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THE REV. F. W. AVELISO, M.A.,…

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THE REV. F. W. AVELISO, M.A., B.So„ AT BAKRY. THE TERCENTENARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF JOHN PENRY. On Sunday week last the Rev. F. W. Aveling, the well-known and gifted Principal of the Independent College, Taunton, preached to large congregations at the Barry Congregational Church on the occasion of the third anniversary of that Church. In the afternoon Mr. Aveling- :addressed the members of Mr. S. A. Williams' Men's Bible Class, his discourse being based upon the parable of the Prodigal Son. Mr. AvelingV address was much appreciated by the class, all joining in the expression of a hope that on some future date thcfrmight again have the privilege of an address fromMr. Aveling. In the evening Mr. Aveling took tie his text the First Epistle of John, v., 4 This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." The preacher, in an eloquent and well-thought-out address, said :-What is this faith of which the Bible makes so much ? The Greek word would, perhaps, be better rendered by the word trust. The Christian trusts the Saviour entirely for his salva- tion. Roman Catholics generally believe that a Protestant thinks that he can be saved by faith alone, and that it does not matter at all whether his life is morally good. This is an utter mis- conception. In Luther's own words we can sum up our Creed We believe that we are saved by faith alone, but by a faith which is not alone," we are saved by trust, and not by the holiness of oar lives, for our lives are unholy but we are SAVED BY A TRUST which must manifest its existence in a holy life. As surely as a living tree full of sap will bring forth fruit so surely will a Christian who has real faith exhibit that faith by a holy life. Faith, remember, is not a blind credulity, it is a reason- able trust. There are things in the Bible which are hard to believe-c.g. miracles. We don't swallow these down blindly, but we see so much evidence to prove their existence that we cannot, as logical people, deny them. We see the early Christians going one after another to torture'and death, because they persisted in bearing witness to the miracles they saw. Many men have died for a false Creed, but who ever died in testimony to false faots Remember the first Christians laid down their lives in testimony not to dogmas, they believed, but to facts they saw. They swore they had seen a risen Christ, and they laid down their lives because they would not unsay these statements. So far as we have been able to test the teachings of Christ we have found them true. Therefore, we believe them to be true, even where we cannot test them. No evidence could make us believe statements that were contrary to reason, ns, for example, that a. man has Seen a round square. But we have sufficient evidence to lead 11s to believe the revealed truths which are above reiison-llot to be discovered by human reason. We believe the facts of the Gospel because of the testimony of the first Christians which they sealed with their blood. FAITH IS NOT A BLIND CREDULITY, BUT A REASONABLE TRUST. When the man of science has examined several specimens of gold and found that they all have the 1 property of being insoluble in nitric acid, he believes, he trusts that all other specimens have the Slme property. When we have found the words and deeds of Jesus, all true so far as we can test them, we trust that the others which we cannot test will also be true. This world-conquering faith is simple trust in God the Christian trusts God in times of diffi- culty, trial and temptation, as a little child trusts its good father when it cannot understand him, and finds things always come outright; so we ignorant little children trust our Heavenly Father even j when we least understand Him, and if we let Him guide our affairs they always come out right. This i world-conquering faith is essential to five things —(1) To overcoming the world of opposition to the salvation of the soul; (2) to overcoming the world of temptation (3) to overcoming the world of troubles; (4) to overcome the world of opposition to every good undercn-king and (5) to overcoming the world of opposition to the Gospel. (1) To the overcoming the world of opposition to the saving of the soul. The first man in modern times to bring true faith to the light of day was Martin Lather. He had a world of oppo- sition to the salvation of his soul.. He had been taught to seek it in dogmas and ceremonials, or, at least, if he had been taught of a Christ, it was a Christ buried under ecclesiastical rags, or hidden beneath the pretensions of human priests (so-called). Luther had a world of opposition to' getting peace for his soul. But he overcame that world by faith—by simple