cause he wanted, yet without any fault on his part, the distinguishing badge of Christianity. Hence you perceive the reason that our Confession expresses itself with some degree of caution, when it says, that "out of the visible church there is no ordinary possibility of salvation." There is a possibility of salvation without its pale; but the cases are extraordinary, and such as those to which I have just now referred. When men have access to the church, they are bound by the highest authority to enter into its communion, and therefore to submit to baptism, which is the door of admission. If any person, knowing baptism to be an ordinance of Christ, should deliberately and contemptuously neglect it, he would no more be a disciple of Christ than a heathen or a Mahometan, and his final salvation would be as impossible as if he had lived and died in the habitual violation of any moral precept.

'The second qualification of the members of the church, is knowledge; for Jesus Christ does not want blind followers, who are attached to him merely for his name, or in consequence of their local situation; and the ignorant are utterly incapable of performing the duties incumbent upon the members of this spiritual society. What degree of knowledge is requisite, it is not easy to determine with accuracy. Men differ much in education, in talents, in opportunities, so that it would be equally absurd to demand the same proficiency in all the candidates, as to insist that they should be all of the same stature. But unless a person know something about his own natural character and state, something about the person, and office, and work of the Saviour, something about the promises of God and the duties of a Christian, he cannot make a rational profession of faith, and consequently ought not to be admitted. The Church of Rome requires implicit faith in the members. This does not mean, as you might suppose from the terms, a belief of certain doctrines simply upon the authority of the church, but something much more mysterious, and of which the world never had an idea till it was revealed by the Schoolmen. Implicit faith is a belief that all the doctrines held by the church are true, although you know nothing about them, and never so much as heard them mentioned. It matters not to you what the church believes, and you need not give yourself the trouble to inquire; if you believe that all that she believes is agreeable to truth, you are an orthodox Christian, and are sure to go to heaven. In short, the Church of Rome teaches men to believe by proxy, to have faith without having one idea of the object of faith, to assent to a creed of which they know as little as the inhabitants of Tartary. Such a faith is very suitable to a church which holds that ignorance is the mother of devotion; but would ill accord with the church of Christ, which proposes its creed to be read and studied by all, invites and encourages inquiry, and demands from men a rational service. Those are commended who, like the Bereans, search the Scriptures daily, with a view to ascertain whether the doctrines proposed to them are true; and every member is called upon to be always ready to give "a reason of the hope which is in him, to any man who asks him."

The standard by which the knowledge of those who seek admission into the church should be tried, is the Scriptures. But the several churches of Christendom have adopted, besides the Scriptures, what have been called subordinate standards,-creeds, articles, and confessions. At first it may seem that this is an unwarrantable addition, and derogates from the perfection and permanent authority of the word of God; but their conduct admits of a satisfactory explanation. In the first place, They profess-and this is true at least of Protestant churches-to exhibit in their creeds only the doctrines of Scripture, and to exclude all human dogmas. But if this is a fair representation of the design of their creeds, it may be said that they are of no use, as the Scriptures contain all that they tell us. In answer to this objection, I observe, in the second place, That they are necessary for the defence of the truth against

heresies and errors. The authors of these profess great reverence for the Scriptures, and are ready at any time to give an account of their faith couched in their language, while they affix to it a sense totally different from that which you understand it to convey. Hence arose the necessity of employing a test to ascertain their real sentiments; and such a test is a creed expressed in human words, which established usage has rendered definite and incapable of perversion. This is a short account of the origin of creeds; and those who exclaim most vehemently against them, are the causes of the evil of which they complain.

When churches employ their subordinate standards as a test of religious sentiments, their reason is not that they consider them as having any authority in themselves, but that they appear to them to be founded on Scripture, and proper therefore to be used as a means of discovering the real sentiments of those who are desirous to be received into their fellowship. It is evident, however, that if the assent of private members is to be required to them, they ought to be very short and simple; and some modern creeds, however excellent, are too copious, and involve too many intricate points, to be fit for this purpose. I might add as a third qualification of the members of the church, a profession of faith; for it is not the simple possession of knowledge which entitles any man to be admitted into its communion, but a declaration, explicit or implied, that he believes the doctrines in which he has been instructed, acknowledges Jesus Christ as his Saviour, submits to his authority, and is resolved to yield obedience to his laws and institutions. This profession is made by adults at their baptism, and by those who were baptized in infancy, by their attendance upon the ordinances of religion, and by the answers returned to the questions proposed to them when they apply for admission to the Lord's table.

