The work of the Holy Spirit - pagina 201

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APOSTLES TO-DAY The notion

that false apostles

must be a

i6i

?

sort of incarnate devils

and venerable men But apart from of the Irvingites.

applies in no wise to the calm, respectable,

fre-

quently seen in the circles

this

absurd notion, and considering that the false prophets of the Old Testament so closely resembled the true ones that at times even the people of God were deceived by them, we can understand that the false apostles of St. John's day could be detected only by a

higher spiritual discernment; and that the pretended apostles of who by their similarity to the genuine

the nineteenth century,

twelve blinded the eyes of the superficial, could be detected only by the touchstone of the Word of God. And that Word declares that the twelve of St. Paul's

day were the

last apostles,

which

set-

matter of this pretended apostolate.

tles the

This error of the Irvingites is therefore not so very innocent. easy to explain how it originated. The wretched and deplorable state of the Church must necessarily give rise to a number of It is

sects.

forth

And we heartily acknowledge that the Irvingites have sent many warnings and well-deserved rebukes to our superficial

But these good offices by no means justify condemned by the Word of God; and those who have allowed themselves to be carried away by their teachings It is already manwill sooner or later experience their fatal result. ifest that this movement, which started among us under the pretext of uniting a divided church by gathering together the Lord's people, has accomplished little more than to add another to the already large number of sects, thus robbing the Church of Christ of excel-

and divided Church. the doing of things

powers that now are being wasted. That the apostolate was a closed circle, and not a flexible theory, " Lord, show of these two, the one whom is evident from Acts i. 25 Thou hast chosen to take the place of this ministry and apostleship and again from St. Paul's word (Rom. i. 5) " By whom we have received grace and apostleship"; and again (i Cor. ix. 2) " For the seal of my apostleship are ye in the Lord " and lastly from Gal. " For He that wrought for Peter unto the apostleship of the ii. 8: circumcision, wrought for me also unto the Gentiles." And again it is evident from the fact that the apostles always appear as the twelve and from their being specially appointed and installed by Jesus breathing upon them the official gift of the Holy Spirit; and from the exceptional power and gifts thai were connected with the apostolate. And it is especially from its conspicuous place in the

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