increase of scriptural knowledge,-obstructs the march of moral improvement, impedes all moral enterprizes,-checks a growth in grace, -calls forth and strengthens the baser passions of fallen humanity,genders pride, aversion, and jealousy,---scatters the seeds of these appalling evils on Pagan lands,---robs heaven of its rightful inhabitants, -and people perdition with countless beings for whom Christ died. These we regard as some of the deadly and direful fruits of this pernicious tree. Such a tree, producing such fruits, should not, most certainly, be permitted to occupy a place in the garden of the Lord.

II. DUTY OF IMMEDIATE UNION.

Nothing can be more clear, we think than the duty of the saints, dispersed throughout these contending factions, under such circumstances. These evils, which threaten to sweep away every vestige of apostolic order and gospel arrangement, with the mighty interests that are bound up with the destiny of the church, must be speedily met and thoroughly remedied. And this can only be done by Christians put ting away the evil of their doings; ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well. The treasonable course of the church must no longer be pursued; her usurped power must be surrendered; her unauthorized arrangements must be relinquished; her new and conflicting interests > must be abandoned; her legislative enactments must be pronounced illegal and void; her disjointed and scattered fragments must be collected and formed into a body of perfect symmetry, unsullied beauty, and undivided strength; and she must submit to the order, arrangement, and control of her adorable Head in all things. This is an immediate, urgent, and indispensable duty; a duty which she owes to her Divine Head and to the world.

This union the holy Saviour devoutly implored might exist among his disciples; this he solemnly, repeatedly, and authoritatively enjoined upon them; this he constituted the badge of their discipleship-the certificate of their adoption, legible to all; this he made necessary to their growth in grace and perfection in knowledge; and this was essential to the world's believing that he was sent of the Father.

No truth has so much prominence in the Bible, as the unity of the saints. No point do the Apostles 30 often and so strongly urge; no duty so solemnly and so frequently enforce, as the perfect oneness of believers. And they placed their union on high and sacred ground. The oneness of their spiritual origin; the oneness of their relation; the oneness of their hope; the oneness of the body of which they are the members; the oneness of the Spirit which animates it; the oneness of the Head that adorns and controls it; the oneness of their faith, and of their baptism, constituted emphatic reasons in the eyes of the Apostles for their perfect unity. Eph. iv. 3, 4, 5

On this high ground they enforced the duty of union. For these very obvious reasons they required believers to labor intensely to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.' For these reasons those who caused divisions among them were to be marked and avoided as the worst enemies of the church. And for these reasons they were to speak the same thing, and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Who, in view of these solemn facts, can doubt that it is the immediate and indispensable duty of Christians to cease their unhallowed contentions, furl their party ban

ners, discard their denominational distinctions, and reunite on that basis and in that form which the gospel requires? If they all have the same high spiritual origin,---all have the same hope of their calling,--all are members of the same body, that is animated by one Spirit and governed by one Head, all have embraced the same faith, and received the same baptism; and if all have the same God who is above all, through all, and in them all; then they are one in the highest sense which can be conceived, and are bound to exhibit this sublime oneness to a gazing world. And, moreover, if this union was the burden of the intercessory prayer of the holy Saviour; if he solemnly and frequently enjoined it on his disciples; if he made it the badge of their discipleship and certificate of their adoption; if it was essential to their growth in grace and perfection in knowledge; and if it was necessary to convince the world of his divine mission; then, certainly, no considerations can possibly justify disunion in the 'household of faith.'

If, then, as all must admit, it is the duty of Christians to be one, it is a present duty. Nothing should be held valid that keeps them disunited a moment. No considerations of supposed expediency should tempt them to remain in their present divided state. They are bound by the most solemn obligations to discard and remove immediately whatever is found to hinder a reunion of the dismembered fragments of the church of Christ. Until this is done, and such a union effected as the gospel contemplates and imperiously enjoins, the church will be clothed in sackcloth; her tears' will be perpetually on her cheeks,' and the strings of her 'harps upon the willows,' will only be swept by "the mournful breezes of the surrounding desolation.'

