THE ONENESS OF THE CHURCH AND THE
By David Arnold
Means of God's Appointment for its Purification and Unity.
The grand leading design in God's plan of salvation evidently is, to bring out through the six thousand years of creation's groaning, a people "purified made white and tried," to people the earth made new. This people, John saw in vision, were "of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands." He also saw a new earth, after the first had passed away, on which was located the city which hath foundations, where God shall dwell with his people. Daniel was told that "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High." Isaiah saw "righteousness cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea." From these brief hints at the glorious design to be accomplished by the salvation of men, we turn to consider the means which God has instituted for bringing many sons to glory. When through lies and seductions Satan had succeeded in gaining an influence over the paternity of our race, and thus over the whole, the first development of salvation's plan was the promise of a Conqueror and Saviour who should in the sequel destroy the devil and all his works. Here then were arrayed two great antagonists, one to ruin, and the other to save mankind. The plans of operation for each to accomplish their designs we now propose to investigate. This opens a vast field for our research, should we enter into all the minutiae of operation adopted by each through the different phases of human society; we shall therefore content ourselves in this article with a brief survey of some of the leading plans of each. We find the Lord, after Satan's deceptive success, openly communicating with Adam and his posterity, promising a Saviour, whose blood, or life, [see Gen. ix, 4.] should atone for sins repented of; hence the acceptance of Abel's bloody offering, and rejection of Cain's without blood. Here commenced the shedding of blood by which the patriarchs and ancient worthies carried out their faith in the atoning blood of a coming Messiah. When the people of God had increased to a nation, God again personally communicated to them a system of typical services adapted to their condition as a nation, that they might keep in memory till the great antitypical sacrifice should be slain, the blood that could atone for sins. Another important plan manifest through the entire length of the Patriarchal and Mosaic dispensations, was a system of communication by which the Lord transmitted his will to man. The principal modes of communication were these: First, personally, by his angels or himself; Second, by visions; Third, by dreams. Those to whom communications were thus made were of both sexes, and were termed prophets and prophetesses, and were required to transmit faithfully to those for whom the communications were given, either by oral declaration or a written transcript. Some of these communications were of special benefit to those then living; others did not profit them, but were to be written for us on whom the ends of the world have come. Hence the words of Paul. 1 Cor. x, 11. "They are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." Also of Peter, [1 Pet. i, 12,] "Not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister." We have in the Old Testament a history of the communications God made to the ancients personally, and by visions and dreams, to bring men to a knowledge of God and his plan of salvation; and, by faith in these communications and a corresponding action, "They subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection." Thus we have briefly sketched a faint view of the great plan of God's appointment for the salvation of fallen man, from the day of his fall to the shedding of that blood which is efficacious in atoning for the sins of the world. A system which if carried out as above shown, made men holy and fitted them for a part in the first or better resurrection. The character, sex and station in society of those whom God saw fit to choose as prophets or mediums of communication, we shall hereafter consider. We now pass to notice some of the plans of the destroyer, whose object ever has been since the creation to ruin mankind. The titles given him in Scripture are sufficient of themselves to show his character and modes of action. Some of them we will notice as explained by Butterworth. Devil—calumniator, slanderer, accuser. Satan—contrary, an adversary, an enemy, an accuser. From these traits of character we could expect nothing from him, or those in affinity with him, but a plan of action directly the reverse and subversive of all the schemes for salvation. Consequently, when the earth issued from the hand of its Maker, spread out in all the loveliness of Eden beauty, and man in the perfection of creative skill, holding universal dominion over this empire of innocence and peace, Satan sought his ruin. Knowing that man's title rested on a test of fidelity to his God, he laid the deceptive plan to cause him to violate the terms, and thus plunge himself and his posterity in ruin. Succeeding, alas! too well, it brought the necessity of the adoption of the plan of salvation, as hinted at above. From that time to the present, Satan's work has ever been to counteract and destroy. When Abel's bloody offering met the divine favor because offered in faith of a Saviour's blood, Satan planned his death. When those to whom God communicated his will, faithfully bore testimony to the same, Satan was ready to destroy both it and them. When the Lord had one prophet, true and faithful to his trust, (Elijah the Tishbite,) Satan had four hundred and fifty, and here showed his spirit of accusation through wicked Ahab, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" How much like Ahab are some in these days because their wrongs are exposed. Another instance of the malice of the Devil, and his servant, against one of the faithful prophets, is recorded in 1 Kings xxii. Because he did not prophesy according to the desire of the wicked king of Israel, who said, "I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil," and