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Scripture, is, in some other works, the sole object which I have pursued; and to maintain them fully and freely (as ability is afforded) in the presence of all men, I deem to be both my first duty, and my dearest right. When we reflect on the unutterable importance of eternity, on the value of never-dying souls, on the pains of hell, and on the joys of heaven, we cannot deny that to dwell on essential, saving, truth, is the main business of every religious teacher.

Dearly ought we to prize the many noble testimonies which have been borne by the Society of Friends, not only in the present day, but from its earliest rise, to the truth and importance of the doctrines of the New Testament. Christ has been the centre around which they have delighted to gather; and those who have quitted that centre have never failed to lose, in a spiritual sense at least, their unity with the body.

Since the Holy Scriptures contain a divinely authorised standard of revealed truth, and are fully sufficient for their purpose, Friends have always refused to bind themselves by any other written creed. Nevertheless, in every period of the Society's history, the acknowledged faith of the body has been sound and unquestionable. Repeatedly have they confessed their belief in one ever-living God, all-wise, almighty, omnipresent, the Creator and Ruler of the universe, holy, just, true, and merciful; in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the dead; in the eternity

1 The present edition, in octavo, will bind up with the second edition of the Essays, and the second edition of the Biblical Notes; also with a pamphlet entitled "Terms of Union." It is my intention to republish several minor works in another octavo volume.

of future rewards and punishments; in the mysterious union and distinction of the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ; in his incarnation and birth of the virgin Mary; in his sinless human nature; in his meritorious obedience, sufferings, and death; in his resurrection and ascension; in his supreme and universal reign; in his spiritual presence with his people; and in his glorious future coming to judge the quick and the dead.

They are well aware of the fatal effects of the transgression of our first parents-that man is a fallen creature, by nature the child of wrath, prone to iniquity, and absolutely incapable of true holiness and happiness, unless he be born again of the Spirit; and they have been among the foremost to proclaim the power and devices of Satan, our tempter and accuser, who rules, in every age of the world, over the children of disobedience.

They know that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," and have often declared in the most explicit manner, that it is only through the precious blood of Jesus Christ, shed for us on the cross, that our " iniquity is forgiven," and our "sin covered.” This awful sacrifice they have always regarded as ordained in the eternal counsels of the Father, and as the highest proof both of his holiness and his love; and boldly have they asserted that it was made for all men; Christ was "the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world."

I conceive that the views of our Society on this subject are remarkably comprehensive, and not more com

prehensive than just. Not only have Friends at all times ascribed the forgiveness of sin to the free mercy of God in Christ Jesus; but they have set forth the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the very centre of all the virtue and all the hopes of our species. They have always believed that according to the gracious purposes of God our Father, this sacrifice (ordained before the foundation of the world, and accomplished in due season) was the means of procuring for fallen man the gift of the Holy Spirit; and that CHRIST HIMSELF, manifested by his Spirit in the heart, is that “true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

Our frequent declaration of the Christian principle, that without holiness none can see the Lord, or enter into his kingdom, has led some persons to imagine that our Society underrates the importance and necessity of faith. Yet there is probably no truth on which Friends have been more accustomed to insist, than the Scripture doctrine, that the "just shall live by faith." They freely acknowledge that faith is the appointed instrument of man's salvation; and that as is the light bestowed upon us, so is the belief required of us. They rejoice in the assurance of Scripture, that "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;"2 that " we are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus," and that whosoever believeth in the Son of God, shall "not perish," but shall "have everlasting life."4

2 2 Cor. v, 19. 3 Rom. iii, 24.

4 John iii, 16, 36.

But Friends have not failed to declare their sentiment, that the faith by which we are saved, is not the result of learning, or the mere conviction of the human understanding, but a divine gift,-an effect of the Spirit,-infallibly productive of a life of righteousness, -as a tree produces its natural fruit. Neither do they allow that even a saving faith is anything more than the instrument of our justification—the hand by which the penitent sinner, made sensible of the terrors of the law, and turned away from his iniquities, is enabled to put on the robe of the righteousness of Christ. They ever held that, under the pardoning love of the Father, the procuring cause of our acceptance with God, and of our final salvation, is CHRIST ALONE, received in the heart of the believer as the sole object of his confidence, and ruling there by his Spirit.5

We plainly learn from Scripture that the Mosaic priesthood, with all its ceremonial rites, was in point of authority abolished by the death of Christ; and that, under the dispensation of the gospel, the glorified Jesus alone is invested with the sacerdotal office. Not only has he offered once for all a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, but now he "appears in the presence

of God for us," pleads our cause, rebukes our enemy, and intercedes with the Father, on our behalf. He is the "minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man ;" and "in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted." Now I conceive that among the various classes of true Chris

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tians, there are none who have more faithfully maintained these truths than the Society of Friends. It has always been with them a point of leading importance, that Christ is the only High Priest of our profession; the sole Mediator between God and man, on whom the Christian believer may place his reliance. How often has it been proclaimed within our borders, that Christ" is able to save them to the uttermost who come unto God by him; seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them;" and that "such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens !"8

It was part of the office of the high priest of the Israelites, to conduct the worship of the people, to preside over their religious assemblies, and to bless them in the name of the Lord. Friends have always been strongly attached to the corresponding features in the priesthood of our Redeemer. They delight in the assurance that he still condescends to preside over the solemn meetings of Christian believers, to hallow their worship, and to spread over them the peaceful canopy of his presence. Long have they been accustomed to realise that ancient prophecy-" In that day shall the Lord of Hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty to the residue of his people; and for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate."9

What a noble view did our forefathers take of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit! They were bold to assert

8 Heb. vii, 25, 26.

9 Isa. xxviii, 5, 6.

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