ance.

pagation of the gospel, is the abundance of Antichrists, whose characters have been so minutely described by St. Paul. These undoubtedly existed at the commencement of this last time, that is, when Christianity was in its infancy; they were, however, destined to exist in future ages in still greater abund"Ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now there are many Antichrists." No man, I think, can read this declaration of the Apostle without attaching this signification to it. And if he compare this with the progress and the history of the church-if he open his eyes to facts which at the present moment even thrust themselves on his vision-if he peruse the pages of history, and the pages of those vast folios which almost force themselves day by day into his notice by the facility and the despatch and the regularity of their delivery, he must feel convinced that hitherto the spirit of Antichrist has kept pace with the Spirit of Truth and of Christ; and that though at the present moment such vast efforts are being made to spread the divine light of the gospel over the surface of the globe, yet are these opposed to and confronted by such as pertain purely and peculiarly to Antichrist; by such as proceed from those who can be described by no peculiar classification or title, but whose name is "legion, for they are many,' many in regard to the variety of names and opinions by which they are distinguished, yet, like the aforesaid legion in the unhappy demoniac, all centered

and collected together for the purpose of harassing and tearing in pieces the body of the church which contains them.

But, brethren, for the satisfaction of those, be they few or many, in Israel, who have not bowed the knee to Baal, but who may be harassed and tormented by this legion of Antichrist, which cannot be mistaken, since they have been so minutely described by the apostle St. Paul; for the satisfaction of these, I recite the first verse of our text, for to such as these it is clearly addressed: "These things have I written unto you, concerning them that seduce you." And among these things that John has written, what explanation does he give respecting the origin and the present situation of those who are comprehended within the term " Antichrist," whom St. Paul describes as those "who depart from the faith." Concerning these, brethren, he further writes thus: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out that they might be made manifest that they are not all of us." And then, in contradistinction to such as these, he proceeds thus in words which have been already quoted: "Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things." Respecting which unction, he further declares in the concluding words of our text: "The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but

as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie; and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

The distinguishing feature, therefore, of the latter times, that is, of the period of the gospel, is that there is a true church and a false church, or one church which is true, and many which are false; or in the phraseology of the apostles, there exists in the hearts of one set of men the spirit of Christ, and in the other that of Antichrist. There are those who have received an unction from the Holy One on the one side, and those who have gone out from these on the other. Of the existence of these two classes there can be no doubt. Neither, brethren, I think, can there be any doubt in respect of those who are comprehended under the one class, and those who are comprehended under the other. To the consideration of this point, however, I wish to call your more particular attention.

Our Lord has said that he would build his church upon a rock, and that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. The church of Christ, therefore, having been once fully established, as it was immediately after our Lord's death, there can be no doubt that this church has somewhere continued to exist in a pure and unmutilated form, from the earliest date of its establishment until now. We know, indeed, on the authority of the best authenticated history, that, during several centuries corresponding with a period of time usually designated the dark or middle ages, the light of the gospel seemed

to be extinguished; for, instead of allowing this light to remain in the candlestick in which it had been placed by Christ and his Apostles, the ostensible heads of the church had placed this light under a bushel, by permitting people to remain in the grossest ignorance, and by secluding the word of God from public view, by suffering it to remain in the darkness of an unknown tongue. This unnatural concealment, however, has at length been removed, and we, consequently, unlike many who ostensibly belong to the church of Christ, are enabled to read and digest the pages of God's word, and to comprehend the truths which they contain, by means of a language which by daily use is familiar to us all. So that, at the present moment, not merely throughout Christendom, but in a specific and peculiar manner throughout this united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, there are those who "walk in darkness" and those who "walk in the light." But what says the apostle in respect of these two opposite and conflicting parties, and their pretensions to a union with Christ as the result of the "anointing which they may have received of him?" "This, then," says St. John, "is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

The characteristics of the church of Antichrist are so minutely described in the epistles of the various apostles, that to common sense, coupled with an unprejudiced mind, mistake or misapprehension is impossible. Of such St. John says: "they went out from us." The question therefore is, in respect of the two parties now alluded to, did they go out from us or we from them? Undoubtedly, brethren, they went out from us. The church of Christ has been established in this country from the earliest ages; and, on its first establishment, there is no reason whatever to doubt that it was as pure in this as in any other country. In process of time, however, as in most other countries of Christendom, the spirit of Antichrist prevailed; the spirit of the same Antichrist whom St. John describes as a liar, because he denieth the Father and the Son. Men either openly denied the divinity of the Son, or they denied the supremacy of both the Father and the Son, by prostrating themselves before the images of their fellow mortals, and presenting to them the homage which was due to God only. It has, nevertheless, been proved that the pure light of the gospel was never completely obscured; for, like a beacon on a distant hill, it has been visible in one or more mountainous regions, both of Europe and of the East, unceasingly and uninterruptedly. Yes, brethren, in certain diminutive districts, with which it is only recently that we have become acquainted, it has been proved that Christianity has been prac