters of secondary con- sideration, separates us, than to that which unites us in things essential. But there is here more than an error ; a want of Cliristian Union cannot exist without, in some measure, a want of Christian love, and this is a sin against the new command_ ment : " Whosoever hateth his brotlier is a mur- derer." Let a Christian appear to deny before the world that inter-comraunion which he has with all the Brotherhood, and by this denial he will not only cause the world and the Prince of the world to re- joice, but offend his Lord, — sin ! Such an one is at variance with those who own the same God and look to the same heaven with himself; while he maintains intimate relations with many others who have the same dress and the same denomina- tion with him, — but as to the rest, nothing I That which is every thing before God, he counts fornoth- ing. That ivhich is nothing with Ood, he accounts every thing. He strains at a gnat and swallows a camel. The sin, moreover, which he commits, is a sin against the Church itself. We do not say onl}' against the Church universal, but also against the particular church to which the man belongs. If a narrow and sectarian spirit is encouraged or A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UJSflOX. 103 allowed in the Churches, they soon become mere sects, impoverished, dwindling, and dry, and cease to be living Churches of Jesus Christ. In relation to the point now before us, Christians have erred in various ways, it would seem, at dif- ferent periods of the Church's history. One error has been to magnify the outward form and organi- zation, so that it prevailed over both truth and love. No matter what a man believed, or what spirit he manifested, provided he was on the right side, he belonged to the true Church. Another, though more intellectual error, has been to exalt the speculative dogma, because a truth, entirely above the spirit of love, to the separation of Chris- tians on most trivial grounds, frequently, and to the destruction of almost all union and brotherly concord. And this has been much the mistake of our Protestantism. It has led to the multiplication of creeds arid their minuteness. The true position, if it may possibly be attained, woukt seem to be this : " To hold the truth in love," and let the love be so strong as to prevail over many errors, both of form and of philosoi)hy, if only " the mind that was in Christ Jesus " be displayed in the life. It is absolutely unscriptural, unchristian, and uuapostolic, only to consider the members of our 104 THE AGE-qUEHTION ; OB, own denomination as fellow-members in the body of Christ, and only to care and to pray for that denomination, and to refuse sj^mpathy in the weal or woe of the rest. Jv'"aturally, each professor of religion mnst remain true to his own denomina- tion, otherwise speaking, to his own acknowledg- ment and conviction, yea, even unto death. Where an essential doctrine is concerned, which he has recognized as a portion of divine truth, against the doctrine of a different denomination which he has recognized as displacing the divine truth, he must 'efcnd it, and defend it earnestly. But it is one thing to contend against particular errors of a given denomination, and quite another thing to contend against this denomination as such, and against the members belonging to it. As we our- selves are first members of Christ by faith, and then members of some denomination according to our dogmatic conviction, so should we see in an- other, first of all a member of Christ, and then a member of a differing denomination. The member must first present itself to our eye, and then its disease. It is thus a clearly sacred duty to ac- knowledge the common band which unites all evangelical denominations, the recogiaiziug of the " mighty acts " of God. A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 105 XII. Christian Uiiion loould facilitate the Progress, and hasten the Universal Triumphs of Christi- ianity in the World. Union is certainly one of the chief constitnents of power, botli in the plij'sical and moi'al world, in the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of grace. If it be indeed true, that where only "two or three are agreed as touching any thing that thcj' shall ask, it shall be done for them," what would be the mighty results, were all Christians thus agreed ? The great preparatory step to that wonderful re- vival on the day of Tentccost was union, for we read that " the discii)lcs were all of one accord in one place." The same union, to a greater or less degree, has distinguisiied modern revivals. And if .such have been the glorious consequences of union in a few isolated cases, on a small scale, what would be the stupendous moral results of one universal, hoi}- alliance of tlic churches of Jesus Christ upon the basis of the New Commandment? What would be its reflex inlluence upon the piety of the Church, and its aggressive effects upon tiie liiiiL^doni of Satan ? If the Church i.s as a city set on a hill, siic is 106 THE AGE-QUESTION; OR, also an^fcggressive armj^^ not only designed to re- tain territory already acquired, but to perpetuate the conflict until every knee shall bow to Jesus. But how are such movements to be made ? Take any district, and let an evangelical congregatiou be commenced, and although there may not be more than an hundred families there, and hundreds of millions elsewhere hear not the gospel at all, you will soon find at least a Baptist, a Methodist, and a Presbyterian church, if not two of this last denomination, of different "schools," and perhaps an Episcopal church, also, and none of their min- isters receiving half a support. And, as if the whole affair were a piece of political intrigue, our church becomes the watchword. All lawful, and some doubtful means must be emplo,yed, and saints and sinners must be drawn in. Men of all creeds and men of no creed, men of all characters and men of no character, must be brought, and our church must be filled. But we have forgotten that our church and the Church of God may be ver3'^ dif- ferent things. If one denomination obtains a prominent position, another will secure a superior. If one has a splendid church, another must excel it, even though it should run in debt, or beg for money by fairs and festivals. And if one has a A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 107 popular preacher, another must have one too, though the operation should require them to treat their old minister like their old furniture, — place him in a corner, or send him to the sales-room of vacant congregations, and let the highest bidder be the buyer. Commanding positions, splendid houses and popular preachers must be so moved on the chess-board, that our church will win the game. And if this is done, we take our success as the evidence of the Divine blessing, and come to the conclusion that we are a holy people. And all this, perhaps, in the midst of thousands whom our neglect has caused to exclaim, in all the- bitterness of sin unpardoned, and of moral desolation, " No man cares for my soul.'" Is this the Church for which Jesus bled and died ? Is this part of the promised conversion of the world ? Is this worldly policy, and are these burning jealousies to be re- garded as evidence of pure au^l uiulefded religion, .and as the result of a Saviour's prayers, and tears, and bloody agony ? Is the world ever tluis to be converted ? " Thousands," said Ba-rlcr, " have been drawn to Popery, and confirmed in it, b}' the divisions of Protestants." What was true then, has been at least equally so ever siuce. A want of union has 108 THE AGE-qUESTION ; OB, ever given Popery high vantage ground against Protestantism, paralyzed the nerves of the Church, and been sucking up her very life-blood. Yet how man}' bigots there are viho consider their own as the only true Church, and denounce all others ; who will do nothing for enlightening the world, unless the candle can be carried on their own candle- stick, nor labor side hy side with any but those who do homage to the particular shibboleth of their party, or, if they so labor, do it only on, and when on, some anniversary' platform ? To the union of Christians our Lord himself most significantly refers in the words which can- not be too often quoted : " Neither pray I, for these alone," His first disciples and minis- ters, " but for them also, which shall believe on me through their word, that they all may be one, — as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee, that thoy also may.be one in us, — Uiat the world may believe that Thou hast senf me." "I in them," He likewise praj-s, "and Thou in me, — that they may be made perfect in one, — and that the world maj' know that Thou hast sent me, and hast loA'cd them as Thou hast loved me." This combination of all God's people into one harmo- nious whole, as preparing the way for the general A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 109 spread of Divine truth, is discloserl in the visions wliich prophesy supplies of the latter-day glory. " Tlic Lord God, ■wliich gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, yet will I gathei* others to Him, be- side those that arc gathered unto Him ;" to which our Lord's language forcibly corresponds : "And other sheei) I have, which are not of this fold ; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold," or, as the word more strictly moans, " one flock, and one Shei)- herd." 0, glorious day! wiieu the diflTerent bands of the Lord's volunteers, "the people made willing in the day of His power," shall no longer take up their several positions for a cross-fire on one another's ranks, but fall into compact order and arra}' for encountering the common enemy, when all the wandering shccj) of the flock of God shall be placed under the great Shepherd's care, shall be "saved" b}' his mercy, and shall, under His watchful eye, "go in and out, and find pasture I" XIIL The Church in it« Millennial and Qlorified Hlate will be One, When the Alillcnnium dawiis, the din of contro- versy shall cease with the din of arms — the peace 10 110 TEE AGE-QUESTION; OR, that shall prevail in the world shall be but an emblem of the tranquillity which pervades the Church — and the pen of the polemic shall be laid up in the museum of the antiquarian, with the sword of war. The spirit of division will be healed, not by legal restraints of angry controversy, nor will an angel descend ^o give a sanatory virtue to the troubled waters of strife, but this disease will be cured by a copious effusion of the Spirit of God upon the hostile parties — by the diffusion of a larger degree of vital religion — by drawing men from human systems to the fountain of Scripture, there to purify their much-abused vision from the scales of error and prejudice — by causing them not only to profess, but to feel, that love is the essence of Cliristiauity, and all beside but the " earthly attire" which she^will throw off as she steps across the threshold of eternity, to enter the temple of God. Sectarianism in heaven ! Why the very announcement of such principle among those who are to inhabit the same city with its pearly gates, and to surround the same throne of God and the Lamb, would carrj' discord into their harmonious ranks, and mar their glad hallelujahs, and grate upon the cars of angels and the Lamb. And who can doubt that the nearer we can bring A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNIOK 111 the Church on earth to the character of the Church millennial or triumphant, the more pleasing will she be to Ilim that purchased her with His blood ? XIV. Christian Union would he supremely agree- able to the Blessed Trinity. It would be agreeable to the Father. He is "the very God of Peace." He is the fountain •whence all the streams of peace which are at this moment circulating through the universe, imme- diately flow. And His Church was intended, under Christ, to be the channel of peace to this troubled ■world. How agreeable, then, would it be to His exalted nature, to see His Church answering its high design, no longer reflecting from its bosom the tempestuous and angry sky of earthly strife, but the calm of a higher region — giving back to heaven its own image, and presenting to earth the means of becoming like it I It would be agreeable to the Son. Not only is one of His most appropriate titles "the Prince of Peace," but He chose that the " peace-makers" should be called more empliatically than others, " the children of (Jod," — leaving us to infer that they more nearly resemble their Heavenly Father. 112 TUB AQE-QUESTION; OR, He bequeathed to His Church a legacy of peace, He prayed in death that His followers might be one, and He will still be invoked \)y them as " the Lord of Peace himself" As "the Head of His body, the Church," He feels the shock and suffer- ing of all that is inflicted on the members, and not the less that the hand "which inflicts it is its own. How congenial would it be to His gracious nature to see that His people were no longer crucifying Him afresh, and putting Him to an open shame, — that they were no longer losing sight of His cross in a fierce contention about His seamless robe ! It would be agreeable to the Holy Spirit. How can that Spirit but be grieved ? How should any of us like it, to have our living body torn limb from limb, and part from part ? Though with Him passion and disturbance can have no place, intel- lectual resentment is infinitely greater and deeper than we can either feel or conceive. But in the same souse and degree in which Ihe dissevered and distracted state of the Church now grieves Him, the restoration of its unity and peace would 3'ield Him ineffable delight. The very desire of such restoration, sincerely and generally expressed, would open the windows of heaven and cause Him to return. If even a good man is conscious of A PLEA FOR CnRISTIAN UNION. 