Handbook of scriptural church principles and of Wesleyan-Methodist polity and history

Front matter

HANDBOOK

OF

SCKIPTUKAL CHURCH PRINCIPLES

Introduction

What need is there, and what Scriptural warrant, for a Handbook of Scriptural Church Principles and Polity ?

The Scriptures expressly enjoin the giving to the children of the Church a clear and satisfying explanation of the Church's institutions, appointments, and observances. The Bible assumes that the young will naturally wish to know the reason for and the meaning of such institutions, appointments, and observances, and that it is incumbent on their elders to be ready with such explanations. " It shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto yoa, What mean ye by this service ? that ye shall say," etc. (Exod. xii. 26). " Walk about Zion, and go round about her : tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces ; that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God for over and ever " (Psalm xlviii. 12-14). Note, the instruction of each successive generation in the principles, institutions, and history of the Church is here enjoined, and is connected with the continuity of the Church from generation to generation. " Sayings of old: which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done," etc (Psalm lxxviii. 2-7).

But is there any present necessity for such a Handbook ?

The necessity is very pressing. A hundred years ago, John Wesley wrote : " A more ambiguous word than this, the Church, is scarce

A HANDBOOK OP SCRIPTURAL CHURCH PRINCIPLES.

• to be found in the English language" (Sermon lxxiv. 1). And the various theories which have been originated or revived since those words were published — notably the Tractarian, the Broad Church, the Irvingite, and the Plymouth Brethren theories — have tended still further to confuse the Scriptural conception of the Church.

How may we gain true ideas with regard to the Church of Christ?

By consulting " the Scriptures of truth."

Why the Scriptures ?

Because the Scriptures are the only authentic and authoritative sources of information with regard to the purpose of the Divine Founder of the Church, and the principles and plan on which it was founded.

Since, then, there is a source of information on this question so trustworthy, so accessible, and so authoritative, how is the existence of so many conflicting theories as to the Church to be accounted for ?

Simply from the fact that the authority of Scripture has not been submitted to. Theories have been started to support the claims, assumptions, and pretensions of bodies of men, to justify the actually existing state of things in some community, or to suit the taste of individuals or classes of men.

Chapter I. The Scriptural Idea Of The Church

What, then, is the Church of Christ "according to the Scriptures " ?

According to the Scriptures the Church is the Society or Brotherhood founded by Christ Himself, for the embodiment, the preservation, and the propagation of His religion, and the carrying on and carrying out, in His bodily absence, of His own mission to mankind.

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How does it appear that the Church was founded by Christ Himself?

By His own express declaration, " I will build My Church " (Matt. xvi. 18). Besides, His object was not only to teach a religion, but also to found a Society. The whole strain of His teaching and the declared purpose of His Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension, and the Mission of the Holy Ghost, strongly pointed to, and rendered necessary, the formation and continuance of such a Society or Brotherhood.

What do you mean by a Society ?

A Society is an enrolled and privileged Brotherhood : (1) formed for an express purpose ; (2) with clear and fixed terms and form of admission ; (3) with mutual rights and claims ; (4) with regularly appointed officers ; (5) with privileged meetings of its members ; (6) with the power of excluding unruly or disreputable members, and deposing unfaithful or discreditable officers ; and (7) with the power to provide for its own continuity.

What Scriptural authority have you for calling the Church a Society, or Brotherhood, in the sense above defined ?

The proof of this is most conclusive. Christ Himself says to the members of His Church, "All ye are brethren" (Matt, xxiii. 8). In the Epistles, and the Acts of the Apostles, the distinctive name for Church-members is " brethren," "the faithful brethren;" and the appellation by which they are addressed is, "brethren," "holy brethren," "beloved brethren ;" and in a striking quotation from a prophetic Psalm, "the Church" and the "brethren" of Christ are given as parallel expressions. " 1 will declare Thy Name unto My Brethren ; in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto Thee " (Heb. ii. 12).

But is the Church an enrolled Brotherhood ?

That it was at the beginning is indicated by striking modes of expression; e.g., "The number of names together were about an hundred and twenty " (Acts i. 15) ; " Thou hast a few names even in Sardis " (Rev. iii. 4).

