{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_54645/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_54645","id":"gutenberg_54645","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54645","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Corinthians, 2nd, II, 17-III, 1-6 -- Sermons","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Sermons, English -- 19th century"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1842 J. Hatchard and Son edition by David Price,\nemail ccx074@pglaf.org\n\n\n\n\n\n                 THE TRUE MINISTERS OF CHRIST ACCREDITED\n                           BY THE HOLY SPIRIT.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                A SERMON,\n\n                               PREACHED AT\n\n                              THE VISITATION\n\n                                  OF THE\n\n                    VENERABLE THE ARCHDEACON OF DERBY,\n\n                                    IN\n\n                           ALL SAINTS\u2019 CHURCH,\n\n                          ON THE 21ST JUNE, 1842\n\n                      BY THE REV. PHILIP GELL, M.A.\n              MINISTER OF ST. JOHN\u2019S, DERBY, AND RURAL DEAN.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                 PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE CLERGY.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                  J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY;\n                 AND W. BEMROSE, AND W. ROWBOTTOM, DERBY.\n\n                                  1842.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n               S. J. PALMER, PRINTER, SAVOY-STREET, STRAND.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                    TO\n                              THE VENERABLE\n                      WALTER AUGUSTUS SHIRLEY, M.A.\n                           ARCHDEACON OF DERBY,\n\n                                  AND TO\n\n                         THE REVEREND THE CLERGY,\n\n          ASSEMBLED AT THE VISITATION HELD IN DERBY, A.D. 1842,\n\n                               THIS SERMON\n                              IS DEDICATED,\n                     WITH TRUE RESPECT AND AFFECTION,\n                        BY THEIR FAITHFUL SERVANT,\n                          AND BROTHER IN CHRIST,\n\n                                                               THE AUTHOR.\n\n_Derby_, _June_ 21, 1842.\n\n\n\n\nSERMON.\n\n\n                         2 COR. ii. 17, and iii. 1\u20136.\n\n    \u201cFor we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of\n    sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ.\n    Do we begin again to commend ourselves?  Or need we, as some others,\n    epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?\n    Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men:\n    forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ\n    ministered by us; written, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the\n    living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the\n    heart.  And such trust have we through Christ to Godward; not that we\n    are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but\n    our sufficiency is of God; who hath made us able ministers of the New\n    Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter\n    killeth, but the spirit giveth life.\u201d\n\nTo \u201cspeak the same thing,\u201d\u2014to \u201cbe of one mind in the LORD,\u201d\u2014to be\naltogether one in the FATHER, and in the SON, as they are one, is the\nproper habitude of all the members of the church, and especially of all\nministers of the word, of GOD.\n\nBecause, however, of human imperfections, differences have arisen in the\nchurch, even from the earliest and holiest days.  Wherefore controversy\nin the present day need not surprise us; nor should we shun it as if it\nwere necessarily unchristian; nor is any man obliged to take part in it\nwith any other feelings than such as are holy and benignant.  With good\nwill may we withstand or intreat one another, or earnestly contend for\nthe faith against an adversary.\n\nDid not the apostle Paul withstand Peter to the face, with feelings\nanything but personally hostile, because he was to be blamed for his\ndissembling example: and does not the silence of the story most\neloquently speak the silent and affectionate concession of the brother\nwho was blamed?\n\nDo not the words, which I have just read, bring before us another early\nconflict in holy times: when \u201cmany\u201d teachers of the word of GOD\n\u201ccorrupted\u201d it, and the apostle had to maintain the truth against them as\n\u201c_false apostles_\u201d {2} appealing in his own behalf to sanctions given to\nhim by GOD Himself?  And are we not safely to conclude that his zeal and\ncharity in the contest obtained a blessed recompense in the preservation\nof many from those ruinous corruptions.\n\nNow it is observable that the apostle concentrates the strength of his\ndefence, in this particular passage, in an appeal to the work of the HOLY\nSPIRIT of GOD attending his ministrations.  Whatever might be the truths\nor errors brought into question,\u2014whether concerning the HOLY GHOST\nHimself, or other subjects of a different nature,\u2014there were such effects\nof his labours to be seen, as would prove the presence of that DIVINE\nSPIRIT with _his_ ministry, and not with the contrary.  And hence we may\ninfer, that though all teachers among Christians will assert their\npossession of the SPIRIT, all may not possess Him; and the teaching of\nsome may want this remarkable and distinguishing evidence of being from\nGOD.\n\nWe need not dissemble that our own Church is Corinthian in this respect\nin the present day.  We clergy are so.  We cannot\u2014(and in my heart I feel\ndeeply what I say)\u2014we cannot all be right.  And it is my honest and\nheart-rending conviction, that some of our differences are such, as will\nseparate us for ever, if we die in them.\n\nBut come now, and let us reason together.  We have all, by our outward\nvocation, one common interest in one common and most momentous work.  We\nhave to save our own souls, and the souls of them that hear us.  Our\nresponsibilities reach into eternity!  May we by love so serve one\nanother that we may all be workers together with GOD in the immense\ndesign, for which His Son our Saviour died upon the cross; that in the\ngreat day of His appearing many converted souls may be _our_ \u201cepistles of\ncommendation\u201d before His throne in glory!\n\nConcerning the great controversy, which at present pervades our church,\nsome things relate to the Holy Ghost Himself, some more especially to the\nLord Jesus Christ, some to the Holy Scriptures, some more particularly to\nthe church.\n\nWhatever of these I may notice, I wish to keep the HOLY SPIRIT\nprominently in our view, and to make our truth or error, _as bearing upon\nHim_, the main matter of our discourse.  The general subject will be _The\nsanction of that DIVINE PERSON in the HOLY TRINITY_, _attending one sort\nof doctrine and ministry_, _and not another_, _and the evidences to be\nobserved of the fact_: and it will involve this question, namely, Who are\n_the true ministers of the LORD JESUS CHRIST_, _accredited by the HOLY\nGHOST_?\n\nIf I state things which some of us well know, I feel confident that they\nwill admit the importance of my bringing them before others, who may not\nbe aware of the position at which we are already arrived in the matters\nwe have to speak of.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  The first thing which I have to propound is this: That _the HOLY\nGHOST is the essential Agent in the right administration and reception of\ndivine ordinances_.  In this, taken generally, we are all agreed.\n\nNone of us doubts that the words of the apostle to the presbyters of\nEphesus would now apply to all true presbyters of CHRIST: \u201cTake heed to\nyourselves, and to all the flock, over which _the HOLY GHOST hath made\nyou_ overseers, to feed the church of GOD, which He hath purchased with\nHis own blood.\u201d {5a}  So, the seven deacons were \u201cmen full of the HOLY\nGHOST and wisdom.\u201d {5b}  The word also is said to be \u201cpreached _with the\nHOLY GHOST_ sent down from heaven:\u201d to come to those hearing it aright,\n\u201cin power _and in the HOLY GHOST_, and in much assurance;\u201d {5c} and to be\nreceived with \u201c_joy_ _of the HOLY GHOST_;\u201d and \u201c_in demonstration of the\nSpirit_ and of power.\u201d {5d}  And so, both in regard to ministers and\nmembers of the church, it is declared, that \u201cto one is given _by the\nSPIRIT_ the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge _by the same\nSPIRIT_, to another faith _by the same SPIRIT_;\u201d\u2014all these more ordinary\ngifts, as well as those which were miraculous, \u201cworketh that one and the\nself-same SPIRIT, dividing to every man severally as he will.\u201d {6a}  And\nwhen it is also solemnly declared\u2014\u201cI give you to understand, that _no\nman_ can say (aright) that JESUS is the LORD, _but by the HOLY GHOST_,\u201d\n{6b}\u2014and that \u201cif any man have _not_ the SPIRIT OF CHRIST, he is none of\nHis;\u201d {6c}\u2014how clear and unquestionable is the conclusion, that _the HOLY\nGHOST must be the essential Agent_ in the right administration and\nreception of divine ordinances; and that in fact there can be none\nwithout Him, in the minds both of ministers and people.