(Continued from p.380.)

One of Paul's most solemn utterances was that made in his address to the elders of the church at Ephesus in Acts 20. Note especially vers. 29, 30:"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."

Thus the Church was attacked from without and within. We have glanced at the persecutors, let us look at the troubles from within, those arising either from the errors and failures of believers in Christ, or from the evil works of those who were received into the Church (outwardly) without being saved. Only believers make up the real Church of God on earth. Unbelievers and those who only have a belief of the head and not of the heart may have their names on the church rolls, but have never entered the real Church of God. That is entered only by faith in Christ, as the only Saviour from sin. Whenever and wherever the early Church had rest from persecution, as it did sometimes for years, it showed such power and attractiveness that many sought to enter, and did enter, who were unbelievers, whose hearts were in the world, who had no sense of sin, knew nothing of forgiveness except in name. Scripture was much used in the early Church, but there arose very early a strange misunderstanding of John 3:5:"Born of water" was applied solely to water baptism, and there speedily grew up the doctrine that those were born again who were baptized. Then the step was easy to have faith in the water of baptism instead of in the blood of Christ, and thus true salvation and the power of Christ to save from sin were lost sight of. Then followed the strange teaching that if little children were baptized they grew up Christians, while those who were not baptized were lost. The power of salvation was transferred from the blood of Christ to the water of baptism, and that was imagined to have power to save the soul.

The inevitable result was that hordes of unsaved unbelievers crowded into the so-called Church and swamped it. From a divine institution it became a religion of the world. Christians are saved by hearing the gospel and believing on Christ. They are born again by the Word and the Spirit. But this was completely set aside as the years went on. It was not a sudden change, but gradually transformed the Church. Preaching ceased and instruction in doctrine took its place. The children of those in the Church were first baptized, and then, as they grew older, they were instructed and taken into the organization. The priesthood of believers was lost sight of, and as the mass of the unsaved grew, a special class also grew up to be a supposed link between the laity and God. Thus the old priesthood was brought back, and instead of the Church being the Body of Christ it became a company of unsaved people having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

It was easy for Arius to propagate his antichristian teachings among such a people, for they knew nothing of Christ by saving faith in Him as a Saviour. They had learned certain doctrines, but were not grounded in any heart-received truth, and it was only through the raising up of Athanasius by the mercy of God, that the whole Church was saved from giving up its foundation truth. Arianism was in many ways like the Modernism of the present day. When a mass of unbelieving people are received into the organization they are ready to run after and embrace any error that strikes at the foundation of the gospel. The outbreak of Arianism showed the true state of the system in that day, as the outbreak of [Modernism shows the true state of the system to-day. We cannot know how many true believers there were at any stage of the history. God will always have a remnant of believers in His name. Often now, real believers are found in the most unlikely places. We must not think that there was no faith because outwardly that which called itself the Church was so different from the Church of God in the New Testament. Arianism, however, inflicted a terrible wound upon the organization, and paved the way for more departure from the truth. The Church of the fourth century filled Asia Minor, thence swept through Palestine, Egypt, and across North Africa. Yet such was its state that an adversary was permitted to ravage these lands and destroy all that called itself the Church. Donatists had fought Catholics, Eastern churches had fought Western, and Arians had fought them all, until North Africa had become a vast slaughter ground. The barbarians from the North had slain multitudes in all parts of the Empire, but the Mohammedan power it was that exterminated the Christianity of the day, until it was stopped at the battle of Tours.

In the history of the early Church we see how God works through the preaching of the gospel, offering His great salvation to all. So long as the Church kept this up, presenting the grace of God, and a divine, but crucified, Saviour as the object of faith, so long were multitudes saved, God's grace enjoyed, and His name glorified. But when water baptism was put in the place of preaching the gospel and faith in Christ, then the bars were let down to the world, and it rushed in and corrupted the Church. It was the perversion of two great foundation truths of the New Testament that ruined the early Church:the putting of water baptism in place of the work of Christ by the Word of God through faith, and the making the Lord's supper the means of sustaining the Christian life, teaching that the bread was truly the real body of Christ. In this way those who had never repented or realized that they were sinners, came into the Church through the door of baptism, and then were taught that the eating of the supper of the Lord sustained the life they had never received. It was ritualism put in place of faith and the work of God in the soul. Things that the flesh can do were put in the place of that which only the power of God can accomplish. Then the bringing in a human priesthood between the soul and God changed the Church from Christianity to a ritualistic organization. This is why a ritualistic Church is so different from the New Testament Church, and why it fears the New Testament's power to enlighten the heart. J. W. Newton

(To be continued, D. V.)