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ness preferring the shadows of the Law to the substance of the Gospel. But with this admission, can it be denied, that Paul's denunciations apply with equal force to that apostate church, which, for the cure of its sin, relinquishes faith in the atonement of Jesus, and adopts in its stead confidence in human absolution, and in the works and ceremonies enjoined by men? The Jewish Christian might at least plead for his excuse, that God had himself commanded the sacrifices of the Law; but what Romanist can plead that his rites and maxims are of God? The ceremonial law of Moses was truly of God, and all the details of its ritual are authenticated by the indubitable text of scripture. But do we find any indication in the word of God, that the Romish traditions are derived from thence? Even this poor refuge then, in which the Jewish Christian might attempt to hide his disobedience and contempt of the gospel of God's grace, is not available to the apostate believer under the dispensation of the New Testament. He has now no cloak for his sin; it is open and plainly manifest to all whose eyes are not closed in judicial blindness. And what becomes then of the supposed radical soundness of the Romish Church, which some well-meaning persons ignorantly talk about, "knowing neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm." Upon her many heads we see inscribed, the name of Blasphemy. (Rev. xiii. 12.) And we find Satan giving her "a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies." (Rev. xiii. 5.) And we have heard her for many a day and year, and still hear her open her mouth "in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name." (Rev. xiii. 6.) She depreciates the worth of that blood, which is emphatically called in Scripture, "the blood of God." For she counts it as an unholy thing, or not sufficiently

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pure to cleanse the sinner's soul, except he also purge away his own offences by works which she prescribes. And she rejects the intercession of the " one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus," directing her miserable votaries to betake themselves to saints and angels for assistance. Not content with despising the all-sufficient efficacy of the blood of sprinkling, the apostate Christian church contemns the all-powerful advocacy of the Son at the right hand of the Father. And so his whole priesthood is dishonoured and despised; and with his priesthood, his Godhead, for they stand or fall together. To separate them is impossible; for it is the Godhead which gives its infinite value to the priesthood; and if the priesthood of Christ be rejected, his Godhead is effectually denied. This is not all; our teacher John affirms that another consequence arises out of this antichristian denial of the great author and finisher of our faith. Antichrist denies both the Father and the Son. The individual who contemns Christ despises the Father, and rejects his supreme authority. The Father is eternally identified with the Son, and the Son is identified with the man Christ Jesus. Refuse to honour this man aright, and you refuse to yield due worship to the Father. God has said to his believing people," whoso toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye." And if such be his keen sense of any injury attempted against his saints, what must be its acuteness, when that beloved Son is attacked, in whom he is well pleased, and in whom his soul delights!

Whatever then is the form of antichristian hostility to Christ, whether the sacred dignity of his person, and divine efficacy of his offices be flatly denied, as is the case with the Socinian, or whether these be nominally

recognized, but covertly and virtually opposed, as in the Church of Rome, the name of antichrist is stamped in legible characters upon all those false-hearted followers of the Lamb, who know him not as the all-sufficient propitiation for their sins, and who cannot trust in him as their complete salvation. But let it be observed here, lest phrases, seemingly harsh, but too fearfully true, should be misconstrued, that of course no reference of an individual kind is intended here to those private persons who may profess papist or Socinian principles, and who are involved in error from educational ignorance, or perversions of doctrine imbibed from their earliest infancy. May the Lord have mercy upon the victims of false doctrine! To judge the persons of men belongs to God alone, and to their own master all men stand or fall. But the teachers of antichristian heresies we may justly denounce, nor can we be too severe against those who presume to substitute their fictions in the place of God's truth—and even if conscientious in their belief of error, this must not be considered to improve their condition or to make them more worthy of respect. It is however but rarely, in the case at least of that cruel church which has so long made traffic of the souls of men, that we can impute pertinacity in error to a conscientious, although blind faith. The contrary of this is too true-and the fatal reason of this blindness, which is wilful and malicious, rather than conscientious, must be traced for the most part to the cause assigned by Jesus : "And this is the condemnation; that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” But let us dwell for a moment on the apostle's challenge in the verse before us "Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ?" It is full

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of comfort to the believer who is sorely tried with the soul-destroying errors of antichristian teachers, and well suited for the confirmation of his otherwise, it may be, drooping faith. For in reply to all the human doctrines which lead to self rather than to Christ, we may challenge their promulgators as "liars" against the truth as it is in Jesus. The epithet is a harsh one, but not more harsh than appropriate. It must also be fearlessly urged against those teachers, whether papists or Protestants by profession, who would fain rob us of our confidence in the blood and righteousness of Christ, and who presume to direct us to forbear reposing our trembling souls on the word of faith, lest in doing so, we should deceive ourselves, and perish in our sins. Another apostle has said, "Let God be true and every man a liar;' nor must we hesitate to strengthen our own faith or that of others, by the application of such a term to the subtle adversaries of the gospel, when we find them proposing to undermine our simple adherence to Christ, by their specious arts. "If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?" What but lament their irrecoverable loss! It behoves us then to repel every insinuation which tends to derogate from the person or work of Christ; and to account all to be liars who contradict any of those scriptural statements, which exhibit to us the rock of our strength and the sure foundation which God has laid in Zion. The Lord Jesus, he is our rock; and no other foundation can any man lay, than that which is laid-Christ Jesus. Upon this rock, and foundation of faith, let us then fix our guilty souls, immoveably persuaded that the gates of hell shall in no wise prevail against us, whilst to every reasoning of our adversaries we reply, Jesus is the Christ."

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23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; but he that acknowledgeth the Son, hath the Father also.)

In the latter part of the preceding verse we found our apostle connecting together the denial of the Son and of the Father; that none might vainly imagine they could retain their allegiance to the august being whom we designate as the first person of the Trinity, whilst they manifested antichristian hostility to the divine person of the Son. John still continues to prosecute the same subject in the verse before us, his object being to enforce upon us yet more distinctly, that we possess no Father in heaven if we reject the Son, in whom alone we are the adopted children of the Highest. And here we must particularly notice that we are not told that he who denies the Son has no God. The sinner rejecting Christ has still a God, a fearful one, whose attributes are armed against his guilty soul. But this God, whom the antichristian rebel may affect to serve, will not receive his homage. Sinful man is by nature an alien, under wrath, and if he despises the “One mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus," for such an one there is a God who is "a consuming fire," and who will by no means clear the guilty;"

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but no way of access into his presence, for that is guarded on every side by the flaming sword of an avenging law. But how sweet to the believer is the inference which is implied though not expressed in the Apostle's words. "But he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." Yes, the believer can repose in the conviction that he has a Father in heaven, because he acknowledges the Son. His conscience testifies

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