\n\nHence it was that, in the words before us, the apostle declared his\n\u201c_sufficiency_ to be of GOD;\u201d that it was of GOD that he ministered the\nword without corrupting it, as some did; and that the beautiful\nlineaments of the living christian character, which he had been the means\nof producing in them, were actually produced by the HOLY GHOST, thus\ndivinely authenticating the office and instrumental ministrations of the\napostle.  Here was the writing of his recommendatory letters.\n\nThis view of things carries in it the point, that no man can be a true\nminister of Jesus Christ, unless the SPIRIT of CHRIST be with him.  And\nso general is the conviction of this as a fact, that strange indeed would\nit be to find a single bishop, priest, or deacon of our church, who\nshould not feel it essential to his integrity to lay claim to this holy\nauthentication of himself from God to men.\n\nNow here is the question!  Let us calmly and seriously examine it.  Can\nwe all have the HOLY GHOST, who lay claim to His presence and power with\nus?  I propose to meet this question negatively, and therefore,\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  My next position is the following: _That it is impossible to suppose\nthat we ALL have the HOLY GHOST_, _who lay claim to his presence and\npower in our ministrations_.\n\n1.  The awful ungodliness of some of us too plainly proves the truth of\nthis, believe it who will.  It is fearful to think of their standing as\nthey are in the sanctuary of the Most HOLY GOD!  \u201cTo the wicked GOD\nsaith, What hast thou to do, to declare my statutes, and to take my\ncovenant in thy mouth?  Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my\nwords behind thee.\u201d {7}\n\n2.  But, alas!  It is not only the unholy beyond dispute that may fail of\nthe HOLY GHOST.  What say the habits of vain conversation in many; their\nease and pleasure in worldly occupations and amusements; their constraint\nunder sacred employments, their gladness when such works are done?  Must\n_their_ hearts be the temples of the HOLY GHOST?  Will He make the word\nto be \u201cthe power of GOD,\u201d to honour _their_ preaching of it; or the\nsacraments means of grace, to own _their_ administration?  May He not,\ndoes He not refuse to do so?  Where is the fruit of their labour?\n\n3.  But even were we questionable in nothing but points of doctrine and\nreligious practices which we teach, this were enough, not only to raise\nthe question, whether we minister by the HOLY GHOST, but also to\ndetermine it.  For the SPIRIT cannot testify to _both_ of two systems\n_differing_ from one another in many fundamental points.\n\nSuch are the two systems at present in agitation.  That of Protestant\nEvangelical Christianity on the one hand, and that of Anglo-catholicity\non the other: the one rejecting Romanism in all its peculiarities; the\nother sympathizing with it, and avowedly rejecting the principles of the\nProtestant faith. {8a}  The controversy is not new, though it has seldom\nbeen so vigorously conducted on either side as now.  The same spirits\nwere in active warfare some forty years ago. {8b}  But, in fact, it has\nbeen fairly said by one of the chief writers on the Anglo-catholic side,\nthat there have ever been these two principal parties in the Church of\nEngland, whom he calls the _Apostolical_ and the _Puritan_; introducing a\nthird also, (not now in the controversy,) namely, the Latitudinarian.\n{9a}\n\nIn point of _doctrine_, the terms Apostolical, Laudian, Orthodox, and\nAnglo-catholic, have more or less of connexion with each other; and the\nterms Evangelical, Puritan, Calvinistic, and Protestant, have a similar\naffinity.\n\n_a_.  Now it has often been acknowledged by the opposite party, that the\ncompilers of our Articles were not only Protestant, but Calvinistic, and\nwhat we now call Evangelical, in their religious views.  It has often\nbeen felt and allowed, that, in the _plain and full meaning_ of these\nArticles, according to their _literal and grammatical sense_, which the\nroyal Declaration peremptorily claims for them, without admitting of _any\nnew sense_ whatever, they favour less the Laudians and the Arminians,\nthan the Puritans and Calvinists. {9b}  In this sense they are freely and\nconfidently appealed to by the latter; and the appeal is ever most\nhappily and strongly sustained by other appeals to the writings of the\nReformers, in proof of what they meant.  The true Protestants, therefore,\nare perceived to have always had the best of the controversy, when\nconducted by sustaining the full and literal sense on the one hand, and\nsoftening it down on the other:\u2014wherefore it is now attempted, with a\ndetermination never shown before, not merely to incline the Articles to\nspeak a softer Protestantism; but at once to seize them violently, and\nforce them to an absolute recantation; or, to stifle them under the\nreiterated pressure of directly antagonist opinions; affirming, against\nevidence, that those opinions were _intended_ by the compilers to be\nadmissible into the meaning! {11}\n\nThey thus, in purpose, completely take away the old, and substitute a new\nconfession of faith, whatever care may seem to be taken to retain the\nform of words.  And, casting out the _Writings_ of our Reformers also, as\na Court of Appeal, and proposing extraordinary additions to our\nFormularies, and various ceremonial innovations, they declare it to be\ntheir intention to _unprotestantize_ {12} the Church of England\naltogether, and to re-unite her, in due time, with the Church of Rome.\nAnd they are steadily and gradually advancing.\n\nWhile they are labouring with most devoted assiduity at this achievement,\nwe, on the other hand, are firmly maintaining our old Church of England\nground, standing by our old appeals as resolutely as ever, and humbly\nbelieving that the same GOD, who has for years been gradually and\nsteadily increasing our numbers and our strength, will still go on to\nincrease them, until the Church of England shall stand in the full and\nundisputed possession of the sons of her reforming fathers; and _true_\nAnglo-catholicity shall be the share which the English _Protestant_\nChurch shall enjoy in Catholic Christianity throughout the world.\n\nBut now, the question is, how can we possibly imagine that the HOLY GHOST\ncan accredit _both_ these opposing systems, and the advocates of _both_,\nso essentially differing from each other?  For, _either_ the whole system\nof the Protestant Reformation, and of our Church as Protestant, is one\nenormous, awful, and tremendous error; or Anglo-catholics are doubly\ndishonest, first to the Church of England, which they still subscribe to;\nand secondly to the TRUTH of GOD according to our confession of faith.\nThe decision of the question may be suspended for a moment.\n\n_b_.  The more we inquire into this subject, the wider will the\ndifference appear to be.  There is one most vital part of it, on which I\nwill not say much; because it is so generally heard of, and amongst\nourselves so easily understood.  I mean the union, by the\nAnglo-catholics, of tradition with Holy Scripture as the Rule of Faith,\n{13a} in direct contradiction (as I think) to our sixth Article.  It is\ncontradictory also to testimony upon testimony from their own favourite\nFathers and Divines, {13b} as well as the Reformers; and even to the\nplainest testimony of Holy Scripture itself.  \u201cFrom I child,\u201d says the\nSPIRIT of GOD by St. Paul to Timothy, \u201cthou hast known the Holy\nScriptures, which are able to make thee _wise unto salvation_ though\nfaith which is in CHRIST JESUS.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of\nGOD; and is profitable for reproof, for correction, for instruction in\nrighteousness; that the man of GOD may be PERFECT, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED\nunto all good works.\u201d {14}\n\nHere, in particular, an opposition of sentiments appears upon a vital\npoint, in which the HOLY GHOST, in the very nature of things, can only\ntake one side.\n\nBut they _want_ the tradition, and therefore they must have it.  It\nsupports superstitions, which Scripture will not.  And the difficulty of\nexplaining _ignota per ignotiora_ aggravates the importance of a present\npriesthood to explain both, as may seem good to them, without the\npossibility of popular private judgment being exercised on their\ninterpretations and conclusions.\n\n_c_.  Again; their doctrine of mystery in religion, putting, (by a\nstrange mutation,) the most obvious things for the deepest, is made\nparticularly to produce a comparative silence respecting the atonement of\nthe LORD JESUS CHRIST.  It is remarkable that they should choose for the\nexample of this mysterious reserve, the very subject concerning which the\nApostle St. Paul declares to the Corinthians, \u201cI am determined not to\nknow anything _among you_, save JESUS CHRIST, and Him crucified:\u201d \u201cWe\npreach not ourselves, but CHRIST JESUS the LORD:\u201d \u201cWe preach CHRIST\n_crucified_!