The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-10-31

LeE our DlOLaSA
And, as we journey down LIES road,
Do good to one another.
UNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
TowNv1ILE, S. c., Oct. %, 1878.
Editor anderson Inteligencer::
The Rev. John R. Riley, of Adger
College, preached most practical SER
mon in the Presbyterian Church in this
place recently on the subject of the unity
of the Christian Church, taken from Eph.
1856.
The discourse was heard by very
large congregation, representing the va
rious denominations in the community,
and as there was sentiment of universal
and unqualified approval Of the manner
in which the theme was handled, it is
deemed not alniss to publish a sketch of
the most salient points advanced.
At the outset the preacher made sew
eral beautiful comparisons, forcibly Illus
.rativeeof the indivisible unity of Christ's
Church, and Gwelt at considerable length
upon the generous views of many profess
sing Christians as to what constitutes the
true Church. Many who have already
united to some particular denomination
never inquire into the nature of the
Church; they do not know in what its
unity consists; they defend with warmth
and zeal religious dogmas or no other
ground than that this or that has been
the practice or doctrine in the sect which
they call the Church. In their minds
their Church isSinfallible,. They never
question any of its usages or doctrines.
They rsge.d their denomination as q
Kind Of Divine Oracle. The question
with them is not What is in the Bible?
What saith the Lord? but, What says
the Ghutch?s They hold that the one
true Church of Christ is restricted to the
denomination to which they belong. In,
saying this the speaker took particular
pains to impress upon his hearers that he
had not in mind any one sect or denomi-
nation more than another; that he was
only speaking of certain religious type
which is to be found in a greater or less
degree in all Christian congregations.
Far be it from him, in the pulpit or any
where, to say anything to the prejudice
Of any. branch OF Christ's Church as such.
There are those in every denomination
who hold wrong views of the Church. 1t
is a common error to regard their own
denomination as the Church. Those
who are not connected with the Church
have wrong notions as to its unity; they
have been taught that there is only one
!, true Church, and because there can be
but one they reach the erroneous conclu-
sion that only one of the many denomi-
nations icansbe the true Church of Christ.
They think that their getting into the
Church depends on the choice of demon
ination, which is a common and lamen-
table mistake. - . sss-@
Nothing is more prejudicial to that
Christian unity for which the son Of God
prayed when he said that they may all
be one, as thou, Father, art in me and /
in thee, that they also may be one in US,
&C., than wrong notions as to what the
Church of Christ is, and in what its unity
consists. All who are united to Christ
by faith belong to his Church, and this
Church is one. Difference Of denomine-
ton does not destroy this unity, "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. Every organized body supposes
Two things, diversity and unity. There
must be different parts and these parts 80
united as to constitute one living body.
Diversity is essential to unity, for unless
the body. had many members there could
be no union Of parts SO as to make one
organized whole. 1t is not necessary that
all believers should belong to the same
denomination in order to make them one
Church. They have wrong notions of
Christian unity who thinh. that denomi--
national distinction must be obliterated
before the prayer of the Saviour can be
answered when He prayed that all be-
levers might be one. The very greatest
unity may be realized and Christians re-
main as they are in distinct and different
denominations. The Apostle, says, "As,
We ye.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"
So we being many denominations, are
nevertheless one body, of which Jesus
Christ is the head. There are four things
which constitute Christian unity: one
Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God
and Father. zone Lord" means that all
believers are under one governor or ruler.
Christians, however different the forms
of government of the particular denomi-
nations to which they belong, are all
subjects of the same God, of which the
Lord Jesus is head and king. There are
differences of administration, but the
same Lord, q Cor. 12:15.) There is
sense in which Jesus is Lord of the uni
verse, none stay his hand, but it is not
in this sense that Christ is mentioned by
the Apostle as the Lord of believers. 1t
is as King In Zion that he is called the
cne Lord. BE is the head Of that king
dom for whose advancement We are
taught to pray. Every believer is will
ing subject of this kingdom. 1t is a
spiritual kingdom; its throne is in the
hearts of believers; its laws are to be
found in the gospel. All those beautiful
and benevolent precepts and doctrines
are the principles and laws by which
Christ governs his people These laws
are not merely placed before them in the
Bible, but they are indelibly inscribed
on their hearts by the fingers Of God.
all Christians are not only under one
government, they not only have one Lord,
but they have one faith. By one faith
doubtless is meant the objective creed of
Christians. All evangelical Christians
substantially believe the same things.
The cardinal objects of their faith are
the same. They may, for convenience
and other reasons, have formulas of doc
trine. such as the confession of faith, the
book of church order and discipline, and
other standards, and each denomination
,.s,r, bora ;ts .oryp hootr with the doctrines