How do you prove that the Church is a privileged Society ? That idea is contained in the very word which our Lord chose by

1 A HANDBOOK OF SCBIPTUBAL CHUBCH PBDfCIPLES.

which to designate that Society, — the Church. The Greek word, Ecclesia, which, in our English Bible, is translated Church, designated the body of free citizens who were in exclusive possession of the franchise and all other rights of citizenship, in contradistinction to foreigners, and slaves, and outlaws who had forfeited the franchise by their crimes. The root-meaning of the word is, the called-OUt Hence the idea of privilege and distinction belongs essentially to the word, and could not but be conveyed by it. Promiscuous or indiscriminate inclusiveness is absolutely forbidden by the very term itself. Hence the word presented itself to the Greek translators of the Old Testament, from whom our Lord and His Apostles took it, as by far the aptest rendering for the Hebrew word which designated God's ancient people in their relation of special privilege to Him and to each other, in contrast with all other nations. That Hebrew word means the assembly called together, of which the root-idea is the same. The nearest possible English translation of the Greek word is, the called-OUt; of the Hebrew word, the Called-together. The Hebrew word had reference, in the first place, to the call of Abraham, and in the second to the calling of Israel out of Egypt. The latter call is especially alluded to by Hosea : ' ' When Israel was a child then I loved Mm, and called My son out of Egypt " (Hos. xi. 1). The word there represents the people of Israel as a community definitively separated from all other communities, and bound together by a common religious belief, a common worship, common religious festivals, and peculiar religious privileges. We need only instance the first and the last two cases of its occurrence in the Old Testament : Lev. iv. J 4 and 21 : "The congregation shall offer it. It is a sin-offering for

the congregation ; " Joel ii. 16 : " Gather the people ; sanctify the congregation ; " and Micah ii. 5 : " The congregation of the Lord." In searching for the nearest Greek equivalent for that word, the devout Jew could not take any word associated primarily with Gentile worship " which was idolatrous and unholy. It must also be remembered that the ancient Gentile states and cities were united by common religious rites as well as by political privileges ; so that neglect of those rites on, the part of a citizen was treason to the State. It is plain, also, from the New Testament and early Church-history, that the idea of indiscriminate inclusiveness in the Church was altogether foreign to the Church's mind. It first appears after Christianity became the religion of the State. The primitive Church was "the household of faith," a home ; not a hostelry, hotel, or public hall, as the Broad Church theory would make it.

THE SCRIPTURAL IDEA OP THE CHURCH. 5

Are there clear and fixed terms of admission into the Church ? If so, what are those terms ?

Those terms are : Repentance, faith in the ever-blessed Trinity, Confession of Christ, and Baptism. The commission of Christ to His Church is : " Go ye and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost," etc. "He that "believeth and is baptized shall be saved." The injunction of St. Peter on the day of Pentecost is: "Repent and be baptized every one of you " (Acts ii. 38). And this agrees with the preaching of John the Baptist ; and it follows the supreme precedent of our Lord's own ministry.

What proof have you that Christ founded His Church for an express purpose, namely, the embodiment, preservation, and propagation of His religion, and the carrying out of His mission to mankind ?

Christ's own declaration to His disciples after His resurrection : " As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you " (John xx. 21) Christ has delegated to His Church His work. (1) Of Invitation (see Parable of the Marriage Feast). (2) Of Teaching: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations " (Matt, xxviii. 18, 19). (3) Of Sympathy and Restoration : " Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness. Bear

ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ " (Gal. vi. 1, 2). "Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them, and them which suffer adversity," etc. "To do good and to communicate forget not," etc. (Heb. xiii. 3, 16). (4) The proclamation and the positive and effective announcement of pardon to the penitent believer in Jesus ; and the as effective denunciation of obstinate unbelief : "He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost : AVliosjsoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained " (John xx. 22, 23). All Church arrangements and modes of procedure must be made with a view to the fulfilment of this grand commission, and all Church polity must be judged of by this standard.

You say, " in Christ's bodily absence." Why do you introduce the word bodily ?

Because that is the only sense in which He is absent, or has ever gone away. Christ is not only the Founder of His Church ; He ia also its living legislative Head.

6 A HANDBOOK OP SCEIPTUEAL CHTJECH PKINCIMjES.

Then the Church cannot he a mere human society or corporation ?

By no means . That is the High Church and Broad Church blunder. The Church is not only an organisation ; it is also a living organism, of which the Spirit of Christ is the animating principle. Whilst outwardly, to human observation and history, it is an institution, inwardly it is a spiritual fellowship. It is the gathering together in one of Christ's disciples. In the beginning it was " the Lord " Who "added to the Church ; " and He added "such as were being saved" — were already under the influence of His saving grace. A faithful Church is the organ of Christ's Spirit. It is such in its disciplinary decisions : " If he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. For where two or three are

gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them " (Matt, xviii. 17, 18, 20). The Apostles and Elders, with the whole Church, say : " It seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to US " (Acts xv. 28). It is the Holy Ghost Who hath made all true pastors "overseers" of the flock of God (Acts xx. 28).

