The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1869-06-02

II
Lord Jesus Christ.
There is propriety, then, in answering
this question, first, negatively; so l remark:
1. The True Glory of the Church consists
not an the Number Of ats members. 1t has
always been g little flock" and yet, through
all its trials, through all its sorrows, under
all It's oppression, it has been the honored
depository of the oracles, the history, the
mysteries and the glory. of Divine Truth;
and by it have conquests been made over
enemies, powerful enough to have crushed
any merely human organization. There is
not, among all the institutions OF man, any
one where Gods truth can be found in all
its purity and glory, save here, in the hands
of the few upon whom the Lord has set His
seal of recognition as His peculiar people.
The Master calls them "httle flock, and
asserts that "many are called, but few
chosen" The great apostle cautions US
against accounting that all of even those
who "are of Israel, nomjnally, 'are the
true Israeli" and that not many wise men,
not many mighty, not many noble, are
called" Yet this is the institution which
God has organized and owned as the agency
whereby the powers of darkness, the hosts
of Satan, the opposition of the world, shall
be ultimately overthrown, and against which
even 'the gates of hell snail not prevail,
as it marches on its triumphal way to the
conquest of the world.
Tt is still true of the Church now in the
world-it is still ''little flock, compared
with'the vast population of earth. Small as
it is, however, it is ''the salt of the earth,
the conservative element, in virtue of which
God spares guilty world. Seeing then
that this is true, it is apparent that the
glory of the Church depends very slightly,
if at all, upon its numbers.
Forgetting this truth, there are many in
the visible Church who act under the pres
sure of an overwhelming zeal to build it up
by additions, with small regard to the sound
ness of the conversion of those added. I'm
wisely, they seem ready to compass sea
and land to make one proselyte," very
slightly examining into the Foundation of
the hope such an one may profess, of an in
terest in Christ
The results of such practice tell power
fully and unfavorably upon the progress of
the Church. The records of the Church are
burdened with the story of disasters which
have overtaken her, from thus "building her
walls with untempered mortar" Instead of
progress, she has gone backward on her
path; and wherever it has been the accepted
policy of the Church to endeavor to strength
en- herself by mere numbers, instead of
acquiring glory and honor, infamy and
degradation have been the portion of her lot.
2. The true glory of the Church does not
consist in her gVeath. "Hearken, my be-
loved brethren, says James; "hath not God
chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith,
and heirs of the kingdom?" The Church
of Christ has always been, and is still poor.
Wealth or outward estate, as such, consti-
tutes no part of her inheritance That the
riches of earth should be poured into her
lap, and that she has right to call for
pecuniary aid in her great enterprise, is
unquestionably true, But it is the master S
injunction: eco, sell all thou hast and give
to the poor, and come follow me, and thou
shall have treasures in heaven. "a Enjoined
upon the individual, it is no less pressing
upon the collective body of believers, that
they should receive only to impart. The
Church is the almoner of the bounty laid to
her hand, the channel through which must
flow out upon the parched and barren earth
the blessings of the Gospel; and that amount
of material means needed to effect this OBJ
ieet should be demanded and received by
her, and no more. a
When she clothes herself 10 purple and
fine linen, and fares sumptuously every day,
and riots in luxury and dIells in palaces,
and grind the faces of the poor, and wrings
from dying sinners the reluctant tribute of
their large estates to purchase the rescue of
their souls from the penal fires of Purga-
tory, boarding up this wealth to decorate
herself with the trappings of pomp and
grandeur, and to strengthen herself in secu-
lar power, and in her influence over the
souls of men, then in her we behold the
mystical Babylon, whose crimes are recorded,
and whose calamities are predicted in the
sacred volume
Wo to such a synagogue of Satan! She
has grown hoary through centuries of in
EQUITY and in these later days "coming
events cast shadows before, foretelling her
doom, in spite of her merchandise in splen.
dor, luxury and all manner of excess in
which she has been rioting, and in the "souls
of men" as well; "for strong is the Lord
God who judgeth. her"
! Well may we repeat to her, as she passes
on her way to the fate that awaits her,
"Weep and howl for the miseries that shall
come upon you. Your riches are corrupted;
your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold
and silver is cankered; and the rest of them
shall be witness against you, and shall eat
your flesh, as it were fire.
3. Nor does the true Glory of the Church
consist an alliance s0ith the pO,0er Of the
State, nor an subservieneytO political dictatiOn.
The church having received from the
State protection in her spiritual preroga-
tives; the free and unmolested exercise of
all her rights and privileges; the liberty of
conscience, and freedom of worship is in
the possession of all she needs, fully to
equip her for her mission, in so far as the
powers of this world can bestow
The Withholding of these would be sac
religious usurpation on the part of the
State; the demand for more would be de-
parture from her sphere on the part of the
Church. my kingdom is not of this
world, is the declaration of our King.
The Church also is composed of ga pecu-
liar people," they are themselves "a Royal
Priesthood" holy and spiritual Empire.
Of the church of England, statistics are
published showing that only one fifth of her
clergy are evangelical.
Scotland, within the memory of us all,
discovered in her troubles from intrusion,
and political dictation. in the Established