Farewell to the First Congregational Church in Norwalk, Conn. (bound with other addresses)

IN THE l-AiTH, AS TE HAVE BEEN TAtJ&HT, obovMding therein with thanksgiv- ing. BeVare lest ant man spoil votr through philosophy and vain DECEIT, AFTER the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world AND NOT AFTER Christ." Distrust the system's of theology which have treed to lay their foundations in specially iVamed systems of philosophy. The ptovince of theology is to learn what God hath taught. The best philosophy is the Gospel in its simplicity. It gives light, " but borrows hone." To think of shedding light upon it from the rays of philosophy, is fo think of holding up a taper to shed light upon the noon- day sun. Its words are not the words whioh man's wisdom teacheth, but " which the Holy Ghost teacheth." The best way to learn the truth is to receive the kingdom of God as a little child, and to become "as fools that we may be wise." Beware of that doctrine of God in 11 Christ which cannot trust plain men with the plain word, of God, with- out a previous dissertation on language, to show that what the pious followers of Christ of all ages have received as the substance of the Gos- pel, is untrue. When the aspects of the times are such as we have described; when men are thus " blown about by every wind of doctrine," " ever learn- ing, and never coming to the knowledge of the truth," it seems proper to call to mind that there are foundations, on which our souls inay rest. The Bible, not human wisdom, is the source of all knowledge of divine things. The word of God, — ^not impressions, or fancies, or phihsaphy, — is the basis of faith. Other foundation, — whether for the regeneration of society, or for the promotion of holiness, or the salvation of dying men, — can no man lay than is laid. " Thy righteousness is an EVERLASTiNa RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND THY LAW IS THE TRUTH." " We havc also a morc sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well to take heed, as unto alight shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts." The Only Begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, and who alone hath declared him, says — " Thy word is truth." And as the word of God is truth, so there are " First Principles of THE Oracles of God," which even babes in Christ must know, and which no one can reject without rejecting Christianity itself.. " Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." "God hath from the beginning chosen us to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.'''' " He that believeth ghall be saved : he that believeth not, shall be damned." Believe what ? What not be- lieve? Is there no truth? No error? No ground for rejecting any- thing as another Gospel ? Can we never know what it is that consti- tutes " The glorious Gospel of the blessed God," nor what is so contrary to it as to be another ? Away with such a philosophy ! One might as well take refuge in universal skepticism. When the word of God speaks of another Gospel, it implies that we may certainly know what that Gospel is, and what constitutes another. We are even required to judge the teacher of another Gospel, and to hold him accursed, though he were an apostle, or an angel from heaven. The man that is a here tic, we are to reject. Are we to be told that there is no heresy, or that it is impossible to define it from the truth, or to know what it is that we 12 are to embrace, and what we are to reject ? They who wouiu teach us so, methinks talk as though they were infidels or insane. " Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them V But now there come apologists for error. We are told that there are mysteries connected with the great doctrines of salvation ; that all the glories of the cross of Christ can never be comprehended in " a few words !" Who has supposed they could ? Yet, if there are things too high for us, there are also things which are revealed unto babes. If there are secret things which belong to God, there are also things revealed which belong to us and to our children. We do indeed bear in mind the amazing scope of the Gospel of Christ : " Which .things the angels desire to look into." Eedemption is to be the theme of praise and ado- ration, to afford new food for the soul, and new fuel for the fire of love for ever and ever. The song of the Lamb will never end ! What then ? If the great theme of redeeming love cannot be embraced in " a few words" are we at liberty to conclude that Christ did not once suffer vicariously for sins, " the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God V Why, even that new song, which they sing in heaven, the inex- haustible glories of which render it forever new, has for its burden, — " Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation." Have dying believers all been mistaken 1 Are the souls of the redeemed in heaven mistaken, when they have fancied that they have been redeemed, and have washed their garments and made them white in the blood of the Lamb ? Is it yet in doubt whether indeed that blood was "shed for many for the remission of sins?" Because all the mysteries of the cross of Christ cannot be em- braced in " a few words," does it follow that one who rejects the vicarious sufferings of Christ does not reject the Gospel, and that we are to remain in doubt whether such a direct and scornful denial is contrary to the faith as it is in Jesus 1 But what now, if he who tells us that this doctrine of the vicarious sufferings of Christ and of the New Testament in his blood, is an ab- surdity which confounds