|
CHAPTER 1
What is the Church?
The words church and churches occur in the New Testament 109 times, always
translated from ekklesia, which would have been more correctly rendered
congregation, which, with the Bible qualifications, would have read, “the
congregation of God,” “the congregation of the first-born,” etc., denoting
its divine Founder and Owner. And, “the congregation that was at Antioch,”
“The congregation of God which was at Corinth,” “The congregation of Asia,”
“The congregation of Galatia,” etc., denoting the different geographical
locations of the congregations of God. But whether we use the word church, as
in common use, or congregation, the more correct appellation, we should only
attach such meaning to it as agrees with the Word of God. To use a Bible word
out of its biblical meaning is perverting the Bible. What then is the Bible
definition of the church? Answer: “And hath put all things under his feet,
and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all.” Eph. 1:22, 23.
“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”
Col. 1:18. “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which
is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which
is the church.” Col. 1:24.
The church is the body of Christ. And its being the body of Christ,
necessarily includes all His members. Therefore to call an earthly building
the church is ridiculous, and to call an organized division the church is
subverting the truth. No sect contains all the body of Christ, therefore, no
sect is the church of God. Then as honest men, who expect to be judged by the
Word of God, let us never call anything the church but the body of Christ; i.
e., all the saved, either universally, or in any given locality.
CHAPTER 2
Who is the Founder of the Church?
We are told that Abraham “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11:10. And the apostle Paul says to the
converted Hebrews in the next chapter (verses 22-24), “But ye are come unto
mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of
the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and
to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than
that of Abel.”
That city whose builder and maker
is God we have come unto in the gospel dispensation, and it is the church of
the first-born. Christ, who was “God manifest in the flesh,” is the founder,
builder, and maker of the church. “For this man [Christ Jesus] was counted
worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house
hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but
he that built all things is God.” Heb 3:3, 4. “. . . feed the church of God,
which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28. “Husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present it to himself a glorious church . . . holy and without
blemish.” Eph. 5:25-27. “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matt. 16:18.
CHAPTER 3
When Was the Church Built?
The last text cited above speaks of her building as then in the future. Now
read I Cor. 3:9, “. . . ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.”
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Eph. 2:20-22.
“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus
Christ.” I Pet. 2:5.
In A. D. 32 Christ said, “I will build my church.” In [A. D.] 59, and after
that, the apostles said, “Ye are God’s building,” “are built up a spiritual
house.” So the church was built between those dates. It is true that the
church was begun under the labours of John the Baptist, Jesus, and His
apostles, before the day of Pentecost. Many believed and entered the kingdom
then, and constituted material for the church. But the coming of the Holy
Spirit was the point of time when the church was really built, and set in
order, as seen in I Cor. 12:6, 11-13, 18, 24. The church is defined as “his
body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” Eph. 1:23. The church
proper then did not exist until the fulness of Christ came, which was on the
day of Pentecost. Then it was fully set up, and “fitly joined together and
compacted.” That being the time of the founding of the church of God, it
follows that every religious body that has since come into existence is not
the church of God, but a daughter of confusion, born out of due season. This
includes Romanism and all the Protestant sects.
CHAPTER 4
Who is its Foundation?
“Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a
stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that
believeth shall not make haste.” Isa. 28:16.
“For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?” Psalm 18:31.
“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus
Christ.” I Cor. 3:11.
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ
himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.” Eph. 2:20, 21.
In the last text we see that the apostles were foundation-stones. If we were
held to apply the “rock” in Matt. 16:18 to Peter, there is nothing in such an
application of the text that conflicts with the scriptures. The apostles all
being foundations, of course Peter was one of them. He does not single Peter
out here because he had any preeminence over the rest, but because he was
conversing with him, and his name, Cephas–a stone–called out the assertion.
For evidence that all twelve were all foundations, see Rev. 21:14. Yet, Christ
is the all-underlying foundation. The apostles being first chosen and
inspired to give us the new Testament, were foundation stones occupying a
connecting position between Christ, the Rock, and the rest of the building.
Christ is then the only Rock. “Other foundation can no man lay.” Only one
structure can stand on one foundation. Christ built His church on Himself.
All later organizations are without Christ as their foundation, and must
perish.
CHAPTER 5
Who is the Head of the Church?
“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him [Christ] to be the head
over all things to the church.” Eph. 1:22.
