YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY OF THE
DIVINITY SCHOOL

THE RELIGION OF FAITH AND THAT OF FORM.

DISCOURSE, (TWO IN ONE,)
DELIVERED IN
SEVERAL DIFFERENT PLACES OF WORSHIP,
CONGREGATIONAL, PRESBYTERIAN, AND WESLEYAN,
AT
ETI
DURING
THE AUTUMN OF 1857.

BY THE REV- LEWIS GROUT,

AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

fKetermarttjui«rg="
MAY & DAVIS, 23, CHURCH STREET.
1857.

THE RELIGION OF FAITH AND THAT OF FORM.

DISCOURSE, (TWO IN ONE,)
DELIVERED IN
SEVERAL DIFFERENT PLACES OF WORSHIP,
CONGREGATIONAL, PRESBYTERIAN, AND WESLEYAN,
AT
DURBAN AND PIETERMARITZBITRG, DURING
THE AUTUMN OF 1857.

BY THE REV. LEWIS GROUT,

AMERICAN MISSIONARY.

IJPietermarttjuurg---
MAY & DAVIS, 23, CHURCH STREET.
1857.
Ya!e Divinity Library
New Haven, Conn.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Port Natal, May 25th, 1857;
Dear Sir, —
We beg respectfully that you will allow the publication of the
Sermon on " The Religion of Faith and that of Form," recently de
livered at the Congregational and Wesleyan Chapels in Durban, and
in the Presbyterian Church and Wesleyan Chapel in Pietermaritz-
burg. The principles enunciated in that Discourse, are, at all times, of the
highest importance, but in the present circumstances of the Christian
Church, and of Ecclesiastical movements in this colony, we consider
it to be especially desirable that so able and forcible an exposition
of Evangelical truth on the one hand, and of dangerous and prevail
ing error on the other, should be diffused as widely as possible-
through the public mind.
We remain, dear Sir,
Yours faithfully,
H. E. Faure, D.D., Richard Harwin,
Alfred W, Evans, D. D. Buchanan,
W. Martin, Hugh Gillespie,
George Robinson, J. Russom,
James Smarfit, Edward R. Dixon,
E. Buchanan, George Macleroy,
E, Fleetwood Churchill.
To the Rev. Lewis Grout.

Pietermaritzburg, May 29th, 1857.
Dear Sirs,—
Your kind letter, soliciting the publication of the Sermon referred
to, has come to hand. This united request of so many of the lead
ing members of different churches and societies, is a pleasing indi
cation of the substantial agreement and interest which exist among
these churches, in respect to the cardinal truths of the gospel ; and
give proof of an extensive conviction, that the growing errors and
evils of formalism should be exposed and shunned.
In the humble hope, therefore, that God may be graciously pleased
to bless the publication of the accompanying Discourse as a means.
of good, it is respectfully submitted to your disposal.
In the bonds of truth and Christian fellowships
Most sincerely yours, Lewis Grout,
To the Rev. H. E. Faure,' D.D.,
A. W. Evans, Esq., and others.

A DISCOURSE.

Gal. V. 6. — FOR IN JESUS CHRIST NEITHER CIRCUMCISION
AVAILETH ANYTHING, NOR UNCIRCUMCISlON ; BUT
FAITH WHICH WORKETH BY LOVE.
Man is said to be a religious being ; -and, taking the
term in its broadest sense, the remark is full of truth.
The human~ heart has always felt accountable to some
power above itself, and felt the need of something to re
commend itself to the favorable notice of that power.
Perhaps it would be difficult to find a race that has de
parted from God and truth farther than the heathen tribes
around us; and yet, in all their blindness, they have a kind
of religion, their sense of accountability, and their mode of
answering to it. They have their divinity, their mediator,
prophet and priest, and their atoning sacrifice ; for all of
which we see their regard, when, in obedience to the advice
of their inyanga, in the day of their distress, they slaughter
an animal to the shades of the dead. In other heathen
lands,' attempts are made to atone- for guilt by various other
means ;— in .some, by self-torture ; "in some, by human
sacrifices ; and in others, by such other means as ignorance
and superstition may have been able to devise.
But human devices to atone for guilt, and merit sal
vation, are not confined to' the heathen. Many who have
had the most light within their reach, have been the most
diligent in seeking other ways than that one which God
has provided, by which to enter the mansions of bliss. So
teaches the whole history of Romanism ; so it was when
Paul wrote the Epistle from which our text is taken ; so it
was in the days of Christ, who said of the formalists around

him, " But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doc
trines the commandments of men."
Not long after the Galatians had embraced the gospel
of Christ, under the preaching of the great Apostle to the
Gentiles, certain false teachers appeared among them, de
claring " another gospel." The burden of their doctrine
was — ' except ye be circumcised, and observe other Jew
ish rights, and the festivals of the Mosaic economy, ye can
not be saved.' To correct these errors, and establish the
Galatians in the truth that justification comes, -not from
the observing of rituals, but from believing in Jesus, and
from this alone, is the great object of the Epistle which
Paul addressed to them.
• He first vindicated his authority from the calumnies -
which his enemies had propagated; and showed that he had "
received his commission as an Apostle direct from the
Lord ; and that the doctrines which he taught came not
from men, but from God. He then went on to prove that
there was nothing in circumcision, nor in any of the Mo
saic rites, which could justify and save the soul ; neither
was the observance of these rites now necessary. Nay,
more ; to rely upon circumcision, was a virtual renunci
ation of the gospel ; those who insisted on this rite as
essential to justification, made the sacrifice of Christ of no
value, and made slaves of themselves. Hence, in the be
ginning of the chapter from which we take our text, the
Apostle exhorts the Galatians to "stand fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ had made them free ; and be not en
tangled again in the yoke of bondage.",
The Apostle continues — " Behold, I Paul say unto
you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you
nothing." Christ will not share his finished work' with
another ; he will be a whole Saviour or none. The virtue
of his sacrifice to save the soul- is sufficient of itself ; and
those who rely upon the observance of rites and ceremonies,
or upon anything else, as necessary to justification, declare
their want of entire confidence in Christ, and so reject
him. As in the 4th verse—" Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law ; ye
are fallen from grace." If they could be justified by obey
ing the law, or observing rites, or in any other way than
by trusting in Christ, then what need had they of him ?
His work for them was vain ; they had apostatized from
his religion, and excluded themselves from the free gift of

justification offered to them in the gospel. " But we,"
says Paul, " we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of
righteousness by faith." The true Christian hopes to be
justified and saved through faith in the Redeemer ; and he
expects it in no other way. " For in Jesus Christ," as the
text declares, " neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision ; but faith which worketh by loVe." In
that plan of salvation, of which Christ is the author, no
importance is attached to the observance of rites and
forms ; every thingdepends upon the state of the heart.
Our title to heaven depends upon our being in possession
of that faith which takes hold on Christ, and calls all the
faculties of the soul into benevolent action.
How different is the doctrine which Paul taught the
Galatians from that which his opponents, the Jewish
zealots, taught them. Paul preached Christ and him cru
cified ; his opponents, Moses and the law. The one taught
justification by faith alone; the others, justification by
works. The gospel^ as preached by Paul, represents the
sinner as dependent upon the grace of God, and as saved
by a simple reliance upon the merits and mercy of a cru
cified Redeemer ; that " other gospel," which his oppo
nents preached, inculcates the dependence of man upon a
rigid observance of rites and ceremonies. Paul received
his commission from- God ; his opponents attempted to un
dermine his authority, and to set up their own as superior,
because they "had come, as th'ey alleged, direct from the
Apostles at Jerusalem. Listening to Paul, the Galatians
had begun in the Spirit ; listening to the advocates of 'car
nal rites, they were foolishly thinking to be made perfect
by the flesh. Following the instructions of Paul, men ex
pect to be saved by believing in Jesus, and seek .to be ever
in the exercise of that faith which works by love, purifies
the heart, and overcomes the world ; following false teach
ers, they look for salvation through their own merits, and
become slaves to legalism, formality, and superstition.
The great truth, then, which the text, its occasion and
connection, present for our consideration, may be briefly
stated in the following language, namely : —
THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF RELIGION IN THE WORLD
—THE RELIGION OF FAITH, AND THAT OF FORM.
We shall now proceed to illustrate and apply this pro
position, this being the object and aim of our present dis
course. These two kinds of religion are not peculiar to

8
any particular age ; to these two may be reduced all the
varieties which have ever been known. Between the re
ligion of faith and that of form, there is, in some respects,
a kind of likeness ; but this apparent resemblance is only
slight and superficial ; while the points of difference are
many and radical. It is under the four leading remarks
just made, that we propose to unfold and present the gene
ral truth now before us.
I. In the first place, then, your attention is called to the
fact, that we have examples of these two kinds of religion,
the one of faith, the other of form, in every age of the
world. An example of each we have in the family of our
first parents, where, " by faith Abel offered unto God a
more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts ;
and by it he being dead, yet speaketh." In the days of the
patriarchs we find other examples of the same. Noah and
Job, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, believed God, and their
faith was counted" to them for righteousness ; while the
multitudes around them, trusting in their idols, as did the
kindred of Abraham beyond the Euphrates ; or following
the pleasures of sense, as did the neighbors of Noah^ and
the inhabitants of the plain ; or putting their confidence in
the tower, whose top should reach to heaven, showed their
love of the sensuous and formal, and thus became the ob
jects of God's displeasure.
So it was in the days of Elijah, and of the other prophets,
when, notwithstanding multitudes forsook the pure wor
ship of the true God, and followed after the forms a^d
follies of the Pagan world, yet there was always a remnant,
the seven thousand, who stood firm in the faith, and never
bowed the knee to Baal.
And when our blessed Saviour came, he found the same— ^
a religion of faith,- of truth, life and love, in some ; and a
religion consisting of Pharisaical pride, and of dead for
mality, in others. • The former felt their guilt and need of
help, and, smiting upon their breasts, cried for mercy ¦
while the prayers of the latter were only a rehearsal of
their own virtues, and thanks for their innocence and
superiority. The religion of some consisted in their pos
sessing the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy
and laith, and m their self-mortification from a hatred to
indwelling sin ; the religion of others consisted in their
tithing mint, anise and cummin, building the tombs of the

