Then the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ-Then the apostacy, Popish and Infidel, shall be destroyed-Then the King, with many crowns upon his head, shall appear in great glory. And then the dead in Christ shall rise first, and the living saints shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Jesus shall come to judge the quick and the dead. The world shall be wrenched out of the grasp of the usurper, and Immanuel, whose right it is, shall possess the kingdom. Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that "I write unto you; for ye yourselves know that that day cometh as a thief in the night"-"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day, nor the hour, wherein the Son of Man cometh." The solemn day of judgment too shall assuredly come; when the dead, small and great, shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ: the books shall be opened. "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" 1 Peter iv. 18. Every thought, word, and deed shall be exposed; all, all, will be published before the universe. Then the righteous who are accepted "in the beloved," and who are complete in Christ, shall be publicly acquitted, because they belong to Him; and they shall enter into the joy of their Lord. Their bodies, changed into the glorious image of the body of their Lord, shall shine for ever; and every faculty of their minds, and every power of their bodies, shall ceaselessly celebrate the praises of God their Saviour. But the wicked, soul and body, shall be cast into the lake of fire, and the smoke of their torment shall go up for ever and ever. "For these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal." Thus I have proved to you that the Church of England teaches apostolical doctrine, because she teaches 1st, Faith in the Holy Trinity; 2ndly, That the Bible is the only and the sufficient rule of faith and practice; 3rdly, The total depravity of human nature; 4thly, The true way of acceptance with God, through Jesus Christ; 5thly, The nature of repentance, and divine renewal by the Holy Ghost; 6thly, The second coming of our Lord, the resurrection of the body, and the eternity of rewards and punishments. Many subjects have been passed over-such as the Sovereignty of Divine grace-the electing love of God in Christ; other subjects have been touched but slightly, and all very, very imperfectly. But I have endeavoured to speak the truth in love, and in faithfulness. I trust enough has been said to bear out fully my position, which is this-That if the ministers of the Church of England follow out her apostolical teaching, and truly breathe her spirit, they can conscientiously attend to the duty enforced in my text: "Take heed to thyself and to the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." Our way is now cleared to enter upon the second division of the subject. I therefore proceed to prove, 2dly-THAT THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND FOLLOWS APOSTOLICAL ORDER. Under this division there are only three topics upon which I can even venture to touch. The Church of England follows Apostolical order.* 2dly. With regard to the Three-fold Ministry. Christ, she declares, ordained "two only, as generally necessary to salvation." Two, not Seven, as Rome, in I am obliged to omit any lengthened notice of the interesting rite of Confirmation. But in my limited experience, I can add my testimony to its value and importance, and to the blessings connected with a due and pray erful attention to that scriptural and primitive rite. that creed which sealed her apostacy, falsely teaches. Yet even in this she contradicts herself; for she teaches that sacraments must be instituted by Christ himself, but where, or when he instituted more than Two, (namely, Baptism and the Supper of the Lord,) Rome is obliged to confess is quite uncertain. Christ our Lord, ordained two, and only two; therefore the Church of England teaches that there are two, and only two. Respecting which she teaches that they "are generally necessary to salvation." Generally necessary, not absolutely, as if they were the only channels by which divine grace could be conveyed, but generally necessary, because the church wisely considers them important means of grace, which it would be dangerous to neglect, ruinous to despise. In this the Church displays that wisdom and that close adherence to Scripture which characterizes her spirit and her teaching. In the instructions supplied by our Church on Baptism and the Lord's Supper, we are, on the one hand, guarded against an evil but too common in our day, that of depressing and undervaluing the sacraments: yet, on the other hand, we are studiously warned against overvaluing the sacraments, by putting them in the place of the blessings which they are intended to convey and to seal. To this tendency sad experience, past and present, proves that corrupt human nature is ever prone. Call to your recollection what I have already said on the subject of repentance, and divine renewal by the Holy Ghost. The extracts given from the Services, Articles and Homilies prove that the Church of England does not consider that all who have been admitted into the privileges of her communion by sacramental rites, are spiritually and savingly united to Christ. Indeed she every where warns her members against this soul-destroying heresy; the effect *The creed of Pope Pius IV. first published in the year 1564. The twelve articles of that creed contain all the peculiarities and abominations of Popery in a short compass. of which would be, to lead men to trust in a form of godliness, and to deny the power thereof; and to think that every one baptized is really what he is bound to be, and would be, if baptism were "rightly received." I feel that it may be well to consider more fully the sacrament of Baptism. In the 27th Article we are told -"The baptism of young children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ." We have no dispute as to the propriety of the baptism of adults, nor as to the state of mind in which adults ought to present themselves for the sacred rite of baptism. In all persons capable of exercising faith and repentance, both faith and repentance are declared by the Church of England to be essential prerequisites. Now as faith and repentance are the gift of God, and the fruit of His spirit, it is evident that all adult persons, who are in a condition rightly to receive baptism, are regarded by the Church, as persons to whom God has given his grace and in whom His spirit dwells before they have been baptized. But are they to neglect the rite of baptism on this account? Assuredly not. As believers they lack the seal of the faith which they have. It is necessary that they should be publicly admitted into the visible church and when baptism is rightly received, "faith is confirmed, and grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God."-Article 27. Christ himself has instituted baptism; His true disciples therefore desire to be born "of water, as they have been born of the Spirit." Just as Cornelius and his household, respecting whom Peter said, "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized which have rceived the Holy Ghost as well as we?" Inasmuch, then, is there is no dispute between ourselves and those who isapprove of infant baptism, on the subject of the baptism of adults, you will at once perceive, that all such portions f Scripture as refer to the baptism of adults must be xcluded from our discussion upon the point at issue. That the baptism of young children "is most agreeable with the institution of Christ," appears clear to me, on the following grounds : First.-Circumcision was a Scriptural rite-the door of admission into the visible church-the sign and seal of spiritual privileges. Yet infants were, by the express command of God himself, made partakers of that rite; and the promise sealed, "I will be a God to thee and to thy seed." And if they were capable of admission into the visible church of God under the old covenant, "which offered covenant blessings, and engaged those under it to the performance of covenant duties," we argue that without God's own express command, it would be a grievous offence to exclude them from the privilege of admission into the visible church under the new covenant. Now baptism is the door of entrance into the visible church of the new covenant, consequently infants ought to be baptized. Secondly.-I am led to enquire, Is there any intimation given by the Divine author of Christianity, that it was His will that a change should take place in the parties who were to constitute his visible church? So great a change ought not assuredly to be made without His declared will. Can such a declaration on the part of Christ be adduced? In vain shall we search for it; it is no where to be found. On the contrary, the tenderness and the compassion of the Lord Jesus towards the lambs of the flock, the little ones "out of whose mouth he perfects praise," strongly manifest that His will respecting their admission into his visible church remains unchanged. And does He not say, "Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the Kingdom of God." You are well aware that the expression, "the Kingdom of God," is very often used to denote the visible Church. Your own minds can easily recal numerous examples of this in our Lord's parables. If |