The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1871-05-03
COMPOSING CHRIST.

reasonable service and we must publicly profess
our allegiance to Him, by jealous and exemplary
piety, as members of His visible Church. 1t is
correctly said that 1--WE may confess or deny Christ
doctrinaly, by entertaining true or false views OF
His person, His office, and His wOrk-we may do
il verbally By oral professions Of acceptance or re-
jection-Or we may do it vitality and practically, BY
leading Christian or an unchristian lite. In
either of these ways we may acknowledge the
Lord Jesus, declare our dependence upon Him for
salvation and our heartfelt attachment to Him, or
the contrary. BY either of these words we may
profess or disclaim the true religion But the spe
ci6c form of this confession as recognized in the
Scriptures, has reference to the visible Church.
We must be the avowed subjects OF Christ's king
dom and faithfully observe the ordinances OF lbs
house.
1t is the glory of our holy religion that it is in;
ward and private in its character. 1t is religion
of the heart, as we'll as the outward life. Aud one
Of the most precious and important Of all its du-
ties, is to enter into our closet and pray to our
Father, which is in secret. There are private COM
munings with God-there is hidden intercourse
with heaven-there are holy meditatiOns on eter-
nal Joys which are known only to God and the be-
ieying soul. And it is one of the sweetest of all
the consultations of the righteous, that, whatever
others may think or say Of them, God knows their
hearts and is acquainted with all their ways.
But on the other hand, there are public duties
and pleasures of the Christian religion, as well as
private, and both classes are alike important. In
its very nature, it is open and manifest as well as
hidden and retired. And, while it would rebuke
anything like ostentaton, it is equally opposed to
anything like concealmeut. 1t is but reasonable,
that, since our sins against God have been public,
our repentance of those sins-our love for God
and our determination to serve Him should be
public also. 1t is wholly inconsistent with the
spirit of genuine Christianity that it should ever
be discaimed, by word or Decd where its interests
demand that it should be acknowledged. And no
one can be true disciple Of Christ who cannot
bear the cross of owning Him under any circum-
stances whatever. Hence said the Saviour, who
soever therefore shall confess me before men, him
will confess before my Father which is in heaven
But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will
deny before my Father which is in heaven. -
We must ''let our light shine before men that
they may see our good works and gorify our
Father which is in heaven. Wemust'" hold fast
the profession of our faith without wayering, and
say boldly as did Paul, 81 am not ashamed Of the
gospel of Christ, for it is the power Of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth. -
The duty of publicly confessing Christ, by mem
bership in His visible Church is enforced by the
consideration that, the Church is divine institu
ton, and it is the will of God that those who love
and serve Him should be orderly connected with
it. For the promotion of His own glory, the Lord
has organized His visible Kingdom in the world
and adorned it with the gifts of His grace. For
holy Sacraments, which are the signs and seals OF
His covenant with His people, and the instrument
tai means of their sancti6cation, are peculiar and
essential to this visible Kingdom, and are to be ad
ministered only by its divinely appointed officers.
And since tie observance of these ordinances is
of positive divine command; and since their right
observance is only in connection with the Church,
therefore, to refuse a union with the Church and
the reception of these sacraments is positive act
of disobedience and highly displeasing to God
But this duty of union and communion with the
Church in all its ordinances, by visible profession,
is made imperative mot on account OF an inherent
efficacy but by Christ's appointment-not meri'
toriously but instrumentally.
The great agent who renews and sanctiies our
nature works by faith-by the truth-by the
preaching of the worldly the Church-by bap-
tism-by the Lords Supper-and by a Divine
Providence. "These means it is correctly said
are the power of God fundamentally, though
not eficiently-ordinarily though not invariably"
All these means are helps and encouragements to
life of piety, and by them God is pleased to test
our faith, our obedience and love. And thus, in
the wise and weighty words of another, "the ques'
ton for those. who are out of the Church to con-
slider, is, not whether they can be saved in some
inconvenient way, without obedience to Gods re-
yealed will and appointed ordinances, but, wheth'
er those who can avail themselves of such means,
and are commanded to employ them, and yet will
fully and perseyeringy neglect them, either through
unbehef, or indifference, or distrust Of Gods prom
ises, can hope to be saved at all. -
We do not mean to teach that connection with
the Church is absolutely essential to salvatiOn.-
For we conceive it to be possible for person to
be in state of grace and have good hope of
glory, who may never have been connected with
any branch of the visible Church. Some may
never have had an opportunity of forming such
connection, or have been prevented by causes be-
yond their control. But, excepting such cases, we
have no hesitation in saying that, those believers
who remain out of the Church are not walking ac-
cording to Gods appointment and the order of
the gospel. They are living in the loss OF priVl-
lege and the omission Of duty.
1t is evident to every intelligent mind that the
Christian Church is not :" a mere conventional as
sociation" and its holy ordinances are not mere
badges of ceremonial profession or Of voluntary
and imperfect obligation or In themselves essen
tia" Connection with it is the divinely ap-
pointed method of publicly honoring and confess
ing Christ and of declaring our allegiance to Him.
And its sacred ordinances, piously used, are the
divinely appointed means for the sanctiGcatiOn Of
our souls. Hence, to confess or deny the Saviour
in this particular regard is a thing of the most
momeutous consequence.
Once the soul has been prepared by the Divine
Spirit for the solemn act, then the question of the
duty of Joining the Church is not one of private
Judgment; it is not left to expediency or choice;
but it is an imperative obligation having the SOL
emn sanction of divine authority Hence, in all
ordinary cases, we are shut up to the alternative
of living without God and without hope in the
world-being aliens from the Commonwealth of
Israel and strangers from the covenants of prom
ise or of submitting ourselves to the revealed will
of God and becoming good and faithful subjects of
His visible Kingdom.
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