III. PLAN OF UNION.

What 'plan' of union should be adopted? In what should this union consist? These are grave questions, and they demand serious and definite answers. Nothing can be more vastly important than clear, precise, and scriptural information on the points involved in these questions, at this stage of the sublime enterprize in which we have embarked. Obscurity and error here, will greatly embarrass our action and impede the progress of the cause. And we must not, in matters of such grave moment and involving such practical considerations, depend on the deductions of our own reason. We need plain, well defined, scriptural principles of action, to be conducted safely and directly to the desired issue. Without these we can form no just ideas of the work to be performed, the evils to be removed, or the difficulties to be adjusted. Without these embarrassment will attend us at every step, our efforts will be random and fruitless, and a signal and complete failure will be the inevitable result. Without such principles, to form a union, would be to create a combination most undesirable and dangerous. But having these principles and the light they will impart, the work to be done will be clearly perceived; the evils to be remedied will appear in their true aspect and dimensions; the proper remedy will be readily suggested; and the union formed will be of a desirable and permanent character.

The 'plan' of union, then, should not be one of human device. It must originate with the God of union, and bear unequivocal marks of his sanction. If we cannot find such a plan developed in the Scriptures of truth, our enterprize is without proper foundation, and should be

forthwith abandoned. But amid the turmoil and confusion that sectarianism has produced, the fundamental principle of Christian union in the kingdom of Christ has stood firm and unshaken; and it is too plain to be unobserved by the dullest comprehension. It stands out most prominently on the pages of inspired truth. How it has been so long overlooked is a matter of the deepest mystery. THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST IS THE FUNDAMENTAL LAW OF HIS CHURCH IN MATTERS OF FELLOWSHIP,

ORDER, AND DISCIPLINE. This the Bible most unequivocally teaches. With striking frequency the example of our Lord is referred to by the Apostles, as of supreme obligation in the church. They seemed to have regarded it as the only fundamental law of her Statute Book. Let us attend to a few scripture evidences on this point:-"Therefore, receive ye one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.' Rom. xv. 7. 'Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not: and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.' Rom. xiv. 3. 'Be ye imitators of God, as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also loved us.' Eph. iv. 1, 2.

'For as much, then, as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, what was I that I could withstand God.' Acts xvi. 17. The duties here enjoined must be perfectly obvious. The principles so lucidly developed in these passages apply equally to Christians in their individual and associate capacity. They are the following:-1st. That we are to receive and fellowship others on the same principle, and for the same reason that Christ receives and fellowships them and us. 2d. That we are not in any case to condemn one whom God has received. 3d. That to deny the hand of Christian fellowship and church privileges to one to whom God has given his Spirit, is to make war upon God. 4th. That we are to exercise the same love towards believers that Christ did towards us. And hence, 5th. That the example of our Lord, in all particulars, is the supreme law of the church. This is clearly the sum total of all these commands. The example of Christ, then, is the sublime standard to which all our actions are to be strictly and scrupulously conformed. To carry out this principle is the great object of Christian life; and on this principle only can a desirable and permanent union among the saints be formed. This is the only firm and authorized basis for such a superstructure. Let this principle be adopted and carried out, and all schisms in the body would cease; and it would again assume its original symmetry, unity, and loveliness.

In the light of this principle, the proper course and duty of Christians in matters of fellowship and communion, whether in their individual or associate capacity, will be perfectly plain and intelligible. To decide their duty in reference to persons who claim Christian regard and fellowship, it is only necessary to ascertain the feelings and conduct of the Great Head of the church towards them. This is the only thing to be determined to make the path of duty perfectly obvious. Peter regarded it as a self-evident proposition, that to withhold fraternal fellowship and church privileges from one to whom God had given his Spirit, was to resist God. The gift of the Spirit to an individual was, to his mind, indubitable evidence that God had received him. And to refuse to receive one whom he had received, was to withstand God. All that he demanded was evidence that God had received a

person, to welcome him to the fellowship and immunities of the church. This was the great law of the primitive church; and it is as obligatory on all Christians now as it was then. It is as true now as it was then, that to refuse the fellowship and privileges of the church to one whom Christ has received, is to resist God. The duty is as solemn, as urgent, and as authoritative now, to admit to the rights, immunities, and fellowship of the church all those whom Christ receives, as it was then. The order of Christ's house has undergoue no change. The fundamental law of the church still exists in all its force. The example of our living Head must still be regarded as of supreme authority among Christians.

