The Church, However, Is A Self-governing Society,

It Is Because God Is Infinitely Great And Good That His Glory Is The End Of All Things; And His Good Pleasure The Highest Reason For Whatever Comes To Pass. What Is Man That He Should Contend With God, Or Presume That His Interests Rather Than God's Glory Should Be Made The Final End?

The Church, During The Apostolic Age, Did Not Consist Of Isolated, Independent Congregations, But Was One Body, Of Which The Separate Churches Were Constituent Members, Each Subject To All The Rest, Or To An Authority Which Extended Over All.

The Spirit Never Makes Men The Instruments Of Converting Others Until They Feel That They Cannot Do It Themselves; That Their Skill In Argument, In Persuasion, In Management, Avails Nothing.

No More Soul-destroying Doctrine Could Well Be Devised Than The Doctrine That Sinners Can Regenerate Themselves, And Repent And Believe Just When They Please...as It Is A Truth Both Of Scripture And Of Experience That The Unrenewed Man Can Do Nothing Of Himself To Secure His Salvation, It Is Essential That He Should Be Brought To Practical Conviction Of That Truth. When Thus Convinced, And Not Before, He Seeks Help From The Only Source Whence It Can Be Obtained.

As The Church Is The Aggregate Of Believers, There Is An Intimate Analogy Between The Experience Of The Individual Believer, And Of The Church As A Whole.