for the faithful declaration of what the Lord had shown him in vision, he was imprisoned, to be fed with the bread and water of affliction. Jeremiah, a true prophet of the Lord, for a like offence shared a similar fate. Jer. xxxviii. Many are the instances on record where the Lord communicated for the special benefit of his people, by dreams, visions, &c., and Satan was ever ready to oppose by false dreams, false visions, witchcraft, divination, enchantment, necromancy, &c., &c. But we hasten to pass from the four thousand years of typical services pointing to the cross, to consider the instituted means of grace reaching from the cross to the perfected state of the church, when Christ shall "present (or gather) to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing: but it shall be holy and without blemish." Here then, dear reader, let us take our stand on Calvary's summit, at the cross, and fix our eyes on the bleeding Sacrifice, whose life was made an offering for the sins of the world. From this view, turn your gaze in retrospect over the four thousand years of sacrificial blood-shedding, even back to Abel's offering, and you behold a system of typical services which in its very nature is calculated to keep in memory and inspire living faith in the efficacy of a Redeemer's atoning blood; a system of ordinances every way calculated to present in figure to the mind of the observer the yielding up of the life of the Son of God, his resurrection and entrance into the heavenly sanctuary, his work in "the holy places," his "cleansing the sanctuary," laying the blotted out sins of all God's people, the ransomed church, upon "Azazel," the scape-goat, thus finishing the work of high priest. Thus the Jews were made acquainted with the great system of salvation. To them were also given on tables of stone, laws of moral obligation, growing out of man's relation to his Maker and to his fellow man, leading him by their just claims to regard the rights of both. These laws are based on the immutable law of love, and are the foundation, or constitution, of all moral obligation, and were defined and specified by God himself on Sinai's trembling summit. These, in connection with the typical ordinances,250and special communications above shown, constitute the great system, by which, through faith and obedience, the Patriarchal and Mosaic church will find "a better resurrection," and a glorious inheritance in the earth made new. In passing from the typical to the antitypical dispensation, we are led to inquire, how much of God's plan of salvation was transferred from the old to the new? or, in other words, how much was thrown out as null and void? By a careful examination, we find that all laws of a typical nature were ordained to continue till the antitypical Sacrifice should be slain; consequently, being laws of limitation, must expire at the cross; but all laws of a moral nature, growing out of the relation of man to his God, and to his fellow man, were ordained to last as long as these relations should endure. Hence the words of Christ when speaking of the moral law, [Matt. v, 17, 18,] "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." Paul also makes a distinction between the typical laws and the moral, where he calls one a yoke of bondage, the other holy, just and good. It then remains as a necessary conclusion that the moral law, or law of ten commands, passed from the old to the new dispensation, without a change of one jot or tittle of its penal or remunerative obligations, as written by its adorable Author on Sinai's mount. "Said God's beloved Son, would ye secure
Eternal life? keep the commandments pure." Having seen what portion of the laws of the past dispensation remain unchanged, and what were nailed to the cross, we will notice the special ordinances or laws instituted for the observance of the Christian church. The ordinances of the Patriarchal and Jewish church were for the special purpose of keeping in memory the efficacious sacrifice to be made for the sins of the world; and by a faithful observance of these ordinances they showed their faith by their works, and thus took hold of the atonement. So in the Christian church, Christ instituted ordinances to point back and keep in memory his death, burial and resurrection; for on these hang our salvation as well as the salvation of the Jews. The ordinances, in themselves considered, have no life in them, but are to be observed as emblems, or representations of the bruised body, spilled blood and resurrection of Christ, without which we could never attain to eternal life. Therefore we see a fitness, not only in all the ordinances of the Jewish church, but also in the Christian. Says Paul, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." 1 Cor. xi, 26. Also in reference to baptism, (upon which so much has been written,) Paul places it in its clear light, [Rom. vi, 3, 4.] "Know ye not that so many of us as are baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead . . . we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." As the wave sheaf pointed the Jewish church forward to Christ, the first fruits of the resurrection, so baptism points to, or represents the burial and resurrection of Christ, which is the sure pledge of the great resurrection harvest of the saints. Thus the ordinances of both dispensations point directly to Christ's sufferings, resurrection and services, as the only hope of salvation for fallen man. Other ordinances of minor import might be noticed, but we omit them at present and inquire, Has God placed in the Christian church the same mode of communication which he practised anciently, to comfort, direct and correct those who honestly err from Bible truth? Were we to reason from analogy, we must conclude that those living after the death of Christ being still in a state of natural depravity and alienation from God, would need the teachings of the Holy Spirit as well as those who lived before his death. But we are not left to analogical conclusions only on this point; "we have a more sure word of prophecy whereunto we