guages of the earth, in respect of doctrinal truth, all speak the same thing. No Wesleyan Minister, whatever his talents or family connexions may be, can retain his standing in the body, after he ceases to believe and teach the doctrines I have enumerated; and the same may be said of Local Preachers and Class-Leaders. Though purity of doctrine mainly concerns Ministers, it is a matter of high importance that the members of the church also be sound in the faith. It will, I believe, be found true, in all instances, that where the truth in its essential principles is not believed, it is neither obeyed nor experienced. "That your faith may not stand in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God," let me exhort you to habituate yourselves to a consecutive and prayerful perusal of the Scriptures, and that not only in your families, but also in your closets. Subordinate your understandings to the testimony of Scripture authority; beware of that prying curiosity, which, dissatisfied with things revealed, incurs the curse of God by daring to rend the veil which he has drawn over" the secret things" which "belong" to himself. Choose a strictly evangelical ministry; and attend on that ministry with regularity; desiring that God would make it the means of correcting your prejudices, purifying your affections, and enlightening your understanding. If possible, possess yourselves of such standard works in divinity as your Ministers or other experienced Christian friends may recommend, as best fitted to illustrate and keep the great principles of the oracles of God prominently before your eyes, and the eyes of your children. This is a reading age; and religious parents ought to be liberal in purchasing works of established merit, for their own and their children's edification in the different branches of Christian knowledge. Above all, pray with all prayer, that the efficacy of the atonement may be proved in your conscious pardon; that the energy of the Holy Spirit may be evidenced by your renewed tempers; that the life of God in your souls may be manifested inthe holiness of your lives; that the truth may be engraven on your memories, applied to your consciences, and treasured up in all wisdom in your hearts; and that, while you retain a relish for its "sincere milk," you may be able also to digest that " strong meat" which "belongeth to them that are of full age; even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern," with ease and promptitude, both good and evil," in all their gradations, connexions, and consequences. The purity of the church has respect, " Secondly, to her worship. The worship of a church may be said to be pure, when its ordinances are scriptural in their character, and in the mode of their administration; when they are regarded by the body of the people as the ordinances of God, and are diligently improved as the appointed means of obtaining His great salvation; when the devotional exercises of the community are presented to the Father through the mediation of the Son, are equally removed from the coldness of formality, the false fire of enthusiasm, and the feigned fervour of hypocrisy ; when their prayers imply "an offering up of the desires of their hearts," and their praises are the effusions of their grateful souls; when the word is preached with the "Holy Ghost sent down from heaven," and is "mixed with faith in them that hear it;" when the Lord's supper is administered only to those who prove their discipleship by keeping his commandments, and is received in the exercise of an appropriating faith, an ardent love, and a confiding friendship. This is to worship God “in spirit and in truth," and in the "beauty of holiness." If it be said, that none of the churches of the present day can bear to have their worship tested by such a standard as is here set up; we admit the melancholy fact. But what then? The question is not, What worship do we pay to the Lord our God? but, What does he require? It is not, What measure of divine influence do we possess? but, What has God promised? If our services fall short of what he requires in the precept, and offers in the promise, our short-comings are manifestly sinful; we ought to condemn ourselves on account of them; and never rest till, through grace, we have surmounted them. It is, in this matter, with churches, as with individuals: they "have not, because they ask not; or, because they ask amiss." God is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." What is practicable by one, is practicable by all; and what is obligatory on the whole, is obligatory on each. The neglect of social worship, and of every thing like the fellowship of saints, late and irregular attendance on public worship, the restraining prayer in the great congregation, indevout singing, critical hearing, and formal communion at the Lord's table, are dark lines in the church history of the present day. And we, as well as the members of other communities, need to watch, lest the eloquence of man should be substituted for the influence of God; and the melody of the heart be sacrificed to the music of the lips; lest the prevalent indisposition to kneel in the congregation, should make us forget that it is our duty to pray with the congregation; lest a regard for decorum should divest us of the simplicity and fervour of our primitive devotion; and our numerous engagements in public rob us of time and inclination for the duties of the closet, and the exercises of the heart. These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the others undone." "O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel down before the Lord our Maker. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; fear before him, all the earth." May the Spirit of grace and of supplication" be abundantly poured out upon us, and upon all the churches of Christ, until "incense and a pure offering" shall, in every sanctuary, and on every domestic altar, be offered unto His great Name" from the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same." The purity of the church has respect, Thirdly, to her discipline. The discipline of a church may be said to be pure when its terms of communion are in accordance with the VOL. XIV. Third Series. AUGUST, 1835. 2 R precepts of the Gospel, the genius of Christianity, and the usages of the primitive churches; when its Ministers and other officers are invested with scriptural powers, and are diligent and faithful in the discharge of those duties which the Scriptures have connected with their respective offices; when the members are made to feel, and are willing to own, that they are "under the law to Christ,"—that it is their duty to devote their talents and exert their influence for the exaltation of his name, and the extension of his cause, and that it is perilous for them to sully their fair fame, either by committing sin, by neglecting duty, or by conforming to the maxims and practices of the world. The discipline of a church may be said to be pure, when the sick are duly visited, and the destitute are promptly relieved; when the lukewarm are reproved, and the eminently holy are encouraged and protected in their disinterested endeavours to glorify God, and effect the salvation of men; when such as have sinned are admonished in the spirit of loving fidelity; and when those who are incorrigible are cut off from the body of the faithful, that others may fear. A church without discipline is like an army without a commander, which is a rabble during peace, and a prey to the enemy in time of war. It is like a family without a head, in which duty is left both undefined and unperformed; in which passion prevails, favouritism rules, envy rages, and the good of the whole is sacrificed to the caprice of one. It is like a garden without walls, which "all who pass by do pluck;" which the "wild boar of the forest doth waste;" and which the "wild beast of the field doth devour." In such a church there may be occasional flashes of power felt in the ordinances, granted by God in honour of individual devotedness; but at the same time, there will always be a lamentable lack of harmony and of holiness among the body of its Ministers and members. Power to protect the pious in the quiet enjoyment of their religious privileges, against the usurpations of faction, and also to censure and expel such as sin against the principles of morality, and the peace of the community, must be lodged somewhere; and when that power, wherever lodged, is placed under such salutary checks as to prevent it from ever becoming injurious or oppressive to the virtuous majority, the ends of disciplinary power may be said to be accomplished. Though we are very far from thinking that the administration of our discipline has at all times been faultless; yet we do rejoice in the scriptural character of its principles, and in its general efficiency in promoting the holiness of those who submit to its reasonable restraints. By appointing that no man shall be admitted on trial as an Itinerant Preacher, till the Quarterly Meeting of the Circuit to which he belongs give their testimony that they believe him to be converted to God, and possessed of such gifts as are likely to edify the church, it establishes a strong barrier against the numberless evils connected with an unconverted ministry. By requiring that the Preachers should itinerate, it checks in them the growth of worldly affections; it subordinates local prejudices and personal interests to enlightened views and measures promo. tive of the general good; and it quenches many jealousies and heart-burnings, which would otherwise be fostered and perpetuated. By devolving the support of the ministry on the whole body of the people, rather than on the few who are rich and influential, its independence is secured; while, by subjecting Ministers to an annual examination on all points of moral conduct and ministerial fitness, and by sanctioning to a certain extent the principle of popular choice, it stimulates them to the cultivation of their gifts, and to the maintenance of personal piety. By the distribution of the members into classes, each individual enjoys the privilege of obtaining such spiritual advice as his state requires; and by the same judicious arrangement the sick may be visited, the disorderly detected, and the lukewarm admonished, with ease and effect. The quarterly visitation of the classes, by the Ministers, when conducted