\u201d {15a}  But then, _their_ Christ crucified, by a painful\nperversion, is shown to be _self_-crucified; tears, and penances, and\nmortifications constituting their substitution for sin, (atonement I\ncannot call it;) while CHRIST is kept back, chiefly for mere sacramental\nexhibition. {15b}\n\nThat glorious name of Jesus, \u201cTHE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,\u201d they almost\nveil from our sight, as far as His _obedience to the law_ for us is\nconcerned; and His sole justification, _wrought for us_, they actually\ndisplace by another thing.  The Lutheran doctrine upon the subject, which\nis that of our eleventh Article, is called _radically and __fundamentally\nmonstrous_, _immoral_, _heretical_, _and antichristian_. {16a}  And\njustification, instead of being by the works and deserving of CHRIST\naccounted unto us, and received by faith, is said to consist in the\n\u201chabitation of Christ in us,\u201d or \u201cof GOD the FATHER, and the WORD\nincarnate, through the HOLY GHOST:\u201d \u201cthe SPIRIT\u2019S work, not CHRIST\u2019S:\u201d\n\u201can imparting of righteousness;\u201d {16b} \u201cnot imputation merely, but the\nact of God imparting His divine presence to the soul through baptism, and\nso making us temples of the HOLY GHOST.\u201d {16c}  But something also is\nsaid about our being able to \u201c_obey_ unto justification,\u201d {16d} in\nopposition to Luther; which intimates clearly that human works, resulting\nfrom this indwelling, are to be the substantial justifying material; and\nfaith is to be the first of those works.  For when they refer to the\nArticle, asserting that \u201c_we are justified by faith only_,\u201d they say,\n\u201cFaith, as being the _beginning of perfect or justifying righteousness_,\nis taken for what it tends towards, or ultimately will be.  It is said by\nanticipation to be that which it promises; just as one might pay a\nlabourer his hire, before he began his _work_.\u201d {16e}  And thus, their\nChrist _justifying_ seems to be made much like their _Christ crucified_\nin us; _self_ imitating CHRIST in another part of His work.  A more\ncomplete removal of the SAVIOUR out of His place in the great work of\nredemption, with a specious introduction of the HOLY GHOST to aid in the\nremoval, that man may do the _work_ of his _own justification_, it is not\neasy to conceive.  Whether this be right or not, judge ye.  But that the\nHOLY GHOST should testify _both_ to this justification, _and_ to that\nwhich is by faith only in the righteousness of CHRIST, which is the\njustification of the Protestant Reformers and their Evangelical\ndescendants, it is clearly impossible to suppose.\n\n_d_.  The HOLY GHOST himself, and all that religion which consists in\nspiritual experience, are expressly removed from full and ordinary\nteaching,\u2014the glory and excellency of them being consigned to reverential\nreserve! {17}\n\nThe new birth of the soul by the SPIRIT, (except as in baptism,) the\nfruits of the SPIRIT in holiness, the comfort of the SPIRIT, the witness\nof the SPIRIT, the seal, the earnest, the fellowship, the indwelling, the\nanointing of the HOLY SPIRIT,\u2014His work as a SPIRIT of wisdom and\nrevelation in the knowledge of CHRIST, and the deep things of GOD,\u2014a\nSPIRIT of intercession, a SPIRIT of adoption, a SPIRIT of glory, and all\nother subjects of Christian experience, are to be said little\nabout,\u2014while it is the very _fear_ of others that they should grieve and\ndishonour this glorious Person in the ever-blessed Trinity by not fully\ndeclaring them.  They are deeply impressed by the fact that His work is\nequally essential to their salvation with that of JESUS Himself, and full\nof consolation and delight.  And some perhaps may be the more intent upon\npreaching all that ever appertains to Him from a spirit of holy jealousy,\nknowing that it is a subject in which so many of us halt.\n\nAnd what is their substitute?  Mere morality with some: devotions,\nfastings, and almsgiving, with our brethren who are more in earnest; all\nbusy in suspending fruits upon the evil tree, to make it good; instead of\n\u201cfirst looking to the SPIRIT of GOD to make the tree good, that his fruit\nmay be good also.\u201d {18}\n\n_e_.  The _sacraments_ are a subject in which the difference and the\ncontroversy exhibit remarkably strong characteristics.  Our\nAnglo-catholics, it is evident, use the very term _sacrament_ as if the\n_spiritual grace signified_ thereby constituted the substantial meaning\nof the term: but our twenty-ninth Article shows at once that our\nReformers applied it to the _outward sign_; \u201cThe _sign_ OR _sacrament_ of\nso great a thing:\u201d and they there apply the term to the bread and wine,\nin _contra-distinction_ to the body and blood of CHRIST.  In the\ntwenty-fifth Article the sense is carried out, and the term is applied to\nthe _ceremony_, still having reference to that, which is ordained of God\nindeed, but perceived by the outward senses.  And these are essential\nmatters: for there is no sacrament, by the same article, where there is\nno visible _sign_ or _ceremony ordained_ of GOD.  _Baptism_ is called a\n_sign_ of regeneration, whereby they that receive it rightly are, as by a\nsignificant process or instrument, not regenerated, but visibly \u201cgrafted\ninto the church,\u201d as already regenerated; {19} and \u201chave the promises of\nforgiveness and adoption,\u201d not then first brought home to their souls,\nbut \u201cvisibly signed and sealed\u201d to them;\u2014\u201cfaith,\u201d not first imparted, but\n\u201cstirred up\u201d\u2014and \u201cgrace,\u201d not first given, but \u201cincreased, by virtue of\nprayer to GOD.\u201d\n\nAnd if the Liturgy and Catechism speak of the inward and spiritual grace\nsignified as _part_ of the sacrament, or seem to say that the sacrament\nof baptism, as much as that of the Lord\u2019s Supper, is _a mean_ of\nreceiving that particular grace which is signified,\u2014they should be\nexplained so as to harmonize with the Articles, which do already\nharmonize with Holy Scripture.  It is a _part_, not as tied to the Form\nin time and place, but as the distinct reality, on which all the value of\nthe formal representation is founded, and which therefore should always\nbe steadily eyed in it. {20}\n\nIt is evident that our twenty-seventh Article contemplated, in the body\nof it, the baptism of adults, spiritually born.  And though our ritual\nprefers to _pray_ for the HOLY SPIRIT, that they may _then_ surely have\nHis regenerating grace, to presuming on the previous certainty of its\nexperience; yet the certain answer to this prayer is assuredly taken for\ngranted as the ceremony proceeds; inasmuch as the acts of living souls\nare forthwith required of the subjects _before_ they are baptized;\nnamely, that they can speak spiritually, and deliver \u201cthe answer of a\ngood conscience before God\u201d in the exercise of repentance and faith, and\nthe avowal of them.  And so it is observable, that though our form of\n_infant baptism_ prefers to _implore_ regeneration _then_, to presuming\ncertainly that the infant _is_ regenerated ere he comes, yet the fact is\n_presumed_ to be granted _previously_ to the answers being made; for they\nare the answers of a new-born soul.  Charity afterwards hopeth all\nthings, though often disappointed.  And thus our church uniformly goes\nupon the apostolic rule, given in answer to the question, \u201cWhat doth\nhinder me to be baptized?\u201d viz., \u201c_If thou believest with all thine\nheart_, (which is the fruit of regenerating grace, {22a}) thou mayest.\u201d\nA heart, even in infants, that would show faith, if organs served, is\npresumed to be; for \u201cexcept they be born again, they cannot see the\nkingdom of GOD.\u201d {22b}  The law has no exception.\n\nThe terms _baptize_ and _baptism_ are used in Scripture to express the\nspiritual regeneration as well as the mystical.  On the one hand, we hear\nof \u201cthe _Baptism_ of John;\u201d \u201cI indeed _baptize_ you with water;\u201d \u201che that\nbelieveth and is _baptized_, shall be saved;\u201d \u201cCHRIST sent me not to\n_baptize_;\u201d \u201cthere is one _baptism_;\u201d \u201cthey were _baptized_ in the name\nof JESUS;\u201d \u201c_baptizing_ them in the name of the FATHER, and of the SON,\nand of the HOLY GHOST;\u201d and many other instances, having reference only\nto baptism with water.  On the other hand, we read, with reference to\n_spiritual_ baptism, \u201cHe shall _baptize you_,\u201d saith John, concerning\nJesus, \u201c_with the HOLY GHOST_ and fire;\u201d {23a} where water is not\ncontemplated: \u201c_By one SPIRIT are_ we all\u201d \u201c_baptized_ into one body.\u201d\n{23b}  \u201cSo many of us as were baptized into JESUS CHRIST, were baptized\ninto His death.  Therefore we are buried with Him by the _baptism unto\ndeath_, that like as CHRIST was raised from the dead by the glory of the\nFATHER, even so we also should walk in _newness of life_.  Our old man is\ncrucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed;\u201d and that we\nshould \u201cyield ourselves unto GOD, as those that are _alive from the\ndead_.\u201d {23c}  And St. Peter, speaking of the salvation of Noah through\nthe flood, says, \u201cThe antitype, or counterpart, of which, even _baptism_,\ndoth also now save us; not the putting away of the filth of the _flesh_,\u201d\n(which is of water baptism,) \u201cbut the answer of a _good conscience_\ntowards GOD,\u201d (which is of spiritual baptism,) \u201cby the resurrection of\nJESUS CHRIST from the dead.