do well to take heed." "The Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret to his servants the prophets." Amos iii, 7. The prophet Joel had it revealed to him that in the last days God would "pour out his Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." Here is a definite promise that in the "last days" God will prepare by the out-pouring of his Spirit, his servants and handmaids for prophesying; and this is done by dreams and visions. Precisely the same cause producing the same effect it did anciently. No change in any respect whatever from the mode of communicating with his people by the prophets of old. "But," says the objector, "did not Peter tell us this prophecy of Joel was all fulfilled on the day of pentecost?" I do not so understand him, neither does Paul favor that idea. That Peter declared it to be the same Spirit of which Joel spake, I freely admit; but that it did cause them to dream on that day, or that there were seen wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke, or that the sun was turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, or that the "Comforter" there performed all his office-work, are hap-hazard conjectures, unwarranted by Scripture, or reason. Let us abide by this word, although it give the lie to all human creeds. We will hear Paul's testimony on the oneness and gifts of the Christian church. Eph. iv, 4. "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." After thus defining the union and oneness of the true church, he goes on to explain the gifts and callings bestowed upon the church, at or near the ascension, for its perfection; and these gifts and callings were not to cease with the apostolic church, as we shall hereafter show. "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." When did Christ give these gifts? "When he ascended up on high, he led a multitude of captives, (margin) and gave gifts unto men." What were these gifts? "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors, and teachers." What did he give them for? "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body (or church) of Christ." Well Paul, were not these gifts, and especially that of prophesying, to end at the day of pentecost? or at farthest, with the apostolic church? or how long were they to continue? "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." Here we see, according to Paul's own words, that he looked beyond the day of pentecost, or his own day, even to the "last days" where the church should be perfected, for the exercise of the gifts of the Spirit to bring the church where she can be "presented (or gathered) to Christ, a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. Let us examine these gifts and see if they bear any resemblance to the gifts of the church before the cross. First, "he gave some apostles." Apostle, according to Butterworth, and also Webster, is a messenger sent on some special errand. As proof that the gift of apostleship was to continue till the end of probation, see Matt. xxviii, 20, where Christ told the eleven, "Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Second, "some, prophets." Prophet—a person illuminated, inspired, or instructed by God to announce future events; an interpreter, one that explains, or communicates sentiments.—Webster. Prophets anciently were persons used as mediums of communication from God to men, both for the present use and future benefit of the people of God, and were of both sexes, as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, &c. They were generally persons in favor with God, but subject to like passions with others. Sometimes the Lord chose the king on his throne, at other times a captive exile in a distant land, at another a child who "did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him," to communicate his purpose to an old, gray headed high priest. It was not the medium that gave validity to the message, but a thus saith the Lord. The mode of communicating to these prophets we have before shown was by dreams, visions, and personally, by himself or his angels. For further proof that God has instituted for the Christian church the same mode of communication which he practised anciently, we will cite you to the visions of Saul and Ananias, recorded in Acts ix, one year after the ascension. The visions of Peter and Cornelius, [Acts x,] eight years after Christ gave gifts to men, also the direction that Paul had through vision to go over into Macedonia, twenty years this side of where Christ gave prophets for the special benefit of the Church. Acts xvi. Paul also through vision had the assurance that God was with him, and none should hurt him while at Corinth. Twenty-six years after Paul commenced his ministry, he records a vision that he had fourteen years previous, in which he knew not whether he was in the body or out, but was caught up to the third heavens, and heard "unspeakable words." He also speaks of the abundance of the revelations he received. 2 Cor. xii. John also on the isle of Patmos saw many things, and says, "I was in the Spirit," and in chap. ix speaks of seeing in vision. These were all given since the ascension, by the direct influence of the Spirit, or Holy Ghost, poured out, not at the day of Pentecost, but as the circumstances demanded; and thus they were prepared to prophesy, to communicate intelligence from heaven for the benefit of man, and the advancement of the church. Thus we see God's plan of communicating with fallen man unchanged from the days of Adam to "the last days," where salvation's work will be completed. "But," says one, "did not Paul to Timothy say, The Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salvation, and to thoroughly furnish us unto all good works?" Truly; but was the great and perfect system of revealed truth calculated to lead Paul to go over into Macedonia without special teaching? or direct Ananias to the house of Judas to find Saul of Tarsus? Here were important duties to be performed in perfect keeping with the revealed word; nevertheless it needed a direct revelation to lead to the performance of those duties. So