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copitifoiluterioN SERMON ki"r

conies by he,tlito.:, and heering bYI begat he us, with
the Ward of God."
So write; St. James..-" Of hie own wil
the Word of Truth." A most comprehensive statement !
" He," the agent, God ; the instrument, " the Word of
Truth" ; the act, " begat he us," the first movements of
saving grace and, to complete the list, the originating
source is the distinguishing blessing " of his own will."
Elavin, thus considered a description of the persons for
whom Christ here prays, we must next observe that he in-
cludes in his prayer all who shall answer to that description,
"that they all may be (ale." He prays not for those who
shall believe upon him in any one country, or in any one age;
but for all who shall believe on him in all countries and all
ages, so long as he is an object of faith, that is, until his corn-
ing again, when faith shall be changed into sight. if all
these be not included in the prayer, how shall at be proved
that we of this age are included? If he prayed for only
some of those that shall believe upon him, the persons so
specified may have all lived and died ages ago, and we may
have no interest, no part or lot, in this precious prayer; but,
upon the contrary, if we be included, if the prayer have
application to us of this age, upon what principle shall it be
denied that it has application also to them that shall believe
in ages future also ? Thus we are naturally, I had almost
said irresistibly, led to the conclusion that the period con-
templated in this prayer has not yet arrived. This is cha-
racteristic of him who uttered the prayer, of him who sees
the end from the beginning, whose truly catholic mind could
not he localised or circumscribed by any temporary or any
local interests in his church, and whose soul cannot be satis-
fied in the result of its travail until the work shall be com-
pleted, until the last of the living stones that are to compose
his temple shall be set upon their appointed places, polished
into the reflection of his image, and the head-stone brought
out with consecrating shouts of " Grace, grace ! "
The next point to be considered is, the unity for which he
prays; and now I hope this will not be a difficult exposition.
A future unity. This is proved by the reason just now as-
signed—many of the persons included in the prayer who are
to enjoy the blessing, are not yet in existence. Some of
those included in this prayer are born in the flesh, and not
yet born again in God ; some have fallen asleep in the faith ;
their spirits, absent from the body, are present with the
Lord, and their bodies are mouldering in the dust. The
prayer includes them all. Their unity, that is, their visible
unity, is clearly, under existing circumstances, impossible ;
a unity they have certainly, but it is only in the mind and
purpose of Him who calls things that are not as though they
were. And in no other sense as yet—
" One army of the Living God
At his command we bow !
Some of the host have passed the flood,
And some are passing now;''
Some stand matured in years and grace,
Lipe ripening shocks of corn;
Some are just stating on the race,
And some are not yet born !
When all these should be ready, when all who shall believe
on him have believed on him, then—but not possibly till
then—shall the perfected unity anticipated in this prayer be
manifested to the world I Then they shall be all one in Christ !
Every one shall then have the mind in him which was in
Christ Jesus ; and the body of every one of them shall be
changed and fashioned after the similitude of Christ's own
body ! This is what St. Paul calls " the manifestation of the
Sons of God," for which he says " the whole Creation is
waiting, groaning, and travailing in pain" until now; and
even we ourselves, he adds, who have " first fruits of ;he
spirit," and do " groan within ourselves waiting for the
adoption, to wit,- the redemption of the body." Till then,
though there be sons of God in every age, yet are they hid-
den ones; the world knows them riot, even as it knew not
their Lord and Master; the world, unbelieving and uncon-
cerned till then, shall then be constrained to acknowledge
that God sent his Christ, and that his work is divine. Let
it be c-refully observed, that this is what Christ prays for—
not that the world may believe upon Him to salvation. In
that sense the Lord had said, " I pray not for the world " :
