The Primitive Church.
Before we pass on to the cleansing and reappearance of the divine ecclesia, let us stand on the summit of present truth and point our telescope back over the mists and clouds that move along at our feet, and over the 1,260 years of utter night that extend far beyond, even into the third century. And, there on the mountains of God’s own holiness view the temple of God, resplendent with the morning light of his own glory. Behold, her light is as the sun: she is all fair, the city of the great king. That golden city is the primitive church.
As set forth in the oracles of God, we find her prominent attributes to be the following: (1) Divinity, (2) Organization, (3) Visibility, (4) Oneness, (5) Unity, (6) Universality, (7) Exclusiveness, (8) Holiness, (9) Unchangeableness, (10) Indestructibility. First, then, leaning upon the wisdom that cometh from above, we will endeavor to set forth
THE DIVINITY OF THE CHURCH.
She is of divine origin. Her inception coexisted in the mind of God with that of the plan of salvation. Her origin being the immediate result of redemption, was inseparable from it. And since, therefore in the counsel and good purpose of God, Christ was a “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8), the church redeemed through his blood also stood before the divine mind parallel with the gift of his Son. Of that holy institution, we have seen, he cast a beautiful shadow upon the earth, in the form of the temple and all its contents. And, after “Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after,” in due time, “Christ, as a son over his own house,” appeared, and he built this beautiful church of the living God. He adorned her foundations and walls with the pure gold of his heavenly love, and set them with the precious stones of his graces and gifts; he adorned her pillars with the robes of his righteousness; and in her he sheds the light of his own glory. She is from heaven and all her members are born of God. Along with Christ her life and head, she is the gift of infinite love. She is “God’s building,” chosen of him for his own dwelling place; and where he spreads a continual feast of love for all his heaven-born children. The divine Son purchased her with his own blood. Acts 20:28. Yea, he “gave himself” for her to be his own bride (Ephesians 5:25); built her upon the rock. Matthew 16:18. As the “true tabernacle” of present divine testimony, The Lord pitched her and not man. Hebrews 8:2. As the house of God, he that buildeth all things in her is God. Hebrews 3:4. As the beloved city, she “hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:10. Her foundation is Jesus Christ the divine Savior. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Her life and light is the “eternal Spirit.”
Her creed is the pure Word of God. Thus spake God by the mouth of his servant Moses: “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.” Deuteronomy18:18-19.
This is fulfilled in his Son as the apostle testifies. Acts 3:22-23. God here announces that he would put his words in the mouth of this prophet; and when he came, he testified, saying, “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” John 14:10. Therefore; “God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” Hebrews l:1-2. This adorable Christ, came into the world, and delivered the perfect laws of his kingdom, and when about to finish his mission on earth he said, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them.” John 17:8. And when he sent forth his ministers to preach his gospel to every creature, he commissioned them, to make disciples in all nations, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19-20.
Thus we see that Christ Jesus spoke all the words that the Father “put into his mouth,” and all that he had commanded him to speak; and the Son likewise commissioned his apostles to publish all that, and only that, which he gave them. Therefore, “All Scripture divinely inspired, is indeed profitable for teaching, for conviction, for correction, for that discipline which is in righteousness; so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly fitted for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Emphatic Diaglott. God, the Father, is then the source of this new covenant, Jesus Christ the mediator of the same. Its object is the “conviction” of men in sin, and the teaching, correction in discipline in righteousness, of all the saints of God, and the result is, by means of it they are perfect. As divinely inspired discipline, it corrects every error, and teaches every obligation of righteousness in all our relations to God and to man.
By means of this perfect law the man of God—every man of God—may be perfect, and thoroughly furnished in all that pertains to a life of righteousness; and fully instructed in every good work. So, if the Scriptures of divine truth are unsuited, or insufficient, as a discipline for any people, it would indeed appear that such are not men of God. The creeds that men have multiplied in the earth testify against themselves and in favor of this divine Book of discipline. They very generally confess the Word of God is the only inspired and infallible rule of faith and practice; “So that whatever can not be read therein, nor proved thereby it is not necessary to receive or believe,” so they say. Yet, they impose upon their unwary joiners heaps of forms, traditions, and rules having no place in the inspired discipline of the divine church. God’s church is a “spiritual house,” and to her was given a spiritual law; but earth-born associations, even though called churches, are earthly in their tendency, therefore can not be governed by a spiritual law, hence they have made their own laws, and amend them to their own option. But the divine and heavenly law of the Lord is well suited, yea, perfect in all its doctrines and ordinances, as the discipline of the church that is indeed of God adapted to all the conditions of the saved, and perfect in all ages of this dispensation.
Her government is divine, not only in the legislative, as we have just seen, but likewise, in its judicial and executive departments. “The government shall be upon his shoulder. Isaiah 9:6. “And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8. “He is the head of the body, the church, . . . that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:18. A divine government in the highest sense. A theocracy not only appointed by, but administered of God. Even “one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:6. “It is the same God which worketh all in all.” 1 Corinthians 12:6. He chooses men for elders, and deacons, as “governments’’ and “helps,” but these, as well as all the members of the body, have no right or power to act, except as “it is God that worketh in them.” If, therefore, they teach or exhort, it is by his Spirit dwelling in them. If through them judgment is dealt out, it is not “man’s judgment,” but his that dwelleth in them. So her government is indeed all divine; yea, it is indeed a government of God, working all things in all the members.
