Every successive manifestation by God of Himself to man has served to call forth the sin which is in man. Thus, when the Law was given sin appeared {as transgression}; and through the Law sin or the offense has abounded. Sin was in man before the law was given; but until the coming of the Law with its various requirements, it wanted a cause to incite or call it forth. ("The motions of sin, which were by the Law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death" {XXX}.) In like manner, the introduction of the marvelous grace of the gospel has but afforded scope for the coming forth of man's evil; and indeed, in numerous ways in which it had not previously appeared. Among other exhibitions of the fearful evil in man, which have been occasioned by the perverted grace of the gospel, is one of an exceedingly hateful character in the sight of God -a sin marring even the very aim and end of that grace. This is the sin of Schism. This was undoubtedly in man's heart, along with every other sin; but it needed, in order to its formal exhibition, something to be set up of God. For, properly speaking, Schism cannot appear until God's object in the gospel of His grace appears; -Schism being the directly opposite thing to that object. Hence this sin is not found affecting the natural conscience of man, nor indeed as pressing upon a conscience awakened to the sense of sin and seeking the way of salvation; although it comes under the general class of sins, viz. -works of the flesh. Accordingly, so long as individual salvation is the only object of thought, the sin of Schism is hardly apprehended in the conscience at all. And perhaps, nothing more manifests the general disregard or ignorance of God's aim in the gospel of His grace, viz. -CHURCH UNITY or FELLOWSHIP, than the light treatment which the warnings against SCHISM have ever met with. This sin is the constant subject of reproof, exhortation, or warning throughout the Epistles; yet how few have troubled themselves to consider where it is charge-able. It has been so much the habit of men's minds to view communities of Christians as left at liberty to regulate for themselves; and even individual Christians as permitted to unite themselves with communities according to their judgment or taste, or even to stand altogether aloof and alone; that it is very possible for a whole community to lie guilty of the sin of Schism, from its never having questioned the soundness of the principle on which it has been acting. Hit were true that God, having called an individual into the fellowship of His Son, had left him without any direction for his guidance, then indeed that individual might be suffered to follow his judgment; whether to stand alone, or to associate with others on whatever principles might be deemed most conducive to their common welfare. But God has not so left man; for almost all the perceptive part of the New Testament bears on the individual as sustaining certain relations as a member of a body; and teaches him how to behave himself in the house of God -which is the Church of the living God {1 Tim. 3:1515But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. (1 Timothy 3:15)}. And so far from its permitting Christians to associate together as they will, it lays down, for their association, principles subsisting in the most essential particulars of their Faith.
The end of God in the gospel of His grace is, not the salvation of individual men, but the manifestation of Himself in a certain way. The grand attractive point held up of God to sinners is the death of Christ. "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all to me; this He said, signifying what death He should die {John XXX}." He died, not only for the nation of the Jews, but that He might gather together in one, the children of God which are scattered abroad {John 11:52, 5352And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. 53Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death. (John 11:52‑53)}. This "gathering together in one" is, so far as Christians are concerned in the earth, the great end of God in the gospel. And this the unity of Christians was to be the great evidence unto the world, that the Father had sent the Son. This was the object for which Jesus prayed (John 17); and it is the object for which each of His disciples ought to pray and to strive. It was present and visible unity for which Jesus prayed. All who are made partakers of the grace of the gospel are one before God: but the object is to snake that Oneness palpable to sense. Hence the accomplishment and the maintenance of it becomes a matter of individual responsibility: (" endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace"). This is the unity of and in the Spirit -unity in that in which we are one before God, viz. -in Christ risen, the quickening Spirit, the second {last} Adam It is therefore a unity independent of time, place, and circumstances; and can be attained and preserved {in practice} only by each individual's realizing that which delivers him from present things -even oneness with Him who is risen and is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Now whatever hinders the manifestation on earth of that Oneness which Christians have in Christ in heaven -is this sin of Schism. This manifestation is hinderedpositively, either when an individual follows his own will, and separates himself from the communion of saints;* or when an association of
Christians, by prescribing rules not of the Spirit, preclude an individual from fellowship with them. -for such Christians, so far from gathering with the Lord, are, in fact, scattering abroad. And it is hindered negatively, when an individual believer either stands aloof from the Visible Communion of saints, or holds fellowship with unbelievers who assume the privileges of the children of the kingdom, and are accredited as such by those who are unequally yoked with them.