his language here is, " that the world may believe that thou
haat sent me"—which is a very different thing. The devils
believe it now and tremble; the world does not believe it
now, and is careless ; but the world shall believe it then, and
then it is that the unwilling confession, so frequently antici-
pated in the prophetic Scriptures as giving glory to God,
shall be extorted from the world. " Verily," they shall say,
" verily, after all, there is a reward for the righteous ; verily
there is a God that judgeth in the earth."
What, now, I would ask, has this passage to do with the
supposed unity in visible things of the Christian church
during the present dispensation ? And yet this passage, for
want of better authority for the notion, is perpetually cited,
and cited with triumph as if it were conclusive, to prove that
the unity of the Christian church now ought to be a visible
unity, such as would produce converting effects upon the
world ! If we understand our Lord as praying for a conti-
nuous visible unity in each succeeding generation of his
church upon earth, then we must admit that, so far, lie has,
in point of fact, prayed in vain : no such unity has existed.
This interpretation, then, as it regards the world, is self-
destructive ; for if the unity of the church in any age had
been such as to lead to the conversion of the world, the dis-
tinction between the world and the church would have ipso
facto ceased, and the consummation he desired would have
been at once attained. The interpretation, therefore, is ir-
reconcileable with the efficacy of the prayer and the facts of
the case—a serious consideration ; for if the Lord's inter-
cession be proved ineffectual on this point, what confidence
can be placed in it upon any other point?
The unity here prayed for must be such as should strike
the observation of those who arc not included in it ; yet it
must be such as should include all that shall believe on Jesus
Christ. Contemplating the successive generations of the
Church of God upon earth we observe that of those that
shall believe upon Jesus Christ, and for whom he prays
here, but a small number have ever been at any one tinie
upon the earth; and even those few have been so separated,
inevitably so. as not to have been conscious of one another's
existence. But they must all enter into the enjoyment, into
the conscious enjoyment, of the unity here prayed for: an
unity has existed among them, but not such as this, not such
as the world could see or themselves appreciate—an unity
which has been an object of faith not of sight, an unity in the
truth which God teaches,and which is the same here and:every-
where, but not an unity in the ceremonies and traditions, the
rites and ordinances which men teach and which have been
and may be divers. "There is one faith," says an inspired
apostle ; and another says, "it is the faith once delivered to
the saints"—delivered, we observe, during the time of the
apostles in its oneness, and in its completi moss, and, there-
fore, not waiting for any vital addition to be added by their
uninspired successors. Concerning this one faith, St. Paul
writes with unswerving, with unmeasured energy—
" nut though we, or an angel from heaven. preach any other
Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let
him be accursed.; As we said before so say.J now again. If any man
preach any other Gospel unto you than that ye have received, let
him be accursed."—Gal. 8, 9.
Here is no liberality ! Here is no
compromise ! Here is no
admission, falsely called " charitable," that differing state-
ments may be equally true ! No ; Divine truth is one ! It
is possible for a man to err from that truth ; it is possible for
an apostle to apostatize—one did so; it is possible for an
angel to fall into falsehood—many have so fallen ; but it is
not possible for the word of God, once delivered by his au-
thority, to alter or to deceive any who confides in it. Such is
the tone of the Apostle when he writes concerning the faith
revealed of God ; bnt hearken with what conciliatory sweet-
ness this same bold Apostle sings when his subject is differ-
ent, when it is not the unvarying faith which God has re-
vealed, but the many and different forms and ceremonies
which men with different degrees of light and equal sincerity
of conscience may,
He says when this
is his theme : or may not, adopt.
" One believeth that he may eat all things : another who is weak
eateth herbs. Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not ;
