SERMON II.

1 JOHN V. 9.

If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater.

ALTHOUGH the great truths of the Christian religion, as revealed in the Inspired Writings, are of themselves sufficiently plain and intelligible, yet experience will inform us, how fatally even in these days, they have been, and are perplexed by contradiction, disguised by sophistry, and degraded by fanaticism. Such is the nature of the human mind, that if each man was left to form for himself the articles of his own belief, by far the larger portion of mankind, would acquiesce in a state of negative indifference; partly from want of power or opportunity, and partly from seeing the remainder, who had leisure and capacity each to undertake the task for himself, involved in endless cavil, doubt, and obscurity. Uniformity then is no less essential to the general reception of Christianity, than to the peace

of those who receive it. With a view, therefore, both of regulating and confirming the faith of the many, and of reconciling the divisions of the few, articles of belief were first introduced into the Christian church; and public professions of faith framed and established. In the earliest ages, even in the Apostolic church, the recitation of a creed, accompanied the initiation by baptism into the congregation of Christians. Thus is the witness of man, added to the witness of God. It is added, not to strengthen its power or to ratify its validity, as the witness of God is infinitely greater than the witness of man:—it is added, that the witness of God might thus be comprehended by the faculties of man; that the powers of the Creator might be adapted to the weakness of the creature. The witness which God hath vouchsafed of himself, in the revelation of his will to man, is a burning and a shining light, but it is a light only to those who will place themselves under the guidance of its beams.

The rays of the Sun of Righteousness, like that of the material planet, may be both arrested in their progress, and perverted in their course; they penetrate not the dark shades of ignorance, they are refracted by the mists of error. The gifts of God, both in the natural and moral world, are all adapted in a wonderful manner, to a creature of free will in a state of probation.

The blessings of the Almighty may be received with joy, may be rejected with indifference, or by perversion of purpose may themselves become a misery and a curse. It is for man to draw from the holy Scriptures, those witnesses of his mercy and his power, the living waters of comfort, peace, and consolation, or to convert them into the bitter draught of jealousy, contention, and division.

Much then is left by the Almighty, for the "witness of man" to perform. To fortify by argument, to vindicate by research, to enforce by authority the revelation of the Almighty will, is among the highest privileges of the human race. To assist the ignorant by an uniform rule of belief, to relieve the occupied by an abstract of their religion, to fix the wavering by articles of faith, is the office, the duty, and the testimony of man to his fellow creatures. This is the witness of man; and upon this witness, we assent to the articles of our faith, we recite our creed, we join in one common form of confession, and worship; we are united in the bond of charity, peace, and union, under the name, the guidance, and the authority of one common, visible, and established church.

But "if we receive the witness of man, the witness of God is greater." Our liturgy, our creed, our articles are but the witness and the work of

We acknowledge their necessity as they are the bond of union between discordant opinions; we recognize their authority as they are established under the constitution of our country; we reverence their sanctity as they are the witness of man to God. However deep, however awful, may be our veneration for that primitive and apostolic church in which they were planted, for those blessed martyrs by whose blood they were watered, for our forefathers by whose wisdom they were established, they must still be brought before a higher tribunal than our reverence, our affection, or even our reason can institute; even the witness of God. This is the test of their authority, this is the criterion of their truth. Before the bar of Revelation must they be brought to establish their power, and to sanction their claim. And, here again we do not, as is the custom of some churches, reason in a circle, and rest our articles, not upon Scripture in general, but upon Scripture as modified and interpreted by the authority of that church, of which authority it is to be the judge. The Church of England calls upon her children to bring their reason to the trial, and to rest their allegiance on no other ground than the fair, candid, and honest interpretation of Scripture; contrary to Scripture she enforces no article, beyond Scripture she exacts no obedience. On this, is her au

thority grounded, on this rock is her foundation laid. We receive her witness as great, because the witness of God is greater.

I have premised these general observations as introductory to some few remarks on that particular creed, which according to the directions of our Church, forms a part of this day's solemnity, as ultimately connected with that sacred doctrine which at this season we are summoned most seriously to consider and embrace.

The objections which many excellent Christians have entertained respecting this formulary of belief, originate in many instances in the best and purest motives; nor can it therefore be doubted, but that the same charity and candour, which first raised these objections in their minds, will incline them to a wish at least, that they should be resolved. Every scruple on the side of benevolence and charity, deserves the most serious regard; as the heartfelt wish of every good and Christian mind, is for the reconciliation of every jarring sentiment, for the interchange of mutual concession, for the unity and peace of this our earthly Jerusalem.

The first objection generally urged against this creed is, that in attempting to explain what admits not of explanation, and to define what is incapable of definition, it is at once confused, obscure, and unintelligible.