of the Virgins, and argues from the fact of the five asking the others to give them of their oil to rekindle their lamps, that one man may communicate his merit to another. The request of itself could not prove it. Those who made the request are said to have been "foolish" virgins; and the answer of the "wise" virgins is proof against it. "Not so

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(they replied) lest there be not enough for us and you." The advice that follows, go to them that sell, and buy for yourselves," gives their doctrine just as little support. They, indeed, think that it admirably recognizes a treasure of merit, a bank to keep it in, a Pope to preside over it, and a power to grant indulgences to those who have money to purchase them; but unless they can shew that this power was really placed in the hands of Popes and Prelates, to dispense pardons just as they pleased, thus exercising the prerogative of God, they must be content to take the Protestant view of that passage, and to understand the words, upon which they build their doctrine, in a very different sense from that which they have given them. This is quite clear, that the Apostles received from our Lord no such power as that claimed by the haughty Pontiffs of the See of Rome. So far from hinting at the possible existence of too much merit in some of God's creatures, He plainly told His followers, yea, even His faithful, self-denying, devoted disciples, that they were not to think of merit at all. "You are (he said) in the condition of servants, and I am the Master whom you are bound to obey. If you do what I tell you-well; but think not that

your so doing is meritorious. To obey my commands, all of them, is nothing more than ought to be done by those who are my servants."" He ex"Which of you, having

emplifies it by a parable, "Which of a servant ploughing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and bye, when he is come in from the field, 'Go and sit down to meat?' and will not rather say to him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself and serve me, till I have eaten and drank, and afterwards thou shalt eat and drink.' Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.” And then he adds, to teach us that our services do not make God our debtor, "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, we are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do."

The conclusion is inevitable, which our Reformers have stated in the Article before us :-that the doctrine opposed to this, which teaches the possibility of exceeding the commandments of God, "cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety." The Church of Rome teaches the doctrine; therefore, the Church of Rome is arrogant and impious. We cannot alter the terms; we cannot soften them down, either to conciliate the members of that Church or to please the lax modern Protestant. The truth of the Gospel and the honour of Christ, will not allow it. If the Church of Rome will speak proudly and exalt herself against the Most High, the fault is not ours if we condemn her for doing so. Great is her sin, and it will, ere long,

involve her in ruin.

"Pride goeth before a fall." She may now lift up her head, glory in her dominion, boast of her numerical strength, and pointing to the millions who lie enslaved at her feet, appeal to her triumphs in every part of the world, as affording unanswerable proof of her oft-repeated assertion, that she is exclusively the true Church of Christ, the Church that will never be destroyed. But wait awhile. There is at hand a day of humiliation. Thank God! we differ from her, differ most widely. So far from thinking that we can merit pardon for others by an excess of good deeds, it is the faith of our Church that we can merit nothing for ourselves. We confess that we are sinners, "justly deserving God's wrath and indignation against us." We say that the best men are far from being perfect. Knowing that no fallen creature can keep God's commandments so thoroughly as he ought to do, we place no confidence whatever in our works; we place all our confidence in that " righteousness of Jesus Christ which faith makes ours; and laying the crown at His feet who alone has the right to wear it, we give to that same Jesus all the honour of the sinner's salvation. This is the scriptural faith of the Church of England, as contrasted with the unscriptural faith of the Church of Rome. Let her ministers and members universally keep to this foundation, and they need not fear the attacks of her enemies. If we honour God, He will honour us: He will protect us with His shield and give us His blessing.

K

SERMON VII.

OF CHRIST ALONE WITHOUT SIN.

JOHN, i. 28.

"Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sin of the World."

It is remarkable the pains taken by our Reformers to state clearly and distinctly the grand truth of the Gospel, that the death of Christ is the only atonement for sin. The anxiety which they felt on this point, is explained by the fact that, at the time of the Reformation, the doctrine condemned in the article last brought forward, had gained, under the authority of Popes and Councils and Doctors of Canon Law, such general belief, that the deluded followers of that system of error (as Popery may well be designated), indulgences being put to sale, in the most scandalous manner, by the head of the Church, purchased the same with as much confidence in the efficacy of the merit of

departed Saints to satisfy for sin, as if the power to save had really been transferred from the one Divine to human mediators. Now it is an undeniable truth, plain to reason, that the man who would atone for another's sin, must himself be free from sin. The fact of his being himself a sinner, and needing on that account an atonement for his own sin, would necessarily take from him the power of atoning for the sin of another. The Church of Rome, perceiving this difficulty in the way of " Works of Supererogation," has endeavoured to remove it by teaching the possibility of human perfection. They say that the Saints, whose virtues and good deeds we can make use of for the benefit of our souls, were men so thoroughly and preeminently righteous when on earth, that they not only came quite up to the standard of God's law, but actually went beyond it, doing more than He commanded them: and hence they argue the ability of these saints to stand between God and their sinful fellow-creatures, and make satisfaction for them. They gained heaven for themselves by doing every thing that God required, and their superabundant goodness, coming to the aid of their brethren deficient in righteousness, supplies that deficiency and makes them worthy of the same glorious reward. This doctrine (and we have not mistated it) takes salvation out of the hands of Christ and gives it to man, or, to say the least of it, divides the honour of salvation between Christ and fallen creatures-a thing which no true Christian can tolerate. Our Reformers