Her walls are salvation. Isaiah 26:1; 60:18. “Behold, God is my salvation.” Isaiah 12:2. Therefore her walls are also divine. She has a divine door, even Jesus Christ himself. John 10:7, 9.
Having been purchased, founded and built of God, he claims in her the exclusive right of proprietorship. She is not “our church,” but “God’s building,” divinely owned, and his glory he will not give to another.
Her members are all the sons of God and bear his holy image.
The Lord is her everlasting light, and God himself the glory in the midst of her.
She is even divinely named: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” Ephesians 3:14-15. And let not men or devils presume to characterize her by names of blasphemy which they invent. Behold, she is all divine.
THE CHURCH IS AN ORGANIC STRUCTURE.
Therefore when men charge us with discarding all organization, they either knowingly or willfully misrepresent us. As the Word teaches so we teach. The church that Jesus purchased with his own blood, he also “built” (Matthew 16:18); that is, organized. “In whom [Christ] all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple unto the Lord.” Ephesians 2:21. These scriptures and many others clearly set forth the church of God as a symmetrical, and perfectly organized structure. Of this fact there is no question; but with regard to who holds the prerogative of organizing the body, all do not so well agree.
The general teaching in sectarian theology is that God only saves and gathers men out of the world into a general mass, and that it is the duty of ministers to form the material thus provided into organic form. But we teach that God who saves men into his church, also forms them in due order, and really organizes the church himself. As to which position is correct we will now appeal to the Word. A few texts will be sufficient to settle the question. The church, we have seen, is a building, a house; that is, an organic structure. Now it must be apparent to all that whoever is the architect and builder of a house organizes the same. But “he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house.” And “he that built all things is God.” Hebrews 3:3-4. “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” 1 Corinthians 12:18. “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,” etc. verse 28. To furnish with organs, “built,” “compact,” “fitly framed together,” and to “temper the body together,” covers all that is included in the word organize. And, “All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:11. Yea, “It is the same God which worketh all in all.” 1 Corinthians 12:6. He then, through the Spirit, is the organizer of his own church.
WE CONSIDER NEXT THE VISIBILITY OF THE CHURCH.
“But these people [it is alleged against the saints of the Most High God] do not believe in a visible, organized church.” This, again, is an untruthful statement. That glorious temple, built by the invisible God, is the visible church. She is “the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hid.” Matthew 5:14. Though the wind is an invisible power, its effects are very perceptible to the eye. So the invisible hand of God builds the structure, and organizes the body of his church on earth, which is seen of all. The confused tradition is generally circulated by sectarians, in defense of their own rival organizations, that the constitution of sects is essential to the visible manifestation of the church. But “sect” is a portion “cut off.” Is there any sense, reason, or divine truth in the teaching, that an invisible body is made visible by cutting a portion from it? None of the present sects came into existence till that of Rome in the latter part of the third century. Was God’s church an invisible thing on earth for nearly three hundred years? And, who can affirm that the multitude of Protestant sects have made visible the church of God, from which they are severed by their peculiar creeds and doctrines? Nay, we affirm in the presence of the Judge of all men, and with a clear consciousness of his truth to support the proposition, that the creation of the sects of Christendom have had exactly the opposite effect.
Their traditions have made of no effect the Word of God. Their confusing creeds, heaps of rubbish, and interminable machinery, have utterly subverted, and well-nigh hid out of sight the church that Jesus built on earth. As the historian D’Aubigne has faithfully recorded, when in the third century an “earthly association,” “an external organization was gradually substituted for the interior and spiritual communion which is the essence of the religion of God,” then, “The living church retired gradually within the lonely sanctuary of a few solitary hearts.” That is, the real church of God, retired almost from view, because of the outspread pomp of the false.
So then men’s sects do not make visible God’s church: but on the contrary they obstruct her life, and obscure her glory. These are facts of history that no honest, intelligent man can deny. The babel of human sects have long obscured the sight of the church of the first-born. Until the evening light revealed the true church, as she shone out in the morning of the dispensation, everybody looked upon the man-built substitutes as the divine church, and the body of Christ, which only is the church, was scarcely discerned at all. But visibility is a natural characteristic of the church of God. Though organized by the invisible Spirit, she is composed of men and women who are as visible now as they were when they were in the kingdom of darkness.
While the kingdom of God is substantially the same as his church, the former only relates to the spiritual leaven and unseen power of God that transforms the hearts of men into righteousness and fills them with all joy and peace in believing. Hence, it “cometh not with observation.” The church, on the contrary, is the assembly of the saved, the household of God. It includes the bodies of the saints no less than the “hidden man of the heart.” “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?” 1 Corinthians 6:15. And Christ, his body, and the church, are all identical in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27-28. So it is in our physical bodies that we compose the assembly of God. Hence, she is a visible ecclesia. A house, a vine, a family, the human body, “an army with banners,” “a light,” “the moon,” “a mountain,” and “a city set upon a hill,” are the most common figures of the church; and surely all these denote visibility. God’s ministers are not invisible agents, neither did Barnabas and Paul assemble a whole year with something they saw not, with unseen spirits, at Antioch, when “a whole year they assembled themselves with the church.” Acts 11:26. Neither had the church become visible by the organization of any sect, for none then existed.
