The Church: Its Center, Ordinances, Worship, and Ministry

THE CHURCH: ITS WORSHIP

By A.N. O’Brien

The night of the betrayal had come. The Lord and His eleven disciples were in the upper room. The last long, loving communion with His own before He suffered had been enjoyed, and before they go forth He lifts His heart to His Father. It is a prayer, not only for those within that upper room, but for all those who should believe on Him through their word. One prominent petition was, “That they all may be one….that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17:21.

This is evidently a visible unity, for it is to be seen by the world, and is to convince the world that Jesus was sent of God. His desire was unquestionably that His people might be one on earth, and that while traveling through this wilderness they might, by that oneness, give corporate witness to Him. This unity was to be in Him and in the Father. “One in us.” Not unity on the basis of a creed, nor yet because of indifference to truth, but in a Person. Undoubtedly there must be spiritual unity, but we should never forget that it was to be also a visible unity, even to the eyes of the world.

In what sad contrast to this is the spectacle of division around us! How it must wound Him to have His own so scattered! Born amidst this scene of confusion, our eyes perhaps have never been opened to its desolation, but how must it appear to Him! The world scoffs at this division, the heathen are perplexed by it, the heart of Christ is wounded and His honor trailed in the dust by it; only those who claim to be His own are insensible to it.

Yet there are, we are sure, amidst all this confusion, those whose hearts are crying out. They perhaps know not why they are unsatisfied, yet they are yearning for something their present surroundings do not give. In spite of false teaching, and more criminal, withholding of known truth, by those called their spiritual leaders, they instinctively feel that God provides something better for His own than they have yet discovered. It is with deep heart yearning for such that this pen is taken up, in His Name. The writer knows from experience what it is to be led out from that which sickened the heart, and burdened the spirit, from the tyranny of a man-made system, and from the oppression of an unscriptural and unspiritual ministry, into the position of true liberty, abiding rest and real growth–an obedient heart, John 7:17, that ” If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine”; and a patient study of the Word, John 8:32, in order that the believer may be led on into liberty. The statement is often made that the Bible gives no sufficient guidance in matters of church organization and worship. Were this the case it would be very strange. That a human father should give his child no instruction as to his walk, is past belief; and that God, whose Son on the night before Calvary, prayed that they all might be one, should not give sufficient revelation of how they might attain and maintain this unity, is still more incredible. The difficulty lies, not in a lack of knowledge of what that word contains, but of obedience to truth already known.

When Jeremiah said to the people, ” see, and ask for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk [therein].” Jer. 6:16. This spirit lies at the root of all the present division. Reader, are you willing to learn and to obey God’s Word, cost what it may? Stop and answer this question before you go on. We are told in 2 Tim. 3:16-17, that the Scripture is inspired, profitable and sufficient, so sufficient that through it ” That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” Let us search its pages and may the Spirit guide us into all truth, John 16:13. The unity of the church is fully and clearly revealed in the word of God. We read of : ONE FOUNDATION, 1Cor. 3:11; Matt. 16:18; ONE BUILDING, Eph. 2:22; Heb. 3:6; 1Pet. 2:5; 2 Cor. 6:16. Note the singular number in each of these Scriptures “A habitation,” “House”, not houses, “A spiritual house,” “the temple.” ONE BODY, Eph. 4:4; 1Cor. 12:13, 27; Col. 1:18. ONE BRIDE, John 3:29; Rev. 19:7. For those thus united was given only one CENTER OF GATHERING, “In My Name” Matt. 18:20.

How beautifully was all this illustrated in the early church! We read in Acts 4:32, that the believers were of one heart and one soul. The Holy Spirit was neither grieved, nor quenched and was working mightily. Men were converted by the hundreds; even the bitterest enemies of Christ were reached, for we read “The hand of the Lord was with them and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” As in the creation of the world, so now in the new creation, God saw that every thing was good. But alas! just as man brought in ruin upon creation by his disobedience, so now when placed again in responsibility he fails as signally. False teachers draw away disciples after them,Acts 20:30, and bring in destructive heresies (or sects of perdition) 2Peter 2:1; and God’s own people help on the division by grouping themselves around human leaders. But no sooner do the germs of division manifest themselves than the Holy Spirit condemns them. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them [which are of the house] of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? 1Cor. 1:10-13.

Today we have this evil magnified many times. Instead of Paul, Apollo and Cephas, the names now are Luther, Calvin, and Wesley. Besides taking on the names of men, others have taken on the names of an ordinance (Baptist) or rallying around a phenomenon (Charismatics). Many others are gathered to a system of church government or to a creed or both; as Presbyterianism, Congregationalism or Episcopacy. Still, others are divided on ministerial training, secret societies, the use of Psalms or hymns, feet washing, and even whether the women shall wear buttons and button-holes or hooks and eyes. Over 160 Protestant sects are to be found in the United States alone. Not only are their names a babylon, but their gospels are almost as numerous as their names. All shades of belief are not only permitted within them, but publicly taught by their leaders, till the curse of God (Gal. 1:6-9) justly rests upon them. Their gospels are often a sad mixture of grace and works, which can give no real security either to the living or to the dying. God only knows the awful condition of much that wears the name of Christian, and sooner or later He will manifest His righteous wrath against it. With a wrong center, evil doctrine, and a false gospel of works, the ranks of the sects are fast filling up with unsaved religionists, on the way to a burning Hell. The people are gathered to a creed, (to which the unsaved can assent) or to a man. God’s center, the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, is set aside. The Word of God is divided into essentials and non- essentials. Souls are deluded, and in many cases whole congregations are being led on by their unsaved preachers into perdition. In some places things are not so bad, but in many, words fail to describe the utter ruin.

But, let us notice a further evil. “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, [even] as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able [to bear it], neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas [there is] among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I [am] of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who [is] Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?” 1Cor. 3:1-5. Here we see a second sad result of sectarianism. It keeps in a state of infancy. Such was the result in Corinth and such is the result today. Of course multitudes in the sects have never been born again, and so cannot be referred to here, but those who have been saved are necessarily dwarfed. No sect can have a whole Bible, and no child of God in a sect can hold or teach all the truth. Nay, much of it he cannot even learn for himself, because he is only able to receive the milk. No creed takes in all the truth. God’s Word about the fall of man, salvation by grace, eternal security, the sovereignty of God, ministry, baptism, or some other precious and necessary truth must be omitted or perverted. The appalling spiritual poverty, and utter lack of grasp of God’s Word exhibited by those who claim to be leaders in sect Christianity (even after years of college and seminary training), is manifest to every one whose eyes God has opened. The depravity of man, expiation of sin by the blood of Christ, and the absolute necessity of the new birth are often ridiculed by them. The plain simple teaching of the Word about the coming of the Lord is scouted. The two resurrections, the judgment seat of Christ, the judgment of the nations at His coming, and the judgment of the wicked at the Great White Throne, are hopelessly confounded by these would be expounders of the Word.