trust. He learned to surrender himself to Christ, the one priest of humanity. The salvation of the soul depends on faith alone, but it is a faith that is never alone. If we are to be saved by law we must keep it per- fectly. This no man has done. EACH CHRISTIAN IS SAVED SOLELY BY HIS TRUST IN JESUS. That trust enables him to keep the law, but he is ¡ not saved by keeping the law, for he never keeps it perfectly. We trust in the finished work, in the merits and mercies of Jesus. He has kept the law that we have broken. Divine justice was outraged toj man's sin'; Divine order was disturbed by Mian's transgression. Jesus has set right that justice and restored that order by keeping per- fectly the moral law and, although it led Him to Calvary's cross, he never shrank from it. He became obedient to the Father unto death even the ■cross. If, by the disobedience of one man the world was ruined, so by the obedience of the one Christ Jesus, the world is redeemed. We are saved by simple trustlin this great Redeemer. And that trust is a self-surrender of heart, mind, and will to Christ and a man who has this trust cannot wilfully continue in sin. The firmer his trust in Jesus to help him to fight with temptation, so much more successful is he in conquering sin and if hia faith were perfect, so would his life be. When, therefore, the preacher says only trust in Jesus for salvation, he does not mean you are to care nothing about a moral life. Quite the re- verse saving trust must bring a holy life. But THE HOLIEST LIFE IS STAINED WITH SIN, and we are not saved by the morality of our im- perfect lives, but by our trust in Jesus. I am painfully aware that many popular preachers for- get the essential connection between saving faith and a holy life. I know that the expression. Only believe" is often a piece of dismal cant, but I I know, thank God I do, that it has a blessed mean- ing, and that a Christian who mourns daily over his imperfect life can trust to the infinite mercies of Jesus., and His finished work, for that salvation which we cannot gain by a sinless life, for the latter is an impossibility. When pained by reflect- i ing upon our shortcomings we do not despair we trust in Jesus. This is the victory for the poor sinner, even his faith. We trust in Christ, man's only priest. Others may call themselves priests ia. distinction from the laity, but an intelligent Christian knows that all Christians, ordained or not Are priests before God, and that we have.only one High Priest, Jesus Christ, who on Calvary's Cross was priest amd victim in one. That is Protestant- ism. A clergyman of the State Church mourned the other day in Taunton that for three centuries Bngland had been afflicted with Protestantism." Well, we could bear a little more such affliction with Christian. resignation. Thi.3 clergyman also I said Protestantism was the only religion without a sacrifice. Wrong again. Christ was our sacrifice on the altar of the Cross. He died unto sin once, there remaineth therefore no 1110resacrifice for sin." Men may falsely call a communion- table an altar, but the intelligent Christian knows that the only altar in our religion is the Cross. An altar is a place for sacrifice. On the altar of the Cross the ouly sacrifice of our religion was offered up. Men is. error hold up to us a crucifix with a dead Christ thereon. We know no dead Jesus—only a risen, living, and ascended Lord. And this is the victory that saves our souls, even our faith in Him. i (2) Let us apply our text to overcoming the world of temptation, including the temptations of the world. How frequently we are tempted to forsake Christian principles, and to live for the world, for amassing wealth and gaining distinction, or for the .frivolities that GO BY THE NAME OF FASHION, j or to scrape into that little veneered portion of ) humanity which calls itself" Society." This is a sore trial, for young Christians especially. There is only one way to overcome these temptations of the world, viz., to keep unshaken our confidence in the Lord, to trust in Him to strengthen us, that we may quit ourselves like men. The early Christians, to whom the Apostle John wrote our text, knew by painful experience how sore were the temptations of the world. They had to give up all for Christ. Then the promising young barrister sank into obscurity, poverty, and want he had become a Christian. Then the talented artist, the rising merchant, and the. successful farmer, often embraced shame, obloquy, and beggary for the sake of Christ. Then the high- born lady, who had been the belle of many a gathering, was shunned, neglected, thrust from her parent's home; because she had faith in Jesus. Many a time. when the brutal mob of Rome wanted ex- citement, they raised the cry of The-Christians to the lions," and, to gratify their lust, the rulers of the