This whole conception of God’s invisible church on earth is a superstition of the Dark Ages. A falsehood, devised by Satan to justify the rival headship of the Pope, and the formation of all the Protestant rival bodies. The Scriptures teach that Christ only is the head of the church, and he himself the door, and that God sets the members into the body. But this leaves the Roman hierarchy without a head, and the Protestant sects without a member; therefore, Satan puts this lie into the mouth of the papists, “Christ is the head of the invisible church, and the Pope of the visible;” and this falsehood into the Protestant creed, “God takes into his invisible body, and we admit members into the visible church.”
It is true that the world can not see the head of the church, as do the Christians, for he manifests himself unto the latter as he does not unto the former; but they can see the children of God, and they are the body of Christ, the church. “Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.” 1 John 3:6. This, again, explains why the masses of the sects do not discern Christ, nor his church. It is because they are sinners and Satan blinds their eyes to their condition, by telling them that Christ and his church are invisible.
Again, the class-book of God’s church is not here on earth, nor seen by natural eyes. But notwithstanding this, the spiritual “see to read their title clear,” and know their names are written there. To hypocrites and formalists this is all invisible, hence, they console themselves by being written in a class-book on earth, which they can look upon with sinful eyes and handle with unclean hands. What God has to say about them you will find in Jeremiah 17:13.
The divine church, without any tampering by man, is a visible and glorious city of God on earth. Yea, so very visible that it is even the light of the world.
ONENESS IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF GOD’S CHURCH.
As there is but “one God, and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all,” so likewise there is but “one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.” It was the purpose of God to save both Jews and Gentiles through the gospel of his Son. Now there was a great gulf of prejudice and vast separation in sentiment and education existing between these two classes; and it might very reasonably be thought that characters so remote from each other could never be blended together in one body, and live agreeably under one faith. Did therefore, the Lord indulge their alienation from each other, and their extreme peculiarities, by providing a separate fold for each? Nay, says the Great Teacher,
Other sheep I have [Gentiles], which are not of this fold: [not Jews] them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. John 10:16.
These antipodes of humanity, if saved at all, must be brought together into one fold. Which then was required to surrender his position to the other? The answer is, “He put no difference between us and them.” “But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin.” The apostle confessed they were no better than they, the Gentiles. Neither one had to come over to the other, but both to God through Christ Jesus; and here is the beautiful result:
For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace. Ephesians 2:14-16.
Then, for all the saved of the nations of the earth, God has provided but ‘‘one fold,” “one body,” “one new man, so making peace.” In it are peacefully blended together men of the most widely conflicting idiosyncrasies, and races of the most opposite customs and religions. Of course, these are all removed by the transforming grace of God, and all are conformed to the image of his Son, and all become “children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:26, 28. Since, therefore, the infinite grace of God is manifestly sufficient to mold all men into one harmonious body, there is no need of but one church of the living God. Every description of the church shows that it is but one. Every relation that she sustains to her God demands that she be one. Accordingly, we are told that Christ “is the head of the body, the church.” Therefore as there is but one head, there can be but one body.
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. But now are they many members, yet but one body. 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 20.
For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Romans 12:4-5.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Colossians 3:15.
These and many similar scriptures, declare in the most positive terms that God acknowledges but one body. There is but one true church or assembly, just as there is but one God, one true God. Since we are called of Christ into one body, the call to join various bodies must proceed from antichrist. There is absolutely but one body, and one Christ its head.
Again, the church, or divine congregation, sustains the relation to Christ that a wife does to her husband.
And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord. Hosea 2:20.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Romans 7:4.
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. John 3:29.
For thy maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. Isaiah 54:5.
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. Revelation 19:7-8.
Here are six texts establishing this beautiful relation between Christ and his church. To admit, therefore, the idea of more than one church would impute to Christ the sin of polygamy. A shocking blasphemy!
But again we find the divine ecclesia recognized as his own family, his household. “Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” Ephesians 3:15. “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God.” Ephesians 2:19. Since no man can have two families—unless it be a case of living in adultery, having two women, and two homes, which were an abomination in the sight of God—therefore God has but one church, which is the holy family; and according to every description of her she must be but one. While there is a large sisterhood of apostate organizations, the bride of Christ is without a sister. Thus saith the divine husband, “My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother.” Song of Solomon 6:9.
Why then, someone may ask, do we read of churches in the plural number? It is true the word church frequently appears in the plural; but a little attention to the word will convince any honest mind that the church of God is only plural in its diversified geographical location, but in a variety of faiths and orders, never. Accordingly, the word never occurs in the plural except when speaking of God’s assembly located in several cities, or in various localities throughout a country or province. For example:
Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified. Acts 9:31.
And he went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches. Acts 15:41.
As I teach everywhere in every church. 1 Corinthians 4:17.
As I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 1 Corinthians 16:1.
And so ordain I in all churches. 1 Corinthians 7:17.
The churches of Asia salute you. 1 Corinthians 16:19.
They returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch; . . . and when they had ordained them elders in every church. Acts 14:21, 23.
