that which leads to sacrifices which are felt to have no merit. Christian sensibility is philanthropy directed towards man, not as mortal only, but also as immortal. The only lawful glorying is ' in the cross.' Fear is the fear of God, not the fear of man's judgment.' And the grand presiding principle of character is Faith, having for its object things unseen, and Him who is invisible.' The christian hero is not a man of the same world with the hero of fame. He is not a Decius or a Winkelried, much less a Cæsar or a Tamerlane; but a Polycarp or a Latimer, a Brainerd or a Martyn. He is a martyr, with or without the crown; in either case eclipsing the disastrous glory of the warrior, in proportion as the heat and tumult of battle demand a less deliberate resolve, than a lifetime of self-imposed privation and danger,-a 'dying daily' for the truth's sake, and the eternal welfare of men,-or a calm submission to torture and to death, at the merciless discretion of the persecutor.

As, in the christian code, all selfish and malignant passions are strictly forbidden, so the opposite virtues are as strongly inculcated;-self-denial-meekness-humility-patience-a forgiving spirit-benevolence. Let a man deny himself, and take up his cross.' 'Take my yoke upon you, for I am meek and lowly in heart.' 'All of be subject one to another; and be ye clothed with

you

humility.' 'Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.' 'Let us do good unto all men.' 'Love the brotherhood.' 1

6

Love to all Christ's followers is the mastergrace of the christian character; that, in which all the rest live and flourish, and without which they cannot be. It is, therefore, perpetually insisted on and reiterated, both by Christ himself and by his apostles, as the grand criterion of a Christian. BY THIS SHALL ALL MEN KNOW THAT YE ARE MY DISCIPLES, IF YE HAVE LOVE ONE TO ANOTHER."2 Love is the fruit of faith, and the ornament of sanctification. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.' 'Love is the fulfilling of the law.' It proceeds out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned.' It is a virtue of higher distinction in the school of Christ, than either faith or hope: The greatest of these is charity.' It is absolutely indispensable as a mark of being in a state of 'grace;' for to be without love is to be without God. Love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is

1 Matt. xvi. 24; xi. 29. 1 Pet. v. 5. Eph. iv. 32. Gal. vi. 10. 1 Pet. ii. 17.

2 John xiii. 35.

love.' It is a vital part of the evidence on which it is lawful for a Christian to feel persuaded that his character has undergone the change necessary to salvation: We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.**

Such are a few out of the multitude of passages, in which brotherly love is held forth as the most prominent feature of personal Christianity. Profession is an uncertain sign. Gifts may be from nature. Knowledge may be philosophy, with religion for a theme. Freedom from vice may be taste or training. A creed may be hereditary, or changed to suit a purpose. Zeal for orthodoxy, or for modes and forms, may be an intellectual combat, or party strife, or pride struggling to maintain consistency, or self-interest claiming relationship with truth. But christian love is more rare. Its indications are more decisive. It breathes a spirit which, when possessed in an adequate degree, has the ease and grace of nature; and which the world knows not well how to imitate. All love has a tendency to manifest itself; but there is a sacredness in this love, which distinguishes it from all other kinds; and which constitutes the last finish of the family-likeness common to all Christ's genuine disciples, amidst all accidental * 1 Pet. i. 22. Rom. xiii. 10. 1 Tim. i. 5. 1 Cor. xiii. 13. 1 John iv. 7, 8. 1 John iii. 14.

LIBRAR

diversities, in all nations, and in all time. It is often seen most to advantage where the world has least influence, and where there is most of native simplicity of character; as in a company of rural Christians. But whether charity lend an air of refinement to poverty, by rendering the poor man like Him who for our sakes' became poor;' or subdue the selfishness of wealth and greatness; or transform the pride of intellect into the teachableness of a childlike mind;-it is the same element in all; and it produces its legitimate effects then-and then only, when the world, beholding it in the church, recognises its moral beauty, and exclaims, with the pagans of the first ages, 'See how these Christians love one another !' *

c. 19.

Vide, inquiunt, ut invicem se diligunt. Tertull. Apol.

36

CHAPTER VII.

WHAT IS THE CHURCH?

As, in the human frame, the proper condition and functions of each part are the standard by which morbid appearances must be estimated;-so in the body ecclesiastical. Here, also, the consideration of what once was, and what ought to be, is necessary to enable us to judge of what is. Schism is a disease in the visible church :- what then is the church in health?

The word which is generally rendered 'church' in the English New Testament, is employed in the Septuagint1 for the whole assembly or congregation' of Israel; and is synonymous with the term which has been anglicised synagogue.' 2 Also the Jewish assembly so called, was denoted, Hellenistically, by both these words.

12

In the New Testament, the original term is applied, once, to the Israelitish nation, the church

1 Kкλŋoía. Ezra ii. 64.

2 συναγωγή. Εxod. xvi. 2.