Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1880-08-26
&eadiug fur the Sabbath,
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
fOrlginal.,
THE CHURCH.

lorlginal.]
THE CHURCH.
Men of the world universally, and very
large number of protesting Christians, have Ell
ther very erroneous or very lily defined notions
of the place the church occupies in the moral
government of God. All men are willing to
admit, that in social and civil point of
view, the Church is the most important of all
organizations Any form of religion is bet
ter than no religion at ALL So far as society
is concerned, it is better that men worship
the vilest reptiles, than that they have no god
at all. Any god, no matter what may be the
character Of that god, exercises some good,
restraining influences over those who worship
him. Superstition is better than infdelity.
When compared with all other forms of
religion which either once existed or still ex-
ist in the world, the Christian religion, in
social point of view, is infinitely superior to
any thing the world ever saw. This few will
deny. 1t would be very difficult to find
sane man who would be willing to abolish
the Christian religion, and adopt in its stead
the best form Of paganism that ever had an
existence. Even those who scoff at Chris.
tianity, would turn away from the idolatry
Of the heather with disgust. It's social in-
Auences are to the minds of these scof4ers re.
voting Paganism and mental and moral
slavery, are inseparably connected in the
mind Of every one who knows its history.
This view Of Christianity, while it is cor.
rect, is still very partial view of the sub.
ject. 1t is very erroneous, because it makes a
small part of Christianity the whole of it.
The church, as an organization, is compared
with religious organizations devised by poor,
erring men. 1t may be regarded as the best
of all these organizations, but still it is re.
garded as only human. Such view of the
church is as erroneous and as low and grow.
cling, as to compare any of the handi-works
of man with the great fabric of the universe.
The church is, with eminent propriety, called
."the church of the living God," because God,
and not man, was its organizer.
In its strict and proper sense, the word
Church means the people of God, and not
place of worship. 1t is true, that by figure
of speech, it is often used to mean house, or
a place where Christians worship God; and
some times, but very improperly, the word
church is made to mean the same thing as
the word denomination or sect. Thus We
often Lear persons speaking of the Baptist
church, or the Presbyterian church, or the
Methodist church and some 60 so far as to
say "our Church." as if the church belonged
to them. The proper Scripture meaning Of
the word church, is'the people of God. In
no case in the Scriptures, does it mean .
house of worship, and much less is it ever
equivalent to the word denomination or Sect
In its organic form, the Church has had a
visible existence since the days of Abraham.
Previous to Abraham it existed, but not in
an organized form. The visible church had
its beginning with Adam and Eve, and was
perpetuated down to the days Of Abraham
through single individuals. In the time of
Abraham, it was organized into q society, and
in this form it has continued to the present
day. About nineteen hundred years before
Christ, God called Abram from Ug of the
Chaldees, and with him entered into peculiar
covenant. God pledged himself to perform two
things. One thing was to make of Abram a
great nation the other was to make him a
blessing. Afterward this promise was re-
newed, expanded and explained. The name
of Abram, which means "high father" was
changed to Abraham, which means "father of
many nations"
From the time of Abraham down to the
time of Jesus Christ-a period of more than
nineteen centuries church of God con-
stantly looked forward to the ful6llment of the
promses-"I will make thee blessing" and
"in thee shall all thefamilies of the earth be
blessed" In other words, for period Of
near two thousand years, did the descendants
of Abraham look forward with intense anx-
iety for the day to arrive when the visible
Church should embrace some of all nations,
and not be confined to the Jews or lineal
descendants Of Abraham.
During this ante. Messianic period, the
Church worshipped God by types and cere-
monies which pre6gured a Saviour to come.
Iu the time of Moses, the Aaronic priest
hood was established, and its labors confined
to the natural descendants of Abraham. This
Aaronic priesthood pre6gured another priest
of different order, who would come and
make an end of sin by offering up himself
sacrifice for sin in the room Of sinners.
In the fullness of time that period arrived,
and Jesus Christ died-the just for the un.
lust On the cross he exclaimed, ut is Gn-
ished." His suferings were then ended. and
the New Testament Church was established.
This New Testament Church differs from the
Old Testament Church in nothing except in
outward forms. The faith of the Old-Testa-
ment saint was prospective That is, he looked
forward to Saviour to come All the forms
of Old Testament worship were typical. The
New.Testament saint looks back to Saviour
already come In his worship, both public
and private, he uses no types, no shadows.
Everything with him is real.
The organization under both dispensations
is the same-identically the same. The same
God is worshipped through the same days.
man.
There is no organization on earth like the
Church. 1t is as much the work Of God as
are the heavens and earth. The existence Of