113 pure satisfaction in only attempting a family recon- ciliation, how inconceivably great would be the satisfaction of the Divine Spirit, in restoring and ratifying the peace of the great family of God I Oh, how supremely agreeable would it be to the blessed Trinity, looking down from the throne of their infinite glory, to behold the image of their ineffable Union reflected in the intimate and indis- soluble oneness of the Chui'ch, and the Church contending only which part of it shall be most in- strumental in going into all the world, and preach- ing the Gospel to every creature, and baptizing them into the threefold name of God I XV. Christians have a Common Salvation. It is true that, as the result of that great Protestant doctrine, "the right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures," Christians differ in the views they take on many points of doctrine and practice, and hence have arisen the different denominations into which tlic One Church of Christ is divided. But it ig still One Church, und that, amongst other reasons, for this, that it has essentially but one faith. All believers, no matter by what name 10* 114 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OB, they are called, or in what communion you find tliem — all true believers are by " one Spirit bap- tized into one bodj^, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, whether the3'^ be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." And since thej- are all thus taught by the Holy Ghost, they do not disagree on the substantial and neces- sary truths of the Gospel. In fundamentals, as previously stated, there is a perfect unity, while in circumstantials there may be diversity. All agree in their teaching as to the ymy of a sinner's salvation. All exhibit tlie righteousness of Christ as the alone ground of justification, and the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration. All point to Calvary and cry, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world !" A happj' day will it be, and blessed, both for the Church and for the world, when this common testimony to "the common salvation" shall be borne, not as now, by separated denominations, under diverse and discordant names, but by one undivided com- munity — the whole community of the faithful. A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 115 XVI. The Church is Weakened by Division. That " union is strength," is a maxim univer- sally^ admitted. With it, however, " the children of this world" are more familiar — or at least they act on it more faithfully — "in their generation, than the children of light." The god of this world claims the principle as his own, and in his policy, this feature of the wisdom of the serpent is pe- culiarly conspicuous, presenting too generally, in this respect, a melancholy contrast to the disorder reigning in the opposite ranks. Our Lord gives the great enemy full credit for this wisdom, when he speaks of Satan as too sagacious not to know "that a liouse divided against itself falleth," and that internal division must be fatal to his kingdom. The maxim of "the Church's enemy hitherto has been, " Divide and weaken," and the policy has been oft, alas ! but too successful. The story of Bessarion exhorting the Christian princes to join against the Turks, which Mclancthon borrows in one of his epistles, and applies to the schismatics of hi.s day, is still as appropriate as ever: " 'There was a war between the wolves and the dogs. Tidings were brought to the wolves that there was a huge army of dogs coming against 116 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OR, them to tear them in pieces. The wolves sent out an old and cunning wolf to survey them,^ and act the part of a scout. On his return, he told them that there was indeed a great companj' of dogs coming. The^'' were far more numerous than themselves, but they need not fear, for he per- ceived they were of different colors. On hearing this, the wolves did not regard them, accounting it an easy matter to deal with those who were so dissimilar among themselves.' In the same man- ner," saj-s jNIelancthon, "do the popish party trium^Dh in respect of us." A divided Church is a weak Church, and this is a point well worth con- sidering, as we see the papists putting forth pro- digious efforts, and their schools and colleges, their chapels and cathedrals, their monasteries and convents, ever;yvhere increasing. The re- union of Protestants would fill them with dismay, and be a death-blow to their policy. Looking at the division of the Church in its connection with the subject of missions, the Rev. J. Angell James said, about twenty j-ears ago : " I cannot help thinking there is something that hinders the communication of the Divine Spirit — some stone at the well's mouth, which needs to be rolled away before the refreshing stream can flow A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 117 forth. I am not blind to the success which in man}' parts of the world has followed our mission- ary operations. I am not forgetful of the glorious aggregate of usefulness which, when all the items are carried into the account, and the total is sum- •med up, appears to our delighted mind. I do not need to be reminded that, when first diflSculties are removed, our progress may be expected to be more rapid. But, with all this, I am still led to the conclusion, that after millions, of property have been expended, thousands of lives have been sac- rificed, and half a century consumed, much more might have been expected, and would have been accomplished, had the temper and spirit of the Church of Christ been what it ought to have been. A dispensation has come upon us, and we have not made ourselves ready. God has called us to a high and holy enterprise against heathenism, and we have forgotten tliat ' this kind goeth not forth but by fasting and prayer.' The Church must have moi'e of the sjjirit of faith, and praj'er, and lioiiness, and especially of love. Without this, it has not the mind of Christ. Abstract truth, without love, identify it as we may with our several o|)iiiions, proves in operation but as sound- ing brass and a tinkling cymbal. It cannot meet 118 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OB, the hearts of sinners, because it has not first clothed itself in the garb of love, and has not essayed its high behest in the all-moving, all-com- prehending spirit of Him who is love. A divided, alienated Church cannot convert the world to Christ. God will not employ her ; she must come to a better mind before she is an instrument which He delighteth to honor. It is Satan's object to keep us sci)arated at home, that he may reign unmolested abroad. His strongholds there are not in danger, as long as we are not united here." XVII. The Union of the Church would exert a beneficial injluence upon the Gauntry. It would bring about more political approxima- tion of parties, and make our country greater and mightier in its moral influence than it is already. It would, at any rate, have a tendency, and per- haps an influence, in checking the repellent action, the centrifugal force of political animosities. It is the intention of God that His Church should exert a beneficial influence, aj^art from what is directly religious, upon the nations in which it is placed, and be upon them as a dew, and among them as salt. In a free country like ours, where A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 119 differences of opinion on all points of politics must exist, party spirit of the most bitter and virulent kind is continually generated and sus- tained. And cannot the i)olitician plead in bis defence, the rancor of the professing Christian and the polemical divine ? Is contention less fierce in the arena of religion than in that of politics ? Are the wranglers in one much less pugnacious than the wranglers in the other ? Christian Union, did it extensively prevail, would not only set a high and beautiful example to the men of the world, of differences in lesser matters and agiee- ment in greater ones, but inasmuch as religious bodies are characterized somewhat by prevailing political opinions, religion would soften the asperity of discordant sentiments in secular matters, and * prepare men to make concessions of their pre- judices in one thing, even as they had made them in another. The man with whom I am in the habit of meeting and praying in the convocation of saints, though in some things of religion I differ from hira, I shall be likely to meet also as a citizen without a particle of venom, thougl^ here also I am at issue with him on sonic question of i)ublic interest. How njomuntous it is that tlie Church should iiold out the law and the example of union, 120 TEE AQE-qXIESTION ; OB, to the world, aad by helping to soothe, and quiet, and tame the furious spirit of political partisan- ship, should thus consolidate the strength of the country, and make this great nation still mightier than she is already 1 XVIII. The Bible exhibits Christian Union as a Duty. The passages of Scripture that plainly and ex- plicitly insist on mutual love and harmony among all Christ's members, occujjy a larger space, prob- ably, than those relating to any single topic of our holy religion besides. They are such as the following : I, therefore,. the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation where- with ye are called. With all lowliness and meekness, with long- suffering, forbearing one another in love ; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as 3'C are called in one hope of your calling ; One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 131 But unto every one of us is given grace ac- cording to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the woi'k of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ : Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ : That we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby tlie^' lie in wait to deceive : Bnt speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Ilim in all things, which is the head, even Christ : 11 133 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OB, From whom the whole body, fitly joined to- gether and compacted by that which everj'- joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. — Ephe- sians iv. 1-16. Now I beseech j^ou, brethren, by the name of our Loi'd Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among j'ou ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared uuto me of j'ou, my brethren, by W\Qva. which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among 3^ou. Now this I sa}^, that every one of yoxi saith, I am of Paul, and I of ApoUos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided ? was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul ? — 1 Corinthians i. 10-13. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? For we being many are one bread, and one body : A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 123 for we are all partakers of that one breacl.-j|l Corinthians x. 16-17. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus accursed : and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Si)irit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given b}' the Spirit the word of wisdom ; to anotlier the word of knowledge by th& same Spirit ; To another faith by the same Spirit ; to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another tlie worlving of miracles; to another prophecy; to anotlier discerning of spirits; to another, divers knids of tongues ; to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketii that one and the self- same Spirit, dividing to every man severullv as he will. 124 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, ^jFor as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body : so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, ■whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free ; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body ; is it thei'efore not of the body ? And if the ear shall say. Because! am not the eye, I am not of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? If the whole body were an eye, where xoere the hearing ? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling ? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member where toere the body ? But now are they many members, j'ct but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee : nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. A PLEA FOB CnmSTIAN UNION. 125 Nay, much more those members of the body, ■which seem to be more feeble, are necessary : Aud those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, uijoii these we bestow more abundant honour ; and our uncomely jMrts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need ; but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that j^arl which lacked ; That there should be no schism in the body ; but that the nigmbers should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it ; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Ohrist, and member's in particular. — 1 Corinthians xii. 3-27. Though 1 speak with the tongues of men aud of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of piophecj', and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so tliat I could remove mountains, and have not cliarity, I am nothing. Aud though 1 bestow all my goods to feed the 11* 126 THE AOE-QUESTION ; OB, poor, and thongli I give mj body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. Charit}^ suffereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth ; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all thino-s, endiireth all thinsfs. Charity never faileth : but whether ihe7-e he prophecies, they shall fail, whether there 6e tongues, they shall cease, whether there he knowledge, it shall A'anish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I under- stood as a child, I thought as a child : but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face : now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abidcth faith, hope, charity, these A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 127 three ; but the greatest of these is charity. — 1 Corinthians xiii. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among j'^ou, not to think of him- self more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have manj' members in one body, and all members have not the same office : So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of anothei*. Having then gifts, differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us ivait on our ministering : or he that teacheth, on teaching: Or he that exhorteth on exhortation : he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity : he that ruleth, with diligence ; he that shcweth mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be without dissimnLition. Abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good Romans xii. 3-1). ilim that is weak in faith receive ye, but not to dou1)tful disputatious. — llomaus xiv. 1. 128 TEE AGE-QUESTION ; OB, We then that are strong ought to bear the in- firmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please Ms neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now, the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another accord- ing to Christ Jesus : That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. — Romans xv. 1-7. Now I besech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doc- trine wliich ye have learned ; and avoid them. For they that are such, serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by good I A PLEA FOR CURISTIAN UNION. 129 words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience iffcome abroad nnto all men. I am glad, therefore, on your behalf: but yet I ■would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. — Romans xvi. lt-20. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil : whosoever doeth not right- eousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death untb life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother, abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 130 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, Hereby perceive we the love of God, because be laid down bis life for us : and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him ? My little children, let us not love in word, nei- ther in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, llien have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, be- cause we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment. That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and Im'e one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that kecpeth his commandments dwel- leth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abidcth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us. — 1 John iii. 10-24. And other sheep I have which are not of tliis A PLEA FOE GEBISTIAN UNION. 131 fold : them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shep- herd — John s. 16. And -whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. — Matthew xviii. 5, 6. And John answered and said. Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not, for he that is not against us is for us. — Luke ix. 49, 50. See also the Gospel of John, from the thirteenth chapter to the seventeenth, inclusive. The prayer of Jesus, John xvii. 21 : " That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us ; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me," lias been thus interpreted : " This prayer was made for the establishment, not only of such a real, but of such an ostensible unity, among Christians, a.s could be seen by the world, and as might lead the 133 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, world to believe in the mission of our Saviour." — Rev. Dr. Chalmers. " It would appear that the unity, or union, so earnestly commended, and made the subject of such pathetic supplication in the intercessory praj^er of our Saviour, is far less dependent than is sometimes thought on external organization, and is, in fact, much more simple and divine. It is true, it must be a visible union — apparent as well 'as real — patent and palpable to si^ectators, and such as the world may know and recognize ; other- wise it could never lead to a knowledge of the Father. At the same time, in whatever measure, and in whatever manner it is thus open to observa- tion, it must be as a union, not of man's con- trivance, but of God's inspiration. "-j-Rev. Robert S. Candlish, D. D. " The special mercy and particular blessing which Clirist prays for on behalf of believers is a close and intimate union betwixt the Father, himself, and them, and also betwixt one another ; such an union as doth in some . sort resemble that union which is betwixt God and Christ — not an unity of essence and nature, but of wills and affections. Here Christ intimates one special advantage that would redound to the world by this desirable union A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 133 betwixt the ministers and members of Christ ; it will, if not conyert, yet at least ct)nyince the world that I and mj doctrine came fi-om God." Burkitt. " It is certain that the oneness praj-ed for re- spects all believers. It is the praj-er of Christ for all that are His. It includes three things : 1. That they might all be incorporated in one bodj'. 2. That they are all animated by one spirit ; plainly implied in that they may be one in us. 3. That they all may be one : 1, in judgment and sentiment ; 2, in disposition and inclination ; 3, in designs and aims; 4, in desires and prayers; 5, in love." — Matthew Henry. • CHRISTIANS IN EARTH AND HEAVEN ARE ONE. By one Spirii are we all baptized in one body — (1 Cor. xii. 13.) Let saints below in concert sing, With those to glory gone ; For all the servants of our King lu earth and heaven are one. 12 TEE AGE-qUESTION; OR, One family, we dwell in Him ; Ou« Church, above, beneath ; Though now divided by the stream — The narrow stream — of death. One army of the living God, To His command we bow ; Part of the host have crossed the flood, And part are crossing now. Some to their everlasting home This solemn moment fly, And we are to the margin come, And soon expect to die. Oh that we now might see our Guide ! Oh that the word was given ! Come, blessed Lord, the waves (Mvide, And land us all in heaven. A PLEA FOB CUBISTIAN UNION. 135 EJECTIONS TO LhRISTIAN UnION. There are those who, if they do not feel quite ready to justify the divisions and animosities in the Church, on the ground that they were predict- ed, yet, for this reason, seldom make them the subjects of painful reflection, regarding them as evils which it would be chimerical to attempt to remedy. Now it is true that it was announced by the Author of Christianity, and the great Head of the Christian Church, that " offences must needs be," and " that He had come to give not peace on earth, but ratlier division," and that one of His Apostles declares that "there must be heresies," or sects, " that they which are approved may be made manifest." Nor, keeping in view such declarations, can it be doubted that if these evils had not occurred, we should have good ground to question the truth of the religion of Christ, and the Divinity of His mission. Manifestly, how- ever, to take occasion to vindicate or extenuate these evils, from the circumstance that they wore "Divisions were Predicted: 136 THE AOE-qUESTION ; OB, predicted, would be as unjustiGable as to attempt to exculpate the murder of the Prince of Life — the most shocking crime ever perpetrated on earth — because it too was explicitly predicted. "Divisions do Good." It is alleged by some that the divisions in the Church exert a favorable influence on the cause of Christianity. This, however, is not true. These divisions have no doubt been overruled so as to produce some good, but in themselves, and in their genviine tendency and their natural results, they ai'e an evil of colossal dimensions and deadly malignity. They have confirmed the prejudices of unbelievers, hardened them in impenitence and infidelity, and caused " the way of God to be evil spoken of," and " the name of God to be blas- phemed." They weaken our efforts, as elsewhere observed, in restoring a revolted world to God. It requires no great skill to prove, nor sagacity to perceive, how they must have this effect. They tend to keep alive the spirit of party, and to cor- rupt our zeal, to make us more concerned to ad- vance our own cause than that of the Redeemer, more anxious to diffuse our peculiarities than A PLEA FOR CnBISTIAN UNION. 137 the common salvation. Our views are con- tracted, our spirit is restrained, our aim is low- ered. We are in danger of losing the noble- ness and amplitude of the true missionary spirit, and of sinking down into the littleness of party. The lofty inspiration of the hope of con- verting the world to Christ gives way to the lower impulse of differences about peculiar forms of ecclesiastical polity, or of sacramental administra- tion. The truth is, that long ere now the nations of the world might have been irradiated with the light of Revelation, and subjugated to the peaceful sceptre of the Saviour, if those energies and re- sources which His professed followers have wasted in intestine warfare had been employed in promot- ing the prosperity, and enlarging the boundaries of His kingdom. Besides, these divisions ha\^ exerted a most malignant and most potent influence in corrupting the purity of the Church — a quality intimately connected with her unity, and scarcely less important ; for by engendering and nursing a spirit of unholy rivalry, they have proved a per- petual incentive to her different sections to swell their ranks by the admission of the unworthy, that they miglit thus outnumber their neighbors. More- over, as thcv almost always originate in alienation 138 THE AOE-qUESTION ; OR, of affection, and consummate and perpetuate this alienation, tliey are little less than a repeal of that " love " which " is the fulfilling " or completion " of the law," in so far as concerns the majority of its objects, for they not only tempt hut almost con- strain us to regard with jealousy and dislike those who are entitled to our cordial esteem and our fra- ternal affection. For "the fruits of the Spirit, love, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness," they substitute " the works of the flesh, hatred, variance, emulations, and wrath." "As well maintain," saj's one, "that frost will produce blossoms, or that thorns will yield cluster- ing grapes, as that the Church, which should be one in faith and love, can be really benefited by a sectarian spirit. Sectarianism, being introduced into a district, soon begins to spread. When one party angrily attacks the peculiarities of another, it speedily repels the aggression and criminates the assailants in return. The collision elicits sparks of fire. New points of discrepancy arc found out and magnified. The passions of the contending parties are blown into a flame. They range them- selves into opposing factions. Tempers are heated. Tresh parties arise. The merest trifles b*e- come matters of the highest moment. More than A PLEA FOR CHBISTIAN UNION. 139 one-half of the clergymen that are employed conlrl be dispensed with, and yet the work of the district be performed equally well. They are continually crossing each other's path of usefulness. Much of their time is wasted in counteracting each other's movements. A clap-trap mode of preach- ing is cultivated. Tulgar prejudices are flattered. Rich %ien are fawned upon. Attempts are made to swell the little rival communities, by gathering in persons of very questionable character. Minis- ters are pinched and narrowed in their family com- forts, not for the sake of the Gospel, but for the sake of things of doubtful disputation. Active and benevolent men feel they have a- ljurden too great to bear in supporting a pastor who has a mere handful of members. Small churches have no moral weight. Besides they dare not asso- ciate for any benevolent end, lest they learn, like drops of quicksilver, to glide into each other, and hence they can carry on no great united enterprise either in charity or religion. "Thefro.st of secta- rian selfishness arrests the full flow of love in pro- moting the highest interests of man." .140 THE AGE-qUESTION J OB, "It is Wrong to Sacrifice Essential Truth." It is asked, " Would not Christian Union require the unwarrantable sacrifice of truth ? " To this in- quiry a negative answer must be given, for the Union contemplated is on the basis of substantial Christianity. By substantial Christianity is%ieant that sum of revealed truth which is essential to individual salvation, or, in other words, the recep- tion of which is practically essential to the progress and universal triumph of the kingdom of God in the earth. There are certain truths in Scripture which are essential, and others which are not essential. We know this principle is denied by some, but how can it be? Such denial leads to consequences the most appalling, and of which, obvious though they be, the persons making the denial, are little aware. If there be no essential truths in Christianity— none, the belief of which is necessary to salvation — it will follow, contrary to the express declarations of Scripture, that men may be saved without faith. On tlic other hand, if all truths are thus essential, it will follow, that no man has yet been saved, and that no man is ever likely to be saved, for it hardly admits of dis- A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 141* pute, that no man has ever j'^et known and believed, and that no man, at least on earth, is likely to know and believe, all the facts and principles of Christianity without a single exception. Thus evident is it that there are in religion cer- tain things which are essential to salvation, and others which are not thus essential, though, in their proper place, they too may be of great value and importance. Can the distinction now referred to be ascer- tained with sufficient accuracy for all ])ractical purposes ? We believe that it can. Let us not be misunderstood. When we assert that some things in religion are fundamental, vital, and essential, and that others are not — that some are of primary, and others only of secondary or sub- ordinate importance, we, of course, by no means intend to represent the latter as being of no im- portance whatever. AVc hold that no Christian * doctrine, or institute, or precept, is absolutely unimportant, or even of little importance. The idea we wish to convc}- is, that, while there arc some facts and truths in Christianity which, in ordinary cases, must be known and believed in order to salvation, there are others which, though conducive to edilicatiou and comfort, arc not thus •143 THE AOE-QUE8TI0N; OB, essential, ignorance of them, or the misapprohen- sion of them, is not incompatible with a state of grace. It is true, indeed, that Divine Wisdom has not provided us with a catalogue of necessary or essential truths. Such descriptions, however, are given of them, and such signatures of their gran- deur and importance are visibly impressed on them, that we may easily make a sufficiently near approximation to them. As Christianity is the revelation of a remedy for the spiritual maladies of mankind, it follows that its vital doctrines must all be intimately con- nected with the remedy. In order, then, to deter- mine whether an individual possesses that knowl- edge which is indispensable to salvation, the great question evidently is. Has he correct and affectiug views of his personal guilt and depravity, of the character and worlc of the Saviour, and of the nature of the Christian salvation, as a scheme not only of forgiveness but of moral renovation ? Do his views impel him to disclaim all self-dependence — to rely humbly on the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God for pardon — to look to Him for de- liverance from the pollution as well as the punish- ment of sin — to love Him, and to live to Him ? If so, we are warranted to regard him as a true be- A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 143 liever, and bound to receive him in that capacity. It is, indeed, on this principle the very persons act who reject and condemn the distinction between those things in religion which are essential, and those which are not. In admitting to the com- munion of the Church, these persons, demand- ing, as they do, as a necessary qualification, what they are accustomed to designate "a