See a long race thy spacious courts adorn; And seeds of gold in Ophir's mountains glow. No more the rising sun shall gild the morn, CHAPTER XII. RULE AND EXCEPTIONS-OBJECTIONS ANSWERED CONCLUSION. "LET us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."SOLOMON. * GENERAL rules admit of particular exceptions; but the exception does not invalidate the rule. Of this remark we have the most striking examples in the Sacred Writings. There is none good, save one, that is God." This is the rule. "A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things." This is the exception. The rule is, that there is none absolutely good, but God. The exception is, that there are men who are good in a comparative and qualified sense. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates." This is the rule. "Which of you shall have an ass or an ox * Luke xviii. 19. + Matthew xii. 35. Exodus xx. 8-10. fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day?"* This is the exception. The rule is, that the Sabbath day is to be hallowed by a cessation from all worldly anxiety and toil. The exception is, that works of mercy and necessity may "But godliness is profit be done on the Lord's day. able unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." This is the rule. "For whom I have suffered the loss of all things." This is the exception. The rule is, that godliness is great gain in all things. The exception is, that religion may involve many sacrifices. Now to apply this to the question before us. "There are no invisible members of the church." This is the rule. There are, however, cases in which distance of place, affliction of body, and other circumstances render visible communion with the church impossible or impracticable. These are the exceptions. The rule is, that every member of the mystical body of Christ ought to be a member of the visible church of God. The exceptional cases are, those in which the obligation of the rule is annulled or modified by circumstances over which we have no control. Let us urge the rule, and specify the exceptions. Let us urge the rule. Believers and penitents, it is equally your duty and privilege, not only to give * Luke xiv. 5. + 1 Timothy iv. 8. Philippians iii. 8. T We your "own selves to the Lord," but to the church, "by the will of God." In the name of God, we now summon you to consider whether one thing can be alleged against your separation from the world, and your connexion with the church. The case is summarily this:-God has a church in the world; Christ is the sole head of the church; the church. is composed of spiritual members; it is a visible society; the bond of union is love; the duty of fellowship is imperative and fraught with the highest advantages; the abuse of the Divine institution is no argument against its use; the church is aggressive; and will at length be millennial and universal. put it to you, what course your conscience and interest alike invoke you to pursue. Can you frame any reasonings to justify your continuance in the world? Are there any allegations you can urge why you should not make a public profession of religion, why you should not share the reproach of Christ, and why you should not enjoy the privileges and immunities of the church? Produce them, if you are able; and let us learn by what strange process of argument it is, that evil is preferred to good, the counsel of the ungodly to the society of Christians, and the friendship of the world to the friendship of God? Reasons you cannot assign, but objections you may urge, and they must be considered. Let us specify the exceptions. You will ask, Is the rule absolute? May not a man be a Christian, and not united to any church? The answer is, that there are exceptions to the rule; but they are comparatively few; and it is most dangerous to plead them as precedents. "He that feareth God and worketh righteousness," in the dark places of the earth, is accepted of God; but, in his case, union with the church of Christ cannot be. A man may be immured in a dungeon, or exiled from his country for righteousness' sake; or a man may be thrown upon one of the islands of the Pacific, or be led far away into the interior of Africa, where the name of Christ is not known; and yet with the Bible in his hand he may "be wise unto salvation." The fuel of affliction may be heaped upon a man for weeks, and months, and years, consuming his health, and strength, and spirits, so that he cannot "go up to the house of the Lord." There are cases of morbid nervousness, in which the spirit is loaded with an unaccountable and irresistible oppression, haunted with imaginary phantoms, seizes upon whatever is discouraging, and turns aside from whatever is calculated to comfort and cheer. We have one example in Scripture of a sinner saved at the eleventh hour, that none might despair; and we have only one example, that none might presume. This was the dying thief. He sought and obtained mercy, when his spirit was trembling on the verge of |