city hurled the poor followers of Jesus into the sandy arena of the circus to fight with the savage king of beasts, to meet with death from the lion's talons and the lion's jaws. Tender girls, brave youths, holy matrons, and strong men thus bit the dust of death. The temptation to renounce the religion of Jesus must have been most severe. What was it that sustained those heroes ? It was that faith in Christ which makes light of hard- ships-that trust which can subdue the world. They met the tyrant's brandished steel, The lion's tawny ntane They bowed their necks the death to feel Who follows in their train? He that has this victory which overcometh the world, even our faith. (3) Let us apply these words to overcoming the world of troubles. The man who has never had deep grief little knows what a strain is put upon a Christian's faith when sorrows come, not single spies, but in battalions. The easy man of the world, who does not think, does not know how heavily the mysteries of life press upon an intelligent individual. The young man of no sorrows has a glib theory to account for all woe, but the aged Christian finds it more difficult to make the facts of suffering and sadness square with any theory. There is only one thing to overcome the world of sorrow and disappoint- ment that befalls the Christian, viz., unshaken faith in the righteousness and the love ofa Heavenly Father, who is too wise to err, and too good to be unkind. We used to be told that it did not matter how much undeserved suffering we had on earth, as God would make it all up to us in Heaven that, in plain English, the more unjustly we were treated here, the more God would pet us in Heaven. What a theory If a father flogged his child unjustly, and then made it up to him with sugar plums, what sort of respeot would the child have for that parent ? The truth is. GOD NEVER SENDS SORROWS AND TROUBLES UNJUSTLY, with a view of making it up by petting us in Heaven. He sends troubles and sorrows to improve our spiritual life-for our own highest welfare. Never in caprice, but always for our good do troubles come. Had we but faith enough, we should be able to see beneath the dark garments of the messengers of sorrows the glittering of the golden wings of an Angel of the Lord. Some- times, however, to the best of Christians there comes sorrow they cannot understand. They don't see the why and the wherefore. At such a time this is the victory that overoometh the world of doubt, even their faith in an all-wise Father. We often see the reason of God's dealing us such a blow later on in life. When standing close to a huge painting you cannot see its beauty or distinguish its parts, for that you must stand afar o5 so frequently in life it is not till we stand some distance away in time that we can see why God dealt us so severe a blow. We shall never understand all God's dealing with us, or clear up all life's mysteries until we reach the land of Heaven, but in proportion as we learn more about God and His ways, we see He always acts from love. So we believe it is in love that He acts when we cannot understand Him. Having found out that God is love in a thousand instances we have faith enough to believe in the thousand and first which is mysterious. Life is full of mysteries. Yet, in the maddening maze of things, All tossed by storm and flood, To one fixed stake my spirit clings, I know that God is good. Yes, and God will make the best of this fallen world. If Heidid not intend to do that, He would never have sent His Son to die on Calvary's Cross. Amidst all sorrows trust, brother, trust! This is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith. (4) To overcoming the world of opposition to all good undertakings. Sometimes we set our hands to some life work, and for years see no signs of success. Trust, brother, trust on. If it is the Lord's work, success must come, though not perhaps in the way or at the time you expected. Hew many years poor Palissey, the inventor of pottery toiled apparently in vain. What gave him the victory ? Faith, sure trust that he would eventually suceed. How many years Livingstone worked before he found the source of the Nile. But he persevered until he was successful. God often lets us wait years before we reap, but if we trust Him our faith will overcome the world. My brother, perhaps you have been in the darkness of bitter disappointment, when everything seemed against you. You believed you were doing your duty to God in your business, but no success came. Still, you had faith, and at last when the trial of your faith was over the daybreak of success arrived, And you, brother, have undertaken some work for Christ. You have accepted a post of grave responsibility, believing God had called you to it. Yet, ever since you put your hand to the work, disappointment, sorrow, and difficulty have