as well as holy; for the
knowledge of the highest truth is connected with the purest enjoyment.
This "wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be
desired are not to be compared to it." [199:1] The Apostle Paul, when a
prisoner at Rome, had comforts to which Nero was an utter stranger. Even
then he could say--"I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to
be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound;
everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me." [199:2] When all around the believer may
be dark and discouraging, there may be sunshine in his soul. There are
no joys comparable to the joys of a Christian. They are the gifts of the
Spirit of God, and the first-fruits of eternal blessedness; they are
serene and heavenly, solid and satisfying.

CHAPTER III.

THE HERESIES OF THE APOSTOLIC AGE.

The Greek word translated _heresy_ [200:1] in our authorised version of
the New Testament, did not primarily convey an unfavourable idea. It
simply denoted a _choice_ or _preference_. It was often employed to
indicate the adoption of a particular class of philosophical sentiments;
and thus it came to signify a _sect_ or _denomination_. Hence we find
ancient writers speaking of the _heresy_ of the Stoics, the _heresy_
of
the Epicureans, and the _heresy_ of the Academics. The Jews who used the
Greek language did not consider that the word necessarily reflected on
the party it was intended to describe; and Josephus, who was himself a
Pharisee, accordingly discourses of the three heresies of the Pharisees,
the Sadducees, and the Essenes. [200:2] The Apostle Paul, when speaking
of his own history prior to his conversion, says, that "after the
strictest heresy" of his religion he lived a Pharisee. [200:3] We learn,
too, from the book of the Acts, that the early Christians were known as
"the heresy of the Nazarenes." [200:4] But very soon the word began to
be employed to denote something which the gospel could not sanction; and
accordingly, in the Epistle to the Galatians, heresies are enumerated
among the works of the flesh. [200:5] It is not difficult to explain why
Christian writers at an early date were led to attach such a meaning to
a term which had hitherto been understood to imply nothing
reprehensible. The New Testament teaches us to regard an erroneous