“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is
the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and
compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual
working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love.” Eph. 4:15, 16.
“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the
church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” Eph.
5:23, 24.
“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”
Col. 1:18.
“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and
worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen,
vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head, from which
all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit
together, increaseth with the increase of God.” Col. 2:18, 19.
The head of an institution is its lawmaker. “For the Lord is our judge, the
Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us.” Isa. 33:22.
“There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy . . .” James 4:12.
All organisms that make their own laws, creeds, disciplines, and systems of co-operation,
do not hold the Head–Christ. Their law-making synods and general conferences
ignore the divine lawgiver, usurp the place of Christ and sit in the stead of
God, and are not Christ’s church, which is subject to Him.
Again, there is one head; hence there can be but one body.
CHAPTER 6
What is the Door of the Church?
Thus saith the Lord: “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, I am the door of the sheep . . . I am the door: by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John
10:7, 9.
“I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man
can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast
not denied my name.” Rev. 3:8.
“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” Eph.
2:18.
In these scriptures we see clearly that Christ is the door of the church, and
salvation the mode of induction, and that it is a door that stands open
continually, and no man can shut. Christ is not the door of any sect,
therefore no sect is the church of God. The experience of salvation does not
constitute a person a member of any sect on earth; therefore they are not the
church of God. All sects have doors, a manner of admitting members, that are
open and shut by men, hence are unlike the church of God, which no man can
open and shut. They are therefore not His church.
CHAPTER 7
Who Takes Members into the Church?
“And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread
from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of
heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord
added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Acts 2:46, 47.
“But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath
pleased him.” I Cor. 12:18.
“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into
one Spirit.” I Cor. 12:13.
Here the setting of the members into the body, or adding to the church, is
ascribed to God, to Christ, and to the Spirit. Of course they are one, the
triune God.
But God never takes men into a sect. Therefore no sect is His church.
CHAPTER 8
Who are Members of the Church?
If, as we have seen, salvation is the process of entering the church, it
follows that no one is in the church who has not salvation. The church is one
“family in heaven and earth,” named from the Father. Eph. 3:15. This family
is “the household of God.” Eph. 2:19. Then it follows that only the sons of
God, such as are born of the Spirit, are in the church. And we are told that
“he that committeth sin is of the devil,” and “whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin,” “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children
of the devil” (I John 3:8-10), namely, in the fact that children of the devil
commit sin, and the children of God do not. The holy apostle repeats the fact
with emphasis “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that
is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” I
John 5:18. There are no sinners in the church. But all sects are more or less
filled with sinners. Hence, no sect is the church of God.
CHAPTER 9
Who Organizes the Church?
The word “organize” is not in the scriptures. It is defined in the dictionary
as follows: “To furnish with organs; to arrange in parts; to form in due
order.”
God’s church is furnished with organs, arranged in parts, in due order; hence,
is an organic structure. But who is the organizer of the same? Who furnishes
it with organs? Answer: “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of
wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith
by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to
another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning
of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation
of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing
to every man severally as he will.” I Cor. 12:8-11.
“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set
some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers,
after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities
of tongues.” Verses 27, 28.
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and unto all the flock, over the which
the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he
hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28.
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves;
but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the
new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth,
but the spirit giveth life.” II Cor. 3:5, 6.
“He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens,
that he might fill all things. And he gave some, apostles; and some,
prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ: till we all come in 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 fulness of Christ.” Eph. 4:10-13.
These are sufficient to prove that God furnishes His church with all its
organs, namely with all necessary gifts of the Spirit, and officers. The
foregoing scriptures cover the first two definitions of the word organize.
But who forms in due parts? “But now hath God set the members every one of
them in the body, as it hath pleased him . . . For our comely parts have no
need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant
honour to that part which lacked: that there should be no schism in the body;
but that the members should have the same care one for another.” I Cor.
12:18, 24, 25.
Other scriptures also show the harmonizing of the body of Christ, by the hand
of God and through the Spirit. But those given above are sufficient. One
thing, however, we mention, and that is, the laying on of hands by the elders
in ordaining elders, etc. That this pertains to the organization of the
church, we freely allow. But it is never called organizing the church. God ordains
by way of qualifying and choosing, and His ministers ordain in the sense of
recognizing the divine call, and dedicating thereunto. This order is clearly
seen in Acts 13:1-4.
