modern preachers have, a great variety of subjects which he could
have introduced in his public ministrations; and we know that on
some occasions he did avail himself of them, as when at Athens he
exposed the absurdity of the superstitions of the people; and as
when, addressing Felix, he reasoned on righteousness, temperance,
and judgment to come, making that licentious man tremble, in the
presence of his courtiers, under the terror of his appeals; but in
general, the pity and the love of Christ for perishing sinners, and
his power and willingness to save them, constituted the leading
theme of his simple and subduing eloquence. Yes, brethren, and this
is the only theme which can render the ministrations of the pulpit
attractive and impressive; because it is the power of God unto
salvation. Jesus Christ, when on the earth, said, 'I am the way, and
the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me'
(John xiv. 6). Paul believed this, and he preached it; and so ought
we. Yes, we should enter our solemn protest against, and fearlessly
denounce, all the false and delusive expedients which superstition
and infidelity devise and adopt to conciliate the Divine favour; and
boldly maintain that there is only one way of access to the Father
for the forgiveness of our sins and for eternal life (Acts iv. 12).
"3. The subject of his preaching required no _adventitious
circumstances to make it attractive_, or to _render it successful_.
See 1 Cor. i. 21, 25. We have been gravely told by some of
our Christian philosophers, who admit the Divine origin of
Christianity, that she must be _preceded by civilization_, with its
arts and sciences, or she will never gain any splendid triumphs
amongst a rude and an uncultivated people. Then, forsooth, the
agriculturist must know how to drain his marshes, and how to cast
up his furrows; how to plant and prune his hedges, and how to
construct his dikes; before his heart can receive the incorruptible
seed of the truth, which liveth and abideth for ever. Then,
forsooth, the sculptor must know how to convert, and by the most
scientific process, the rough and shapeless block of marble into
the human form, before his soul can undergo a new creation in
Christ Jesus. Then, forsooth, the painter must know how to impress
on the canvas the face of the blue heavens, its rising and its
setting sun; the sombrous splendour of a starlight night, and
the dark and fearful thunderstorm, before he can feel the moral
attraction of the powers of the world to come. Then, forsooth,
the rude barbarians of the island and the desert must be located
in towns or cities, must abandon their wigwams, their caves, and
their mud huts, for well-ventilated and ceiled houses; must give
over the chase, and cease to pluck subsistence from the unpruned
plants of the wilderness, and participate in the luxuries of high
living; must have their museums and literary societies, their
courts of judicature, and their halls of legislation, and their
printing-presses, before they can be formed into Christian churches,
to enjoy the communion of saintly brotherhood. This is what I
call the poetry of scepticism; something to excite or soothe the
sentimental, and to act as a barrier to arrest the progress of the
faithful herald of salvation, who, like Paul, goes forth to preach
amongst the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
"We have another set of philosophers, who have not moral courage
enough to reject Christianity as a sham or delusion, but who gravely
tell us _that she must submit to the operation of the law of
progress_, or she will never gain any conquests amongst our deep and
profound thinkers, or our men of refinement and of taste. She must
now, at the opening of this new epoch in her history--so say these
semi-sceptical philosophers--come out of her antiquated forms and
requisitions, and be moulded into a shape, and trained to a mode of
argument and address, adapted to the intellectual attainments and
delicate sensibilities of the age. A chaste and classical language
must supersede the uncouth technicalities of the olden times; reason
must now be admitted as the only standard of appeal and of judgment
on all questions of belief; arbitrary dogmas must give place to new
discoveries in the science of morals and of theology; and while a
subdued respect and reverence is still cherished in the popular
mind for the Bible, and the institutions which are upheld by its
authority, yet there must be no limits prescribed to the spirit of
free inquiry, nor must any coercive power or ceremonial arrangement
trespass on the sanctity of human freedom, or on any of our civil
or social habitudes. If we choose to dance at a ball; if we choose
to bet at the race-stand or frequent the theatre; if we choose to
shuffle the cards, or toss the dice, or strike at a billiard-table;
if we choose to take recreative pleasures on a Sunday, rather than
render obedience to the Puritanical law of its observance, and
choose to offer our adorations and our orisons to the Deity beside
murmuring streams or gurgling fountains, or on the tops of lofty
mountains, in preference to a church consecrated to his worship; and
if we should have a greater liking for the poetry of Byron or of
Wordsworth than for that of David or Isaiah, and should cherish a
stronger predilection for the novels of Scott or of Bulwer than for
the dull prose of prophets or of apostles, we feel that Christianity
has no moral right to interdict us. The day of absolutism in her
history is past and gone. She may now ask to be received amongst us
as a guest--she must not come as a despot or as a sovereign; she
may advise, but she must not command; she may breathe the words of
a soothing sympathy in the house of mourning, or in the chamber of
death, but she must not presume to utter any denunciations, if we
should say to her, what Felix once said to her heroic champion, 'Go
thy way this time, when I have a more convenient season, I will send
for thee.'
