Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-09-13
&eadiua fur the Sabbath.
CONDUCTED BY
REV. ROBERT l. LATH A N.
lOriginal.l |
SCHISMS.
|. Corinthians | : ~.

i.
The Apostle Paul, in the very beginning
of his first epistle to the church at Corlnth,
lays positive claim to apOstleship. This
claim he bases upon the call of God. This
was the only solid foundation for such a
claim. Paul wasa Jew, a descendant OF the
illustrious patriarch Abraham; he was a
Pharisee of the strictest sort he was a man
of extensive learning; he was born free; /;
but none Of these things, nor all of them to-
gether, were sufficient to entitle him to be
| heard as an apostle. He was, as every offi-
Ger in the church is, officially what ne was
"by the will Of God"
The object of the apostle, in declaring so
positively in this and other epistless, his
apostleship, was to give weight and lnf1u-
ence to his teaching, and power and author
ity to his admonitions, censures and rebukes.
The Christian congregation at COrinth was
in very disturbed condition. This can be
accounted for in part, by the heterogeneous
character of the members. Corinth was the
principal city, at that time of Greece, but it
had been colonized by individuals sent there
by Julius Caesar. TO Corinth people from
all parts of Greece, from all sections of Rome
and from the land of Palestine, had come:
The inhabitants were Greeks, Romans ana
Jews, and the Church at Corinth was made
up of Greeks, Romans and Jews. All were
influenced by national education, national
religions, national prejudices and national
dislikes for each other. The Romans dis
liked the Greeks, and the Greeks disliked
the Romans, and both disliked the Jews,
and the Jews, in turn, hated both the Greeks
and the Romans. Each regarded itself, ma
tionally, Intellectually, socially and relig-.
iously superior to the rest. AS one result OF
these national feelings, contentious, strlfes
and wranglings sprung up in the congreSa-
ton. From the subsequent portions OF thls
chapter, we learn that their Wranglings
were, in part, about their religious teachers.
Some claimed to be followers of Paul, 9TH
ers claimed to be followers of Apollos, and
others again claimed to be followers OF &C.
phas. There was also fourth party which,
in it's pride and folly, claimed to be of Christ,
excluding all others from the pale OF the
visible church. 1t is evident from other
parts of the epistle, that they had very con-
| fused notions respecting both the doctrines
and the practices of the Christian religion,
and that they wrangled about these also.
The apostle admonishes them in the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no
divsions-no rents-no schisms amongst
them.
The schisms or divisions in the Church at
Corinth had not reached the point where ac-
tual separations had taken place. AS yet,
they only amounted to party feeling and
party strife in the same organic body. 1T is
clear from the teaching of the apostle that
the congregation in Corinth had very indis-
tinct notions of what's meant by the Church
of God. Such is still thecase The notions
of the mass of those to-day who profess
Christianity, entertain unscriptural notions
as to what constitutes the Church OF God.
The word church is at present often used IN
very vague and unscriptural sense. Some
times it is used to denote the house in which
a community meet, at stated times, to wor-
ship God; sometimes it is used to denote a
BODY of professed Christians, holding doc
trines and practicing modes of worship diff
ferent from those held and practiced by 9TH
er bodies of professed Christians. Neither
of these meanings is Scriptural. The word
church is never, either in the Old Testament
or in the New Testament, used to denote
house. Neither is it ever used to denote a
particular community Of Christians differ
ing, in some respects, from other protested
Christians. Sometimes we find in the New
Testament the expression, the "Church d'
Corinth, or ut Ephesus, or ut Philippi, or d'
some other place, but never do we find the
expression Church of COrinth, Church OF
Ephesus, or Church of Philippi. There was
no such thing as the Church OF Corlnth:
The true Scriptural meaning Of the word
church is the people Of God, or as it is eX-
pressed in the Old Testament, "Congrega-
tion of the Lord"
The church under the former dispensation,
was two fold-visible and invisible. Every
Jew was born member of the visible
church, entitled to all its privileges and
subject to it's government ; but every Jew
was not member of the invisible church.
The visible church wasUrganized with Abra-
ham, and that organism, perfectly deVel-
oped, continues to-day, and will continue
until time is merged into eternity. Hence
the church under New Testament dispensa-
ton, is both visible and invisible. 1.-The
visible church consists of all those through
out the world that profess the true religion,
together with their children"
The church lis the kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the house and family of God
out of which there is no ordinary posslblll.
ty of salvation"
The visible church then, according tC
this authority, and it most certainly is Scrip
tural, consists of all those who profess the
true religion. The true religion is the re-
ligion of the Bible. 1t consists of doctrines
to be believed and duties to be performed
Everything in connection with the true re.
ligion is of divine appointment. Jesus
Christ has left nothing undone, nothing fol
any Of us to do but obey. He has prescribed
what we must believe and what we must
90, ana now we llluSI llO WIlttG llc COlllllstHiS
Protesting religion is simply publicly de-
claring that we will receive what Jesus
Christ has provided, and following Jesus is
doing what he, in his word, has scommanded
For the government of his people and fol-
building them up in holiness, Jesus Christ
has given them officers. These are called
ambassadors for Christ. He has also given
his people form Of government and sys-
tenn of laws. No man, or body of men. no
church court or ecclesiastical council has any
right to make laws, by which the church or
the congregation Of the Lord is to be gov
erned. Ecclesiastical courts have admins
trative, notlegislative powers. Jesus Christ
is the lawgiver of his body, which is the
church, and the Bible is the law book. 1t
follows from this that the visible church is
one, not many. Or, in the language of an
old confession, it is Catholic or universal.
There is but one head, there can be but one
body. The members may be many, but
they are all members of one body, and are
one body. There is but one faith, but one
baptism, but one sacrament of the Lords
Supper, but one heaven-the home of all the
redeemed, and but one door through which
all who enter heaven must pass. In the
church, as in Christ Jesus, all distinctions
disappear. In Christ Jesns there is neither
rich nor poor, bond nor free, high nor low.
All are believers, this and nothing more.
1t may be said this is an ideal church which
has no existence on earth. 1t is readily adj
mitted that such an organization as we have
described does not now, and perhaps never
we have described the Church Of God. We
see the church lacerated by schisms and
bleeding at every pore. The strifes of the
Churfh at COrinth have grown into animOSi-