St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-07-08
REV. j. w. C0NLEY CAN SEE NO
PRESENT HOPE OF HEAz9ss
ING THEM. AK
MERE SENTIMENTAL UNION
WOULD NOT BE OF ANY PER5iA-
NENT VALUE re THE
WORLD. -rvl
THE QUESTION OF AUTHORITY
And It's Extent, as Stated bye the
Master, Is the Stun bling
Block.

1.-THE Church During the Lords
Absence" was the subject on which
Rev. J. w. Conley preached yester-
day morning at the First Baptist
church, his text being taken from
Mark, xiii, 34-"F'or the Son of Man
is as man taking a far journey,
who left his house and gave author
ity to his servants, and to every man
his work, and commanded the por-
ter to watch
Two interesting lines of thought
were suggested by this parable; one,
the second coming OF our Lord, and
the other the condition of the church
in His absence. 1t was the latter of
which MI. Conley treated, but, in
order to understand it rightly, he re-
fefred to the fact that the second
coming of the Lord was plainly
taught by the Lord Himself, and
was the basis upon which the par
able was founded. Some held that
when. Jesus Christ left the earth He
expected to come back very soon.
but His own words plainly contra
dicted any such idea, for He spread
before His disciples the far-reach-
ing panorama recorded in Matthew
xiv, and told them that even when
these things came to pass 1.-The end
was not yet" meantime. during His
absence, He left certain directions
to His church which were embraced
in three words found in this text
authority, work, watch
hnxr
What authority? This is one of the
most important questions with which
the church has to deal. There is
great deal OF discussion today regard
ing church unity; sermons are being
preached, articles are being published
in the leading magazines concerning
it, and all this is very encouraging in
SO far as it evidences a desire on the
part Of all sections of the church for
more unity, but it is very important
that we should understand that such
a union, to be of any value, must not
be one of mere sentiment. In order to
have
--s ANY REAL UNION
in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
one of the fundamental questions to
be settled is the authority of the
church. There are three kinds of
authority, judicial, legislativ and ad-
ministrative. Which of these did the
Lord leave to His servants? Did He
leave them authority to legisiate, that
is, to make new laws or to change
the laws he left? Have the servants,
has the church today, authority to
change the ordinances and form of
church government? No one would
deny to an administrative officer the
exercise of certain judgment in the
details of his administration but he
has no right to make a single law, or
to tamper with one, or to change one
This question of the authority of the
church must be settled before there can
be any real unity between til different
branches of Christendom
In the early history of the church
this idea of it's legislative authority
crept in, and we are told we must abide
by the DEGREES of councils and the de-
cisions of the church, and following
the same line of thought we find one
placed in supreme authority as the
head of the church. The other view
is that the authority of the church is
simply administrative, and that is the
view held by the Baptist church; it
attaches no authority to the decree of
councils or traditions of the elders; it
contends that it is simply appointed
by God to execute the laws He has
given; it recognizes one lawgiver, and
regards the church as his adminiStra-
tive force on earth.
This whole question hinges on the
authority which the master gave when
He went away? For one thing He gave
to every man his work, apDortioning
1t out with great care. But more than
this, turning for a moment from this
parable to the commission Christ gave
to His disciples just b fore He left them,
His words were plain. go we there
fore and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name Of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teach
ing them to observe all things whatso-
ever l have commanded you" To US
this authority seems strictly and solely
administrative, and no union will ever
be effective as long as any church puts
forward any claim to any authority
beyond the administration of the COM
mands of the Lord as given by Him
self
WORK FOR EVERY MAN.
Another thing which the Master in
the parable did was to give to every
household composed of some active
members and great many associate
or nominal members, but to every one
He gave work. Nor did He leave to
them to choose their own work; He
gave to every man his work; He knew
what he could do best, and to that task
He assigned him, and took every SER
want of the Lord has work to CO. for
which the Master has selected him, and
by the guidance of the Holy Spirit we
may find that work, if we honestly de-
sire to do SO. 1fF
And one thing more was enjoined
upon these servants: HE comma rited
the porter to watch" To watch against
temptation, TO watch for opportunities,
but above all to watch for His return
But in regard to this watching for the
Lords return, it must be remembered
. that when He took His journey into a
far country the servants did not;eex-
pect Him back the next day Or the next
week. Their watchfulness was Of a
somewhat different character from
mere expectation; we watch for sthe
Lord when we recognize that thiS,riS
only temporary period. The first
stroke of work done with the recoahc-
ton that the Master is coming backis
done in the spirit of WatchfulneSS;, it
is not work done as our part in a great
evolution Of forces with which we have
nothing to do except to perform oar
little part, but it is done in the expecta-i
Iloil tildl the LOTG, lot WnOfn 1t Is done,
Will return, and that there will be per-
sonal responsibility to Him for every
thing done. The act performed the day
after He left has to be accounted for
on His return, and the recollection of
this is a part of the watchfulness He
enjoins. Then, too, in this thought of
watchfulness there is the thought of
expectation and hopefuiness. AS the
church has come down through the
centuries. i has shouted THE Master
is comi-5~ -"iin.'' Almost nineteen
centuries Haze passed since He went
away, lut sill it looks for His return.
still praying Even so, Lord Jesus.
come quickly"
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