and let not him who eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath
received him. One man esteemeth one day above another; another
esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in
his own mind. He that regardeth the day regardeth it unto the
Lord ; and he that regardeth not the day to the Lord he doeth not
regard it. He that eateth eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God
thanks ; and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not and
giveth God thanks. Let us not therefore judge one another any
more ; but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or
an occasion to fall in his brother's way."—Rom. xiv. 2, a, 5,6, 13.
Here is no bigotry ! Here is no exclusiveness! Here is no
schismatical demand for outward uniformity because here
God had not commanded, and therefore men might be per-
mitted to prefer.
This is the true secret of Christian unity, to its utmost
practicable extent, during this present fallen estate. It is
rendered utterly impracticable by the rigid demands of
outward uniformity. Unity by coercion may be secured
for a season by human tyranny: unity by conviction can
only be secured by divine truth; and, therefore, where
God has not spoken, no man, or class of men, has any
right to insist upon unity. There may be reasons which
appear good and satisfactory to themselves for preferring cer-
tain ecclesiastical arrangements, as notonly more conducive in
themselves to the attainment of the desired end, but as also
more in accordance with the general tenor of the Holy Scrip-
ture and with the practice of Christians in ages past ; but
even so, though it may be right and fair to require compli-
ance with these arrangements as an indispensable condition
of membership in any particular or national society, it may
still be unfair and false to represent them as indispensable
conditions of membership in our common Christianity. A
practice, which may be existing for any given number of
centuries, is still an essentially different thing from a com-
mandment of God.
A practice, obtaining for a time, without
any rigid scrutiny comes, upon the first enquiry, to be de-
fended upon the ground of its having been a practice,: that
defence being once
admitted, and the practice thereupon
continued, the plea of prescription is, of course, upon every
subsequent examination, urged with increasing cogency.
The practice becomes more general as it becomes more
ancient, and thus gathering numbers as well as years, it pre-
sents itself at last in the overwhelming attributes of the
scraper, the tibique, arid the ab ommibus ; and yet, after all,
the origin of it may have been neither more nor less than a
mistake. A wise man will not rest simply contented with a
practice because it is old, but he will carefully examine
whether it deserves to grow old by having been good when
it was young. This distinction between the truth of God
and the ordinances of man, and this combination of intole-
rance and charity which we have traced in the apostle, are
strikingly characteristic of the protesting purifyers of the
church in the sixteenth century ,• arid the whole is admirably
condenced in the celebrated aphorism of Martin Luther—
" Charity bears all things—faith nothing." And this serves
to explain the position in which we ourselves now stand—a
position in which, I trust, we shall be all found standing and
maintain;; our ground with meekness and firmness in these
days of trial. As touching the truth of God revealed in
Scripture, and therein declared to be necessary to salvation,
we are inflexible, exclusive, intolerant : we deem it no un-
kindness to any man to reiterate faithfully what was spoken
plainly by Him who tasted death for every man ; and, there-
fore, concerning " the faith once delivered to the saints," we
have no hesitation in declaring that "except a man believe
it faithfully, he cannot be saved." Here, therefore, we are
entrenched in a Scriptural position of interminable hostility
against Romanism and against Unitarianism in all its grades,
from the highest Arian to the lowest Socinian modification
of that heresy. But, changing our subject, descending from
this high ground, and proceeding to speak of the ceremonies
which men have constructed with judgment and discretion as
seemed to them most in accordance with Scripture, and most
attainable under the circumstances and times of each, here we
become tolerant—here we become charitable-