competent measure of Christian knowledge," assume that there are things in Christianity necessary to be known, and things not thus necessary. Now, by what criterion do they ascertain that exact amount of knowledge which constitutes a competent measure ? If an applicant, whose attainments were exceed- ingly slender, gave satisfying proof that he pos- sessed the faith and love of Christ, would they re- j At him ? And if not, on what ground do they receive him? Thus does it appear that all who bear oflice in the Church arc compelled in their ecclesiastical managements to act upon the dis- tinction between those things in religion which ar« essential, and those which are not. Nor is there any inconsistency between the course which they have to pursue, and the acknowledgment that there may be truth's, or views of truths, which are csscutial to one man, and not to another, 144 THE AOE-QUESTION ; OB, in consequence of the diversity of their means and privileges, and that it is essential to the character of a Christian to receive with docility every doc- ti'ine distinctly discerned by him to be a doctrine of Christ, and to aim at a cordial compliance with every requirement clearly perceived to be a com- mandment of Christ. In writing of the import- ance of the cooperation of ministers for bringing sinners to Jesus, Dr. Chalmers says: "In earnest dealing with human souls on the question of their salvation, why should they relinquish this for the smaller matters which belong not to the essence of faith, however magnified they may have been in the mists and din of controversy? If tempted by eager partizans to make such a descent, they might well say, in the language of Nehemiah, ' We are doing a great work, and why should we come down unto you V " Thus this great and good man recognizes and approves the distinction which we maintain. Inasmuch, therefore, as the union of Christians that we desire, is such as is founded on those doc- trines which make them Christians, the faith in which salvation lies, and which has been con- sidered as the orthodoxy of all Protestant churches — we confidently allirm that no church, or indi- vidual Christian, is making an unjustifiable sacri- A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 145 fice of truth in consenting to receive to its com- munion those whom God has made His children by disposing and enabling them to believe, and experience the power of, the great fundamental religious truths — the justification of the sinner by faith, and the regeneration of his heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. A far less justifiable sacrifice of truth, we cannot but think, would be made by a refusal to receive into the " household of faith" those who are "babes in Christ," and as such, at least, "desire the sincere milk of the word," looking forward with faith and hope to the time when, as full-grown " men," they shall be prepared for the " strong meat " of the Word. " Suppose it admitted," says one, " that there can be no such thing as perfectly innocent error. Is it safe — nay, is it consistent with the self-diffi- dence and humility of the Christian character — to assume our own infallibility — not our own exclusive conscientiousness merely — but the absolute im- possibility of the error lying with us, as if we, of all Christians on earth, were altogether beyond the reach of any perverting or biassing inlluencc ? Do not becoming distrust for ourselves, and be- coming charity for others, unite in recommending a difFcrcnt principle on whiclx to regulate our feel- 13 146 THE AQE-qUESTION ; OB, ings and our conduct towards our fellow-Chris- tians ? Is there no allowance to be made for the varieties, great as they are, even in mental perspi- cacity and vigor, and none for the power of early hal)its and associations — where the sincerity of the desire to know and to follow Christ may be equal ? Is forbearance to be utterly forsworn, and ranked among sins against Christ? Are we to confine to the one special case to which it was ap- plied, the Apostle's indignant and testing ques- tion — 'Who art thou that judgest another man's servant?' If we are — then, indeed, there is no help for us. Division, and subdivision, and sub- subdivision must go on, ad infinitum, and at every step in the spirit of 'all uncharitableness.' If you say : ' That is no fault of ours, every man must think and act for himself — I grant you your position. All I want is, that you do not insist on thinking and acting for others as well as your- selves — that 3^ou do not look upon others as owing a kind of debt of submission to your superior judg- ment. This is the evil : — Your forgetting that you hold no position towards others which they have not tlie same title to assume towards j^ou." The same author sa.ys : " If I see a fellow-be- liever who happens to be a Presbyterian, manifest- A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 147 ins in liis life a larger amount of the exalted moral excellences and the lovely beauties of the Christian character, than another fellow-believer who is an Independent, I must, if my sentiments and feelings are in any thing like harmony with the dictates of the Word of God, experience a correspondingly large amount of the love of complacency towards the one than towards the other. How, then, am I to characterize the principle, according to which I am to be precluded from giving a place beside me at the Christian feast to the more worthy, while I am bound to give it to the less worthy, of my brotherly affection ? — bound to receive him who is a less Christian, because he is an Independent, and bound to exclude him who is viore a Christian because he is a Presbyterian ! Is there any thing like this in all the Bible ? ' I trow not.' " "The purity of the Church tvould be vitiated." It has frequently been urged against what is called " free," or " open communion," that it would relax the discipline of the Church, and thus aggravate one of the most fearful calamities that has ever befallen her — impurity of communion. If the gates of a church are to be opened for the 148 THE AOE-qUESTION ; OB, admission of strangers, would it not, it is asked, inevitably happen that many doubtful and many unworthy characters would be received ? Would not the partition wall which ought ever to sepa- rate the Church from the world be thus under- mined, and the former, instead of being composed of the sheep and lambs of " the good Shepherd," become a multitude, like the flocks of the patriarch — " ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted ?" This objection, however, is, in our judgment, manifestly without any real force. Who does not know, that no man is entitled even to occasional communion in any Church, who does not, to a certain extent, submit to its control ? To that privilege he is admitted only in consequence of his personal piety being known to those who administer its aflairs, or in consequence of being satisfactorily attested to them by others in whose faithfulness and dis- cernment confidence can safely be reposed. And if, by any misconduct, he bring his piety into just suspicion, or in any waj' act unsuitably to his Christian profession, he forfeits the privilege to which he had been admitted, and can re-establish his claim to it only by decisive evidence of repent- ance and reformation. How, then, could the scheme proposed possibly relax the discipline of A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 149 the Church, or vitiate the purity of her com- muniou ? "//! would embarrass, if not destroy, the discipline of the Church." Communion between the different branches of the Church of Christ, it is alleged, would convert the Church into a scene of perpetual strife and con- fusion. There might thus be introduced into them severally individuals who differed from the office- bearers, and from the majority of the members, on many topics which agitate and divide the reli- gious world — such as Baptism, and Church govern- ment, not to speak of doctrinal topics perhaps still more important, and thus there would be " a Babel of religions," and confusion of discipline. In replying to this objection, we stop not to in- quire into the validity of the right which many Churches exercise, iu elevating a number of rites and observances in thoir forms of worship into essentials, Avhich in primitive times would have been accounted secondary, and left to every man's conscience to practise or not, as his judgment de- termined, and then holding those to be walicing disorderly who will not observe them. It must be 13* loO THE AGE-qUESTION; OB, evident that, as ive do not advocate a complete amalgamation of denominations, every Christian would naturally connect himseTf with that par- ticular denomination with whose sentiments on the points mentioned his own coincided. Even granting, however, that, from the infirmity of human nature, there may be some danger of these minor diflferences producing strife and confusion, these unhappy consequences will not follow, pro- vided the members of the Church attend to the inspired injunctions and expostulations, delivered for the very purpose of regulating their conduct in reference to such differences. " Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations. And thou, why dost thou judge thy brother ? and thou, why dost thou set at nought ihy brother ?" Let these Apostolic directions and cautions be attended to, and not only will the evil apprehended from diversities of opinion be averted, but these diversities, though painful, and, in some respects, prejudicial, will produce good as well as evil. They will promote the humility, the faith, and the love of those among whom they are tolerated, for they will check that propensity to dictation and tyranny in religion which seems natural to man, they will turn the attention of the A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 151 Church from things comparatively insignificant to those vital truths which form "the core of the Gospel," and to the truths immediately contiguous to these, and thus they will augment knowledge, invigorate faith, and produce holiness. In regard to discipline of occasional communicants, see the preceding clause of this Chapter. We notice no more objections. It is not neces- sary to do so. They all strike us as futile and inapt. They cannot stand for a moment under the Saviour's "Holy prayer, His tcndercst and His last " — " That they all may be one, as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us : that the world may ])clieve that Thou hast sent me." It is high time for God's dear people, instead of searching for reasons to justify them in keeping apart, to awake to the folly, mingled with guilt, of magnifying the separating bars between them, while they are minifying the bands which should make them cohere. It is high time for them to yield more, in a spiritual sense, to the cen- tripetal, and less to the centrifugal, force which is bearing upon them, and thus approximating their common centre, they would come nearer to one 152 TEE AGE-qUESTIOR; OR, another. It is a remark of Leibnitz, with -which some philosophers have been much delighted, that " Truth is more generally diffused in the world than is commonly imagined, but it is too often disguised, and even corrupted, by an alloy of error, which conceals it from notice, or impairs its utilitj'." How far this remark will apply to subjects of secular science may admit of dispute, but there can be no doubt that it is peculiarly' applicable to the sentiments entertained among genuine Chris- tians respecting the A'ital doctrines of religion. "What the Church now mainly needs, is more of its proper life and essence — love. " By this shall all men Iniow that j^.e are my disciples, if love one another." Let charity' prevail in the degree which the Scrii^tures require, and the right forms will grow out of that, beneath the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in the clear, constant light of truth Divine, just as the graceful forms of the trees spring freelj' from the up-oirculating saj), the inde- structible spirit of life, beneath the pervading 'warmth and light of the orb of day. " Were love, in these the world's last doting years. As freiiueiit as the want of it appears, The Churches warmed, they would no longer hold Such frozen figures, stilT as they are cold, A PLEA FOE CnmSTIAN UNION. 153 Relenting forms would lose their power, or cease, And e'en the dipped and sprinkled live in peace. Each heart wonld quit its prison in the breast, And flow in free communion with the rest." In an address before the Evangelical Society of Geneva, the Rev. J. II. Merle D'Aubigne, D. D., whose praise is in all the Churches, said : " If the countenance made the man, I could understand ■why I should turn my back upoi^ an ill-favored visage, but if the man is essentially the spirit which animates it, we should not fear to welcome the coarsest features, if behind them there is a living being by whom they are animated and en- nobled. We must be so taken with the mj'stical body of Christ as willingly, in some degree, to overlook its imperfections." lie also added: " If it be possible, as much as licth in us, let there be no controversy with the brethren ! Let Christian Union be realized, and let us all stretch forth our hands one to another. Is not this the language which is addressed to us by a host of astonishing events, amidst which God has placed us? What will become of the Church, surrounded by nations ' in a state of restless agitation — by society, a pre}' to the most violent convulsions 1 What will become of it, if not sincerely united, according to 154 THE AQE-QUESTION ; OE, the will of its Divine Head ? Have wc not one Spirit, one Lord, one Father ? Are we not one mystical body in Jesus Christ?" Who can re- fuse to respond to these sentiments ? And who can hesitate or fail to unite in the fervent prayer with which this eminent servant of God concluded his Address ? "Head and Saviour of the Church, which is Thy body ! Thou, Avho alone canst diffuse amongst us cordial affection I Ah ! Lord, the Church has in- deed need of a renewal of Thy presence ! It is needful that Thou shouldst now come to dwell in the midst of her with greater power, for what will become of this bark, exposed to the fury of the winds and waves, if Thou art absent ? Alpha and Omega, Root and Offspring of David, Bright and Morning Star, Lord Jesus, come quickly 1" "Of all religious services," says another emi- nent theologian, " there is none better adapted to nourish and express the fraternal affection of Christians than the Lord's Supper — an ordinance in which they are required to profess their attach- ment to all their fellow-disciples, as M'ell as their gratitude to their common Kedeemer and Lor(.l. A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 155 Contemplating the ordinance in itself, "we might naturally expect that it would be the first in which Christians would unite and the last in which they would separate, for it relates exclusively to those grand and central facts and truths which they hold in common, and partakes in no degree of a sectarian character. How singular, and how melancholy, that by so many religious denomina- tions this order of procedure has been completely reversed, and that the Lord's Supper, instead of being made a bond of union, and a medium of holy fellowship among all the followers of the Lamb, has been converted into a badge of party — a centre, not of attraction and cohesion, but of di- vision and repulsion ! How sinrjular, and how melancholy, that nowhere are the members of the same family so reluctant to meet together, as at the table of their common Father ; that the privi- lege in which they are mos' averse to unite, is the participation of the memorials of Sis boundless loueJ" 156 THE AGE-qUESTION ; OB, GRACE BE TO ALL WHO LOVE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IN SINCERITY. "Do you love Christ ? I ask not if you feel The ■warm excitemeut of that party zeal, Which follows on, while otliei-s lead the way, Aud make His cause the fashion of the day ; But do you love Him when His garb is mean, Nor shrink to let your fellowship be seen ? • Do you love Jesus, blind, and halt, and maimed ? In prison succor Him, nor feel ashamed To own Him, though His injured name may be A mark for some dark slanderer's obloquy? Do you love Jesus in the orphan's claim, And bid the widow welcome in His name ? Say not, " Wlien saw we Him ?" each member dear, Poor and afflicted, wears His image hero ; And if unvalued, or unowned by thee, Where can thy union with the body be ? And if thou thus aii to the body dead, Where is thy life in Christ, the living head? And if dissevered from the living Vine, How canst thou dream that thou hast hfe divine? Sweet is the union true behevers feel ; Into one Spirit they have drunk, the seal Of God is on their hearts, aud thus they see In each the features of one family I If one is suftering, all the rest are sad, If but the least is honored, all are glad. A PLEA FOR GHBISTIAN UNION. 