"And

farewell address to the presbyters Paul says, now behold I know that ye will not all of you again see my face, among whom I came preaching the kingdom of God: Wherefore I bear testimony to you this day that I am clear from the blood of all men: for I have not refrained from declaring the whole will of God. Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, over whom the holy spirit hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he (Jesus) hath fenced around with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departure grievous wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock. From among yourselves also men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Watch therefore, and remember that for three years night and day I ceased not to admonish every one with tears." Acts xx. 25-32.

These were the authors of the Gnostic system. Our Lord, as I have already observed, early in his ministry warned his followers against them, as wolves coming among them in sheep's clothing. The deceivers prided themselves in their superior knowledge, and affected to have doctrines revealed to them, which were not communicated to the Apostles, who were vulgar and illiterate men. Among these was the doctrine of the divinity and miraculous birth of the Saviour, with other sublime mysteries known to have been taught neither by Christ nor his Apostles. It is to their pretensions in this respect that Paul refers when he solemnly says, that he made known to all men the whole will of God. The Apostles were known to have frequently written to the churches founded by them in distant places: and it was natural for the deceivers to avail themselves of this circumstance as a plea, that the writers were conscious of some defects or omissions in their preaching, or they would not have been at the trouble thus repeatedly to address their flocks. On the supposition that John alludes to some such specious plea as this, we can account

for the repetitions which occur in the following passage: "I write to you, fathers, because you have known him (namely Christ) from the beginning: I write to you, young men, because ye have conquered the evil one; I write to you, children, because ye have known the father. I wrote to you, fathers, because ye have known him from the beginning; I wrote to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and ye have conquered the evil one." 1 John ii. 13, 14. Which is to this effect, "My object in my present and former letters, is not to reveal any additional doctrine, which has not yet been communicated to you, as the wicked men, who endeavour to deceive you, would have you believe; but to warn, to remind, to encourage you to stand fast in the truths, which we have already made known to you, and to be upon your guard against the artifices of these impostors."

This import is further confirmed by the following verse: "I did not write to you because you did not know the truth, but because you know it, and because every lie is not of the truth." As though he had said, “I did not write to you, because you need, as the false teachers will have it, any additional knowledge to the Gospel you have already learnt; but because I wish to confirm you in the assurance that what these men say, are lies; which, so far from being true, are intended to supplant the truth." He goes on, "Who is the liar, except he who denies Jesus, saying that he is not the Christ? this is the antichrist who denieth the Father and the Son." 1 John ii. 22. Here we see what the Apostles meant by antichrist. It consisted in maintaining, that the Christ was not the man Jesus, but a God within him: it denied the father, because it taught that the Creator was an inferior evil being, was not the father, but the tyrant and oppressor, of his creatures." It denied the son, because it taught that Christ did not come with authority from the Father to save the world,

but on the contrary came to destroy his works, and to emancipate mankind from subjection to his tyrannical laws. According to this notion, these men maintained that it was not incumbent on the true followers of Christ to become holy and righteous, in conformity to the example and precepts of Jesus, but that they had the privilege of indulging in their vicious propensities. In opposition to this, John says, "Beloved, let no one deceive you; he that doeth righteousness is righteous, as Christ is righteous but he who committeth sin is of the devil: for this purpose the Son of God hath appeared, that he might destroy the works of the devil, i. e. to destroy the works of the devil, and not the works of the Creator as the impostors maintained. The apostle Paul has the same impious doctrine in view, where he says, 1 Tim. i. 15, “The doctrine is true and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;" that is, to rescue them from the dominion and misery of sin, and restore them to the freedom and happiness of virtue.

According to the Gnostics, Christ, being a divine being, was entitled to divine honours; and even according to the Apostles, as he was the son of God, and the glorious instrument in the hands of God to save the world, he might be considered an object not only of gratitude and reverence, but of religious homage. The worship of Christ was a question necessarily connected with that of his divinity, and must have been agitated in every place among the heathens, where his wonderful works had been made known, and the Apostle Paul thus sets it aside in his letter to Timothy: "The doctrine is true and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. But for this end I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might display his long-suffering, as a model for those who are about to believe in him unto eternal life. BUT to the king eternal, incorruptible, invisible, the only

wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever, Amen:" that is, "We owe to Jesus Christ, as our Saviour under God, the tribute of unfeigned esteem and affection. But God alone, in a religious sense, is the only proper object of honour and glory." He then adds, "This charge I recommend to thee, son Timothy, according to the oracles, the previous knowledge of which leads thee to the same, that holding faith and a good conscience, thou mightest wage a fair warfare, and be not like some, who, having put away a good conscience, have made shipwreck of their faith; among whom is Hymenæus and Alexander, whom I have delivered to Satan, (excommunicated from the church, or delivered over to the power of darkness,) that they might be instructed not to blaspheme God." 1 Tim. i. 18-20. Now what is the charge which Paul here enjoins on Timothy? Evidently this: that he should consider God as infinite and supreme, and the only object of worship; that the respect which we owe to his son Jesus, should not be suffered to encroach on the adoration due to the Almighty alone; that the inspired writings of the Jews, in which Timothy had been previously instructed, inculcated the same solemn injunction; and that those wicked men who violated this fundamental principle of the Christian faith, were guilty of blaspheming God.

"The spirit expressly says, that in latter times some will apostatize from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits, and to doctrines of demons." 1 Tim. iv. 1. The phrase "doctrines of demons" may mean doctrines which the demons or pagan Gods, through the medium of their priests, delivered against the Supreme Being, the only true God and the only proper object of worship; and certain dogmas, such as abstaining from marriage and some articles of food, dictated by the reigning superstition, in opposition to the Gospel. Against the doctrines of demons in this sense, Paul tells Timothy, "The doctrine is true and worthy of all acceptation: for this we

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labour and are reproached, that we have our hopes in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who trust in him. These things enjoin and instruct." But the words "doctrines of demons" mean also doctrines concerning demons: and this is the more appropriate sense they bear here. Now we have seen that the Gnostics taught, that Christ was one of the demons; and, in support of this doctrine, they changed his name Christus into Chrestus, representing him as Pan, the son of Mercury. This last was the messenger of the celestial gods and even the wisest among the pagan philosophers have assigned a similar office to an innumerable multitude of demons, who acted as mediators between the gods and mankind. Paul in this epistle refers to the doctrine, and he sets it aside in the following manner: "This is fair and acceptable before God our Saviour, who wisheth all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth: for there is ONE GoD and ONE MEDIATOR between God and man, the man Christ Jesus:" 1 Tim. ii. 3.—that is, there is one God and not many gods; there is one and not many mediators between God and man, and that is the man Jesus, and not the Christ said by the deceivers to be a demon.

CHAPTER X.

The Antichristian System introduced into the Churches of Philippi, Colossæ, and in Jerusalem.

IN Paul's epistle to the Philippians, we have this passage: "Brethren, I count not that I have yet reached the end; but one thing I do; forgetting the things that are behind, and extending my views, as to a mark, to