Succession of authority down through a course of ecclesiastical lords is all
a superstitious delusion; a dragon power. Those whom God saves, baptizes with
power, and commissions by the Holy Spirit have the only ecclesiastical
authority instituted of God, and this comes direct from heaven, and not
through any imaginary line of predecessors.
Voting for officers only belongs to Babylon formality, where God is not
present to work “all in all,” by the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man
severally as He wills.
The church, then, is organized by the Lord, who sets all the members in the
body as it pleases Him, and distributes the gifts and callings by His own
wisdom to all the members of the body. Men may organize a human compact, but
never the divine body of Christ, which is the church. Thus said the Lord:
“And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me,
since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and
shall come, let them shew unto them.” Isa. 44:7.
This is to the point. God Himself “appointed the ancient people” to their
several places in the body, and who will now presume to take upon himself the
prerogative of the Almighty? “Every man is brutish by his knowledge; every
founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood,
and there is no breath in them. They are vanity, the work of errors: in the
time of their visitation they shall perish. The portion of Jacob is not like
them; for he is the former of all things: and Israel is the rod of his
inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name.” Jer. 51:17-19.
The sect-founders are confounded because their structures “have no breath”–no
life. They call them churches, but it “is falsehood,” the work of error. But
God’s true church is the former of all things, the primitive church that
Jesus bought with His own blood, and built before the rise of the first sect
of the apostasy.
He that builds a house organizes the same. But if other men were to come and
saw the same house into four parts, and throw each off its foundation, such
work would be disorganizing the building, and destroying the same. Just so
should God, by the pure Word and Spirit, fully save, say four hundred souls
in one city, He would organize and temper all together in one body. But
should four preachers, representing as many sects, each form his schismatic
organism there of equal members, each would have the impudence to report to
his conference that he had organized a church there of one hundred members
while the facts would be, they, like the parties cleaving the house asunder,
would really disorganize and disintegrate the church. Thus, we see that the
organizing sects, the work of men, is the disorganizing of the church, which
is built of God. Since, then, the church is organized by the Lord, it follows
that so-called churches organized by men, lack the authentic seal of God, and
are not His church, but unscriptural schisms.
CHAPTER 10
How Many Churches Does God Have?
Every description of the divine church shows its oneness “Other sheep
[Gentiles] I have, which are not of this fold [not Jews]: them also I must
bring . . . and there shall be one fold [church], and one shepherd.” John
10:16.
We have seen that Christ is “the head of the body, the church.” Therefore, as
there is but one head, there can be but one body.
“For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same
office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one
of another.” Rom. 12:4, 5.
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that
one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are
we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be
bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. But now are
they many members, yet but one body.” I Cor. 12:12, 13, 20.
“For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God
in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” Eph. 2:14-16.
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your
calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is
above all, and through all, and in you all.” Eph. 4:4-6.
“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are
called in one body; and be ye thankful.” Col. 3:15.
These scriptures prove positively that there is but one true church, just as
there is but one God, one true God. Since we are called of Christ into one
body, the call to join various bodies must be of the antichrist.
Again, the church sustains the same relation to Christ that a wife does to
her husband.
“And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me
in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I
will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the
Lord.” Hosea 2:19, 20.
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” Rom. 7:4. “For I am
jealous over you with godly jealousy; for I have espoused you to one husband,
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.” II Cor. 11:2. “He that
hath the bride is the bridegroom. . .” Jn. 3:29.
“For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy
Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be
called.” Isa. 54:5.
The idea of Christ having more than one wife (church) is repugnant to the
Bible, and a slander on the Son of God.
“Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” Eph. 3:15.
“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens
with the saints, and of the household of God.” Eph. 2:19.
From these and other scriptures, we see the church is God’s family, or
household. And, since a man can have only one family, it follows that God has
but one church. It would be an awful reflection on the holiness of God to
have many wives and separate rival families, and they of the “nude and lude”
character Bishop Foster ascribes to the modern sects. Therefore the multiplicity
of sects, falsely called churches, are not God’s church.
CHAPTER 11
But Does the Bible Speak of More Than One Church?
The word “church” frequently occurs in the plural form, but never in the
sense of sects of denominations. When more than one church is spoken of, it
is always the one church of the living God, in different localities.
“. . . they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch . . . and
when they had ordained them elders in every church,” et cetera Acts 14:21,
23.