In all the above instances, the word “churches” refers to the congregations of God located at various places throughout one or more countries, except the last, where it refers to the congregation in three different cities. That these churches were not separate sects is clear from the fact that they were all combined under the same rule of ministry. One inspired apostle enjoined rules upon them all; but we all know that no bishop of one sect has jurisdiction over another ecclesiastical order. By means of any complete concordance you may see that church is never once in the plural number when referring to the disciples of Christ in any one city. No matter how large the city and how numerous the believers, there is but one church of God in it. Hence, we read,
The church that was at Antioch. Acts 13:1
The church of God which is at Corinth. 1 Corinthians 1:2.
The church of the Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 1:1.
Unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. Revelation 1:11.
Thus you see there was only one church in one city; and the seven churches of Asia, so often appealed to in apology for men’s sects, were not seven sects in one town, but God’s one community located in seven cities. There is, we repeat again, not a single instance in the New Testament of more than one congregation of God in one place or city. Not one exception, where the word is plural, but what it alludes to a plurality of locations where the church exists, and not a plurality of denominations. Indeed, according to every characteristic of the divine fold, she is but one body in heaven and earth, composed of all those who are saved; and but one in her manifestation in any one place, composed of all in that place who are saved in Christ Jesus. And though under the apostasy there are today many bodies, many towering steeples, and rival altars, in every town and city, God’s Word is just as true today as when written by the inspiration of the apostles, and there is but one body in Christ. Romans 12:4-5. Yea, there is but one body universal in Christ, and but one body in Christ in Chicago, New York, or in any city on earth. Therefore, if “God be true and every man a liar,” it follows that the multitude of bodies seen in these last days occupying the same place, are not in Christ, not the one body of Christ. However, we frequently admit that individuals, who through erroneous education, dwell in these manifold factions, and also sincerely abide in Christ, are in the one body of Christ, notwithstanding their sect relationship; which, however, they are always ready to abandon when they properly discern the divine body into which God set them, and the rival character of the sect into which they are taken by man. The church of God is one in heaven and on earth; hence she is necessarily one holy family wherever she appears on earth.
UNITY IS ONE ATTRIBUTE OF THE CHURCH.
We have just seen that God’s church is one fold, one family, one body. We shall next prove from the Scriptures that her divine author demands perfect harmony in all her members, has fully provided for that unity, and forbids all divisions. The community of God is not only one body, but all divisions of that one body are condemned in the strongest terms. Let us hear the great Founder, as he pours out his heart in prayer to the Father, while already suffering the inward pains of death in behalf of his dearly purchased church.
Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are one. John 17:11.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:20-21.
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. John 17:23.
Three times over he earnestly implores the Father that all who believe on him, through the Word of God, which has come down to us from the hands of the apostles, should be one, yea, one, even as he himself and the Father are one. Are we Christians if we respect not those deep heart yearnings of Christ? Do we care for the salvation of this lost world if we are indifferent about this heavenly unity, which the “wisdom of God” foresaw, and declared essential to their faith in the divine mission of Christ on earth? The Lord knew very well that the citadel of the human soul is under the control of reason, and can admit nothing without the control of that high functionary. He also perceived that reason must pronounce division, discord, and all strife and confusion, inconsistent with a religion professed as emanating from God. Hence, that earnest and thrice repeated prayer, that we should all be one as he and the Father are one, that the world might believe that he was really sent from heaven to save men from their sins.
The language virtually implies that if this holy unity is not seen by the world in the professed family of God, unbelief would possess their hearts, and his death on their behalf would be largely frustrated. And have not his anticipations proved sadly true? Behold, the world is today rushing on to hell; and ever since strife and division has broken the sweet “one accord” of the primitive church, the gospel has been comparatively powerless to convict of sin and the judgment, and turn the souls of men from the ways of death. There is then a solemn and awful weight of importance connected with this divine unity. For this cause there is perhaps no one thing more frequently enjoined in the New Testament than the oneness of all believers; no evil more peremptorily forbidden than that of schisms; and no sin more strongly denounced than that of “causing division.” The apostles of the Lord, walking in the spirit and footsteps of their Master, continued the same earnest appeal for the unity of all who profess the name of Christ.
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.” 1 Corinthians 1:10.
For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28.
Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. Philippians 1:27.
Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Philippians 2:2.
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans. 15:5-6.
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul. Acts 4:32.
Here are five more positive commands in the law of God declaring the children of God to be “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment,” that they “stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” “That ye be likeminded, being of one accord;” not likeminded according to some man’s mind or creed; not according to the mind of the flesh, nor yet the edicts of some conference of preachers, but, “Likeminded one to another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God.” An earnest admonition is, “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.” For a refutation of the false statement that people can not see eye to eye; and for the confirmation of the Word and grace of God; and the encouragement of God’s saints in all subsequent time, it is recorded that “the multitude of them that believed, were of one heart and one soul.” Not simply a few were enabled to come into this unity for which Christ prayed, but the whole multitude of believers, and they numbered thousands. Now we confidently affirm that the same salvation will produce the same fruits today.
Not only did the apostles follow their teacher and Lord in demanding perfect unity in all believers, but they also show a holy abhorrence of all divisions. Accordingly, we are told that “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.” 1 Corinthians 12:24-25.
Here is a direct prohibition of all schisms, or divisions in the body of Christ. By the standard of truth all divisions among Christians are sinful.
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. Romans 16:17-18.
A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself. Titus 3:10-11.
But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 2 Peter 2:1-3.
