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vealed by Scripture interpreted according to primitive tra-
dition, are asserted, and, as in the Athanasian Creed, vin-
dicated from misrepresentation, but no deductions are made
them, except such as rest on the same authority. The sick
man, for example, is merely examined whether he still be-
lieves the Articles of the Apostles' Creed, which at his bap-
tism he professed, but no questions are put as to his assu-
rance, or as to his experiences. In our system the founda-
tion is laid, but as to results, more or less remote from the
foundation, no dogma•is propounded ; in short, those funda-
mental truths are brought before us, which in the interpre-
tation of Scripture are never to be lost sight of, and which
being kept in view, it is scarcely possible to fall into heresy ;
but no nicely compacted scheme of theology is presented to
us • we have still to study the Bible, still to grow in know-
ledge as in grace, still to keep our place among learners,
carefully watching for, and gratefully receiving each glimpse
of additional light, which may make us better acquainted
with the will of that God whom we love, and whom to serve
is our delight.
Now, the consequence of this undoubtedly is, that there
are with us many open questions, many matters of opinion,
many points of theological doctrine and Christian prudence
on which the divines of our Church may differ without any
impeachment of their orthodoxy. But this liberty which the
Church allows is disrelished by men of sectarian minds and
overbearing tempers, and they, desiring a more stringent sys-
tem, add to the doctrine of the Church some other system,
very frequently that of Calvin, which would bind us not only
to principles but also to opinions. And as many of the opi-
nions of Calvin, those, for example, which relate to the sa-
crament of Baptism, are scarcely reconcileable with the prin-
ciples asserted by the Church, they are very often led into
those inconsistencies of which all must be guilty who endea-
vour to serve two masters e sometimes they have to explain
away the principles of the Church, sometimes the dogmata of
Calvin. But were they only consistent, our cause of coin-
plaint against them would be comparatively slight; but not
slight is our cause of complaint, when we find them actually
venturing to anathemize as heretical all who do not, as they do,
make additions to the system of the new Church, and sub-
scribe to the traditions of a Zuinglius, or a Calvin, or of some
other fallible man, whose opinions, by a mere petitio prin.
eipii, they are pleased to pronounce to be scriptural. They
assume that their system is the Gospel, and then they treat
the opponents of that system as the enemies of God. And
is not this popery ? Why does Popery so stink in the nos-
trils of our people? It is because the fires of Smithfield are
not vet forgotten, and however zealous, however devout
Mary andher assessors may have been, that system of reli-
gion is justly odiouss which generates a temper directly the
reverse of that which genuine Christianity would instil into
our minds. Why did the Romanist in times past have re-
course to the thumbscrew and the stake ; It was only to si-
lence the opponents of that system of theology which he had
conscientiously, though erroneously, identified with the Gos-
pel. And to what are we to attribute the evil-speaking,i ly-
ing, and slandering by which the ultra-protestant press s so
sadly distinguished, to what the propagation if not the in-
vention of these calumnies against all who are opposed to
Calvinism, to what but to the same persecuting spirit and
unchristian temper which seeks the same end, to silence an
opponent by means different indeed, but equally unjustifi-
able ? My brethren, you have heard much said of late of
those members of the Church of England, who in interpret-
ing Scripture defer to primitive rather than to Calvinistic
tradition, as if they were introducing among us the distinct-
ive principles of Popery : if the charge be true, I, for one,
regret it, for I believe the distinctive doctrines of Popery to -
be as unseriptural as the distinctive doctrines of Calvinism :
but let me for once be permitted to change the theme, and let
me warn you cf an evil worse than all the doctrines of Po-
pery put together; let me warn you of the evils of a Popish
temper. And to a popish temper, as we have seen, too great
a devotion to a harmonized theological system is ever likely
to lead. For one of the tendencies of such an attachinent to
system is to make men confound religion with their opinions.