The Church is Christ's Body, the organism through and by which He still acts upon the world and carries on His own benignant mission. The work entrusted to the Church of Christ is such as utterly transcends all but Divine capability, all but Divine energy and enthusiasm : " The zeal of the Lord Of hosts shall perform this.'' And yet it is to be achieved by human instrumentality. His zeal inspired their breast who have " done exploits " in accomplishment of the Church's work. " The Lord working with them, and confirming the word," is the explanation given of the wondrous triumphs of primitive Christianity. "The Lord added to the Church daily." Behind the human agency was the Divine Power. Without this, the enterprise of the Church would be futile and fanatic. Whilst " always abounding in the work of the Lord,"— for it is His work, " the Lord's doing," and therefore " marvellous in our eyes," — and always engaged in "the wars of the Lord," the Church can never be cut off from its Source of supply 11 within the veil," except by its own treachery or cowardice. " Zion let not thy hands be slack ! The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save " (Isa. ix. 7 ; Mark xvi. 20 ; Acts ii. 47 • Zeph. iii. 16, 17).

Next to the contemplation of redeeming love, Church History is the entrancing study of the angels. " To the intent that now unto the

THE OFFICERS OF THE CHTJBCH. 7

principalities and powers in the heavenly places might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God." The Church is the great arena for the display of the Divine wisdom to the highest orders of intelligence.

What are the mutual rights and claims of the members oi the Church ?

Above all and through all, mutual love. This is also the outward badge or distinctive mark of living membership in the living Church, without which "disciples" must fail to be recognised as such by ''them that are without ; " as saith our Lord : " By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." From this mutual love flows mutual forbearance (Eph. iv. 2) ; mutual forgiveness (Eph. iv. 32) ; mutual instruction, admonition, and encouragement (Col. iii. 16) : mutual reception, i.e., frank and hearty recognition and admission to fraternal intercourse (Rom. xiv. 1, xv. 7) ; mutual comforting and exhortation and edification, i.e., building up in Christian knowledge and attainment ; and mutual oversight and incitement " to love and good works" (1 Thess. iv. 18, v. 11 ; Heb. x. 24, 25) ; mutual confession and intercession (James v. 16) ; and mutual burden-bearing (Gal. vi. 2). Add to this the obligation to part with even life itself in the interests of the brotherhood (1 John iii. 16).

The other essential elements of the Church as a Society will require more extended treatment.

Chapter II. The Officers Of The Church

The Pastorate, the Diaconate, the Mutual Ministry.

"What " officers " are to be regularly appointed in the Church ?

Every lawful voluntary Society has the acknowledged right to appoint its own officers. Our Lord Himself selected, appointed, and trained the earliest officers in His Church, as was meet ; and that at the very beginning of its formation. He " also named them Apostles."

"What is the signification, and what the significance, of the word Apostle ?

The Greek word Apostle means a person sent from some Power on some special mission, with special instructions, and with the special powers necessary for fulfilling that commission and carrying out those instructions ; whose office terminates when his special work is done. The English word which most nearly represents both the classical and the New Testament use of the word is, Envoy, or Plenipotentiary, or Commissioner.

What, then, was the special mission of the Apostles ?

It was (1) to bear witness to the historical facts, and to authoritatively proclaim and record the revealed eternal truths on which the Church is based (Acts i. 21, 22), and thus to lay the foundation of the Church, and be themselves, as it were, part of the first course of the erection (1 Cor. iii. 10, 11), in conjunction with the other specially inspired members of the Pentecostal Church (Eph. ii. 21, 22) ; (2) to institute offices, and appoint the first officers in the Church (Acts vi. 1, etc.) ; and also to lay down the rules of Church-life, and to indicate and illustrate the principles of Church government for all future ages ; and thus to exercise a permanent legislative function in the Church. At the beginning, for a short time, the Apostles were the only officers in the Church.

Have the Apostles any successors ?

