No, reader; we must never confound the ecclesiastical systems of this world--ancient, medieval, or modern; Greek, Latin, Anglican; national or popular, established or dissenting--with the true Church of G.o.d, the body of Christ. There is not, beneath the canopy of heaven, this day, nor ever was, a religious system, call it what you please, possessing the very smallest claim to be called "the Church of G.o.d,"
or "the body of Christ." And, as a consequence, it can never be rightly or intelligently called schism, or rending the body of Christ, to separate from such systems; nay, on the contrary, it is the bounden duty of every one who would faithfully maintain and confess the truth of the unity of the body to separate, with the most unqualified decision, from every thing falsely calling itself a church. It can only be viewed as schism to separate from those who are unmistakably and unquestionably gathered on the ground of the a.s.sembly of G.o.d.
No body of Christians can now lay claim to the t.i.tle of the body of Christ, or Church of G.o.d. The members of that body are scattered every where; they are to be found in all the various religious organizations of the day, save such as deny the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot admit the idea that any true Christian could continue to frequent a place where his Lord is blasphemed. But although no body of Christians can lay claim to the t.i.tle of the a.s.sembly of G.o.d, all Christians are responsible to be gathered on the ground of that a.s.sembly, and on no other.
And if we be asked, How are we to know--where are we to find this ground? We reply, "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." "If any man _will do_ His will, he shall know of the doctrine." "_There is a path_" (thanks be to G.o.d for it!) though "no fowl knoweth, and the vulture"s eye hath not seen it. The lion"s whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion pa.s.sed by it."
Nature"s keenest vision cannot see this path, nor its greatest strength tread it. Where is it, then? Here it is: "_Unto man_"--to the reader and to the writer, to each, to all--"He said, "Behold, _the fear of the Lord_, that is wisdom; and _to depart from evil_ is understanding."" (Job xxviii.)
But there is another expression which we not unfrequently hear from persons from whom we might expect more intelligence, namely, "Cutting off the members of the body of Christ."[22] This, too, blessed be G.o.d, is impossible. Not a single member of the body of Christ can ever be severed from the Head, or ever disturbed from the place into which he has been incorporated by the Holy Ghost, in pursuance of the eternal purpose of G.o.d, and in virtue of the accomplished atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. The divine Three in One are pledged for the eternal security of the very feeblest member of the body, and for the maintenance of the indissoluble unity of the whole.
[22] The expression, "Cutting off the members of Christ"s body" is generally applied in cases of discipline; but it is quite a misapplication. The discipline of the a.s.sembly can never touch the unity of the body. A member of the body may so fail in morals or err in doctrine as to call for the action of the a.s.sembly in putting him away from the table, but that has nothing to do with his place in the body. The two things are perfectly distinct.
In a word, then, it is as true to-day as it was when the inspired apostle penned the fourth chapter of his epistle to the Ephesians, that "there is one body," of which Christ is Head, of which the Holy Ghost is the formative power, and of which all true believers are members. This body has been on earth since the day of Pentecost, is on earth now, and shall continue on earth until that moment, so rapidly approaching, when Christ shall come and take it to His Father"s house.
It is the same body, with a continual succession of members, just as we speak of a certain regiment of her majesty"s army having been at Waterloo, and now quartered at Aldershot, though not a man in the regiment of to-day appeared at the memorable battle of 1815.
Does the reader feel any difficulty as to all this? It may be that he finds it hard, in the present broken and scattered condition of the members, to believe and confess the unbroken unity of the whole. He may feel disposed, perhaps, to limit the application of Ephesians iv.
4 to the day in which the apostle penned the words, when Christians were manifestly one, and when there was no such thing thought of as being a member of this church or a member of that church, because all believers were members of _the_ one Church.[23]
[23] The unity of the Church may be compared to a chain thrown across a river; we see it at each side, but it dips in the middle. But though it dips, it is not broken; though we do not _see_ the union in the middle, we _believe_ it is there all the same. The Church was seen in its unity on the day of Pentecost, and it will be seen in its unity in the glory; and although we do not see it now, we nevertheless believe it most surely.
And be it remembered that the unity of the body is a great practical, formative truth; and one very weighty practical deduction from it is that the state and walk of each member affect the whole body. "If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it." A member of what? Some local a.s.sembly? Nay; but a member of the body. We must not make the body of Christ a matter of geography.