Much is said by those of the Lord’s people in the sects, who know premillennial truth, about the central portion of this chapter (1Cor. 3), the judgment seat of Christ. But, they wholly and necessarily ignore its setting. The first part of the chapter condemns utterly their position in the sects, and the closing verses, 21- 23, put all human leaders in their proper position. The chapter speaks of one building on one foundation, the Temple of God. Now, my dear reader, is your influence for spirituality or carnality, for God’s unity, or for man’s divisions? Remember that “The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort (not how much) it is.” What determines the sort? Does not the Word of God determine the sort? And are you disobeying the Word of God, and yet talking of the judgment seat of Christ, perhaps fondly hoping for His “Well done”? It is true, “The Lord looketh on the heart”, and did you not know His Word in this matter, you would not have the same responsibility. But, you do know it now, at least sufficient of it to condemn a sectarian position. He would be false to His own Word were He to say “Well done” to you, if you continue in the sect-making or sect-fostering business. Remember, fire will try every man’s work, and “wood, hay, and stubble” of sect-building will burn in that day of the manifestation of every man’s work. What a conflagration that will be! Much which is now looked upon with complacency will be fuel for those flames. You cannot be faithful to God, to His Word, or to lost souls, while you are in your present false position.

Let us now turn our attention to sectarianism as it concerns the Lord’s table. Here especially should be manifested the unity of God’s people. In 1Cor. 10:16,17, the basis of this unity comes out clearly and strikingly. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we [being] many are one bread, [and] one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” (So, seeing that there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body) One loaf, or one body. How could the unity of the saved be more fully brought out? Surely, His table will bring them all together as nothing else would. But, what do we see? Union meetings (with much of God’s truth embargoed it is true) for the gospel, but a sad, sad scattering of the flock when the Lord’s table is approached. Behold how they dwell together in unity (though representing all shades of belief and unbelief) in the gospel meeting, presided over by the eminent Pastor So and So, but behold how they scatter, and seat themselves with the deluded unregenerate, the performer of dead works for salvation, and the openly ungodly to show forth the Lord’s death.

But passing by for the present such associations with the unsaved, let us turn our attention to 1Cor. 11:17-19. “Now in this that I declare [unto you] I praise [you] not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” This, with the sins struck at in verses 20-22, hunger and gluttony, is given as a condition which made the Lord’s table an injury to them instead of a blessing. We have the evil of divisions mentioned first. The tone of God’s Word never changes as to this. Seditions (divisions), heresies (sects)” (Gal. 5:20) are catalogued among the works of the flesh, and in 2 Peter 2:1, they are called damnable heresies (sects of perdition).

What is heresy? The root of the Greek word is “choice”. Let me illustrate. An evangelist is called by a group of denominations in a city, to conduct a series of meetings. A goodly number “get religion,” or sign cards saying that they have decided to lead a christian life. The night for closing the meetings has arrived and the various preachers representing the sects united in the meeting are present and on the platform. The evangelist announces that he does not try to build up any one denomination, and advises all the converts to join the church of their choice. This they proceed to do, some taking their place with one sect, and some with another. This is heresy. God never instructs one born again to join the church of his choice, but tells him explicitly what he is to do. He leaves the believer no choice of his own in the matter. Heresies, however, are used of God to “manifest” the “approved.” In His hand, divisions become a test of His people, and those who separate from all sectarianism to walk in “the old paths” have His approval.

But, let us go on with the Word. In Rev. 17:1-5, we have a description of the apostate Roman church, with her robes of royalty. She is decked with costly gems, and wields the scepter of kingdoms. The nations are drunk with the wine of her fornication. But, she is a mother and has daughters. Who are these daughters? I readily grant that the scene laid in this chapter is future. But, the mother (Rome) has existed for centuries already, and may not her daughters have been born before this? Who are they? The numerous sects of Protestantism. Rome substituted her own ideas for God’s revealed will, and every sect has either adapted the Roman system as they came out of her, or made a system of their own. God calls it all harlotry. In James 4:4, we get another clue to the daughters, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Where is the sect that is not seeking the friendship of the world? Its money is openly and unblushingly sought through direct subscriptions and if enough is not thus obtained to supplement the niggardly gifts of those who claim to be the Lord’s, the church is turned into an amusement bureau or restaurant. Food, fun and frolic draw money from the unsaved, while souls, who ought to be awakened to their lost condition, are amused on their way to Hell. Even the solemn, searching truths of the Word must be softened down for the world’s ear, and sin must be connived at, for the sake of popularity. She who claims to be the bride of Christ is fawning at the feet of the World, while Christ and His Word are set aside. This is spiritual adultery and marks the Protestant sects as the harlot daughters of Rome.

What then is the believer to do in view of all this? The answer of God is clear and unmistakable and the subject heart will have no difficulty in ascertaining His will. The system of spiritual harlotry already referred to has issued in the admission of the unsaved into the professing church. Multitudes have been enrolled as Christians, without even being asked whether they were born again. Discipline on the basis of the Word has become a thing of the past. The lust for numbers, the pride of great buildings, and the desire for a name have flooded the professing church with the ungodly. The Laodicean stage is upon us and while the boastful church is saying “I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing,” the Lord is standing outside almost ready to spew her out of His mouth.

Believer, listen to His voice. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty,” 2 Cor. 6:14-18. A sect teacher said “I think this refers to marriage.” But in 1 Cor. 7:12,13, it is said of the believer yoked in marriage with the unbeliever, “Let him not put her away.” “Let her not leave him.” The expression “Ye are the temple of the living God” marks this as God’s “spiritual house,” 1 Peter 2:5; the “habitation of God,” Eph. 2:21,22. It is not singular – your body a temple – as in 1 Cor. 6:19, but “ye,” plural, the corporate temple of God – His sacred people. But where are they found? Yoked with unbelievers, seeking fellowship with the dead, with Belial, with idols! What associations for the Bride of Christ! Yet some of them will even claim to be “wholly sanctified” while allied with this state of things. They will talk loftily about the “second blessing” and “the Higher Life” while they continue in sectarianism, and add to its corruptions Annihilationism, Restorationism, and even the filthy doctrine of the carnality of Christ, – that even He was not wholly sanctified till Gethsemane, and that He atoned for His own sin on the cross as well as for the sins of others. These are only a part of the “abomination and filthiness” of the fornication of the sects. No wonder the clarion call rings out, “Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean.” May His voice in the Word reach your sleeping ear, and wake you from your sleep among the dead. Eph. 5:14.