\u201d  You have it {24a} also, where the apostle\nspeaks of the Colossians as \u201ccircumcised with the circumcision made\nwithout hands,\u201d and \u201c_buried_ with CHRIST in _baptism_, wherein also they\nwere _risen with Him through faith_ of the operation of GOD, and\n_quickened together with Him_.\u201d {24b}\n\nNow, whether this latter _baptism_ is, or is not, ever without the\nformer, and the washing of the SPIRIT only synchronous, or not, with that\nof water; it is unquestionably evident that the two things are perfectly\n_distinct_, the one from the other.\n\nProceed, however, a step further, and observe that it is not water\nbaptism which the HOLY oracles speak of as the mean, instrument, or\nchannel, of spiritual baptism or regeneration, but _the Holy Scriptures\nthemselves_ without it; and immediately the general _separation_ of the\ntwo is as clear as the distinction between them.  \u201cOf His own will,\u201d\nsaith St. James, \u201cbegat He us with _the word of truth_.\u201d {24c}  \u201cBeing\nborn again,\u201d saith St. Peter, \u201cnot of corruptible seed, but of\nincorruptible, by _the word of GOD_, which liveth and abideth for ever.\u201d\n\u201cAnd this is the word, which by the Gospel, (not water-baptism,) is\npreached unto you.\u201d {25a}  And add to this, concerning the thousands of\noutwardly baptized sinners, the testimony of St. John, that \u201c_whosoever\nis born of GOD doth not commit sin_; _in this_ the children of GOD are\nmanifest, and the children of the devil, _whosoever doeth not\nrighteousness is not of GOD_;\u201d {25b} and the proof is conclusive, that in\nthe formal baptism of these thousands upon thousands, who do so commit\nsin, no regeneration of GOD was ever experienced at all.  The separation\nis clear.  Men are born, without water-baptism, by the SPIRIT and the\nword; multitudes have it, and are never born of GOD at all. {25c}\n\nAgainst all this, however, the system of the Anglo-catholics speaketh on\nthis wise:\u2014\u201cThe Scriptures, the Church, and the Fathers declare, with\nunited voice, that regeneration takes place at baptism.  But they go\nfarther; they tell us very definitely what regeneration is; they tell us\nthat it is an engrafting into CHRIST; a new creation in CHRIST; and by\nconsequence, that all the gifts of grace are actually and really imparted\nto us in baptism; that in short we are justified, sanctified, quickened,\ncrucified with Christ, planted together in the likeness of His death,\nrisen with Him by the power of His resurrection, and seated with Him in\nheavenly places; and that all this is effected by baptism.\u201d {26}  This is\nin a sermon entitled \u201cNehushtan, or an Attempt to break the Trifle of\nBrass.\u201d  And this Nehushtan is the doctrine of justification by faith;\nconcerning which I refer you to the glory of our Articles, the eleventh;\nand then I close this point with the plain question, _Who_ are the true\nmembers of the Church of England; and with whom is the SPIRIT of the Holy\nScriptures, the SPIRIT of the martyrs of the Reformation, the SPIRIT of\nthe living GOD, the HOLY GHOST?  He cannot be with both.\n\n_f_.  The assigning of regeneration and remission of sins to _outward_\nbaptism gives immediate occasion to many other errors: but to one in\nparticular, of a very lamentable character.  I mean the deplorable, and\nall but hopeless condition of those, who sin away their regeneration, and\ntheir plenary remission received in baptism; as innumerable multitudes\nare held to do.  \u201cThe great majority,\u201d say the Anglo-catholics, \u201cdie\nunder the bond of their sins;\u201d yet so far \u201cunder GOD\u2019S favour,\u201d that if\nthey pray, and fast, and give alms, and confess, mourn, and judge,\nhumble, afflict, and abhor themselves, they may peradventure obtain\npardon somewhere, plenary pardon; though it cannot be granted them any\nmore in this life! {27a}  And that somewhere, is Purgatory, plainly\navowed! {27b}\n\nAll this ministers strongly to the authority of a priesthood, in\nconfessions, partial absolutions, and penances; {27c} but our Church\n(Art. 22) seems to us to say that it is plainly repugnant to the word of\nGOD: and so we believe.  Certainly, therefore, the HOLY GHOST is not with\n_one_ portion of us in this matter.  We know of no condition, except that\nof blaspheming against the HOLY GHOST, in which, \u201cif we confess our sins,\nGOD is\u201d not \u201cfaithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us\nfrom all unrighteousness;\u201d and, \u201cif _any_ man sin, we have an advocate\nwith the FATHER, JESUS CHRIST the righteous; and He is the propitiation\nfor our sins.\u201d\n\n_g_.  I shall not go over the same ground again, with reference to the\nsacrament of the holy Communion, as I have done with respect to Baptism,\nbut state little more than that the way, in which the Anglo-catholics\ntreat it, is precisely similar.\n\nSpiritual communion in the body and blood of CHRIST, which we hold that\nbelievers _always may enjoy by faith_ in the living _words of CHRIST_,\nthe Anglo-catholics bind inseparably to the sign or sacrament thereof;\nnamely to the bread and wine, and the sacred ceremonial.  _Their_ body\nand blood of CHRIST is the bread and wine _made so_ by their priests, and\ngiven only by their means to the people.  \u201cThe sacraments,\u201d to the\nexclusion of other ordinances, \u201care (with them) the sources of divine\ngrace.\u201d {28a}  One is the very and only womb of regeneration itself; the\nother the only breast that nurses the child of GOD with the very body and\nblood of CHRIST.  These _forms_ their clergy can handle and talk about,\nand they reservedly hint at the work of the SPIRIT of GOD in them:\nhowbeit of spiritual life and spiritual communion, as things distinct\nfrom them, and much more large, and of other times and places, and means\nalso, they profess to believe nothing.  They hold the SPIRIT of GOD\nmostly within their own sources; and the body and blood of CHRIST quite\nat their own disposal. {28b}\n\nNow, when our SAVIOUR says, \u201cExcept ye eat my flesh and drink my blood ye\nhave no life in you,\u201d and it is held that the _baptized_ have life,\n_though they have not come_ to the table of the LORD; it will needs be\ngranted that eating the flesh and drinking the blood of CHRIST is a thing\n_previous_ to coming to that holy table: therefore it may be, as no doubt\nit is, _after_ coming thither also; of course in _other_ places and by\nthe use of _other_ means.  JESUS says, therefore, \u201cWhoso eateth my flesh\nand drinketh my blood hath eternal life:\u201d and when He would save them\nfrom the delusive idea of eating His carnal body and blood, He tells them\n\u201cit is the SPIRIT,\u201d that is, the HOLY GHOST taking of the things of\nCHRIST, and showing them unto us spiritually, \u201c_that quickeneth_,\u201d\nministereth life; and then he refers them for the means, not to any\ncontemplated sign or sacrament, but to _His words_ attended by His\nSPIRIT: \u201cThe words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are\nlife.\u201d  In them believers have their constant food.\n\nThe very flesh of CHRIST itself, if they could have it in a literal\nsense, would profit them nothing; all that is effective being the\n\u201cministration of the SPIRIT.\u201d  Even in the sacrament, the WORD, thought\nof, and received by faith of the operation of the HOLY GHOST, is that\nmedium by which the SPIRIT most properly conveys the SAVIOUR to the soul.\nThe bread and wine have no more in them than the character of the most\nbeautiful, significant sign or sacrament of so great a thing: just as the\nking\u2019s letters, and not his picture, even in the most affecting\ntransactions of his life or death, would really convey the presence of\nhis mind and attributes to his people.\n\nIt is, however, habitually true of this sacrament, though not so of the\nother, that it is _A means_ (not THE means) whereby the inward and\nspiritual _grace signified_ is received by the faithful.\n\nBut if the same precision were used in a review of our Liturgy and\nCatechism, as was exercised in the framing of our Articles, we might\navoid asserting anywhere, as well as in the latter, that the sacraments\nare means of the grace signified, without the loss of anything essential;\nand so we should be saved from predicating _that_ in the _definition_ of\na thing, which is proved not to be universally true of it.  We might be\nsaved from seeming to affirm that we are made children of GOD\n_spiritually_ by formal baptism, when in fact it is only _formally_ that\nwe are thereby made so; or by baptism are regenerate.  That sacraments\nare _signs_ and _seals_ to the faithful of the inward and spiritual grace\nsignified is universally true, and therefore proper in a definition of\nthem: that they are _means_ thereof, _or pledges_, {30} is not\nuniversally true, and therefore improper in a definition, though true in\npart.  And our conflicts upon the subject will never be put an end to\nuntil our church clearly expresses herself agreeably to the distinction\nand separability between things spiritual and things formal. {31a}\n\nIt does not appear that any of the principal Protestant Confessions of\nfaith affirm the sacraments to be _means_ of _the_ special grace\nsignified by them, except the Augsburg, which is the Lutheran.  