abounded. It is hard nevertheless, don't despair, my brother. Many of God's workers have had 30 or 40 years of disappointment, but SUCCESS CAME AT LAST. Th.eyneverninch.ed from their labours. And this was the victory that overcame the world, even their faith. Luther worked years before he saw the fruit of his toil. Garrison laboured for a whole lifetime before he heard the death-knell of slavery. In the history of humanity God has called forth many a hero to set his hand to the work of some good reform. No sooner does he attempt it than he has a world of opposition to encounter. Men are naturally averse to change. And only faith in God could have enabled the heroes of history to work out so many wise reforms. What a world1 of opposition Cobden and the apostles of Free Trade had before they could overcome the prejudices of ma.ny Englishmen and repeal the Corn Laws, that made bread so dear. For how many years Mazzini laboured to free Italy before he saw the fruit of all his toil How weary was Wilberforee in his noble work of liberating our Colonial slaves before his end was accomplished. No sooner does the man rise up to do God's work in any reform than the world tries to crush him. Men who are too lazy to lift a finger for God's cause will throw cold water oh any good undertaking. How many godless men tried to crush Luther When the first obstacles to any good undertaking are discovered the weak and faithless drop the movement, but God's heroes, full of trust in Him, go on, for years it may be, till the battle is won. This is the victory whereby Luther and Cobden, and Mazzini and Wilberforce and Washington and Garrison, overcame the world, even their faith. The faint-hearted abandon a cause when it seems sinking. Well, the cause is better without them. They do not know that if the cause is God's it will rise again, however low it may have sank. One of the deepest thoughts of Herbert Spencer, our greatest living philosopher, is this All motion is rhythmical. PROGRESS IS NEVER IN A STRAIGHT LINE, but rhythmical, it moves now backward, now PROGRESS IS NEVER IN A STRAIGHT LINE, but rhythmical, it moves now backward, now forward, yet on the whole fonoard. There are slight variations in the orbits of the planets. Every 21,000 years th.e e"rth get into the same < position as it was, and then gradually alters its position each year, till after another 21,000 years it reaches the same place again. The waves of the flowing tide advance and retire, advance and retire, but the main movement is forward. So is it in all reforms. An advance towards the King-, dom of Heaven or earth is made. and is soon followed by a re-action. Men are terribly afraid of going on too quickly to perfection Luther's Reformation spread rapidly, when he at last got it started. But after a, few years a check came, ao that it never went far enough. The Christian religion made noble progress for three centuries, Then came the Nemesis of success. It got respect- j 4i able under Constantine. It became the State religion and it has never recovered from that blow. According to classic mythology the goddess Nemesis came to check success, whenever that grew great. Alas! the Nemesis of success seems to come upon all good efforts for a time, only for a time. But Christians working for any cause will not relax their efforts because of a temporary ebb, they know the flood will' come some day. The world stands out against them, but this is the vic- tory, &c. "I watch the circle of the eternal years, And read for ever in the storied page One lengthened roll of blood and wrong, and tears One onward step of truth from age to age." In all our labour for man, for the Son of Man, we need this world-conquering faith. And THE LIVES OF GOD'S HEROES OUGHT TO INCREASE OUR TRUST. With the exception of the life of Jesus and His Apostles, there is no history to me more inspirit- ing than that of W. L. Garrison, who spent all his life in liberating the American slaves. He began his work in 1831, yet it was more than 30 years before the negroes' fetters were dashed off. He had no wealth, he had few friends, even the clergy of the States for the most part kept aloof from his noble work. But he had the victory which overcometh the world, even unshaken confidence in the Lord. His was a moral warfare, and one in which one man can chase 1,000, nay, in which one man plus God is a majority, and a working majority too. He has been accused of bitterness. His was only the bitterness of truth rebuking sin and error. His noble words at starting might have been used by Luther with equal truth. They should be learned by heart by every young Englishman who is worthy of his country. He said" I will be as harsh as truth, as uncompromising as justice. I am in earnest. I will not equivocate. I will not retrench a single inch. And I will be heard." America did hear him. For 