It will be observed, in these texts we have classified together as all the same, “a man that causes divisions,” and “a heretic,” and such as bring in heresies. And now we shall prove the position correct. The word hairesis is a Greek term, found ten times in the New Testament. In the following instances the word is rendered sect: Acts 5:17; 15:5; 24:5; 26:5 and 28:22. In the first, second, and fourth instances it is applied to the sect of the Pharisees. In the third and fifth, the Jews, ignorant of the true and universal character of God’s church, called it a sect, the sect of the Nazarenes. As the disciples were nearly all from the Jewish nation, it is very natural that they should be looked upon as another sect of that nation. In all these instances it is clearly seen that hairesis is correctly rendered sect, which signifies a faction.
There are five more instances of hairesis in the Greek New Testament, which are not translated, we may say, at all, but transferred with the slight change of form into heresy, and heretic. They are the following: Acts 24:14; 1 Corinthians; Galatians 5:20; 2 Peter 2:1; and in Titus 3:10, where the word is hairetekos, referring to the sectarian instead of the sect. The word in Acts, “After the way which they call heresy,” is translated sect by Rotherham, Wakefield, A. Layman, Charles Thomson, H. T. Anderson, Bible Union, Emphatic Diaglott, Young and the New Version. 1 Corinthians 11:19, “For there must also be heresies among you,” is rendered sects by Thomson, Anderson, Bible Union, and Young; “parties” by Rotherham; “factions,” Emphatic Diaglott. The passage in Galatians 5:20, “heresies,” is rendered sects by Thomson, Anderson, Bible Union, and Young; “parties,” Rotherham; “factions,” Emphatic Diaglott; “divisions,” New Version. The word “heresies” in 2 Peter 2 is translated sects by Layman, Thomson, Anderson, and Young; “parties,” by Rotherham; “factions,” by Bible Union.
The word “heretic” in Titus 3:10 is translated as follows: “A man that causes divisions.”—Bible Union. “A fomenter of divisions.”—Wakefield. “A party man.”—Rotherham. “A sectary.”—Anderson. “A sectarian man.”—Young. So then it is clearly seen that a heresy is a “sect,” “faction,” “party,” or “division”; while a heretic is a man who causes divisions, foments sects; or he may be simply a “party man,” namely, one that holds to, and is zealous for a sect or party, or in plain words as rendered in the excellent translations of Robert Young of Edinburgh, Scotland, “A sectarian man.” So utterly abhorred in its nature, and ruinous in its fruits is the sin of party or sectarianism, that God’s true children are commanded to reject any one that is guilty of the same, after the first and second admonition: “Knowing that he that is such, is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.”
All these translations, even more clearly than the common version, prove that there is no sin more utterly abominated by the Word of God than that of sectism. Paul declared the Corinthians carnal, because inclined to sectism, one saying, “I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos.” 1 Corinthians 3:1-4. In Galatians 5:20 “heresies” is translated in plain English “sects”; in several other versions the apostle pronounces them “the works of the flesh,” and classifies them with adultery, fornication, idolatry, murders, drunkenness, revelings and such like. It is an awful fact, but there is in the Inspired Volume no sin mentioned that is more hateful in the sight of God; and it cannot be denied that sects are classified with the very darkest crimes. There must, therefore, be a way to escape this sin, and the judgments of God that will be visited upon such as are guilty of the same. The dreadful evil is surely not an unavoidable one. The very fact that God renounces it, and commands us to reject and withdraw ourselves from sectarians, proves that there is a foundation upon which we may stand clear. Let us see if we can find it. In the very prayer in which Christ so earnestly and repeatedly besought the perfect unity of all his disciples, and all who would subsequently believe on him, we find him laying down the
COMPLETE BASIS OF ONENESS.
1. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” “The men which thou gavest me out of the world.” John 17:6, 14. Here is the very first condition of entering into the required unity. This world is all cursed and confused by the malady of sin. The fall of the race which separated between man and God, also broke the human family into fragments and hatred and strife one against another; but Jesus came into the world and wrought a new creation. In it is peace, unity and harmony. But no man, morally speaking, can enter the new creation and abide at the same time in the old. Hence, no marvel that the mass of sectarians, who conform to the world in pride; love the world in covetousness, and run with the world in all its popular amusements and abominations still cry,
We must agree to disagree,
We mortals cannot hope to see
The Word of God just all the same,
Until we reach a higher plane.
Certainly not. But they need not wait the future to bring the higher state. Let them repent of their sins, deny themselves of the lusts of the flesh, and be saved out of this world by the transforming grace of God; then shall they have met the first conditions of discipleship, and also the first conditions of oneness. But in coming out of the old world of sin into what shall we enter and abide, as the
2. Condition of unity? “That they all may be one: as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us.” Verse 21. Here is an important condition and basis of oneness. We cannot hope to be one in any earth-born association; but we can, and must be one in God and in Christ. They put darkness for light, and light for darkness, who talk of joining some sect in order to be united. Every sect is a schism, and to join one is to partake of the sin of division which is so extremely hateful in the sight of God. Of course, many have done so ignorantly, not discriminating between the church which is of God, and the sect which is of man; and our compassionate High Priest can have mercy on them that are ignorant, and out of the way, if they are only willing to walk in the light when it shines unto them. If, then, we are to be one in Christ Jesus, they who are saved out of the world unto him, and abide there, walking in all his truth; and not allowing themselves to be enticed into anything else, the same stand upon the divinely appointed foundation of unity, and are free from the great transgression of schism. On the contrary, whoever professes the name of Christ, and yet allows himself to be drawn into anything else beside the Lord Jesus, the same will have to answer for the sin of division. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28. “So we being many are one body in Christ.” Romans 12:5. What excuse is there then for division? There is salvation in no other but Christ, and ‘‘ye are complete in him’’, completely saved, completely kept, completely supplied, and completely unified. Since, therefore, we are commanded to “abide in him” and in him we have all grace, peace and wisdom, oneness, happiness, and holiness; what but the will of the flesh and of the devil, can lead men to join themselves to anything else?