all moral distinctions in God, — what if he shall tell us that he, nevertheless, under another form, recalls and restores all that he in this seems to cast away ; that though the doctrine of a vica- 13 rious atonement is untrue, yet God sets it forth to be believed on account of its useful and pious effects, and that so a speculative untruth becomes most profoundly true and real in its beneficial resets! What shall I answer to this ? I answer, that he comes to me, as Satan came to Eve in the Garden, calling upon me to receive his philosophy and to reject the word of God. I answer, that this is the very thing against which Paul directed the warning : " But I fear lest, by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve, through his subtlety, your minds should be perverted from the sifa- plieity that is in Christ." I answer, that he is the very first philosopher, since Satan, that ever tempted man to believe that God had solemnly called upon his creatures to believe a lie ! I answer, that one principle lies in the believer's soul, more deeply laid than all others ; one founda- tion from which he never can be moved : '■'■He hath set to his seal that God is true" — "Yea, let God be truej but every man a liar." He therefore who would persuade me to believe such a scheme, cannot be from God. I never heard anything more horrible uttered by mortal man ! I cannot imagine anything more horrible uttered by devils ! I never heard that even Jesuits, who taught the doctrine of pious frauds, ever attributed anything so horrible to God, as that in the great matter of salvation He had set forth, and called upon a dying world to believe, a stupendous lie t I know not how one can more effectually sap the foundations of all truth and all morality, than by ascribing such conduct to the Lord our God! Why should the practical regard for truth, in him who teaches this, be any purer than that which he attributes to his Maker 1 What truth or sincerity will remain among men, when they have become inured to attributing such insincerity to the Lord ! How shall men any longer believe the Gospel, when they have once learned and concluded that it is not true 1 And now there rise other apologists and defenders : one reminds us that " the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God ;" and thereupon he tells us how many errors were committed by the unbe- lieving Jews, and even by the apostles, concerning Christ. I grant the premises ; but if the conclusion be that therefore I cannot certainly know that God was " manifest in the flesh," or that " Christ hath re- deemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us," then it u is enough to reply that such a conclusion is contradictory to the word of God ; and that to use Scripture for the support of such a conclusion, is to use it as Unwarrantably as did Satan in the temptation of our Lord. And now there rises another, who says, " Well, after all, you cannot make all men think alike." " If one holds that Christ is divine, and that ' without something done which in Christ is done,' salvation is impos- sible — ^you cannot demand any more." But explain : how does he hold that Christ is divine 1 Oh, as rocks, trees, and storms, are divine. He expresses God — even more of God is expressed in him than is expressed in man. What is " that which in Christ is done 1" Did he die a sacri- fice to divine justice, vicariously suffering, the just for the unjust? Oh no ; that would have been absurd, impossible, and indicative of the loss or confusion of all moral distinctions in God. He manifested " the love of God's heart." He set a good example, and " incidentally " h^ got killed by wicked meA, but with no such design on his part ; and without suffering anything as " evil to pay the release of evil " on our behalf, or even to express the " Divine justice or the Divine abhorrence of sin !" What Socinian or Arian ever believed less than this 1 One may be- lieve all this, and yet not believe the " record that God gave of his Son." This is indeed " reducing the Gospel to its last elements," and " casting away " every thing that savors of the doctrine of the cross. Why do not these apologists and defenders tell us, in plain terms, the import of their apologies ; that Arianism and Socinianism are good enough Gospel for them, and that whatever is beyond these we cannot require as terms of Christian fellowship ? But now there comes another, and pleads that he who makes the de- nials in question, solemnly affirms that his views, " as they lie in his own mind, and as he would have them understood by others," do not differ, fundamentally, from the views presented in our most approved confes- sions of faith ; and therefore he cannot consent to have such a man, ma- king such an affirmation, troubled for heresy, or disturbed in his fellow- ship with the churches of Christ. What does this avail in the mouth of one who tells us that there is no fundamental difference betw6en any creeds ; that he feels " no sense of oppression or constraint under any creed," but is " readier to accept as many as fall in his way 1" And how do his views " lie in his own 15 mind ?" How would he " have them understood hy %thexs f ' As he has repeatedly, deliberately, and explicitly told us, in sermons and books, with every effort at statement, elucidation, and explanation ; or, as he has not told us, or even attempted to tell us at all ? But now there rises another, and bids us wait for fiirther develppr ment ; and still another, who tells us that he who makes the, denials is actually rising up towards prthpdojcy ftpm still Ipwer depths.