Being come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, they had no more need of spiritual gifts. But argues the church has never been perfect, because its members have not yet seen God face to face, which he infers from I Cor. 13:12, will be the case at that time.

Paul did not say that would be the case, but we shall see face to face, which is evidently figurative of the union which prevailed in the church, when its members come to a full understanding of all the gospel facts and christian privileges. It is admitted, that spiritual gifts have ceased, I therefore insist the church was perfect at the time, altho’ miracles did not all cease at once, or exactly at the death of John the last apostle. Yet they became extinct within at most, half a century after that event. Those who had received spiritual gifts under the administration of the apostles, continued to enjoy them during their lives, although they outlived the apostles by years, but since those individuals who were cotemporary with the apostles, have left the stage, no miracles or spiritual gifts, have appeared in our world, neither will, to the end of time. It cannot be proven that the apostacy was the cause of the disappearance of miracles, for they were confered by the laying on of the apostles hands, without regard to the holiness of the individuals who received them. The Corinthians were as much divided and as corrupt as any protestant church has ever been, being carnal, brother going to law with brother, guilty of all manner of laciviousness, even incest not excepted, yet Paul says they came behind in no gift. But the object for which these gifts were given having been long since accomplished, there now remains no more need of them and I cannot conceive of what they could be, were they now in the church. We do not need the gift of tongues, or of interpretation, for we can communicate our ideas in our mother tongue; neither the gift of knowledge, as we are in possession of that knowledge which was written in the commencement of the christian church, and spiritual gifts could we possess them would now be wholly superabundant. The gospel has been confirmed by evidence which cannot be successfully contradicted; it has survived the fall of empires and wreck of nations, pure and unadulterated, and if we heartily embrace its precepts and follow out its mandates in our lives, by being merciful and kind, relieving the wants of the needy and in fine, keep the golden rule, do by others as we would wish them to do by us, we will be accepted of God and receive a crown of life though we never possess a spiritual gift.

.— Mr. Hayden argues the church has been perfect from the well known fact that spiritual gifts have ceased, which were to remain until that time. Does not Mr. H. know all the promises of God to men are on conditions of their obedience, because God says to the righteous he shall surely live; it does not inevitably follow he cannot turn from his righteousness and surely die, neither because he says to the wicked he shall surely die does it follow he cannot turn from his wickedness and live, See Ezekiel 34: 13, 14. But Mr. H. has given up the question in debate. He argues to prove the church was perfect at the close of the apostles lives, and now says it was within fifty years after that time; but even allowing him this lenity, he comes far short of proving his point. He has not shown wherein the church was more perfect when spiritual gifts disappeared, than it was when Paul wrote his first epistle to the Corinthians, and if the church was not then perfect, but in some things aside from the doctrine of Christ, the same was applicable to the seven churches of Asia in the year ninety five, as appears from the second and third chapters of Rev. [p. 25]