No ; by the very nature of their office they could not have ; an Apostle being an envoy, plenipotentiary, or commissioner. The office of an envoy, commissioner, plenipotentiary, or apostle expires, as a matter of course, with the accomplishment of his commission. No one could bear witness to the historical facts on which the Church is based but those who had personally witnessed these facts. No one could " lay again the foundation" of the Church when once it was laid ; and " other foundation can no man lay than that is laid." Moreover, as the truths which they were authorized and empowered to announce form a complete system of perpetual obligation, and as, through their writings, they still rule the faithful members of the Church, they need no successors ; and any subsequent Apostolate would be a superfluity an encumbrance, an excrescence, and a usurpation. Hence it is an unquestionable historical fact that they did not appoint any successors in the Apostolate. Nor must it be forgotten that, as the Apostles had

THE OFFICERS OP THE CHURCH. 9

a special commission, so they were armed with special powers, which they did not transmit.

What, then, is to he said of, and what is to he said to, those Ministers in our time who claim to he successors of the Apostles ?

It is to be said of them that they are the dupes of a gross fiction, which is not only without basis in Scripture or in history, but is contrary to both the one and the other. It is an audacious afterthought resorted to for the purpose of propping up pretensions which cannot bear the touch of truth. What is to be said to these pretenders is, You say you are an Apostle. Make your vaunting true ; for our part, we shall be glad to learn of Apostolic men. Show "the signs of an Apostle." Produce your powers.

What offices did the Apostles institute ?

Two : (1) That of the Deacon, and (2) that of the Elder, Bishop, or Overseer (Acts vi., xiv. 23, xv. 2, xx. 17, 28 ; Phil. i. 1, etc.).

What are the duties of a Deacon ?

(1) These may be gathered from the occasion of the institution of the office. At first the Apostles had the entire control of Church affairs, temporal as well as spiritual. The contributions to the Church funds were "laid at the Apostles' feet" (Acts iv. 37). But this could only last for a short time. " When the number of the disciples was multiplied " (Acts vi. 1), the Apostles found the administration of the temporalities of the Church an unbefitting distraction of their time and thought from their directly spiritual duties, Preaching and Prayer (vers. 2, 4). They, therefore, with the concurrence of the body of the disciples, instituted a new office, and appointed and inducted the first offieeis, whom the body of the Church had selected (looked out) for the purpose.

(2) A deacon, according to the root-meaning and derivation of the term, and its use in the New Testament, is one whose duty it is to supply the wants, and attend to the comfort, of others (Matt. iv. 11, etc.) ; in fact, "to serve tables" (Acts vi.).

The qualifications indispensable in a Deacon are indicated in Acts vi. and 1 Tim. iii. 8, 9. These qualities are : An unblemished character, intense spirituality, the affection and confidence of the Church (Acts vi. 3), and the absence of that which would be especially perilous in one who had charge of Church funds, — luxurious and expensive habits, or a hazardous eagerness in the acquisition of money (1 Tim. iii. 3-8).

10 A HANDBOOK OP SCBIPTTTBAli CHTJBCH PBINCIP1ES.

What was the ground on which the institution of Church offices and the distribution of duties were made in Apostolic times ?

Fitness, or rather the unfitness of any other arrangement. "It is not fit," etc. (Acts vi. 2, R.V.). An office in the primitive Church was the result of a felt Church need, and a recognised gift in certain members for meeting that need.

Who in the present day hold the corresponding office to that of a New Testament Deacon?

The Officers of Finance, who, in some Churches, still bear the same name, but in other Churches are called Stewards.

What are the Scriptural requisites for the due appointment of Pastors ?

A striking and significant description of an ordination service to Church-rulership is given in Num. xxvii. 15, etc. : " And Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them*Out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the Lord he not as sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hand upon him ; and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation ; and give him a charge in their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may he Obedient." Here we have the essential elements of ministerial ordination : — (1) The Divine Call to the office : " Let the Lord set a man over the congregation." (2) The nature of the office — Leadership is Shepherdship. (3) The grand primary qualification for the ministerial office : " a man in whom is the Spirit." (4) The mode of induction to the office : the laying on of hands before all the congregation, and the giving him a charge in their sight. (5) The correlative duty of the congregation, and the object of all this solemnity of appointment : "That all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient."

The points to be guarded in Christian ordination are : — (1) The Divine call indicated by grace and gifts which God alone can bestow. (2) The right of the people to approve men admitted into the pastorate. (3) The solemn setting apart to the office of an elected

candidate by those who are Ministers already, after due examination and testing of his fitness by them, and a charge given by the highest officer of the Church, in the sight of the congregation, who are present as the representatives of the people generally, and are bound to be obedient. (4) The devolving of the ministerial office, with a solemn and expressive form, by the present holders of it on men who are to be first sharers in and then successors to that office (2 Tim. ii. 2).

What are the duties of an Elder, Bishop, or Overseer of the Church ?