Says the devotee of sects, “It is utterly impossible for any one to bring the whole Christian body to this way of thinking.” That is all true, and accounts for the fact that every human institution has failed to unite all Christians upon the platform of its creed; but with all this admitted there still remains no excuse for divisions. Man’s inability does not overthrow God’s ability. It still remains true that the Lord Jesus Christ “is able even to subdue all things unto himself.” Philippians 3:21. It was not man but Christ who “made both one [i.e., Jews and Gentiles], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us.” Ephesians 2:14. And the same salvation will utterly break down and sweep out of existence every wall of modern sectism. “The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul;” and he who, by his transforming grace, wrought this beautiful effect at the beginning of his heavenly kingdom on earth, is able to give all who truly submit themselves to him the same “one mind” today. And, indeed, we shall show, in its proper place, that just now the Lord is gathering his holy bride from every ism under heaven into his own body, and fulfilling prophecy in giving them “one heart and one way.” It is God’s own doings, and man’s inability has nothing to do with it. The work of unifying the children of God is no more the work of man than is our salvation. We are all one in Christ Jesus.
3. The third provision of our oneness in the prayer of Christ was his fulfillment of the prediction of Isaiah 62:2. “And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory; and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” Here is a clear prophecy of the transition from the first to the second covenant; from the Israel that was born after the flesh, and was of the one nation, to the Israel that is born of the Spirit, out of all nations. The Jews as a nation rejected Christ, and the kingdom of heaven was open to the Gentiles. An entirely new order was then enacted, and old things passed away; and the people and church of God under the new covenant received a new name which was given by the mouth of the Lord. The same thing is again spokes of is Isaiah 65. In verse 12 is an awful picture of the destruction of the Jews. “Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer.” “And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name.” Verse 15. These scriptures were fulfilled when the Lord Jesus said, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world.” “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name.” John 17: 6, 12.
While men foolishly affirm that there is nothing in a name, the Lord God attaches importance enough to the naming of his church to constitute it a matter of prophecy; and he excluded all men’s attempts at naming it by pre-announcing that it should be “named by the mouth of the Lord.” There are many reasons why the naming of the church is a matter of vital importance. One object, however, is sufficient to speak of here. Thus prayed the man of sorrows, “Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me that they may be one, even as we are.” Verse 11, New Version. The word rendered “through,” in the common version, is en in the Greek, and is the same that is regularly translated in, all through the New Testament. Of twelve translations that are before us all render it, “Keep in thy name,” save the common version. Christ fulfilled the prophecy by manifesting the name of God to be the basis of the church title: and he prayed the Father to keep them in his name, that they may be one as he and the Father are one. Therefore, even in the name, perfect unity is provided for. The entire church is to be kept in the one name, as a means of its perfect oneness. While other names are not the chief cause of divisions, but more generally have come into use because the divisions have been fomented by some factious spirit, or false doctrine; nevertheless, party names contribute their share in the creation of parties, and oneness in name is one essential to the perfect unity for which Christ prayed.
To say that rival names do not help to divide, and perpetrate division, is to charge the Lord with nonsense. For why should he pray the Father to keep them all in his name, in order that they should be one as he and the Father are one, if their oneness would continue all the same under various names? In other words, if oneness in name is not essential to oneness in faith, life, and spirit, why did the Savior pray for the former as a condition of the latter? We admit that sincere, humble children of God may cherish much love and enjoy some fellowship with each other while under sectish names; but such names are inconsistent with Bible unity, prevent its manifestation to the world, and become a wedge in the hands of Satan to more and more separate and alienate. Yea, it is a fact clearly seen by spiritual men, that the sect names are real idol gods that men worship, and are exceedingly mad upon. But Christ has left no excuse for them; in giving the one name for the church to be known by, he provides for her unity and condemns all divisions.
“Keep them in thy name.” The holy apostles hold this prayer of their Lord in profound respect. Let us see how they understood and carried it out.
“Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:28. “The church of God which is at Corinth.” 1 Corinthians 1:2 and 2 Corinthians 1:1. “Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:32. “We have no such custom, neither the church of God.” 1 Corinthians 11:16. “Despise ye the church of God?” 1 Corinthians 11:22. “I persecuted the church of God.” 1 Corinthians 15:9. “Beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it.” Galatians 1:13. “For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 2:14. “We ourselves glory in you in the churches of God.” 2 Thessalonians 1:4. “If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” 1 Timothy 3:5. “That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.” 1 Timothy 3:15.