23 years he laboured apparently all in vain, but when he diedlamerica was free from the cursed traffic in human flesh; and this was victory whereby he overcame the world, even his faith. Of course. Garrison had 1,000,000 enemies, and many of them were professedly Christian people. Some of these hypocrites actually began to vilify Garrison by saying he was not orthodox. Assuredly he was orthodox enough to know that God hates unrighteousness, and approves of brotherly love. No, he was not orthodox For orthodoxy in America meant favouring slavery and even if his theology had been unorthodox (whatever that may mean, Paul was un- orthodox to Jews, and Jesus was accounted a heretic in His day), even if Garrison's theology was unorthodox, what need was there to consider that, when discussing the question of slavery ? For my part I WO" Id put to the Lord's work the sinner when the have failed, to do it," And I had rather work for Christ with all the heretics in the world than against Him with all the so-called saints. Brethren, in whatever labour we are engaged for man, for the Son of Man, let us pray God to give us this faith which overcometh the world. There is one reform which all earnest Christians are bent upon, viz., the lessening of war and replacing it by peace and brotherly love. And our faith in the possibility of this reform shall one day overcome the world. Perhaps there never was a time when to the outward eye military matters and bloodshed seemed more powerful. Not so, to those who can scratch beneath the surface of things. Through the Gospel of the High Priest of Humanity, Jesus, shall triumph over the world. The God of war says to us "Force rules the world still, Has ruled it, shall rule it. Meoknessie weakness, Strength is triumphant. Thou art God too, 0 Galilaiaii, And thus single handed Unto the combat, Gauntlet or Gospel, Here I defy Thee." And we with that faith which overcometh the world would reply :— It is accepted; the angry defiance, The challenge of battle. It is accepted, but not with the weapons Of war that thou wieldest. Cross against corslet, Lovo against hatred, Peace cry for war cry. Stronger than steel Is the sword of the Spirit. Swifter than arrows The light oftruthitt. Greater than anger Is love that gubdueth. The dawn is not distant Nor is the night starless. Love is eternal, God is still God, and His faith shall not fail us; 1 Christ is eternal," Brethren working for any noble purpose, faint not because of the ebbing of the tide of progress, the flow will come. Tho' the cause of evil prosper, yet 'tis truth alone is strong, And albeit she wander outcast now, I see around her throng Troops of beautiful tall angels to enshield her from all wrong. Is it Truth for ever on the scaffold, wrong for ever on the throne ? Yet that Ecaffold sways the Future, and behind the dim unknown Staiideth God within the shadow keeping watch above his own." (5). Let us apply words of our text to OVERCOMING THE WORLD OF OPPOSITION TO THE GOSPEL Preachers, Sunday School teachers, workers any where for Christ, what a world of opposition there ir. to the spread of our gospel. But be of good cheer, this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. The hardships of the Apostle Paul's missionary life did not stop his preaching the gospel of Christ. Neither the unjust and illegal scourging of the lictor, nor the perils by land or sea, nor the cruel dungeon could stop Paul's mouth. And this was the victory, even his faith, his unshaken confidence in Jesus. The early Christians had no state aid to help them, the magistrates were their bitter foes. Nor had they the much stronger help of fashion and re- spectability. Yet the world went down before them. For they had that faith which makes light of hardships, that confidence, that trust, which can subdue the world. In spite of 11 state persecutions and thousands of illegal persecutions the religion of Jesus grew for three centuries. For in the hearts of its professors was unshaken faith in Jesus. One of the sublimest testimonies to the power of Christian-faith was given by the apostate infidel, the Emperor Julian. He had been brought up as a Christian but his teachers were dry, unin- teresting, unemotional clericals, who frowned on innocent amusements. He was brought up in a very straight-laced way. The consequence, was that, when he grew up ,he became a heathen, and tried to crush Christianity. All his efforts were in vaia, and on his death bed he is said to have ex- claimed, as he addressed that Jesus whom he had persecuted, li Thou hast conquered, 0 Galilsean This heathen Emperor, for all his persecu- tions, could not crush Christianity from the hearts of men for in those hearts was a faith which overcame the world. Mortified, sullen, but defiant, died Julian, and as he died he acknowledged his defeat, saying to