The feeding and the oversight of the other members of the Church. Feeding implies preaching, teaching, and warning ; oversight includes watching and rule (Acts xx. 28 ; 1 Peter v. 2 ; Heb. xiii. 7, 17).

"Who in the present day hold the corresponding position to that of the New Testament Elders or Bishops ?

The Ministers, or the Pastorate.

What is the nature of the " rule " assigned to the Pastorate by the New Testament ? And what are the due provisions for the maintenance of rule and order in the Church ?

Our Lord has given to His Church, in the New Testament, directions amply sufficient for its guidance until His return. Pastoral rule must be : (1) Real and effective ; not merely nominal, inasmuch as its correlatives on the part of " the flock " are obedience and submission ; and on the part of the pastorate a strict responsibility to God for its exercise. Heb. xiii. 17 : " Obey them that have the rule over you and submit to them ; for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account." Christ's Ministers are armed with His authority for the preservation of order, health, and purity in His Church. (2) Not arbitrary or absolute ; not kingship or lordship ; but spiritual stewardship or house-rule. The Christian pastor is the House-father of his people ; his duty being that of providing, protecting, overseeing, regulating, order-keeping, and taking care that every member of "the household of faith" has, in a spiritual sense, plenty to eat and plenty to do, and attends alike to his meals and to his work. Luke xii. 42 : ■'' Who then is the faithful and wise steward whom his Lord shall set over His household, to give them their portion of food in due season ? " Ministers are entrusted especially with the providing spiritual food for Christ's household during His temporary absence. Luke xxii. 25, 26: "The kings of the Gentiles have lordship over them ; and they that have authority over them are called Benefactors. But ye shall not be so.'' 1 Cor. iv. 1 : " Let a man so account of us as of ministers " (literally, Underrowers, subordinates, i.e., men "under authority," namely, that of Christ, having others " under " them, like the centurion in the Gospel), "and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." Faithfulness or trustiness is the correlative of trust, and a steward is a confidential servant to whom is entrusted the management of a household or estate, and especially the dispensing of food and the allotment of tasks. Col. i. 24, 25, 28 : "The Church, whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation (literally house-rule) of God which is given to me for you ; Whom we preach, warning every man, and

teaching every man, in all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus." 1 Peter v. 1-3 : " The elders, therefore, among you I exhort tend the flock of God which is among you,

exercising the oversight, not of constraint, neither as lording

it over the charge allotted to you" (R.V.). A minister of Christ must know how he ought to behave himself in the " house of God, which is the Church of the living God" (1 Tim. iii. 15). Christ Himself is "a great Priesfr over the house of God" (Heb. x. 21 ; see also 1 Peter iv. 17).

What, then, is the extent of a Pastor's authority ?

A Pastor's rights must, of course, be co-extensive with his responsibilities : the latter are the measure of the former. Moreover, the same Word of God, which gives him his authority, also gives him his instructions ; and these instructions are not sealed instructions, but are open, and as it were posted up, to be known and read alike by himself and by his charge. His ministry is pre-eminently and prominently the " Ministry of the Word." He has not the slightest authority to impose on the people of his charge any doctrinal beliefs which are not derived from the Word, and provable by it. He has " not dominion over " their " faith " (2 Cor. i. 24). They are not bound to believe a syllable he says for which he can bring no proof from the document left alike for his guidance and that of the rest of the household. It is not only their right, but their duty also, to test his teaching by the written word. Acts xvii. 11 : " These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were SO." All other pastoral authority grows out of the ministry of the Word. Heb. xiii. 7 : " Remember them thti

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had the rule over you, which spake unto you the Word of God." God's people both may and must check his teaching, by the word of God. 2 Cor. iv. 2. Our Lord Himself is the "House-holder," the minister is but the House-steward. The Church of Rome is compelled to forbid or discourage the reading of the Scriptures by the laity, and to claim for the priesthood the right to put upon them meanings foreign or even adverse to their natural sense, and to elevate dogmas and decrees inconsistent with the Scriptures to a practical supremacy over the Scriptures themselves, because it cannot otherwise cloak its daring usurpations and its arrogant impositions. Such usurpations and impositions vitiate its worship. " Howbeit, in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men " (Mark vii. 7). They " make void the law of God " that they " may keep" their " own traditions." The greater part of the corruptions and cruelties of the papacy have grown out of the unscriptural exorbitance of pastoral claims, through the setting at naught of the express limitations which Christ Himself has put upon the power of those whom He has left in charge of His household.