But you say “It will cost to obey this command.” We do not deny this. It cost for the Israelites to go forth unto the tabernacle “outside the camp afar off from the camp,” when God would no longer walk in the midst of apostate Israel, dancing around their man-made center, a golden calf. Ex. 32:7,8; 33:7. Some stood in their tent doors, 33:10. Those “That sought the Lord went out unto the Tabernacle.” 33:7. It cost when the four hundred gathered to David in the cave Adullam and shared his years of hardship and rejection, 1Sam. 22:1,2; cost so much that Jonathan would not pay the price, though he recognized David as God’s man, 1 Sam. 23:17,18. How sad are his words, “I shall be next unto thee”

in connection with “and Jonathan went unto his house,” and the other sad statement in 1 Sam. 31:2, “And the Philistines slew Jonathan.” It cost the many thousands of Jews which believed (Acts 21:20) to obey the call of the Holy Ghost in Heb. 13:13, “Let us go forth unto Him without the camp bearing His reproach.” Cost them everything. And it will cost you to obey God in this matter. But it will cost to disobey. It cost Jonathan not only the next place in the kingdom but also his life, not to take his place with David, and it may mean spiritual poverty and defeat for you, if you turn away from the truth. Our God cannot be trifled with. It is a fearfully solemn thing to close the ears and harden the heart against His truth. May He deliver you from such a sin. Besides it is only the truths which cost that are really our own. Creed truths, formulated by other generations are lifeless and valueless to us. Only that which has taken hold of us and compelled us to conform to it, is actually ours. “Buy the truth and sell it not,” Prov. 23:23.

Perhaps you say “I will be cut off from men and will lose my influence.” This is the argument of many who see that their position in the sects is wrong. But what is your influence doing? Building up that which God hates. And even if you do know Christ and preach His gospel, the sectarians associated with you will thwart you. They will urge those you seek to bring to Christ, to join some church, and will make your heart sick. You will be constantly recognizing as saved those who have never been born again, and bringing souls who are saved through your preaching, into fellowship with those who will blight and curse their spiritual life. Meanwhile, you will be robbing yourself of that which is most essential to growth, right relations to the Lord, His Word and His table. You cannot grow in sect soil as in God’s soil, and you are meriting the rebuke given to Saul, “To

obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.” 1 Sam. 15:22. How shameful to say to Christ, “I can serve you better by disobeying, than by obeying your call to separation.”

Do you ask “What will I have outside?” You will not have great numbers with you, but you will have HIM: “I will receive you.” Is not that enough? He well knows how few will hear and obey this call, and how weak, and despised, and unworthy they will be; but in infinite tenderness He says to such, “I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty.” You will never know the blessedness of that promise till you obey the call that precedes it, and “Come out.” How tenderly He reveals Himself, healing every heartache, supplying every need, compensating every loss and satisfying every craving for fellowship. No doubt those who are His only in name, will “murmur,” criticize and “go back” as in John 6:41, 60, 66. But as He turns His sorrowful, yearning eyes on you, His saved one, with the words spoken to the twelve, “Will ye also go away,” will you too add to the sorrow of that unrequited heart, or will you in loving obedience “Go forth unto Him, without the camp bearing His reproach?” Heb. 13:13.

Again you say “Why do not the great and good men of God obey and teach these things? They tell us to stay where we are.” Yes, but what scripture do they give for their counsel? Have you not noticed that in the matter of salvation they say “thus saith the Lord,” and unsparingly denounce the man who preaches any other way of forgiveness. As to the atonement, coming of the Lord, etc., their appeal is to the same source of infallible guidance. But behold, when they speak of church relations they give us their own reasonings. When did one of them give you a “thus saith the Lord” for church fellowship? How strange that those who stand uncompromisingly for the inerrant, infallible and sufficient Word of God would ask us to take their advice on this point while insisting that we take no man’s advice elsewhere! Lame and puerile seems all their counsel when God has spoken. God’s servants they are, but servants in wrong positions themselves, and therefore they cannot give you God’s Word in this matter, for it would at once condemn them, and if obeyed, cost them their place and name. Hence, one line of truth must be kept from view. Reader, will you have a whole Bible? Will you be satisfied in any position unless you know that the unchanging Word of God is under you?

Separation from sectarianism is stigmatized by many of these men as narrowness and bigotry. God, on the contrary calls it enlargement, 2 Cor. 6:13, 14; “Be ye enlarged. Be ye not unequally yoked.” He who refuses the unequal yoke is in the place to receive and to encourage all who will obey the Lord, and to love all saints, whether with Him or still refusing to obey the call to separation. Sectarianism, in the measure in which it has hold of the man, limits the spiritual affections to those of his party. Their proper motive is oneness in Christ, and they are naturally as wide as God’s family, 1 John 5:1, “Every one that loveth Him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of Him.” This going “forth unto Him” should be voluntary. Those who “sought the Lord” “went out.” David’s four hundred “gathered themselves unto him.” “Those whose spirit God had raised” went up from Babylon, Ezra 1:5. “Let us go forth,” not thou shalt. The call is an invitation from Him who is Himself outside, “Come out.” Many say “if the Lord wants me out He will take me out, or the church will thrust me out.” But we find no such scripture as “wait till you are thrust forth unto Him,” nor would such a separation please Him. Must the system which God hates expel us, ere we answer the yearning of our Lord’s heart and go forth unto Him? True love’s relationships are those of choice not of compulsion.

THE CHURCH: ITS CENTER OF GATHERING AND ORDINANCES

By A.N. O’Brien

We will now direct our attention to the constructive side of church truth. The scriptural center of gathering, is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Matt. 18:20, “Where two or three are gathered together in (or unto) my name, there am I in the midst of them.” You will notice that the right center is not a creed. These have scattered Christendom and aroused ecclesiastical hostility. Nor is modern latitudinarianism (the very opposite of the creed) any better as a center. In fact this is merely infidelity and is without any unifying power.

Neither does the name of a mere man prove to be any better for a center of gathering. The God given center is a divine person. Not Paul nor Apollos nor Cephas, nor Wesley no Luther, but the Lord Jesus Christ. He is known as Saviour by every redeemed soul, and is to such “The chiefest among ten thousand” the “Altogether lovely.” He is the all in all to the babe in Christ, and as experience deepens, He becomes the more necessary. The riches of His grace and the glories of His person are our spiritual food now and will be our portion eternally. His blessed name awakens a response in every regenerated soul. He and He alone is suited to be our center. No other has the power to attract not the perfections to hold all the Lord’s people. Men disappoint – but Jesus – never; men are faulty, but He is faultless. The love of man fails when most needed, but “He faileth never.” Creeds are cold and comfortless; we need a bosom on which to pillow our heads. God has given us Jesus to be this, yea to be all in all to us. Shall we think lightly of anything which concerns the honor of His name? Surely if He is in the midst there will be blessing.