E CHINCH OF

ST. MAR, LIVERPOOL

BY THE RLV. HUGH NPNEILE, M.A.

0•, Frith

1(b. 17, 1843

Jour, xtii., 20, 2

" chile,* I:ray I for thee alone, tat for tic in al
believe on me through their WOlll : Mat they :;
as thou, Father. art in rue and in thee, that thtl
one in us, that the wct hCmay believe that thou h

t,() Which shall

may Le one,
• alo may Le

,evt Inc."

The erection of another houk of prayer, its separation
from all the ordinary uses of this present evil world, its
consecration to the special service of Almighty God, that in
it the united supplications and thanksgivings of adoring
multitudes may be poured forth before Him, His own sacra-
mental institutions duly administered, and the everlasting
Gospel of His grace fully and boldly proclaimed—these are
circumstances of lively and unfeigned interest to the Chris-
tian heart, not for their own sake, ultimately as ends, but
for the sake of the great and glorious end towards the at-
tainment of which they are among the most efficient of ap-
pointed means.
We are zealous in the use of means. We set a high value
upon the ordinances of the church. We entertain, and are
neither ashamed nor afraid to avow and cultivate, an affec-
tionate fondness for the circumstantials of our religion, and
for the order and regularity, the punctuality and perseve-
rance, with which they are performed. Accusations of irre-
gularity have indeed been advanced against a class of the
national clergy, but more, it would seem, for the sake of an
antithesis in writing than for any foundation in fact. In-
stances of the kind are so rare, they are so notoriously ex-
ceptions, as to establish the rule of regularity instead of
supplying any fair or impartial ground for general condem-
nation : the antithesis, however, between ultra-formalism
and ultra-spiritualism, between Popery and Puritanism,
was too tempting to be omitted, especially as it went to
soften, by dividing, the reproof which was deemed indispen-
sable. But, after all, everything is comparative; and thus
far many of us are willing to plead guilty, if it be guilt, that
while we sincerely love the courts and avenues and precincts
which surround the royal citadel of our Zion, our soul's chief
delight is in Him who dwells within the citadel itself, the
light of the presence-chamber, the glory of the throne; all
is but preface and introduction at the best till we come to
Him : all our best means are but as temporal scaffoldings
needful through our infirmity, for the erection of the temple
of his body, and then to be removed for ever.
Called upon, therefore, my brethren, in obedience to the
commands of our Bishop, to address you upon this occasion,
I have determined to pass by all comparatively preliminary,
although important topics, all statistical exhibitions, for ex-
ample, of the need of church accommodation, all arguments
to spew that nothing short of the instruction we have to give
can really and permanently benefit the community; and I have
selected a portion of Scripture which will lead us at once to
the contemplation of that " temple not made with hands,"
of which the Lord Jesus Christ is declared to be the " foun-
dation stone," the " chief corner stone," the " head-stone
of the corner," and which is described as " an habitation
for God through the spirit."
Considering the Church of God thus, not in the narrow-
ness of any temporary or local interest, but in the genuine
catholicity of all ages and all nations, even to the end, the
prayer of our Saviour in the 17th chapter of John may, with
much propriety, be called his great consecrational prayer.
Having concluded his address of affectionate consolation to
his disciples. he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and addressed
himself to God the Father : his prayer was riot mental
only, hut vocal also ; the disciples heard it ; and the
Holy Spirit, according to the promise, brought it with
such clearness to the remembrance of John, that he
was enabled to write it down that it might be preserved
from age to age without omission or adulteration at the
hands of man. If it had not been written, it would,
in all probability, have shared the fate of many other
things which Jesus Christ said which were not written—that
is, it would have been altogether lost or so misrepresented
as to be worse than lost. A remarkable instance of this kind
is supplied by an incident recorded in the twenty-first chap-
ter of this gospel. Hearing our Lord's prophecy concerning
himself, arid seeing John, Peter said—
" Lord what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him. If I will
that he tarry till I come what is that to thee? Follow thou me.
Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple
should not die, yet Jesus said not to hint He shall not die but if I
will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ?—v. v. 21, 22, 23."
Thus, a saying went forth among the apostolic brethren pro-
fessing to be a saying of Jesus Christ, and yet Jesus Christ
had not said it ! How plainly does this prove that even
those who had the advantage of hearing our Lord himself
speak could not be trusted for the transmission of anything
with accuracy from mouth to mouth And how humbly and
heartily thankful it should make us for the statement con-
tained in the conclusion of the 20th chapter—
" And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his
disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written
that ye must believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing ye might have life through his name."—v.v. 30, 31.
It is strongly intimated here that if nothing had been written
we could not have believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of
God, at least with any confidence; but in the divine mercy
enough is written for ffiith and life :—" these are written that
ye might have faith and life." Whatsoevermore than is written
man requires for the arrangement in detail of man's affairs,
whether civil or ecclesiastical, must be acquired by the exercise
of his own reason or from the instrnction of his fellow-
men ; and with regard to all such subordinate matters, every
wise man will carefully exercise his own reason, and every
prudent and modest man will gladly avail '..:reself of the ex-
perience, wisdom and judgment of those who have lived be-
fore him. But whilst, with regard to such matters, he does
so, he will as carefully guard against admitting any addition