And as men generally mantain their opinions, as we daily see
in the case of politics, or even in the chance argument of
conversation, with a degree of violence, intolerance, and bi-
gotry, which sometimes almost amounts to dementation, so
will they act with respect to their religious opinions: So
violently do men contend for their opinions, that in a dis-
pute about the mere meaning of a word you will find com-
mentators acting as if they would tear one another to pieces ;
and of course when men have in their minds identified these
opinions with religion, the violence with which they will sup-
port these opinions will be in proportion to the increased
importance of the subject. Idolaters of a system they love,
like other idolaters, to lash themselves into a fury, and then,
because wrath is forbidden in Scripture, they call it zeal. (12)
Now to guard against these sins, resulting from an abuse
of the principle I have before enforced, let me warn you that
the fault of these persoes consists in their regarding their
system as an end in itself. Whereas, even the right system
is only to be valued as a means,—the means to enable us to
understand God's word. Even the knowledge of God's
word is itself to be regarded not as an end but as the means,
like the Sacraments, of bringing us to Christ; and this uni-
on with Christ is the end of the Gospel. For Christ is our
all in all. It is only by reference to Christ that any doctrine
is valuable, and if it has reference to Christ, there is no doc-
trine whatever (however trivial those may think it who regard
as trivial all that bears not on their chosen system), which
does not by that very fact become of value. Man is nothing;
Christ is every thing. In Christ is salvation, out of Christ
is condemnation. In Christ is the law of the Spirit, out of
Christ the bondage of the flesh. In Christ man can please
God, out of Christ God is to man a consuming fire, a terri-
ble God. In Christ man partakes of the divine nature, out
of Christ he is only one remove from the beasts that perish.
In union with.him, is health, safety, and life; in separation
from him, insecurity, misery, death.
Yes, my brethren, union with Christ is the one thing
needful : our first main care ought to be that. we may be one
with Christ, and Christ one with us. Hence we find in our
text, that with an injunction to preach the Gospel, our Lord
combines a command to administer the sacrament of baptism,
as if on purpose to impress upon our minds the fact that it
is not mere religious knowledge that we Are to impart, bat
such knowledge as shall lead us to union with Him ; that our
object is to make not evangelical philosophers, but Chris-
tians ; that our object ought to be not merely to make men
hold such and such opinions, as opinions, but to embrace
that faith which will lead them to God through Christ, and
to Christ through the Church. Through the Church, I say;
for we must always remember that to impress upon our
minds the importance of union with the Church, the Church
is represented. in Scripture as the spouse of Christ; that of
the Church it is said, Thy Maker is thine Husband, the
Lord of Hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer the holy one
of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. (13)
I will betroth thee unto me for ever, saith the Lord; yea, I
will betroth thee unto me. (14) It is impossible to read the
• Old Testament without being struck with the many, the con-
stant applications of this figure of speech, which would hot,
of course, be so often, so constantly used, if it were not in-
tended to convey a deep and important meaning—a meaning
expressive of love on the part of God, of confidence on the
part of the Church. Many and touching are the allusions to
the virgin daughter of Zion, the betrothed of Jehovah; many
the exhortations, Awake, awake, put on strength, 0 Zion;
put on thy beautiful garments, 0 Jerusalem, thou holy
city.( 15) Many are the denunciations against the daughter
of Jerusalem (when by committing sin, when by some na-
tional act, she gave countenance to idolatry, and deserted the
Lord), under the character of a wife committing adultery.
It is this, indeed, which gives its deep spiritual meaning to
the Canticles—a book truly evangelical in its meaning, when
understood as primitive tradition teaches us to understand
it, as relating to the mystical union betwixt Christ and His
Church—a book, except thus understood, utterly destitute of
a spiritual sense.(l6.) Nor let it be surmised that these say-
ings of Scripture have only reference to the Church under
the Jewish dispensation : Come hither, said the angel to St.
