pline. The great principles on which they should proceed are unfolded, their duties are clearly pointed out, and commended to their attention. The principle that each church is a distinct, independent body, complete in itself for all the purposes of its visible union, is, in all these transactions, fully recognized, while the duty of mutual love, coöperation, and assistance is strongly urged upon them all.

Thus the principles which produced christian churches were gradually developed, and brought effectually to bear on men whose religious belief, prepossessions, and habits were altogether adverse to them. It could not be expected that principles adapted and intended to elevate the mass of mankind to the dignity and responsibilities of men, and to humble the aspiring, would be immediately embraced, or their excellence appreciated; and therefore this gradual development is a striking proof of the wisdom of the Saviour.

SECT. 6. Formation of a Church.

In what way, then, does a company of disciples become a church of Christ? What power, or what act is necessary to constitute a church on apostolic principles, after the materials are prepared? Or what is the formative, constituting element in the organization of a church?

Men have a natural right to associate by mutual agreement for the accomplishment of any innocent or useful purpose. In this way civil government was first formed, for mutual protection, and God owned the institution as one of his own appointment. The disciples of Christ have the right to unite themselves together in churches, for the promotion of their piety and the spread of the gospel, unless he has forbidden them in his revealed word. This he has not done. It is, therefore, from the nature of the case, proper that men should unite in a mutual, voluntary covenant for religious purposes. The objects in view are more important than those attained in the civil compact, in which men unite in a mutual covenant for a common benefit; and the act is as reasonable as necessary in itself. When the signers of the Declaration of American Independence, in the name of

a great people, pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honors, they entered into a covenant, by which this became a distinct nation. Its national existence originated in that covenant, and its rightful authority as a civil government is valid, and obedience to it is a scriptural duty. The propriety of entering into the church covenant is as much greater, as its objects are more important, than those to be attained in the civil compact.

Nature also teaches us that man is a social and a religious being. We first open our eyes on a world of beings of the same image, sympathies, interests, and frailties with ourselves. We incline to their society, we feel a need of their aid, we soon see that none of us liveth to himself alone. Each, too, finds himself, in common with all others, endowed with capacities for the worship and service of the infinite Creator. If men, therefore, meet in the halls of science and legislation because it is agreeable to their natures as well as mutually advantageous so to do, the same is true in relation to their religious concerns. And from the great strength of the social and religious feelings combined, when the latter are roused to action, men would feel inclined often to engage in acts of worship in company. The formation of churches, therefore, for united worship, is agreeable to reason, by supplying an obvious demand of human nature.

The reception of the doctrines of the gospel, including the promised gift of the Holy Spirit, furnishes, as has been already shown, additional bonds of union, of the most sacred and affecting nature. None but believers in Christ can be aware of the dreadful evil and danger of sin, of the desperate wickedness of the human heart, the infinite benevolence and compassion of God, the intense vicarious sufferings of Christ, the worth and danger of the soul, and the incomparable superiority of the concerns of eternity to those of time. The gospel, too, changes the hatred of men to love, their selfishness to benevolence, lifts their hearts from the sensual to the spiritual, and thus powerfully draws them together. Then the choicest promises of the Saviour are to united prayer, the most solemn vouchers of his presence to united

worshippers. His own example, sanctioned the principle of association, the solemn ordinance which commemorates his dying love, and the great transaction by which salvation was procured, must be observed by an associated company.

After the gospel had been preached a few years, we find inspired epistles addressed to churches, implying their right to exercise the power of discipline and exclusion, explaining the principles on which it should be done, and exhorting them to its performance. The Saviour himself, by his servant John, directed separate epistles to each of the seven churches of Asia, through their Angels or Pastors, recognizing the complete church power of each, and exhorting each to the performance of duties which belong to the church

state.

All the members of these churches became such by their own voluntary act. In other words, each entered into coyenant with all the other members, and thus became a part of the church. The faith of an individual convert to Christ did not of itself constitute him a member of any particular church, nor did his baptism, which is the universal badge of the christian profession, but his voluntary covenant to walk with that church, in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. Here, then, is the fundamental principle on which every true church was originally constituted; the mutual covenant of baptized believers to unite in sustaining the worship, the doctrines, and the ordinances of Christ, and that discipline among themselves which is according to godliness. The light of nature, the influence of the gospel, the example of the Saviour, the inspired references to churches, all sanction and confirm this view, and no precept or precedent can be found in the scriptures in opposition to it.

From this view of the subject it is evident that a suitable number of believers possess the right, at all times, in proper circumstances and from good motives, to unite themselves in mutual covenant to obey and execute the laws of Christ; and that, while they do so, they enjoy and exercise all the rights and authority which he has conferred on any visible church.

This may explain the reason why the Saviour did not, while on earth, form any visibly organized church. Had he done so, that church might have claimed preeminence over others, as the mother church, the only true church, or even the holy catholic church. But the Saviour neither in person erected a church, nor made it any part of the special duty of the apostles, nor even of ministers, and in virtue of their office, to form churches. He enacted the principles and laws, and left his people at large to apply them by forming themselves into churches according to their circumstances, by a mutual covenant.

Thus the reason why the whole church is the judge of the claims of those who apply to be admitted as members, is also plain. Without this mutual consent to the admission of members, there could be no covenant; for a covenant must, from the nature of the case, be mutual and voluntary. Any other mode of admission to membership in a church, therefore, than by the free consent of the members, would destroy this essential element of its existence. It might still be a body of professed or real christians, but it would not be a church of Christ according to the scriptures.

CHAPTER II.

PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN THE FUNCTIONS OF A CHURCH.

Christian churches, like all other affiliated bodies, possess and exercise certain powers in virtue of their associated capacity. Nations and voluntary societies adopt written constitutions to define and determine the extent of their corporate powers, and the principles on which they shall be exercised. The constitution of a christian church, on the contrary, is contained in the New Testament. To the model there sketched, by precept and by precedent, every church is under obligation to conform all its regulations and practices.

The principles on which the powers of an associated body

proceed depend on the nature and the objects of the association and the characters of its members. "If men were

angels," says a distinguished civilian, "they would scarcely need the form of government, if they were devils, they must be bound in fetters of brass, and as they approximate to the one or the other, so must their form of government and laws be modified." A prison cannot be governed on the same principles as a literary society, nor a company of soldiers by the rules of a parliamentary assembly. The objects of a christian church differ entirely from those of any other association of men. "My kingdom," says the Saviour to Pilate," is not of this world ;" and this he gave as the reason why he adopted a policy entirely different from every other king. It is evident, therefore, that an institution for objects diverse from all others, having nothing in common with worldly maxims of policy, must be governed on different principles.

But especially when it is recollected that a christian church, as has been shown, is composed of "a peculiar people," differing so entirely from all others that they are said to be "created in Christ Jesus to good works," "born again," to be "dead to the world" and "alive to God," to be branches of Christ, and "heirs of God," we should expect that when associated their constitutional powers would pro

ceed on principles essentially different from those of all other human associations. Unlike civil society, it is no part of their object in forming this union to protect themselves from each other, nor to acquire any temporal advantage. Love to God, love to each other, and love to all mankind; love in its highest, holiest exercise, is to be the all-pervading element in which they are to live and move, and in which all their acts are to be performed. As "love is the fulfilling of the law," and is a far better guide to duty than rules and penalties, a church formed on the principle of love needs but a few plain indications of the will of Christ for its guidance, and such only he has given.

When brought to the tribunal of an earthly monarch our Saviour declared himself to be the king of truth. The