(** It is quite important to note in 1 Cor. 11:1818For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. (1 Corinthians 11:18) and 19 the difference in the use of two words, divisions (schisms), v. 18, and sects (heresies), v. 19. It is clear that the word schisms in v. 18 refers to something within the assembly while sects (heresies) refers to a split into several separated groups. Schisms are inside; sects (heresies) are outside. The apostle warned that schisms (v. 18) lead to heresies (v. 19).
Regarding Matt. 9:1616No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. (Matthew 9:16), the point is that there was a rip in the garment -not the garment separated into two separate pieces. It had a schism; and patchwork makes schisms worse. Is there something to be learned from that? -attempting patchwork on schisms in an assembly? Had the garment been torn into two pieces, that would have illustrated sect, i.e., heresy.
We are furnished with a most instructive illustration of the principle and of the working of this sin, corporately, in the policy of Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:26-38). "And Jeroboam said in his heart, now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:" "If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again to their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah." "Whereupon the king took council, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, it is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." "And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan." "And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan." "And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi." "And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places he had made." "So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel, the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense."
We have here all the features of that policy which man has ever used, viz. -making the things of God to subserve his own interest, But we hence learn that the moment man begins to tamper with God's religion, so as to adapt it to his own circumstances, "he provokes God to anger, and casts Him behind his back." Whenever human policy is permitted to have a place in the things of God, the declension from God's ways is fearfully rapid; and the end of God is completely destroyed. Now God's end after the settlement of Israel in the land of Canaan, was to have one place to put His name there in order that it might be the common center of Israel's unity. Thither were the tribes to go up. The effect of Jeroboam's policy, yea, the very effect proposed by it, was to defeat this end (1 Kings 12:26-2826And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. (1 Kings 12:26‑28)). It was too much for Jeroboam openly to avow idolatry; neither indeed was positive idolatry settled in his heart, as clearly appears from his sending his wife to Shiloh, to Ahijah the prophet (1 Kings 14:22And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people. (1 Kings 14:2)). Therefore it was a zeal for the religious welfare of the people, which he ostensibly put forth; as if God, who had prescribed the mode of His worship, had not prescribed also the means. How much paternal care for the people was affected in His words. "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem." And when once such a principle is allowed, that man's convenience may unsettle God's plan, we know not where we may stop. At Jerusalem there was the house of God, having the ark of the covenant and the cherubim overshadowing the mercy-seat, which had gone with the people in the wilderness, and passed on before them when they crossed Jordan into Canaan. So must Jeroboam also have some object of attraction: -he made two calves of gold, and "he set up the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan; and this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one even unto Dan." In this was God's own place of worship entirely given up. Now what was all this but to make Religion a mere matter of human convenience? -but this is most hateful in the sight of God. God has made revelation of Himself and of the manner in which He will be approached. Here comes the first claim of God upon man's allegiance, "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that seek Him {Heb. XXX}." We cannot advance a step without the recognition of this principle. Before God had given a revelation of His will, men might indeed ignorantly worship Him. But now, the very first question is, will you submit to the way of God's own proposing of access to Him? -it is the obedience of faith. And what is the State Religion, or what is the People's Religion, but the standing out against God on this first principle, and saying, the one and the other, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem;" and therefore we will devise a plan of our own? It is as well for you to worship at Dan in the extreme north, or at Bethel in the center of the land, as to go up to Jerusalem, where alone the Lord had put His name The moment that men are associated together on the principle of State policy, or on (what appears to most quite the opposite to it) the Voluntary Principle, God's own order is thwarted, and the full blessing from God is hindered. But when we have moved a single step in departure from the way of God, there is no saying where we shall stop. The plan of God being altered, further alteration becomes necessary; and it is instructive to pursue this in the example before us. God had confined the priesthood to the family of Aaron, and the service of the sanctuary to the tribe of Levi. Jeroboam therefore, in departing from the order of God in the first instance, was obliged again to depart; "so he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi." This will, in principle, necessarily follow the departure from God's own plan of worship in the grace of the gospel. When once Unity in the Spirit is departed from, those are accredited as worshipers who are not of the consecrated family; and those are recognized as teachers and as of a privileged class who have not the needful qualification -the Spirit of God; but who supply its place by human authority. "He made priests of the lowest of the people. " But he must go a step further still. Israel was bound together by the great feasts. On three of them all the males were to appear at Jerusalem. These feasts were memorials of past, and pledges of coming mercies. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month was the Feast of Tabernacles, the feast of in gathering, and joy, and gladness (Deut. 16:13-1613Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine: 14And thou shalt rejoice in thy feast, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are within thy gates. 15Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose: because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice. 16Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty: (Deuteronomy 16:13‑16)). In order to meet this, which might create a craving in the heart of one of Israel to go up to Jerusalem, Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel, the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart. Surely the parallel is painfully instructive; for what has man's interference with God's order done, but this very thing -altered the time of the feast of the GREAT INGATHERING, which is in another Dispensation; and making the effort to keep it now and here: a very necessary step after destroying the Visible Unity of the Spirit {typically speaking}, and receiving as worshipers those who have not the Spirit. But this is the ingathering of the world into the Church, and the giving to the world the Church's most hallowed privileges! But Jeroboam "had devised this of his own heart. " Here we get the hateful principle as Been of God -the device of man's heart substituted for God's own prescribed plan; and its great end to hinder God's own end -the Oneness of His people. And this once established, rendered reformation impossible. It was constituted in falsehood; and therefore, whatever might be the individual's character, the one sentence runs, "howbeit from the sin of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, he departed not."