And if it\nis generally to this that the English articles are to be traced, the\ndifference of the latter from the former upon this particular point can\nscarcely be otherwise than purposely intended. {31b}\n\nWhen our Anglo-catholic brethren seem as if they would \u201cnot oppose\nanything existing,\u201d {31b} or touch so much as an iota of our Anglican\nConfession in _verbal_ alterations, and yet hesitate not deliberately to\nsharpen their weapons, and at a few gashes to embowel it of its vitals;\n(I allude to the ninetieth Tract;) if they describe our church as\n\u201cteaching with the stammering lips of ambiguous formularies,\u201d and as\n\u201cincomplete in her formal doctrine and discipline,\u201d and would totally\nchange her Protestant character by _introductions_ from the Roman\nBreviary and Missal;\u2014with all this havoc of change before us, it is a\nsmall matter to desire merely a clearer distinction between formal and\nspiritual things, or any other sanatory touch of like character, which\nwould fulfil the work of the Reformation, instead of thoroughly undoing\nit, {32a} as _they_ design to do.\n\nIn such a process we should be casting off the last frontlet of our\n_ancient_ grave-clothes, and putting a crown of pure gold upon our head.\nRome would have done with us for ever, and we with Rome; and our\nseparated brethren of other communions would see the way opening for\nre-union to an unlimited extent.\n\n_g_.  The essentials of the OFFICE and WORK of the ministry, as\npropounded on either side, constitute another very material ground of\ndifference. {32b}\n\nWe are, I suppose, agreed that the _first_ essential of the OFFICE is,\nthat we be clearly called to it, and effectually sustained in it, by the\nHOLY GHOST.  But when we come to the outward and visible proofs of this\ncall and this supporting power, then we differ.  The Anglo-catholics\nconsider it essential to be ordained by bishops receiving their\nappointment in regular succession from the apostles; as that, without\nwhich no benefit of sacraments or other ministrations can be imparted,\nnor, in fact, any church exist.  The Anglo-protestants, on the other\nhand, attach not the same importance to the apostolical succession of\nbishops; and will say with Melancthon, \u201cWhen bishops do not teach the\ntruth, an ordinary succession avails nothing to the church;\u201d {33a} and\nthey hold that the appointment of a bishop by presbyters among themselves\nis valid.  They consider the laying on of the hands of a bishop and\nothers of the presbytery, to be the most scriptural Ordination of\npresbyters, and best for their own church; {33b} yet not so essential to\nthe being of a church but that Ordination without a bishop may be valid,\nand is so in other churches, and has scriptural succession in its\nPresbytery.\n\nBy the former, it is assumed, that the HOLY GHOST is given in ordination\nto all who are thus ordained, for the custody of the good deposit, the\nfundamentals of doctrine and practice, and all other parts of their\noffice; and that through these ministers alone the people can derive\nsacramental grace; and if this ordination once be given, it is of itself\nthe grand, essential, and sufficient proof of a true minister, and of the\nabiding of the HOLY GHOST, with him continually.\n\nNow, it is true that we hold, that an evil minister, incurring even\ndeposition by our discipline, does not necessarily prevent the\ncommunications of divine grace to the souls of men in the ministration of\nthe word and sacraments.  But we hold also that he is to be deposed, and\nthat there is something vastly contrary to the true system of things in\nhis being where he is; though GOD has acted with inscrutable wisdom in\nhaving suffered it.  But unless ministers continually prove by all the\n\u201cfruits of the SPIRIT,\u201d that the SPIRIT of GOD is with them, their\nordination does nothing for them in our esteem, but load them with\nextraordinary sin and guilt.  It is expected, that they be \u201cnot of the\nworld;\u201d though it is not by monasteries that they are to go out of it;\nbut by keeping themselves unspotted from the sins and vanities and pomps\nof it; while their light shines before men in doing good in it, for the\nglory of their heavenly FATHER.  Their love of souls dictates zeal and\nlabour and self-denial and holy co-operation.  They weep and pray and\nwrestle with GOD for blessings on their unworthy ministrations; they\nreprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine; they humble\nthe proud to penitence without penance; they comfort the feeble-minded,\nand heal the broken-hearted, without the unhallowed domination of\nconfessionals, or absolutions other than declarative or merely\necclesiastical; {35} and they are conscious of maintaining, (without\nforced explanations,) an honest consistency, in doctrine and practice,\nwith the plain meaning of their own articles and of Holy Scripture.\nThese and all other fruits of the SPIRIT, love, joy, peace,\nlong-suffering gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;\u2014these\nare their essential proofs of office; without which the form of\nOrdination would be nothing but a heavy grief to them.  It always has\nbeen, moreover, and I believe it ever would be, did circumstances lead to\nit, the blessedness and glory of these men to die as martyrs for their\nfaith.  The love of CHRIST would constrain them to do it joyfully.  Few\nindeed are the clear instances of any other kind of religious\npersecutions unto death; while the thousands upon thousands of those who\nhave been the _usual_ martyrs for CHRIST, have been, not of the\nAnglo-catholic, but of the Evangelical faith.  The _Reformers_ are\ngranted to us: the _Huguenots_, the _Waldenses_, the _Lollards_ and\n_Hussites_, the _Paulicians_, the martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, &c., have\nall been of the same confession of faith and the same character.  But,\nalas! if the likeness of the Anglo-catholic creed and practices to Popery\nbe considered, how near are the professors of that creed most fearfully\ncoming to the character of the accusers of the brethren, the persecutors\nof the saints, the very crucifiers of the LORD OF GLORY!  With whom then\nis the HOLY GHOST to be supposed to be?\n\nSo, with respect to the essentials of ministerial WORK, they say that\n\u201cthe Church,\u201d i.e. the Clergy, and _her sacraments_, are the ordained and\nvisible means of conveying to the soul what is supernatural and unseen.\n{37}  \u201cThe sacraments, _not_ preaching, are the sources of divine grace.\u201d\nWe do not disparage the sacraments; but we say that in holy Scripture\npreaching has the pre-eminence; preaching the Gospel of CHRIST, \u201cthe\neverlasting Gospel,\u201d \u201cthe Gospel of salvation,\u201d \u201cthe glorious Gospel of\nthe blessed GOD.\u201d  And I am anxious that we should all feel this,\nunderstand it well, and study to be \u201cable ministers of the New\nTestament.\u201d  The Anglo-catholic doctrine of the wonderful importance of\nsacramental grace and of the mysterious dignity and power of the\npriesthood in connexion with it, is a comparative nullifying of the great\ncommission of CHRIST, \u201cGo ye into all the world, and _preach the Gospel\nto every creature_; he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; and\nhe that believeth not shall be damned.\u201d  CHRIST also sent the apostle\nPaul, \u201cnot\u201d with a commission, \u201cto baptize,\u201d though he did baptize; \u201cbut\nto preach the Gospel.\u201d  And his triumphant argument for preaching, as the\ngrand mean of grace, and faith, and salvation, will never be overcome.\n\u201cWhosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  How then\nshall they call on Him in whom they have not believed; and how shall they\nbelieve in Him of whom they have not heard; and how shall they hear\n_without __a preacher_; and how shall they preach except they be sent?\nAs it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that _preach the\nGospel of peace_, _and bring glad tidings of good things_!\u201d {38a}  Of\nregeneration itself as produced by the special instrumentality of the\nword, we have already heard: and so also the remission of sins; for \u201cbe\nit known unto you,\u201d says St. Paul to the people of Antioch in Pisidia,\n\u201cthat through this man is _preached_ unto you the forgiveness of sins;\nand by Him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye\ncould not be justified by the law of Moses.\u201d {38b}  The Acts of the\nApostles, in fact, are full of it.  By the foolishness of _preaching_ it\nhas always pleased GOD to save them that believe, incomparably more than\nby any other means.  And forasmuch as the ministers and stewards of GOD\u2019S\nmysteries \u201ccannot,\u201d (as our Ordination Service speaks,) \u201cby any other\nmeans compass the doing of so weighty a work, pertaining to the salvation\nof man, but with _doctrine and exhortation taken out of the Holy\nScriptures_, and with a life agreeable to the same,\u201d the assiduous study\nand preaching of the Holy Scriptures have been the main subject of the\ncharge given to them, from the days of Timothy to the present.  With\nministering \u201cthe Holy Sacraments\u201d they have been most solemnly intrusted;\nbut with _preaching the word CHIEFLY_: and to _this_ has the \u201csuccess\u201d of\ntheir ministry been consigned. {39a}  This is that which, (as\nAnglo-catholic teachers affirm,) \u201cto say the least, Scripture has never\nmuch recommended;\u201d an assertion very much to be blamed, as very untrue.