Jesus, Thou hast conquered, 0 Galilean Unfortunately, Christianity got respectable, genteel, after it became the established religion. Then came the Nemesis of success. In- stead of conquering the world by faith, it appealed to the sword of the warrior and the handcuffs of the goaler. Instead of trusting to the convincing power of the Holy Spirit, they lost faith in Him and appealed to the power of the magistrates. Then, alas! for many centuries the so-called Christian Church took to persecuting its opponents. It lost faith in the living Gospel of a living Christ carried to the heart by a living Spirit, and used the rack, the thumb-screw, and the faggot. Vol- taire uttered in satire the hardest thing ever said of preachers. He exclaimed 11 Christianity must have been of Divine origin, or it could never have survived preaching." I say, in all seriousness, Christianity must have been of Divine origin, or it could never have survived practising THE PRACTICE OF THE PROFESSED CHURCH OF CHRIST, which did to death its opponents, and brutally per- secute'] tho: who. »vi?hed to punty it. Its worldly power, its connection with the State, would have killed any other religion. Savonarola tried to purify the Church. For that he was burned alive. Earthly history books say the Church ex- communicated Savonarola." God's history book in heaven has another entry—viz., Savonarola excommunicated the Church." The men per- secuted by the so-called Christian Church who died for the truths in which after ages rejoiced, had that faith which makes light of hardship, that glorious confidence which subdues the world. On May 29th, 1593, died the Welsh Martyr, John Penry. He was hanged through Archbishop Whitgift for the crime of knowing more of the Bible than the Archbishop-for beine an Inde- pendent or Congregationalist. A few weeks before, March 3rd, Barrowe and Greenwood were, after suffering imprisonment for the same thing, tied to a tree by a rope round the neck, and the clergy lectured them on the sin of think- ing for themselves, and the sanctity of tithes. They were taken back to gaol. but on April 6th the Heresy Bill was weakened by the House of Commons who were not such bigots as the clergy. In fear lest these Independents should escape their clutches, the clergy got these two men hanged on April 6th. Penry had been a Roman Catholic. By studying the Bible he became a Protestant and a Congregationalist. He was THE APOSTLP, OF WALES. He complained that many of the clergy in Wales rarely, preached to the people. He said it was their duty to preach the Gospel. He also said tithes were unscriptural, and Churches should support their clergy by voluntary offerings so they hanged him. By the light of burning heretics Christ's bleeding feet I track, Toiling up New Calvaries ever, With the Cross that turns not back." History has an ugly knack of repeating itself. Three hundred years ago the State Church clergy cared little for the souls of the people. Wales was sunk in vice, intemperance, and ignorance, till Penry and others brought the Gospel home to all. The moral condition of the masses did not trouble them. But as soon as the martyr Independents spoke against tithes, the clergy dove-cotes were indeed fluttered, and the three men were hanged. We move on slowly. Even to-day, on a small scale, history is repeating itself. The clerical dove-cotes are fluttering piteously against the Welsh Sus- pensory Bill. Meetings are being held everywhere to protest against doing anything that may touch the pockets of the clergy. But nowhere do we find them flocking together to support the Local Option Bill, the Bill to diminish drunkenness For the principles of our Free Church government these heroes of our faith died. For those principles they call on us to-day to lice. If we, believe in our j Free Church principles, do not lot. us forsake them because we are afraid of social or trade boycotting, j I have known many who have forsaken the Free Churches in which they were brought up, and joined the State Church, and I say deliberately I never knew one who clearly understood THE PRINCIPLES OF FIIEE CHURCHISM, and the principles of the Episcopal Church, and then embraced the State Church, because he thought its teachings and its form of government more scriptural and true. Some who have left the Free Churches have become earnest workers in the State Church, and may God's blessing rest on all they do there for Christ. And some of them have slid into sacerdotal news, and even gone con- scientiously to Romanism. But I fail to find that even these good Christian people ever understood the .principles of the Free Churches which they forsook. And how many of these seceders have simply become worldly or indifferent. As a rule. we look in vain for higher spiritual life, greater catholicity of feeling, broader charity of love, deeper