An exemplification of the manner in which this sin works in individuals is furnished in the passover. All the congregation of Israel were concerned in it (Ex. 12:4747All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. (Exodus 12:47)). Three times a year were all the males to appear before the Lord. (Ex. 23). This was to be the witness of their common acceptance as the people of the Lord; and a refusal, by any, individual, to do this would have proved his contempt of his birthright. The admission of a stranger would have proved common contempt of the birthright, and in either case Israel's Unity would have been marred.
Now the Unity of the Church is based upon the death of Christ; and its manifestation as to place is in heaven. It begins with the recognition of that in which all are involved -"all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. " The death of Christ declares this; and becomes the point of attraction to all. Whosoever therefore meets God in the death of Christ meets Him in the confession that he is lost -as much lost as any other who also has met God there. Here then all can meet together; all meet on a common level -on the acknowledgment of their common ruin. Whatever distinctions previously existed, the power of them is gone as to qualification in reference to God; for they are alike lost. There were two (Jew and Gentile) separated, the one from the other by insuperable barriers, -by nation, by education, and by habits; and, besides all these, their separation was sanctioned by God Himself. Yet for these two, God Himself found a meeting place. But it was one which broke down the middle partition-wall, and declared at the same time their common failure, and their common acceptance: -it was the cross. In this it is that Christ crucified is so pre-eminently the power of God and the wisdom of God: in its bringing the most discordant subjects into fellowship with Himself, and into fellowship with each other. And God in His applying His own principle of Unity, first of all, in the most difficult case, brilliantly manifests the virtue and the vigor of it. For surely that principle which can bring Jew and Gentile together, can bring any together. And hence it comes to pass that real communion of saints is the guarantee for the preservation of the true doctrine of the Cross; for in that it is that they meet one another. The Cross therefore would answer to Jerusalem as the center of Unity. {?}
But there is another thing, viz., the band which keeps together: that in Israel was, ye are "brethren," "ye are children of Abraham": Israel's lineal descent from Abraham and their bearing God's covenant in their flesh (Gen. 17:1313He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. (Genesis 17:13)), was the band which bound Israel together; so that they had titles and privileges as one man. It is thus still, inasmuch as we too are "brethren," yet, not as descended from Abraham, but as begotten of God into life in Christ Jesus. That which now binds is the New Life received from Jesus risen; and this lifts us above such distinctions, and above all distinctions ending in death, Faith sees them already ended, and enters on the New Life; and where this New Life is realized, how strong the bond of union! "All ye are brethren." If the Cross declares unto us the end of all fleshly distinctions we must not stop here; we must press on so as to get a present entrance {practically speaking} into those things which the Spirit reveals. In these things all believers have a common interest. In these there is nothing which ministers to division. These are spiritual blessings, and are to be apprehended only in the Spirit. Hence, unity is in the Spirt; and that which maintains it is the Spirit, shed abundantly on the Church by Jesus Christ, giving to each individual saint union with Himself the Head, and communion with all the members.
