have subdued all things unto himself, when he will himself become subject to the Father, "that He may be all in all." It maintains that he carried forward his mission upon the earth by his life of self-sacrificing love, by his holy instructions, by his perfect example, by his sublime death and glorious resurrection, and that through these agencies, operating now as aforetime, will the grand consummation be reached, and the kingdoms of this world be his in righteousness and peace.

4. Once more, it may be urged that my plan does not sufficiently magnify the operations of the Holy Spirit, the necessity of regeneration, the workings of divine grace, etc. The answer to this objection may be sufficiently learned from what I have said in previous Discourses, either under the specific heads named or in a more general way while discoursing upon the Divine Being and His relations to and dealings with mankind, and I will not repeat.

5. Finally, men may say that I have no wellgrounded assurance or reason for believing that a sufficient number of persons of the right kindconscientious, high-minded, self-denying, Christlike enough can be found who will unite in the formation and administration on a broad, comprehensive, world-embracing scale of such a church as I contemplate. Not very soon, probably. But sometime in the great future this shall be, it must be accomplished. Otherwise all progress is a deceit and a snare; all prophecy an illusion; Christianity a failure; and God himself is defeated in His infinite

purpose of good concerning the children of men. This I will not believe. The regenerate church will some day be built; and, be it soon or late, my duty to do what I can for it is plain, unmistakable, and imperative. God help me to be faithful.

DISCOURSE Xxv.

THE MORAVIANS AND FRIENDS.

"We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth."2 Cor. xiii. 8.

"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit." -John xv. 2.

Among the multitude of smaller Denominations or Branches of the general church of Christendom, there are many so insignificant in numbers and in influence as to demand no special consideration in a review like that in which I am now engaged. While there are others so nearly akin to those already examined, both theologically and ethically, that they may be dismissed with a few general remarks. The doctrinal characteristics of these, so far as they have formulated any, have been sufficiently analyzed, discussed, and brought into condemnation in preceding Discourses; their separation from older and larger bodies, for they were almost universally offshoots from pre-existing churches and not original creations, having been caused, not by reason of any radical divergence or change of fundamental beliefs, but on account of some minor matters of external form, rite, or ceremonial observance. It is the former - the underlying ideas, principles,

convictions of any and every denomination or religious sect, rather than any outward ordinance or ritual, that determines its real moral and spiritual status, drift, and ultimate attainment. And the average moral and spiritual condition, tendency, and result in such a case can never be higher than its fountain head; higher than the actual theological and ethical principles recognized and approved. Individuals may be better or worse than the accepted creed, but the average character and standing of the organic and closely affiliated body will always be on a level with it. No religious party, no church or denomination ever as a whole transcends its theological and ethical standard. It may fall below it. And no church or denomination is appreciably affected, morally and religiously, by its formularies and merely external ceremonies.

Hence it follows that any radical reform in a church, any raising it to a higher level of thought and conduct, to a more perfect Christian life, can be effected only by going back to fundamental theological and ethical principles and changing them for better ones, not by a modification or multiplication of external observances. Personal illumination or the quickening of the individual conscience, outside of ecclesiastical standards, or the pressure of an advancing civilization the trend of the world's life may impel a church to mend its ways. in respect to social and civil customs and institutions, as in the instance of the abolition of American Slavery or of Russian Serfdom, but unless there is an improvement in essential principles of truth and

righteousness its actual moral standing is essentially unchanged.

But while I pass thus hastily by the great majority of the minor sects for the reasons specified, there are a few of them that have a special claim upon my attention, chiefly for the reason that while they agree in some respects with the larger denominations already analyzed and are so far subject to the criticism made in some one or more of my recent Discourses, they are yet in some other particulars quite in accord with my own ideal of what a true church of Christ is, and so far command my approbation. Of several of them I will speak separately, as they are sufficiently differentiated from each other to justify distinctive consideration. I begin with

THE MORAVIANS

OR SO-CALLED UNITED BRETHREN.

Personally, I know nothing of this body of Christian believers, having never visited any of their settlements or met any of their representatives, clerical or lay; but from what I have learned of them and of their peculiarities through religious histories, cyclopædias, etc. I have formed a high opinion of them as exemplifying in marked degree the manifold excellences of a true and noble Christian character, and as constituting collectively not simply a reputable but a distinguished branch of the general Christian church. They are said to have sprung from certain Reformers of Moravia and Bohemia, who, in the year 1457, sixty years before Luther's