We have the person of Christ foretold as the center of gathering in Gen. 49:10, “Unto Him shall the gathering of the people be.” The same truth is taught in type, in the arrangement of the camp in the wilderness – Num. 2. The center was the tabernacle containing the ark – a type of the person of Christ. Around this center were encamped Israel’s multitudes; three tribes on the East, three on the South, three on the West, and three on the North. Jesus was crucified in the midst, between two thieves, John 19:18. On the first day of the week He appeared to His assembled disciples, “and stood in the midst,” John 20:19; Luke 24:36. At His coming we will be gathered together unto Him, 2 Thess. 2:1, and He will be the center of Israel regathered, Ps. 50:5. Who is this one in the midst? The Holy Son of God, “God manifest in the flesh.” Is He not worthy of this preeminence? Let Bethlehem’s stable, Sychar’s well, Bethesda’s pool, Gethsemane’s garden and Calvary’s cross answer. What name can compare with that “name above every name?” Let any regenerate soul reply. What infinite dishonor to that Name when those redeemed by His precious blood are called by the name of a mere man! Well might the apostle answer with indignation, “was Paul crucified for you?” Well might He take the names of the noblest, and holding them up to view for a moment, dash them both to pieces as earthen vessels struck together, as He writes, “Who then is Paul and who is Apollos?” “Neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth,” 1 Cor. 3:5,7.

But alas, “Babylon has corrupted the earth.” Many seem to be so “drunk with the wine of her fornication.” i.e., false teaching, as to see no dishonor done to Christ by their wearing the name of Wesley or Luther or Calvin. But let those “who have an ear to hear,” quietly bow to this truth, and take their places around God’s center, Jesus; sure of this, that His heart will be all the more gladdened by their obedience in the midst of disobedience, and that they will be “approved” (1 Cor. 11:19), even though their lot is cast in these last evil days of strife, confusion and division. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

But this promise (Matt. 18:20) is only to believers. None others can really be thus gathered. How absurd to talk of the unsaved as worshippers or church members! “The Lord added to the church daily such as were being saved,” Acts 2:47. “Much people was added to the Lord,” Acts 11:24. The greatest care is necessary in these “perilous last days” with “the form of Godliness” (2Tim. 3:1- 5) in order to keep out false professors and to avoid excluding really saved people. There must be judgment, and the closest scrutiny if 2 Cor. 6:14-18, is to be obeyed. We live in times when many “other gospels” (Gal. 1:6-9) are being proclaimed; when Law and Grace are hopelessly mingled in the teaching of most so-called Christian workers. Religions without Christ and without blood are rife. Revivals to “bring out the good in man” and to develop “manly piety” abound. Hell is laughed at, man’s depravity veneered and vicarious atonement scouted. The word of God is made to stand at the bar of infidel “higher critics,” while the rank and file of professors revel in ice cream suppers, cobweb socials, fairs, dances and theatricals, and in the midst of this seething mass or reeking rottenness, we are forsooth to expect that souls will be converted. Are people born again through spurious man-made gospels? Are oyster suppers calculated to produce conviction of sin? He who would fling the mantle of charity over this leprous mass, foretold and forejudged by God, and say, “Judge not,” calls evil good, dishonors Christ and helps to plunge deceived souls into Hell.

Nor is the path less clear to the submissive heart with regard to baptism. Believers, and believers only, are the subjects of baptism. This is manifest from Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:16; Acts 2:41; 8:12, 38; 9:18; 10:47,48. God’s unchanging order is given in Acts 18:8, “Many of the Corinthians hearing, believed and were baptized.” There is no warrant in the Word of God for either Household or Infant baptism.

As to the mode of baptism the Scriptures speak with unmistakable clearness. We have been crucified with Him, Gal. 2:20; and are therefore dead to sin, Rom. 6:2; dead to the Law, Gal. 2:19, Rom. 7:14. We are in a new sphere now, alive to God, “Seeking those things which are above,” Col. 3:1-3. Dead to all the old Adam life, ambitions, aims and sin, and alive to God, are the two mighty facts in the case of every regenerated soul. Therefore we are “buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him,” Col. 2:12; Rom. 6:4.

These truths are clearly and preciously symbolized when the person is plunged beneath the baptismal waters, and then raised from them; but who even thinks of burial and resurrection with Christ, when a few drops of water are applied to the forehead? If immersion is not God’s mode, the insertion of “in baptism,” Col. 2:12 and Rom. 6:4 is inexplicable. We cannot believe that the Holy Ghost has confused, instead of making plain, God’s ways. The appeal to the Romans, to reckon themselves dead to sin, is based on the truth symbolized in their baptism, and frequently witnessed in the baptism of others. See Rom. 6:17, literally “Type of doctrine.” The whole force of the argument in Col. 2 against this world’s philosophy v. 8, ritualism v. 16,17, spiritualism v. 18, and legalism v. 20-23, and for a life hid in God, 3:1-3, turns on the truth symbolized in baptism, 2:12.

The true child of God often feels the need of a worship meeting, and many, while in bondage in the sects, know of a heart hunger for this, which was never satisfied, for sectarianism has no distinctively worship meeting. Prayer meetings so-called (generally consisting of dry remarks from some fossilized pastor or deacon, or of some scattering remarks of the leader to “occupy the time”) are to be found. Consecration meetings, surrender services, meetings of leagues, brotherhoods, and conventions abound. Work is the cure for all spiritual ills, in the sects, till one is wearied with the endless round of do, do, do, and longs to go in like David, and “sit before the Lord,” while the Holy Ghost draws out the heart in gratitude for the finished work, and in adoration of the Peerless Person of the Son of God. This opportunity God has provided for His people in the weekly breaking of bread. But as usual man has robbed them of their rights, and environed this simple forget-me-not feast, with ecclesiastical walls great and high, and ordained officers puffed up with pride. Thus, the meaning and beauty of this central meeting of Christianity, God’s table spread in the wilderness, has been totally obscured. The worship of God has been superseded by the preaching of man, and the children of God are seated side by side with the children of the Devil, to partake together of the bread and the cup.

This feast is called by the sects a “sacrament,” but the Bible will be searched in vain for such a word. It originates in later apostate Christianity, and means an oath. This speaks not of grace but of Galatianism, that mongrel thing which so abounds today. Sect Christianity has its “covenant meetings,” “preparatory services,” “love feasts,” etc. What is their purpose? To get the members to make some vows, enter into some covenants, prepare for the “sacrament.” Generally they make the solemn vows Saturday, talk of the solemnity of the promises Sunday, and break them Monday, to stay unmended till the next “sacrament” occasion three months later) comes around. Truly legality abounds. Young girls make promises on joining the church, which even the pastor does not keep for a day. The ten commandments, to which every believer is forever dead, (see Rom. 7:1-7 and Heb. 12:18-21) are set up as the rule of life, and thus grace is nullified, law belittled, and God’s people brought into bondage, robbed and spoiled.

But let us turn from it all to the Word of God, and see what He intended with regard to this table. Will the reader kindly refer to Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22- 25, and Luke 22:19,20. We will only quote the passage in 1 Cor. 11:23-26. “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread: And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood; this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come.”

The thoughtful reader will at once perceive that this is not a sacrament, but a remembrance of the Lord’s death. Not what we have done, not what we intend to do is to occupy our heart, but the finished work of the Saviour is to be the theme of meditation. We do indeed learn that unjudged sin in the believer spoils the feast, and brings down upon the offending one the judgment of God. Yet the supper itself is not a time for this self-judgment. It should have been done before, that the soul may sit in the presence of the Lord and remember Him.

This is the most important meeting of the church and the most essential to real spiritual life and growth. Here the universal priesthood of believers is to be recognized and enjoyed. It is not a time to hear great sermons, but to sit in the Lord’s presence, worshipping Him in the unity of the Spirit, as one and another lifts up the heart to God in thanksgiving. Nor is it a prayer meeting, for that is remembering our need, not Him. This is the worship meeting, where the “alabaster box” of the heart’s affection may be broken, and poured upon the blessed person of Him who went to Calvary for us; a time to let the heart be filled and satisfied with the presence of Him who has said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my Name there am I in the midst of them.”

In what sad, sad contrast to this is the solemn, legal, unsatisfying observance of the sects. Believers and the unsaved mixed up in the same communion: a man- made priesthood presiding; legalism for a preparation; with a sermon from some man (perhaps unsaved) instead of Jesus standing in the midst! The heart grows sick as we contemplate this sad wreck and confusion. God’s people are robbed and spoiled and a weekly simple remembrance feast, made a pompous, quarterly, biennial or annual solemnity. Truly the shepherds have not only “eaten the fat pastures,” and “drunk the deep waters” but “have also trodden and befouled the portion of the flock”. Ezek. 34:18,19.

We read in Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week when the disciples came together to break bread.” This surely speaks of a weekly action. True, “Paul preached to them,” though they did not come together to hear him, but to break bread. Nor would they have neglected to break bread had he not been there. The words of Christ are “as often.” not as seldom, – “as ye eat this bread.”

Nor do we find any hint in God’s word, of an ordained man being needed to “dispense the supper.” Indeed, on the contrary, we are distinctly told that the right to break bread inheres in the one body. A man opposing this position, when stated by the writer, read 1 Cor. 10:16. “The cup of blessing which we bless. . .the bread which we break” and then asserted that the we of this text meant the Apostle Paul, and his fellow ordained ministers. But he closed the book one verse too soon, for v. 17 reads “For we being many are one bread and one body.” Manifestly it is the one body which blesses the cup and breaks the bread, and that through any member led of the Spirit so to do. Clerical claims and dignities will be discussed later, suffice it here to say that God gave no official class to have authority over His table. Their powers, prerogatives, and honors, all emanate from Rome or from her daughters, not from the Word of God.

Wherever two or three regenerate souls are gathered together in the name of Jesus, there the Breaking of Bread may be scripturally observed, provided only that there are men among the number, as God does not allow rule in the church, not public ministry, to women. Scripturally gathered to the Lord’s table there is a freedom from ecclesiasticism and a subjection to the Spirit, which, though wholly unknown in the sects, is unspeakably precious to the emancipated soul, a “liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,” and we unhesitatingly affirm that no child of God in a sect can ever know the power and preciousness of the breaking of bread, as do those who have “gone forth without the camp unto Him.” Here only can the disciples continue steadfastly in the breaking of bread, Acts 2:42; here only know the blessing of obedient children, Luke 6:46-49! John 13:17: Here only build “according to the pattern.”

THE CHURCH: ITS MINISTRY

By A.N. O’Brien

But we have another subject which intimately concerns church life and growth, and that is ministry. And here too the Scriptural teaching is sufficient and satisfying to the subject heart. But, before turning our attention to the Word of God, let us glance around us. In Catholic circles we find pope, cardinals, archbishops, priests; and among Protestants, we find archbishops, bishops, priests, ministers, stewards, pastors, elders and deacons. Some sects refuse to recognize the whole list, but all recognize some part of it, and all have their ordained clergyman. Deprive the system of this functionary, and you have nothing left but a dead and disintegrating thing, with here and there a saved soul in it. It is a notorious fact that sect churches (so-called) invariably dwindle and generally die out, if without a “minister.” This dignitary and his subordinate officers are the life of the concern. Their authority is unquestioned; their teachings are accepted unchallenged, and their not infrequent infidelity palliated. The minister leads the prayer meeting, does the preaching, dispenses the sacrament, baptizes those admitted to their communion; and in conferences, association meetings, presbyteries, synods, etc., manages the affairs ecclesiastical for the sect throughout the country, becoming in fact the church. The local congregation can do nothing without his presence. Even the Christians among the members seem to be absolutely helpless and oftentimes sit under the preaching of a man not only without any teaching or preaching gift, but really an unsaved man – a “Rev” manufactured by college and seminary alone.

But let us turn to the Word of God and see what help it has for us. Much capital is made of the word “ministry” in our English Bibles, as though it referred to some special kind of service, e.g., preaching and “administering the sacraments.” But a candid examination of the Word will dissipate this conception. Diakonia (ministry) is variously rendered in our Bibles. In the following quotations the words in bold face type are some of its varied translations, “Martha was cumbered about much serving,” Luke 10:40. “Then the disciples determined to send relief,” Acts 11:29. “Widows were neglected in the daily ministration,” Acts 6:1. “As touching the ministering to the saints,” 2 Cor. 9:1. “I know thy service,” Rev. 2:19. “Ministry of the saints,” 1Cor. 16:15. “Take heed to the ministry,” Col. 4:17. “We will give ourselves to the ministry of the Word,” Acts 6:4. These scriptures are sufficient to divest the word of all official signification. It is simply any service done to the saints. The ministry of Archippus, Col. 4:17, which has been the theme of grand addresses, by titled ecclesiastics, to uphold their clerical assumptions, may quite as likely have been humble provision for the needs of preachers of the Word or of the poor. Had this word been uniformly translated, Nicolaitanism (i.e. rule of the people of God by an official class) would have suffered a severe blow.

Nor can any more be made out for ecclesiastics from the concrete noun diakonos, as a few quotations will show. “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all,” Mark 9:35. “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.” Matt. 20:26. “Where I am, there shall also my servant be” John 12:26, “Jesus Christ a minister,” Rom. 15:8. “Phebe, a servant of the church,” Rom. 16:1. “Likewise must the deacons be grave,” 1 Tim. 3:8. “The servants which drew the water,” John 2:9. This word which occurs thirty times in the N.T. is translated minister twenty times, servant seven times, and deacon only three times.

The words elder and bishop have been dealt with in the same way. They are used interchangeably, see Acts 20:17, “elders of the church.” In verse 28 we read the charge to these elders, “Take heed unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.” (“episkopos”, same word for “bishop”). There were manifestly four considerations which forbade our translators rendering this bishop: (1) It would make a bishop to be the same as an elder. (2) It would give a plurality of bishops in a local assembly, instead of a pompous , diocesan dignitary. (3) The Holy Ghost did the ordaining and installing and thus left no room for human ordination. (4) Their whole duty was to “Feed the church of God,” not a hint of modern episcopal authority. The terms elder and bishop are used interchangeably again in 1Peter 5:1,2, “elders” v.1, “Taking the oversight” (literally bishoping) the flock, v.2; compare Tit. 1:5,7. Here again the work of an elder or bishop is to “feed the flock of God,” never lording it over God’s heritage, v.2. The church is not the heritage of any bishop, but of the Lord.

There is positively no such dignitary in the Word of God as the modern bishop. He arose out of later, apostate Christianity. The word “bishop” simply means “overseer”, which is what Paul told the Ephesian elders they were. The elder is any elderly man with matured judgment and of good report, fitted to feed or guide the people of God. The apostle Paul did appoint (ordain) certain of such men in the different assemblies, and gave Titus instructions to do the same. But there is no evidence for any ecclesiastical authority conferred, not even a hint that they had any more right to break the bread than the humblest believer. Guides and teachers they were to be, and examples of faith, watching for souls in the fear of God, Heb. 11:7, 17. But, never were they to lord it over God’s heritage.

We come to the study of ordination. It is the strength of the sects. They stand or fall with it. The word “ordain” occurs seventeen times in the New Testament, but in only four places can anything even apparently be made out of it for ecclesiasticism. These we will notice.

1. Titus 1:5. Titus is here instructed to “ordain elders…..as I had appointed thee,” evidently personally instructed. But, the context gives no hint of authority to dispense sacraments, nor to take official position. The word ordain means to “appoint”. 2. Acts 14:23. Though a different Greek word, the same statements practically cover this case. Without the written NT scriptures, they may have needed an authority, like that of the apostles, which is no longer required. It surely means much to a subjected heart, that nothing is said of the church ordaining them, nor of the continuation of ordination. There is no living man, nor set of men, who have any such authority. In 2 Tim., devoted largely to truth for these last days, nothing is said of ordained men, but now the need is for “faithful men,” 2 Tim. 2:2. 3. Mark 3:14. It is said of the Lord, that “He ordained twelve.” Here we have the Lord Himself selecting His twelve apostles, who were to have inspired authority, and were to be in the foundation of the church. This can only correspond to the sovereign bestowment of gifts today upon the members of the church by the same Lord, see Eph. 4:8-11. It has no reference whatever to human ordination. 4. 1Tim. 2:7. Here Paul says, “whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle……a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.” Of Paul’s ordination we have the following points to note. If it was before he began his ministry, it must have been performed before his baptism, Acts 9:17,18, a most disorderly thing, according to modern ecclesiastics. Moreover it was done in that case, by an ordinary “layman” called only “a certain disciple.” (vs.10). If on the other hand the account in Acts 13:1-3, be that of his ordination, as some (who shrink from the difficulties of the former supposition) would have it, the matter is not materially improved for clerisy; for we have then the anomaly of an apostle being ordained by some humble teachers at Antioch. This is power ascending, an impossibility to valid ordination. Moreover, we have , on this supposition, the apostle preaching and teaching, in fact exercising full authority in the field of his labors, for nine years previous to this ordination. This is impossible if human ordination confers any authority.

But, in Gal. 1, we have the apostle’s own statement of the source of his authority. “Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;…….But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught [it], but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called [me] by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.” vs. 11, 12, 15-17. What could be plainer than that the apostle’s message, commission and authority were from the Lord alone. It is this which is before his mind in 1Tim. 2:7, as the context fully shows. Following this assertion of divine authority, vs. 7, we have, in the remaining part of the chapter, inspired direction for the church of God. We conclude that Paul had no ordination as moderns understand the word. 5. We have left the case of Timothy. To him the apostle says, “Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.” 1Tim. 4:14. It is well to note that this was a prophetic gift, as we find reasserted in 1:18, “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee.” By prophetic foreknowledge Paul recognized Timothy as one of God’s chosen vessels for special service. Again it was Paul’s hands after all, which conferred the gift, as we learn from 2Tim. 1:6, “The gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.” The Presbytery could only have identified themselves with Timothy, not conferred anything upon him, by the laying on of their hands. But, we need specially to notice in 1Tim. 4:14, that it was a GIFT conferred on Timothy, of which mention is made. There is nothing said of authority to exercise that gift. The impartation of a gift is widely different from conferring authority to minister that gift. The latter thing (which modern ordination pretends to confer), is never found in the Word of God.

We have thus covered all the Scriptures concerning ordination. The case of the ordination of the priests under the OT economy, Heb. 8:3, does not apply. That was a system of law, and hence of uncertainty as to salvation, therefore its intermediate priesthood. Believers, in church times, are all priests, 1Pet. 2:9; Rev. 1:6. To set up a middle class between the believer and God is to abdicate this priesthood. There is therefore not a vestige of warrant in the Word of God for the thing called among modern sects “ordination.” No man was set apart to “administer the ordinances”. Gifts only and not authority, were conferred by the apostles. Surely, no man nor set of men will pretend today to prophetic foreknowledge of a man’s gift, the power to confer a gift, or to confer the Holy Ghost to minister that gift. Rome and episcopacy may pretend to the last, but their pretensions are rejected by sensible men. What then is ordination? Simply a sham, a mockery, a farce, no less an unreality because its actor thinks it is real. What does it confer? A title, a place and a dignity which must be maintained at whatever cost. If the man thus made into a “Rev” be destitute of gift, he must still be provided if possible with a parish. He may be unsaved but his ministrations must be received. He may rail at the Word as many so called “divines” (?) today are doing.

Yet the “laity” must be awed into silence, for are they not “Reverend men”? The capstone of such a farce is reached in the words of the clergy of the church of England, concerning cases where the “Minister” is a wicked man. “When everything seems against the true followers of Christ, so that, on a carnal calculation, you would suppose the service of the church stripped of all efficacy, then by acting faith on the Head of the ministry (Christ) they are instructed and nourished; though in the main the given lesson be falsehood, and the proposed sustenance little better than poison” (Melville. Sermons Vol. 1 and 2 quoted in Beverly on Ministry, pg. 83.) The doctrine though not so boldly stated among nonliturgical communions, is practically assented to, for the preacher may talk literature, science, art, or infidelity (if only he do it not after too bald a fashion) and it is swallowed by the pew-holders without a question, as if it were the milk and meat of the Word of God. The sad, sad proofs of this might be tabulated, but they are only too manifest to those watching the growth of apostasy in what is known as Protestant Christendom.

Whence then did all this vast system of clerisy emanate? We answer, from apostate Christianity. Its beginnings indeed were manifest ere the close of the first century, and we have also the clear statements in the Word of God, that appalling apostasy had already set in. Its history is prophetically traced in Rev. 2 and 3 under the name of Nicolaitanism. The word means “ruler of the people”, the laity. Some have sought to prove that there was one Nicolaus and that Nicolaitans were his followers, but not the slightest trace of such a person can be found. The Ephesian church is commended as follows: “This thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also Hate,” 2:6. But Ephesus “left her first love” paving the way for all later apostasy. In the Smyrna period (tribulation times) Judaizers had crept in, and the Jewish legal system was taking the place of the church; This God calls “the synagogue of Satan,” 2:9. Judaism makes salvation uncertain because dependent on law keeping. It therefore puts God back behind the veil, for there can be no boldness without assured salvation. It fills the church with a mixed multitude of those who want to be saved, (but who are not saved) and who are working for (not out) their own salvation. This mixed thing, which is the only thing found in sectarian circles today, is no longer in reality the church, but is rightly called the “synagogue of Satan.” Such a people can have no “boldness to enter into the holiest” no “access with confidence” to God. They cannot exercise priestly functions, for many of them are not born again, and hence are not priests. Such a synagogue must have a “Reverend” personage, to be its priest, or it must go to pieces. Hence, we have in the second period (Smyrna) the abundant preparation for the “doctrine (no longer deeds only and those hated) of the Nicolaitans,” in the Pergamos period, 2:15. Clerisy then became a well established doctrine, and has held its place undisputed in Rome, and later in the Protestant sects as well. It could not be otherwise for unbelievers can only worship (even in pretense) by proxy, by a priest, a minister. The clergyman officiates for the synagogue of Satan, and the synagogue fawns on its “minister”, feeds his pride, makes fat his portion, and supposes that their great, growing, boastful, Laodicean, and oftentimes infidel system, is the church of God going on to the conquest of the world for Christ. The doctrine of Balaam has come in with all the rest of clerisy, i. e., teaching for hire. Money settles the field of labor; money decides what is to be taught and what to be covered up; money makes popular evangelists with their card signing tricks, and popular methods; money secures the preacher that will please the particular synagogue. Thousands of God’s professed messengers thus prove themselves to be “BALAAMITES.” It is as in Israel “the heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us,” Micah 3:11. And as to the evangelists with their great drag nets, He says, “They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their meat plenteous. ” Hab. 1:15,16. Three thousand converts in twenty-one days in one city, (not one absolutely known to have been born again). Twenty thousand in ten days in another city (thousands of dollars in cash for the job) and so on, with dates ahead for six months or a year. This is the devil’s work; a farce in the name of Christ; a sham; an opiate for souls on the way to Hell; a religion without blood, without repentance, without the new birth, and that ends in the lake of fire. What is its purpose? To swell the number in the synagogue of Satan, and to make fat the portion of the drag-net fisherman. Some of God’s own are in this drag net business. May He pity them and pluck out of such an awful position.

But, let us turn our eyes again from this sad scene to the Word of God. In Acts 8:1-4, we find that the only ordination to preach needed by the disciples was sufficient persecution to scatter them and thus give them a field of testimony. This preaching was manifestly done by the “laity,” (vs. 1,4,5). It was attended by great blessing from God, vs. 6, and was fully sanctioned by the apostles, vs. 14- 17. In Acts 11:19-26, we have the same freedom in preaching the Gospel on the part of the disciples. God acknowledged their work, (vs. 21), Barnabas rejoiced in it (vs. 22,23), and Paul followed it up strengthening the Christians, (vs. 26). In 1Cor. 16:15, we have a whole household addicting themselves (ordaining themselves, according to the translation of the same word in Rom. 13:4) to the ministry of the saints. 2 Cor. 4:13 gives us all the ordination any man needs for telling out the gospel story; “as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”

In Acts 16:24,25, we have a man not only commissioned with all Christians to spread the gospel story, but a man of gift. Of Apollos it is here said that he was “an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures……instructed in the way of the Lord and fervant in the spirit.” There is nothing said of his being an ordained man, but much is made of his qualifications. Evidently, his gift made room for him, and was all the authority he needed. This leads us to the study of Gifts in the church. In 1Cor. 12, we have important teaching about this subject. These various gifts are called “manifestations of the Spirit”, vs 7, and are said to be “operated by the Spirit”, vs 11. They manifestly cannot be manufactured by college and seminary, nor conferred by ordination, for they are sovereign gifts of the Spirit, “as He will”, vs. 11, “God hath set,” vs 28. Moreover, they are not centered in one man, but are distributed through the members of the one body, “to one”, “to another”, “to another”, etc. vs. 8-10. This destroys utterly the theory of a one-man ministry.

Again, all members have some gift, not necessarily a public one, but all have some share in the ministry to the saints. We read “Dividing to every man” v. 11. The figure taken up to illustrate the unity and mutual ministry of the different members of the church, is that of a body. No members of a normal body are useless – none without their proper functions. Any member will become powerless if unused. No one member of the body can be brought into constant use without corresponding detriment to the rest. “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular” v. 27. How essential then that every member gets its exercise as well as its food.

In chapter 14 we find these various gifts in exercise. The whole chapter is full of instruction as to ministry, but we will note only the latter part. “How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. Let the prophets speak two or, three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted,” v. 26, 29-31. There is no room in this passage for the one-man ministry around us today. Instead, we have full liberty of worship, or of ministry on the part of all, controlled only by the Holy Ghost. This is God’s order, and therefore the way of real instruction, comfort and growth. Human ministry compels “the minister” to preach even though he has no message, and forces the others to silence, even though ready to minister that which God’s people really need. True there is a visible head to a sect meeting, and there may be a smoothly running machine. In fact the less of God there is about the thing the better it will run. This is fully manifested around us to-day. If God comes in with power, the ungodly choir has to go, the polished essay must be laid aside and vanity of dress give place to broken-heartedness in the presence of God. Thus, God in His mercy has ever and anon broken the fetters of sect ecclesiasticism. But when God’s ways about the church are obeyed we have this pressed upon us – the meeting is nothing without God. There is no room for stately music, imposing ritual or pompous oration or essay. The position is one of absolute dependence, and unless God comes in, there is manifest and humiliating failure. Thus God would ever keep us where His rebukes can reach our hearts. Man’s wisdom would suggest the system so as to avoid the humiliation of failure. But God would have us where He can deal with us, manifesting our poverty, chastening us, and then revealing His Grace.

It might be well in passing to note the setting of chapter 13. Many now use it as a cloak for their own sectarian sin, or a cudgel with which to beat those who seek to obey the whole Word of God. This matchless chapter on love occurs in the heart of a book on church order. If the instructions preceding it have been obeyed the believer is already delivered from his sect and is remembering the Lord weekly in the breaking of bread after the simple scriptural manner. He has also learned the truth of Gifts in the body and is seeking to walk in God’s ways, as to ministry. Now comes the need for love, that there may be no envy, no ambition for prominence – no putting of self forward. Chapter 12 shows the gifts in the church, chapter 14, those gifts in exercise and chapter 13 the oil which prevents all friction in their exercise. Probably no scripture has been turned to more unholy uses than this chapter on love.

In Eph. 4:11, we have enumerated the prominent gifts for ministry, viz: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. The first and second have passed away, as apostles and prophets are found in the foundation of the house of God, Eph. 2:20, see also 1 Cor. 4:9, margin, 13:8. The permanent gifts now are evangelists, pastors and teachers. The work of the evangelist is to bring souls to Christ, the shepherds and teachers are to build them up after they have been saved. These gifts are still to be found in the church, and where found they need no authentication at the hands of bishops or presbyters. The possession of such a gift confers the right, yea the responsibility, to exercise it Another of the gifts mentioned in 1 Cor. 12 is “governments,” v. 28. A correct understanding of the Greek will remove much difficultly. The word which occurs only here means steering, piloting, directing. Thus it falls in perfectly with Heb. 13:7 and 17, in both of which the expression “have the rule over you” is in the margin “are your guides,” or more correctly still, leaders. In 1 Thess. 5:12, we read of those “over you in the Lord.” The same word is translated rule in Rom. 12:8, 1 Tim. 3:4, 12. The position is God-given; it is that of a guide and an example, not that of a lord over God’s people, 1 Peter 5:3. Whatever the portion of these leaders, discipline did not belong to them exclusively but to the whole assembly, 1 Cor. 5:4. “When ye are gathered together.” See also v. 3, “Put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” The Lord’s people are told to submit themselves one to another. Eph. 5:21, 1 Peter 5:5.

The Word of God gives no such thing as a church system which covers a continent. It knows no annual conference, association meeting, Presbyteries, Synods, or general Assemblies – no higher church courts. Each local assembly while it may accept counsel and help from those in other assemblies is responsible to God. Ephesus was never instructed to correct Corinth, nor Philippi to assume supervision of the Galatian churches. Each of the seven churches mentioned in Rev. 2 and 3 are rebuked and warned and urged to correct the evils of their own particular assembly, or to hold fast that which they have. District oversight leads to sectarian organizations; self assumed oversight brethren become a clergy, and both principles logically end in Rome.

It remains to speak a word under this head with regard to Woman’s Ministry. She represents typically the church (Eph. 5:25,27), the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, for whom He gave Himself. Temporally she is in relation to her husband (the normal and scriptural state being the married state, 1 Tim. 5:14, with exceptions through the providence of God). Both typically and actually the position is one, not of degradation not of slavery, but of subjection. “The head of the woman is the man,” 1 Cor. 11:3. “The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church,” Eph. 5:23. Neither her physical qualifications nor her instincts, (unless she has been made abnormal by sect teaching) leads her to enjoy public ministry. Nor does the Word of God grant her that place, 1 Cor. 14:34-37, 1 Tim. 2:11, 12. It is of no avail to urge that these injunctions were only temporary, for they occur in connection with God’s order in the church for all time, and subjection to them is made a test of spirituality, 1 Cor. 14:37. “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” In what light does this statement put those who not only disobey this plain command, but seek to wrest the Word of God so as to break its force.

Nor is it of any avail to urge that God has blessed woman’s public ministry. Israel received water, though Moses disobeyed God in getting it for them. God said “speak to the rock,” Moses in disobedience “smote the rock twice,” Num. 20:8-10. Yet “the water came out abundantly.” God did not, however, forget the sin of his servant, but for this deprived him of entering Canaan, vs. 12. God in sovereign grace may use ministry, yet this does not prove that He justifies those who minister. How beautifully the scriptural position of woman in this matter brings out the type! Whence is all the division, heresy, and shame of the church? Manifestly from her breaking the silence of subjection to Christ, either to erect systems of her own, and to substitute her reasonings for the Word of God, as Protestantism; or to become the infallible interpreter of the Word of God, and the murderer of the people of God, as Rome.

What then is the proper sphere of woman’s ministry? The home; 1 Tim. 5:14. The care of children is hers specially. Care for God’s servants is hers also; Rom. 16:2. Teaching within God-given limits is her privilege; Titus 2:3-5, and Acts 18:26, with Rom. 16:3, where the wife is mentioned first. Does this seem a narrow or limited service? Surely not. Man and woman have different spheres of activity, both essential and both honorable in the sight of God. Surely the place given by God is the only really happy place either for man or woman. Mary’s ministry is lovingly dwelt upon by the Lord Jesus, John 12:3-7, and the Holy Ghost is careful to record the good works and almsdeeds of Dorcas, Acts 9:36. A large, satisfying field of ministry, one to which she is adapted and which man cannot enter, is open to woman, and if entered and occupied by her will bring commendation “She hath done what she could,” Mark 14:7. If, however, an unscriptural position be persisted in, it would be well to remember the words “For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.” 2 Cor. 10:18.

CLOSING REMARKS

We have endeavored throughout this tract to point out some of the lines of truth in the Word of God, in a connected manner; and to satisfy the candid reader that there is sufficient guidance in the Bible for the walk of the believer with regard to church relations, life, and worship. Each reader can judge for himself whether this has been done. Much has been omitted, but lines of study have, it is hoped, been suggested which will be of blessing to those who desire to walk according to the Word.

In closing it would be well to note the importance which the Spirit of God places upon a correct walk. In Col. 1:9,10 we have the apostle’s prayer for the Lord’s people at Colosse. The order of his petitions is important: (1) “That ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will,” (2) “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord,” and (3) “Being fruitful in every good work.” Who in sectarian circles ever inquires for God’s estimate of sects ere he joins them? And how few desire to walk worthy of the Lord in this matter even after they know His mind? Their whole stress is laid on the third point, service, and even this is much of it in direct opposition to the Word of God. The Bible never reverses this order. In 3 John we have it again enforced. (1) “The truth in thee,” (2) “Thou walkest in the truth,” v.3, then (3) service, v.6, 8.

The sectarian cry is “Work, Work, Work,” and their test of a man is what he is doing. Their panacea for a sin-burdened heart is more work, forgetting that the sin question is settled, not by work, but by ceasing from it entirely to look away to Christ’s finished work. John 19:30 and Rom. 4:4.

But how many of them stop to consider the trial of their work “of what sort it is”? 1 Cor. 3:13. There are some solemn statements in the Word of God for such to ponder. “He that is of God heareth God’s word.” John 8:47. “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” John 12:48.

How solemn to trifle with such a book, or to set it aside for the traditions of men! “If ye know these things, happy are ye, if ye do them.” John 13:17. Here again it is not mere knowledge, but the subject heart and obedient feet which receive the blessing of God. “Why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46. The contest, v. 47-49, shows that knowledge, coupled with obedience, makes the Christian like a man whose house is on the rock while the same knowledge with disobedience, leaves him like a man with his house on the sand, at the mercy of the winds and floods. How prone is man to be disobedient and how sad the consequences. “Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offering and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better (not easier) than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams,” 1 Sam. 15:22. May obedient feet gladden His heart and may you hear His words of satisfaction in you “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth,” 3 John 4. With this I lay down my pen commending you, the dear people of God, wherever you are, “to God and to the Word of His grace” Acts 20:32. May you continue in His Word and know the truth, that “the truth may make you free.” John 8:31, 32.