But, we may be asked, are we affected by what we do not see or know?
a.s.suredly. Are we to limit the grand truth of the unity of the body, with all its practical consequences, to the measure of our personal knowledge and experience? Far be the thought. It is the presence of the Holy Ghost that unites the members of the body to the Head and to one another; and hence it is that the walk and ways of each affect all. Even in Israel"s case, where it was not a corporate but a national unity, when Achan sinned, it was said, "Israel hath sinned;"
and the whole congregation suffered a humiliating defeat on account of a sin of which they were ignorant.
It is perfectly marvelous how little the Lord"s people seem to understand the glorious truth of the unity of the body, and the practical consequences flowing from it.
In reply, we must protest against the very idea of limiting the Word of G.o.d. What possible right have we to single out one clause from Ephesians iv. 4-6, and say it only applied to the days of the apostles? If one clause is to be so limited, why not all? Are there not still "one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one G.o.d and Father of all"? Will any question this? Surely not. Well, then, it follows that there is as surely one body as there is one Spirit, one Lord, one G.o.d. All are intimately bound up together, and you cannot touch one without touching all. We have no more right to deny the existence of the one body than we have to deny the existence of G.o.d, inasmuch as the self-same pa.s.sage that declares to us the one declares to us the other also.
But some will doubtless inquire, Where is this one body to be seen? Is it not an absurdity to speak of such a thing, in the face of the almost numberless denominations of christendom? Our answer is this: We are not going to surrender the truth of G.o.d because man has so signally failed to carry it out. Did not Israel utterly fail to maintain, confess, and carry out the truth of the unity of the G.o.dhead? and was that glorious truth, in the smallest degree, touched by their failure? Was it not as true that there was one G.o.d, though there were as many idolatrous altars as streets in Jerusalem, and every housetop sent up a cloud of incense to the queen of heaven, as when Moses sounded forth, in the ears of the whole congregation, those sublime words, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our G.o.d is one Lord"? Blessed be G.o.d, His truth does not depend upon the faithless, foolish ways of men. It stands in its own divine integrity; it shines in its own heavenly, undimmed l.u.s.tre, spite of the grossest human failure. Were it not so, what should we do? whither should we turn? or what would become of us? In fact, it comes to this: if we were only to believe the measure of truth which we see practically carried out in the ways of men, we might give up in despair, and be of all men most miserable.
But how is the truth of the one body to be practically carried out? By refusing to own any other principle of Christian fellowship--any other ground of meeting. All true believers should meet on the simple ground of membership of the body of Christ, and on no other. They should a.s.semble, on the first day of the week, around the Lord"s table, and break bread, as members of the one body, as we read in 1 Corinthians x, "For we, being many, are one loaf, one body; for we are all partakers of that one loaf." This is as true and as practical to-day as it was when the apostle addressed the a.s.sembly at Corinth. True, there were divisions at Corinth as there are divisions in christendom; but that did not in any wise touch the truth of G.o.d. The apostle rebuked the divisions--p.r.o.nounced them carnal. He had no sympathy with the poor, low idea which one sometimes hears advocated, that divisions are good things, as superinducing emulation. He believed they were very bad things--the fruit of the flesh, the work of Satan.
Neither, we feel persuaded, would the apostle have accepted the popular ill.u.s.tration that divisions in the Church are like so many regiments, with different facings, all fighting under the same commander-in-chief. It would not hold good for a moment; indeed, it has no application whatever, but rather gives a flat contradiction to that distinct and emphatic statement, "There is one body."
Reader, this is a most glorious truth. Let us ponder it deeply. Let us look at christendom in the light of it. Let us judge our own position and ways by it. Are we acting on it? Do we give expression to it, at the Lord"s table, every Lord"s day? Be a.s.sured it is our sacred duty and high privilege so to do. Say not there are difficulties of all sorts, many stumbling-blocks in the way, much to dishearten us in the conduct of those who profess to meet on this very ground of which we speak.
All this is, alas! but too true. We must be quite prepared for it. The devil will leave no stone unturned to cast dust in our eyes, so that we may not see G.o.d"s blessed way for His people. But we must not give heed to his suggestions or be snared by his devices. There always have been, and there always will be difficulties in the way of carrying out the precious truth of G.o.d; and perhaps one of the greatest difficulties is found in the inconsistent conduct of those who profess to act upon it.
