|
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.
(Top of Page)
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.”
(Top of Page)
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. |