9
prophets, in long prayers, and broad phylacteries, and in
self-mortification for the sake of self-esteem, and the praise
of men.
The same kinds of religion, and the same difference
between them, existed in the days of Wickliff, Jerome of
Prague, John Suss, Luther, and Knox. The central truth
in the creed of these Reformers — that which directed their
labors and fed their souls — was the simple doctrine of jus
tification by faith, without the deeds of the .law. This
was the doctrine that gave them favor with God; procured
the presence of the Spirit ; and gave to their preaching
and other labors a power, which Princes and Pontiffs could
not control. Having fought a good fight, and finished
their course, they went to their rest — went in the strength
of that faith on which they had lived and labored ; went,
some of them, joyfully through the fires of martyrdom.
Their hope of perfect, immortal bliss, beyond the grave,
was such, as nothing but a firm reliance on the merits of
Christ can give. But the number of those who had the
religion of faith, in the earlier days of the Reformation,
was not large. At that time, and so for a long, dark age
previous, the great majority of those who professed to be
Christians, were living in practical ignorance and neglect
of this vital element of genuine piety, and basing their
hope of heaven upon a system of rites and relics, pictures
and processions, incense and images. The doctrine of jus
tification by faith being discarded, true religion became an
exile, or lived concealed in secluded valleys, and in the
fastnesses of the mountains ; while the name, Christianity,
became a watch-word of despotism, bjr which ambitious
Pontiffs sought to raise themselves, and rule the world.
Nor does the present age differ from that of the patriarchs
and prophets, Christ, the Apostles and Reformers, in res
pect to the kinds of its religion. Abel- and Abraham,
Paul and Luther, have gone to glory ; but they left the
mantle of their faith, as they went . up, and others have
caught and kept it. God has not altered the terms of
salvation, and many are still looking to Christ as the
sinner's only refuge. Neither has formalism departed from
among men ; the natural pride of the human heart has not
abated ; and many are relying upon their own works. The
religion of faith, although destined to prevail, is yet in the
minority. The struggles, however, in which she has
triumphed, have displayed her power, and given a pledge

10
of future conquests'. Yet her foes are many, and strong,
and perhaps never more active than at the present moment.
Developments, within our own day, have shown that the
Reformation itself, though great and glorious, was not
complete. A good work was begun and carried far ; but
there is still a struggle between' the doctrine of salvation
by Christ, and the dogma of salvation by the church.
The contest is going on, and has the prospect of being long
and fierce, though there can be no doubt as to the final
issue. But for the present, the truth has both avowed and
secret enemies, and some traitors, to contend with ; for
some, who had been reckoned on the side of faith, haVe
come out openly in favor of form; while others;, who still
profess the Protestant religion, are avowing principles, and
urging measures, which go to subvert alike the Refor
mation by Luther, and the gospel by Christ. There is a
leaven of formalism at work, which should put every Pro
testant, every believer in Christ, on his guard. Fatal
errors are so artfully interwoven with the truth, that, to
the careless observer, they bear the semblance of beautiful
illustrations, or mere innocent ornaments. Things good
and bad are offered under" one cover ; and men are told
that they must receive the medley without examination.
The poison is diffused in various ways. The conversation,
preaching, and prayers of some men, are full of it. Tracts]
papers, pictures, and even some novels, are made the
medium of dissemination. The charms of poetry are also
employed. By some true son of song, of the Anglo-
Roman school, the most ruinous dogmas are sometimes
mingled with pure doctrine ; and all in such mellow verse,
that the enchanted reader is taken an unconscious captive,'
and never stops to analyze the pernicious thought that
lurks beneath the delicious strain. And when the way to
the capital of the formal kingdom is strewn with such
beautiful flowers, and enlivened by the sweetest music,
what wonder that many, more fond of music and flowers,
fiction and forms, than they are of the Bible, and the true
Protestant faith, should be found, at the present day, with
their faces thither set, all unmindful of the fatal end to
which they hasten !
So true it is, that while the religion of faith has always
prevailed upon the earth, and has many genuine, devoted
followers in our day, that of form is also seen in every
land, aspiring, as ever, to universal dominion.

11
II. Our second remark is, that these two kinds of
RELIGION REALLY INCLUDE ALL THE SYSTEMS AND
shades of which we have any knowledge. Amid all the
diversities which exist in the circumstances and lives of
men, in their modes of worship, their forms of polity, their
Creeds, and names, when, we come to the essential features
of their religious character, and ask how they are endea*
voring to satisfy the demands of conscience, and on what
they are building their hopes of future happiness, we find
they all belong to one or the other of the classes already
named. Some are hoping to be saved by the grace of God,
through the righteousness of faith ; and some, through the
merit of that righteousness which comes from a punctilious
observance of the sacraments and cerempnies of the church,
or from such other formal services as the ingenuity, pride,
and propensity of the human heart, opposed to God, may
devise and relish. The one is a religion of faith ; the
other, of form. And every shade; or type, of religion,
which differs essentially from the first, may be set down as
properly belonging to the second. , Those who hold the
religion of faith, may differ among themselves on many
minor points ; but the formative principle of inner life,
and the ground of hope, are the same. in all; they all show
a family likeness ; they all meet and embrace at the foot of
the cross. So, too, there is a marked family likeness
among all those who reject the religion of faith. They
may differ among themselves, greatly differ, on every other
point ; but the ground of their hope, the essential cha
racter of their religion, is the same. Be it Paganism,
Popery, or Puseyism, Jewish, Mohammedan, or Rational,
if the doctrine of justification by faith in the sacrifice of
Jesus, be wanting, formalism, in one shape or another,
makes the nucleus of the system. There is no more of
salvation by grace, through the blood of Christ, for the
European who commits the care of his soul to the Papal
priest, and worships the Virgin Mary, and other saints, of
Romish repute, than there is for the African who trusts to
the inyanga, a priest of his own color, and pays adoration
to the heroic shades of his own clan. The bark and wood,
shells, roots, and herbs, the claws of beasts and birds, the
bones of various reptiles, and every other kind of amulet,
which the Kafir wears on his neck and arms ; the suttee,
the sacred river, sharks, hooks, and" Spikes of the Hindoo ; and
all the various ways in which religious service is rendered

12
to the God of form by Pagans, are just as efficacious and
becoming, as all the tapers, incense, altars, and images,
the crosses, pictures, and pilgrimages, the bones, wafers,
and water, the hard lodgings, and the sackcloth, or the
trailing robes, and gorgeous paraphernalia, which make and
mark so much of the worship and service which another
class of devotees to formalism, render to this monstrous
deity. It is worthy of remark, instructive, and monitory, that
a large part of the formalism which prevails among many
in the so-called Christian world, has an accurate corres
pondence to that which is known to be of heathen origin.
In fact, much of the one was derived from the other, and
still retains such indisputable marks of its Pagan paternity,
that modern classical visitors to Italy tell us, a Roman of
the days of the Cassars, rising from the dead, would find
little, in the present religious system of his country, to
scandalize his Pagan orthodoxy. He might easily mistake
the present Sommo Pontefice for his" own Pontifex Maxi-
mus, and the presenfworship of saints for the ancient wor
ship of heroes. The office of the old tutelar gods to pre
side over certain places and occupations, has been assigned
to new tutelar saints. The ancient Romans made Romu
lus and Remus protectors of their city. The Papal church
has set up St. Peter and St. Paul in their place. St. Mar
tin is now guardian of the miliars, St. Luke of painters,
and St. Hubert of huntsmen. Instead of Apollo and Es-
culapius, the Roman Catholics have an abundance of saints
for particular diseases — as St. Rocco for the plague," St.
Genoa for the gout, and St. Eutrope for the dropsy.
People now take their feeble children to the church of St.
Theodore, at the foot of the Palatine hill, where the Ro
man mothers used to dedicate their children to Romulus.
Occasionally, the cardinals go sweeping up the nave of St.
Peter's to kiss the bronze statue of the Apostle, which is
said to have been once-dedicated to the worship of Jupiter.
As Bishop Newton says—" the very same temples, the
very same images, the very same altars, which once were
consecrated to Jupiter and the other demons, are now re
consecrated to the Virgin Mary and other saints. The
very same titles and inscriptions are ascribed to both ; the
very same prodigies and miracles are related of these as of
those. In short, the whole, almost, of Paganism is con
verted and applied to Popery ; the one is manifestly

13
formed upon the same plan and principles as the other."
The idolatry is the same, the form and the name being
changed. _ But we need not go to Rome for examples of this sort ;
similar things have begun to be introduced into the district
of Natal. Not only- have the natives of this colony begun
to be told that some of their fabulous ancestors are the
same to which the good people of England pay their morn
ing and evening devotions, and* that some of 'their vilest
customs may come into the church in some " cases ;" but
even one of their Bacchanalian feasts, " at which the
chief is openly acknowledged and extolled as a God, in the
dispensation and indulgence of all heathenish lusts," has
been propounded as worthy of being* baptized, and, reck
oned among the festivals of the church. But it should not
be forgotten, that a law of the mind is stronger than a.
Pope's decree. It is not in a Bishop's -blessing to destroy
the association of ideas. It is not in the power of any
minister to lay his hand on heathen rites, and exorcise the
demon with which they are filled. Holy water may be
sprinkled upon them, or the Lord's Prayer may be said
over them, even by men of high Apostolic pretensions; but
the spirit of evil that reigns within, will retain his throne,
and, at the same time, take advantage of the water and
prayers which are bestowed upon him, to conceal his pre
sence, while he adds to the extent and power of his domi
nion. The heathen rite will not cease to suggest the pol
luting idea, and fill the mind with all the vile images with
which it grew into being; the heathen festival will not
cease to invite the observer to .a repetition of all the sinful
practices with which it is wont to be honored ; while the
guilty conscience is beguiled into rest with the thought that
the iniquitous symbol, or feast, has the name of being con
secrated to the Lord. The pure faith of the gospel spurns
a compromise with Pagan folly ; genuine Christianity re
fuses to amalgamate with heathen rites. Righteousness
hath no fellowship with Unrighteousness, light no commu
nion with darkness, Christ no concord with Belial, and the
temple of God no agreement witji idols.
But it matters little what may have been the origin of the
forms, and ceremonies which men worship. Without the
soul of piety, without tjiat faith which relies on Jesus, and
works by love, what better are all the forms of nominal
Christianity than those of Paganism ? What does it mat-

14
ter whether the zeal and devotion of the formalist be em
ployed in protecting a serpent as the tutelar deity of a Kafir
kraal ; passing his children through the smoke as a guard
against disease ; watching the flight of birds as an omen of
good or of evil; slaughtering an ox in honor of the dead,
and sprinkling the blood and the gall upon his own body,
and upon the wattles of which his kraal is built ; or em
ployed in the washing of pots, -cups, and brazen vessels;
garnishing the sepulchres of the righteous ; or in supporting
the primacy of the Pope, burning heretics, counting beads,
tracing links in the chain of Apostolic succession, conse
crating dissenters to the uncovenanted mercies of God ; or
in the wearing of sackcloth, and in the eating of porridge
in Lent, and of fish on Friday ? What difference does it
make, whether a man's formalism be of his own heart's de
vising, or borrowed from another ; whether it come direct
from an abuse of the ordinances of the gospel, or more in
directly from Pagan and Papal Rome ; whether it be" held
by himself alone, or in common with a multitude of his
fellow-men ; within, or without the pale of the church ; and
whether it consist in holding it essential for the people to
worship with their faces to the east, and for the minister to
pray with his back to the people, and preach in a surplice ;
or consist in worshiping the brazen serpent, or the image
of the Virgin, the water of baptism, the sign of our Saviour's
suffering, the ritual, the fathers, the Pope, or the church ?
If one, or the other, or any of these, be his trust, it is all
the same — his God is an idol, and his religion one of form,
the very essence of which is opposed to all the requirements
of the gospel, and especially to that cardinal doctrine
which teaches our dependence upon grace alone for sal
vation. III. We will now notice, thirdly, some points of seem
ing resemblance between the two systems of religion, of
which we speak. In this way, we may be able, perhaps, to
prevent misconceptions upon the subject before us, and
guard against some errors into which we might, otherwise,
fall ; while, at the same time, we are enabled to get a bet
ter understanding of the real nature and limits of the svs-
tems thus compared. We remark, then —
- 1. The religion of faith admits the propriety of forms to
a certain extent ; or rather, the worship and the service,
which this religion requires of. men on earth, admit both
the fitness and the need of a certain amount of common