It necessarily comes to pass that the moment anything is introduced as a point of unity, which the Lord has not commanded, there is room for the sin of Schism. That thing is made to occupy the place of the Cross; and it is not that which links to the Head. Instances of this very early showed themselves in the Church. Questions arose as to the observance of days, and as to the cleanness of meats: but they were met and ruled by the wisdom of the Apostles. They presumed not to prescribe in such matters, because such prescription, though it would have been an attempt to produce uniformity, would in effect, have divided those who were one in the Spirit, and thus have produced Schism. In fact, the real ground of unity was not involved in such differences; but it would have been, had they been made subjects of positive enactment: and the moment this is the case, Schism is produced. A man might have observed a day, or might not have observed it, without in the least interfering with the blessed constituents of real unity -one body, one Spirit, one faith, one hope, one baptism, one Lord, one Father. Not one of these would have been affected by an individual's conduct in regard to a day, or to a particular meat. Such matters therefore were to he left free to the private conscience; only providing that this freedom be used for the display of grace in resisting one's own will and in yielding all proper compliance and conformity.
But directly that the kingdom of God was made to consist in meat and drink, and this became a term of communion, Schism was the necessary result: -the Cross of Christ and the Spirit of Christ were both forgotten; and the meat or the drink became the one object of concern and contention. It is this which so fearfully characterizes almost all the Establishments of Christendom. They would be Schismatic {sectarian} even if they were reformed; for their very constitution is Schismatic {sectarian}. And the same principle holds in them as operated in the kingdom of Israel: -that, whatever might be effected towards reformation by the energy of any individual, the sin, which Jeroboam caused them to sin, was never removed.
Jehu was a great Reformer. He brake down the house of Baal; "howbeit, from the sins of Jeroboam the Son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them -from after the golden calves that were in Beth-el and in Dan {XXX}." Much of what is flagrantly evil may be removed by a Reformer; but the original sin, working all evil, is in the very constitution of the system -even the setting up, as the basis of Union, of something which is not of the Spirit; and which therefore necessarily operates Schism: and this is the heavy sin of dividing the worshipers of God, and of leading them away from the order of God, in order to unite them upon principles and in an order of man's own devising. Every basis not broad enough for the whole Church to meet on proclaims this sin. And thus the various Dissenting bodies from the Establishment of this country are not more free from this sin than that from which they have dissented. Schism {sect} is the sin stamped on their constitution. Until this be removed, real reformation cannot be effected, and free and full blessing must be hindered. It is true that there are in bodies which are Schismatic in their constitution {,} many individuals who have really union in Spirit with all who love the Lord Jesus Christ; and who do not say "we forbid him because he followeth not with us. " Such individuals are, for the most part, impatient of ascertaining the fact of the wide departure of the Church from God; and they usually rest contented with what others sanction; though it be to the grief of their own spirit. And what is remarkable, is the effort that Christians have made after some basis of union better than their own associations afforded, in the many Societies in which they can co-operate. These efforts are but the demonstration of the fact of the schismatic {sectarian} ground of all those associations.
But while we look at this sin in its aggregate character, we ought also to look at its guilt as estimated by the Lord Himself. It was first exposed in His rebuke to John (Luke 9:49, 5049And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. 50And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. (Luke 9:49‑50)). Here the "with us" was the proximate object, not the glory of Jesus; and it is so now: we may be laboring most zealously for the interest of any little gathered body of Christians, but the moment that becomes our object, we are acting in the spirit of John. And here unconsciously many are systematically guilty of the sin of Schism {sect}; more earnestly contending for the preservation of the unity of a particular body, than for the unity of the body of Christ. But is not this to contravene the wisdom of God? Can any principles so effectually bind together a few in any given place as those which, had they free scope, would bind together the whole Church of God as one great Corporation, animated by one Spirit, although separated as to place? And if it does appear, as probably it may, that there is greater unity among those who are united on a less broad basis and less comprehensive principles than the Holy Catholic Church, what is the sad truth but that there is so little of the Spirit of God realized in the midst of us, that we must have recourse to some traditional and fleshly prescription; and thus declare that unity is not to be had in the Spirit simply, and that we can meet together only as Schismatics. One thing needs to be clearly seen here, -that separation from things is not separation from persons. Suppose that an individual separates from the Church of England or the Church of Scotland, allowing the soundness of their doctrinal articles, and that they preach the truths therein stated, does he violate one item of the sevenfold unity of the whole Church? No. Does he separate from the believers in it? No. It may be that one who has separated, and certain believers who have not, depart together from their native country in the same ship; are thrown together in some foreign land; meet together, read together, pray together, and it may be, receive the Lord's supper together; and in all this enjoy the real Communion of the Saints. This is no uncommon case many testify unto the sweet fellowship which they have had as Christians in the midst of Heathens, which they could not attain in England, And wherefore? -because the moment they arrive in England, they return, one to the Establishment, and the others to their respective denominations; and there is no common ground on which they can meet as Christians at all. Does not this manifest that both the Establishment and the Denominations are the effectual carriers to Union, -in other words, that they are SCHISMATIC; and that, in departing from them, not one single point of real unity is violated, and that the separation is not from the Christians, but from extraneous things.