\n{39b}\n\nNow they who are not sensible of the inconceivable importance of\npreaching, will not _seek_ the SPIRIT of preaching, neither will they\n_have_ Him, if they do not ask for Him to be given them.  The word, to be\n\u201cthe power of GOD unto salvation,\u201d must be \u201cpreached _with the HOLY\nGHOST_ sent down from heaven,\u201d {39c} \u201cnot in the words of man\u2019s wisdom,\nbut in the demonstration of the SPIRIT and of power.\u201d {39d}\n\nI feel convinced, that after all this, my main position will be generally\nadmitted to be extremely probable, if not certainly proved; that we\ncannot on both sides, have the HOLY GHOST in the ministrations I have\ndescribed, though both lay claim to His presence and power in them. {39e}\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nIII.  I now, therefore, intreat your permission briefly to press a third\nposition on your serious consideration, namely, _that whoever of us have\nHim NOT_, _they are under most FEARFUL GUILT in PRETENDING to His\npresence_.\n\nWe all make the pretension.  We are guilty therefore, it is to be feared,\non one side or the other: deeply guilty!\n\n_a_.  The guilt is that of _being false_; of lying in some things\n_concerning_ the HOLY GHOST, and in some things _unto_ Him, when false\nbefore His saints in whom He dwells.  Are we incurring then the very\nguilt of Ananias and Sapphira?  Let us fear their condemnation.\n\n_b_.  Our guilt is also that of _resisting_ the HOLY GHOST, in His\n_truth_, in His _work_, in His _people_.  If we have not known the ways\nof GOD aright, we have erred in our hearts and hardened them,\u2014against\nwhat the HOLY GHOST saith, \u201cHarden not your hearts;\u201d and hereby He is\ngrieved: and the result is that GOD swears in His wrath, that we shall\nnot enter into His rest. {40}\n\n_c_.  Our guilt is that of substituting _another spirit_ for Him: the\n_Anti-spirit_ in league with Anti-christ.  It may be said that I go nigh\nto affirm that our work may possibly be the working of Satan, if it be\nnot of the HOLY GHOST.  My brethren, I mean quite to say it.  For of all\nevil men, who are instruments of Satan for seduction, false apostles and\nministers are the most so.  And the more apparently holy they are, the\nmore diligent to put on the form of godliness when they have not the\npower,\u2014the more they _imitate_ the love, the meekness, the humility, the\nself-denial of CHRIST,\u2014and profess, at the same time, that it is by the\nHOLY GHOST that hereunto they have attained; the more awful is their\nreception of Satan _for_ the HOLY GHOST.  Am I not right in saying, that\nerrors in principle and in doctrine are quite as full of guilt in the\nsight of GOD as sins of the flesh?  They are sins of the mind, it is\ntrue: but are the sins of purely intellectual evil spirits less than the\nsins of men, because they are sins of minds and not of fleshly bodies?\nAnd is Satan to be gently dealt with, and not rather the more indignantly\nrepulsed, when, and because, he comes as an angel of light?  He is the\nvery best imitator in the universe, and will be amiable in commending\nheresies to men.  And you may take him to your hearts in the very\nresemblance of the SPIRIT of GOD Himself, and assume that you possess the\nholy anointing of that blessed SPIRIT; and hence may issue the most\ndeadly perversions of the truth of GOD, under the most amiable guise.\nYou may be making an unction to yourselves, _like_ unto the holy\nanointing oil, under that curse of GOD, that you \u201cshall be cut off from\nHis people.\u201d {42}  Consider the guilt and danger!\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nIV.  We are now prepared to come to the consideration of our fourth\npoint; _That the possession of some accrediting proofs of the presence of\nthe HOLY GHOST is essential to our most important interests_.\n\nAm I a true minister of JESUS CHRIST, or am I not?  And if I am, is all\nas it should be with me?  Have _I full proof_ that _my_ ministry is a\nparticipation in the \u201cministration of the SPIRIT,\u201d or have I not?  Is He\npresent with me at all?  Is He present with me in all that fulness and\npower, that is most justly and rationally and earnestly to be desired?\nWhat are the most certain credentials or proofs of this?\n\n_Two_ are all that I shall refer to: one is in my text; the other, which\nI advert to first, is elsewhere found; I mean the scriptural _Character_\nof the true minister of CHRIST.  You find it concisely expressed in 2\nTim. iv. 1\u20135, \u201cI charge thee therefore before GOD and the Lord Jesus\nChrist, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and His\nkingdom,\u2014_Preach the word_, be instant in season, out of season; reprove,\nrebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine.  Watch thou in all\nthings, endure afflictions, _do the work of an evangelist_, _make full\nproof of thy ministry_.\u201d  And in 1 Tim. iv. 12, \u201cBe thou _an example_ of\nthe believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith,\nin purity.  Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine: continue in them:\nfor in so doing, thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.\u201d\n{43}\n\nAs to integrity in doctrine, enough has been said, we should imagine, to\nprove the true servant of CHRIST from the false, the Holy Scripture in\nits plainest sense being taken for our guide.\n\nAnd who, you ask, is to say what the standard of Scripture doctrine is,\nand so to determine what we ought to teach?  You must _decide for\nyourselves_.  \u201cI speak as unto wise men; judge ye what ye say.\u201d  \u201cWisdom\nis justified of her children.\u201d  Nothing can possibly be plainer than Holy\nScripture.  _Pray for the HOLY SPIRIT to be your guide_ in understanding\nit.  We shall soon see, if we have Him indeed, \u201cwho is the LORD\u2019S, and\nwho is holy,\u201d\u2014without his judgments to convince us.\n\nWe must do the same with regard to ascertaining _who_ have that true\nconsistency of ministerial character and conduct which is laid down in\nScripture, and are therefore those, whom we should \u201cfollow; considering\nthe end of their conversation, JESUS CHRIST, the same yesterday, to-day,\nand for ever.\u201d\n\nConsider, brethren, what and where the _power_ of godliness really is,\nand where _the form_; what and where is the most honest self-abasement,\nand where, on the other hand, the exaltation of man by means of\noffice:\u2014consider whether it be right to say, where the human commission\nis, there, and there only, all is right as to the SPIRIT; and not rather,\nwhere the SPIRIT is vitally proved to be, there, and there only, all is\nright as to the human commission: consider what is that dominion over the\npeople\u2019s faith, which is to be unselfishly repudiated; and who is their\ntrue servant, for JESUS sake, and the fellow-helper of their joy.  Think\nwhether it is indeed and beyond a doubt the fact, that you have\nyourselves \u201cpassed from death unto life,\u201d and know what a wounded spirit\nis, and what the godly sorrow of a broken and contrite heart, and the\nagonizing conviction of being a sinner deserving eternal condemnation.\n\nI will add nothing concerning the happier experience of a sure interest\nin CHRIST, of that holiness without which no man shall see the LORD,\u2014and\nall the work of the SPIRIT in the soul of the believer; and of the love\nof CHRIST shed abroad in the heart.  But such as this, is the personal\ncharacter of the true minister of CHRIST, which ought to be a\ndiscriminating credential of the presence of the SPIRIT of GOD with us.\nO that we may have it in all its fulness and excellency!\n\n2.  The other point, which St. Paul appeals to in the text, is the\n_effectual blessing of God upon ministerial labours_.  \u201cYe,\u201d says the\napostle, speaking of souls brought out of death into life by his means,\n\u201cYe are our Royal letters, which we carry out in our hearts, as\nambassadors for CHRIST, to be read by, and spoken of unto, all men.\nJESUS ordained them on my behalf; I was the ministering hand by which He\nwrote; the HOLY GHOST was with me, and indelibly impressed them on the\ntablets of your hearts; the character, and language are those which\npourtray the new creature, the children of the living GOD, the heirs of\neverlasting glory.\u201d  He disclaims all sufficiency, not only to write, but\neven to conceive, what was written, except as it was given to Him by GOD,\n(a point they would readily admit,) and thus, in their conversion by his\nmeans, he had the clearest and strongest evidence that GOD was with him\nof a truth.  So he says in another place, \u201cThe seal of mine apostleship\nare ye in the LORD: are not ye my work in the LORD?\u201d  And it is evident\nthat this is a most essential, decisive, and therefore desirable, proof\nof our ministry being of GOD.  I do not think we should by any means rest\nand be satisfied without it.  I know that a minister may be a true\nprophet without always having this testimony; and though the Israel of\nGOD be not gathered by his means, his work is with the LORD, and his\njudgment with his GOD; and Isaiah says, \u201cLORD, who hath believed our\nreport, and to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed?\u201d  But this is\nthe _exception_ and not the _rule_.  What are pastors and teachers for?\nTruly \u201cfor the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,\nfor the edifying of the body of CHRIST; opening men\u2019s eyes, turning them\nfrom darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto GOD; that they\nmay receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among all them which are\nsanctified, by faith that is in CHRIST.\u201d {46}  If these holy and heavenly\npurposes be not evidently answered by us, what are we better than others?\nIf they be but feebly and equivocally answered, why are we not afraid,\nand put upon inquiry as to the cause, and upon prayer, most earnest\nprayer, that we may not be disowned both of GOD and man?  What letters\nhave we to show that we are not thus disowned?  O that our gracious LORD\nand master may give us all imperishable seals of our apostleship in great\nnumbers!  Let us earnestly see to it that we obtain them.  The _double_\ntestimony of scriptural character, and of such seals given to our\nministry, is irresistible.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nBut it may be asked, have not even false apostles their disciples, and\nsometimes many; Theudas, four hundred; Judas of Galilee, much people?\n{47}  They have: but not of such sinners converted into saints, as\nevidently prove the operation to be of GOD; not such as would glorify GOD\non the racks of persecuting torture; not such as would die martyrs in the\nflames, if called to it; nor such as, in peaceful departures, could\ntriumph through faith in the SON of GOD, and rejoice in the _certain_\nhope of a glorious immortality.  The happy and heavenly deaths of those\nwho had lived upon the doctrines of Evangelical Protestantism are\nimmortal and irresistible testimonies in favour of that sort of\nChristianity, as the truth of GOD.  They constitute an evidence, which\nAnglo-catholics will never be able to produce.  What were the latter days\nof Froude, their modern proto-saint, if not their proto-martyr?  Where\nare their dying witnesses?\n\nWhat do they in the formation of such characters as I speak of?  Here, my\nhonoured fellow-labourers in the Church of GOD,\u2014the questions which I\nwould put concerning them, allow me to put pointedly to you all.  What\nare you really doing in the work of the ministry you have received of the\nLORD?  Are you answering the purposes for which you were called to it?\nWhat can you do, by the grace of GOD?  Can you convert a sinner from the\nerror of his way?  Can you give me the heart of stone broken down and\nmelted into the humble and contrite heart?  Can you display a\ncompassionate and crucified SAVIOUR, till men love Him fervently, and\nmourn for their sins which pierced Him?  Can you heal a wounded spirit?\nCan you beautify disciples with Christian graces?  Can you help the\nsaints of GOD in their preparations for death and eternal glory, when\nJESUS shall come and receive them to Himself?  Shall you then have any,\nof whom you will be humbly able to say, \u201cBehold, I and the children whom\nThou hast given me!  These are my letters of commendation!  These are my\njoy and crown of rejoicing: while all the supreme and sovereign glory, O\nCHRIST, is thine!\u201d\n\nThus let us examine and prove both ourselves and our work.  And may GOD\nindeed make us able ministers of the New Testament; that we be not\nashamed, but may rejoice before Him, at His appearing and His kingdom.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 THE END.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 LONDON:\n               G. J. PALMER, PRINTER, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{2}  2 Cor. xi. 13.  See also Rom. xvi. 17.  Gal. i. 7, &c.  Phil. i. 16,\niii. 18.  Col. ii. 8.  1 John iv. 1.\n\n{5a}  Acts xx. 28.\n\n{5b}  Acts vi. 3.\n\n{5c}  1 Thess. i. 5, 6.\n\n{5d}  1 Cor. ii. 4.\n\n{6a}  1 Cor. xii. 1, 8, 11.\n\n{6b}  1 Cor. xii. 3.\n\n{6c}  Rom. viii. 9.\n\n{7}  Ps. l. 16.\n\n{8a}  Tracts 71, 77, and 86; Froude\u2019s Remains, i. 322, 380, 394, 425,\n433; British Critic, July 1841, p. 45, 69.\n\n{8b}  See _Overton\u2019s True Churchman Ascertained_.  See also Goode\u2019s\nDivine Rule of Faith, Preface, p. 16, referring to two centuries ago.\n\n{9a}  Newman\u2019s Lectures on Romanism, &c. p. 23.\n\n{9b}  See OVERTON, p. 71, 72, 82, 92.  ROBERTSON observes, in his History\nof America, p. 163, \u201cOf all the Reformed churches, that of England has\ndeviated the least from the ancient institutions . . .  Though the\nArticles to be recognized as the system of national faith were framed\n_conformable to the doctrines of Calvin_, his notions with respect to\nchurch government and the mode of worship were not adopted.\u201d  See the\nsame testimony in Mosheim, Eccles. Hist. vol. iv. p. 87, 88.  Bishop\nBurnet says, \u201cIn England, the first Reformers were _generally in the\nsublapsarian hypothesis_; but Perkins and others asserted the\n_supralapsarian_ way.\u201d\u2014Exposition of the Articles, p. 151.  Dr. Heylin, a\nzealous Arminian, has the following testimony.  \u201cOf any men who publicly\nopposed the Calvinian tenets in this University\u201d (Oxford) \u201ctill after the\nbeginning of King James\u2019s reign, I must confess that I have hitherto\nfound no good assurance.\u201d  Buckridge, tutor to Abp. Laud, and Houson, are\nall he can name.  Quinq. Hist. Works, p. 626.  When Laud preceded about\nsuppressing Calvinistic doctrines, he could not \u201cventure the determining\nof those points to a Convocation,\u201d so general was the disposition of the\nbishops and clergy in favour of them.  Heylin\u2019s Life of Laud, p. 147.\nBishop Burnet\u2019s honest observations, in the close of his discussion of\nthe Seventeenth Article, will not be forgotten.  \u201cIt is not to be denied,\nbut that the Article seems to be framed according to St. Austin\u2019s\ndoctrine.\u201d  . . .  \u201cSince the Remonstrants do not deny but that GOD,\nhaving foreseen what all mankind would, according to all the different\ncircumstances in which they should be put, do or not do, He upon that did\nby a firm and eternal decree lay that whole design in all its branches,\nwhich He executes in time; they may subscribe this Article without\nrenouncing their opinion as to this matter.  On the other hand, the\nCalvinists have less occasion for scruple; since the Article does seem\nmore plainly to favour them.\u201d\n\n{11}  Tract 90, p. 82.  They affirm that their interpretation of the\nArticles was intended to be admissible, though not that which the authors\ntook themselves.  This is the old way of putting darkness for light\nfurther carried out.  Dr. Powell, Archdeacon of Colchester, and Master of\nSt. John\u2019s College, Cambridge, preached a sermon some forty years ago to\ninstruct the University in the matter of subscribing to the Articles.\nAnd he says, \u201cWhere the _original sense_ is one, and the _received_\nanother, the subscriber is at liberty to use them in either.\u201d  But he\nnever went so far as to say that the subsequently received sense was\n_intended to be admissible_ by the compilers.  And Dr. Hey, the Norrisian\nProfessor, speaks of \u201ca religious society changing its doctrines, and yet\nretaining the expressions by which they were defined;\u201d and says, \u201cIn\nwhatever degree the Articles grow obsolete, the Injunction, (that is, the\nRoyal Declaration,) must grow so,\u201d notwithstanding it commands\ninterpretation in the literal sense; and \u201cthat a man, by speaking\naccording to the literal sense, may speak falsehood.\u201d\u2014Lectures, vol. ii.\np. 68, 72, 74.  This mode of dealing with the Articles, when strongly\ncarried out, as in the present case, issues, of course, in a total\nchange.  See Overton, p. 22\u201326.\n\n{12}  British Critic, July, 1841, p. 45.\n\n{13a}  Tracts for the Times, No, 71, p. 8, No. 78, p. 2.\n\n{13b}  Justin Martyr, Iren\u00e6us, Cyprian, Jerome, Augustine, Chrysostom,\nJewel, Hooker, Morton, Hall, Laud, Ussher, Taylor, Stillingfleet, and\nmany others.  See Goode\u2019s Divine Rule, ii. 484, &c.  The importance of\nthis question, according to the testimony of Roman Catholics themselves,\nis evident from such passages as the following from Lumper, Hist. Theol.\nvol. iii. p. 362.  \u201cIf Protestants would admit that the complete Rule of\nFaith is Scripture joined with Divine Tradition, all the other\ncontroversies between us and them would soon cease.\u201d  See Goode, i. 103.\n\n{14}  2 Tim. iii. 15\u201317.\n\n{15a}  Cor. ii. 2, and i. 23.\n\n{15b}  In Tract 81, p, 75, adverting to expressions including the terms\n_Christ crucified_, they say, \u201cIt may be seen by an attention to the\ncontext in all the passages, where these expressions occur, that it is a\nvery different view, and in fact the opposite to the modern notion, which\nSt. Paul always intends by it.  It is the necessity of OUR being\ncrucified to the world; it is OUR humiliation together with Him;\nmortification of the flesh; being made conformable to His sufferings and\ndeath.  It was a doctrine which was foolishness to the wise, and an\noffence to the Jew, on account of the debasement of the natural man which\nit implied.\u201d\n\n{16a}  Brit. Crit. for April, 1842, p. 446.\n\n{16b}  Newman\u2019s Lectures on Justification, p. 160, 236, 247.