with judgment, leisure, and loving fidelity, is always productive of the happiest effects. It promotes a reciprocal affection between the Preachers and the people; it scares away such as have fallen into the spirit of the world, and are unwilling to be recovered; it excites the Leaders to diligence and fidelity in their weekly visits and exhortations; it furnishes the Ministers with an extensive and accurate index to the spiritual state of the society, which is of great use to them in preparing and delivering their public discourses; and, at the same time, it developes the talents and attainments of the members, so that suitable work is found for them in the vineyard. If these results have not always been secured, the fault was obviously not in the system, but in the men who administered it, or in the members who resisted it. The reformation, therefore, which we need, is not one of principle, nor even of theory, but of practice; and the onus of carrying out this practical reform rests quite as much with the people as with the Preachers. It can be effected only by a rich and general effusion of divine influence, constraining all, both Preachers and people, to dedicate themselves anew to God, to love each other with pure hearts fervently, to warn the unruly, to comfort the feeble-minded, and to be patient toward all men. It is the power of God which we need, not the wisdom of man; it is the Spirit of love, not the rudiments of the world; it is a larger infusion of that meek and childlike disposition, which led David to say, "Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head: for yet my prayer also shall be in their calamities." (Psalm cxli. 5.) The purity of the church has respect, Fourthly, to her practice. The practice of a church may be said to be pure, when its Ministers and members "live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world;" when they "render to all their due,tribute to whom tribute is due, fear to whom fear, and honour to whom honour;" when they "do to others as they would have others to do to them" in all the transactions and relations of life; when they walk worthy of God unto all well-pleasing," performing the whole round of religious duties with regularity, affection, and fidelity; when, in a word, they keep themselves in a state of holy separation from the world, and live determined to glory only in the cross, to "overcome evil with good," to cherish the spirit of sacrifice, and always to be zealously affected in a good thing." Purity like this makes the church "fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners." It gives her a character of symmetry and dignity, of moral night and efficiency, which inspires her enemies with awe, and her friends with holy joy. It renders her independent of the patronage of the great, by securing to her, not only an existence in the world, but the victory over the world. It was for the purpose of arraying her in this beauty of holiness that Christ gave him self for her; (Eph. v. 25-27 ;) and in this, truly, lies her great strength. Neither acts of Parliament, nor rich revenues, nor splendid titles, nor human learning, nor sumptuous edifices, can make her either safe or prosperous, if she divest herself of the beauty of her Lord. In the cultivation and maintenance of this purity we are all deeply concerned, both in the way of direct obligation and of personal interest. The holiness and orthodoxy of each contribute to the sanctification and illumination of the whole; and in proportion as the whole become assimilated to the truth in their doctrinal views, their devotional exercises, and their every-day practice, the safety and salvation of each is promoted as a matter of course. Let us therefore "hold fast the form of sound words which we have heard from the beginning, in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus." Let us "submit ourselves one to another in the fear of the Lord;" and "be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;" and instead of contending about matters of "doubtful disputation," instead of consuming our time, and employing our energies, in constructing theories of questionable tendency, let us occupy ourselves in seeking the entire sanctification of our souls; in carrying out the practice of piety in our closets, and before our families; in performing labours of love to the bodies and souls of our neighbours; and in "doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God." The second idea included in the "beauty of the Lord" is unity. "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell toge ther in unity!" (Psalm cxxxiii. 1.) The word rendered "pleasant" in this passage is, in our text, translated " beauty;" and being applied to the unity of brethren by the Holy Ghost, we are authorized in the application of the sentiment to the church, and to her divine Head. The beauty of unity shines conspicuously in the attributes, works, and ways of Jehovah. In Him inflexible justice, and boundless benevolence, unspotted holiness, and almighty power, with infinite wisdom, exist in absolute perfection and completest harmony. These glorious attributes, as found in His nature, are not to be contemplated as so many distinct luminaries, |