to the written Will of God as of necessity to salvation ; he
will remember that if anything beyond the boundaries of the
written Word be admitted as divine, an indefinite door is
opened, and no man can afterwards with any accuracy define
what or how much of what claims to be divine is divine in-
deed. That it does not carry with it its own evidence, and
so put an end to controversy, is clear, because even its own
advocates are not agreed as to its extent ; therefore, instead
of being the rectifier of interpretation and the terminator of
controversy, such a claim becomes of itself a source of per-
petual contention. The interpretations of it vary as widely
as the interpretations of Scripture ; and, therefore, in ad-
mitting it, whilst we gain nothing in point of harmony, we
lose everything in point of definiteness and consequent sa-
tisfaction. If divine revelation be indefinite in its contents,
which it must be if it be not all written, then no conscientious
man of a tender spirit can ever enjoy what it is the privi-
lege of every Christian man to enjoy—peace with God,
because lie can never be sure that the whole of God's
will concerning him has been made known to him,
and the part which may not have yet reached him may
contain something vital, of which he is still ignorant.
To propagate such a view of divine revelation is to pro-
pagate tantalizing torture to the awakened sinner, instead
of " peace on earth, good will towards men."
Our Lord's intercessory prayer is conveyed to us with
written accuracy. It is first for himself in the concluding
stages of his earthly struggles ; it is then for his first and
immediate disciples, distinguishing them from the world,
" I pray for them, I pray not for the world ;" then, ex-
tending his views along the succeeding ages of his church to
the end, be prays, not for those first disciples alone, but he
adds " for them also who shall believe on me through their
word." To this description of the persons here prayed for
I invite attention.
If we would interpret aright the unity implored in what
follows, we must begin by understanding aright who are the
persons for whom that blessing is sought,—" them which
shall believe on me through their word." The distinguishing
mark here laid down of the persons for whom Christ prays
is, not that they shall hear the word of the Apostles ; it is not
that they shall be baptised; it. is not that they shall be en-
rolled as members of any visible community however pri-
vileged ; but it is that they shall believe on Him. To be as-
sured that this contrast is not casual but real compare it with
the description elsewhere given by our Lord of the whole
company that should be called by his name. That company
should not be confined to those that believe on Him ; it
should contain foolish virgins as well as wise ; tares as well
as wheat ; bad fishes as well as good ; guests without a wed-
ding garment, as well as guests properly and acceptably
clothed. He frequently describes that company in its inter-
mixture for a time, and then in its separation to the right
hand and to the left, at the last. Speaking in parables, lie
also speaks in prophecy, the imagery of the parable supply-
ing a vehicle upon which the general outline of events is con-
veyed until the harvest, the end of the age. He describes as
it were a great river, flowing through this lower world ; its
course and its boundaries are visible to man, the margin of
its banks is easily discerned and separated from the surround-
ing waste of heathenism ; it is all without discrimination
called by the name of Christ, but advancing closer to it, and
looking into it more carefully, lie detects and invites us to
contemplate a two-fold stream therein—one muddy and de-
filed from the earth through which it flows—the other clear,
retaining, without pollution, the character of the spring in
the rock from whence it originally issued. For this pure
stream he prays that its purity fail not. He describes a
large company of travellers passing through this world; they
are all, without discrimination, called by his name : the king-
dom of heaven is likened to them all; but approaching them
more closely, he discerns two companies, and describes them.
Some have entered by a wide gate, and are travelling upon a
broad road, which, he tells us, leads to destruction ; others
have entered by a strait gate, and are travelling upon a nar-
row road, which, he says, leads unto life,—for these he prays.
He describes a large multitude of hearers; they all hear the
word given by inspiration to the apostles and prophets the
seed is the word of God, which is sown indiscriminately
among them all, but approaching them more closely, he de-
scribes way-side hearers, stony-ground hearers, thorny-
ground hearers, none of whom bring any fruit to perfection.
The word profits them not, not being mixed with faith in
them that hear it. He also describes good ground hearers,
who receive the word, and keep it, and bring forth fruit,
" some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred fold"—for
these he prays.
This serves clearly to point out the difference between the
word considered in itself and the effects which may be pro-
duced by its instrumentality among men. Considered in it-
self the word is not necessarily attended with any saving
effects. It is a communication from God to the senses of
men : our eyes see it written, our ears hear it spoken, but no
communication to the senses can, of itself, reach so as to pu.
rify the heart, and influence so as to save the man. This is
true not only of the word as a communication to our eyes
and ears, but also of water as poured upon our bodies,
and of bread and wine as taken into our mouths. No
external communication can, of itself, reach and purify the
heart. Only by faith, " the evidence of things not seen,"
bringing men into communication with the unseen world,
and especially with God; only by faith can the heart
be purified, and only by the immediate power of God, who
made the heart, can that "evidence" be thoroughly con,
veyed into it. In so speaking I do not advance a private
interpretation of the Scriptures, but also the verdict unani-
mously pronounced by our church reformers, who do, upon
both sides, separate the outward ordinance from the spiritual
blessing, and upon both sides unite the blessing with faith.
I refer especially to the 29th article, as compared with a
remarkable rubric in the Service for the Visitation of the
Sick. The article says