15
usage and organized agency. Public worship, must be
maintained where two, three, or more, can be found to meet
in the name of Jesus. Churches must be formed, and re
newed souls gathered into them. The worship of God in
public, and the care of the church, require that some should
devote themselves to the Christian Ministry ; and in order
that none may enter upon this work, who have not been
called of God, and qualified- by his Spirit, it is important
that the proofs of their call and qualification should be ex
amined, and that approved candidates should be solemnly
and formally announced as such. Moreover, from its very
nature, the religion of the gospel is aggressive ; the king
doms of this world are to become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ. Hence the church must have her Bibles
and tracts, her Sabbath Schools and Benevolent Sdci-
eties. But none of these things constitute the religion of
the true believer — nothing but the machinery, or working-
dress, of that spirit and power which reign in his heart,
and move him to action. These benevolent efforts to
spread a knowledge of the truth are a necessary develop
ment and natural outward manifestation of that faith and
love which make the sum of true piety.
While, therefore, the religion of faith is not wholly des
titute of established usage, and abounds in outward enter
prise, both individual and organic, bearing, thus far, in
some respects, a kind of likeness to that of form ; yet, even
here, the difference between the two is radical and mani
fest. In the latter, such usage and outward acts are counted
meritorious, and make the substance of religion ; in the
former, they are only the incidentally necessary shell, and
are counted as availing nothing to justification.
2. Again, the religion of faith admits the use of certain
rites. Before the coming of Christ in the flesh, and out of
regard to the infancy of our race, and the weakness of
human nature, many things, touching the time, place, man
ner, and form of worship, were definitely described ; and
many rites were instituted, the observance of which was
made necessary, not only as a means of discipline, and of
separating God's people from the heathen, but also as a
test of their confidence in the bare word of God, and of
their submission to his authority. But even under the
former dispensation, to constitute acceptable worship, the
same spirituality of mind and sincerity of he>rt were requi
site, as now. Even the appointed sacrifice, when offered

16
with hypocrisy and mere formality, was an abomination
unto the Lord. Men might observe, outwardly, every
part of the Jewish ritual, but. God would not hear their
prayers, nor accept their thank-offering, if they regarded
iniquity in their hearts, and worshiped him with feigned
lips. Nor should it be forgotten that the Jewish ritual,
though large and minute, was divinely appointed, local,
and temporary.
But on the coming and death of Christ, the law of com
mandments, contained in ordinance's, was abolished ; and
under the succeeding dispensation, no new ritual code for
the Christian church, like the Mosaic for the Jewish, has
been ordained. No peculiar mode, no particular form of
worship, no special law, save that we must worship in spirit
and in truth, has been instituted by divine authority, and
left on record for our observance. And there was a reason
for the change. During the earlier ages of the world, the
human race was passing the infancy and youth of its being.
Even the true children of God were in the condition of
minors, under tutors and governors, requiring more of pre
scribed form and usage to direct their service, and more of
types, and symbols, and of all those outward methods
which are fitted to affect the heart through the medium of
the senses, than could be required at a maturer age. , But
on the coming of Christ, the fullness of time came for the
children of God to be treated no longer as minors and ser
vants, but to be emancipated from their former state, and
admitted to all the privileges of sons. There is a heavenly
wisdom, as well as authority, in the command to shun the
bondage which the massive ritual imposes, and to stand
fast, under the new dispensation, in all the liberty where
with Christ hath made fls free.
But although the religion of faith is purely spiritual,
and, under the better covenant, enjoins the greatest free
dom and simplicity in the worship and service which it re
quires, yet, for the purpose of keeping the minds and hearts
of true believers ever, and deeply impressed with some of the
most important facts on which rest their purity, life, and
faith, it properly requires of them the observance of certain
simple rites. These are two— baptism and the Lord's sup
per ; and, as signs and seals of the covenant of grace, they
represent the validity of the precious promises of that cove
nant, to all who, with sincere faith, enter into it. They
are outward, appropriate, and divinely appointed symbols

17
of that inward fellowship which exists between Christ, the
Head, and the members of his spiritual body, the church.
Hence, where circumstances allow, the true believer will
observe these sacraments, both as a visible mode of repre
senting the heavenly blessings communicated to him, and
as a means of quickening his faith and love. Nor will he
ascribe to them any peculiar efficacy to confer grace upon
him, aside from the agency of the Holy Spirit. He will
put no reliance upon the character, the piety; or the in
tention of the man who administers them. His whole reli
ance is on the work of the Spirit, to fulfil to him the
gracious promises of the covenant which he makes with
God and his people, and of which these are the appointed
signs and seals.
But while the religion of faith so far resembles that of
form as to admit the use of rites, to a certain extent, it
differs from it as to both the number and the proper use of
rites. The former has but few, and. those of divine ap
pointment ; the latter often abounds in them. The ten
dency of the former is to diminish their number ; that of
the latter to multiply them. The former confines itself to
the simple intent for which they were appointed; the latter
perverts their use, ascribes a merit to the observance of
them, and relies upon their efficacy for salvation.
3. As another point of superficial resemblance between
the two religious systems of which we speak, we may re
mark, that the religion of form involves a certain kind of
faith. It has a faith, of course, in its punctilious obser
vance of ceremonies, its discharge of outward service ; it
has a kind of confidence in the supposed virtue of strictly
adhering to every ritual usage, a kind of trust in the sup
posed merit of its so-called good works. Indeed, without
a faith of some kind, the religion of form would be no re
ligion. Without a reliance upon forms, there could be no
formalism ; just as there could be no Christian faith with
out a reliance upon Christ. The religion of form, then,
has a faith,. but not the faith; The object of its trust is
anything but the Son of God slain for sin. It relies, in
one way or another, upon the outward things of time and
sense ; while the religion of faith relies upon the' sacrifice
of Christ, and holds that " there is none Other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved."
While, therefore, it is true that the two religious sys
tems, of which we speak, bear to each other a kind of *re-

18
semblance in certain points, yet a moment's observation is
sufficient to show that the resemblance is only slight and
seeming, not real ; that of form being to that of faith as a
mere shadow to the substance, or as a lifeless body to a
living soul. In truth, in essence, the two are utterly
diverse, the one from the other, and need not, ought not,
to be confounded. They carry about with them, each its
own peculiar characteristics, by which they may be easily
distinguished. And since we are all religious beings, and especially
since our eternal welfare depends so entirely upon the kind
of religion, which, by choice, or indifference, we embrace
and practice, during this short period of our probation, it
cannot be idle for us to attempt a fuller delineation of the
real character of ,each kind.
IV. Let us turn our thoughts, then, in the fourth place,
to a more direct notice of some of the essential dif
ferences between the religion of faith and that
OF FORM.
1. The first natural remark is, the religion of faith is
simple, uniform, self-consistent ; while that of form is com
plex, changing, diversified. The simplicity of the Christian
system is worthy of its divine origin. As God is one, so
is the religion which comes from him. It is, also, wisely,
perfectly, .adapted to all the wants of the race to which it
is offered. It finds man a sinner, and offers him pardon;
it finds him fallen, beyond the power of self-recovery, and
offers him supernatural aid. The truths which it reveals,
are fitted to produce the character which it requires, a
character in harmony alike with the higliest good, and the
highest relations of the man to whom they are addressed.
Man was made to believe, and love ; and in his Maker and
Redeemer, the gospel offers him an object worthy of the
purest affection, and of the most earnest, implicit faith.
It requires the proud man to humble himself, and sets be
fore him the ground of humiliation ; the sinner to repent,
and sets before him the motive. It requires a man to be
kind, forbearing, to be in the exercise of every grace and
virtue, and sets before him, in the life of its Author, a
perfect example of each. It requires of a man according
to that which he hath, and not according to that which he
hath not ; what it requires now, circumstances considered,
it always has required, and always will require. Wherever
it goes, it teaches what is right, and what is wrong;"and in

19
all, everywhere, and always, what is right it requires, what
is wrong it forbids. Such is, the religion of faith.
But such is not the religion of form. Consulting the
prejudices and the pleasure of men, and accommodating
herself to their natural desires, she is multiform, capricious,
inconsistent. Having no fixed standard for herself, she
can furnish none to her followers. Her principles of mo
rality, of right and wrong, are arranged and offered on a
sliding scale, and allowed to be adopted with a convenient
degree of mental reserve. Oh the tongue is one thing, in the
heart may be another ; the words of the lips may be, not
an expression, but a device of the mind. The deity which
this kind of religion offers her votaries, may be one, or
many ; a block, a beast, or a thing of the fancy, just ac
cording to the attainments, or the taste of the worshiper.
Hence, in Africa, it is one thing ; in India, another ; in
the Islands of the Sea, another ; and in lands or hearts of
more civilization and refinement, still another. The grossly
superstitious Kafir worships his amulet and ihlozi ; the
cruel Hindoo offers a human victim to Siva ; the hood
winked Romanist makes an idol of the host and holy
water, pictures, and the relics of the dead ; while others,
scarcely less idolatrous, but more intelligent and cultivated,
worship at the shrine of tradition, symbols,, and mysticism.
The formalism of the class first named, is gross, objective,
material ; that of the last, is more delicate, subjective, and
sentimental, and for this very reason all the more delusive,
captivating, and dangerous. It often appears, especially
at first, under the Protestant garb ; and takes most of its
victims from among the lovers of the antiqua.ted, the gor
geous, the imaginative, and the worldly. Where circum
stances favor, it develops a fanatical rage for the deposits
of the dark ages; it is easily kindled with an unquenchable
zeal for forms raked out of the ashes of the' obsolete ; and
is always filled with an ecstacy of joy at the sight of old
cathedrals, richly adorned with statues and paintings, and
at the sound of music, sumptuously accompanied with
pompous ecclesiastical performances. This type of sub
jective formalism answers best for those effeminate men,
and delicate, sensitive women, whose imaginative nature,
pride, taste, or habits, require a religion of easy conditions,
sensuous, imposing, and in good repute with the world ;
and whose minds, 'lacking light divine, and warped by un
belief and prejudice, can see more spiritual beauty in

5

20
grotesque priestly garments, and in the vain adornings of
an altar, than in all the simplicity, grace, and perfection of
the gospel. _
But, to men of stronger minds, and of. more science,
and, withal, perhaps, of more decided hostility to the. reli
gion of faith, that of form offers herself, not in the garb of
gaudy, effete rituals,. but in the more abstruse, rationalistic
garb of Pantheism. And then, again, this Pantheistic
formalism, to which, undiluted, the more highly disciplined
and scientific flee, in their common aversion to the hum- .
bling doctrines of the cross, may be had in several milder,
diluted forms, served up for weak and vulgar minds, in
the various kinds of socialism, such as we find in the Com
munistic, Fourier, and Mormon schools, with which the
world is well, supplied. But all these sentimental and
rationalistic types of' formalism, as well as the more material
forms in which the ruder heathen mind delights, are alike
destitute of true faith, and are most cunningly fitted to
foster and gratify the pride and selfishness of fallen huma
nity. So complex and diversified is the religion of form ;
while that of faith is simple and -elevated in its character
and claims, always consistent with itself, and divinely
adapted to all the real, spiritual necessities of our race.
2. The religion of faith, trusts only in God and his word
for guidance and salvation ; while that of form would either
nullify, or supplement, the word and grace of God, by look
ing to human authority and merit for light and help.
The truly humble, believing Christian, having felt his
own weakness and guilt, and having found nothing merely
human to enlighten his mind and relieve his distress, is
glad to cast himself on the sole mercy and wisdom of God
for help. He looks to Jesus as his only Saviour ; he has
no confidence in the flesh, none in his own goodness, none
in the priest, none in the sacraments, none in that wonderr
ful talisman of Popes and prelates, the church. In the
things of this world, be he rich or poor— born, according to
the flesh, a prince or a peasant, in the church or out—
cherishing the faith which the gospel requires, he goes
direct to Christ, and says —
" Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling.
Thou alone hast the words of eternal life, aad I have no
where else to go."

