Taken in this light, the Church on earth may be considered as a preparatory stage in the road to man's future happiness; it being a school of discipline established by Christ, for the purpose of making every member of it meet for the possession of his heavenly inheritance. In consequence of man's admission into this school, he is no longer considered as "a stranger and foreigner, but as a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of God."*

Thus the Apostle, in conformity with this idea of the Church being a school of discipline, for the purpose of spiritualizing the fallen creature man, tells us; that He who "ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things; gave some, Apostles; and some, Prophets; and some, Evangelists; and some, Pastors and Teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the know. ledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."t

After it was determined upon, in the Divine counsels, that Jesus Christ should lay down his life a sacrifice for sin, thereby to render it possible for man to be saved; the next step taken towards the accomplishment of the great work of salvation was, it should seem, to prepare and qualify man to reap the benefit of it. To this end, God gave Christ to be head over all things to his Church; that a spiritual principle being set at work, for the purpose of counteracting the effects of that evil * Eph. ii. 19. + Eph. iv. 10, et seq.

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principle by which the world had been destroyed, all men might not perish; but that the Church, at least, considered as a building" properly constructed, and "fitly framed together," according to the plan of its divine Master-builder, might grow unto an holy temple in the Lord."*

Hence we see the reason, why those who were to be saved, were first to be made members of the Church; the Church being, according to the Divine. plan, the ordinary road through which they were to travel from this world to the next. "The Lord," we read, "added to the Church daily such as should be saved."+ And in the case of the devout Cornelius, He vouchsafed a particular revelation, for the purpose of securing his admission into it; a circumstance which leaves us in no doubt with respect to the importance of the object in view upon the occasion.

The advantages and disadvantages consequent, then, upon a communion with, or separation from, the Church, may here begin to be estimated.

Communion with the Church is conformity to the Divine plan for our salvation; separation from it is setting up a plan of our own, if not in opposition to, at least in some degree independent of, the former. The one is putting ourselves under God's training; by becoming disciples in his school, conforming to those rules, and making use of those means, which have been appointed by him for the advancement of our spiritual concerns. The other is, in a degree at least, taking the work of salvation into our own hands, by setting up a system of * Eph. ii. 21.- +Acts ii. 47.

Christian education for ourselves. In the one case, we submit, as in humility we ought, to the wisdom of God; in the other, we make ourselves wiser than God, by an attempt to travel to heaven in a road different from that which He has graciously marked out for us: a conduct which leads to something like the following impious conclusion-that, in the great work of redemption, God was not the best judge of the manner in which it was to be carried into the most complete effect.

But, alas! there always hath been in man a strong propensity to be the carver and contriver of his own happiness; in other words, to be an independent being. Adam, through the persuasion of the tempter, would be wiser than God; and his fall was the consequence of his folly. The happiness of man must depend upon his obedience to the will of his Maker. But this is a truth not so generally acted upon, as it is acknowledged. The unregenerate man, feels at all times the same disposition that Adam did, to follow a will of his own, in contradiction to the Divine will; and to govern himself, rather than be governed by God. To this end he sets out with doubting, then with disbelieving, what God has revealed; and being advanced thus far in his progress towards rebellion, his next step actually commences it by forming plans and schemes of his own, which he thinks better calculated to answer the purpose in view, than those which come recommended by an authority, which he feels a natural indisposition to admit. It is a portion of this strong propensity, which man has to judge and act for himself, that prevails with the generality to separate

from the Church; upon the plausible, though mistaken idea, of serving God more acceptably in a way of their own: without considering, that it is not the worshipping God in the way they please, but in the way He has appointed, that will secure to them his blessing. To judge in some measure of the consequences resulting from such self-willed conduct, so far as they belong to our present subject, it may be proper to consider, what we have in the Church, and what out of it; that the reasonable man, balancing the advantages of communion with, against those of a separation from it, may judge for himself.

From the authority of the sacred writings we conclude, that where the Christian sacraments are duly administered, by persons regularly appointed to that sacred office, according to the plan originally laid down by the Apostles, there we find the Church, of Christ. From the same authority we learn, that this Church is to continue to the end of the world. The unity consequently of the Christian Church, must mean the same now that it ever did; and a separation from it must be attended with consequences as dangerous in the present day as at any former period. For the Church of Christ is but one; and all the promises of the Gospel are made to that one Church.* None, consequently, but members of that one Church, can lay claim to an interest in those promises; upon the same principle, that none but those who have been admitted members of any human society, can lay claim to

* Vide Appendix Letter VI. relative to the omission of the word "exclusively" in the foregoing passage.

the privileges belonging to it. Thus the direction given to those who were struck with St. Peter's sermon was this, " Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."* By which we understand, that admission into the Church was considered by the Apostle as a necessary qualification for the gift of the Holy Ghost. Indeed, from the general tenor of scripture, it is to be concluded, that none but those who are members of the Church, can be partakers of the spirit by which it is accompanied, Without, therefore, presuming to determine upon the condition of those who are out of the Church, we are at least justified in saying, that their hope of salvation must be built upon some general idea of Divine mercy, to which the member of the Church has a covenanted claim. In the one case we have an act of Grace indeed; but for the performance of which there is no security, because it does not stand on the sure ground of any revealed promise: whilst in the other, we build on a positive act of Covenant, which assuredly will take place, according to the conditions on which it has been made; because "He is faithful that promised."+

In this one Church, then, we have the sacraments of Christ's appointment; as seals of that covenant by which fallen man lays claim to eternal life. In this one Church, we have the ambassadors for Christ, whose sacred office it is to administer, in the name of Him whom they are commissioned to represent, the sacraments of that covenant, which God on his * Acts ii, 38, + Heb. x. 23.