But then we must ever distinguish between the truth and those who profess it--between the ground and the conduct of those who occupy it.
Of course, they ought to harmonize, but they do not; and hence we are imperatively called to judge the conduct by the ground, not the ground by the conduct. If we saw a man farming on a principle which we knew to be thoroughly sound, but he was a bad farmer, what should we do? Of course, we should reject his mode of working, but hold the principle all the same.
Not otherwise is it in reference to the truth now before us. There were heresies at Corinth, schisms, errors, evils of all sorts. What then? Was the truth of G.o.d to be surrendered as a myth, as something wholly impracticable? was it all to be given up? Were the Corinthians to meet on some other principle? were they to organize themselves on some new ground? were they to gather around some fresh centre? No, thank G.o.d! His truth was not to be surrendered for a moment, although Corinth was split up into ten thousand sects, and its horizon darkened by ten thousand heresies. The body of Christ is one; and the apostle simply displays in their view the banner with this blessed inscription: "Ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular."
Now, these words were addressed, not merely "unto the church at Corinth," but also "to all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours." Hence, the truth of the one body is abiding and universal. Every true Christian is bound to recognize it and to act on it, and every a.s.sembly of Christians, wherever convened, should be the local expression of this grand and all-important truth.
Some might perhaps feel disposed to ask how it could be said to any one a.s.sembly, "Ye are the body of Christ." Were there not saints at Ephesus, Colosse, and Philippi? No doubt; and had the apostle been addressing them on the same subject, he could have said to them likewise, "Ye are the body of Christ," inasmuch as they were the local expression of the body; and not only so, but, in addressing them, he had before his mind all saints, to the end of the Church"s earthly career.
But we must bear in mind that the apostle could not possibly address such words to any human organization, ancient or modern. No; nor if all such organizations, call them what you please, were amalgamated into one, could he speak of it as "the body of Christ." That body, let it be distinctly understood, consists of all true believers on the face of the earth. That they are not gathered on that only divine ground, is their serious loss and their Lord"s dishonor. The precious truth holds good all the same--"There is one body," and this is the divine standard by which to measure every ecclesiastical a.s.sociation and every religious system under the sun.
We deem it needful to go somewhat fully into the divine side of the question of the Church, in order to guard the truth of G.o.d from the results of misapprehension, and also that the reader may clearly understand that in speaking of the utter failure and ruin of the Church, we are looking at the human side of the subject. To this latter we must return for a moment.
It is impossible to read the New Testament with a calm and unprejudiced mind and not see that the Church as a responsible witness for Christ on the earth has most signally and shamefully failed. To quote all the pa.s.sages in proof of this statement would literally fill a small volume; but let us glance at the second and third chapters of the book of Revelation, where the Church is seen under judgment. We have, in these solemn chapters, what we may call a divine Church-history. Seven a.s.semblies are taken up, as ill.u.s.trative of the various phases of the Church"s history, from the day in which it was set up, in responsibility, on the earth, until it shall be spued out of the Lord"s mouth, as something utterly intolerable. If we do not see that these two chapters are prophetic, as well as historic, we shall deprive ourselves of a vast field of most valuable instruction.
For ourselves, we can only a.s.sure the reader that no human language could adequately set forth what we have gathered from Revelation ii.
and iii., in their prophetic aspect.
However, we are only referring to them now as the last of a series of Scripture proofs of our present thesis. Take the address to Ephesus, the self-same church to which the apostle Paul wrote his marvelous epistle, opening up so blessedly the heavenly side of things, G.o.d"s eternal purpose respecting the Church--the position and portion of the Church, as accepted in Christ and blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Him. No failure here; no thought of such a thing; no possibility of it. All is in G.o.d"s hands here. The counsel is His; the work His. It is His grace, His glory, His mighty power, His good pleasure; and all founded upon the blood of Christ. There is no question of responsibility here. The Church was "dead in trespa.s.ses and sins;" but Christ died for her; He placed Himself judicially where she was morally; and G.o.d, in His sovereign grace, entered the scene and raised up Christ from the dead, and the Church in Him. Glorious fact! Here all is sure and settled. It is the Church in the heavenlies _in_ Christ, not the Church on earth _for_ Christ,--it is _the body_ "_accepted_," not _the candlestick judged_. If we do not see both sides of this great question, we have much to learn.