\n\n{16c}  Pusey\u2019s Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, p. 71.\n\n{16d}  Newman\u2019s Lecture on Justification, p. 68.\n\n{16e}  Tract 90, p. 13.\n\n{17}  Tract 80 and 87.\n\n{18}  That Aristotle should teach that we are to become right-minded by\nacting rightly, is not to be wondered at.  He knew nothing of the work of\nthe Spirit of God, or of the love of Christ, or of the impossibility (see\nActs x. and xii.) of our acting rightly without the grace of the Holy\nSpirit to give a right mind first.  But that Oxford Divines should teach\nso is to be wonderfully \u201cdark amidst the blaze of noon!\u201d\n\n{19}  To be grafted into the church is to be outwardly admitted into the\nenjoyment of church privileges and ordinances.  _Rightly_ means, not as\nhypocrites, but with the repentance and faith of the regenerate.  The\nwicked, and such as be void of a lively faith, do receive the sacrament\nof so great a thing as regeneration to their condemnation.  Not receiving\nbaptism rightly, they have no true part in the privileges and ordinances\nof the church, which are thereby sealed to the faithful.\n\n{20}  When the invitation is received, \u201cArise, and be baptised, and wash\naway thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord,\u201d (Acts xxii. 16,)\u2014our\nchurch has guided us at once to say, it is the _mystical_, that is, the\n_significant_, washing away of sins, that is then accomplished; _but_ so\n_signifying_ the _true_, that a lively recollective enjoyment of it is\nexcited in the mind.  When we are called to obtain the true remission of\nsins, it is thus,\u2014\u201cRepent,\u201d (there is the spiritual operation,) \u201cand be\nbaptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ,\u201d (there is the\noutward sign) \u201cfor the remission of sins;\u201d or, without any notice of the\nsign at all, \u201cRepent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted\nout.\u201d  But repentance, and faith, and conversion, are the fruits of\nregeneration.  Baptism was no more intended to _impart_ the spiritual\ncleansing from sin, than was the offering of the blood of bullocks and\ngoats; and yet the people are spoken of as purged by that blood, and\nremission of sins as received by it.  It was only a mystical\nceremony.\u2014Circumcision was the same: the thing itself was mystical: And\nBaptism is its counterpart; and both of them are significant of the\nremission of sins, \u201cthe putting off the body of the sins of the flesh,\u201d a\ndeath unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness in Christ Jesus,\neffected by the Holy Spirit of God implanting the seed of the Word of\nChrist in the soul and vivifying it; before even it is proper that\nbaptism should be administered.\n\n{22a}  1 John v. 1.  Whosoever believeth that JESUS is the CHRIST is born\nof GOD.\n\n{22b}  \u201cExcept a man be born of _water_ and of the HOLY GHOST, he cannot\nenter the kingdom of GOD.\u201d  Of the HOLY GHOST comes the spiritual birth,\nand thereby the entrance into the spiritual kingdom or church of GOD: if\nthe water of baptism be meant, then also figurative birth, and\nconcurrently the visible kingdom or church to which baptism is the only\ndoor: a proper parallelism of idea being sustained.  But probably, as the\nexpression \u201cbaptize with the HOLY GHOST and with fire,\u201d means, _baptize\nwith the_ HOLY GHOST _as a spirit of burning_, so \u201cborn of water and of\nthe HOLY GHOST\u201d means, \u201c_born of the_ HOLY GHOST _as a Spirit of\nwashing_,\u201d the real \u201cwashing of regeneration.\u201d  This last expression is\nmost frequently understood, and by Archbishop Whitgift and Bishop Hopkins\namongst others, to refer to the sacramental washing, not the spiritual.\nBut why the force of the term _regeneration_ should _not_ preponderate\nover that of _washing_, I cannot see.  So \u201cthe washing of water by the\nWord,\u201d wherewith CHRIST sanctifies and cleanses His church, is the\nablution, like as of water, that is by the Word, when the HOLY GHOST uses\nthat Word in the hearts of men.\n\n{23a}  Matt. iii. 11.\n\n{23b}  1 Cor. xii. 13.\n\n{23c}  Rom. vi. 3, 4, 6, 13.\n\n{24a}  1 Pet. iii. 21.\n\n{24b}  Col. ii. 11, 12, 13.\n\n{24c}  James i. 18\n\n{25a} 1 Pet. i. 23, 25.\n\n{25b} 1 John iii. 9, 10.\n\n{25c}  See Scott\u2019s Remarks on Bishop Tomline\u2019s Refutation of Calvinism,\nvol. ii. p. 197.\n\n\u201cThere may be in divers cases,\u201d says Hooker, \u201clife by virtue of inward\nbaptism, where outward is not found.\u201d  B. v. 60.\n\nThe same may be argued concerning the real \u201cforgiveness of sins,\u201d and the\nmystical forgiveness.  There is one spiritual baptism for the actual, and\none sacramental baptism, significant of the same thing, for the\nsignificant remission.  Equally distinct and separate, and even more so,\nif possible, is justification; of the possession of which by means of\nbaptism the Scriptures say not a word, neither the Church of England, nor\nany other church, but the Church of Rome.\n\n{26}  Sermons for the Times, p. 29, 30.\n\n{27a}  The revival of \u201cstations\u201d for confession, of \u201cthe rod of\ndiscipline,\u201d and \u201cthe robe of shame,\u201d with other matters of penance, is\nwishfully inquired after, and may possibly ere long be brought about.\nSee Wordsworth\u2019s Sermon on Evangelical repentance.\n\n{27b}  Tract 79, p. 5.\n\n{27c}  Wordsworth\u2019s Sermon, p. 42.\n\n{28a}  Tracts, vol. i.  Advt.\n\n{28b}  Tract 4, p. 5.  Theirs is stated to be \u201cthe only church in this\nrealm, which has a right to be quite sure that it has the LORD\u2019S body to\ngive to His people.\u201d\n\n{30}  A pledge has respect to a _thing future_.  The _proper_ order of\nregeneration is to _precede_ baptism, which cannot correctly therefore be\na pledge of it?  Where does Scripture so represent it?  Circumcision was\nnot a pledge to Abraham of the righteousness he _had_: a \u201cseal\u201d it was.\n\nIt is easy enough to state and explain the sound meaning belonging to our\nritual and catechism.  But it should be quite clear and obvious at the\nfirst glance, without explanation.  The verbal expressions should be\nsuch, as that the right meaning only should present itself to the mind of\nthe reader.\n\n{31a}  Where our twenty-fifth Article says, that by the sacraments God\ndoth not only _quicken_, but also _confirm_ our faith in Him, \u201cthe Latin\nhas _nostramque fidem in se non solum excitat_, (not _vivificat_) _verum\netiam confirmat_.\u201d\u2014See the Latin Articles in Burnet.\n\n{31b}  Pusey\u2019s Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury, p. 51.\n\n{32a}  Tract 90, p. 3.\n\n{32b}  The sermon is printed almost entirely as it was written; but in\npreaching, the whole of this section, to the end of the second head, was\nomitted, on account of the time.  A few other paragraphs were also\nshortened in the delivery, but the sense universally preserved.\n\n{33a}  Melancthon, Loci. Com. Sig. de Monstr. Eccles.\n\n{33b}  St. Paul adverts to the laying of the hands of the presbytery upon\nTimothy, and the laying of his own hands upon him; most probably\nreferring to the same thing.  St. Paul, himself a presbyter, possessed an\nactual _superiority_, like other apostles, among many presbyters; which,\nby Divine Providence, was continued in the church: and they who were\nadvanced to it had the name of Bishop (once general among the presbyters)\nassigned and limited to them.\n\nIn the ordination of Deacons, our Church appoints the laying on of the\nhands of the Bishop only.  For more of her views respecting ordination,\nsee Burnet on the twenty-third Article.  And note the liberal style of\nthe article itself.\n\n{35}  Hooker, (Book VI.) shows that with respect to sin generally, the\nChurch, or the ministers thereof, can only _declare_ the divine\nabsolution of the truly repenting sinner believing in Jesus.  She\n_actually remits_ only such outward sins as she can take ecclesiastical\ncognizance of, and can retain and censure until openly repented of and\nconfessed.  Our Church expresses herself better in her Liturgical\nAbsolution, than in that for the Visitation of the Sick, which might be\nimproved.\n\n{37}  Tracts, vol. ii.  Advt.\n\n{38a}  Rom. x. 13, &c.\n\n{38b}  Acts xiii. 38, 39.\n\n{39a}  Collect for the Ordering of Priests, \u201cMost merciful Father,\u201d &c.\n\n{39b}  Tract 87, p. 75.\n\n{39c}  1 Peter i. 12.\n\n{39d}  1 Cor. ii. 4.\n\n{39e}  I have said nothing of many other grounds of revived difference\nasserted by the Anglo-catholics; such as the Eucharistic sacrifice for\nthe quick and dead, the invocation of saints, the worshipping of images\nand relics, and the spiritual supremacy of the Pope: it is enough to\nmention them.  If those who assert all these things have the Holy Ghost,\nthose who deny them have Him not.\n\n{40}  Heb. iii. 7\u201311.\n\n{42}  Exod. xxx. 31\u201333.\n\n{43}  See also Col. i. 28, 29.\u2014\u201cCHRIST\u2014whom we preach, warning every man,\nand teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man\nperfect in CHRIST JESUS: whereunto I also labour, striving according to\nHis working, which worketh in me mightily.\u201d\n\n{46}  Ephes. iv. 12.  Acts xxvi. 18.\n\n{47}  Acts v. 36, 37.","title":"The True Ministers of Christ Accredited by the Holy Spirit: A Sermon","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":12175}