He observed that religion did not consist in vain
strife upon earthly matters, which only tended towards divisions in
the Body of Christ. "At such a time as this, my brethren, it is
important for us to remember that these disputes, especially if they
are conducted with unseemly heat, are detrimental to the interests of
the soul and give occasion to the enemy to blaspheme." When Mr.
Broad came to the secondly. and to that sub-division of it which
dealt with freedom from worldly spots, he repeated the words with
some emphasis, "'Unspotted from the world.' Think, my friends, of
what this involves. Spots! The world spots and stains! We are not
called upon to withdraw ourselves from the world--the apostle does
not say that--but to keep ourselves unspotted, uncontaminated he
appears to mean, by worldly influence. The word unspotted in the
original bears that interpretation--uncontaminated. Therefore,
though we must be in the world, we are not to be OF the world, but to
set an example to it. In the world! Yes, my brethren, we must
necessarily be in the world; that is the condition imposed upon us by
the Divine Providence, because we are in a state of probation; we are
so constituted, with a body, and with fleshly appetites, that we must
be in the world; but we must be separate from it and its
controversies, which are so unimportant compared with our eternal
welfare.
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