But there is the earthly side as well as the heavenly--the human as well as the divine--the candlestick as well as the body. Hence it is that in the judicial address in Revelation ii. we read such solemn words as these: "_I have against thee_, that thou hast left thy first love."
How very distinct! Nothing like this in Ephesians; nothing against the body, nothing against the bride; but there is something against the candlestick. The light had even already become dim. Hardly had it been lighted ere the snuffers were needed.
Thus, at the very outset, symptoms of decline showed themselves, unmistakably, to the penetrating eye of Him who walked amongst the seven golden candlesticks; and when we reach the close, and contemplate the last phase of the Church"s condition--the last stage of its earthly history, as ill.u.s.trated by the a.s.sembly at Laodicea--there is not a single redeeming feature. The case is almost hopeless. The Lord is outside the door.--"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." It is not here as at Ephesus, "I have somewhat against thee." The whole condition is bad. The whole professing body is about to be given up.--"I will spue thee out of My mouth." He still lingers, blessed be His name, for He is ever slow to leave the place of mercy, or enter the place of judgment. It reminds us of the departure of the glory, in the opening of Ezekiel. It moved with a slow and measured pace, loth to leave the house, the people, and the land. "Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord"s glory."
"Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim." And finally, "the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city." (Ezek. x. 4, 18; xi. 23.)
This is deeply affecting. How striking the contrast between this slow departure of the glory and its speedy entrance, in the day of Solomon"s dedication of the house in 2 Chronicles vii. 1. Jehovah was quick to enter His abode in the midst of His people; slow to leave it.
He was, to speak after the manner of men, forced away by the sins and hopeless impenitence of His infatuated people.
So also with the Church. We see in the second of Acts His rapid entrance into His spiritual house. He came like a rushing mighty wind to fill the house with His glory. But in the third of Revelation, see His att.i.tude: He is outside. Yes; but He is knocking. He lingers, not indeed with any hope of corporate restoration, but if haply "_any man_ would hear His voice and open the door." The fact of His being outside shows what the church is. The fact of His knocking shows what He is.
Christian reader, see that you thoroughly understand this whole subject: it is of the very last importance that you should. We are surrounded on all sides with false notions as to the present condition and future destiny of the professing church. We must fling these all behind our backs, with holy decision, and listen, with circ.u.mcised ear and reverent mind, to the teaching of holy Scripture. That teaching is as clear as noonday. The professing church is a hopeless ruin, and judgment is at the door. Read the epistle of Jude; read 2 Peter ii.
and iii.; read 2 Timothy. Just lay aside this volume and look closely into those solemn scriptures, and we feel persuaded you will rise from the study with the deep and thorough conviction that there is nothing whatever before christendom but the unmitigated wrath of Almighty G.o.d.
Its doom is set forth in that brief but solemn sentence in Romans xi., "Thou also shalt be cut off."
Yes; such is the language of Scripture.--"Cut off"--"spued out." The professing church has utterly failed as Christ"s witness on the earth.
As with Israel, so with the Church, the very truth which she was responsible to maintain and confess, she had faithlessly surrendered.
Hardly had the canon of New-Testament scripture closed, hardly had the first set of laborers left the field, ere gross darkness set in, and settled down upon the whole professing body. Turn where you will, range through the ponderous tomes of "the fathers," as they are called, and you will not find a trace of those grand characteristic truths of our glorious Christianity. All, all was shamefully abandoned. As Israel in Canaan abandoned Jehovah for Baal and Ashtaroth, so the Church abandoned the pure and precious truth of G.o.d for puerile fables and deadly errors. The rapid departure is perfectly astounding; but it was just as the apostle Paul forewarned the elders of Ephesus.--"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of G.o.d, which He hath purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." (Acts xx.)
How truly deplorable! The holy apostles of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ almost immediately succeeded by "grievous wolves" and teachers of perverse things; the whole Church plunged into thick darkness; the lamp of divine revelation almost hidden from view; ecclesiastical corruption in every form; priestly domination with all its terrible accompaniments. In short, the history of the Church--the history of christendom is the most appalling record ever penned.
True it is, thanks be to G.o.d, He left not Himself without a witness.