"And now, forsooth, we have a new set of philosophers[22] coming
up within our own borders, men of learning and of taste, and of
Oxford or of Cambridge training, who have recently discovered that
Christianity is not, as hitherto believed by our great theological
authorities, a remedial scheme of grace and truth, to recover
man from the ruins of the fall, _but a mere educational scheme,
to develope his inner spiritual life, and train it to a state
of perfection_. Hence, they tell us that we are to regard Jesus
Christ as a prophet and an example, rather than as a priest and a
sacrifice; and that the basis of our hope of salvation is not his
meritorious righteousness, imputed to us and received by faith, but
his personal excellencies, which he displayed through the whole
tenor of his life; these excellencies becoming inwrought in our
souls by an assimilative process, conducted by our own unaided
meditative musings. So then, according to the doctrine of this
new school of Christian philosophers, if I meditate, under the
mysterious charm of an approving sympathy, on the gentleness, the
meekness, and the patience of Jesus Christ--on his benevolence,
his heroic fortitude, and his calm endurance of suffering--on the
graceful urbanity of his manners--on the amiability of his temper
and spirit--and on the moral dignity of his character--I shall so
inwork his personal righteousness in my inner spirit as to make it
my own; and on this my hope must rest of being justified against all
the charges of a violated law, and through this source I must look
for peace with God and for final salvation.
[22] Reference is here made to Archdeacon Hare, the Rev. Fred.
Maurice, chaplain of Lincoln's Inn, the Rev. Mr. Trench, professor
of divinity in King's College, London, and the Rev. Mr. Kingsley,
rector of Eversley.
"I will meet all these new discoveries and semi-profane speculations
by one simple remark:--If the apostle had lived through all
succeeding ages up to the present time, he would continue to write
and to preach as he wrote and preached to the citizens of Ephesus
and Corinth. He would have indulged in no vain speculations, nor
would he have made any new discoveries. If he stood in this pulpit
now, and if any of the departed spirits of Ephesus or of Corinth
were raised from the dead to form part of his audience, they would
see the same man and hear the same voice, and hear that voice
giving utterance to the same truths, and in the same style and tone
of proclamation. He would again tell them, as he told them when
preaching to them, that by nature they are the children of wrath,
even as others, and are saved by grace, through faith, and that not
of themselves, it being the gift of God, 'not of works, lest any man
should boast' (Eph. ii. 9). He would preach the unsearchable riches
of Christ.
"Hence we perceive that the theme of preaching is to be the same
throughout all ages, though the heralds of its proclamation may be
different men, dying off in the progress of time, to be succeeded
by others; but woe be to that herald who dares to substitute a vain
philosophy, or any new discoveries, for the glorious gospel of the
blessed God. Hear what Paul says: 'But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed' (Gal. i. 8). He has, I know,
been censured for using such awful words of denunciation, and held
up to popular reprobation, as breathing a malignant as well as a
dogmatic spirit. But, brethren, allow me to ask you one question.