“And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.” Acts 15:41.
“Who have for my life laid down their own necks; unto whom not only I give
thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.” Rom. 16:4.
“. . . as I teach everywhere in every church.” I Cor. 4:17.
“And so ordain I in all churches.” I Cor. 7:17.
“. . . as I have given order to the churches of Galatia.” I Cor. 16:1.
“The churches of Asia salute you.” I Cor. 16:19.
“. . . throughout all the churches.” II Cor. 8:18.
Thus we see that when churches are spoken of, they invariably denote the same
church of God in several cities, or throughout one or more countries. But
there is not the slightest intimation of more than one church in the same
city. Speaking of the church in various geographical localities, the apostle
says: “So ordain I in all churches.” “As I have given order to the churches
of Galatia, even so do ye [Corinthians].” It can easily be seen that if these
New Testament “churches” were different sects, as we have today, one bishop
could not give orders to them all. Bishop Simpson of the M. E. sect cannot
issue orders over the U. B. Lutheran, Presbyterian, and other sects. He has
no jurisdiction over them. So we see a vast difference between Bible churches
and sect divisions. The former are all one in Christ. The latter are
independent and separate schisms. Several sects exist in the same town, but
God only has one church in the same place. Hence we read: “. . . the church
that was at Antioch.” Acts 13:1. “. . . the church of God which is at Corinth
. . .” I Cor. 1:2. “. . . the church of the Thessalonians . . .” I Thess.
1:1. “. . . unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto
Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto
Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” Rev. 1:11. Thus we see there was only one
church in one city. Seven sects can now be addressed in one town of no great
size. But when messages were sent to seven churches in Asia, seven different
cities had to be addressed. All the saved of God in any place constitute His
church in that place. Then it follows that a plurality of separate bodies in
the same place are not God’s church, but babel confusion.
CHAPTER 12
Does the Bible Teach the Unity of All Believers?
Yes. “. . . Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name . . .” John 17:11, 12.
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me
through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and
I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me . . . and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” John
17:20-23.
“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye
all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” I
Cor. 1:10.
“. . . for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:28.
“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that
whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs,
that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the
faith of the gospel.” Phil. 1:27.
“Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one
accord, of one mind.” Phil. 2:2.
“Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one
toward another according to Christ Jesus; that ye may with one mind and one
mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Rom. 15:5, 6.
“And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul.”
Acts 4:32.
Can anybody look upon this picture and not see an awful contrast between it
and the dark picture of the present-day sect confusion? Do the members of the
different sects have the same care one for another? Behold, they are not of
one mind, nor of one judgment; they are not one in name, nor creed, nor body;
they are not of one heart, nor of one soul, nor of one spirit, nor yet of one
faith; they have not one mouth, nor do they speak the same things. They are
never one, except it be in opposing Bible salvation. As God confounded the
babel-builders, and they all became divided and of different tongues, so he
has sent His thunderbolts of wrath upon Rome, the mother of harlots, and has
knocked off several hundred Protestant fragments, each one of which speaks
the peculiar dialect of its creed.
The church, compared with a human body, is required to have but one mouth,
which means perfect harmony in all her teaching. If we were to allow that the
multiplicity of sects are the church, then a human monstrosity, having
several hundred mouths, and every mouth speaking contrary to every other
mouth, would be necessary to symbolize it. As the body of Christ has but one
mouth and speaks the same things, it is very evident that the jargon
confusion of sect tongues does not represent His body, and is not His church.
CHAPTER 13
What is the Basis of Union?
1. “. . . all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:28.
“So we, being many, are one body in Christ . . .” Rom. 12:5.
As it is here stated, there is but one body in Christ, it necessarily follows
that the many separate sect bodies are not in Christ. As we are all one in
Christ Jesus, to join anything else but Christ incurs the sin of sectism.
2. “. . . Holy Father, keep through [Greek, in] thine own name those whom
thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are . . . I kept them in thy
name.” John 17:11, 12. Here the church was named by “the mouth of the Lord”
as had been predicted in Isa. 62:2. Eph. 3:15, as correctly rendered from the
Greek by the Emphatic Diaglott and other versions, reads thus: “From whom the
whole family in the heavens, and on earth is named.”
The name of the church was given by the mouth of the Lord, and was derived
from God, His Father. The apostles respected the prayer of Christ, and kept
the church in God’s name.
“. . . feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
Acts 20:28.
“. . . the church of God which is at Corinth . . .” I Cor. 1:2; II Cor. 1:1.
“Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the
church of God.” I Cor. 10:32.
"We have no such custom,
neither the churches of God." 1Cor 11:16.
“. . . despise ye the church of God?” I Cor. 11:22.
“. . . I persecuted the church of God.” I Cor. 15:9.
“. . . beyond measure, I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it.” Gal.
1:13.
“For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea
are in Christ Jesus . . .” I Thess. 2:14.
“. . . we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God . . .” II Thess. 1:4.
“If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the
church of God?” I Tim. 3:5.
“These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: but if I
tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the
house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of
the truth.” I Tim. 3:14, 15.
Here are twelve instances of the title, “church of God.” This corresponds
with the Saviour’s prayer, and is the only proper appellation. But as there
was but the one church, the qualifying part of the name was not needed in
every instance.
Hence, for convenience, they usually said, “the church,” or the church at
some certain place.
We hear a babel cry, “There is nothing in the name.” It is a false assertion.
In the Bible, as shown above, God is honoured as the maker and owner of the
church. Would an appellation that does not indicate whether God, man, or the
devil founded and owns the church do equal honour to God? Let it also be
known there is enough in false names to divide and confuse the family of God.
Therefore Christ prayed the Father to keep them in His name, “that they may
all be one as we are.” Therefore all persons that join themselves to any
other name, are guilty of the sin of division.
3. “I have given them thy Word.” This said Christ in His prayer for our
perfect oneness. To impose any other creed, or subscribe to any other, is to
make and join divisions, and is a sin against Christ and His body, the
church.
It is claimed that the organized divisions are necessary to convert the
world. But Jesus prayed that all His disciples should be one as He and the
Father are, that the world might believe. O ye sectarians, thus saith God:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Isa.
55:8.
CHAPTER 14
What is the Bond of Union?
Answer: Love. “Above all these things put on charity [love], which is the
bond of perfectness.” Col. 3:14.
“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto
all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of
the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.” Col. 2:2.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
“As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are
accounted as sheep for the slaughter.Nay, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39.
CHAPTER 15
What Experience Perfects Us in Oneness?
Answer: Entire sanctification, or perfection.
In connection with His prayer for oneness, the Saviour prayed the Father to
sanctify the disciples and all that would believe on Him through their word,
which included us. “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;
that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one.” John 17:22, 23. Sanctification, perfection,
and the glory of Christ all relate to the same experience, and this makes
God’s children one. “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified
are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.”
Heb. 2:11.
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of
the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in 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 fulness of Christ.” Eph. 4:11-13.
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as
silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot.” I Pet. 1:18, 19.
The salvation of the Lord, which qualifies us for heaven, makes us one on
earth. A religion of divisions will deceive the soul. The chief object of
God’s ministers is to “perfect the saints.” The blood of Christ not only
purifies from “all sin” and “all unrighteousness,” but also sweeps away all
erroneous doctrines. The Comforter guides into all truth, which involves the
removal of all error. It is true that cleansing from error is not as
instantaneous as from sin. But the pure in heart have perfect fellowship,
even though all previously educated errors have not yet disappeared. There is
therefore no real cause of division but sin. Therefore to cry against sects
and divisions without first being wholly sanctified, and then leading people
into this precious paradise of holy love, is nothing but confusion mocking
confusion, or satan buffeting satan, as the devil flogged the sons of Sceva.
All efforts of union but that of God’s holiness is like pounding cold,
crooked pieces of iron against each other to make them fit together. The more
blows, the more crooks and differences. Put them into a furnace of white
heat, and they will lose their cold, stiff, crooked individuality, and flow into
one mass. That is God’s way of uniting His people, in the fire of the Holy
Spirit. All tinkering up platforms of union is wasted time. Each effort has
only molded another sect calf for the people to worship and wrangle over.
Freedom from sin knits together in love. But all merely strapped-up unions
are bundles bound together to be burned. Bible salvation is all that is
needed. This obtained, both union of heart and soul, and harmony in outward
worship and life, will follow as a result or fruit of the Spirit. When
“baptized by one Spirit into the one body,” and made to drink in the one
divine Spirit in His fulness, there will be no trouble to “worship God in
Spirit and in truth.” For all such “know the truth, and the truth makes them
free.”