[TO BE CONTINUED,]

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THE DIVINE ORDER FOR EVANGELIZING THE WORLD,

AND FOR TEACHING THE EVANGELIZED HOW TO CONDUCT THEMSELVES.

THE divine orders for evangelizing the world, and for teach. ing the disciples all things that they should observe to do, as recorded by Matthew and Mark, when taken together, may be correctly rendered as follows: see Matth. xxviii. 16, 18, 20, aud Mark xvi. 15, 16. The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And he came and spake unto them, saying, "All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of this state. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned."

From this portion of the divine testimony it evidently appears, 1st. That the apostolic commission is founded upon the official authority of Christ. 2d. That it embraces every human creature, without exception. 3d. That the subject matter of their preaching and teaching is exclusively intended for the salvation of the nations. 4th. The apostolic preaching was for a time entirely oral, being addressed only to the ear. Wherefore it was said that "faith comes by hearing." 5th. That when the Apostles had fulfilled their commission, had finished their work, by publishing the gospel and law of Christ to the nations, and had left it fully recorded in the possession of the churches, it necessarily follows, that, thenceforth, oral dictation ceased to be authoritative; and, that both the church and the world must, thenceforth, depend exclusively upon what was written, for their instruction and salvation; and, consequently, that preaching of

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proclaiming did, in its just and primary import, then for ever cease; and teaching alone remain. It is true, the word might still be proclaimed to those that never heard it, by reading to them what had been already published, referring to the evidence, both external and internal, by which it had been, and still might be, confirmed: but this we properly call teaching, the things having been already proved and published, and so made public property: the subsequent teachers, in the mean time, not pretending to produce iminediate supernatural evidence for what they taught, as the first proclaimers did: wherefore their mere oral dictation could have no divine authority. These things being evidently so, church edification must, as far as verbal teaching is concerned, have thenceforth been effected by reading the sacred record, with appropriate observations and exhortations. For this alone containing all that the disciptes were to believe and do, in order to secure the continued enjoyment of the divine approbation; nothing farther could be necessary, but only to read it intelligibly, and enforce it with the proper arguments, divinely furnished for that purpose.

Now, in order to accomplish this in the most effectual manner, the true, literal, and constructive meaning of words and phrases, and also the grammatic and rational connexion of sentences and sentiments should be made so evident, that the reading may be clearly understood, and its meaning forcibly felt. And this would evidently require such profound attention, both on the part of the teacher and of the taught, that on neither part it could be done by rote. but that, on the contrary, it would require, on both sides, a previous and preparatory attention, in order to the aforesaid strict and intelligent perusal, that it might be duly understood and retained; without which all reading is mere formal trifling. Let the church then take up its Book, and read and study it thus, that so it may duly understand and retain it; and, in so doing, it will act in character; it will honor the Book of God; and, in so doing, it will both honor its Author, and edify itself; and thus enjoying the inestimable benefit, which it was divinely intended to convey to the intelligent, retentive, practical student. Thus will the church resume its proper character; that is, the school of Christ, disciples, Christians: and will not henceforth shame its Master, through its stupid, wilful, shameful ignorance of his only Book. No-For instead of its present lamentable neglect of this its primary and all-important duty, every member would be every day studiously memorizing a competent portion of it, for his daily edification and comforthis meditation and conversation-the subject matter of his praise and prayer These portions would also be rehearsed with interest every evening, in the family circles, for social edification,