Do you think it possible for human language to embody that amount
of indignant feeling which you would virtuously cherish against the
monster who, on a dangerous coast, and for no personal advantage,
would falsify the colours of the lighthouse, or who would shift the
buoys on a rocky shore? No. If you could inhale the breath of the
most scorching vengeance, you would breathe it forth against such
an infernal being, who is willing to become a wholesale murderer,
beguiling to danger and to death by the very signals which are
appointed for life and safety. Hence heavy denunciations of woe on
some special occasions are the utterances of pure benevolence. And
this is strictly correct in reference to Paul. He knew that the
gospel he preached was a true and faithful saying, the power of God
to salvation; and consequently any gospel in opposition to it would
be false and fatal: and hence he sends forth his warning voice,
as you would send forth yours if you saw a man in the very act of
changing the signals of safety for those of destruction and of death.
"In conclusion, brethren, ever remember that preaching is only the
proclamation of mercy and of grace. It is an instrument of power;
but it is nothing more. To you the word of salvation is now brought,
and to you it has been delivered this night; will you receive it,
or will you reject it? If you receive it in faith and in love, it
will prove a savour of life unto life; but if you reject or neglect
it, it will prove a savour of death unto death. On its reception or
rejection your eternal destiny is dependent, and shall that destiny
be endless happiness or endless woe? Decide; now is the accepted
time."
The congregation listened with close attention, and appeared
powerfully excited; a deep solemnity was the predominant expression
of almost every countenance, quite unlike the apathetic indifference
of former times. On passing away from the church, with Mrs. Roscoe
and his niece, who were in an ecstasy of delight, one of Mr.
Roscoe's most intelligent hearers said to him, "You have now, Sir,
a curate who is an honour to your pulpit; he knows his work, and
has given us a proof that he knows how to do it; he will very soon
fill the church, for we need, and have long felt the want of a pure
evangelical gospel. Under such a ministry we shall soon see some
signs of spiritual life amongst us."
THE POPULAR DELUSION.
A rumour having reached us that the venerable Mr. Ingleby had met
with an accident on his return from a visitation, we made a call at
the rectory, and had the gratification to find that it was a false
report. Mr. and Miss Roscoe and Mr. Lewellin came while we were
there; he detained us to tea, and then gave us an account of his
journey, which, though unattended by any remarkable incidents, was
both interesting and instructive.
_Rev. Mr. Ingleby._--"I was much pleased with our bishop; he is
a commanding figure in the pulpit, with a clear sonorous voice,
and very graceful action. I never heard a more natural speaker.
But he has other, and still greater excellencies; he is a truly
godly man--a spiritually-minded man; and he equals, if he does not
surpass, both in purity of doctrine and impressiveness of manner,
the most distinguished of our prelates."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"It is to be regretted that our bishops don't preach
as Paul and the other apostles preached--in season and out of
season--anywhere and at any time; proving, by the multiplicity of
their labours, that they are in earnest in their efforts to save
souls from perishing."
_Mr. Lewellin._--"There is some difference between our modern
Episcopal bishops and the bishops of the New Testament, though they
profess to be their lineal descendants."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"Yes, the bishops of the New Testament were fishermen
or tent-makers; men of a meek and lowly spirit, who coveted no
man's gold or silver; they thirsted for no secular honour; in their
own estimation they were less than the least of all saints; and
the highest point of their ambition was to preach amongst Jews
and Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, regardless of the
privations and sufferings to which this exposed them. But a mitre
now adorns the brow of our Episcopal bishops; there is a graceful
magnificence in their appearance, and they are in general men of a
lofty bearing; their superb palaces are decorated with the skilful
devices of sculptors and painters; they roll in carriages, and
fare sumptuously every day; they may be seen occupying their seats
in the legislative council of the nation, and on days of public
audience Cæsar admits them into his august presence, and his princes
and nobles do not hesitate to bow down and do them homage. What a
striking contrast between the primitive and our modern bishops!"
_Mr. Stevens._--"And you may add, Sir, between the primitive church
of the apostles, and our modern Episcopal Church. The latter is
distinguished by its wealth and splendour, the former by its extreme
simplicity and purity. The Apostolic Church was founded for the
edification and safety of its members, who were an incorporation
of independent freemen, to whom the right of private judgment was
conceded; the Episcopal Church is an ecclesiastical institution,
established for the support of an hierarchical priesthood, who, like
despots, admit of no interference from the people over whom their
jurisdiction extends."