Here and there, from time to time, just as in Israel of old, He raised up one and another to speak for Him. Even amid the deepest gloom of the middle ages, an occasional star appears upon the horizon. The Waldenses and others were enabled, by the grace of G.o.d, to hold fast His Word and to confess the name of Jesus in the face of Rome"s dark and terrible tyranny, and diabolical cruelty.
Then came that gracious season, in the sixteenth century, when G.o.d raised up Luther and his beloved and honored fellow-laborers to preach the great truth of justification by faith, and to give the precious volume of G.o.d to the people, in their own tongue wherein they were born. It is not within the compa.s.s of human language to set forth the blessing of that memorable time. Thousands heard the glad tidings of salvation--heard, believed, and were saved. Thousands, who had long groaned beneath the intolerable weight of Romish superst.i.tion, hailed, with profound thankfulness, the heavenly message. Thousands flocked, with intense delight, to draw water from those wells of inspiration which had been stopped for ages by papal ignorance and intolerance.
The blessed lamp of divine revelation, so long hidden by the enemy"s hand, was permitted to cast its rays athwart the gloom, and thousands rejoiced in its heavenly light.
But while we heartily bless G.o.d for all the glorious results of what is commonly called the reformation, in the sixteenth century, we should make a very grave mistake indeed were we to imagine that it was any thing approaching to a restoration of the Church to its original condition. Far--very far from it. Luther and his companions, if we are to judge from their writings--precious writings, many of them--never grasped the divine idea of the Church as the body of Christ. They did not understand the unity of the body; the presence of the Holy Ghost in the a.s.sembly, as well as His indwelling in the individual believer; they never reached the grand truth of ministry in the Church, "its nature, source, power, and responsibility;" they never got beyond the idea of human authority as the basis of ministry; they were silent as to the specific hope of the Church, namely, the coming of Christ for His people--the bright and morning Star; they failed to seize the proper scope of prophecy, and proved themselves incompetent rightly to divide the word of truth.
Let us not be misunderstood. We love the memory of the reformers.
Their names are familiar household words amongst us. They were dear, devoted, earnest, blessed servants of Christ. Would that we had their like amongst us in this day of revived popery and rampant infidelity.
We would yield to none in our love and esteem for Luther, Melanchthon, Farel, Latimer, and Knox. They were truly bright and shining lights in their day; and thousands--yea, millions will thank G.o.d throughout eternity that they ever lived and preached and wrote. And not only so, but, looked at in their private life and public ministry, they put to shame many of those who have been favored with a range of truth for which we look in vain in the voluminous writings of the reformers.
But, admitting all this, as we most freely and gratefully do, we are nevertheless convinced that those beloved and honored servants of Christ failed to seize, and therefore failed to preach and teach, many of the special and characteristic truths of Christianity; at least, we have failed to find these truths in their writings. They preached the precious truth of justification by faith; they gave the holy Scriptures to the people; they trampled under foot much of the rubbish of Romish superst.i.tion.
All this they did, by the grace of G.o.d, and for all this we bow our heads in deep thankfulness and praise to the Father of mercies. But Protestantism is not Christianity; nor are the so-called churches of the reformation, whether national or dissenting, the Church of G.o.d.
Far from it. We look back over the course of eighteen centuries, and spite of the occasional revivals, spite of the brilliant lights which at various times have shone upon the Church"s horizon--lights which appeared all the brighter in contrast with the deep gloom that surrounded them--spite of the many gracious visitations of G.o.d"s Spirit, both in Europe and America, during the past and present century--spite of all these things, for which we most heartily bless G.o.d, we return with decision to the statement already advanced, that the professing church is a hopeless wreck; that christendom is rapidly hastening down the inclined plane, to the blackness of darkness forever; that those highly favored lands, where much evangelical truth has been preached, where Bibles have been circulated in millions, and gospel tracts in billions, shall yet be covered with thick darkness--given over to strong delusion to believe a lie.
And then?--ah, what then? _A converted world?_ Nay, but a _judged church_. The true saints of G.o.d, scattered throughout christendom--all the true members of the body of Christ, will be caught up to meet their coming Lord--the dead saints raised, the living changed, in a moment, and all taken up together to be forever with the Lord. Then the mystery will rise to a head in the person of the man of sin--the lawless one, the Antichrist. The Lord Jesus shall come, and all His saints with Him, to execute judgment on the beast, or revived Roman empire, and the false prophet, or Antichrist--the former in the west, the latter in the east.