SECTION V.

MAMMON-ANTICHRIST.

THE ARGUMENT PURSUED.

WE proceed to consider some further arguments and representations which contribute to render our position impregnable-MAMMON, ANTICHRIST.

I.

MAMMON-ANTICHRIST.

THE SUBJECTS OF MAMMON CANNOT ENTER INTO the kingdom oF HEAVEN-the Dispensation of Christ.

In the beginning, when the Son of the Everlasting Father came down from heaven to accomplish the great work of human redemption, we read, that in those days "the poor had the Gospel preached unto them" in intelligible and acceptable terms; that in those days "the common people heard him gladly;" that then the rich-the wisest and the best of them -turned away, some in anger and some in sorrow, from the light and from the requisitions of the

Gospel. It was then said, in words which defy all sophistry, equivocation, or cunning, to be "impossible for any rich man "-any man resolutely rich-" to enter into," or to understand, the nature, the elements, the spirit of the Gospel Dispensation. Can words be more clear, more positive, more comprehensive, more conclusive, than the following? Consider they are not the words of man's wisdom, but the Redeemer's own thoughts and sayings: "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man" (he that had great possessions) "shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." And again, "I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matt. xix, 23, 24.) Thousands of attempts have been made to corrupt and to sophisticate this word, some by feigned friends and some by open foes, but all in vain. So long as that declaration remains, bearing upon itself the impress of divine authority, so long must the truth upon which we have insisted remain incontrovertible by the hostility and the inveteracy of man.

"The friendship of this world is enmity against God." All those men who bask in the sunshine of worldly prosperity, must live in darkness as to the merits and virtues of the Redeemer's Dispensation. Every rich professor of the Christian faith will be prone to set this down as calumny and defamation; and why? because he is infatuated by the sorcery of Mammon. In vain the apostle James says, "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries which shall come upon you.

Your riches are corrupted; your garments are motheaten; your gold and your silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days." No! though truth shines forth in every line, it is all darkness to the man of worldly wealth. In vain, also, the Lord of that Dispensation which our modern Christians affect to pray for -to pray for, aye, before they ask their daily bread— aye, as the first and the highest boon that their Father in heaven can grant-in vain has the Redeemer technically and emphatically declared in the words we have just quoted, that no man of wealth can come under his Dispensation-that is, while he holds to the determination to keep his wealth in safe places, and thereby to remain subservient to the despotism of Mammon. Christian reader, are we here venting unfounded slanders, or repeat we the truth as it is in Christ? We speak as unto wise men; judge ye! If no man can be "the friend of the world," without being at the same time "the enemy of God"-if no servant of Mammon CAN enter into, can understand, or enjoy, the Dispensation of the Son of God-are we not once more justified for insisting with all possible confidence and energy upon our oft-repeated apothegm-MAMMON, ANTICHRIST.

II.

MAMMON-ANTICHRIST.

To Mammonism, to his authority and influence, are TO BE ASCRIBED THE MOST SCANDALOUS OF THOSE

DIVISIONS AND ANIMOSITIES, THE MOST MONSTROUS OF THOSE USURPATIONS AND ERRORS, WHICH HAVE DISTRACTED AND DISGRACED WHAT HAS BEEN CALLED

THE CHRISTIAN WORLD. Had Mammon never aroused the pride, the presumption, the evil passions, the grasping cupidity, the overbearing arrogance of those who have borne the name of Christ, the pages of what is termed the history of the Church, would not have been defiled by the description of atrocious crime and cruel persecution, nor would they have been so fearfully stained with human blood. Christian reader, turn to ecclesiastical annals, and say, if the proud prelates; the papal tyrants; the usurping priests; the sordid heresiarchs ; the ecclesiastics interfering with political affairs on the one hand, and the politicians interfering with ecclesiastical affairs on the other; the oppressors of human consciences; the pests both of the church and the world-if all these men have not been instigated by Mammon's demon power, if they have not exhibited the badges of Mammon's degrading slavery. Το Mammon, the apostle Peter directly ascribes the existence of these scandalous offences, these personifications of evil. He says-"There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken against. And THROUGH COVETOUSNESS shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. THERE is the origin, THERE the prolific source of the enormities and crimes which have been

perpetrated under the prostituted name of religion. Had those who have called themselves Christians, in every age practically espoused the Redeemer's principle

"Ye cannot serve God and Mammon ;"-had they sincerely obeyed his precepts-had they imbibed the spirit of his instructions—had they imitated the tenor of his example-the scandalous offences to which we have ' alluded would never have excited the triumph of his adversaries, and tarnished the honour of his name. Further

III.

MAMMON-ANTICHRIST.

MAMMONISM IS INFIDELITY. By Infidelity we do not here mean Scepticism, but Unfaithfulness. Infidelity, as scepticism, is no longer the bane of the church—it is no longer that vice against which the accredited ministers of the Gospel have to raise their strong remonstrance. It is now vulgar and low amongst us, not to profess a belief in the divine origin, attributes, and energies of the Christian Dispensation: no man, making any pretensions either to intellectual endowment or literary attainments, will confess his want of faith.

But take, Christian reader, the following view of the subject. To the preceptive declarations of our Lord, implicit, we say IMPLICIT, obedience must be afforded. And really, when we refer to the impious manner in which these precepts have been explained away to please the interested feelings and to support the worldly prejudices of men who call themselves Christians, we are disposed to submit to the common reader, whether