_Rev. Mr. Ingleby._--"I must confess that I should like to see our
church brought into a nearer resemblance to the Apostolic Church
of the New Testament; but still I think we may look upon it, with
all its faults, as a national blessing; and if we could get the
Tractarians expelled, it would stand as a mighty breakwater against
the drifting currents of Popery and infidelity."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"But most of our bishops have a strong bias towards
Tractarianism, because it is so favourable to their spiritual
despotism; it increases and consolidates their power, and under its
sway the lay members of the church are reduced to a state of abject
submissiveness to the priesthood, similar to the condition of the
members of the Church of Rome. The inferior order of priests rule
the people, and the bishops govern the priests; the laity have no
voice in the appointment of any of them; and if, as is sometimes
the case, they object to their teachings as having a tendency to
establish Roman Catholicism on the ruins of the Protestant faith,
they can obtain no redress against such a fatal result."
_Rev. Mr. Ingleby._--"But, happily, there are exceptions to this
general rule, and our bishop is a very decided one. He is a good
and faithful minister of Jesus Christ, imbued with a _Pauline_
spirit; and the sermon which he delivered to his clergy was both
appropriate and impressive. I was quite delighted with it, and so
were some of my brethren, especially our pious and intelligent lay
brethren. The text was taken from Rom. xiv. 17: 'For the kingdom of
God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in
the Holy Ghost.' The bearing of the discourse was to prove that the
essence of religion consists in supreme love to God our Saviour, and
uniform and cheerful obedience to his revealed will; and not in a
mere conformity to ecclesiastical regulations, and the observance of
ceremonial rites. And when addressing the clergy at the conclusion,
he said, 'My beloved brethren, to whom is intrusted the ministry of
reconciliation, you will not neglect to observe the rules which the
church has laid down for the government of her clergy, nor omit to
administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper, but ever
keep in mind the sacred and imperative command of your Divine Lord
and Master--"GO AND PREACH THE GOSPEL"--for it is the _gospel_ which
is the power of God to the salvation of the people. Preach it fully,
clearly, and faithfully--in season and out of season--and with all
the energy of your soul. Before you enter your pulpits to preach,
retire to your closets to get your heart imbued with the unction of
the Spirit; and when you return from your labours, withdraw to your
closets to invoke the Divine Spirit to impress your message of grace
and mercy on the hearts of the people. Ever remember you are in some
degree responsible for their salvation.'"
_Mr. Roscoe._--"Why, Sir, this was like an apostolic sermon. Did the
clergy listen to it; and did they appear to like it?"
_Rev. Mr. Ingleby._--"Yes, Sir, they listened, and some of them were
delighted with it; but I fear the majority thought it savoured too
strongly of the spirit of the evangelical school; they appeared
rather restless."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"I recently spent a few days with an old friend,
when I was introduced to several Puseyite clergymen, with whom
he keeps up a close intimacy. They are, in general, accomplished
and intelligent, but bitter in spirit against Dissenters, and, if
possible, I think more bitter against their evangelical brethren.
They say the Dissenters are honest foes to the church, because they
avow their hostility; but the evangelical clergy, they say, are sly,
artful, and dishonest, who conform to betray--take the loaves and
the fishes of the church, while they are labouring to destroy it."
_Mr. Lewellin._--"Of what practical use, Sir, is your act
of uniformity? The Dissenters have no such an act in their
ecclesiastical statute-book, and yet, with the exception of a few
Socinians, we agree on all the essential truths of the Christian
faith, and our ministers preach in each other's pulpits without
making any compromise, or giving any offence; but it is not so
amongst the clergy of your church, even though they are under a
legal obligation to believe alike. Why, Sir, it is Jew and Samaritan
dwelling together in the land of promise, still refusing to have any
dealings with each other, though they avow allegiance to the same
prince."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"Yes, Sir, our clergy are two distinct orders of men,
subscribing to the same creed; yet the faith for which some contend,
as the original faith once delivered to the saints, is disdainfully
rejected by others as false doctrine."
