MR. SPURGEON AND THE BAPTIST UNION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8926, 15 December 1887, Page 6

MR. SPURGEON AND THE BAPTIST UNION.

HIS DECLARATION OF RETIREMENT. Swoed and Trowel for November contains an article in which Mr. Spurgeon formally severs himself from the Baptist Union. We giro the conclusion of the article

It used to be generally accepted in the Christian Church that the line of Christian communion was drawn hard and fast at the Deity of our Lord ; but even this would ap« pear to be altered now. In various ways the chasm has been bridged, and during the past few years several ministers have crossed into Unitariauism, and have deolared that they perceive little or no difference in the two sides of the gulf. In all probability there was no difference to perceive in the regions where they abode. It is our solemn conviction that where there can be no real spiritual communion there should be ho pretence of fellowship. Fellowship with known and vital I error is participation in sin. Those who know and love the truth of God cannot have fellowship with that which is diametrically opposed thereto, and there can be no reason why they should {pretend that they have Bach fellowship. "We cheerfully admit that among men who possess the divine life, and a consequent discernment of truth, there will be differences of attainment and perception ; and that these differences are no barriers to love and union. Bat it is another matter when we come to receiving or rejecting the vicarious sacrifice and the justifying righteousness of our Lord. We who believe Holy Scripture to be the inspired troth of Gcd cannot have fellowship with those who deny the authority from which we derive all our teaching. We go to our pulpits to save a fallen race, and believe that they must be saved in this life, or perish for ever : how can we profess brotherhood with those who deny the fall of man, and bold out to him the hope of another probation after death They have all the liberty in the world, and we would be the last to abridge it; but that liberty cannot demand our cooperation. If these men believe such things, let them teach them, and construct churches, unions, and brotherhoods for themselves! Why must they come among us? When they enter among us at unawares, and are resolved to stay, what can we do? The question is not soon answered ; but, sorely, in no case will we give them fellowship, or j profess to do so. " During the past month many have put to us the anxious question, ' What shall we do?' To these we have had no answer to give except that each one must act for himself after seeking direction of the Lord. In our own case we intimated our course of Action in last month's paper. We retire at once and distinctly from the Baptist Union. The Baptist Churches are each one of them self-contained and independent. The Baptist Union is only a voluntary association of such churches, and it is a simple matter for a church or an individual to withdraw from it. The Union, se at present constituted, has no disciplinary power, for it has no doctrinal basis whatever, and we see no reason why every form of belief and misbelief should not be comprehended in it so long as immersion only is acknowledged as baptism. There is no use in blaming the Union for harbouring errors of the extremest kind, for, bo far as we can see, it is powerless to help itself, if it even wished to do so. Those who originally founded it made it ' without form and void,' and so it must remain. At least, we do not see any likelihood of a change. A large number hnve this state of things in admiration, and will go on with it; we have no each admiration, and therefore have ceased from it. But we want outsiders to know that we are in nowise altered in our faith, or in oar denominational position. As a baptized believer, our place is where it has ever been. " Why not start a new Denomination 1 This is .uot a question for which we have any liking. There are denominations enough. If there were a new denomination formed the thieves and robbers who have entered other ' gardens walled round ' would climb into this also, and so nothing would be gained. Besides, the expedient is not needed among churches which are each one self-governing and self-determining: such churches can find their own affinities without difficulty, and can keep their own coasts dear of invaders. Since each vessel is seaworthy in herself, let the hampering ropes be out clean away, and no more lines of communication be thrown out until we know that we are alongside a friend who sails under the same glorious flag. In the isolation of independency, tempered by the lore of the Spirit which binds us to all the faithful in Christ} Jesus, wo think the lovers of the gospel will for the present find their immediate safety. Oh, that the day would come when, in a larger communion than any sect can offer, all those who are one in Christ may be able to blend in manifest unity 1 This can only come by the way of growing spiritual life, clearer light upon the one eternal truth, and a closer cleaving in all things to Him who is the Head, even Christ Jesus." • .