ganizes the church itself. In order to show which position is correct, we will now appeal to the Word. A few texts will be sufficient to settle the question. The church, as we have seen, is a building, a house; that is, an organic structure. Now, it must be apparent to all that whoever is the architect and builder of a house is also its organizer. But "he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house." And he that built all things is God." Heb. 3:3, 4. "But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him." 1 Cor. 12: 18. "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles," etc. Verse 28. To furnish with organs, "built," "compact," "fitly framed together," and to "temper the body together" cover all that is included in the word "organize." And "all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit.” 1 Cor. 12:11. Yea, "it is the same God which worketh all in all." 1 Cor. 12: 6. He, then, through the Spirit, is the organizer of his own church.

As we view the pure church in her morning glory, we see her a perfect organized body. She had law, discipline, and government. This was all contained in the gospel-the New Testament.

The law of Christ being a perfect rule of faith, the church needed no other, and it needs no other today. There is no excuse for the modern creeds of men. Modern sects are of human origin; hence they need man-made rules and discipline. The church of God is divine; hence the divine law is sufficient for its government.

Moreover, the Lord calls, qualifies, and sends forth by his Spirit certain ones for the ministry. Among these are evangelists, pastors, and teachers. They prove their call by their ability to minister. Such are acknowledged by the church, and by the direction of the Lord are ordained by the imposition of hands to the important work to which the Lord has called them. This is all done by the direction of the Holy Spirit, without voting into office. In every congregation saved out of the world by the blood of Christ, the Lord calls certain ones and by his Spirit qualifies them to be elders or overseers. Others he calls to the work of deacons. "He sets the members every one in the body as it pleaseth him." The ministry recognize these calls and by the laying on of hands, just like the apostles and ministers of old, dedicate to the various kinds of work those whom the Lord has

chosen and qualified. This is called ordination. These officers of the church are in authority, and execute his word. They are called "overseers. They are not made so by man, but "the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers" (Acts 20: 28). The church is commanded thus: "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves." Heb. 13:17.

So before the advent of any of the modern sects God's church was a perfectly organized structure; and we are happy to say that since we have come out of and discarded these sects of human origin, and have been abiding only in the church divine, we have the same government, rule, discipline, officers, authority, and organization that the primitive Christians had.

THE VISIBILITY OF THE CHURCH.

"But these people," it is alleged of the saints of the most high God, "do not believe in a visible organized church." This again is an untrue statement. We teach that there are both an invisible and a visible phase to the church of God, Since it is the Lord who "works all in all the members," this work being accomplished through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit,

the church must be invisible. Thus through the Holy Spirit, God organizes, builds, and adds members to the church, calls and qualifies its officers for their responsible work. As regards its living head, its door of entrance, its eternal foundation, the spiritual life that animates it, the operation of the Spirit in the distribution of its gifts, and in many other respects, the church is invisible. We are glad to say, however, that this glorious temple built by an invisible God is a visible church. She is "the light of the world," "a city that is set on a hill" (Matt. 5: 14). As the wind, though an invisible power, produces effects that are perceptible to the eye; so the hand of God, though invisible to man, builds and organizes a church that is seen of all.

Salvation constitutes us members of God's church; and while, as before stated, the operation of the Spirit in salvation is invisible, the effects produced in the individual will be visibly manifested in his life. All who become members are new creatures, walk in newness of life, and serve him in newness of spirit. This great change is seen by all. The saved man is a living epistle, "known and read of all men," a

"gazing-stock," a "spectacle [theater] unto the world, to angels, and to men." Others "see

his good works." Such individuals are visible to all men as real Christians-as members of the church of God. Thus the membership in the divine church is visible membership. Every member is known by his fruits. Though organized by the invisible Spirit, the church is composed of men and women who are as visible now as they were when they were in the kingdom of darkness.

While the kingdom of God is substantially the same as is the church, the former relates only to the spiritual leaven and unseen power of God that transforms the hearts of men into righteousness and fills them with "all joy and peace in believing." Hence it "cometh not with observation." The church, on the contrary, is the assembly of the saved, the household of God. It includes the body no less than "the hidden man of the heart." "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?" 1 Cor. 6:16. "Christ," "his body," and "the church" are all identical in 1 Cor. 12: 12, 13, 27, 28. It is in our physical bodies that we compose the assembly of God. This shows that she is a visi