There are two ways in which, individually, we can be guilty of this sin. The one is refusing to assemble ourselves together as Christians; and the other is separating ourselves from such, after union with them. The Israelite who would have refused to go up to Jerusalem at the set feasts would have violated Israel's unity. "Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord. " And whatever pretext he might use, he would only have shown that he preferred his own will and ways to the common blessing of the "Twelve Tribes" (Acts 26:77Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. (Acts 26:7)). That Israelite would be needed to make up the integrity of the Nation. And so in the Church every individual has a place: and the blessing of the Church in any given place would be hindered in measure if only a single member of Christ in that place was dissociated from the rest. He would be as a dislocated limb If it be asked why should so much stress be laid upon meeting together, the answer is, Obedience to the Lord's will requires it; and His promise of blessing is upon it (Matt. 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)). So might the Israelite say, why go up to Jerusalem? -because it is the Lord's command, and there He has "commanded His blessing." Notwithstanding the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, many at the time of Reformation came from Israel to Jerusalem, to be blessed in God's place of blessing. (See 2 Chron. 30:5, 115So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written. (2 Chronicles 30:5)
11Nevertheless divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 30:11)). And may we not say that (as was the case) if only a very remnant remained faithful in the midst of general departure, the blessing was upon them; and that those who refused to attach themselves to the remnant feeble and outcast, were looked on by God as having despised their birthright. There was a remnant at the birth of the Lord Jesus; Anna, Simeon, and others "waiting for the consolation of Israel, walking in the commandments and ordinances of the Lord"; and to these the Spirit of Prophecy was restored, while all that, though ostensibly the order of God, was yet found acting on its own principles, was rejected. And so even now: if there were but three individuals keeping the word of the patience of the Lord Jesus, and not denying His name {Rev. 3:88I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)}, there would be the place of blessing. Others, it is true, might stand ostensibly as in the only place of blessing, saying that they are Jews: but God is dealing with realities and not names; and only where the principles of His truth are acknowledged as uniting His children, will the real blessing of the dispensation be found.
In looking at this sin as committed by an individual, we must remark that it is characterized as a work of the flesh (Gal. 5:1010I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. (Galatians 5:10): Dichostasiei, Seditions), and although not partaking, in man's judgment, of the moral turpitude of adultery or murder, it springs from the same bitter root, the corrupted heart of man, from which proceedeth all evil. While Christianity has been regarded as affecting individuals only, many have been ignorantly guilty of this sin in the manner above stated; but when once Church-fellowship is recognized as the end of God in individual salvation, then it really becomes a question of solemn responsibility. And although it is exceedingly painful to witness the effect on the conscience of many who are hindered from ceasing to do evil, through dread of Schism, yet is this a proof of an awakened perception to the existence of Church-fellowship. Another thing to notice is, that Church-ism has been considered so much in the light of human arrangement, that the passing from one denomination to another has rarely brought the sin of Schism {sectarianism} before the mind: neither indeed is this change of denomination properly that sin, although it may be in many instances the result of much which bespeaks it in the heart. It may be instability or caprice; but it is not properly rending the body of Christ. Schism {sect -heresy} is one of the most flagrant acts of self-will: it is self-will exercised against the order of God; and it is especially the deliberate seeking of our own (supposed) good, rather than the good of others. It comes often in a very subtle form: -we expect perhaps greater blessing to our own soul through some particular ministry; or we expect less trial than where we now are. Now, in the first instance, we are very partial judges; and we quite forget that God must provide not only the matter, but also the manner, of the edification of His saints: and this manner is by not binding them down to the ministry of any individual however gifted; for all the gifts are theirs, Paul, Apollos, or Cephas; and the clinging to an individual is the mark of a low and carnal state (1 Cor. 3). In the second instance, it is quite true that there will be more ease to the flesh out of the Fellowship of the Saints than in it; because the Church is God's School for breaking down