The separation is of their making, not ours; and we have incurred it by our adherence to the Apostolical principle that "we ought to obey GOD "rather than man."

The same argument will undoubtedly justify dissent from the Church of England, if it can be shewn that we require of our members assent to any doctrine, or conformity to any practice, which is plainly and essentially unscriptural; and if we excommunicate them for a conscientious refusal of such assent and conformity:-but unless this can be undeniably proved, I do not see how it is possible fairly to read the New Testament, and especially the Epistles of St. Paul, without entertaining that awful apprehension of the guilt and danger of separation which shook the soul of Luther in his pious work of Reformation, and, at one time, nearly unhinged his powerful mind.

Our Church is a branch of that Universal Church,―planted upon "the foundation of the "Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being "the chief corner stone;" unjustly repudiated by the Church of Rome, which is another, and as we alledge, a corrupt branch of the same Catholic stem, because we have cleansed ourselves from corruption, and restored the primitive doctrines and Worship of the Christian Faith; deserted, as we think, without any sufficient plea to excuse the schism, by all the protestant sects which sprung up amid the confusion of the Reformation, when the minds of men

became unsettled in the mighty conflict of opinions, and liberty degenerated into licentiousness and misrule.

But WE ARE NOT A SECT: we have never been separated from the Parent stem of the Primitive Church of which we form an undoubted Branch ; and we cannot be separated from it by the anathemas of another Branch, nor by the encroachments of wild offsets which have sprung up from the scattered fragments of the spreading

tree.

And now, if we are satisfied that we are members of a true Church; that we possess an Apostolical commission in our Ministers; that we have all the appointed means and channels of all the doctrines and institutions necessary grace; for salvation;-are we to rest contented with these advantages, and trust to them to deliver us "from "the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty "of the children of GOD?"-Surely no. These things are but the outward forms of introduction to the Christian Covenant,-necessary indeed and indispensable, as being "required of Gop in Holy Scripture," but, of themselves, utterly vain and helpless.

The member of the Church by outward conformity will be no nearer to Heaven, till he become a member of Christ through a lively "Faith which worketh by Love;" the communicant in Sacraments grasps only an empty casket, if he

receives not with them the inestimable pearl above all price, the gift of the Holy Spirit of GOD; the hearer of the Word preached by commissioned Ministers will not be profited, if that Word be not "mixed with faith in them that hear it;" the very purity of the reformed doctrines will be only a reproach to the professors of them, if their lives are not answerable to their professions; if they do not put away their moral as well as their doctrinal corruptions.

We must no longer endure lukewarmness in principles, nor laxity in conduct; we are assailed on every side by numberless and unrelenting enemies, from whose incessant attacks our only hope of safety is in the protection of our Almighty Head, the Lord Jesus Christ;-and that protection will only be afforded us, if we study, and labour to deserve it. Look at his declarations to the seven Churches of Asia, and behold how He has fulfilled them all!-Those among them which He

* 1.-"A few heaps of stones, and some miserable mud cottages, occasionally tenanted by Turks, without one Christian residing there, are all the remains of ancient Ephesus."

2.-Smyrna is still a large city, containing nearly 100,000 inhabitants, with several Greek Churches.

3. Pirgamos still contains at least 15,000 inhabitants; of whom 1,500 are Greeks, and 200 Armenians, each of whom have a Church.

4.--Thyatira still exists embosomed in cypresses and poplars. The Greeks occupy 300 houses and the Armenians 30. Each of them have a Church.

5.-- A few wretched mud huts scattered among the ruins are the only dwellings in Sardis, and form the lowly home of Turkish herdsmen who are its only inhabitants. No Christians reside on the spot.

of

6.-Philadelphia alone long withstood the power of the Turks and at length capitulated with the proudest of the Ottomans. Among the Greek Colonies of Asia, Philadelphia is still erect, a column in a scene ruins. The Christians occupy 300 houses. Divine Service is performed every Sunday in five Churches. The present Bishop is a zealous Bible Christian anxious to reform the abuses of the Greek Church.

7.-Laodicea is utterly desolated, and without any inhabitent, except wolves, jackals, and foxes.-See Keith's Evidence and Arundell's Visit.

commended continue, to this day, flourishing more or less, in exact proportion to the respective commendations; those which He threatened have long since fallen, and the cities where they once flourished, have become ruins for their sake. So will it be with us. If we regard the venerable fabric of our Apostolic Church, the clear commission of our Ministry, the primitive purity of our doctrine and worship, the Holy Sacraments of our Covenant, as so many calls and incentives to a greater watchfulness against sin, a more fruit fu abundance in good works; if we feel that we are deeply accountable for these blessings, and labour to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called; to let our light so shine before men, that they may glorify our Heavenly Father, and be drawn, by our example to follow Christ in the Regeneration; if we do these things, we shall never fall; the fierceness of our enemies will only strengthen our cause, and their calumnies will add lustre to the character of our Church. But if we rest in the propriety of outward and formal things; if we value the endowments of the Church more than its doctrines, and its rank in the state rather than its honor in the presence of GOD; if we contend for its worldly privileges whilst we undermine its spiritual discipline by our loose and carnal lives; if we indulge ourselves in ease and plenty whilst means are wanted to spread the light of the Gospel, in our own land, or among kindred nations; if papists and dissenters excel us in

missionary zeal, or domestic charity;-then indeed are we "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and "blind, and naked;"-then, "because we are "lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, will our Lord spew us out of his mouth;"-Then is our ruin nigh even at the doors, and we shall fall, lamentably yet justly fall, unpitied of man, and rejected of GOD!

The choice is yet before us. "Draw near "to GOD, and He will draw near to you." "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your "hearts, ye double-minded." Let us reform the worldliness, the luxury, the selfishness of our habits, and refine our zeal from the dross of party spirit, and interested motives;-let the love of Christ rule in our hearts, and become the source of all our sentiments, the guide of all our actions; let it be for His sake, and for the sake of men's souls, whom He died to redeem, that we love and maintain the Church of our Fathers, and defend the altars of the Protestant Faith. Let us defend them in a truly Christian spirit-a spirit of invincible courage without animosity, of unflinching firmness without obstinacy, of ardent zeal without rashness, of holy confidence without presumption. Let us "study to adorn the doctrine "of GOD our Saviour in all things;" and "let all "bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, "be put away from us, with all malice." "And