.e—here we become
_ our own arrangements the very
carnally and visibly press with • their teeth the sacrament of the body for saying, that we think
.
"The wicked,and such as be void of a lively faith,although they do concilia.tory.Wedo indeed say, and we publish our reasons
and blood of Christ, yet in 110 wise :are they partakers of Christ." best, and most in accordance. with Scripture, that areetxhiesrteining
—Art. xxix.
in the world ; but, even so, although we find therein excellent
them as of divine authority upon others.
The rubric referred to says reasons for preferring them ou
,w do not find
reason and candour of a
of warning in due time to the curate, or for lack of company to What man, with the common
"If a man, either by reason of extremity of sickness, or for want reasons for imposing
some of which has been rendered receive with him, or by any other just impediment do not receive with Scripture and history before him, would, for example,
the sacrament of Christ's body and blood, the curate shall instruct venture to speak of the diocesan divisions of our kingdom, the
him that it he do truly repent him of his sins and stedfastly believe
that Jesus Christ bath suffered death upon the cross for him, and
phy-
shed
his blood for his redemption, earnestly remembering the be. malty impracticable by the prodigious increase of population
ho would speak of those divisions as we all cordially
netts he hath thereby, and giving him hearty thanks therefore, he --w
effectual. oversight of
fitably to his soul's health, although he do not receive the sacramentinstitution of
doth eat and drink the body and blood of our Saviour Christ pro speak of the divine episcopacy itself rightly
with his mouth."—Rubric for the Communion of Sick. me to belong present what appears to . , to its right adminis-
administered? I cannot, of course, attempt to define
.at
Here, upon the one side, where there is no faith, a man tration essentially, or what deviations might be made from
may receive the sacrament with his mouth, and yet be in no our Present mode without fatally vitiating the divine institu-
teraise a partaker of Christ; and upon the other side, where tion • but I ask again, what man of common sense will take
roal to his sours health," without receiving the sa-andupon
permanent forms of prayer, of our sponsors in baptism,
hre is faith, a man may eat the body and blood or, Christ ' him to speak of our parochial divisions, of our printed
crament with his mouth, External things may indeed be f kneeling at the Lord's table, of our ecclesiastical ar-
il the instruments of conveyin
of our singing or not singing before
sory, comprehensive prayer of Christ, the only external in-
g faith to the heart; but it cohitellcrture in its details,
is every way worthy of consideration, that in this interces- the prayers are read, of our reading or not reading any par-
strument of faith he mentions is the Word. His other ex- ory of such things
wine—are, rather, instruments for the conveyance of more I' it faithfully, as these, as we all speak of " the
ternal appointments in his church—as water, and bread and faith once' delivered to the saints," that unless a man be-
grace where faith already exists :
grace increased" by them when rightly
•
received but
pur-
faith is confirmed and things,ieves we do indeed say, speaking of our own countrymen—.
his private judgment willingly and
caunot be rightly received except where faith theyalre;dyexist, •• Whosoever through
and it may be confirmed. The Word posely doth openly breaktrep
ugnalli tO the word ceremonies
and be or.
, Upon the contrary, is
the first the traditions and of the
the dnely-appointed instrument for conveying churchci whichd be
vueo
by
p p d common authority, ought to be rebuked
actings of faith into the human heart. No writes St, Punt— openlydan sod
tgilrn3TS nay fear to do the like) as be that offendeth