support of his position he has produced none-absolutely none; and I feel strongly persuaded that the majority will consider his case as non proven, and moreover that the "shadow" which interposes between him and the "sunshine" is other than mine.

WOODVILLE WOODMAN.

APPEAL ON BEHALF OF THE CONFERENCE
BUILDING FUND.

WE are instructed by minute 157 of the last Session of the General Conference, to appeal "to societies and individuals for collections, subscriptions, and donations, in aid of the Conference Building Fund."

It is sometimes remarked, that in the New Church there are so many institutions that require support, but surely this should rather be a matter for congratulation, and it may indeed be doubted whether the number of pecuniary claims upon New Churchmen is greater than upon many other denominations of Christians.

To certain minds some one institution may more especially commend itself, and to some it may be the Building Fund; but to the Church at large perhaps it cannot be said that this has any pre-eminent claims over the various other agencies that are helping forward the good cause. It may, however, be submitted that the Building Fund deserves its fair share of support from the Church.

The aspirant for the ministerial office is taken by the hand by the Students and Ministers' Aid Fund, and helped forward by the College; the former fund again assists him when commencing his pastoral duties, if the society to which he is attached is as yet unable entirely to support him; the Missionary Society also lends its valuable aid; and we have the Pension Fund to solace the aged minister in his declining years.

But for one link yet wanting in the chain, a new Church Society may still succumb, notwithstanding these valuable auxiliaries: it must obviously be of great advantage for a society to have a building of its own wherein to worship. If a commercial simile is allowable, the possession of a church by a society is like capital to a merchant. If he meets with a reverse without capital he is ruined, but with it he may hope to recover himself; so with a society without a church, the loss of their minister, or the removal of some of the leading members may irrevocably scatter it far and wide; whereas the possession of a free

hold building, unencumbered with debt, may form a rallying point until more prosperous times.

A little extraneous aid may sometimes enable a society to accomplish the so much to be desired object of having a Church; and to furnish this one link yet wanting in the paternal provision made by the Conference for the welfare of the New Church, the Building Fund has been instituted.

The objects, scope, and rules of this Fund are fully shown in the minute 183 of the last session of Conference, to which, for more information, reference can be made.

The sum of £106, Os. 2d. has already been obtained, of which £100 is now performing its beneficent work, but a very large amount could be profitably used were it only forthcoming.

It is much to be hoped that this very useful work will not be neglected, but that the Fund will receive its fair share of support from the Church, and with these remarks the undersigned commend it to the consideration of the readers of the Intellectual Repository. Should any individuals feel disposed to take action in this important use, the amount can be forwarded to the Treasurer of the Conference, Mr. Gunton, 83A Guildford Street, Russell Square, London.

E. D. RENDELL.

T. WATSON.

R. GUNTON.

A. BRABY.

C. W. SMITH, Secretary.

SIN AND FORGIVENESS.

ALL men are sinners. All need the forgiveness of their sins. All may be forgiven, and cleansed from all unrighteousness. The gospel makes no exceptions among men. There is but one who, though He was in all points tempted like as we are, was yet without sin, and He was "God manifest in the flesh." Only He could ask, as knowing the impossibility of the thing," Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John viii. 46). All others need only to look into their own memories to see that they are sinners.

Cherishing the

Sin is the voluntary transgression of a known law. desire to commit sin, even though we are deterred from the sinful act by merely worldly and prudential considerations, is sin. Violating the

spirit and intention of the Divine law, even though we are careful not to transgress the letter, is sin. Omitting to do a known duty is sin. Of how many such sins-sins of heart and of life, sins of purpose and sins of neglect, have all men been guilty!

There are degrees of sinfulness. We may fall into sin under the stress and pressure of strong temptation, while almost at the same time our inward will is rebelling against the act we do. Sins of impatience, petulance, and hastiness of temper, are sometimes committed in this way. They are sins of infirmity, to conquer which needs continued watchfulness and prayerfulness, as well as constant warring with ourselves. We may consent to sin, when tempted, after a greater or a less amount of resistance. We may determine to sin when an occasion

of sinning presents itself. We may take delight in sinning. These are the stages of sinfulness down which the soul may descend.

On one or other of these steps all sinners stand. Those who have begun to sin from infirmity, unless they repent and "cease to do evil," must speedily begin to sin from consent. Those who sin from consent, and who continue in their evil ways, must soon begin to sin from determination. Those who determine to sin will speedily discover that they find and take delight in sinning. Unless we can escape from sin by availing ourselves of the deliverance offered through our Lord Jesus Christ, this fatal descent of the soul to the lowest stage of sinfulness— delighting in sin-will be inevitable. This last is the state of infernal spirits, whose delight it is to work iniquity. It is an awful condition, and it is described in the Word as that of utter spiritual death.