John; I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife ;( 17)
and then follows a mystical description of the Church. It
was as a chaste virgin that St. Paul espoused the Church to
one husband, Christ. Of this mystery the same holy Apos-
tle represents the union of man and wife to be but a type.
And what says John the divine? I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah,
for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ; let us be glad and
rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the
Lamb is come, and his Wife hath made her ready. _ And lo
her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and while; for the fine linen is the righteousness of
the saint's.(lB)
Now would all this, I ask again, be said in Scripture, and
said so often, for no purpose ? with no object in view ? No.
The second person of the blessed Trinity, our Lord and Sa-
viour Jesus Christ, is in very deed the bridegroom and hus-
band., and the Church is His bride and spouse. Be it so.
And what follows ? Our Lord says of man and wife, that they
are no more twain but one flesh, and His inspired Apostle,
St. Paul, iterates the assertion, " they two shall be one
flesh." And this divine principle is admirably expanded by
the old law of England, the excellence of which, though but
little noted, is the fact of its being based on Scripture. "By
marriage," says the learned author of the Commentaries on
the laws of England, " the husband and wife are one person
in law, that is the very being or legal existence of the woman
is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated
and consolidated into that of the husband; under whose
wing-, protection, and cover, she performs every thinz."(l9)
So that what the husband has belongs equally to the wife,
what the wife has belongs equally to the husband ; they are
perfectly identified. And so are Christ and His Spouse iden-
tified in the sight of God—so identified that the Church is
often denominated the very body of Christ, the fulness of
Him who filleth all in all, and the members of the Church are
regarded as members of Christ : because Christ is holy, the
Church (though consisting of sinful men) is accounted in the
counsels of God as holy : as the Spirit of God dwelleth, without
measure in Christ, so He abideth for ever in the Church : as
Christ sitteth at the right hand of the Father till his enemies
be made his footstool, so the Church confides in his protec-
tion that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her : and
if we, individuals, be living members of the Church, doing
all such good works as God hath prepared for us to walk in,
to us the merits of Christ will be imputed, and we shall be,
with the Church of whiph we are part, accounted holy i to
us the 'Spirit of Christ will be imparted, and we shall be
made holy: against us 'the powers of darkness will never
prevail, for He who cherisheth the Church, and every living
member of the same, is almighty : and thus, as the Apostle
concludes, all thin.gs are yours, whether Paul or Appollos,
or Cephas, or the world, or life and death, or things present,
or things to come, all are yours; and ye are Christ's, and
Christ is God's. (20) But suppose the Chu; htobe as she
is represented, a person, we cannot any one of us be the
wnole of that person : we can only be, as it were, one of the
particles by the aggregate of which she is formed :and again
we must remember that a living person consists of two parts,
of body and of soul ; and so, therefore, it is with respect to
*the Church ; consequently, with both the body and the soul
of the Church we shall be connected if we are really mem-
bers of the spouse of Christ.
Owing to the circumstance of their looking to one class of
texts to the exclusion of another class of texts, men are found
to err; some in supposing that they are safe when attached
merely to the body of the Church, others when attached.
merely to the soul of the Church. It is clear that we are at-
tached to the body of Christ's Church by those ordinances
which the Church, with the divine sanction, has ordained for
the purpose. But a limb, though attached to the natural
body, may be paralyzed or putrefied ; a wen, a wart is at-
tached to the body, but is regarded merely as an unsightly
excrescence : it is only the healthy parts of the body which,
being animated by the soul, have life and vigour ; animated,
I say, by the soul; for as soon as the soul departs, each
part of the body becomes like the putrefied limb, —a life-
less lump. So may it be with respect to the Church. By
the reception of the sacraments, mid the observance of tilt,.
ordinances, we may be attached to the body of the Church,
and yet all the while be but dead members of it, paralyzed
portions of it, worse than useless. We are then only living
members, when, attached to the body by ordinances, we are
attached also to the soul by faith. Thus it is that the Church