QUES. 20. – Could you give us a little instruction on the rise of the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches? Some discussion as to their relative antiquity and claims upon the people of God has been going on here, and we have very little knowledge on the subject.

ANS. – We suppose you are well acquainted with the teaching of Scripture as to the origin of the New Testament Church, which is the Church of God, the Body of Christ. It began on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came from heaven (Acts 2). By the Spirit all who were then believers in the Lord Jesus were "baptized (or formed) into one body" (1 Cor. 12:13). They were thus livingly united to Christ in heaven, the Head of the Church, and to one another here on earth as fellow-members of that Church. The effect of this living unity is told in Acts 2 :41-47. Believers without exception since that time have been added to this same Body by the same Spirit, who is to continue here till the Lord comes and translates the Church to heaven.

For the building up of this Church, the Lord imparted various gifts, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers, with minor gifts for minor services.

In due time some of the gifts, forgetting their purpose was to serve the people of God, assumed a place like the rulers of this world, which the Lord expressly forbids (Matt. 23 :10-12). This made two classes of believers – a clergy and a laity. The clergy of the more important towns soon felt themselves above those of the smaller towns. Rome, being the capital of the Empire, the clergy there quickly acquired the ascendancy, until, under the Emperor Constantine, who associated the Church with the State, Popery (one of the clergy above all the rest) took a definite form, with its attending prelates, princess, lords, fathers, doctors – a shameless caricature of what the Lord Jesus intended the ministry to be. In no sphere of life may one find a greater measure of ambition, covetousness, intrigue and corruption than here. And this is what is called the Roman Catholic Church. It has no more claim upon God's people than a counterfeit check has upon the cashier of a bank.

"When, at the end of the fourth century of the Christian Era, the Roman Empire (do not confound the Empire with the Church) became divided, Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Empire, acquired great prominence, and a conflict arose between its clergy and that of Rome, capital of the Western Empire, as to which of the two would dominate. The result was a break, and the Eastern Churches, generally adhering to the bishop of Constantinople, founded together what is called the Greek Church, which differs but little in character from the Roman Catholic; for her parting from Rome was not through righteous and holy motives, as with Protestantism later on.

A strong effort is now in progress to undo the divisions of Christendom and unionize it, but God, His holiness, His Word, are left out, and while every Christian heart loves Christian unity, every honest conscience loves truth above all. Mere camp followers will yield anything to the enemy. They who have taken an honest stand with truth cannot yield it. To attempt to force their consciences is but to increase division. Separation from evil is a necessity, and the Lord will condemn the evil which made divisions necessary. When He assembles all the members of His Church to Himself above, at His coming for them, every wrong unconfessed here will be humbly confessed there, and nothing more will hinder the unity of the Spirit. The condition seen in Acts 2 will not only be restored but perfected, nevermore to be disturbed, and then will be witnessed by all God's intelligent creatures the glory of the grace that could form such a holy, heavenly unit out of sinners of every description.

We have said more than our space allows, perhaps. The subject is so large, so interesting, and so instructive too, if we will let history-the past experience-make us wise for the present.

We would advise you to obtain from our Publishers some of the ' books on Church History which they furnish at different prices. Read in the family during the long winter evenings they will enlarge the children's minds by giving them often sad but useful information.

QUES. 21. I have three questions I would much like to have answered.

1st. Would an assembly be right in inviting, or permitting a brother to preach the gospel if he liked, whose ministry is refused in the assembly, and whose present place is outside the assembly?

2nd. Should an assembly allow a brother to minister or exhort in its own meetings, if they cannot permit him to have meetings of his own for the gospel among them if he is able to preach?

3rd. Finally, Is there any distinction before God in these two services-in that practical godliness is not as absolutely necessary for the one as well as the other – that is, in ministry to the assembly, as in the gospel to sinners ? This distinction is drawn by some.

ANS. (1) It would depend altogether on the spirit or purpose of the preacher. If he be bent simply and only on the salvation of sinners, and if his being outside the assembly be not through discipline for evil somewhere and at some time, we see nothing contrary to the holiness which becomes the house of God to invite or permit him to preach the gospel. Yet complications are so liable to arise and work mischief that one is afraid of them. In such matters "it is of the highest importance to remember that in all that concerns the assembly as such, no dissenting voice should be forced. The unity of the Spirit should ever be diligently sought. We should be ready to own every gift the Lord has given, but beware lest their work identify its with something unholy. And there are not a few now-a-days who, while richly endowed with gift, are nevertheless dangerous men; taking advantage of an unsuspecting people, desirous to shun sectarianism, to introduce things among them which will require much painful labor to root out later.

(2) To do so would be lawlessness. One can hardly conceive of a brother not in communion ministering to those in communion.

(3) No one can minister the things of God aright who is not in happy communion with God. He who gave teachers for the Church also gave evangelists. Both alike must abide in Christ to exercise their respective gifts aright. Much harm is done by men who, themselves incapable of leading a sinner to Christ, relegate those who can, and are ready to endure the hardships which belong to that service, to a lower level. Lowering or despising any gift from the Lord is lowering or despising the Lord Himself. This is most serious. Paul, whose bodily presence was accounted "weak, and his speech contemptible," was no less a gift from Christ than the eloquent Apollos. There is a distinction, however, between ministry in the gospel and ministry in the assembly. The first is in the courts of the temple; the other in the sanctuary.