_Mr. Lewellin._--"The evil which you, Sir, and other stanch
Churchmen see and deplore, without being able to correct it, takes
its rise in this plain palpable fact--the reformation from Popery
in England was not a thorough reformation; it was no plucking
up by the root, as in Scotland; it was mere topping and lopping
work. It was more like a transfer of the Papacy, a little changed
and a little modified, from the Pope to the English monarch, to
answer his ambitious purpose, than a transformation of the Papal
superstition into the Protestant faith of the New Testament.
Why, Sir, there is very little difference between a Tractarian
clergyman and a Roman Catholic priest; they both claim the same high
prerogatives, and arrogate to themselves the same submissiveness
on the part of the people, restrict salvation within the pale of
their own church, and assume a delegated power to discharge all
the functions of their office, without any acknowledgment of their
dependence on a supernatural agency. They are dogmatic, imperious,
and intolerant--spiritual Ishmaelites, whose hands are against every
man belonging to another order; they are, in temper and in spirit,
a perfect contrast to the apostles of the New Testament, from whom
they profess to derive their descent."
_Mr. Roscoe._--"Your description is strong, but, alas! it is
too true. I recollect one day, when there was a large number of
Tractarian clergy at my friend's, being rather provoked by the
Papal-like style of speech which prevailed amongst them, and
availing myself of a favourable opportunity, I said, 'Gentlemen,
I can hardly bring my mind to believe that you are the genuine
successors of the apostles, as you assume to yourselves a
self-sufficient power for the performance of your duties. The
apostles spoke as men who were appointed to act ministerially,
always acknowledging that their success depended on the concurrence
of a Divine power; and when they were successful in their great
work, they offered up their thanksgiving to God, to whom they
ascribed the honour of their success, viewing themselves as mere
inefficient instruments.'"
_Rev. Mr. Ingleby._--"Did your remarks, Sir, elicit any reply?"
_Mr. Roscoe._--"O no, Sir; I saw by their looks and their
significant movements that they regarded them as beneath their
notice, because they were the remarks of a layman. Infallibles will
not stoop to discussion; they merely dictate like an oracle, or
command like a despot."
_Rev. Mr. Ingleby._--"Yes, Sir; our clergy who advocate high church
principles talk like Papal priests, and breathe the same spirit;
and, unless they can be checked, they will assimilate the Church
of England to the Church of Rome. Regeneration and absolution,
which the sacred writers ascribe to the grace of God, they pretend
to effect by their own delegated authority and power; and, as a
necessary consequence, they require the people to look to them as
holding the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And some few of the
order are gone so far on their way to Rome, that they require their
penitents to enter the confessional and make a full confession of
all their sins, before they perform the delusive act of absolution."
_Mr. Stevens._--"One should suppose that the Papal-like extravagance
of the Tractarian clergy would be so repugnant to the evangelical
clergy as to keep them at an infinite distance from all adhesion to
high church principles, and yet it has not this effect. They seem,
with rare exceptions, as much attached to these principles as the
priests are, whom they denounce as Papists in disguise. Hence they
will allow no church to be a true church of Christ but the Episcopal
Church of England, and no minister to be a true minister of Christ
unless he has been episcopally ordained."
_Rev. Mr. Ingleby._--"Yes, I regret to say these opinions
are becoming very popular, and the clergy of both orders are
endeavouring to impress them on the laity, and, I fear, with some
degree of success. Indeed, high church principles, which used to
be confined to the studies of the clergy, or merely lurked about
amongst a few grave thinkers of the monkish order, are now becoming
popular; they are finding their way into the light reading of
the day, in hymns, in tales, and in memoirs; the female sex is
captivated by them, and they are employing their powerful influence
in propagating them amongst the poor, in Sabbath-schools, in
workhouses, and wherever they can track the foot-treads of a human
being. The advocates of these principles are displaying an ardent
and an untiring zeal, a zeal worthy of a better cause. They employ
the same argument amongst all classes, and with an equal amount of
success; the intelligent and the sentimental, the uneducated and
the uncouth, are alike ensnared by it. Ours, they say, is the true
church, which Jesus Christ has purchased by his blood; enter and
keep in, and you will have nothing to fear at death or the day of
judgment."