River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1909-01-14
CHURCH UNITY.

nc seventeenth chapter OF the
Gospel according to Saint John,
contains one of the sublimest, and
yet one of the saddest passages in
the Word of God. 1t is the PRAYER
of our blessed Lord for His Church
for the Apostles and disciples who
then constituted that Church - and
for those that should be led to seek
Christ through the preaching of the
Apostles whom He set over His
Kingdom which He came to earth
to establish. Six times he mentions
the Church as given to Him by the
Father and prays that it may be
kept steadfast in the faith. He had
come to earth to bring the Kingdom
OF God into touch with man, to
found His Church, and in His pray
er He says, Il have finished the
work which Thou gavest Me to do"
Then with the Divine omniscience
of the Son of God, He looks forward
to the future and sees His Church,
the Divine family, divided into al
most hostile camps, while profess
ing to believe in the same blessed
Gospel. What sadness there is in
in the words, Holy Father, keep
through Thine own Name those
whom Thou hast given Me, that
they may be one, even as we are"
And this prayer was fulfilled, for
the Apostles continued steadfast in
that faith once delivered to them.
And then the Savior of mankind,
offers His petition for those who
shall be brought to Him through
the teaching of the Apostles and
their successors, Neither pray l
for these alone, but for them also
that believe on Me through their
word; that they may all be one; as
Thou, Father, art in Me, and in
Thee, that they may be one in us:
that the world may believe that
Thou hast sent Me-" This prayer
has not as yet been answered, but
the trend of the times points to it's
fulfillment.
The Church which Christ founded
remains with us still, but many who
by baptism are members of that
Church, do not follow the teachings
of Christ and His Apostles. This
is mainly because they have never
taken the trouble or the time to look
beyond their sect in which by the
accidents of birth or circumstance,
they happen to be. The evils of the
so-called Reformation are now be-
ginning to be seen and felt. Men
realize as never before that reform
alton must proceed from within, not
from without, and that great evil
has been wrought by the reformers
in leaving the communion of that
Church founded on earth by the Son
of God. Not the least of these evils
is the one which divides Christian
people into many bodies, frustrat-
ing the prayer of Christ for unity
among His followers, that the
world may believe that Thou hast
sent Me-"
Robert E. Speer, Presbyterian
authority on missions, in an adj
dress delivered in Philadelphia few
weeks ago, said, "You cannot ex-
press one God in split Church.
What advances would be made if
there were but one body of Christ
ians. The churches to-day are des-
itute of men, and the main reason
for this is not that men are irrelig-
ious, but that they are perplexed;
not that they do not believe in the
truths of Christianity, many of
which they practice, but that they
want a positive religion, and not a
religion made up of bundle of ne
cations and thou shalt nots;" they
desire religion of Il believe" and
a religion of action based upon that
belief. Men remain out of touch
with the Church largely because of
a lack of time to investigate her
claims and become convinced of
their intrinsic worth.
What are we doing TO hasten the
time when all may be one? Are we
going about emphasizing our mega
tions, or do we bear in mind our
Lords prayer for unity, following
that principle which may well be
be summed up in the words of
Ruskin, "In every moment of our
lives we should be trying to find
ont. not in what we differ from
other people, but in what we agree
with them. !"
HOLY TRINITY CHURCH.
- xr1- C--ar,.n Trpu