The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1901-03-07
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.
Necessity for Those who Pretend to
Christianity.

SOhiiNtu uAAVhiStlNtS Nlbii uiiC ' iNl-
BILE church under the delusive no.
ton that they can be just as good
outside the church. In every
community there are excellent
men and women whom the church
is laboring for and praying for,
who cannot be induced to connect
themselves with it. We are sure
such people are encouraging a
serious, if not fatal, delusion.
They believe in God, accept Je-
sus Christ as the worlds Saviour,
engage in prayer and live reputa-
BILE lives, but they will not join
the church.
Either Christ established the
church or He did not. If He did
not, then the members of the
church are deluded, and many
passages of Scriptures are hope
lessly mysterious and inexplica-
BILE. Paul tells us chow men
ought to behave themselves in
the house of God, which is the
church of the living God, the pill
lar and ground of truth" 1t is
called the Body of Christ, with
Himself as its Head, so that it is
difficult to see how a man can give
himself to Christ at all without
giving himself to the church. For
God "gave Him to be the Head
over all things in the church,
which is His body" Indeed, it
is called the Church Of Christ,
which He purchased with His own
blood, and the apostle eXhorts the
ministers to feed, take oversight
of it, and warns them of grievous
wolves and perverse persons who
will enter into it and attempt to
destroy the faithful.
In the early days when the
Apostles and disciples were fred
with the Holy Ghost the Lord adj
ded daily into the church such as
should be saved. In order to
properly maintain it the believers
were admonished not to forsake
the assembling of themselves to-
gether, as the manner of service
is. A few quotations only are
given, but these are quite suf1i-
cient to show that Christ did es-
tablish a visible church for His
disciples, into which they were to
go, not so much for the benefit of
the church as for their own bene-
fit. Any man who thinks that he
can be of more benefit to the
church than the church is to him
practically asserts that he can do
more for God than God can do
for him, and that is not very re-
mote from blasphemy.
He may excuse himself by find
ing fault with the conduct of
church members, but the Bible
answers him in this way: "Thou
art inexcusable, O man, whosoever
thou art, for wherein thou iudg-
est another thou condemnest thy
self" If a man knows how
church member ought to live, it
Is his duty, not to stay outside
and criticise others, but to get in
side and live as he thinks others
ought to live. Such judgment of
others is almost invariably self
condemnation.
Then the church is a divine
workshop. tits not playhouse;
not place for praying and song
singing merely; it is the pillar
and ground of the truth; it is the
foundation and support Of Chris
tian faith; it is a place to win men
to Christ, to work out the souls
salvation, to build up a Christ-lil1e
character, and to spread the bless
ings of the Gospel upon all who
will accept or receive them.
"Christ gave Himself for the
church that he might present it a
glorious church, not having spot
or wrinkle, that it should be holy
and without blemish. " Does a
man want no part in this? Can
he call himself a Christian and
hold aloof from the divinely APP
pointed organization that is to call
sinners to repentance and build
up believers in the faith of the
Gospel? There is something rad
ically wrong in mans concep-