1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



601 



tent among- the loyal forces of Christ, otherwise you 

 may mislead men rather than save them. If you are 

 going to build a tire upon the shore, so that some 

 lone fisherman, lost in the darkness upon the sea, 

 will be attracted by it and steer toward it, it makes 

 all the difference in the world where you locate it. 

 You may think that you know a hitter spot to place 

 it than that where it is usually built— it may be a 

 loftier place, and the glare of the fire may reach out 

 further across the sea— yet how do you know but that 

 in steering for that point the vessel may be dashed 

 to pieces upon the hidden rocks, while the path of 

 the sea is clear to the other point? If hundreds of 

 fishermen have been guided aright by the light 

 when stationed at the accustomed place, is it not 

 wiser to build there than to risk the dangers of an- 

 other and an untried point? The church is the 

 lighthouse of God. If you have a brilliant light 

 place it there, and not upon another rock, or you 

 are almost sure to mislead the seaman who is seek- 

 ing guidance to the harbor of peace. 



IV. Still another answer why, if we are Chris- 

 tians, we should join the church, is, Because it's our 

 plain duty, Christ has commanded it; and when 

 Christ commands, there can be no question as to 

 what is right. Do you ask a place in the Bible 

 where he commands it? Turn to Matt. 28: 10. There 

 you read: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 

 baptizing them;" or, " make disciples of all nations, 

 baptizing them." The followers of Christ are com- 

 manded to "disciple," or "convert," all nations; 

 but they are just as plainly and emphatically com- 

 manded to " baptize " them. Both obligations are 

 placed upon them. Now, if it was the duty of the 

 disciples to baptize their converts, inversely it was 

 the duty of the converts to bi baptized. Read this 

 same command as given in Mark 16:15, 16: " Go ye 

 into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 

 creature. He that believeth and i» baptized shall be 

 saved." We hold, of course, that those who be- 

 lieve and die without the opportunity of being bap- 

 tized, are saved; but who can doubt, from these 

 passages, that it is the duty of those who believe, to 

 b< baptized? Now, what is baptism, objectively, 

 but the mark of reception into the visible church? 

 The command, then, to be baptized, is identical 

 with the command to join the church. 



Take into consideration another passage: Paul, 

 in the words of the institution of the Lord's supper, 

 quotes from Christ the command: "This do in re- 

 membrance of me " (I. Cor. 11:25). Every disciple 

 of Christ is directed to "show forth the Lord's 

 death "by participating in the celebration of the 

 Lord's supper. Now, there are many who believe 

 that none should partake of the Lord's supper un- 

 less they have first become members of the visible 

 church of Christ. That is my belief. The sacra- 

 ments of the church should be confined to the mem- 

 bers of the church. Especially if one neglects or 

 despises church-membership, I doubt if he has a 

 right to this sacrament which Christ instituted for 

 a remembrance of himself. How, then, can one 

 obey Christ's command to thus "show forth his 

 death " unless he joins the church? He is simply 

 living in disobedience to one of Christ's plainest com- 

 mands. Still another passage demands our consid- 

 eration. In Matt. 10:32,33, we find the words of 

 Christ: "Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me 

 before men, him will I confess also before my Fa- 

 ther which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny 

 me before men, him will I also deny before my Fa- 



ther which is in heaven." Who, after reading those 

 words, can dare to hope that Christ will confess us 

 before the Father if we do not confess him before 

 men? 



"But," you say, " I confess Christ with the life, 

 and not with the mouth— actions speak louder than 

 words." 



So far, so good. We don't want the mouth-con- 

 fession without the life-confession, to be sure; but 

 Christ wants both. In this plain passage, we have 

 no right to read different meanings into the word 

 "confess," according as it is applied to ourselves or 

 to Christ. When Christ says, " Him will I confess 

 before my Father," he means a confession of the 

 mouth. So when he says, " Whosoever shall con- 

 fess me before men," he likewise must mean a con- 

 fession of the mouth. If we expect that Christ will 

 say of us, before the hosts of heaven, at the last 

 day, "This is my child," we must say of him now, 

 before men, "This is my Savior." 



Now we are ready to read that wonderful passage 

 in Rom. 10: 9, 10, and read it understandingly : "If 

 thou shall confess in'M thy mouth the name of the 

 Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that 

 God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be 

 saved. For with the heart man believeth, but with 

 the mouth confession is made unto salvation." You 

 can fully obey the commands of Christ only by 

 coming out boldly before the world and joining the 

 church on confession of your faith in Christ. To 

 confess Christ bv the daily life, to speak a word for 

 him in private, to take an occasional part in the 

 service of prayer— all this is excellent, but not suf- 

 ficient. If we would be partakers of the full and 

 free salvation of Christ, we must make the freest 

 and fullest confession of him, before the world, 

 that it is possible for us to make; and to this end 

 we must be added unto the church with those that 

 are being saved. Thus does it become us, in imita- 

 tion of Christ, to fulfill all righteousness. 



The answers to be given to the question, " Why 

 should those who call themselves Christians join the 

 church?" are thus seen to be: 



First, because the church-membership helps one 

 on in the Christian life. 



Second, because one thus identifies himself with 

 the means God has ordained for the advancement 

 of his cause. 



Third, because thus alone can one let his light 

 fully shine for Christ. 



Fourth, because it is a plain duty, Christ having 

 commanded it. 



These answers should come with convincing force 

 to three classes: 



First, to those who have just started in Christ's ser- 

 vice. Shall such join the church? By all means! 

 Where else could they go? Where shall the prodi- 

 gal return but to the father's house? Where shall 

 the reclaimed lamb be taken but back to the fold 

 from which it had wandered, and there be safely 

 sheltered within? If left without, it is almost sure 

 to wander away again. Some question whether it 

 would not be better for them to wait awhile, to see 

 whether they will persevere in their Christian I i vt s. 

 Emphatically, No! That is planning for defeat. 

 Leave the lamb without the fold over night to sec 

 if it is inclined to run away again? Others think 

 that they will delay uutil they feel more worthy to 

 come. If they wait for that, we hope and believi 

 that they will never come. We never want to feel 



