23
You should also look about you, and enquire which is the one true religion. You will soon find in the New Testament that Christ established a church upon earth : that He built it upon a ROCK, and declared that the gates of hell shall NOT prevailagainst it [Math xvi. 18] : you will find that He gave His Church authority to teach His religion, and contmntnzlerl all to hear and obey it. lMatt. xviii. 1T; Luke x. 16, Acts ix. 6, 7 ; x. 5, 6]; that this Church ccmnot teach error; being “ the pillar and ground of the truth.” [1 Tim. iii. ; and that by following what it teaches you will be ireed from ali douot and perplexity about the way to heaven and will no longer be tossed about by every wind of doctrine. [Ephes iv. 11-15] You will lind, in short, that you will be as sure of learning the religion of Christ from this Church, as if you heard Him speaking to you Himself. “ He that heareth you hearetli me.” [Luke x16] and St. Paul sa_ys, “For Christ, therefore, we are ambassadors ; God as it were exhorting by us,” [2 Cor. v. 20], and (St. John xiv. 16) “I will ask the Father, and He shall give you another paraclete, that He may abide urith you for ever,” and again, “ but when He the Spirit of 'l‘ruth is come, He will teach you all truth.” [John xvi. 13.]
Such is the Church which Christ our Lord established upon the earth, with a living, speaking, and unerring authority to teach you the way to heaven ; and this, therefore, is the Church which yon must endeavor to find.
A little more examination will discover to you that this Church is no other than that which you often truly say was the first and will be the last and which all Christians say they believe, when they re- peat the Apostles’ creed : “ I believe the Holy Catholic Church!’ X'es, this is the Church which Christ built on a rock, which has stood for eighteen hundred years, and has triumphed over all the persecutions raised against it ; this is the Church which all other churches have
separated from, whilstit has always remained the same as our Savi- our established it.
You have heard many things said against the Catholic Church. ‘They have been refuted a million times. There has been an ugly mask thrown over it to hide the truth of its doctrines. But ifyou will examine with sincerity you will ti nd that it teaches neither idol- atry nor superstition, nor any of the zuiclcetl doctrines laid to its charge : that it does not wish to keep you in ignorance ; that it does not stifle free inquiry, but wishes only for a full and fair inquiry into all that it teaches. Its truth, to be loved, needs only to be seen. (See Apoc. xxii. 17 ; Ps. xxxiv. 11 ; Matt. x. 17 to end of chap : xix. 29. v. 19-113; vi. 25 to end of chap). DEATH ! JUDGMENT! HEAVEN I HELL ! ETERNITY!
PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE INTO TRUTH.
This prayer was written by the Rev. Mr. Thayer of Boston, a minister of the Congregational Church, when he was in doubt and uncertainty, and in the use of which he was assisted in obtaining that grace, which ultimately led him to the gift of faith, and the reception into the one fold of the one Shepherd.
God of all goodness ; Almighty’ and eternal, Father of mercies, and Saviour of mankind : I implore Thee, by Thy sovereign goodness,