157 The grace of Jesus, which they all pai-take, Flows out in mutual kindness for His sake ; Here He has left them for a while to wait, And represent Him, in their suQ'ei-ing state ; While He, though glorified, as yet alone. Bears the whole Church before the Father's throne." BANS FOR -rROMOTING LHRIS- Opposition to auy well-concocted scheme of Christian Union involves in it great responsibilit3^ It must be left, of course, to every one's judgment to determine, whether any scheme which m&y be presented for public approbation and support, answers to this character or not, and no man can be blamed for withholding his countenance from a plan, or even for opposing it, which appears to him to compromise any of the essential principles of Divine Truth, or to be nothing more than a visionary and impracticable speculation. " The Church," as Dr. D'Aubiguc well says, "ought to have a holy jealousy for the eternal truth of God, for latitudinariauisrq is its death." Thai hostility, TIAN NION. 14 158 THE AGE-QUESTION; OR, however, is to be condemned, which shows itself in a disposition to rest satisfied with things as they are, a mind contented with the present rela- tions and feelings of parties, a reluctance to do any thing to bring them nearer together, coupled with such an aversion from the very attempt, as leads to a fastidious and somewhat contemptuous rejection of eve?y plan that may be proposed for that object. From what action, or from what expression of their Lord, is it, that the opponents of union feel authorized to treat it with hostility ? Is it from His Sermon on the Mount, when He poured his benedictions upon the peace-makers, and called them the children of God ? Is it from His frequent rebukes to His too litigious followers? Is it from His conversation with the woman of Samaria, and His labors on that occasion among a people hated and shunned by His own kindred ? Is it from His inimitable parable of the Good Samaritan ? Is it from His reproof of the distem- pered zeal of His disciples, who would have stopped the man that cast out demons, because he followed not them ? Is it from His forbearance with His Apostles under their cloud}^ apprehensions of His doctrine and His will, their impure motives, and their defective sanctity ? Is it from that touching A PLEA FOE CHRISTIAN UNION. 159 intercessional petition, when the agony of His laboring heart found relief in a burst of impor- tunate supplication for the unity of His Church? Will men take knowledge of us, that we have been with Jesus in these scenes of His ministry, and have listened to those gracious words that have flowed from His lips, till we have caught His own spirit and have been moulded into His image, if we are not only indifferent but opposed to visible union ? Will such hostility identify us most closely and most obviously with Him who came to make us all one in Himself? Let us see, then, how we may Dest promote this union. I. We should beware of Self-love. Tliis is too often the real source of our divisions, when love to truth is their pretended cause. If St. Paul could say of fellow-believers in his time, "They all seek their own," how much more may this be said of dcgcneiate believers in our days? Who can tell all the mischief done by this ungen- erous and base transfer ? Who can declare all tho mysteries of error and iniquity, which stand upon the despicable foundation of the little words, /, me, 160 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OB, and mine'? Could we see the secret inscriptions which the Searcher of hearts can read upon the first stones of our little Babels — my chapel, my party, my congregation, my connections, my popu- larity, my hope of being esteemed by my partisans, my fear of being suspected by them, my jealousy of those who belong to the opposite party, my S3'stem, my favorite opinions, my influence, &c., &c., how should we be disgusted with the sight ! To all those egotisms let us constantly oppose those awful words of our Lord : " Except a man deny himself, he cannot be my disciple." Till we cordially oppose our inordinate attachment to our own interest, we " sacrifice to our own net, in our public duties, and even when we 'preach Christ,' it is to be feared that we do it more 'out of contention,' than out of a real concern for His interest." II. We should remember that Christian Union mu^t be based on large mutual concessions. » There are some good men who are content to remain apart from their fellow-Christians because every thing is not perfect among them. They Bay we must be first pu7-e, then peaceable. But A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 161 Tfliat is the purity here meant ? If we are to wait until the process of purification shall become something like a perfect work before we think of peace, then we may rest assured that i)eace will never come. Men thus express themselves as the consequence of magnifying some immediate matters of debate, and from not being able to see the questions bej-ond these immediate questions which will naturally arise, and become equally great in their turn. Every age will have its gi'eat questions. To wait until these are done with would be, from all appearance, to wait until the world is done with. We admit that where there is to be peace there must be purity ; but the conclusion is not admissible in the extent supposed in this objection. What is needed — needed as the great deed befit- ting the manhood of the Church — is, that we should resolve on union, notwithstanding differences ; that we should know how to debate these differences freely and earnestly, and how at the same time to be one, on the ground on which we are really united. In fact, it is only by unity on the basis of the things upon which we are agreed, that we can hope to reduce the things on which we difler, to a smaller compass. Tlio man who sees upon the largest scale how much of the uot-Cliristian 14* 1G3 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OR, may be allied with the reallj' Christian, and who can give the full homage of his heart to that real Christianity notwithstanding, that is the man who has made the nearest api)roach towards the state of intejlect and feeling which would seem to be the highest attainment possible to the Church of Christ in this imperfect world. This is the comparatively untrodden path, still open to all Christians. But to be trodden successfully it must be trodden with a firm step, with a clear and honest meaning, with a meaning which shall be felt, not onl}' on plat- forms, or in great meetings, but in all the nearer relations of our neighborhoods and homes. III. Christians of different denominations' shonld cultivate acquaintance with one another. Before Joseph was made known to his brethren, they suspected and dreaded him ; when he was made known, they embraced each other and wept. There are manj^ now standing apart, perhaps under the power of prejudice, Avho, were the}' known to each other as the Lord knows them, and in their true character, would make the joyful discovery that the}' are Christian brethren, embrace one an- other, be surprised and delighted to find how much A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 163 they resemble each other, and with tears wash awa^' the rememblance of their bitter jealousies. Like David, we should say : " I am a companion of ALL them that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts." IV. Social intercourse among all classes of true Christians should be promoted. Each class has hitherto too much had its brazen wall around it. But our Lord broke down the wall between Jews and Gentiles, a wall of preju- dices infrangible to any inferior power. Each Christian now should make haste to break down his wall, and come forth to meet his brother. Every wall should be broken down which does not form a necessary fortification of an essential truth. Christiaijity has a magnetic influence. Let two men meet, most unlike in every respect except faith in Christ and love to God and men, and they will be drawn to each other as brethren of one heart and one mind. Their hearts will vibrate together at the touch of the same chord. Social intercourse among Christians who differ, besides removing prejudices, and' leading to the mutual discovery of an identical Clu'istianity on both sides, 164 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OB, would also afford an opportunity for charitable discussion on their points of difference, by which, it may not be doubted, many of these would be removed, — at least such as spring from a miscon- struction of each other's sentiments, and a mutual misunderstandinor. It might be found that in many things they differ, but are not opposed. In many things, also, they only seem to differ. In some cases those who differ may each be for the truth, but for a different portion of the truth. One, perhaps, thinks himself an Arminian, because he stoutly insists on the duties of man in reference to salvation, as in seeking it and using the ap- pointed means ; another, perhaps, thinks himself a Calvinist, because he as stoutly insists that the Ijower of God is necessary in order to begin and consummate the work of salvation in the soul. Each is right as far as he goes, but it would re- quire the views of both to be united to constitute orthodoxy. V. Chrislians should i')ray for Union. "We need the voice of ITim who can sa}"^ to human passion and religious prejudice, "Peace, be still!" In vain do we make an appeal to the religious A FLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNIOJS'. 1G5 bodies themselves to come to a better state of feeliiij^, if we stoi) there. The storms that are still raging roiiiid the barque of the tempest-tossed Church will no more yield to the voice of argument or persuasion from men, tiian would the winds and the waves of the sea of Galilee have sul^mitted to the command of the affrighted /Jisciples. What saved them ? That which saved us, if we are saved at all. The}' awoke tlie sleeping Saviour by the prayer of faith, and in answer to their importunate supplication the calm supervened. He is still on Ijoard His weather-beaten vessel, and though not asleep, is waiting to be asked to put forth His tranquillizing power. Let the whole Church, having fir.st deeply humbled itself for its sins of alienation, division, uncliaritableness, and unbrotherly feeling, go to Him in the earnestness and in the prayer of faitii for a fresh outpouring of His Spirit of light, love, holiness, and peace. He only waits to be asked, so to replenish us with His benediction as to malce Zion a quiet and peacealile habitation. It was when the harmonies of voices and of hearts ascended to heaven at the dedication of the Tem- ple, that the cloud of the Divine glory came and filled the house. It was wlien tlie disciples were met together in one place and with one accord, to 166 TEE AGE-QUESTION ; OR, make their common supplications known, that the Spirit of God came down in coronets of fire on their heads, and filled the place where the};- were sitting. The breath of prayer is the atmosphere in which the Spirit comes to hover over His Church, and shed dealing from His wings. That Divine agent can set all things right. He can cause us to see and to feel alike ; He can exjDel from our minds all error, from our hearts all pride, preju- dice, and passion, and so fill us with meekness, love, and tender forbearance, that we shall be irre- sistibly drawn towards each other, and be enabled to bring about far more than the visible, formal Union we now seek. He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. VI, Christians should betvare of every thing in dis- position and conduct fitted to prove an impedi- ment to Christian Union. They ought to guard against misconceiving or misstating each other's opinions, imiieaching each other's motives, or prosel3'ting in relation to the members of each other's churches. They should beware of every thing calculated to grieve the Holy Spirit. "Let us forbear one another in love." " Be ye kind to one another, tcndcr-licarted, forgiving one another, as Christ has forgiven you." A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 167 VII.