The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-05-27

SPliOudI Soiui1iol, anu uVlHS III 0dCl
other and with each other as members o
one large, loving, compact and helpful
family. 1t is a living, working corpora
ton whose aims and agencies include boil
"the life that now is, and that which il
to come"
But these churches do not feel them
selves as isolated entities, any more thar
this is felt by each individual Christian
They feel themselves bound by living tie,
OF common brotherhood to all those who
love the Lord Jesus in sincerity, and tC
all the churches that are seen springing
up in other cities and countries, messen'
gers are sent from church to church tC
keep alive this feeling of oneness, and Sc
cure such uniformity of faith and practice
as may be desirable. When the ''pool
saints" in one region are heard of III
want, contributions for their relief are
sent by the hands of~5hese ssmesseHgefc
of the churches" aud in many cases
''their deep poverty abounded unto the
riches of their IiberaIity, y" and Achaia and
Macedonia, Ephesus and Jerusalem are
connected by system of exchanges con-
veying richer treasure than Was ever
covered by the bills of Rothschild.-
When Christian travelled, he carried a
circular letter with him as potent as the
circular notes of modern travel, or per-
haps only white stone with new name
engraven thereon, buthowever ne may have
made himself known, he is welcomed in
every Christian famil ly as brother, SO
that wherever there is Christian
household there he finds home. If sick,
imprisoned, or in trouble, the ever active
diaconate is ready to render him such
aid as he needs, because of this bond OF
brotherhood. So extensive was this that
Lucan makes it subject of one of his
satires, and mocks at the credulous hos
pitality of the Christians, which his poor,
shrivelled heather heart could not com.
prehend.
The amount of work done in this way
by these poor, despoiled primitive churches
was amazing. During the Decian perse-
cution, the Church in Rome supported
1900 widows, besides many other poor
The Church of Antioch, although not at all
rich Church, supported more than 5000
widows and maids, besides providing for
it's clergy, for strangers, lepers, and those
in bonds During the wars in Numidia
some Christians were made prisoners, and
their ransom greatly exceeded the means
of their own Church. They applied to
Cyprian in Carthage, and in few days
he raised and sent to them $4,000,
sum which at that day, considering the
difference in the value of money, was
enormously large. In this same city of
carthage. when the plague broke out, the
heatlron ned and left their SICK unattend-
ed, and their dead unburied. The Chris
tians had just been subjected to a bitter
persecution, but taught to return gooG for
evil, Cyprian called the church together,
organized its members for work; buried
the dead, nursed the sick, took care of the
children, and in a short time the plague
was stayed. The same thing happened
in Alexandria and in other cities, demon
strating to the very heather themselves,
that new and strange life had entered
the world, life hid with Christin God.
Thus does this great principle of corpo-
rate life work itself out into all the mani
fold extensions of the Christian Church,
until by the multiplication of these living
centres throughout the Roman Empire, a
network of vitalizing energy is silently
and steadily spread all over that mighty
domain. The heather see it with wonder,
for they have never before seen men love
one another, live and even die for one
another in that way, and they are alarmed
at this new power that is rising silently
around them. They try to crush it out,
but the more they try the more it grows,
the more these Christians love one an
other, and the sublimer and stronger grow
their faith and self sacrifice. The dun
qeon echoes to the notes of midnight
hymns; the sands of hundred amphithe-
atres are wet with Christian blood the
feeble old man goes with an unfaltering
step to the lions; the timid maiden well
comes the kissing flames like the silken
drapery of bridal attire; the little child
look ks fearlessly into the face of the cruel
Judge and says, II am Christian" "
and then goes calmly to its death singing
words of strange melody that soften even
the hard heart of the executioner, and
lead him sometimes to fling down the in
struments of his torture and present him
self as "a candidate for the crown of mar
tyrdom; and thus by this simple might of
love; by this simple working of new and
blessed life, in which the whole body fit
ly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to
the effectual working in the measure OF
every part, made increase of the body un-
to the edifying of itself in love; by the
simple power of this corporate life bind
ing every Christian heart to Christ and
thus binding it to every other Christian
heart, the religion of Jesus conquered the
world.
III. How may 0e more efficiently use
this great principle IN Our day?
We need no new machinery for this
purpose. The Church is the Divine cor
poration for all the ends of its institution,
and if properly worked, needs no supple.
mentary expedients to complete its equip
ment. Every such human device, how
ever plausible is a wen or parasite on
the church corporate and draws away some
of it's vital force, and sometimes becomes a