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VOL. LXXXVm. RICHMO
Why Join Tl
And the Lord added to the church daily such as
should he saved?Acts 2: 47.
In view of the fact, Christian friends, that we
are approaching our communion season, which occurs
on next Sabbath, I wish to talk to you this
morning on "Why Join the Church?" There is,
I think, a call for such a discussion at the present
time. Many people are indifferent to the Church
and to its claims upon their services, and apparently
.this indifference is growing in some quarters.
Others take the position that, even though desiring
to be Christians, connecting themselves with the
Church is unnecessary; and there are some people
who openly assume this attitude, claiming that they
are sincere followers of Christ, and yet they do not
affiliate themselves with his Church. There is
still another class of people in the present day, and
not a small class, who assume the attitude of decided
opposition to the Church; the)* seem to think
they are justified in treating it with open hostility.
Under these conditions, without further introduction,
we may proceed directly to the discussion
of the question. What is said I hope may be of
value to those who are already members of the
Church, in strengthening them in their position;
as well as to those who may be thinking of applying
for membership; and I also cherish the fond
hope of arousing the interest of those who are indifferent
to this matter.
I.
If you ask iue the question, "Why 1 should join
the Church?" I answer: First, because you need
to be saved. All of us need- to be saved; and the
text tells us that in the days of the apostles "the
Lord added to the Church daily such as should be
saved," or, as it reads in the revised version, "those
that were saved" or "were being saved." The saved
were added to the number of the disciples, which,
of course, at that time constituted the Church. This
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conditions of salvation offered by the apostles were
added to the Church; that is, those who repented
of their sins and professed faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ as their Saviour.
You may ask, "Why do I need to be saved ?" You
may say, "I am not consciously lost; I do not feel
any need of salvation." You need to be saved from
sin. No one of us can truthfully say he has not
sinned; and salvation which is offered to us in the
Gospel is a salvation from sin in all of its forms,
in all of its degrees, and in all of its consequences.
You need to be saved from sin in your heart, and
from sin in your life; from the guilt of sin, past,
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preseui ami iu come; iroiu ine puliation 01 11 in
your life, and from its dreadful consequences hereafter.
To be saved from sin, according to the
Gospel, means to be saved out of it. Just as a man
who has fallen into the sea, if rescued, is saved
out of the sea. Of course he might be able to sustain
himself by exertion and live for many hours,
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possibly for some clays, in the sea; but if left to
himself he would inevitably perish, if he is to be
' saved he must be saved out of the sea. We are all
struggling as it were in the sea of evil, which affects
us both within and without, and threatens us
with everlasting destruction. The greatest need,
therefore, of any human life is to be saved out of
sin. In the days of the deluge the whole world was
perishing in the flood of mighty waters which covered
the earth; those who were saved were Noah
and Ins family, who entered into the ark, which,
byfaith and in obedience to the command of God,
he had "prepared to the saving of his house."'
II.
But you may still object that, "even if 1 need to
be saved and desire to be saved from sin, it is not
necessary for me to become a member of the
Church"; and you may cont nue to ask, "Why
should 1 join the Church?" 1 answer again, because
you should come to Christ, and if you arc to
be saved you must come to him. He is the Saviour
of sinners, and the only Saviour of sinners which
God, in his infinite mercy and grace, has provided
for us. He is able and willing to save all those
who come unto him by faith; but you niust come
to him. This was the gospel which I'eter had been
preaching to the people on the Day of Pentecost?
namely, the gospel of repentance for sin, and faith
in Jesus Christ; and as the result of which many
souls were added to the Church. '"Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."
Many ways of salvation have l>cen devised by
men, and it may be said that all of them, without
exception, are self-righteous; and it is the tendency
of human nature for sinners to trust to themselves
and to their own efforts, rather than to trust to
God's forgiving mercy and grace in Jesus Christ.
It is a well known fact that when a man is drowning
it is very dangerous for one who would save
him from such a fate to allow the struggling man
to get hold upon him. The drowning man is not
willing to trust to his saviour, and many a kindhearted
hero has lost, his life in his effort to save
another; whereas, if the man struggling in the
water would only trust to the helping hand extended
to him, he might be rescued. This illustrates
quite well the condition of the struggling sinner?
he is not willing to trust to another Saviour; lie
insists linnn frvintr tr? oavn Kimonlf '
4..& wv cw?v iiiuiocii. tii^ua aajs;
"Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life
and "that ye might have it more abundantly";
which, no doubt, means that he is more able and
willing to save us than we are willing to trust
ourselves to his saving grace.
m.
You may still object that, "Although I need to
be saved, and though I may be willing to come to
Christ and trust him as my Saviour, yet it is not
necessary for me to join the Church"; and you
continue to ask, "Why should I join the Church ?"
To this I will answer?
1
j
al Presbyter/an *
"hem! pjres&ytepwft*
28, 1914. No. 4
I
red in the Second Presbyterian Church, RichVa.,
Sunday, January 11,1914, by the pastor,
'ussell Ceal, D.D., and published by request.
(1) You should join the Church, as a believer
in Christ, because he himself has established the
Church for the benefit of his disciples.. When, in
answer to our Lord's question to his followers,
"Whom say ye that I am?" Simon Peter replied:
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus answered: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona:
for llesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I
say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt. 16:
15-18.) This evidently means that upon this confession
of Christ as Saviour, which Peter as representative
of the other apostles had made, the Church
uas to be founded'; and, therefore, it follows that
all those who make this confession should be members
of his Church. It was the wise provision of
Jesus, for the good of his disciples, to join them
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never could have come into existence except according
to the will and plan of God, and as the
result of Christ's redeeming work in the world.
(2) Again, you should join the Church because
the Apostle Paul tells us that "Christ loved the
Church, and gave himself for it." (Eph. 5: 25.)
This seems to me necessarily to imply that those
whom Christ loved, and for whom he died, are
members of his Church. What was it he loved?
The Church. What was it he gave himself for?
The Church. TTow enn nnv rensnnnhle heincr there
fore, who lias any faith in Christ at all, be indifferent
to the Church or contend that it is unnecessary
for the disciples of Christ to connect themselves
with it; and how can any one oppose the
Church without opposing Christ himself?
(3) Again, if you are a believer in Christ, or if .,
you desire to become a Christian, you should join
the Church, because, as the Apostle tells us, the
Church is the body of Christ. "For no man ever
yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth
it, even as the Lord the Church: for we are
members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones."
(Eph. 5: 29-30). God "gave him to be the Head
over all things to the Church, which is his body, the
fullness of him that fdleth all in all." (Eph.
1:22-23.) Under this remarkable figure the relation
of Christ to the Church is set forth. This
relationship is described under the figure of the
head and the human body: Christ himself is the
Head of the Church, and his disciples are the memlaws
of his body. There are certain important truths
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upon in the Scriptures, that we do well to consider.
(a) If we, as believers in Christ and his disciples,
are members of his body, it follows that the same
life that was in him is also in us; that is, the life
which is due to the presence of the living Spirit
of God. We cannot be members of Christ's body
unless we have this life in us, and if we have this
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