^ Chrhtians should remember that most of the points of difference between the various Evangeli- cal Denominations are comparatively unimportant. This point, though referred to before, may be noticed again. A dispute is said to have once arisen on the question whether when, in the insti- tution of the Lord's Suj^per, our Saviour said, " This is my body," He lifted the bread from the table or simply laid His band upon it, and which mode was binding, indispcnsabl}'-, in our observance of that ordinance. The contest waxed fiercer, the parties finally split into two sects, bearing sever- ally the titles of " lifters " and " anti-lifters ;" each hurling perdition at the opposite heresy! Any moderately well-arranged compend of religious opinions will supply not a few instances equally ridiculous, equally mournful. On any point in which it was designed that all Ciuistians should be, everywhere, and at all times, bound as strictly as the Jews were to the Levitical law, it may be fairly concluded ihcy would have re- ceived directions no less precise, and descriptions no less minute, than had J)cen afforded to the Jews. But there arc uo directions or descriptions in the 1G8 TEE AOE-qjJESTIOi) , OB, New Testament relating to matters of form, like those given to the Jews in Leviticus. It does not supply us with a liturgy for ordinary public worship, or with forms for administei'ing the sacrament, or conferring holy orders, nor does it give any precise directions as to these and other ecclesi- astical matters. Fi-om this circumstance maj' be plainly inferred the design of the Holy Spirit that those details concerning which no^^precise direc- tions, accompanied with strict injunctions, are given in Scripture, were meant to be left to the regulation of each church in each age and country. The pauses which separate Christians are : dif- ference in forms, difference in government, and difference in doctrinal vie\vs. The question of forms, as we have just seen, is not of vital import- ance. Is not this true also of government ? The several forms of Church politj' — the Episcopal, the Presbyterian, and the Congregational — have been, as is well known, repeatedly and thoroughly discussed by men of the first abilities, diligence, and research, and j-et each of these forms still prevails. Is it not evident from this fact that there is room for an honest dilforence of opinion on this subject ? And if this be so, can that be of vital moment which has boon so dimly revealed A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 169 as to jusl^ij' such difference ? Tet it is mainly this veiy point — difference as to form of Church organization — that is kee])ing evangelical Chris- tians apart in our day This is evident from the fact that neither a Presbyterian, nor a Congrega- tionalist, nor an Episcopal, nor a Methodist, nor a Baptist, body, would hesitate to receive a Lutheran into its fellowship, or even a minister into its niin- isiry, on doctrinal grounds. If, indeed, the Epis- copalian should reordain, or even rebaptize him, or the Baptist immerse him, before receiving him . into communion, this would have nothing to do with doctrine. The questions of baptism and or- dination present the most formidable barriers to Christian Union. But why should they ? 'Is this right ? Is it warranted by the Word of God ? Let us suppose a case: Here is an individual whom we would receive as a brotlicr, nay, admit into the ranks of the ministr}', if he had only been baptized and ordained after our manner. This is the only deficiency in his Christian character. Now.'suppose he sees objections to our form, or, at least, considers the form by which he was ad- mitted into his previous communion to be equally good and valid, and therefore refuses to be rebap- tizcd or reordaiucd. AVill this make any diller- 16 170 THE AOE-QUESTION ; OR, ence in his charactei* in the sight of G?ftcl ? "Will it, in the eyas of any candid, reasonable man ? By what authorit}^ then, may his scruples respect- ing the exclusive propriety of our forms, be de- clared by us to be of such a nature as to unfit him for our communion, naj'^, to unchristianize him ? Would not such a declaration hy us make ordination or baptism by Episcopal hands, or im- mersion by Baptist hands, the most essential and fundamental point of Christianity? And is this in conformity' with the spirit and letter of the New Testament ? The right course in this matter un- doubtedly is, to make nothing an essential of the Gospel sclieme of faith and practice, which Jesus, the Founder and Builder of the Church, has not made so. How can any one denomination really pretend that it is right in all things, and all others in error so far as tbej^ diverge from it ? Such a pretension is manifestly^ forbidden by Christian humility, by a knowledge of human nature, and by the amount of talent, learning, and piety in all the Churches. Some error, in all probability, is an attribute of each denomination ; and if this be so, how can any one make admission to its min- istry or membership to depend upon the reception of every one of its peculiarities ? " When James, A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 171 Cephas, and John perceived the grace that was given to vie," says Paul to the Galatians, "they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fel- lowship." (Gal. ii. 9.) Let Christians cast their eyes about them, make themselves acquainted with the actual state of things in other evan- gelical denominations, and then put the questions to themselves in serious earnest : " Are all these men, whether self-denj-ing missionaries, or zealous and successful preachers, or exemplar^', liberal and devoted members, under a fatal dchision ? Are they not Christians, in the best and highest sense of the word? Do they not love and obey the Lord Jesus Christ? Are they not successful in building up Christ's kingdom ? And has not the Saviour acknowledged them as His followers by the seal of His grace and Spirit ?" And if the answers which such questions must receive do not fill such Christians with the spirit of fellowship and union, how else can they regard tliemselves th:m as being more particular as to the evidence and recognition of Christian character than Jesus Christ himself is? When conversing on the subject of an attempt to unite God's ministers and people of various names, John Foster once said : " This cannot be 173 THE AGE-QUESTTON; OR, done -while there is so little of the vital element of religion in the world, because that is so shallow, these inconsiderable points stand so prominent above the surface, and occasion obstrnction and mischief; when the powerful spring-tide of piety and mind shall rise, these points will be swallowed up and disappear." It is well known that while Kome 3'et warred upon the Reformed Churches, and they felt the presence of a common enemy, the common danger kept thera united, altiiough they differed much among themselves. But no sooner had that fear subsided, than each began selfishly- to build ^p a part}' or national interest. Then Ephraira began to envy Judah, and Judah to vex Ephraim ; then the common cause was for- gotten in the private peculiarities. All have ob- served how something like this etfect is produced by death. Let a member of anj' one of the evan- gelical denominations, whose life has exhibited the fruits of the Spirit, die, and neither the ministers or members of the other denominations, who were witnesses of his walk and conversation as becom- ing godliness, hesitate to admit that he has en- tered into the rest that remaineth for the people of God. WI13' is this ? Why is it that, mucii as men muydiller about the essentials of religion, when A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. 173 iu healtli, or when their neighbors are in health, they so modify their views when death is seen approaching them, or is known to have termi- nated the earthly career of others? Why is it that points of difference between Christians— so much fomented, magnified, and insisted on with exclusive pertinacity, in the pulpit, the religious newspaper, and the monthly or quarterly — are not heard in the counsels and prayers of the sick room, or in the burial-service at the grave-side ? Tlie reason is obvious : death produces an atmo- sjjhere in which nothing but the essentials of true piety strike the eye as having any importance deserving to be recognized in view of such an event, bringing, as it does, the awful verities of eternity so near as to cover with their shadow the needless ditfercnces of time. We have never known a minister of the Gospel to introduce tlie peculiarities of his denomination in conversing witli a man dying, or in interring him when dead. But why should not ii minister do this, if such peculiarities are essentials ? And, if they are not essential, why should. they be introduced anij- where, or at any time — 'espcciall}', why should they be permitted to divide tlie body of Christ? The venerable Archibald Alexander, D. D., of the lis* 174 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, Princeton Theological Seminary, when dying, said : " My theology is comprised in this, that Jesua Christ came into the world to save sinners." Oh, how many, as they have neared the Jordan, and heard the roar of its waters, have felt themselves more than readj' to drop every thing but what is necessary to save the soul ! Lord Bacon, in an essay on TJuit3Mn Religion, sa3's: "Both those extremes (the extremes of party zeal and luke- warmness) are to be avoided, which will be done if the league of Christians, penned by our Saviour himself, were, in the two cross clauses thereof, soundly and plainly expounded. ' He that is not with us, is against us and, again, ' He that is not against us, is with us that is, if the points fundamental, and of substance in religion, were trul^' discerned and distinguished from points not merely of faith, but of opinion, order, or good intention. Men ought to take heed of rending God's Chui'ch by two kinds of conti'oversics. The one is, when the matter of the point controverted is too small and light, nor worth the heat and strife about it, kindled only by contradiction, for, as it is noted by one of the fathers, Christ's coat indeed had no seam, but the Church's vesture was of divers colors, whereupon he saith, ' in veste A PLEA FOR GERISTIAN UNION. 175 varietas sit, scissura non sit,'' they be two things — unity and conformity. The other is, when the matter of the point is great; but it is driven to an over-great subtilty and obscurity, so that it becometh a thing rather ingwiioas than substan- tial." " Let us all consider," says the Rev. J. Angell James, " what it is that justifies, sanctifies, comforts, and, in fact, saves us ; what it is that is the satisfactory evidence of our salvation ; what it is that unites us to Christ, and binds us to the heart of God ; what it is that enables us to over- come the world, and to set our affections on things above : and we shall find it is not Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, Independency, or Baptism. How little do these things avail us when guilt presses upon the conscience, or care corrodes the heart, or sorrow drives sleep from the eyes, or death de- prives us of our friends, or the last enemy lays his cold hand upon our frame. DcJ we, in such scenes and seasons, betake ourselves to these lessor matters for comfort, or to the essential and glorious truths of our common salvation ? It is 'because we are believers in Christ Jesus that we feel ourselves safe for eternity ; and this safety we cannot but concede to our brethren of all or- thodox sects, as truly and as confidently as we 176 TEE AGE-QUESTION; OB, feel it for ourselves. Let us, then, keep within sight of the cross by dwelling more upon the essential doctrines of the Gospel, and look upon our brethren ©f other denominations as assembled with us round that common centre of attraction, and partaking with*us in all the gracious efforts and eternally glorious results of that great sacri- fice which is there presented to our view. There should be in us such an ineffable delight in all the fundamental truths of Christianity, such an exaltation of their glory and importance, as shall make us determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified." yill. Christians should remember the intimacy of the relation they sustain towards one another. Paul gives a reason, such as mere ethical philo- sophy never dreamed of, why Christians should not speak or act to the injury of their fellow-Chris- tians, and that is, " We are members one of another ;" that is, we are parts of the same body. Now, if this oneness were a mere figure of speech, it would have no force as a reason to enforce such a duty. It has, then, a substantial basis. Christ's l^ody — the Church — is bound together with some- A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 177 thing more than rhetorical, imaginary ligaments. Its oneness is a oneness of life. As the vital juice of the vine is one for the stock and all its branches, so all Christians, as members of Christ's bod}^, have one common life with Christ, and of course with all other Christians. So that whatever we do to the injury- of the spiritual life of other Christians, we do to the injury of our own. If we chafe and mar one branch of a tree, we make outlets and wastes of the vital juice of the whole. If we spread a canker or a blight upon one branch, we pollute the fountain of life for the whole. So of the branches of which Christ is the stock — if we bruise, break, or hew them, we occa- sion a waste of sap and life to contiguous branches. Tliis fact gives high enforcement to all acts of mutual charity and tenderness among Christians. It binds us to regard Christian character and feel- ing as some sacred thing, to be touched with ten- derness, because we are members one of another — because a wound upon a fclIow-Chri.stian is violence done to our own spiritual life. This is the stock and centre of all the reasons why we should study the things which make for peace, and things whereby one may edify another. 