21
How different from all this is the language of formalism.
According to one type of this religion, the fall of man has
not placed it beyond his own power to recover himself ; he
still retains the germ of moral excellence, and it only re
quires a little care, on his part, to develop and perfect it.
Christ, they tell us, was only a man — a perfect man, to be
- sure, and so a perfect pattern of excellence ; and that his
great errand from heaven to earth was, not to make a vica
rious atonement for the sins of men, but. to teach us, by
his example, how to live and how to suffer. And as the
heart of man is not essentially depraved, so his mind, they
tell us, is not much impaired. Hence human reason is ex
alted as supreme. ' The absolute authority of the Scriptures
in all matters of faith is denied ; or their supremacy and
full inspiration are sunk, by exalting to equal authority
and reverence, what are called the revelations of nature
and the efforts of genius.
Now, we would not reject the light of nature ; nor
trench upon the province of reason ; nor undervalue any of
the aid which sound learning and true science may be able
to contribute towards the right interpretation of Scripture ;
neither would we deny the need of bringing the aid of all
our faculties to the study of divine truth, if we would dis
cover and enjoy all the depth, fullness, and beauty, which
it contains. But it is one thing to come to the Scriptures,
as the religion of faith does, with a humble, docile spirit ;
to study them with all diligence, and with all the help
which science can afford ; to search them, as Christ re
quires, thinking that in them we have eternal life ; believing
that they testify of him ; assured that the prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man, but holy men spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost ; and believing that
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and. is profit
able for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc
tion in righteousness : and quite another thing it is to come
to them in the spirit of a doubting, speculative; self-confi
dent formalism, which first denies the plenary inspiration
of the- Scriptures ; then mutilates them, takes a part and
discards the rest ; and finally perverts that which is re
tained, by; adding to it much that was fabricated in the
laboratory of man's, invention.
If the Bible be not, throughout, in the highest sense, the
word of God, fully inspired, the only infallible and suffi
cient rule of faith and practice, then we must bid farewell

22
to truth, to hope, to heaven. If any man may question
the inspiration of one passage, so he may of all ; and it one
may do this, so another, and another. And then, instead
of our being, able to take our stand on the word of brod,
as upon an eternal rock, all we have left for our feet, are
the sands of human pride, folly, and caprice.
Another type of formalism, equally arrogant and dan
gerous as the rationalistic and transcendental, and scarcely
less opposed to the word and grace of God, is that which
makes a guide and Saviour'of the church. Says one of the
so-called " Tracts for the Times " : — " On the whole, there
is evidently no security, no rest, for the sole of one's foot,
except in the form of sound words ; the one definite system
of doctrine, sanctioned by the one Apostolic and primitive
church." Says another—" There is a necessity of believing
the catholic church, because except a man be of that, he can
be of none." Again, another—" The spiritual course ap
pointed by the church is right and safe." Let us be " con
formable to the spirit of the "church as our true guide."
" The old path is to be found by us in the services and
ordinances of our own holy church, considered as a faithful
guide and just interpreter of the Scriptures." And yet
once more—" Christ did not leave the faith with this man
or that man, or any set of men. He left it with the
church, the church only, the church catholic and entire,
and made it impossible it should be pure and whole any
where out-of the church, or anywhere short of the church."
Every man " must feel as the church universal feels, he
must teach as the church universal teaches." Passages of
the same tenor might be multiplied ; but these are sufficient
to illustrate the nature of that formalism of which we speak,
and to show how it puts the church in the place of both
Christ and the gospel. It exhalts her as both lord of the.
conscience and dispenser of salvation. Instead of the gra
cious, unerring words of our Saviour — " I am the vine, ye
are the branches ; abide in me, and let my words abide in
you ; for without me ye can do nothing ;" religion of this
form says—" The church is the vine ; abide in the church ;
and let the words, forms, and usages of the church abide in
you ; for without the church you can do nothing." Now,
the soul that accepts such dogmas can have no genuine
trust in God, no communion with him, no immediate access
to him. The key of knowledge is taken away ; the truths
of the gospel are concealed; thought is stifled ; the rights

23
and privileges of the soul are wrested from it ; and there is
nothing left but to bow submissively to the church, and
worship her with all that reverence and trust which belong
only to the character and word of God as infallible and
supreme. Closely allied, and of the same spirit, with that formalism
which puts the church in the place of Christ, and her
teaching in place of the gospel, is that which bows with
equal reverence at the shrine of antiquity and tradition.
The substance of this system; as taught by its authors and
advocates, is, that the Scriptures are obscure and defective;
that their defects must be supplied, and their meaning
learned, from tradition ; and that the claims of tradition to
our trust and obedience, are quite equal to those of the
divine written word. Thus we are told, in the " Tracts
for the Times," that " Catholic tradition teaches revealed
truth, Scripture proves it ; Scripture is the document of
faith, tradition the witness of it ; Scripture and tradition,
taken together, are the joint rule of faith." Says another
of the same school — " Consentient tradition is God's un
written 'word, demanding the same reverence from us."
Another, of like views, believes and teaches that — " Scrip
ture and antiquity, or universal tradition, attesting both
Scripture and the sense," constitute the " rule of faith ;."
and again he says, the " universal tradition of all ages is no
less than the voice of God."
The passages here quoted are sufficient as a specimen of
the language and views of those to whom we refer. By
whatever name they may be called, it is evident that men
who hold and teach sentiments like these, must be on their
way to Rome, and near their journey's end. Long ago,
the Papist taught, that — " Tradition, whether it regards
matters of faith or practice, must be received with the same
veneration as the Scriptures, forasmuch as it is the unwrit
ten word of God." Well may it be asked, Why should
men, so much in sympathy with the Romanist as those
above quoted, object to being called by the same name ?
Does not their speech agree thereto ? But our duty is
with the sentiment, not the name.
And is it true, then, that God has given us'such an im
perfect guide from earth to heaven— a book so obscure and
defective, that the help of tradition must be called in to
establish and complete it? Must we accomplish one of the
most absurd, impossible things, that human folly ever en-

24
joined upon human weakness, ^nd first find -out what has
been believed everywhere, then ascertain that the same item
has been believed always, and, finally, by every body, before
we can come to any certain knowledge of the truth, or have
a single article of faith with which to direct our steps and
refresh our souls ? So they teach, who send us to " the
universal tradition of all ages " for the voice of God. But
who can fail to see that such dogmas are utterly subversive
of the Scriptures— entirely another gospel, than that which
Christ and the Apostles gave us for our instruction ?
Whether it be tradition in subjection to Scripture, in addi
tion to it, blended with it, raised above it, or an authori
tative interpreter of it, the moment it is admitted to have
any binding force upon the judgment and conscience, it
becomes tradition instead of Scripture, and virtually in op
position to it.
If tradition were a ,safe depository, and teacher of im
portant truth, why have wise, intelligent men, civil govern
ments and ecclesiastical councils, never intrusted their de
crees to its keeping ? Of the accuracy and fidelity of tra
dition, we have an example in the time of Christ, who said
to Peter, of John — " If I will that he tarry till I come,
what is that to thee ?" Then went this saying, the tra
dition, abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should
not die. But how different the tradition of a single year
from the verity of Christ's words ; for " Jesus said not
unto him, he shall not die ; but, if I will that he tarry till .
I come, what is that to thee?" The value of tradition was
tested in the first ages of the world, when, for two thousand
years, men were without any written word ; and yet, at the
end of that time, with Adam speaking "to Methuselah, and
he to Noah, making but three links from Paradise to the
Ark, God could find but eight righteous souls, all the rest
having so corrupted their way before him, that every ima
gination of the thoughts of their hearts, was only evil con
tinually. And where is the common consent of all ages, of which
so much has been said ? Nay more, where is the single
age in which all have been agreed in doctrinal views, and in
their interpretation of Scripture ? Were there no divisions
among the Jews in the time of Christ, one holding the doc-
trineof the resurrection, the other denying it ; one saying
this is the place to -worship, and another that? In the
days of the Apostles, did not one say, I am of Paul and

25
another, I am of Apollos? And the differences which then
existed in the church, went on to increase, in both number
and size, as the teachings of Christ and the Apostles be
came corrupted by the infusion of Pagan philosophy, and
the usurpations of vain tradition. At length, new doc
trines were promulgated, of which the Apostles knew and
said nothing, except to predict their coming, and to warn
men against them. " For the time will come," says Paul
to Timothy, " when they will not endure sound doctrine ;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves
teachers, having itching ears ; and they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
And not long after — just as Paul had said would be the
case — there arose men forbidding to marry, making celi
bacy the best-preparation for heaven. Then came contests
about the nature of Christ ; the war between faith and
reason ; and the school of allegorizing theologians, who
taught men to leave the plain import of the Scriptures,
and put fiction for fact, the vagaries of men for the truths of
God. Then, too, came the prolific ages of tradition ; and
then, as now, a tradition, a hint, once started, lost nothing,
but grew fast, in passing from one man to another, and
from one to another generation. Then, too, as now, the
trust of men in traditions, was, generally, just in proportion
to their distrust of the written divine word ; and their thirst
for them, just in proportion to their departure from God.
Where, then, is the common consent of antiquity, or the
universal tradition of all ages, about which so much is said, ,
and to which some would send us for a commentary and a
supplement to the Scriptures ? On what 'more uncertain,
perilous sea, could they set us afloat, than to launch us
upon human traditions to search for heavenly truth ?
And yet, we do not wholly discard the fathers. They
are good in their place — more to be praised as sufferers,
than followed as interpreters ; and their writings to be
valued more as records of what they saw and heard, than
of what they fancied and thought. As Biblical interpre
ters, they were neither skillful nor consistent ; but defec
tive, often mystical, contradictory, and fond of odd con
ceits. We cannot take them as our guides. We must
study the word of God under the guidance of his Spirit;
and judge for ourselves of its teachings, accountable to God
for the use, or abuse, which we make of the faculties which
he has given us. In our attempts to learn the truth, others