study of the Bible, and more earnest work for God and man in the seceders. We feel that if young people who leave our Free Churches knew our principles, and the history of their martyrs, they would think twice before joining a State Church which, being a State and fashionable Church, can hardly help persecuting, or at least social persecution. We call upon our young people, by j the blood of our martyrs, to play the matt; and stand to their guns, cost what it may. If they conscientiously believe the doctrine and practice of the State Church right, and the Free Churches wrong, then they ought to leave us aud throw in their lot with the Episcopal Church, but not ether- wise if they believe that a Church has' no right to select its own minister (though the New Testa- ment says they have); if they believe that the Prime Minister of the day, be he Jew or Jesuit, ought to select (as he practically .does) the highest officers in the State Church if they believe in j livings being bought and sold, and what clergy- man you shall have to depend OIl the highest bidder ere the auctioneet'd hammer has descended if they believe that it is right for such men as the late Duke of Marlborough. the Marquess of Aylesbury, and Lord Lonsdale", to pre- sent to 63 Church livings if they believe that the nation's property, the tithes—once the property of the Roman Church, when all England was Homanist-should be paid unwillingly to support one sect only if they believe it good for one minis- ter to have £ 15,000 a year, while poor curates can't make both ends meet, then let them join the State Church by all moans. If they believe the superstition of baptismal regeneration—that, by a few drops of water, sprinkled on a child by a clergyman, he is transformed from an heir" of wrath into an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven (though they often grow up as bad as can be) if they believe the clergy at ordination re- ceive the Holy Spirit from the hands of the Bishop (though some few of them don't lead very good lives), and that the clergy can pronounce absolution and pardon sins if they believe that a man can't be saved unless he believes the Athanasian creed (though it is impossible to eomprehend it) if they believe that only those ordained by bishops have a right to preach the gospel (though no bishops existed in the first century of our religion), and that, therefore, Spurgeon, and Mrs. Booth, Moody, and Dr. Guthrie, and Morley Puncheon were sinning in rescuing souls from perdition if they believe that godmothers and godfathers can take the moral responsibility of a child on their shoulders and be responsible for its sins till it is confirmed, when frequently they rarely see the child except on its birthday, if they believe that Free Prayer is a mistake, and men should always pray by the book,then LET THEM JOIN THE STATE CHURCH and welcome. But if they do not believe these things, if in their heart of hearts they believe that Christian Churches should be based on New Testament principles, then let our young people play the man and stand by the Free Churches, at whatever social or pecuniary cost. A man said hob long ago that he had to leave the Noncon- formists to get into society. Poor fellow Why, a man can get into any society that is worth having without giving up his Free Church principles, and any society that boycotts a man because he is a Nonconformist, is quite unfit for any gentleman to enter. 0 for more of this world conquering faith, which sustained the heroes of old. We want this simple trust to contend with the two shadows that are creeping over us, on the one hand superstition and priestcraft, on the other unbelief. On these two I have no fear that superstition will gain much hold. It has long since lost its grasp on intelligent thinking people. The study of natural science and logic is as certain to destroy Sacerdotalism as School Boards are to prevent people from being ignorant of writing. I have far more fear, for the time, of the spread of infidelity. Unless the Christian Church wakes up to live the gospel, as well as to talk it, infidelity will mak 3 rapid strikes Brethren, to avoid the Scylla of Romanism on the one hand, and the Charybdis of infidelity on the other, we must preach the simple Evangelical creed of Salvation by faith alone, but not by that faith which is alone. I fear THIS LATTER ASPECT OF LUTHEIl'S TEACHING HAS BEEN SORELY NEGLECTED. We have heard so much about free grace and II only believe that men have largely forgotten that the true recipient of free grace is sure to prove that he has received it by a holy life. and they have forgotten that saving faith must manifest itself by works. I have faith in the old Evangelical creed that if it is fairly set before men it will never cease to hold them. In spite of centuries of cant mixed up with that creed, in