178 THE AGE-qUESTION J OR, IX. As closely connected, icith what immediately jorecedes, we remark that it is e'xceedingly desira- ble that each Chrislian should cultivate the habit of regarding himself as one of the family. The bi-otlicrs and sisters of a ■well-ordered family understand this feeling very Tvell — it is habitual with them. They have one common in- terest, and are bound together b}' their afiection for their parents. No one thinks of appropriating to himself any more than his own share of the home comforts. No one wants to be commended at the expense of the rest. They are accustomed to being treated alike, and never wish to have it otherwise. If one has any particular jo}- or sor- row, the rest share with him. They make allow- ance for each other's defects, and "forgive and forget." Each one, perhaps, has his ijarticular tastes and occupations, but thej' are never suffered to interfere with the general comfort and conve- nience. Their principal happiness grows out of their love to their parents and each other. Let us, then, look on the members of "the household of faith" in this light. Let us mix ourselves up with them till that rich word " tue" shall come more A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 179 naturally to our lips than "/." Let us completely identify ourselves with them, and strive to have no separate interest. The Bible says : " Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." Perhaps each member of the household is as dear to our Father as we are, therefore let us take the same interest in their salvation that we do in our own. It will be equally glorious to God — equally gratifying to " that mighty heart of love." X. Every Christian should work for Union. The subject must be taken up, not only \>y all parties,' but by all persons. It must come upon the individual conscience of every Christian as his duty, according to his station and measure of influence to promote it. We ought not to sink ourselves and our personal obligations in the mass. It is every one's concern. All the great interests which arc hindered by our divisions, or aided by our agreements, belong to each of us — the edifica- tion of the Church, the credit of religion, and the moral improvement of the world. We must not stand gazing at this work, saying, " Who shall do it ?" but must say, " Here la something for me to 180 TEE AGE-QUESTION; OB, do." It is, indeed, the becoming dutj- of Christian ministers to promote union ; their responsibility in this, as well as in every other subject connected Avith true religion, is truly tremendous, and God Avill require this matter at their hands. It is they who kindle or quench the flames of contention, that strengthen or relax the bonds of union, that alienate or conciliate the aflcctions of the brethren. The power of the pulpit and the influence of ministerial example are prodigious. If the pastors could be brought to associate, the flocks would instantly follow ; and it is a solemn and a serious consideration for those to whom the Saviour has granted an oflice of sucli influence, whether they can best discharge its duties by perpetuating or licaling the wounds of the Universal' Church. If the chord of charity were struck by a firm and skilful hand in the pulpit from time to time, it would produce an instant vibration through the whole congregation, and the words of jDeace going from thence would be returned in read3' and jo3^- ful echoes b}^ the listening hearers. Tlie minister of religion cannot be full}' acting out his duty as a servant of Christ, unless he is a promoter of peace, and doing all he can to harmonize the discordant elements of the Christian Church. His ministry A PLEA FOE GnmSTIAN UNION. 181 is empliaticall}' one of reconciliation, and lie has mistaken his commission if he be emplojdng himself in any way that is opposed to this, or even if he be neglecting it. But Christian Union belongs not to ministers only ; it should press upon the conscience of every one of their hearers. No man is doing his whole duty as a Christian who is doing nothing to repair the breaches in the walls of Zion. On the return of the J ews from captivity, it was thus the desolation of Jerusalem was removed. Nchc- miah appointed ollicers and master builders, but, ill addition to this, "the people 'ha.^ a mind to work," and "we returned all of us to the wall," said the historian, "every one o^" us to his work." liCt us, then, not wait for otiiers, nor suspend our cH'orts till we can get them to co-operate with us, I)ut let each denomination, each minis- ter, each individual Christian, commence the work of pacification, and tlie alteinpt to unite the peo- ple of God. " Let us eacli do our part, so as we may be able to sa}', Per ifie nan slelit, it was not my fault, but Christians iiad boon more combined and entirely one witli eacli other, but they had been more thoroughly Christian, and more en- tirely united with (jiod in Chri.st, that (Miristianity had not iieen a more powerlul, lively, amiable and IG 183 TEE AQE-QUESTION ; OB, awful thing. If the Christian communit}- moulder and decay, be enfeebled, broken, dispirited, and mined in great part, this ruin shall not rest under my hand."* XI. In order to a closer Union there should be the cultivation of more eminent Piety. It has been well said that a cold and uuinfluen- tial orthodoxj', which leaves us still worldly and undevoiit, however it ma}' give ns an intellectual sympathj' with each other, and la}' the basis of a courteous and general esteem, will do but little in the way of drawing our hearts together. All who have written upon the subject of Christran Union agree in the opinion, that it is an increasing spirit of sincere and fervent piety that will alone be found equal to the work of subduing our preju- dices, and conciliating our atfcctions. The Apostle's question, " From whence come wars and fightings among yo»i? Come the}^ not hence, eA'en of your lusts, that war. in your members ?" shows the cause of divisions, and suggests the na- ture of the remedy. The contentions in the Church flow from the same source as those of the world. * llowu ou Uuion .'uiioiig Protestants. A PLEA FO.R GHRISTIAlf UNION^ 183 In our nature there are j'et remains of corrup- tion, mixed up with Divine seotimeuts and holy affections, and thus, in ever3^ heart, there are prin- ciples of affinity and repulsion. Grace attracts grace, and corruption repels it ; in proportion as grace prevails over corruption, it ■will be drawn towards its corresponding principle in other hearts, while on the contrary, as corruption prevails over grace, it will make the less sanctified heart repellant and dissocial. Thus, as piety becomes more purified and strengthened, it will draw, and must of necessity draw, all classes of Christians nearer to each othei", "until au external and visible unity, as well as an inter- nal one, shall be formed, and all its expected re- sults shall be accomplished. This attractive power of true . piety is a law, the force of which has been already in some measure developed under • various fornls, and is a law which, when complete in its operation, will as surely bring around it all Cliristian bodies, and help them in harmonious movements, as the solar gravitation will carry round in their full c^-cle the Avhole s^'stem of the [)hinets. The piety that draws us nearer to Clirist must draw us nearer to each other, as bodies tliat press closer to a common centre press closer at thf> oonie time to one another. 184 ^ THE AGE-qUESTIOX ; OR, XII. Giving their due prominence to the vital parts of religion will promote Christian Union. This will make us love with an unquenchable and truly fraternal affection all who partake with us in the same views. "We shall feel toAvai'ds each other much as loyal regiments of soldiers do when gathering round the national banner, who then forget the distinctive emblems of their own ensigns, and regard each other for their attach- ment to that one common emblem of their coun- try's^ cause. Or, to borrow a more sacred allu- sion, we, like the different tribes of Israel.arrauged and marching through the wilderness under their res2:)ective banners, yet all collected round the Ark of the Covenant, shall ai)pear lovely and venera- ble in each other's estimation, on account of our proximity and attachment to that S3-stem ofDi- Aine truth of which the Jewish propitiator^'-, with its Shechinah and Cherubims of glory, was but a •type. A PLEA FOR (JHBI16TIAN UNION. . 185 XIII. Hie cessation of Theological Controversy, as as at present carried on, would greatly tend to promote Union. It is of the very nature of controversy to find and aggravate disputes. Controversialists seek for points of disagreement, and not of uniformity. Whereas a cessation from controversy, and a walk- ing together so far as agreed, bring hearts to find out each other's virtues, and to feel that they are agreed on almost every point which is worth con- tending for. Love will lead to soft words and kind actions. The angry foam, which forms on the crest of the raging billow, when it comes to the quiet creek where no wind blows, sinks down and dissolves into the placid flood. Di^ putcs change their aspect and gradually vanish, under the peaceful exercise of Cliristian charity. Had Luther but loved the brethren as he loved the truth, many a tongue would have been silenced against the doctrines of the Reformation. ^Wlien lie called G^colompadius the "black devil," what could ungodly men Uiiuk of his religious principles, breathing out now and then in sucli hot ami iras- cible language ? Some of his fiery cxprcasions 16* 186 TEE AGE-QUESTION; OB, the Romanists adroitly snatched up, and hurled back flaming against his noble cause. Selfishness and pride often animate religious disputations among the friends of the Redeemer. There is a loud call for the abaudoument'of harsh and con- temptuous language. Truth is dishonored by railing instead of argument and love. Let us all fear. " Michael, the archangel, when contending ■with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accu- sation. "* Intemperate and reviling language is forbidden by the spirit of the Gospel, and by Him who, when he was " reviled, reviled not again." It must not be indulged even in disputation with the great enemy of God and man. It is the duty of all to respect tenderl}- the conscientious cou- ■v^ctious of others, and regard with charit3' Chris- tian character, abstaining on their own part and exempted on the part of others, from epithets of contumely and disdain, the " grievous words which stir up anger." * JuUe 0. A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 18 RELIGIOUS COX TROVERS T. " Tautsene animis ccelestibus irse.''^ Wlien the full-throated people of the air, Harmonious preachers of the sweets of love, That midway range, as half at home with heaven, Are quiring, with a heartiness of joy, That the high-tide of song o'erbrims the grove, And far adown the meadow runs to waste ; How would the soul, there floating, loath to mark Sudden contention, shai-p, discordant screams, From tliroats whose duty is a song ! Not with less sure revolting — ah ! far more ! — Curdles the blood when Christian brothers strive, And prostitute to wordy war the lips Commissioned to dispense "good will to man," And soothe the world with spoken kindness, soft, And fiill of melody as song of birds. O, sad betrayal of tlie higliest trust ! Heralds of peace — to blow the trump of strife ; Envoys of charity — to sow the tares Of hatred in a soil prepared for love. Is this a time for soldiers of the cross To point their weapons each at other's breast. When the great enemy, the common foe, 188 THE AGE-qVESTION; OB, Though baffled, unsubdued, lays e'er in wait For some unguarded i^ass, to cheat the walls Not all his dread artillery could breach ? How is each lunge and ward of tart reproof And bitter reijartee — painful to friends — By the Adversary hailed with general yell Of triumph, or derision 1 O, my friends ! Believe me, lines of loving charity Disheai-ten enemies, encourage friends, And woo enlistments to your ranks more sure Than the best weapon of the readiest wit, Whose point is venomed with the gall of scorn. How wiser, then, forbearing bitterness At paints of polity, or shades of faith, That difl'erent show to different-seeing eyes. To shun peii)lexiug doctrines, which the AU-wiso Has willed obscure, and imitate His life ; His, the meek Founder of our faith, who sowed His earthly way with blessings as with seed ; Bearing, forbearing, ever rendering good ; The Counsellor, the Comforter, the Friend. How ope soc'er His word to various sense, His life is plain, and all that life was love : Be this our guide, we cannot widely stray. A PLEA FOR CnmSTIAN UNION. 189 ULTIVATION OF THE jbPIRIT OF Christian Unity Urged. As we look avouud us, what changes are seen to be now taking place in various parts of the globe ? Even while we survej- the face of things, the scene is rapidlj^ shifting before the observing eye. The political world is in commotion, the civil affairs of men are assuming new shapes and phases, the literar}- and scientific world is also in active movement ; all minds are astir, all interests are excited, nothing is to be taken for granted ; old foundations are shaken, and cn)inions venerable by time and general acquiescence are revived, and modified or rejected. Our age is one of action, experiment and change ; and, to give the greatest effect to these causes, facilities for the intercommu- nication of information and ideas by the press and steam are multiplied beyond the dreams of former times. Europe is in agitation ; her old principles and habits are bctng shalven, and her communities are seeking to be cast into new Ibrms. And this unsettled state of things, together with love of change, and the desire to ameliorate their conditiou, 190 THE AOE-qUEBTION ; OR, and the ease of transition from place to place, is causing vast nmltitudes from foreign ^ shores to overspread our country, who, with our own people, are extending the empire of civilization bej ond the E.ock3' Mountains to the western wave, and are destined to throw back upon our country and the • world the effects of that civilization, of whatever kind it maj- be. Then, agam, Eomauism, boasting of her so-called unity, is organized for victory, and is exerting her utmost strength to augment the number of her votaries, and subjugate the world to her faith. Infidelity, too, in many spe- cious forms, is assailing our holy religion. And is this a time for the followers of Jesus to be divided, and yielding themselves to contentions and alienations in their own ranks ? Is this a time to give additional point to the sneer of Hume, that between Christian sects bitterness has in general been exasperated in proportion as they approach nearest to each other? Is this a time for evangelical denominations to hug their diffei'ences as if these differences^ were their religion'? Oh, what blessed effects would result, if no sectarian spirit any longer disturbed the exertions or hin- dered the prayers of the Church, and if, as iu the early days of Apostolic zeal and brotherly love, in A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 191 the fervor of her espousals, her children were again " of one heart and one soul !" Then would tlie world's infidelity be undermined, as they said, and w^as said of old, " See how these Christians love ' one another !" And then would the Church be seen coming forth from the wilderness where it has been so long concealed, " terrible'' to its enemies, "as an army with banners the Lord would rise upon it, and the Gentiles would come to its light, aud kings to the brightness of its rising. " Be- hold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments : as the dew of Hermon, and as the dews that descended upon the moun- tains of Zion : for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore." Let, then, the peoi)le of God aim at Union. Why should they not ? Mortifying as it may be, it is nevertheless true, that it is our own will and ])leatmTe to xcrmifjle and divide. We have one God, one Retle(?bicr, one Spirit, one Bible, one hope, one heaven ; the alicimtion and strife arc all our own. As children, we qttarrel in the ab.scnco of our Father, whose iuj unctions wo have disre- 193 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, garded and fol'gotten. Jesus asked his disciples, " What was it that yc disputed among yourselves by the way ?" But they held their peace. For by the way they disputed among themselves, who should be greatest ? Have not these discij^les long since blushed — even' in heaven blushed — that they were on earth so engaged in perverse disputings ? Oh, then, let us follow after charity and things wherewith one may edify another. Charity is the brightest of the golden chain of Christian graces, and strengthens all the rest. It is time that the character of the controversies among evangelical Christians should be essentially reformed ; too generally they are fraught with evil to the cause of our holy Christianity. In their severity and acrimony they savor too little of the things which are of God, and too much of the pas- sion, prejudice, and ambition of our poor fallen, self-seeking nature. Let us chain the war-horses — or, rather, bind them together with the bands of love, and harness them to the chariot of salvation. Let the sturdy spirits of our great champions come into friendly contact, be mingled in prayer, and warmed by the flame of devotion, and then will a mighty and glorious change come over the si)irit and prospect of the Churches. Instead of squau- A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 193 dering their strength in mutual hostilities, let our strong men march, shoulder to shoulder, into the field of strife against the embattled hosts of hell ; let them rally their legions under the common flag of Christianity, and shout for the battle. How long would it be before the power of Satan would be broken, " and the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven," would be " given to the people of the saints of the Most . High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and whose dominions" would " serve and obey him ?" The great and grand union organizations which exist for the establishment of Sabbath-schools, the distribution of tracts, and the sending of Mission- aries with the bread of life to the destitute and dying — what are these but indubitable exponents of the conviction that burns in the Christian heart, that the Church ought to be one, and expressions of the ardent desire that glows in that heart, that the Church marj be one ? If the unity of the Church is not to be desired, such organiza- tions, ignoring, as they do, sectarian peculiarities, ought not to be patronized. But who would dare allege this ? Let it not be supposed, however, that the platform and anniversary interviews which 17 194 THE AOE-qUESTION ; OB, such institutions secure between the people and the ministers of God of various denominations, however pleasant and profitable these interviews may be, are to be regarded as substitutes for the Christian Union which they foster and foreshadow. These institutions are but the voice of one crying in the wilderness, " Prepare y& the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight." Neither should the interviews referred to be allowed to satisfy the consciences of Christians, as an occa- sional recognition sometimes satisfies persons at variance. There is something be.yond these frequent and fiiendly occasions, which the people of God must desire and seek after, and of which they are but the first-fruits and forerunners. We say " seek after," and we do so with design, for there are many sincere followers of Jesus, doubtless, who wish vaguely for the union of Christians, and would be pleased to see it effected, but do not feel sulli- cient interest in the matter to make any exertions to secure the result. How would such a spirit be regarded if existing in relation to the conversion of the world ? Not a whit more excusable is it, touching the interest now before us. In neither case will God accomplish the promised result with- out the intervention of appropriate means. The A PLEA FOR CimiSTIAN UNIQ^. lOo holding of union prayer-meetings ; the preaching of union sermons, in which schism is held forth as not only a calamity, but a sin ; the distribution of union tracts and journals, occasional exchange of pulpits by evangelical ministers, occasional inter- communion by the people of God, frequent and fervent pra3'er for the healing of the divisions of God's heritage ; the manifestation of an interest by one denomination in the welfare of others ; a de- termination by preachers and peojjle not to magnify any point of difference that is not essential to salvation, and that they could not feel themselves bound to press upon the reception of a dying man, or to commend him for receiving when dead ; as well as a disposition to allow to others the liberty in regard to such things which God himself allows — these are measures, influences, aud agencies which the great Head of the Church might well be expected to bless, for the accomplishment of a purpose lying so near His heart. Brother ! in what direction shall your praj'crs be offered, and j our eflbrts bo put forth in rela- tion to this great question ? Remember that you cannot be neutral. You will be counted either with those who say, " Let the strife go on, and the divisions be perpetuated," or with those who 196 . THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, long and labor that the praj'^er of Jesus may be fulfilled — " that they all may be one." Why should you hesitate ? What though the Church has been living in a disunited state for hundreds of years, has disunion become a duty, and ceased to be a sin ? Does time change the nature of right and wrong? Are divisions now to be borne with, which once wrung the heart of an Apostle ? Did the Saviour pray for a union which is undesirable ? Is the time never to come when there shall be one Shepherd and one sheepfold, when nothing but distance shall prevent the various denominations from being united into one visible ^ody, even though they may retain their peculiar form of government and worship, and when the same cer- tificate of Christian and ministerial character shall carry a Christian brother and one of Christ's min- istering servants through aU the Churches on the face of the earth ? It lias, thus far, been the error of every denomination that it has arro- gantly thought itself without spot, wrinkle, or defect. Each, therefore, is lifting itself with the vain thought, that when truth prevails all over the earth, it shall be found the pure, perfect thing. It is the first crystal Avhich has formed in the midst of the solution, and the whole process of A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 197 crystalization is to go on upon it, and to be like it in shape, jjurity, and color. It is time for this vain opinion to explode, and we hope in God it will soon do so. We believe there is abundant reason for such a hope. The unity of the Church in the bonds of truth and peace is no more impossible to faith and to prayer, as it is the com- mand of God, than it was impossible for Israel to drive out the Canaanites from those cities which were walled up to heaven, and afterwards to settle peacefully as one great community in the prom- ised land. Who will say that it is too sanguine a hope to entertain, too flattering a conception to be realized, that there might be gathered such a visible association of Christians as shall convince the world that, amidst circumstantial difference, there is substantial agreement, and that beneath the troubled and billowy surfrice of the ocean of religious opinion, there is still commingling an im- measurable depth of quiet water, which no storm can reach or disturb? Is this the speculation of a fervid, though charitable imagination, or a mere bubble, which, though inflated with the breath of love, and reflecting the beautiful colors of the bow of peace, is still nothing hut a bubble that must, of necessity, burst when touched by the linger of ex- 17* 198 THE AGE-QUESTION; OB, periment ? Can -we allow ourselves .to think that these van-ious communities of professing Chris- tians, though all professing to be gathered round the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be feeling the centripetal force of that all-attractive centre, have yet so much of mutual repulsion, that they cannot in an}^ form, and to any extent, co- here? Shall it be told to this world, perhaps to others too, that there is more in matters of Church government and religious cei'cmony, or outward sj mbols, to keep us apart, than in the adorable Trinity, the Divine character of God, the covenant of grace, the scheme of our Saviour's mediation, the justification of the sinner by faith, the regeneration of the heart by the operation and baptism of the Spirit, the adoption of believers into the familj^ of God, and the prospect of one heaven of holiness, happiness, and love, in all of which we are agreed, to cement us at any time, or for any purpose, into one body? Shall this be believed, especially when it is remembered that we profess to be one in Christ, and profess to acknowledge each other, and oven to love each other secretly ? Shall we forever continue to be ashamed of our common relationship ? Let those believe this who can ; wc cannot. We have more A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 199 faith in humanity, imperfectly sanctified as it is, and we have more faith in God, " from whom all holy desices, just counsels, and geod works do proceed." " Is any thing too hard for thee. Almighty Lord of all, "Whose threatening looks dry up the sea, And make the moantains fall V Oh, then, let the Sacramental host awake and arise ! Great God ! " plead thine own cause I" Let the Church, ashamed of her loast schisms, rush to the remedy. Then, though now poor, she shall soon be rich in faith. Then will the love of all toward each other abound. A new era will begin. The words — "that the world may know that Thou has sent me" — will have a new mission and a new meaning. A voice will be heard saj-ing, " The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." In the exercise of that faith, which is the sub- stance of things hoiked for, and the evidence of things not seen, let us ascend to the Jerusalem above, and participate with its citizens in their 200 TEE AGE-qUESTION ; OR, services and bliss. If ■we are the people of God, how soon, how very soon, shall this supposition be realit}' ! The partitions we erect and uphold may long define aud fence up our denomination ; but they shall very shortly be of no effect to our- selves individually. The highest of them do not reach to those third heavens, where, far above their altitude, we shall meet and rejoice with Christians from whom they dissevered us. Can we realize this early this elevated superiority to all these shibboleths, and yet hold them in idolatrous re- spect ? If we are Christians, our treasure is already in heaven, and our hearts are there also. Can it be, then, that this hour we hold antici- pating fellowship with a Church formed out of all Churches that held " the truth as it is in Jesus," and derive exquisite delight from its comi^rehen- siveness of membership, and next hour deify the distinctions which we had just forgotten, and, in the absence of which, we saw a presage of glory ? The planets, as seen from our remoteness, are so many brilliant orbs, and the disruptive irregulari- ties of their surfaces are all lost in lustre. Our own earth, as contemplated from those distant heavens, would present the same appearance. So let its schismatic demarcations vanish, as viewed A PLEA FOR CHRISTIAN UNION. 201 by us from heavenly places, and, as we look upon it in v/erifying forethought from our seats of glory, where " Each finds in each a glowing friend, And all the God of all adore," let all differences among its Christian inhabitants appear to be absorbed in one flame of Christian charity. PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAl^" UXION. Shepherd of Israel, teach thy people how good ^nd pleasant a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unit3^ It is as the dew that descended on the mountains of Zion, where the Lord com- • manded the blessing, even life for evermore. May they mourn over the unkindness and strife that so often prevail among those who bear the same party name. May they lament over the sectional feel- ings which alienate the members of different com- munions, and forbid the universal fellowship of saints. God of Peace, let not Ephraim envy Judah, nor Judah vex Ephraim. 203 THE AGE-QUESTION ; OR, O Lord, why should there be any other test of brotherhood than that of union to Christ ? Why should the children of adoption treat each other as strangers and foreigners ? Wh}- should those Tvho expect to be joint-heirs of the inheritance of heaven, refuse fello"svship with each other on earth? O God of Love, rebuke every spirit of dissension. Bj-ing together all the scattered fragments of thy Church, and .bind them by that charity which is the bond of perfectness. As there is but one Shepherd, so let there be but one fold. As there is but one King, so let there be but one dominion. Let the heritage of God be a household of faith, that shall stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the Gosi^el. Lord, cause the unity of the Spirit to bring togethei* all thy followers in the bond of peace, that they may be one, even as the Father and Son are One ! Amen. A PLEA FOE CHRISTIAN UNION. 203 THE NEW COMMANDMENT. "A new commandment I give unto you, tJiat ye love one another, as I have loved you." "As thou hast loved us, Saviour ! must we love Each other, and Thy new command obey? Tlien for Tliy love within us would we pray, That it may all our cold affections move. Thy love, how vast ! since each returning day Fresh mercies come, the purchase of thy death. Our sins do not Thy loving-kindness stay ; 'Tis fidl and free, as is the air we breathe : We cannot love as Thou dost, teach us how To banish anger, enmity and strife : Here at Thy footstool do we hiunbly bow. O, Thou who didst for sinners give Thy life, For those who hated Thee ! make us to know The greatness of Thy love, then shall we love as Thou." 204 A PLEA FOB CHRISTIAN UNION. DWELLIXG TOGETHER IN T7NITY. "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." — Ps. cxxxiii. 1. Let pai-ty names no more The Christian world o'erspread, Gentile and Jew, and bond and free, Ai-e one in Christ their Head. Among the saints on earth Let mutual love be found, Heirs of the same inheritance, With mutual blessings crowned. Tlius will the Church below Resemble that above, "Where streams of pleasure ever flow, And every heart is love.