Where should one look to find Christ's church? In the reaction against ecclesiastical dominance, modern reformers have advanced the theory of the invisible church. This theory also appeals to those of a mystical mind. They imagine that external organization matters little as long as they have inward faith. Thus it is hard to get them to make the needed profession that entails sacrifice, and so the cause of Christ is hindered and His work weakened.
But "the invisible church" is a practical absurdity. It is a contradiction in terms. If one thing is more clearly stated than another in Scripture, it is that the church is the body of Christ. Now if words mean anything, this clearly signifies that it is the outward and perceptible habitation of His Spirit. On earth we have no such thing as an invisible human body.
Had the apostle wished to convey the idea that while Christ is the foundation of the church, it is not to have an external structure, he might have used other analogies to interpret that thought. But he would certainly not have chosen that of the human body. Christ Himself set up two central pillars of a visible church when He founded the two outward sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Had the church been intended to be invisible, why these external rites? Yet He commanded that they be kept throughout all ages until He come. Clearly they show that the true church is not some unseen, mystical entity that exists merely for God to see. Rather, it is an external structure that by its very outwardness impresses itself on the consciousness of man.
But now we are met with a dilemma. If the church, then, is visible in its outward form, which of those bodies professing to be the true church is to be taken at its word? Where should we look to discern the true outworking of the Spirit? When we look around we are forced to the conclusion that no existing church is perfect. But does that destroy the out wardness of the true church? I think not.
An illustration may serve to. explain. Have you ever noticed how diverse are the channels the overflow water from a mountain lake discovers for itself as it rushes down the hillside toward the sea? In one place a large volume pours into a cup-shaped hollow, where its progress is checked until the cavity has been filled and once again it finds an outlet. Perhaps in another part a little stream trickles off by itself and worms its way round many a boulder, through many a vale, and reaches the sea long before the other has cleared its first obstruction.
The church of Christ is like those channels. At present it is divided, but it is still the means whereby the Spirit of Christ is trying to reveal Himself. He is always searching, as it were, for the path of least resistance. Here is one denomination, we shall say, that is purer in its life, doctrine, and methods. Just as the stream rushes speedily down the straight, clear-cut mountain torrent, so in such a body the Divine Spirit finds the best form for completing His work. That church is the truest that enables the Spirit to express itself most clearly.
What is the church? It is the company of Christ's followers, the congregation of the saints, the society of those whom He has called by His grace, who believe His Word and hope in His mercy. It is identified in the end-time by John as those "who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus" (Rev. 14:12, N.A.S.B.). To judge the church's sincerity, we must apply Christ's own rule, "By their fruits ye shall know them." His flock is known by the presence of sheep who respond to the voice of the Spirit, not by the shape of the fold. But the outward fence must still be there. Christians must associate themselves together if they are to obey the Master, and this entails a form of government--simple or complex--endued with that mysterious yet real power that Christ bequeathed to His church.--R.D.E.