On the plane of Bible holiness, no outward observances are made a test, in
fact nothing is made a test of fellowship. For holy men “judge not from
appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” “If we walk in the light, as he is
in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” I John 1:7. Fellowship is of the
Spirit (Phil. 2:1), and exists where heart-purity exists. It is the conscious
blending of hearts filled with the same Holy Spirit.
One may have been led into all truth, the other not. This does not interrupt
fellowship. Nevertheless it is the duty of such as “know the truth,” in
meekness to instruct others who do not. Ignorance of some truth does not
destroy fellowship, but resisting the truth does, because it forfeits
salvation. We must not sanction people’s errors, but if saved, show our love
and fellowship to them, so long as they do not get the evidence that their
wrong doctrines have become wilful, or they have in some way lost salvation.
The fellowship ends, but love and kindness still continue in faithful efforts
for their salvation. To ignore fellowship simply because of some doctrinal
error is bigotry. To agree to disagree, or to put on an equality truth and
error, is babel confusion. To know the truth is our privilege; to teach the
truth our duty; but to have fellowship with the pure and upright of heart is
an involuntary and spontaneous fact. Sects are the result of carnality.
Nothing but perfect holiness destroys carnality, and thus removes both
sectism and its cause. The fire of God’s love saves the soul, harmonizes all
hearts that receive it, leads them into perfect and uniform obedience to all
truth, and drives afar all who refuse to pass through its purging fire, and
gain the plane of holy fellowship.
CHAPTER 16
What is a Sect?
In a little tract entitled “Sects,” written by the founder of the Free
Methodist sect, who signs his name, Rev. B. T. Roberts, the following
definition is given:
“The word ‘sect’ is from the Latin secare, to cut off, to separate. The word
section is from the same root. Hence a section is a portion cut off, or
separated from a body of which it forms a part. A sect of Christians is a
part of the entire Christian body, separated from the rest by some peculiar
doctrines or tenets which they hold exclusively, or to which they give
especial prominence. This we believe is a fair definition of the word sect,
as commonly used by those who know the meaning of the words which they use.”
This we confess is a true definition and explanation of the word sect. But
how any man of ordinary intelligence can thus correctly define sects as
separate, cut-off portions from the body of Christ, by some exclusive party
doctrines and then turn around and say it is right thus to sever the general
body of Christ into fragments, is a mystery of iniquity. It well demonstrates
the fact that a heretic (i. e., sectarian) is subverted and sinneth. To
justify and sanction such schisms from the general body is to sin against
God, and utterly disregard His Word.
CHAPTER 17
What Does the Bible Say of Sects?
They “devoureth the man that is more righteous than he; and makest men as the
fishes of the sea, as the creeping things that have no ruler over them. They
take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather
them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they
sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them
their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous. Shall they therefore empty
their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?” Habakuk 1:13-17.
“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have
the same care one for another.” I Cor. 12:25. Sects and schisms mean the same
thing.
“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses
contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that
are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good
words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.” Rom. 16:17, 18.
“A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;
knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of
himself.” Titus 3:10, 11.
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be
false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift
destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the
way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they
with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time
lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.” II Pet. 2:1-3.
The words “damnable heresies,” are rendered “destructive sects,” in the
German version.
“For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be
divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies
among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” I
Cor. 11:18, 19. Here we see that heresies means the same as divisions. And in
the margin the translators put it in plain English, “sects.” Paul declared
the Corinthian brethren carnal, because they were inclined to schisms, saying,
“I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos.” I Cor. 3:1-4. In Galatians 5:20
the apostle classifies “heresies,” translated “sects,” in the Emphatic
Diaglott, with murders, and the whole catalogue of “works of the flesh,” and
declares “that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God.”
God help man to flee out of heresies–sects–and be complete in Christ. Since
God’s word renounces sects, they cannot be His church.
CHAPTER 18
Can We Observe the Ordinances Outside All Sects?
The New Testament clearly shows that Christ enacted certain ordinances,
namely baptism, or in plain English, immersion, the washing of the saints’
feet, and the Lord’s supper. But we need join no sect to observe them. They
do not belong to any sect on earth, but they are placed in the body of Christ
for the exclusive observance of its members. Sectarians who do not discern
the body of Christ are not even qualified for their observance. See I Cor.
11:27-29.
CHAPTER 19
Can We Meet to Worship Without a Sect?