The simple word “church” frequently occurs without the qualifying part of the name; because there being only one church that is of God, it was not necessary to designate it every time by its full name. But that men should not attach some handle of their own to the divine community, we find it twelve times denominated the church of God, according to the prayer of the Savior that it should be kept in the name of God, the Father. And lest, indeed, men should ascribe this heavenly Jerusalem to some earthly god, once it is qualified in full, “The church of the living God.” This excludes all dead fraternities of the dead gods of the nations.
The name chosen by divine wisdom very beautifully acknowledges her relation to God in every respect. To her it is said, “Thy maker is thy husband.” Is it not proper and right that the heavenly bride should honor her husband by assuming his name? Again, the church is the family of God; she therefore naturally inherits the name of the Father. Because of both these relations, to assume any other name is an insult to the jealous God, who will not give his glory to another. “For this cause,” says the apostle, “I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; of [from] whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.” Ephesians 3:14-15. We have seen that the name was given by the mouth of the Lord Jesus, but is derived from the Father. This latter fact is clearly seen in the above passage correctly rendered; for the Greek preposition ez is defined the same as ek, and signifies, from, out of. Hence, it expresses the source, or derivation of the name. It is rendered thus in the Emphatic Diaglott: “For this cause I bend my knees to the Father, from whom the whole family in the heavens and on earth is named.” Thus, also seven out of the twelve versions render it.
We should also observe that this title, “The church of God,” acknowledges God as its founder, builder and owner. It therefore, not only lays an important foundation for the unity of all believers under the one, and only Scriptural, church cognomen, but it honors God as its author and possessor. Is there then no difference in a name? Would a title that does not indicate whether the church originated from, and belongs to, God, man, or the devil, do equal honor to God as that which ascribes it wholly to him?
The glorious institution that Jesus founded is a complete organization. But nothing could well take on regular organic form without designating its name. Therefore, about the first clause of every constitution of earthly compacts, reads something like this: “This society [corporation or joint stock company, etc.] shall be known by the name of,” etc. So when Jesus, the Son of God, founded his heavenly Jerusalem on earth, he put on record that this holy community must be kept in the name of the Father, which the apostles were inspired to word as follows, “The ekklesia of God.” In this one name her oneness is to be maintained. Whoever, therefore, imposes, or assumes any other church title, is not only guilty of disobeying the earnest desire of Christ, but is also guilty of creating or partaking of the enormous sin of schism. This is a matter of no small weight in the sight of God.
4. The fourth plank in the divine basis of oneness is the inspired discipline that the head of the church gave for its government. The Lord Jesus forever cut off all excuse for his professed disciples to usurp the headship of his church, by presuming to make laws and regulations for their own government. In the very prayer that pleads for their perfect unity he says, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” John 17:4. By reference to Deuteronomy 18:15-19 it is seen that one thing the Father required of him was to speak unto the people all his new covenant law. This he had therefore done. Yea, he saith, “I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me.” Truly, “I have given them thy word.” John 17: 8, 14.
Having already shown the perfection and infallibility of this divinely authorized discipline, we simply call attention to it here to show that nothing essential to the foundation of perfect unity is unsupplied. Had the founder of the church of God left her without a creed, or system of cooperation, it might have been taken for granted that men were left at liberty to draft such rules as they thought best; and so have an excuse for different creeds, and divisions that would arise there from. But Jesus has forever excluded all who would be lawmakers in the kingdom of heaven. By his inspired last will and testament he has put in quarantine every craft rigged by man in the harbors of great Babylon.
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Ephesians 4:4-6. What a beautiful picture of perfect unity! There is but one body; therefore, to start another is to go out of the one. One Spirit; to admit another is to give place to the devil. There is one Lord. This ignores all the lords, and high officials of sect-ism that resolve themselves into a rival head, and announce themselves, “The law-making power of the church.” “One faith,” the faith once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 3. By whom was it given? Answer: “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it.” Psalm 68:11. This clearly defines the prerogative, both of Christ and all his ministers. As head of the body, it is his place to issue all laws. As simple messengers of the Lord, it is the duty of his messengers to deliver and enforce his Word, without adding thereto, or taking there from one jot or tittle on pain of eternal banishment from his kingdom. How utterly different the province of ministerial duty, as portrayed in the Word of God, to that disgusting, God-dishonoring scheme of general and annual conference and assemblies of modern sectism, wherein they usurp the office of Christ, the “one lawgiver.”
There is “one faith, one baptism;” i.e., the one faith of the gospel is publicly professed in the one and same literal ordinance of baptism. Hence, when Satan infused party spirits into the disciples at Corinth, the apostle reproved them by three questions: “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?” 1 Corinthians 1:13. The idea is this: Christ is not divided, he only was crucified for them, and they all received the same ordinance of baptism. Hence, there was no excuse for division and infant baptism. They could not be divided without going out of Christ and inventing a different baptism. Therefore, it has come to pass that the modern factions “deny this Lord that bought them,” and substitute the sacraments of Rome for the ordinances of Christ; especially that wherein we testify our death to sin by burial with Christ in baptism. The Lord having given the same rule for all his disciples to walk by, and the Holy Spirit to guide each one into a knowledge of all this divine system of truth; there is here again, no possible excuse for division. Neither Christ, his Spirit, nor yet his Word cause divisions. They are all the result of carnality and subscribing to some tradition or creed of man, which make of no effect the Word of God. He, therefore, that subscribes to anything else, by the inspired Word is guilty of the sin of division in the sight of him who has made all provision for unity.