26
may serve us, but never rule us. In matters of faith, mat
ters pertaining to our spiritual relations to God, we must
call no man master. We need not stop our ears to the
voice of faithful men of any age ; but we must remember
that it is the voice of men, and not of God. We may
listen to all that antiquity can teach; but never forget that
it is antiquity, and not the Bible. If some have time and
taste for the myths of tradition, they should bear in me
mory that the fictions of the human mind differ from the
truths of the divine, as the darkness does from the light.
The religion of faith, we say, has no fear of antiquity,
rightly read and understood, and kept in its proper place.
As lord Bacon remarks of philosophy in divinity, she is
like fire or water in a family — a good servant but a bad
master. The religion of faith neither admits that every
old doctrine is true, nor denies that every true doctrine is
old. She neither fears nor adores the past ; but learns
from it some useful lessons, not the least of which is, that
the opinions of men, even the decisions of learned doctors,
and of large councils, are weak, often erroneous and con
flicting. With this good lesson from the past, she seeks to
cling, with a tighter grasp, to the more sure word of pro
phecy, the truth as it is in Jesus. In the memorable lan
guage of Chillingworth — " I see plainly, and with mine
own eyes, that there are Popes against Popes, councils
against councils, some fathers against others, the same
fathers against themselves, a consent of fathers of one age
against a consent of fathers of another age, the church of
one age against the church of another age. In a word,
there is" no sufficient certainty, but of Scripture only, for a
considering man to build upon. The Bible, I say, the
Bible only, is the religion of Protestants."
This question, whether the sacred Scriptures, and they
alone, shall be taken as a sufficient, and the only infallible
guide to faith and practice, is one of vital importance. It
involves a choice between the living truth as it is in Jesus,
and that deadly apostacy which begun to threaten the
church even in the days of Paul ; and which, he said,
would come speedily with a fearful power of lying won
ders. According to the one, the church ^of God is built
upon the foundation of the Apostles and prophets,. Jesus
Christ himself bemg the chief corner stone ; according to
the other, on the sands of tradition as well. Faith believes
the Scriptures are able to furnish a man thoroughly unto

27
every good work ; form says there are some good works of
which the Scriptures are ignorant, and so the Book of God
must be mended by men. Faith says, the word of God,'
like God himself, mi^st have the undivided, supreme con
fidence and homage of the heart ; and that it is impossible,
in the nature of things, for the same mind to believe that
the Scriptures are obscure and imperfect", and yet render
to them the entire trust and honor which they demand.
So says reason and common sense. If, then, we would
hold the Bible, and have the faith once delivered to the
saints, we must reject the binding authority of every rival
claimant, be it the Pope, the church, antiquity, or tra
dition. The word of God allows no competitor, no com
plement, no co-ordinate, no Christo-Belial system. No man
can obey the Scriptures and tradition, any more than he
can serve two masters ; for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. So clear
it is that the religion of form would either nullify or sup
plement the word and grace of God, by looking to human
authority and merit for light and help ; while the .religion
of faith trusts only in God and his word for guidance and
salvation. 3. The religion of faith is thoughtful, discriminating,
and firm ; while that of form is lax, temporizing, and am*
bitious. Nothing is so fitted to rouse all the energies of the soul
into the most earnest action, as the great truths of the gos
pel. They setjaefore us the highest subjects of thought,
and the highest motive to it. Indeed, the very first ele
ment of faith implies thought and decision — an assent of
£he mind to truth on the ground of evidence. It is not in
the nature of things that an unthinking, indifferent person
should be a true Christian believer. Everything about a
life of faith, lays upon man a most solemn obligation to
discern between truth and error. The Bible bids us to
contend earnestly for the faith ; be able to give a reason
for the hope that is in us ; to count the cost of being a
Christian ; to consider what profit there can be in gaining
the world and losing the soul. The disciple of Christ must
take heed how he hears, and what he hears ; and not be
carried away with every wind of doctrine. He must be
ware lest any man beguile him with enticing words, or
spoil him through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tra-

28
dition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ. . .
So, too, the uncompromising spirit of the Christian religion,
is one of its most marked characteristics. Her followers
must come out from the world, be separate, and have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them. Christ has no concord with Belial ; truth
nothing in common with error, save mutual hate. All
demands upon truth for a concession to error, are rejected
by the genuine religion of faith, with a holy indignation ;
every attempt at a compromise, or alliance between them,
she guards against with all the jealousy of a sacred love
for the truth, and with the intensity of a passionate attach
ment to purity.
How different from this is the religion of form. One of
her first efforts often is, to stifle independent, manly thought,
especially such as relates to the claims of God upon the
soul. Careful inquiry, private study for the truth, except
at some ignis fatuus light of tradition, she labors to dis
courage. To her, the fogs of ignorance and superstition
are most congenial ;vand hence she seeks to make them as
dense as possible. The eye of careful discrimination be
tween moral good and evil, is put out ; the voice of eon-
science is suppressed ; and all the duties of religion,- and
interests of the soul, are reduced to a punctilious observance
of those forms and bodily exercises, which profit nothing.
So it was under the old mythologies of India and Egypt ;
so it is in the heathen, and in a large part of the Christian
world, at the present day ; so it must be in every age and
place where the hierarchs of formalism control the common
mind. Their object ever is, to aggrandize themselves, and
lord it over the many. Hence, by whatever name their
system may be called, it is shaped, not to a rigid regard
and support of truth and virtue, but to secure their own
supremacy. To effect this, sin is winked at ; truth is amal
gamated with error, virtue with vice ; the purity of doctrine
and practice, is sacrificed to gratify the prejudice and natural
appetites of sinful men ; and a superstitious regard for the
honor and authority of the hierarch, is diligently instilled
into the minds of all who can be reached.
All the devices of formalism are generally well suited to
the end which she seeks to accomplish. The net, skillfully
made for the purpose, is cast into the sea to catch of every
kind. No small part of her scheme, and a thing most

29
essential to her success, is, to free men from the power of
truth, and from all sense of their direct responsibility to
God. Hence, to those who feel their need of a mediator
and an atonement, she offers' a mediating priesthood and a
sacrifice of her own manufacture. To those who would
work, and pay their own way to heaven, she offers works.
She has penauce for the conscience-smitten ; high pre
tensions and exclusiveness for the bigoted ; fasting, seclu
sion, and self-mortification for the austere and misanthro
pic ; feasts for the sensual ; marvels for the ignorant ; pic
tures and poetry for the sentimental ; shadows, myths, and
mystery for the transcendental ; smiles and favors for the
obedient; and anathemas for the incorrigible. Do any feel
that they are sinners by nature, and need a new heart, they
are taught, not that the change required is one which can
be wrought only by the special agency of, the Holy Ghost
working by means of the truth ; but that there is an inhe
rent efficacy in baptism, sufficient to remove all guilt, and
change the nature of the sinful subject into a child of God,
and give him a clear title to heaven— provided only, that
the rite be administered by one who belongs to the genuine
Apostolic ljne.
Thus it is, that "a supple, winking, superstitious formalism
alienates the mass of its followers from the true God, and
turns them over into the hands of the hierarchy. Be it in
Pagan, or in Christian lands, she "endeavors to make her
religion to suit all sorts; and by working upon the indiffer
ence, the curiosity, the desires, the fears of men, she is able,
often, to put the pythoness or the priest in the place of
Christ ; tradition and the ritual in the place of his blessed
gospel. By reducing man, as near as possible to a machine;
assigning him his task, and assuring him of his wages, eter
nal rest, provided he does not think for himself, nor refuse
obedience to his master ; and by teaching that he can have
no access to his Maker and Judge, only as he comes
through the Virgin, the Pope, the prelate, or the church,
formalism cuts him off from God, and makes him. her own
-slave. A self-constituted viceroy usurps the place of the
rightful Sovereign, administers the government in his own
name, and receives the homage of willing vassals. So evi
dent is the fact, that the religion -of form is pliant, tempo
rizing, and ambitious ; while that of faith is considerate,
mindful of duty, and steadfast in her adherence to virtue
and truth.

30
4.' The religion of faith is self -renouncing , benevolent,
purifying; while that of form is self-complacent, bigoted,
corrupting. As the text declares, " in Jesus Christ —in
that system of religion which hangs all its hope of life
eternal on the middle cross of Calvary— "jieither circum
cision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which
worketh by love." In- every age and place, the religion of
faith is known by this, that it worships God in the spirit,
rejoices in Christ Jesus, and has no confidence in the flesh.
So the great Apostle taught, and as well by his life as by
his lips. If any man ever had ground of confidence in the
flesh — in formalism of any or of all kinds — it was Paul.
An Hebrew of the Hebrews, a perfect Pharisee ; eaten up
of zeal in efforts to observe and maintain the established
forms and rites of religion, and to drive out all heresy,
according to his ideas of heresy and religion, before he
became a Christian ; touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless; yet all this, and everything else, which,
as a formalist, he counted gain, touched by the Spirit of
God, and made a true believer in Jesus, he counted as loss,
as refuse dregs, " that he might win Christ, and be found
in him, not having his own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith." And so it is with
every true believer, Grace has stripped him of all the
self-righteous garments, upon which, as a formalist, he was
once accustomed to look with pride and delight. He goes
to God, not as went the Pharisee, puffed up with self-
esteem, and eloquent with the vain boasting of the natural
heart ; but like the penitent publican, pleading for mercy ;
and on the merits of Christ he leans as a ground of hope
for acceptance.
And yet the religion of faith, while it represses all boast
ing and self-gratulation, tends to produce the most active
beneficence. As the text declares, it works, and works,
too, by love. It has no charge to make, no account to
bring in, for all it does. It expects, indeed, a reward ; but
a reward, not for its works, but according to them. It
knows the reward is all of grace, and not of debt. And
still it works, and must work ; for the faith of the gospel
is a living, active, and not a dead faith. It can neither be
hid, nor lie dormant. Its works will make it manifest.
It is known by its fruits. It is impelled to action by the
love which it bears to God and to the souls of men. The

31
end of its labor is, that God may be glorified in the salvation
of men. It loves, not simply that it may be loved in re
turn ; and gives, not that it may receive as much again \,
it labors, not to build up a sect, clan, or party, but to bring
sinners to repentance, and gather them into the fold of
Christ. It cares but little to what particular branch of the
Christian church a man may belong, so that he is able to
hold the truth, the faith, and love of the gospel, and make
the most of this life in preparing himself and others for
that which is to come.
And not only does the religion of faith work by love,
but it purifies the heart. Those who hope for salvation.
through the merits of Christ, purify themselves, even as
he is pure. The object of this faith is such as to raise the
soul above the vain, debasing things of earth. That com
munion with God by prayer, and that unreserved confidence
in him which accompany and constitute true faith, serve to
transform the soul from the world, and assimilate it to God.
The insect takes the color of the herb on which it feeds ;
the child adopts the habits of his companion ; we are all
more or less moulded in our moral feelings by the persons
with whom we associate, and by the objects which we con
template. So the soul, living by faith on the Son of God,
and contemplating the purity of that perfect character, is
changed into the same image from glory to glory, as by
the spirit of the Lord.
But while the religion of faith is self-renouncing, bene
volent, and purifying, the religion of form is just the
opposite — self-complacent, bigoted, and debasing. Our
Saviour has drawn the self-complacent character of this
religion to perfection, in his account of the Pharisee who
" stood and prayed thus with himself: God, I thank thee
that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers;
or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give
tithes of all that I possess." s This is genuine formalism—
the pride, self-esteem, and vain boasting of those, . who,
alike ignorant of their own hearts, and of the religion of
faith, glory in their assumed freedom from abounding guilt,
and rely on external observances as a ground of claim to
divine favor. " The temple of the Lord," say they, " the
temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we ; our
church is the church, the only church ; and except ye be cir
cumcised, and. become like one of us, ye cannot be saved."
Hence alLthe zeal and strength of formalism are aimed