It is the

The philosophy of sin is clearly described by the Apostle, "Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James i. 14, 15.) The reason why all men are sinners is because by birth all derive from their parents "the carnal mind," which is at enmity against God. The desires of this carnal mind are concupiscences or "lusts." This transmitted nature is the hereditary evil of which all men partake. universal inheritance in which all human beings share. We are born into the natural-minded state, and its inclinations and dispositions prompt the love of self, and not the love of God; the love of the world and not the love of the neighbour; the seeking of our own pleasures and not the love of doing good. To enable him to correct these tendencies, man needed revelation from God. The revealed laws of God enjoin the suppression of these naturul inclinations, the subordinating

SIN.

of them to the higher and holy affections of the spiritual mind. When born, although we are naturally alive, we are spiritually dead. Knowledge concerning spiritual life and the things thereof, which we gain during our years of non-accountability, is our knowledge of the law of God. Every act which we commit, or which we neglect to perform, and by which we knowingly transgress that Divine law, is a It is a sin against God, because violating what we know to be His will concerning us. It is a sin against the light which He has given to us. It is also a sin against ourselves, because it prevents our realizing God's purpose concerning us, and it thus confirms us in the state of spiritual death. All have the carnal mind. All have its "lusts." All have been drawn away and enticed by them. All have acted out the promptings of these lusts, or as the Apostle phrases it, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. iii. 23.) This condemnation of spiritual death has passed upon all men.

The wages of sin is death. Because all have sinned and are sinners, all are dead. All need to be quickened by the gift of spiritual life. This gift is to be received from the Lord alone. The beginning of this gift is the forgiveness of our past sins. The continuation of this gift is the Divine impartation of power, so that we may thenceforth be enabled to resist the devil, and to cease to do evil. Following upon this blessed gift is the implantation in the soul of the love of doing good. This is operated within us by the Holy Spirit. The stages of welldoing are similar to the stages of sinfulness, but in the contrary direction.

The mighty operation of joy and love working in us, by Divine stress and pressure in the beginning of the regenerate life, enables us to do good. The Lord thus works in us rather than by our means. He makes us conquerors, that so we may by and by become more than conquerors through Him that loved us. We may sometimes in that early state feel almost astounded at the ease of our victory. We are for a time lifted as it were above temptation. Our enemies for a while are put under our feet. This exaltation of soul comes to us as a sign, as a proof, as the first consequence of our sins being forgiven. It is caused as it were by the rush of the Spirit of God through the newly opened spiritual state, suffusing our souls with joy and delight. This condition, however, will not endure; for though, like Israel, we sing our song after being redeemed from the hands of our Egyptian enemies which previously infested us, there is the pilgrimage through the wilderness still to be made.

The next stage is that wherein we do good, as it were, by consenting to the operation of the Holy Spirit, which continually prompts us to what is truly right in the sight of God. The will thus learns its second lesson of spiritual life, the lesson of submission and consenting. It seeks the guidance of the Divine Director, voluntarily yields, as from itself, to what He directs. Thus the Lord begins to act by us, as well as in us, so as to lead us in freedom to more interior states of goodness, in which man becomes an active co-operator with the Divine operation.

But as we advance, more and more interior evils, lusts, and predispositions, will be excited, become active, and seek to lead us astray. To fight these may seem most difficult, almost impossible. Did the Lord leave us alone to our own strength, it would be impossible to conquer, or to eradicate these. But the Lord never leaves us thus alone. When the struggle is fiercest, He is nighest to help. When we feel that of ourselves we are weakest, we are then the strongest in Him. He only seems to leave us for a little time, in order to develop within us greater power, and to prepare us for receiving a more triumphant victory.

As it was in the history of the Lord, so in our experience,—the anguish of Gethsemane, the agony of the cross, the darkness of death, must precede the rolling away of the stone, the resurrection to glory, and the full conquest over hell and death. "If it be possible let this cup pass from Me," and "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me," must precede the other declarations-" All power is given Me in heaven and in earth," and "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

In regard to these interior evils, man's part is to fight against them by determination, that is, to compel himself not to do the sins which they prompt, and on the contrary, to do the things which he knows to be right. The Lord will crown this self-compulsion with victory, and will lead the victorious soul into that spiritual sabbath, which is the crowning of all his spiritual toil-that perfect rest in the Lord, the delighting in doing good!

All through our pilgrimage we shall never be able to say that we are without sin. Our course will be one of hills and valleys. None of us can walk in the narrow way without some halting, and without some turning to the right hand or to the left. Though the Christian can never fall so low as to commit sins of determination and remain a Christian, yet into sins of infirmity and sins of consent every Christian may fall at times. Though he must bitterly lament, and truly repent of