spite of the lame one-sided way in which Calvinism and other 1; isms" have set it before men. it lives still. For it is the only salve for a lacerated conscience tc the soul that hungers after righteousness Infidelity offers up nothing on the point of no fork, and leaves it starving, while Sacerdotalism dishonours Jesus, and keeps the great physician from the sin plagued heart by putting ceremonies and fallible men called priests between. If the old Evangelical faith is for a moment on the ebb, it is the fault of us who hold it, and who preach it. I do not think it is, but if it is then we who believe in it must be more earnest about it. Cowards instinctively run away from anything that seems unsuccessful. Heroes do not. Be the fashion for ritualism and priestcraft ever so strong, be our simple evangel faith ever so unfashionable, we who are men will not forsake it, if we have any of the faith that overcomes the world. People who quit an evangelical cause when it is in low water, say "rats instinctively quit a sinking ship." Yes they do they are rats and nothing better than rats. But the captain remains on board, and often saves his vessel by his faithful- ness because he is not a rat but a man. If for a time infidelity becomes wide spread, if the lamp of faith should burn low IT WILL BE A DARK WORLD TO LIVE IN. You will find no heroes in a nation of infidels. No Luther will rise up amongst unbelievers no W. L. Garrisons will be found there. A reformer could not overcome the world of opposition he is sure to encounter unless he believed that a righteous God was on his side, and that, if he perished in the fight, that God would ra;se up others to carry on the work. Men must believe in the Eternal, not ourselves, who makes for righteousness, if they are to be great reformers, for this is the victory that overcometh the world. even their faith, Faith is the stuff out of which the Lord makes heroes. Brother, sister, have you faith this simple trust in Jesus ? If not dark will life be to you in the hour of death, darker still in the struggle with sin, 0 how dark when, after death, you enter "the outer darkness where the faithless dwell. Brethren, working for Christ, you have the world of opposition, but be of good cheer, that is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith. This victorious power Jesus gives to all who ask Him. Take heart, my brother no good work is ever done in vain, for each good thought or action moves the dark world nearer the sun. Thine is the seed time. God alone Beholds the end of what is sown Beyond our vision, weak and dim, The harvest time is hid with Him. Yes, unforgotten where it iies That seed of geaerous sacrifice, Tho' seeming en the desert cast, Shall rise with bloom and fruit at last. If. brother, thou wilt be faithful to the simple truth as it is in Jesus, to the good news of salva- tion by faith alone, but not by a faith which is alone, thou slialt not toil in vain. albeit, thou sowest with aching heart at times. Nay, thou shalt see the joyous issue, sorrowful sower,when the harvest fields which thou hast tilled in tears shall wave all golden in the celestial sunlight. Thy voice shall unite in the songs of the reapers as the strong angels gather in the sheaves and bear them into the garner of the Lord. Let us preach by lip and by life this simple gospel of trust in Jesus. The world will oppose us but this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. The early Christians said to the sinful world that opposed the Gospel, Thou comes t to me with sword and a spear and a shield, I come to thee in the in the name of the Lord of hosts." And their faith conquered the world. "0 God, to us may grace be given to follow in their train." 0 Galilean, help us to help Thee conquer. 0 Son of Man, who knowest the opposition thy people must encounter, Thou whose own faith although so. sorely tried, yet never failed; Thou who on the Cross wast in the thick darkness, where it seemed as if the Father had left Thee, when it seemed as though Thy trust was all in vain, give us the vie- tory, that we at last may swell that mighty anthem of the redeemed, echoes of which we hear on earth when heaven's gate for a moment is f jar. Musical as the voice of many waters, then glorious as the sound of mighty thunders, the song of the redeemed swells round the very Throne of God, and the flood of harmony rolls through ail the courts of Heaven. Now unto Him that washed us in His precious blood be glory and honour, praise and j power, for ever and ever." So do the angels sing". And we, rejoicing in anticipation of the final vic- tory of our Lord, will, with the angels conclude the song, singing, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. Hallelajah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."

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