self-will by leading into mutual forbearance and constant self-denial. And here it is that Satan gets such a hold on the mind to effect Schism. Hence the exhortation, "Looking diligently lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you; lest there be any profane person {XXX}." But when once the mind is brought deliberately to take its own way; and, on any pretext, to withdraw from a visible Communion of Saints, the person so acting stands as one who has rent the body of Christ; and as one "to be avoided"; he being one who serves, not the Word Jesus Christ, but his own lusts. The general result is then stated, "by good words and fair speeches they deceive the hearts of the simple:" so that the schism of an individual is usually followed by a wider rent than an individual could make. How shocked would be the feelings of even the babe in Christ at hearing of a Christian getting drunk or committing fornication: yet the sin of Schism is set in the same black catalog as these sins; and doubtless it is viewed by God very differently from what it is by ourselves. Indeed it is insubjection to God in the highest degree; it is setting up Man's wisdom above God's, in the order of His household; and reckoning that Man is allowed of God to choose his own ways of walking before Him, now when the exaltation is to so great dignity -when God had so specially provided for the order of that nation of which He was the King.
To many, before whom this paper may come, the question as to the sin of Schism has doubtless been practically presented. And I do feel the solemn importance of the question now so much canvassed. If the Church of Rome, its Sister of England, the Church of Scotland, and the Denominations, be bodies united together by the Spirit of the living God, and meeting in no other name than that of Christ, then it would be Schism to separate from them: -the unity of the Spirit would hereby be violated. But if this be not the case, then separation from them is bounden duty to the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to maintain the unity of the Spirit. In a day when the "Spirit of the Day" is so markedly that of Self-will, no one can too solemnly weigh such a momentous step: -a step involving either himself or the body from which he separates in the sin of Schism. And where the charge of this sin will fall, it must not be for taste or for prejudice to decide; but for the truth of God. And if God has set up UNITY IN THE SPIRIT, and man has substitutes UNIFORMITY instead of it, then leaving Uniformity is the first step in order to obedience to God's plan of Unity.
A few extracts from Archbishop Leighton shall close this paper.
Many there be of Gallio's temper, who "care for none of these things"; and who account all questions in religion as he did, but matter of words and names: and by this all religions may agree together. But that were not a natural Union produced by the active heat of the Spirit, but a confusion rather, arising from the want of it; not a knitting together, but a freezing together, as cold congregates all bodies, how heterogeneous soever, sticks, stones, and water: but heat makes first a separation of different things, and then unites those that are of the same nature.
It is believed that united prayers ascend with greater efficacy. So says our Savior. 'Where two or three are gathered together' not their bodies, within the same walls only, for so they were so many carcases tumbled together; and the promise of His being amongst us, is not made to that, for He is the God of the living and not of the dead; it is the spirit of darkness that abides amongst the tombs and graves; but gathered in my name, one in that one holy name written upon their hearts, and uniting them, and so thence expressed in their joint services and invocations. So He says there of them who agree upon anything they shall ask, (ουμφωνησουσιν). If all their hearts present and hold it up together, if they make one cry or song of it, that harmony of their hearts shall be sweet in the Lord's ears, and shall draw a gracious answer out of His hand: "If ye agree," your joint petitions shall be as it were our arrest or decree that shall stand in heaven, "it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." But alas! where is our agreement? The greater number of hearts say nothing, and others speak with such wavering, and such a jarring, harsh noise, being out of tune, earthly, too low set, that they spoil all, and disappoint the answers. Were the censer filled with those united prayers heavenwards, it would be filled with fire earthwards against the enemies of the Church.
"Is there such a thing, think ye, as the communing of saints? It is a truth think of it as you will. The public ministry will profit little any where, where a people or some part of them are not one, and do not live together as of one mind, and use diligently all the means of edifying one another in their holy faith. How much of the primitive Christian's praise and profit is involved in the word, 'They were together (ομαθυμαδον) with one accord, with one mind'; and so they grew: 'The Lord added to the Church. -
The Christian Witness 5:117-133 (1838).