Page:A Beacon to the Society of Friends.djvu/118

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114
THE AUTHORITY OF
SER. VI.

the Holy Spirit? Where will the errors of that man end, who thinks that we are not required to believe, on the authority of the Apostles? Surely no Christian can entertain such a sentiment. Let us consider the fullness of the divine testimony, with regard to the commission and authority of the Apostles.

1st,—The Testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"Jesus spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." Matt. xxviii. 18-20.

"As my Father hath sent me, even so, send I you." Jno. xx. 21.

"All things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you, [the Apostles.] Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." Jno. xv. 15, 16.

"Ye are the light of the world." Matt. v. 14.

"I have manifested thy

name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things, whatsoever thou hast given me, are of thee: For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou dldst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.—I have given them thy word.—Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I sent them