32
at making others like herself. She can tolerate nothing
that does not square to her rule. The only way into the
church, into the pulpit, into heaven, is through her gate.
No man, she says, can be a minister of Christ, unless he
can trace the line of his descent from the Apostles. No
matter if he is learned in all wisdom, taught by the Spirit,
called of God, approved by his brethren, and blessed in his
labors ; if he has not been inducted into office after the
manner which she calls Apostolical, he is counted an
intruder ; and instead of looking for the favor of God, he
ought to expect the fate of Uzzah. She not only seeks to
eject from the pulpit all ministers, upon whom has not been
laid the hand of some Right Reverend of pretended
Apostolic succession, but she goes on to disband all
churehes except her own. No matter how perfect the
constitution of these churches; how strictly in accordance
with Scripture precepts and precedents ; how perfectly
fitted to extend the kingdom of Christ, and to save the
souls of men : they have not been formed precisely upon
her nio.del, and hence cannot be recognized. None of
their members can be supposed to have any part or lot in
the covenanted mercies of God. They have yet a step to
take, a church to join, without which formalism holds there
is no salvation. The sum of her preaching lo those beyond
her pale, is : ' Come ; give up the prejudices in which you
were educated ; come out from the errors of other denomi
nations, and be ye conformed to us ; join our church, the
church, out of which there can be no hope of help.' If
any refuse, conformity must be enforced ; and why not ?
Compliance with form, says she, is both essential and easy ;
and what right Have any to doubt, or desist ? If a resort
to persecution becomes necessary, there is a reason ready
at hand—it is all for the good of the church, and to save,
if posssible, the persecuted ; and so the rack is made, the
fire kindled, the sword drawn. To enlighten the mind, re
gard the rights of conscience, and govern by moral means,
is no essential part of formalism. Such things belong to
the religion of faith. The religion of form is more accus
tomed to carnal weapons. Hence she is often found in
alliance with the state, asking aid of the civil power to
enforce her decrees, fill her coffers, and feed her priests.
Admitted to a union with the state, the church becomes
her rival, and aspires to the sovereignty; often, too, with
much success.

33
Thus it is, a self-complacent, bigoted formalism leaves,
untried, no effort to extend her kingdom. She will com
pass sea and land to make one proselyte to her party and
pretensions ; and when she has made him such, she makes
him two-fold more a child of bigoted intolerance, than all
those who were born and bred in the system. He is twice
more ready to denounce the creed which he once held,
more mad against those who still hold it, more frequent in
professions of attachment to his new religion, and more
earnest in his efforts to extend it, till it shall enclose or root
out all others. His course confirms the remark of an old
divine, that " a loose Protestant is just fit to make a strict
Papist." ,
The religion of form is not only selfish" and bigoted, but
distinguished also for its corrupting influence upon the
truth and the soul. It seeks to pervert the one ; it tends
¦to degrade and destroy the other. From its very nature
how can it do otherwise? And what its intrinsic nature
teaches of its tendency, the history of its course abundantly
confirms. All the great cardinal truths of the gospel it
takes away in their essence, and puts -human authority,
traditions, and rituals in their place. It puts the Pope or
the church in the place of God ; days set apart to a host
of saints, or a day of pleasure and amusement, in place of
the holy sabbath ; a system of pilgrimage, mass, and alms,
in place of the atonement by Christy a priest, a worm of
the dust, in place of the one Mediator, Jesus, the Son of
God ; penance for repentance : prayer to a saint, in place
of prayer to God ; justification meritorious instead of gra
tuitous; and regeneration by water, instead of that which can
be wrought in the heart by nothing save the Holy Ghost.
These are some of the ways in which formalism corrupts
the essential doctrines and ordinances of the gospel, and
makes the word and grace of God of none effect, through
her dogmas and traditions.
What can such a system of error and deception do for
the soul, but degrade and ruin it? In the religion of faith
there is something on which the soul can rely, — something
to inspire and elevate it, rousing it to search for the truth ;
to think, feel, and act right ; to hope in God, and seek per
fection in holiness. But the religion of form is no friend to
thought, nor to anything essentially true, deep, spiritual.
She prefers the superstitious, the sensuous, and superficial.
Hence she comes to men with her mysteries, miracles, and

34
enchantments ; her ancient fathers, traditions, vestments,
her bones and other relics ; with her modern inventions,
her modern revival of obsolete and worthless forms and
ceremonies, her show-bread tables, her sacrificial altars,
her crosses, and paintings, and statues, her additional cle
rical habiliments, with multiplied public enrobings and
disrobings, laborious postures in prayer, journeyings on
foot, rejecting the sweetest morsels and the ordinary com
forts and solaces of life, and with all her round of similar
ceremonies, to captivate the sense and beguile the hearts
of men.
A few of her followers she raises, not in truth and
virtue, but in unbridled authority, to the rank of des
potic demigods ; all the rest she reduces to the scale of
servile underlings. The masses of men are mere machines
in the hands of their corrupt ambitious masters. And how
can it be otherwise where the sole, supreme authority of
the Scriptures, and the right of private judgment, are
denied ? Take these away, and put the conscience, and
the eternal interests of the soul in the hands of a priest
hood inflated with pride, and you give that priesthood a
power in both church and state, and over both the bodies
and the souls of men, which the mightiest kings of earth
cannot control. The multitudes become mere tools, or
rather a fearful engine, to work out the pleasure of the
hierarchy. Hence, where the religion of form becomes generally
prevalent, not only does the civil government generally
become her cringing slave, but a dark, crushing incubus
settles down upon all the interests of society. The
streams of commerce stagnate ; the fertile fields of agri
culture become a waste of briers and thorns .; the com
mon school house and halls of learning, if they had a
being, go to decay ; and all the high, immortal interests of
the soul are buried beneath the common rubbish of form,
or sacrificed to the despotism of her sway. While the
religion of faith "tends to bring a quickening influence
over the reason and conscience, rousing the noblest faculties
to the best action in respect to both this and the comkg
life, renovating society as it renovates the hearts of men,
and fitting its subjects for the bliss and glory of heaven
that of form smothers or bribes the conscience as a trouble
some intruder, withholds the truth as a thing with which
common men cannot be trusted, intimidates thought as

35
dangerous, repudiates reason as profane ; and thus prepares
the mind to receive, as sacred and essential, those false
pernicious dogmas which conflict with common sense, and
with the clearest dictates of an unperverted conscience,—
with all the righteous claims of God> and with every pros
pect of peace beyond the grave.
This religion of form is Satan's master-piece for quieting
the cravings of man's religious nature, and cheating his
soul out of heaven. . Nothing could be better fitted to
gratify the pride of man, and encourage him to cry, peace,
peace, while every step hastens him on to a fearful doom.
Nor does it matter much in what particular guise this god-
' dess of form may be adored ; the final reward will be the
same — eternal death. It was always a part of her
policy to accommodate herself to the taste and prejudices
of her followers. But the first great evil is, that the for
malist himself is so willing to be deluded. The welfare of
his soul is the last thing for which he really cares. And
then the way of salvation by faith, is humbling to the pride
of his heart, and requires a life of watchfulness and prayer.
The gate of heaven is narrow, and a man must strive to
enter in ; while the road to destruction is broad and easy.
Multitudes, in the day of trial, will say — " Lord, Lord,
have we not done many wonderful works in thy name?"
To whom he will reply — " I never knew you ; depart from
me ye that work iniquity."
FROM THE SUBJECT BEFORE US, WE MAY GATHER
VALUABLE instruction on several important
POINTS.
1. It teaches us something of the fullness of God's grace,
and the completeness of our dependence upon it for salvation.
We are all, by nature, the enemies of God. We have
sinned willfully, and broken a law which is holy, just, and
good. We can offer no excuse, can bring no ransom, can
plead no merit. And yet there is hope for the vilest sin
ner. God has found a ransom — has poured out the
treasures of heaven for our deliverance. He has given his
own Son a sacrifice for us, and offered a free pardon to all
who will put their trust in him.
2. This subject teaches us where to look for a true
Minister of Christ. Paul himself is a most worthy pattern ;
a man of faith, of prayer, of ardent love to Christ and his
cause, vigilant and sober, patient and persevering. Such,

36
at this day, should be the man who attempts to minister in
the name of Christ. Such -a man may be ordained ; nay,
more, for prudential reasons, he ought to be ordained ;.
though ordination is not absolutely indispensable, and, of
itself, never yet made any man a true minister of Christ.
But to guard the pulpit, as far as possible, from the intru
sion of unsuitable occupants, and in order that the church
and world may have the means of knowing who are con
sidered able, true, and faithful, it is important that candi
dates for the ministry should be subjected to a careful ex
amination, and that those who are approved, should be
formally set apart to this work. But all this examining,
approving, and ordaining a man, does not make him a true
minister. Such a minister is made, as the Christian is
made, by 'the grace of God, and not by the hands of men.
And direct fromthe hand of God, and not from men, he
derives his authority, as Paul did, to preach, and administer
the ordinances of the gospel. Called of God, and qualified
by his Spirit, he has the privilege and the right to labor in
the vineyard of his Master, to declare the truth, and serve
the church. The prelate, presbyter or council, may re
cognize this right ; but they cannot create it. Much less
can they make a'minister, such at least as" the religion of
faith demands, of one whom God has never qualified, nor
called to this sacred office. The true minister must have
divine credentials, written, not on parchment and paper,
but in his mind and heart ; and.he must exhibit them in a
holy life — in faithful, devoted, benevolent labors. Going
forth with such credentials, and engaging in such labors,
God will work with him, and by him, and give him souls
for his hire. He shall turn many to righteousness, and
shine, as the stars, for ever and. ever ; while some, we fear, '
who would refuse to recognize such a man as a minister,
because he follows not them, and carries not their badge of
the Apostolical ; trusting in themselves that they alone are
true ministers, and despising others as " sectaries ;" appa
rently more anxious to prove the purity of their prelatic
pedigree, and to sustain their own rank, prerogatives, and
forms, than to establish and extend the religion of faith,
will never hear the welcome, ' Well done,' nor find their
names in the book of life.
The day has come, nor is it a new one, when the church,
when. all must judge of their ministers by the gospel of
Christ, and not by the traditions and canons of men ; and

