THE history of the world impresses the reflecting mind with the universal tendency of human institutions to decay and dissolution. Whether we contemplate the fate of man himself, or of illustrious empires raised by virtue, cemented by wisdom, but destroyed by luxury and sin, we trace in all the operation of that sentence of death which once passed on all men, and to which all that is merely human must bow.

But in the history of the Church we view not only the working of the law of death, but the counteracting tendency of the Spirit of life, sustaining man amidst his infirmities, elevating him above all that is carnal and terrestrial, and impressing on his actions and his destinies the stamp of eternity. Empires, superstitions, and philosophies, have faded away, but true religion continues always to exist; and as it came in the beginning from above, so at the end of all things it shall return thither again. The patriarchs and the prophets, the law and the gospel,

B

preached to mankind the same religion, which was expanded and developed as the fulness of time drew on. We now behold the fulfilment of what the patriarchs desired to see; we enjoy the reality of those things which the law of Moses foreshadowed; we worship the God of Abel and of Abraham, and serve him with their faith.

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And as the true religion has always been essentially the same, so has it ever had to contend with the same inclination of the human heart. That inclination was awfully exemplified in the days of Noah, when all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth;" and that patriarch's family were alone found just. It was still more wonderfully manifested in the rebellions and backslidings of the children of Israel. It is again seen in the description which Scripture gives of the fallen state of Jew and Gentile, when the Son of God came to save a perishing world.1 And who, that reflects on the exhortations and predictions addressed to Christians by the Lord and his disciples, can fail to perceive that the same evil tendency of the human heart was always to remain, even in the state of grace, and to form the chief danger and trial of the Church of God?

The life of a true Christian, as described in Scripture, consists of self-denial, of warfare against the inclinations of nature, of prayer and watchfulness under the deepest consciousness of infirmity, of labour to walk under the guidance of the Spirit of God, with objects, tastes, and desires, altogether different from those of the natural man. It was the sovereign will of God, that those who are saved should be fitted for their glorious inheritance by the discipline of this rough and narrow way; but few, even of the best men, have passed through it without

1 Rom. i. 2.

many grievous failures: all have come short of the glory of God, and all have need of serious and frequent repentance. Many, who profess to be disciples, have altogether turned away to the broad and beaten track; and, as our Lord teaches that some should hear the word with joy, but in time of temptation should fall away; that others should permit it to be snatched from them by the assaults of the devil, or to be choked beneath the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches; he adds, that in that day many shall begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets;" and that his reply shall be, "I know you not whence ye are depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." The kingdom or Church of Christ is, indeed, compared to a field in which tares grow with the wheat,2 and to a net which was let down into the sea, and gathered of all kinds both bad and good.3 Such was to be the mingled state of the Christian Church, comprising not only evil men, but good men, subject to infirmities, errors, and sins.

Nor was the Church only to be tried by inward failings; it was to pass through the furnace of affliction and persecution from without.

The saints

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in heaven are described as they that came out of great tribulation;"4 and as the Captain of our salvation was made perfect through sufferings, so it was fitting that the Church, which is His body,6 should be baptised with the baptism of his afflictions; and accordingly his promise was, "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

There was still a subtler danger in store for the

1 Luke xiii. 26, 27.

3 Matt. xiii. 47-50.

5 Heb. ii. 10.

7 John xvi. 33.

2 Matt. xiii. 24-30, 37-43.

4 Rev. vii. 14.

6 Col. i. 24.

Church, connected indeed with the desires of the natural man, but raised and stimulated by the Author of evil. False Christs and false prophets were to arise, and to shew great signs; insomuch that, if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect.1 Damnable heresies were to be secretly introduced:2 false teachers and antichrists, carried away by the desire of a godless pre-eminence, were to subvert the faith of the unstable.3 As the apostle said, “There must be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.'

Such were to be the infirmities, such the dangers of the Church; and had she been left alone, and unaided amidst them all, "the waters had overwhelmed her, the stream had gone over her soul."5 Nothing but the Spirit of God within her could have saved her from speedy destruction. But it had been decreed of old, that in the seed of Abraham "all the nations of the earth should be blessed." "16 It had been foretold by the Spirit, that He "should be for salvation to the end of the earth ;"7 that He " should have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth."8 It had been declared that his kingdom should endure "for ever," and that" of the increase of his government and peace there should be no end."10 And therefore when the Son of God came into the world, he said unto his disciples, "On this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it :"11 and therefore did he console them in the prospect of his departure; "I will not leave you comfortless, I will

1 Matt. xxiiij. 24.

2 2 Pet. ii. 1.

3 Acts xx. 30; 1 Tim. iv. 1; 2 Tim. iii.; 1 John ii. 18, iv. 3.

4 1 Cor xi. 19.

6 Gen. xxii. 18.

8 Ps. lxxii. 8. 10 Isaiah ix. 7.

5 Ps. cxxiv. 4.

7 Is. xlix. 6.

9 Daniel ii. 44. 11 Matt. xvi. 18,

come unto you :" "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth." And

when about to ascend up on high, he left to them that encouraging and blessed promise, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

The history of the Church, then, is not like other histories, in which the progress and fate of human enterprises is described; it is the fulfilment of God's will for the salvation of man, the accomplishment of prophecies, the triumph of grace over the imperfection and sins of nature. The perpetuity of the Church; its propagation in all nations; the succession of the true faith; the manifestations of the Holy Spirit's assistance in the lives of Christians; the calamities, errors, afflictions, which, in all ages, beset it, afford new proofs of the truth of Christianity itself, and inspire the devout mind with humility and faith.

The principal periods of ecclesiastical history may be arranged under the following divisions. First, the ages of persecution, which terminated with the accession of the Emperor Constantine to universal empire, in A.D. 320, and during which the Church was purest. Secondly, the ages, (A.D. 320680,) when heresies invaded the Church, and were repelled by the six holy œcumenical synods; and when the ravages of barbarians and heathens were counterbalanced by the conversion of many nations. Thirdly, the period (680-1054) in which ignorance, worldliness, and superstition, began to fall thickly upon the Church, though an earnest spirit of piety still continued to produce evangelists, saints, and martyrs, and to add wide regions to the Church of Christ. Fourthly, the times (1054-1517) when the

1 John xiv. 18. 2 John xiv. 16. 3 Matt. xxviii. 20.