5. We now come to the great condition, and all-potent means of perfect unity found in the prayer of Christ. In the very midst of his four times repeated prayer that we should be “one as he and the Father are one,” he thus implores the Father: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” John 17:17, 19.
Here we say is secured to us the essential and all-sufficient means of producing perfect unity in all the body of Christ. First, we will trace the blessed cause and effect in its negative virtues. In 1 Corinthians 3:3 and Galatians 5:19-20, we see that factions or heresies are the works of the flesh, the fruits of the carnal mind. Entire sanctification heals all divisions by removing the cause; for it cleanses the heart from all unrighteousness. But there is a positive part to this all-sanctifying work of grace, namely, the infilling of the Holy Spirit; the return of Christ from heaven in the power of the Comforter, and bringing with him the Father, and all to abide in the church forever; thus filling his sanctified temples “with all the fullness of God.” While the perfect cleansing feature of the sanctifying grace removes all carnality, the cause of division; the all-pervading love of God, shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit that is given to us, brings all hearts into the same harmony that reigns in heaven, into perfect unity, as the Father and Son are one. This is expressed in these words: “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” John 17: 22-23.
The glory he has given to the church, which makes us one as he and the Father, he thus defines, “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.” The unifying glory is the indwelling God; for “the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” Isaiah 60:19. In Luke 2:32 Christ is declared to be, “A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” And again we read, “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.” 1 Peter 4:14. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, constitute the excellent glory that Jesus bequeathed to his church. Who dare say that this divine fullness is unable to produce the effect Christ said it would? But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.
From glory to glory, we receive the glory of the very image of Christ; namely, from the glory of justification into the glory of entire sanctification. “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14.
This very clearly shows that the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is the infilling of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. For our sanctification is “to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This glory makes us all one as the Father and his Son. “For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Hebrews 2:10, 11. Here again the glory, and the grace of entire sanctification are spoken of as the same, and perfect oneness is its sure fruit. Both Christ and all that are wholly sanctified by him are of one, yea, of one Spirit, of one mind, of one faith, of one heart and soul, and all in “one body,” of which he is the head, and we are members in particular. If, therefore, Christ and his apostle tell us the truth, we are forced to the conclusion that all who are not thus made one, and who yet plead for sects, are not sanctified, not in possession of the glory. But let us hear the testimony of the Word once more: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11-13.
Here again this beautiful fruit of perfected holiness is recorded; namely, unity. The various gifts of the ministerial calling are all given of God, and all center in the paramount object of the perfection of the saints; in which experience they “all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man,” a perfect body. Christ “made of twain [Jews and Gentiles] one new man,” a new church; and thank God, he has provided for the perfect holiness and unity of this church of the new covenant. The perfection of the saints is attained in entire sanctification (Hebrews 10:14), and “the unity of the faith,” its inevitable fruit. The language implies two things, i.e., they are all brought into the one faith, “the faith” once for all delivered to the saints. Second, they are not left in various and conflicting views and interpretations of the one faith. Nay, but the ‘‘unity of the faith,” implies one faith, a perfect uniformity in the understanding of the same. So we plant our feet on the sure Word of God and by its authority affirm, that God has made full provision, in every respect, for the perfect harmony in faith, life and teaching, of all who honestly wish to know the truth and obey the same. Therefore, perfect unity is a law and characteristic of God’s church in its normal condition.
But before we pass from this point, we must expose the perverse reasonings of modern heretics. In one strain of logic they affirm that it is all right that the Christian world is divided into so many different shades of belief, and variety of church organization; that thereby the gospel has been more extensively spread and more people evangelized, because everybody can find a church to suit him. And when the Word of God is brought forward to show that all God’s people should be one, they seek to cover the enormous sin of schisms by saying, “All God’s people are one.” Now while it must be admitted that there is a measure of inward fellowship, and a tendency to draw together, in the hearts of all who possess any degree of saving grace, it is equally true that there is such a thing as the sin of division. Had not Christ seen that it was possible for divisions to be brought in among his disciples, he would not have so earnestly prayed that they should all be one. It is also true, that while there are men and women in the various organized divisions who have passed from death unto life, they can only “Live at a poor dying rate,” while they are fenced away by the party names and creeds. As we have said, the tendency of all who profess any measure of the love of God is to draw together and assemble together; but this very inward bent of the Spirit of God is denied this course by the control of party interests, and party lords. And so the Spirit, grieved and hindered,
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D.S. Warner (1842 - 1895)
Daniel Sydney Warner is known primarily as a church reformer and one of the founders [1] of the Church of God (Anderson) and other similar church groups. He is also known for some of his songs which other church groups have incorporated into their hymnody. He is mostly known by only the initials of his given and middle name, D. S. Warner, which was typical for his time period.On April 22, 1881, Warner "came out" of all holiness associations, saying, "We were positively denied membership [in any holiness association] on the ground of not adhering to any sect. And now we wish to announce to all that we wish to cooperate with all Christians, as such, in saving souls—but forever withdraw from all organisms that uphold and endorse sects and denominations in the body of Christ." "Anti-sectarianism" would become a watchword for his followers for many years afterward. His detractors would call his movement, the "come-outers".