An Association of Avowed Christians. 21 and, by virtue of their faith in Him, are bringing forth the fruit of a holy life, devoted to His cause. 21. This last peculiarity of the church—that it is a spiritual association of men as Chris- Importance of tians—is of the last importance. A this distincchurch may be Nonconformist, and hold tion. that some of the rites and religious practices found in Established churches are not scriptural in their origin, and are mischievous in their influence, especially when the observance of them is made binding upon the conscience. A church may be dissenting, and question the articles or the rubric of the Established creed. A church may be voluntary, and maintain that all religious acts, to be acceptable to God, must be the free expression of holy feeling. But unless it goes further, it has missed the great distinction of the churches that were in Christ Jesus.' They were associations of spiritual and believing men. Serious as are some of the ecclesiastical errors of the times, the denial of this principle is the most serious of all; as, on the other hand, our strength, and the harmonious working of our system, depend on the firmness with which we grasp it, and the holy consistency with which we carry it out. where this 22. Similarly, it follows that if there No church be any nominally Christian community of Christ where true piety is not even professedly the condition of fellowship, where no distinction is not observed. attempt is made to ascertain the Christian character of its members, where no assurance is given of the conversion of each applicant for fellowship, where no pains are taken to guard the purity of the body, to warn the unruly, to exclude such as give reason for the inference that they have not felt or are not living under the power of the Gospel,—that community fails most essentially to fulfil the destiny of a Christian church, and has ceased to deserve the support of Christian men. It is a worldly association, superseding Christ's laws, and occupying the place of a community which He intends to be in the world, as He himself was in the world, for purposes of enlightenment, and preservation, and holiness. 23. Finally, the church, as thus defined, is the representative of Christ on earth, and the The church dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost. the representative of Christ, and the dwell ing place of the Holy Ghost. The representative of Christ.-Doctrine and precept, statements of privileges and of duty, confirm this view. If Christ is the Vine, disciples are the branches. If He is the Head, the church is His body, the members even of His flesh and of His bones;* nor is there a single title given to our Lord in the New Testament, descriptive of His relation to the Father, that is * Eph. v. 30; 1 Cor. vi. 15; 1 Cor. xii. 27. The Dwelling-Place of the Holy Spirit. 23 not also applied by inspired writers to His people. Both are sons and heirs, and priests and kings; both are anointed, and chosen, and holy; while it is in them both, and by them both, that the treasures of God's love and wisdom are revealed to the race. Hence the peculiarity of all New Testament teaching. Religion is not merely the belief of truth and the practice of morality; it is fellowship with the Father and with the Son. Excellence is not the love of virtue simply; it is the love of Christ. Saving faith is not belief in it, but belief in HIM. The Scriptures inculcate holiness, and bid us walk in His steps. Even relative duties are enforced by reference to His example. 'Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.' To follow Him is the sum of all duty and of all blessedness. The dwelling-place of the Holy Ghost. Now, therefore, we are no more strangers and foreigners, but of the household of God, 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 into an holy temple in the Lord."* Ye are the temple of the living God: and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy: for the temple of * Eph. ii. 19-21. God is holy, which temple ye are.'* 'As God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'† 'And He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him; but ye know Him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.' The full meaning of these expressions we cannot tell: we must not press them, nor claim for the church unearthly dignities or unattainable holiness: but this much is clear; of all associations, the Christian church ought to be the purest and the noblest. She is formed after the image, and she is on earth the chosen home, of her Lord. These descriptions are applicable, it will be remarked, to the entire church of the redeemed, to particular churches, and to individual Christians. Each believer is Christ's representative, as each believer is the temple of the Spirit. Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Ghost?" He who raised up Jesus shall complete His work and quicken our bodies, because of His Spirit that dwelleth in us.§ That Spirit is to each Christian the earnest of his future inheritance, * 1 Cor. iii. 16, 17. † 2 Cor. vi. 16. John xiv. 16-18. The Ideal and the Actual. 25 as well as the Great Agent by whom the Christian's meetness is to be perfected. Such is the privilege, and such the character of Christians individually; while as a whole, they are members of the larger body, the church itself,— and have each their functions, responsibilities, and rewards. All are to be employed according to their gifts; some teach, some serve, some give, some pray; and the whole 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 to the edifying of itself in love.'* ? II. The Church: its Discipline. 24. Such is the ideal of the church. Its members are holiness unto the Lord, and their The ideal equality is a necessary conclusion from of the church the sameness of their relation to Christ. and the ac tual com And yet the ideal must be distinguished pared. from the actual. All the members of the church are not holy, nor is the holiness of any of its members complete. Both facts are significant. members not true Chris 25. All its members are not holy. All church There was among the twelve, a Judas, who from the beginning was a deceiver. tians. * Eph. iv. 15, 16. |