37
when all those who bring any other gospel must be rejected,
though they may have the power of a Pope, and claim the
rank or purity of an angel. This, we say, must be done,
if the churches will liave true guides — if immortal souls
are to be taught the way of life. Men may set up
exclusive claims to Apostolic authority ; such things are
of no modern origin. Those who went down from Jeru
salem to Galatia, in the days of Paul, did the same ; and
yet they proved to be false teachers, having neither a com
mission from the Apostles, nor a message from God. So
it may be now. And the only way for the church, the
congregations of faithful men, to know whether they have
an accredited minister of Christ, is to judge of him as of
other men, and-now as in the days of Christ and of Paul,
by his fruits. All his teaching and other labors must be re
ferred to the only infallible standard of faith and practice,
the word of God. " To the law and to the testimony : if
they speak not according to this word, it is because there is
no light in them."
Nor is the judgment of common Christians, guided by
that divine truth and Spirit, of which all may avail them
selves, to be despised ; for to' such most of the Scriptures
are addressed ; to such the warning, the command, has
been given, by Christ — " Take heed that ye be not de
ceived ;" by Paul — to " mark them which cause divisions
and offences, contrary to the doctrine which ye have
learned, and avoid them ;" and by other Apostles-^-" not
to believe every spirit, but to try them, whether they be of
God ;" " and if there come any unto you, and bring riot
this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid
him God speed."
Point me, then, to a man who has been called and taught
by the Spirit of God, a man of prayer, of humility, of
blameless Christian life, of love to the souls of men, able
and disposed to expound the Scriptures, diligent and faith
ful in preaching the truth as it is in Jesus, and you point
me to one who has all the essential qualities and credentials
of a true Christian minister, a .genuine successor to the
Apostles of Christ in all things wherein it is possible, and
a part of God's design, that those Apostles should ever
have a successor.
3. The subject before us teaches where to find the true
Church of Christ. This, too, is a point on which many
words have been multiplied without knowledge ; and yet

38
the only test of a true church is very simple, and" within
the comprehension of all who know what it is to yield to
Christ the love and confidence of the heart. By faith and
love we become united to him, and so to all his people.
The true church is a Christian family; and all who are
born of the Spirit, and obedient to the truth, are true
members of this household of faith. The church is Christ's
body ; and all who hold him as the Head, and draw from
him their spiritual life, are members of the same. The
true church of Christ is the fold of his sheep ; he is the
Shepherd, and all who hear his voice and follow him,
belong to his flock ; and they shall- never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of his hand.
Such is the true church in the highest, widest sense, —
the spiritual church, the church universal, — just the whole
company of those who are united by faith to Christ, the
Head. Into this Church every believer comes, when he
comes with penitence and love, and with a living faith to
Jesus, the one whole Saviour. Neither is there any other
way of entrance ; though many are the other ways which
have been tried, and often relied upon, to the utter ruin of
the soul.
Some think they are born into the church by a natural
birth. So thought the Jews of old, who said they had
Abraham to their father. But Christ disowned them,
declaring that they were not his sheep, but children of the
devil, whose voice they obeyed, and works they did. Some
think they are made true members of this spiritual church
by coming to baptism, and having the sign of the cross
traced in water upon their brow. " Our church," say
they — to use the language of their own teachers — " our
church, in all her services, considers baptized Christians
(i. e., baptized persons) as regenerate ; as called into a
state of salvation ; as made members of Christ ; children
of God ; heirs to the kingdom of heaven." Again, they
say : " In this regenerating ordinance (baptism) fallen man
is born again from a state of condemnation into a state of
grace." And again, they tell us : " the only mode through
which we can obtain a title to the blessings of the gospel, -
is by the sacrament of baptism." The authors of the
" Companion for the Altar," and of the sermons in which
these remarks are found, would not like to be called
Papists ; and yet, in all the errors of the Papal system,
where can we find a more fearful, delusive dogma, than

39
this respecting the regenerating, saving efficacy of baptism ?
Vitally different are these sentiments, from those taught by
Christ and the Apostles. How often, and how solemnly,
earnestly, did they declare that men must " repent in order
that their sins may be blotted out:" that they must
" believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and they shall be saved:
and that " he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither
is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh ; but he
is a Jew which is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that
of the heart, in the spirit and not- in the letter." Other
men there are, who hope to enter the fold of Christ by
climbing up still some other way, and not by coming
through Christ himself, the only door ; and such, too, will
be disappointed, and counted, at last, as thieves and robbers.
There is no other name than that of Jesus, by which we
can be saved ; and no other way into his fold, except by
faith in that name.
But these remarks refer more to the universal, invisible
church, which has no outward organization, and all the
members of which are known only to the Searcher of all
hearts, the one great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. Out
of the members of this, together, often, for diverse reasons,
with the union of some who really have no part nor lot in
the matter, several particular, visible churches are formed,
having, each, its own outward organization and specific
name. These are sometimes spoken of collectively, as one
church, and sometimes separately, each under its own par
ticular designation. None of . these, from various causes,
as we have said, is free from defects ; neither do we think
them all equal in point of purity and nearness to per
fection. If the question be, which is right, or which is
nearest right ? the answer must be, — that one which comes
nearest to the only infallible standard which God has given
to men, by which to form churches, and establish them in
truth and virtue.
To have a -visible church we must have a. profession of
faith from an organized congregation. A true Christian
church must be also something more than nominally
Christian. There must be the reality of a new life in the
souls of its members, a life of faith in _ Christ, a life of
union with him. Their profession of faith in him, and of
attachment to him, must be consistent and reliable. An
inconsistent profession, one which bears no fruit, or only
bad fruit, and commands no confidence, is of no value,

40
except as an evidence of no faith. And since we cannot
inspect the heart, we must judge of it by the fruit 'which
itbears. We must have not only a profession of faith,
but credible evidence of it— such consistent labors, walk,
and conversation, as shall authorize belief in the evangelical
character of those who make the profession.
If, then, you would find a true Christian church, taking
the Bible in your hand as a guide, seek for an organized
company of believers, such as make a credible profession
of faith in Christ as their only Saviour ; and when you
find such a company, and wherever you find it, you find
the object of your search. And if you would find the
best of such churches, search for one whose constitution
is, at the same time, most Scriptural, and best fitted to
promote truth, purity, and love ; and one whose members
give the most credible evidence of genuine faith, of a
living union with Christ, showing the sincerity and strength
of their attachment and trust, by doing what lies in their
power to extend the religion of faith throughout the earth.
Finding such a one, you find the best. If this be your
own, labor to make it still better ; if it be not your own,
labor to make yours as much like it, and as much better,
as possible. So shall all the churches of Christ be purified,
established, and finally perfected.
4. This subject teaches us the true doctrine of Church
Unity. It teaches that there is such a thing ; in what it
does, and in what it does not consist. It does not consist
in subjugating all to one earthly head ; nor in one system
of church government as administered by men ; nor in a
universal subordination to one form of the ministry; but in
that spiritual bond by which all believing souls are united
to Christ, and so to one another. It does not consist in
one sect or party assuming that they are the church, the
only church ; and that all who do not conform to their
ritual, creed, or confession, are separatists, schismatics, and
no church ; but in all being subject to Christ, as the one
Head of the whole church. As the Apostle says to the
Corinthians—" Now ye are the body of Christ, and mem
bers in particular." All who are united to him by a living
faith. are members of his body, which is the church. As.
the Apostle says again— "For by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body, whether we be bound or free; and
have all been made to drink into one Spirit." It is not,
then, the baptism of water, but of the Holy Ghost ; not

41
the practicing of uniformity in the externals of worship!
buttiie drinking into one Spirit ; not the likeness of name,
the sameness of ceremony, the oneness of liturgy, the
dead level of forms, robes, and rites ; but that moral like
ness which the true christian bears to Christ, that spiritual
sameness which marks the hearts of all who are born of
God, that oneness of faith which unites them all to the
same Lord — this it is, which makes all the unity of the
church of which the Bible speaks, and all which is worth
the name.
This genuine spiritual unity is, therefore, consistent with
some degree of difference in religious opinions where es
sentials are not concerned, and with some degree of diver*
sity in the polity of the church, and in the forms of worship.
Wesley has the substance when he says : " Is thy heart
right with God ? If it be, give me thy hand. I do not
mean, ' be of my opinion.' You need not. Neither do I
mean, * I will be of your opinion,' I cannot. Let all
opinions alone ; only give me thy hand." This is that
true liberty which must always prevail where the Spirit of
the Lord is. The legitimate tendency of the religion of
faith, is, to emancipate the soul from a servile reverence for
mere human opinions, ceremony and form. It leaves the
mind free to think and act for itself, so that it do not
infringe upon the rights of others, nor reject the guidance
and authority of God. So God designed. And who that
loves the cause of truth and sincerity, would have it other
wise? Who that loves Christ and the church as he ought,
would wrest this freedom of thought and conscience from
the humblest member of that church ?
Nor does it appear that some variety of opinion, and of
church polity, and some difference of mode in worship, are
an evil. There is more of beauty* music, and purity, in
the many varied running brooks, that mingle and make the
rivers which fill the ocean, than in all the dead uniformity
of waters filled with slimy reptiles. There are many stars
in the firmament over our heads, and one star differeth from
another ; but they all shine harmoniously, forming one bright,
beautiful arch above, and furnishing a light for all below.
Our Maker did not think it important that all trees should
have the same figure, all mountains, the same outline ;
neither did he make all men of one color, equal in stature
and strength ; it was enough that they should all be of one
blood. Neither has the Author of Christianity thought it

42
important that all Christians should have the same polity
and ritual, and hold the same opinions about things not
essential to salvation ; it is enough that they be all born
and. baptized of the same Spirit, have one faith and
one Lord. _ ,.
That factitious church unity, which consists only in the
outward sameness of organizations, officers, forms, and
ceremonies, after which so many seek,, who think more of
the. shell than of the kernel, and to enforce which,' many
fires have been kindled and much blood spilt, is no better
than a rope of sand. It has no strength, no value. It not
only disregards the inner faith, the vital union which con
nects the soul to Christ, and which should bind all true
Christians in one glorious brotherhood of being ; but the
strenuous efforts often made to preserve and extend it,
serve to draw off the mind from the essence of religion, to
alienate affection, and to promote strife, hypocrisy, and
formalism, bigotry and oppression. The only unity of the
church, which deserves the name, is that which admits the
right of every man to think for himself, and judge of his
own duty ; and holds that one church has the same right
as another, to frame its own polity and mode of worship,
according to its own sense of need, and understanding of
the Scriptures. Nor does she stop with a mere verbal
admission of these truths ; .but proceeds to act upon them,
by opening the door of intercommunion to all who bear
the true image of Christ. She throws the pride, arrogance,
and bigotry of sectarianism to the winds, and allows dif
ferent Christians, and churches, to differ on minor points,
while each adheres with care to every cardinal truth. This
is the unity which constrains all who love the Lord, to co
operate in building his kingdom ; and makes them to
rejoice in blending their purest sympathies around the
table of their common Saviour's love. Such unity of the
church is genuine, precious — the same of which the gospel
speaks, the same which the religion of faith promotes.
¦ 5. This subject teaches us how to use divinely appointed
rites, and how to estimate those forms, measures, and move
ments which originate -with men. The Author of .Cristianity
gave us baptism and his supper to be observed by all Chris
tians, in every age; not, however, as the source and support,*
but as the signs and seals of spiritual life. We are to

* See Appendix A.

43
estimate and honor these ordinances, therefore, according
to the design of their institution ; — the one, as a symbol of
the -cleansing of the soul by the blood of Christ, and of a
radical change wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost,
and also as a sign, or public profession of our entrance
upon a life of faith and love ; the other, as a memorial of
the sacrifice of Christ for sin, a pledge of our engagement
to his service, and as a token of ' our union and fellowship
with him and his people. And all those forms, measures,
and movements, which really tend to establish and extend
the religion of faith, are to be adopted" and encouraged ;
while airthose which tend to induce, or to extend and
establish, the religion of form are to be rejected and
opposed. The church and every Christian should be the more
watchful against this evil of formalism, and all that is calcu
lated to produce it, because of the readiness which human
nature has ever manifested to be beguiled and fascinated
with it. Nor is it unregenerate, worldly men alone, that
are too easily satisfied with the outward signs of religion.
True Christians are in danger ; and without a jealous
watch, the best of exercises arid usages will degenerate into
mere habit; even the design of the rites appointed by
Christ will be forgotten or mistaken, and the soul be left
to rely on the outward observance, instead of trusting sim
ply in Christ The whole history of the church, recent
defections in some quarters of it, and the experience of the
best of Christians, are sad proofs of this. It is easier to
come before the Lord with the body, and bow the knee,
than to offer the sacrifice of a humble, contrite spirit ;
easier to use a for m, or repeat the words of prayer, than to
pray from a fervent, believing heart ; easier to sing with
the voice, than with the spirit and the understanding also,
making melody in our hearts unto the Lord. It is more in
accordance with the pride and indifference of the human
heart, and easier to go to the baptismal laver, have the sign
of the cross traced upon the brow, and be told that this is
regeneration, and gives a man a title to heaven, than it is
to repent, believe, take up the cross, follow Jesus, and have
the heart purified by obeying the truth through the Spirit.
It is easier to come to the supper of our Lord for grace
prepared and conveyed by the priest, artd be told that this
is all that is necessary for the support of spiritual life, than
to come to it as a profession of our' trust in the atoning

44
merits of Christ, and of our desire for spiritual gifts di
vinely bestowed, and' as a pledge to maintain our union
with Christ by living a life of faith and love. And having
begun to rely upon outward forms, it is easier to believe
them absolutely essential, and then to multiply the number,
by either restoring those which have been cast off as worth
less, or by devising new ones, than it is to give up those
idols of the heart, and find delight in that simple faith, and
pure, spiritual worship, which the gospel requires.
A disposition to multiply forms discovers a disposition
to rely upon them ; and strongly indicates that formalism,
if it have not already gained the ascendency, is fast becom
ing the religion of that heart, or church, in which such a
disposition is manifested. The religion of faith puts no
reliance on forms, never did, never will. In fact, she makes
less and less of form, as the world advances from infancy
onward, and as she herself advances to her rightful, appro
priate, and unfettered dominion in the heart of man and of
the church. Time was, in the infancy of our race, when
numerous forms, symbols, and ceremonies were deemed
important. Some were given, out of regard to the unde
veloped state of mankind; and some, as types and shadows of
the coming Christ. But. on the advent and death of Christ,
these types and shadows were done away ; and the world
was also prepared, in other respects, for a more intellectual
system, and for more refined, spiritual representations of
truth. There was a fullness of meaning in the words of
Christ, when he said, " The hour is coming, and now is,
when those who worship God, must do it in Spirit and in
truth." The human mind had passed the season of its
childhood, and standing no longer in need of all that array
of rites and ceremonies, types and shadows, which marked
the first dispensation, these things were, for the most part,
abolished and discarded. So, by word and practice, both
Christ and his Apostles taught. The sum of the rites
which they enjoined upqn the observance of the church, for
ages then to come, were two of the simplest kind — baptism
and the Lord's Supper.
What, then, shall we think of that disposition to magnify
the number and value of symbols, which is so manifest in
some quarters of the church, at this advanced age of the
world ; and among those, too, who are not behind other
nations in point of refined mental discipline, and who
would take it as an affront to have their ability to distin-

45
guish abstract relations, eonceive spiritual ideas, and to
generalize on a large scale, called in question ? Is there
not something strangely inconsistent and contradictory in
all this — something opposed not only to the good common
sense of mankind, but also to the teachings of the gospel,
and to the economy of God's dealing with his church, taken
from the earliest period to the present time? Picture
alphabets on blocks of wood, serve to amuse and instruct
infants in the nursery ; and in his first efforts at arithmetic,
a child may derive help from his fingers, beads, or buttons..
But what would be thought of the teacher, who should adopt
the use of picture alphabets in the high school, or advise
- the merchant to confine himself to his fingers in the count
ing-house ? When Paul was a child, he spake, understood,
and thought as a child ; but when he became a man, he'
put away childish things.*
In Jesus Christ, the truly devout, intelligent soul seeks
to be free from the bondage of forms, and from all that is
outward and tangible, and to hold immediate, spiritual
communion with the Object of her love and adoration.
For her, the types and shadows of an immature age have
no attractions. Her desire is, to come before the Lord,
not in pomp and splendor, with crossings, bowings, and
genuflexions, but with a broken heart, and a contrite spirit;
her delight is, to honor her Saviour with an earnest faith
and a genuine love, in spirit and in truth.
In Jesus Christ, the children of God are to the manor
born ; and boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath conse
crated for them— to draw near with a true heart, in full
assurance of faith, is their most glorious privilege. Now
that the day of Christ has come, with the sun of righteous
ness in mid-heaven — the day which prophets and kings
desired, but failed to see — for us to bow at the shrine of
forms, shadows and empty symbols, or trust at all to the
•utward and sensuous, is to sell our precious birthright for
a mess of pottage, and so prepare to be rejected when we
would inherit a blessing.
No ; if there are any grand. characteristics of the religion
of faith, under the gospel dispensation, they are Spirituality,
Freedom, and Simplicity : and every form, mode, measure

See Appendix B.

46
or movement, which tends to mar these divine features,
should be guarded against, renounced, and opposed.
Finally, this subject teaches us how to judge of ' our pros
pects for eternity. Is our religion that of faith? Is ours
the religion that relies solely oh the one great sacrifice
which was offered for sin, once for all, on Calvary ? And
is ours the faith which carries with it a heart warm with
love to God and to men? Does it incite to a life of
humility, of prayer, of untiring efforts to subvert the reign
- of sin, and establish that of truth and holiness ? If so, it
will stand in the day of trial ; but if not, then all our
hopes and professions will profit us nothing.
If we would have the favor of God, we must have
jmplicit confidence in his word ; and rest the soul upon
him as the centre and source of all good. We must put
no reliance upon the flesh ; none upon ourselves ; none
upon the arm of the pastor, priest or prince; none upon
alms, oblations and sacraments ; none upon the church,
confession, or confirmation ; none upon forms, or works, of
any kind; but all upon Christ. Hope in him is the only
anchor that will' hold in the stormy night of death. Under
the force of that fearful tide, which shall finally sweep the
soul into eternity, every ark, but that of Christ, will founder,
and bury its immortal freight in the depths of perdition.
Trusting in Jesus, we are safe — trusting truly in Jesus
alone, ours is the haven of eternal rest — ours, a seat in the
mansions of bliss. And the burden of our song shall be
— " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake." —
A men.

47

APPENDIX— A. (See page 42.)
" Ever since the Reformation, two antagonistic views have
been taken of the sacraments. One, the Protestant view,
represents them as two simple, outward rites, constituted by
divine appointment, to be, in the practice of the church,
the expression or profession, on our part, of the possession
of an inward spiritual grace, which we have divinely re
ceived — or of our desire for spiritual gifts, which are to.be
divinely bestowed ; the other, the Roman view, represents
them as the sources of divine life in the soul, and the
channels for conveying the grace needed for its continuance
and growth. * * Out of this [Roman] view, logical
errors grow somewhat in this order : —
1. That some change is produced in the elements of
bread and wine in the supper, and of the water in baptism.
2. The sacrament being thus made the sources and
supports of spiritual life, and the necessary inference being
drawn from it that a spiritual change takes place in the
elements — a logical necessity is created for a priesthood.
3. Then comes the necessity of a still more mischievous
error, * * that bishops are essential to the being of a
_ church. 4. Then there shoots off in another direction, from this
thrifty sacramental tree,. the spreading branch of Aposto
lic succession." The causes and the cure of Puseyism. By
an Episcopalian. — P. 205, seq.
B. — (See page 45.)
As in the words of an able, living divine : — " The truth
is, that this tendency to the bondage of form, and this
necessity for it, belong tothe world's childhood ; and, in the
childhjod of the world's education, these instincts and
weaknesses have had their scope and development ; — in
the preparatory dispensation of Christianity, the sensuous
and the tangible have ministered to the instruction and
'discipline of God's people. The Christian dispensation
itself is more spiritual, and therefore more simple, more
unfettered with the bondage of form. Now we are become
men, we must put away childish things : the whole reason
ing of the Apostle goes upon this supposition ; and he had
those to deal with, who accused him of laying bare the

48
religion of his fathers, and of despising and rendering of
no reputation the seemly and beautiful array of its orna
ments. But he replied, that these cherished and idolized
rites and observances were but the shadow of things to
come, and that now they had got the substance, he would
have nothing to do with worshiping the shadow. These
were the toys of an immature age; and to keep them
under the bright light and bracing air of the gospel, would
be like a man keeping the whistles arid sleds, the wooden
swords and paper caps of his boyhood, to play with in the
gravity of fifty years.
" Indeed, if our blessed Lord meant that these gra
dations in the clergy, from the Pope, the universal bishop,
downwards, which mark the system of Romanism, with the
gorgeous rites, ceremonies, and titles that accompany them,
should be adopted in his own church, why did he not
sanctify and keep what he found ready at hand in the
Jewish economy ? What more gorgeous or significant
paraphernalia could be desired, than that of the temple,
with its splendid services ? Not one of the Apostles ever
put on the Levitical robes, or the sacerdotal mitres, or ever
refused to preach in a conventicle. It was reserved for the
harlot of abominations to take up the cast-off frippery of
an abolished dispensation ; to deck herself out in its gor
geous array, newly patched and spangled ; putting on the
rotten rags of Judaism, gilded with the cross, and idolizing
in the manhood of Christianity the cradle and standing-
stool of its infancy. The vain talkers about the sacred
beauty of church rituals, and the poetic and sanctifying
power of their lessons, need to be reminded that these
things have had their day. When the gospel gives us
heavenly wings, our stilts and crutches may be laid aside :
neither do we want to keep them because, forsooth, they
may have been made of gold and silver. These lessons
have lost their vitality, and to send us back to them is like
compelling us to draw again into the lungs air that has
already been breathed. And yet there are those, who would
lead us back to a system that requires a lord of ceremonies
to usher us without mistake into God's temple, and a French
posture-master to direct both priest and people in their
devotions!" — G. B. Cheever, D.D., " On the errors of
Romanism?