Is it so that God’s children cannot meet to worship Him unless they meet in
some sect name, some name other than the one Christ told us to meet in? Thank
God, we find no difficulty in assembling together outside all sect names and
inclosures. But sectarians are actually so blind that they think holy men
cannot convene together to worship God and enjoy any means of grace unless
they join some earthly craft; as though all grace were in the sect, and
nothing in Christ.
CHAPTER 20
Is the Church Visible Without a Sect Organization?
Another plea for sect idolatry is, that the church is invisible, unless
organized in sect order. This is another superstition of the dark age. The
Holy Spirit, who organizes the church, is indeed invisible, but His
organization is visible. As the invisible wind which is a symbol of the
Spirit, produces visible effects, so the church of God is a visible effect of
His unseen power. Being composed of actual men and women, a city set upon a
hill, the light thereof cannot be hid; “as terrible as an army with banners,”
she always was visible, and needed no sect-founder to make her such. Paul was
not addressing disembodied spirits at Corinth when he said: “Now ye are the
body of Christ, and members in particular.” Nor is it only the hidden man of
the heart that belongs to the church; but “know ye not that your bodies are
the members of Christ?” I Cor. 6:15. And our physical bodies do not become
invisible when God sets us into the body of Christ, and remain so until a
sect builder comes along and organizes us into visibility. Not only are the
members of the true church visible, but so is the organization itself. Every
gift and office that makes up the divine institution is visibly exercised in
all the members, by all the members, by the invisible operation of God “who
is over all, and through all, and in you all,” and “who worketh all in all.”
CHAPTER 21
In Coming Out of Sects Do We Have to Form Another Sect?
This is the final question, and we are very thankful to God that we can
answer, NO. God forbid that any more of the harlots should be “conceived in
sin, and shapen in iniquity.” If that were so, sectism is a sin from which
there would be no escape. But the voice from heaven says, “Come out of her,
my people.” So there is a way out of her, and “It shall be called the way of
holiness.”
When a non-professing sinner is converted to God and born of the Spirit, he
is thereby made a member of the church of God, but is in no sect at all. And
since there is no command in the Bible to join any sect, he can obey all the
Word and keep salvation, in the church, without ever joining a sect, so can
every saint of God on the earth do the same. But should any number of such
disciples of Christ through false teaching be led into a sect corporation and
afterwards discover the deception practised upon them, cannot they renounce
the sect organization and come out of it, as the Word of God commands them,
and remain only in the church, which is the body of Christ, as they were
before they were decoyed into the sect? To deny this fact is simply perverse
cant. If men were to come out of sects and join themselves together, and make
their own creed, they would be another sect. But the church of the living God
is not thus produced. She is the result of men and women being saved in
Jesus, and therefore joined together by the Lord in the “bond of
perfectness.” The question is not, what system is most practical for all
Christians to step upon as the basis of union, but what foundation do all
Christians actually and necessarily stand on? By abiding only in Christ, His
body the church, we stand on the foundation which includes all Christians in
heaven and earth, and not a member of any sect or cut-off faction. If the
Word of God had said, “We are all one in the Methodist body,” or any other
human corporation, then Methodists would occupy the divinely appointed
platform of union, and every other name and order would stand condemned for
the sin of division. But since the Word commands us to abide only in Christ
and declares us “all one in Christ Jesus,” “one body in Christ,” by staying
in Him only, in whom all Christians must abide, and in whom there are no
sinners, we are joined to all saints, and separated from all sinners, and
stand free before God of the great transgression of sectism.
Therefore, since every intelligent reader of the Bible knows that the
Protestant sects and Romanism are not the church of God; that every sect
corporation yokes together saints and sinners, which the Bible forbids; since
the most bigoted confess that “the church [meaning the sect] will not save
anybody,” and since Christ alone can save and keep us, and “we are complete
in him,” why not abandon the sect and abide only in Christ, and His body the
church? Since there will be no sects in heaven, why cling to them on earth?
Why insult the wisdom of Christ by the imputation that the church He founded
is not practical, and some man has, in these last days gotten up a better
one, which you prefer? In the name of Jesus Christ, whose Word will soon judge
us, we beseech all men to escape from all sin and sinners, from all sect
clans, and sectish bands, and take refuge in Jesus Christ, and His own
church, which is the “pillar and ground of the truth.” Amen.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment