We feel it to be of real moment to insist upon this principle, namely,
that the _only_ ground on which we can believe any doctrine is its
being revealed in the divine Word. It is thus we believe all the great
truths of Christianity. We know nothing and can believe nothing of
what is spiritual, heavenly, or divine, save as we find it revealed in
the word of God. How do I know I am a sinner? Because Scripture hath
declared that "all have sinned." No doubt I feel that I am a sinner;
but I do not believe because I feel, but I feel because I believe, and
I believe because God has spoken. Faith rests upon divine revelation,
not on human feelings or human reasonings. "It is written" is quite
sufficient for faith. It can do with nothing less, but it asks nothing
more. God speaks: faith believes. Yes, it believes simply because God
speaks. It does not judge God's Word by outward appearances, but it
judges outward appearances by the word of God.
Thus it is in reference to all the cardinal truths of the Christian
religion, such as the Trinity, the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, His
atonement, His priesthood, His advent, the doctrine of original sin,
of justification, judgment to come, eternal punishment. We believe
these grand and solemn truths, not on the ground of feeling, of
reason, or of outward appearances, but simply on the ground of divine
revelation.
Hence, then, if it be asked, On what ground do we believe in the
doctrine of the unity of the body? we reply, Upon the self-same ground
that we believe the doctrine of the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and
the atonement. We believe it because it is revealed in sundry places
in the New Testament. Thus, for example, in 1 Cor. xii. we read, "For
as _the body is one_, and hath many members, and all the members of
that _one body_, being many, are _one body_; so also _is Christ_. For
by one Spirit are we all baptized into _one body_, whether we be Jews
or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to
drink into one Spirit." Again, "God hath tempered the body together,
having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked, that there
should be no schism in the body.... Now, _ye are the body of Christ_,
and members in particular."
Here we have distinctly laid down the perfect and indissoluble unity
of the Church of God, the body of Christ, on precisely the same
authority as any other truth commonly received amongst us; so that
there is just as much ground for calling in question the deity of
Christ as there is for calling in question the unity of the body. The
one is as true as the other; and both are divinely true, because
divinely revealed. We believe that Jesus Christ is God over all,
blessed forever, because Scripture tells us so; we believe that there
is one body because Scripture tells us so. We do not reason in the
one case, but believe and bow; nor should we reason in the other case,
but believe and bow. "There is one body and one Spirit."
Now, we must bear in mind that this truth of the unity of the body is
not a mere abstraction--a barren speculation--a powerless dogma. It is
a practical, formative, influential truth, in the light of which we
are called to walk, to judge ourselves and all around us. It was so
with the faithful in Israel of old. The unity of the nation was a real
thing to them, and not a mere theory to be taken up or laid down at
pleasure. It was a great formative, powerful truth. The nation was one
in God's thoughts; and if it was not manifestly so, the faithful had
only to take the place of self-judgment, brokenness of spirit, and
contrition of heart. Witness the case of Hezekiah, Josiah, Daniel,
Nehemiah, and Ezra. It never once occurred to these faithful men that
they were to give up the truth of Israel's unity because Israel had
failed to maintain it. They did not measure the truth of God by the
actings of men; but they judged the actings of men, and themselves
likewise, by the truth of God. This was the only true way to act. If
the manifested unity of Israel was marred through man's sin and folly,
the true-hearted members of the congregation owned and mourned over
the sin, confessed it as their own, and looked to God. Nor was this
all. They felt their responsibility to act on the truth of God
whatever might be the outward condition of things.
This, we repeat, was the meaning of Elijah's altar of twelve stones,
erected in the face of Jezebel's eight hundred false prophets, and
despite the division of the nation in man's view. (1 Kings xviii.)
This, too, was the meaning of Hezekiah's letters sent to "_all
Israel_" to invite them to "come to the house of the Lord at
Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel." Nothing
can be more touching than the spirit and style of these letters. "_Ye
children of Israel_, turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Israel, and He will return to the remnant of you that are escaped
out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. And be not ye like your
fathers and like your brethren, which trespassed against the Lord God
of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.
Now, _be ye not stiff-necked_, as your fathers were, but _yield
yourselves unto the Lord_, and enter into His sanctuary, which He
_hath sanctified forever_; and serve the Lord your God, that the
fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. _For if ye turn again
unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion_
before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into
this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will
not turn away His face from you" (2 Chron. xxx. 6-9).
What was all this but simple faith acting on the grand, eternal,
immutable truth of the unity of the nation of Israel? The nation was
_one_ in the purpose of God, and Hezekiah looked at it from the
divine standpoint, as faith ever does, and he acted accordingly. "So
the posts passed from city to city, through _the country of Ephraim
and Manasseh_, even unto Zebulun; but _they laughed them to scorn, and
mocked them_." This was very sad, but it is only what we must expect.
The actings of faith are sure to call forth the scorn and contempt of
those who are not up to the standard of God's thoughts. Doubtless
these men of Ephraim and Manasseh regarded Hezekiah's message as a
piece of presumption or wild extravagance. Perhaps the great truth
that was acting with such power on his soul, forming his character and
ruling his conduct, was in their judgment a myth, or at best a
valueless theory--a thing of the past--an institution of bygone ages,
having no present application. But faith is never moved by the
thoughts of men, and therefore Hezekiah went on with his work, and God
owned and blessed him. He could afford to be laughed at and turned
into ridicule, while he beheld divers of Asher and Manasseh and
Zebulun humbling themselves and coming to Jerusalem. Hezekiah and all
who thus humbled themselves under the mighty hand of God reaped a rich
harvest of blessing, while the mockers and scorners were left in the
barrenness and deadness with which their own unbelief had surrounded
them.
And let the reader mark the force of those words of Hezekiah, "If _ye_
turn again unto the Lord, _your brethren and your children shall find
compassion_ before them that lead them captive." Does not this
approach very near to that precious truth of the New Testament times,
that we are members one of another, and that the conduct of one member
affects all the rest? Unbelief might raise the question as to how this
could possibly be--as to how the actings of one could possibly affect
others far away; yet so it was in Israel, and so it is now in the
Church of God. Witness the case of Achan, in Joshua vii. There, one
man sinned; and, so far as the narrative informs us, the whole
congregation was ignorant of the fact; and yet we read that "_the
children of Israel_ committed a trespass in the accursed thing." And
again, "_Israel_ hath sinned." How could this be? Simply because the
nation was one, and God dwelt among them. This, plainly, was the
ground of a double responsibility, namely, a responsibility to God,
and a responsibility to the whole assembly and to each member in
particular. It was utterly impossible for any one member of the
congregation to shake off this high and holy responsibility. A person
living at Dan might feel disposed to question how his conduct could
affect a man living at Beersheba; yet such was the fact, and the
ground of this fact lay in the eternal truth of Israel's indissoluble
unity and Jehovah's dwelling in the midst of His redeemed assembly.
(See Exodus xv. 2, and the many passages which speak of God's dwelling
in the midst of Israel.)
We do not attempt even to quote the numerous scriptures which speak of
God's presence in the congregation of Israel--His dwelling in their
midst. But we would call the attention of the reader to the
all-important fact that those scriptures _begin_ with Exodus xv. It
was when Israel stood, as a fully redeemed people, on Canaan's side of
the Red Sea that they were able to say, "The Lord is my strength and
my song, and He is become my salvation: He is _my God_, and I will
prepare Him a _habitation_." Redemption formed the ground of God's
dwelling among His people, and His presence in their midst secured
their perfect unity. Hence no one member of the congregation could
view himself as an isolated independent atom. Each one was called to
view himself as part of a whole, and to view his conduct in reference
to all those who, like himself, formed part of that whole.
Now, reason could never grasp a truth like this. It lay entirely
beyond the ken of the most powerful human intellect. Faith alone could
receive it and act upon it, and it is of the deepest interest to see
that the faithful in Israel ever recognized it and acted upon it. Why
did Hezekiah send letters to "all Israel"? Why did he expose himself
to scorn and ridicule in so doing? Why did he command that "the
burnt-offering and the sin-offering should be made for all Israel"?
Why did Josiah carry his reformatory operations into all "the
countries that pertained to the children of Israel"? Because those men
of God recognized the divine truth of Israel's unity, and they did not
think of throwing this grand reality overboard because so few saw it
or sought to carry it out. "The people shall dwell alone;" and "I,
the Lord, will dwell among the children of Israel." These imperishable
truths shine, like most precious gems of heavenly lustre, all along
the page of Old Testament Scripture; and we invariably find that, just
in proportion as any one was living near to God--near to the living
and ever-gushing fountain of life and light and love--just in
proportion as he entered into the thoughts, purposes, sympathies, and
counsels of the God of Israel, did he apprehend and seek to carry out
that which God had declared to be true of His people, though His
people had proved so untrue to Him.
And now, Christian reader, we would ask you a very plain and pointed
question, which is this: Do you not recognize in the unity of the
Jewish nation the foreshadowing of a higher unity now existing in that
one body of which Christ is the Head? We trust you do. We fondly hope
that your whole moral being bows down, with reverent submission, to
the mighty truth, "There _is_ one body." But then we can well imagine
that you feel yourself not a little perplexed and confounded when you
cast your eye around you through the length and breadth of the
professing Church, in search of any positive expression of this unity.
You see Christians scattered and divided--you see innumerable sects
and parties; and what perhaps puzzles you most of all, you see those
who profess to believe and act upon the truth of the unity of the body
divided amongst themselves, and presenting anything but a spectacle of
unity and harmony. All this, we confess, is very perplexing to one
who looks at it from a merely human standpoint. We are not the least
surprised at people being stumbled and hindered by these things. Still
the foundation of God standeth sure. His truth is perfectly
indestructible; and if we gaze with admiration upon the faithful
worthies of a bygone age who believed and confessed the unity of
Israel when there was not a trace of that unity visible to mortal
eyes, why should we not heartily believe and diligently carry out the
higher unity of the one body? "There is one body and one Spirit," and
herein lies the basis of our responsibility to one another and to God.
Are we to surrender this all-important truth because Christians are
scattered and divided? God forbid. It is as real and as precious as
ever, and it ought to be as formative and as influential. We are bound
to act upon the truth of God, irrespective of consequences, and
utterly regardless of outward appearances. It is not for us to say, as
so many do, "The case is hopeless: everything has gone to pieces. It
is impossible to carry out the truth of God amid the heaps of rubbish
which lie around us. The unity of the body was a thing of the _past_;
it may be a thing of the _future_, but it cannot be a thing of the
_present_. The idea of unity must be abandoned as thoroughly Utopian,
it cannot be maintained in the face of Christendom's numberless sects
and parties. Nothing remains now but for each one to look to the Lord
for himself, and to do the best he can, in his own _individual_
sphere, and according to the dictates of his own conscience and
judgment."
Such is, in substance, the language of hundreds of the true people of
God; and as is their language, so is their practical career. But we
must speak plainly, and we have no hesitation in saying that this
language savors of sheer unbelief in that great cardinal verity of the
unity of the body; and, moreover, that we have just as much warrant
for rejecting the precious doctrine of Christ's deity, of His perfect
humanity, or of His vicarious sacrifice, as we have for rejecting the
truth of the perfect unity of His body, inasmuch as this latter rests
upon precisely the same foundation as the former, namely, the eternal
truth of God--the absolute statement of Holy Scripture. What right
have we to set aside any one truth of divine revelation? What
authority have we to single out any special truth from the word of God
and say that it no longer applies? We are bound to receive _all
truth_, and to submit our souls to its authority. It is a dangerous
thing to admit for a moment the idea that any one truth of God is to
be set aside, on the plea that it cannot be carried out. It is
sufficient for us that it is revealed in the Holy Scriptures: we have
only to _believe_ and to _obey_. Does Scripture declare that there is
"one body"? Assuredly it does. This is enough. We are responsible to
maintain this truth, cost what it may; we can accept nothing
else--nothing less--nothing different. We are bound, by the allegiance
which we owe to Christ the Head, to testify, practically, against
everything that militates against the truth of the indissoluble unity
of the Church of God, and to seek earnestly and constantly a faithful
expression of that unity.
True, we shall have to contend with false unity on the one hand and
false individuality on the other; but we have only to hold fast and
confess the truth of God, looking to Him, in humility of mind and
earnest purpose of heart, and He will sustain us in the path, let the
difficulties be what they may. No doubt there are difficulties in the
way--grave difficulties, such as we in our own strength cannot cope
with. The very fact that we are told to "_endeavor_ to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace" is sufficient to prove that there
are difficulties in the way; but the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is
amply sufficient for all the demands that may be made upon us in
seeking to act upon this most precious truth.
In contemplating the present condition of the professing Church we may
discern two very distinct classes. In the first place, there are those
who are seeking unity on false grounds; and secondly, those who are
seeking it on the ground laid down in the New Testament. This latter
is distinctly a spiritual, living, divine unity, and stands out in
vivid contrast with all the forms of unity which man has attempted,
whether it be national, ecclesiastical, ceremonial, or doctrinal. The
Church of God is not a nation, not an ecclesiastical or political
system. It is a body united to its divine Head in heaven, by the
presence of the Holy Ghost. This is what it was, and this is what it
is. "There is one body and one Spirit." This remains unalterably
true. It holds good now just as much as when the inspired apostle
penned Ephesians iv. Hence anything that tends to interfere with or
mar this truth must be wrong, and we are bound to stand apart from it
and testify against it. To seek to unite Christians on any other
ground than the unity of the body is manifestly opposed to the
revealed mind of God. It may seem very attractive, very desirable,
very reasonable, right, and expedient; but it is contrary to God, and
this should be enough for us. God's Word speaks _only_ of the unity of
the body and the unity of the Spirit. It recognizes no other unity:
neither should we.
The Church of God is one, though consisting of many members. It is not
local, or geographical; it is corporate. All the members have a double
responsibility; they are responsible to the Head, and they are
responsible to one another. It is utterly impossible to ignore this
responsibility. Men may seek to shirk it; they may deny it; they may
assert their individual rights, and act according to their own reason,
judgment, or will; but they cannot get rid of the responsibility
founded upon the fact of the one compact body. They have to do with
the Head in heaven and with the members on earth. They stand in this
double relationship--they were incorporated thereinto by the Holy
Ghost, and to deny it is to deny their very spiritual existence. It is
founded in life, formed by the Spirit, and taught and maintained in
the Holy Scriptures. There is no such thing as independency.
Christians cannot view themselves as mere individuals--as isolated
atoms. "We are members one of another." This is as true as that we are
"justified by faith." No doubt there is a sense in which we are
individual: we are individual in our repentance; individual in our
faith; individual in our justification; individual in our walk with
God and in our service to Christ; individual in our rewards for
service, for each one shall get a white stone and a new name engraved
thereon known only to himself. All this is quite true, but it in no
wise touches the other grand practical truth of our union with the
Head above and with each and all of the members below.
And we would here call the reader's attention to two very distinct
lines of truth flowing out of two distinct titles of our blessed Lord,
namely, Headship and Lordship. He is Head of His body the Church, and
He is Lord of all, Lord of each. Now, when we think of Christ as Lord,
we are reminded of our individual responsibility to Him, in the wide
range of service to which He, in His sovereignty, has graciously
called us. Our reference must be to Him in all things. All our
actings, all our movements, all our arrangements, must be placed under
the commanding influence of that weighty sentence (often, alas!
lightly spoken and penned), "If _the Lord_ will." And, moreover, no
one has any right to thrust himself between the conscience of a
servant and the commandment of his Lord. All this is divinely true,
and of the very highest importance. The Lordship of Christ is a truth
the value of which cannot possibly be overestimated.
But we must bear in mind that Christ is _Head_ as well as _Lord_;--He
is Head of a body, as well as Lord of individuals. These things must
not be confounded. We are not to hold the truth of Christ's Lordship
in such a way as to interfere with the truth of His Headship. If we
merely think of Christ as Lord, and ourselves as individuals
responsible to Him, then we shall ignore His Headship, and lose sight
of our responsibility to every member of that body of which He is
Head. We must jealously watch against this. We cannot look at
ourselves as isolated, independent atoms; if we think of Christ as
Head, then we must think of all His members, and this opens up a wide
range of practical truth. We have holy duties to discharge to our
fellow-members, as well as to our Lord and Master; and we may rest
assured that no one walking in communion with Christ can ever lose
sight of the grand fact of his relationship to every member of His
body. Such an one will ever remember that his walk and ways exert an
influence upon Christians living at the other side of the globe. This
is a wondrous mystery, but it is divinely true. "If one member suffer,
_all_ the members suffer with it" (1 Cor. xii. 26). You cannot reduce
the body of Christ to a matter of locality: the body is one, and we
are called to maintain this practically in every possible way, and to
bear a decided testimony against everything which tends to hinder the
expression of the perfect unity of the body, whether it be false
unity or false individuality. The enemy is seeking to associate
Christians on a false ground, and gather them around a false centre;
or, if he cannot do this, he will send them adrift upon the wide and
tumultuous ocean of a desultory individualism. _We are throughly
persuaded, before God, that the only safeguard against both these
false and dangerous extremes is divinely wrought faith in the grand
foundation-truth of the unity of the body of Christ._