The last qualification which I shall mention, is a character which shall give credibility to this profession. If men profess to know God, but deny him in works, their conduct neutralizes their profession, and it is no breach of charity to consider it as insincere. Of faith as it exists in the heart, we can have no knowledge but by external signs, which are to be sought for in the practice; because the truths of religion, when believed, do not remain as an intellectual treasure in the understanding, but exerting their power upon the heart, give rise to a conduct becoming the gospel. Our Lord has laid down a rule to direct us in our private and public judgments of our brethren, "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit."* All Christians might be expected to agree, that into a society founded by Jesus Christ, and dedicated to his service, those should not be permitted to enter, who show, by their disregard of piety and their unholy actions, that whatever they pretend, they are hostile to his religion; and that a church is criminally negligent, and guilty of a violation of her trust, which lays open her fellowship to the profane and worldly. The members of the primitive church are addressed as "saints," and "faithful in Christ Jesus," and were so called perhaps, because the majority were truly entitled to this ap pellation, or at least because they were saints in appearance. There were great irregularities in that church; but these were unavoidable in a society, all the members of which were imperfect, and into which some unworthy persons had intruded under the mask of hypocrisy. They were not however allowed, and discipline was employed to correct them, and to expel those who refused to be reformed.

From the account which has been given of the necessary qualifications for admission into the visible church, it follows that it is not regeneration by the Spirit which is an indispensable pre-requisite, but the appearance of it; and

Matth. vii. 16, 17.

after all that can be said upon the subject, in this the greatest zealots for purity of communion must virtually acquiesce. It is certain, that God has not given the church authority to scrutinize the hearts of candidates, because he has not furnished the means. The gift of discerning spirits has long since ceased, and the present rulers of the church can judge only by profession and practice. To attempt to penetrate into the recesses of the soul, is to erect an inquisitorial tribunal for the trial of men's spiritual state; and as long as there are hypocrisy and self-deceit in the world, the sentences pronounced from it will be often exceedingly unjust. The Apostles appear to have received disciples upon such a profession of faith as we require from our applicants; and although it is manifest from the New Testament, that there were unregenerated persons in the primitive church, we do not find that they thought of expelling them on this ground, if they were free from scandalous crimes. Without regeneration, however, we readily acknowledge external connexion with the visible church will be of no avail, "for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.'

In the sequel of this lecture, I shall direct your attention to some general characters or properties of the church.

The first is its unity. It is one church, and must be so called, whether we consider it as invisible or visible. With regard to the former there is no doubt, as all its members are united to Jesus Christ as their head, animated by the Spirit of holiness, and thus compacted into one body. The unity may not be so obvious with respect to the latter, because it is divided into different societies, not only distinct in place, but also disjoined by the peculiarity of their tenets and usages. But the appearance of disunion will be diminished, if we attend to what was formerly hinted, that although the designation of the visible church is employed in common language with great latitude, yet we cannot rationally and scripturally comprehend in it any society, which does not profess the true religion in its essential parts. We thus exclude heretical sects, and recognize as the constituent members, those only who acknowledge "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all." These we account one on the ground of the fundamental points in which they agree, and do not consider the unity as destroyed by the minor point in which they disagree. Particular churches would do well to look upon themselves only as integral parts, and not as the whole. The latter idea is too much encouraged by the illiberal views and high pretensions of some parties. In certain cases it is avowed; and thus, while certain societies appropriate the name and privileges of the church, to the exclusion of all others, they prove themselves to be no part of it at all, but are self-excommunicated, cut off by their own act from all interest in the body of Christ.

The second character of the Church is its universality. It is the catholic church; and this epithet is explained by the Fathers to mean that it extends throughout the world, reaches from one end of the earth to another, as a body, says Theophylact, consisting of the churches every where, having Christ as its head. It is called Catholic, to signify that it is not confined to a particular country or sect, but comprehends all who profess the true religion, and observe the ordinances of the gospel. It is not Catholic de facto, if we mean by this word universally diffused; for we know that there are extensive regions and populous nations in which it has not been established, or claims only a very few of the inhabitants. The whole number of nominal Christians amounts only to a fifth or a sixth part of the human race. But it is Catholic de jure, be cause "the heathen have been given to Christ for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession." His commission authorized the Apostles and their successors to preach the gospel to every creature; and

• Gal. v. 6.

the sense in which we understand prophecy, encourages us to hope that in a future age, the light of truth, like that of the sun, will illuminate every region; that the whole world will be converted into a temple, and all its inhabitants will be worshippers of the living God. The claims of the church of Rome to be the Catholic Church are well known, and to every man who understands the Scriptures, they appear equally presumptuous and ridiculous. Their arrogant style is too much imitated by some Protestants. In the southern part of the Island, the cry of "the Church," "the Church," is raised by proud, intolerant, uncharitable men, who appropriate this name to their own society, and pronounce all who do not submit to the government of bishops, to be schismatics and sectarians, who have no hope of salvation but through the uncovenanted mercy of God. But "we have not so learned Christ." We acknowledge as a part of the church "every congregation of faithful men in which the pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments are duly administered."

The third character of the church is its perpetuity. The declarations and promises concerning Zion, that God would establish it, and that it should be his rest for ever, are fulfilled in that society of which it was a figure. We believe upon the best authority, that as the church has subsisted from its erection to the present hour, so it will continue through all subsequent ages, till the second coming of Christ. "Upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it;"* neither death, which is daily making havock among the members, and is probably meant by the gates of Hades, nor the powers of darkness, as the words in our translation seem to import. In the most degenerate times God has had a seed to serve him, a remnant has been saved; as in the days of Elijah, who supposed himself to be the sole worshipper of God, while there were seven thousand in Israel who had not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. There has always, too, been a visible profession of Christianity; there have been assemblies held, in which its forms of worship have been observed; and although many of these have been so corrupt, that they might rather have been considered as synagogues of Satan, yet even during the reign of Antichrist, it appears that in some corner or other of Christendom, there were men enlightened by divine grace, who escaped the general pollution, and maintained the truth at the peril of their lives.

With the perpetuity of the church, is intimately connected the question concerning its infallibility. It is one of the principal points of discussion between Protestants and Papists. The latter strenuously maintain that the church cannot err; and appropriating this prerogative to their own church, they call upon all men, under the pain of damnation, to submit to its authority. In settling the point to which this infallibility extends, they differ among themselves; but all agree that it is lodged somewhere in the church, in the Pope, or in a general council, or in both united. The doctrine of Protestants is stated in our Confession of Faith, in the following passages. "All synods or councils since the Apostles' time, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred.” "The purest churches upon earth are subject both to mixture and error, and some have so degenerated as to become no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan." These assertions it would be easy to support, both by reasoning from Scripture, and by an appeal to the history of religion in the ages which are past. We believe that infallibility can be predicated of no assembly, however learned, of no association of professed Christians, and still less of any individual, although dignified with the high title of the vicegerent of Christ. Still, there is a sense in which the church may be said to be infallible, and must be considered as such, if we hold its perpetuity. The true faith can never be utterly lost, because, if such a calamity could take place, the church † Conf. xxxi. 4. xxv. 5.

* Matth. xvi. 18.

would be annihilated. The truth will be known and professed by some society or other, greater or less, in all generations, and all the true members of the church are under the unerring guidance of the Spirit; so that, although they may mistake in some points, and be for a time seduced by temptation, they shall not totally and finally apostatize. This view of the matter does not in any degree favour the pretensions of the Church of Rome, or secure the faith of one society more than that of another. It is applicable to no particular church, and merely affirms that, however widely error may be diffused, and whatever desolation persecution may work, the power of Jesus Christ will preserve his own religion, and raise up some persons to profess it.

LECTURE XCVII.

ON THE CHURCH.

True Nature of Schism.-Separation, when Justifiable.-Government of the Church.-Different Opinions Respecting it.-Popish Form.-Assumptions on which it is Founded, Examined and Disproved.-Episcopacy.-Examination of the Arguments in its Favour.Proof that Presbyters and Bishops are of the same Order.

It is the duty of the members of the church to dwell together as brethren in unity. Many arguments are employed in Scripture to inculcate mutual love; but there is one derived, in particular, from the connexion which subsists between them as parts of a whole: "God," says Paul, "has tempered the human body together, that there should be no schism in it, but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now," he adds," ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular;"* applying this illustration to the church, and signifying that the members should sympathize with each other.

Opposed to this love, which should characterize the disciples of Christ, is schism; an evil which is highly detrimental to the interests of religion, and of which it is the more necessary to take notice, because its true nature has been often misunderstood. In common language, it signifies an open division among Christians; and they are called schismatics who have withdrawn from the communion of a church, and formed themselves into a separate party. Dr. Campbell, in his Preliminary Dissertations,† has explained the scriptural sense of the term. His view of it, however, is not new, but had been adopted long before him by many writers, who had accurately examined its import. The Apostle Paul uses the word to denote an internal division in the church, arising from alienation of affection. Hence he says to the Corinthians, “Now, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no schisms among you." He addressed this earnest exhortation to them, not so much to prevent the evil, as to suppress it, for he knew that it already existed: "When ye come together in the church, I hear that there are schisms among you, and I partly believe it."§ As he exhorts them, at the same time, to be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment, he intimates that their schisins proceeded from a difference of sentiment; and it is cer1 Cor. xii. 24-27. † Diss. ix. p. 3.. + 1 Cor. i. 10. § Ib. xi. 18.