'The Bond of Peace'. (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: SCHISM. This word, like the word " Church," has been so perverted and misapplied, that to many it presents the idea solely of a separation from that body of professing Christians known as the " Church of England;" whilst to others it conveys the thought of separation from the larger body described as the " Church of Rome," or as she calls herself " the Catholic Church." But it is of importance that the members of the Church of God should clearly see that Schism can only mean a division caused by some difference of opinion supposed to be of absolute importance, but not really so, or by some ill-feeling produced by other causes, between the lively members of Christ's body. To understand this it is necessary to have a knowledge of the whole of the New Testament, and especially to make the I2th of 1 Corinthians our study, carefully and prayerfully. The Body here spoken of is the same as the " Spouse" of the Canticles, as the " Bride " of Revelations, as the " Wife " of Ephesians v. It is another figure setting forth the Church ofGod, and shewing the union of that Church with her Lord more emphatically than even the other figures shewed it forth. The Church is presented as the Body of which Christ is the Head. In Ephesians i. 22, 23 we read that He is " the Head over all to the Church, which is His Body." In Colossians i. 18, that He is " the Head of the Body, the Church." But the Head as the source of sensation and of life, without which the body would be but a mutilated corpse; the Head, as the seat of wisdom and knowledge; the Head, as supplying the motive power to the members, actually gives its name to the whole body, in the I2th verse of this chapter,?and that Name is Christ. " For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being man...