in all stages of the church, whether ancient or modern, whether in the days of Enoch, Moses or Paul, or in the "last days," when "Satan is working with all power, and signs, and lying wonders," and men have forged up their "Six hundred three score and six" systems of religious faith, God's plan is to "pour out his Spirit," not only upon the sons, but also upon the daughters," and they shall prophesy. How timely is the admonition of Paul when writing "for us on whom the ends of the world are come," "Despise not prophesying." To what an alarming extent has the sentiment obtained that direct revelations from God all ceased at the completion of the New Testament, and thus many are left to despise prophesying. Even in the Advent church, some reject this important gift of the church. Some for want of light on the subject, others, no doubt, like Ahab the wicked king of Israel, who said of the Lord's prophet, "I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil;" and had they the power of Ahab, no doubt would say, "Put this fellow (or person) in prison, and feed him with the bread and water of affliction." And what must be the fate of those who, like the wicked king, reject the counsel of the Lord because it does not agree with their selfish views, and reveals some of their errors, and in their blind zeal would strike a death blow to one of the most important gifts of God, for the perfection of the251church. Apostles may go forth to proclaim their special messages, evangelists may publish and preach the gospel of the kingdom from church to church, pastors may feed and watch over their flocks, teachers may instruct, but without the prophets, the efforts for the perfection of the church would be marked with human creeds, human zeal, human wisdom, human union, and human imperfection. No wonder that Paul was inspired to say to his brethren who should live in the days just before the coming of the Son of man, "Quench not the spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things, hold fast that which is good." Having shown briefly, and imperfectly, some of the general features of God's plan for the salvation of Adam's lost race, we pass to notice the destroyer's plan of operation since the cross. Here too, having passed our intended limits, we can give but a faint glimpse of the thousand snares and devious winding paths Satan has marked out to decoy to ruin. He has not only contrived "to change times and laws," by causing men to change the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, thus causing them to "transgress the laws, change the ordinance, break the everlasting covenant," [Isa. xxiv, 5; Ex. xxxi, 16,] but he has also struck at the ordinances specially designed for the Christian church to keep in memory the atonement wrought out by the death and sufferings of Christ. The appropriate emblem designed to keep in memory the burial and resurrection of Christ, he has also caused to be changed to sprinkling, thus wholly perverting its use. He has also succeeded in dividing and subdividing the opinions of men in reference to the truth of the Bible, that the number of the mother beast and her children may be set down at six hundred three score and six; and in this diversity of creeds he has almost universally incorporated the erroneous doctrines of man's present possession of immortality, and a conscious existence between death and the resurrection. Thus he has paved the way and enlarged the broad road for the introduction of his last and most powerful engine for drowning men in perdition, and preventing them from making "the Lord their refuge and his truth their shield and buckler." By psychology, mesmerism, and the spirit manifestations, he is now binding in strong delusions thousands who have rejected the truth of the near coming of Christ. By these also he is working "with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness," producing false dreams, false visions, false miracles, and false prophets; and those who reject the light of truth cannot discern the true from the false. Thus he has caused "darkness to cover the earth, and gross darkness the people." In this state of things, when the three unclean spirits of devils are working miracles, going forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, how necessary that God should for the comfort of his people, and to correct those who err from Bible truth, fulfill his promise, and pour out of his Spirit in these "last days." Here it may be asked, how shall we know the teachings of the Holy Spirit from the teachings of the spirits of devils? Not by the exhibition of miracles, or some strange phenomena, for these, we are informed by the revelator, the spirits of devils will do; but Christ said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." Isaiah gives us an infallible test, "To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Chap. viii, 20. Again the inquiry meets us, Are not the teachings thus given, a test of christian character? or, to put the question in a more definite form, Should the Lord through the direct influence of the Holy Spirit show in vision that a professed brother in the church had committed theft, would not this vision be a test of christian character? We answer no, and offer the following reason: "Where there is no law there is no transgression," consequently all transgression is tested by law; therefore the testimony from heaven of the committal of the theft bears no part in determining, or testing the enormity of the act. For this we must appeal to law. And now, dear reader, suffer me to exhort you to examine carefully and critically this important part of God's plan of salvation, before you oppose a work of such vital interest to the church in these "last days." And may the God of all grace, to whose protection we would commend you, so preserve you from the dangers of these "perilous times, that you may avail yourself of all the means of God's appointment for your purification and unity with the one "hundred forty and four thousand," which shall be redeemed from among men. Fulton, Oswego Co., N. Y., June 1st. 1855.