USA > Indiana > Discipline of Indiana Yearly Meeting of Friends : being the constitution and discipline of the American Yearly Meeting of Friends; with the additions adopted by Indiana Yearly Meeting > Part 4
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We believe that in connection with Justification is Regeneration : that they who come to this experi- ence know that they are not their own, (I. Cor. vi. 19.) that being reconciled to God by the death of His Son, we are saved by His life; (Rom. v. 10.) a new heart is given and new desires; old things are pas- sed away, and we become new creatures, (II. Cor. v. 17.) through faith in Christ Jesus; our wills be- ing surrendered to His holy will, grace reigns through righteousness, unto eternal life, by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. v. 21.)
Sanctification is experienced in the acceptance of Christ in living faith for justification, in so far as the pardoned sinner, through faith in Christ, is clothed with a measure of His righteousness and receives the Spirit of promise ; for, as saith the Apos- tle, "Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justi- fied, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (I. Cor. vi. 11.) We rejoice to be- lieve that the provisions of God's grace are suf-
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ficient to deliver from the power, as well as from the guilt, of sin, and to enable His beliving children al- ways to triumph in Christ. (II. Cor. ii. 14) How full of encouragement is the declaration, "According to your faith be it unto you." (Matt ix. 29.) Whosoever submits himself wholly to God, believing and ap- propriating His promises, and exercising faith in Christ Jesus, will have his heart continually cleans- ed from all sin, by His precious blood, and, through the renewing, refining power of the Holy Spirit, be kept in conformity to the will of God, will love Him with all his heart, mind, soul and strength, and be able to say, with the Apostle Paul, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Rom. viii. 2.) Thus, in its full experience, Sanctification is deliverance from the pollution, nature, and love of sin. To this we are every one called, that we may serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life. (Luke i. 74, 75.) It was the prayer of the apostle for the believers, "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it." (I. Thes. v. 23, 24.) Yet the most holy Christian is still liable to temptation, is exposed to the subtle assaults of Satan, and can only con- tinue to follow holiness as he humbly watches unto prayer, and is kept in constant dependence upon his Savior, walking in the light, (I. Jno. i. 7.) in the loving obedience of faith.
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THE RESURRECTION AND FINAL JUDGMENT.
We believe, according to the Scriptures, that there shall be a resurrection from the dead, both of the just and of the unjust, (Acts xxiv. 15) and that God hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness, by Jesus Christ whom He hath ordained. (Acts xvii. 31.) For, saith the apos- tle, "We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." (II. Cor. v. 10.)
We sincerely believe, not only a resurrection in Christ from the fallen and sinful state here, but a rising and ascending into glory with Him hereafter; that when He at last appears we may appear with Him in glory. But that all the wicked, who live in rebellion against the light of grace, and die finally impenitent, shall come forth to the resurrection of condemnation. And that the soul of every man and woman shall be reserved, in its own distinct and proper being, and shall have its proper body as God is pleased to give it. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body ; (I. Cor. xv. 44.) that being first which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. And though it is said, "this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality," (I. Cor. xv. 53.) the change shall be such as will accord with the declaration, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." (I. Cor. xv. 50.) We shall be raised out of all corruption and cor-
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ruptibility, out of all mortality, and shall be the children of God, being the children of resurrection. (Luke xx. 36. See also Declaration of 1693, Sewell's His- tory, vol. II., 383-384.)
"Our citizenship is in heaven" (R. V.), from whence also we look for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, accord- ing to the working whereby He is able even to sub- due all things unto Himself. (Phil. iii. 20, 21.)
We believe that the punishment of the wicked and the blessedness of the righteous shall be everlasting ; according to the declaration of our compassionate Redeemer, to whom the judgment is committed, "These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." (R. V.) Matt. xxv. 46.)
BAPTISM.
We would express our continued conviction that our Lord appointed no outward rite or ceremony for observance in His church. We accept every command of our Lord in what we believe to be its genuine import, as absolutely conclusive. The question of the use of outward ordinances is with us a question, not as to the authority of Christ, but as to his real meaning. We reverently believe that, as there is one Lord and one faith, so there is ,under the Christian dispensation, but one baptism, (Eph. iv. 4, 5.) even that whereby all believers are bap- tized in the one Spirit into the one body. (I. Cor. xii. 13. R. V.) This is not an outward baptism with water, but a spiritual experience; not the putting
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away of the filth of the flesh, (I. Pet. iii. 21.) but that inward work which, by transforming the heart and settling the soul upon Christ, brings forth the an- swer of a good conscience towards God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in the experience of His love and power, as the risen and ascended Sa- vior. No baptism in outward water can satisfy the description of the apostle, of being buried with Christ by baptism unto death. (Rom. vi. 4.) It is with the Spirit alone that any can be thus baptized. In this experience the announcement of the Forerunner of our Lord is fulfilled, "He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." (Mat. iii. 11.) In this view we accept the commission of our blessed Lord as given in Matthew xxviii. 18, 19 and 20th verses: "And Jesus came to them and spake unto them saying, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all the naitons, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you, and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." (R. V.) This commission, as we believe, was not de- signed to set up a new ritual under the new cove- nant, or to connect the initiation into a membership, in its nature essentially spiritual, with a mere cer- emony of a typical character. Otherwise it was not possible for the apostle Paul, who was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles, (II. Cor. xi. 5.) to have disclaimed that which would, in that case, have been of the essence of his commission when he
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wrote, "Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Gospel." (I. Cor. i.) Whenever an external cer- emony is commanded, the particulars, the mode and incidents of that ceremony, become of its essence. There is an utter absence of these particulars in the text before us, which confirms our persuasion that the commission must be construed in connection with the spiritual power which the risen Lord prom- ised should attend the witness of his apostles and of the church to Him, and which, after Pentacost, so mightily accompanied their ministry of the word and prayer, that those to whom they were sent were introduced into an experience wherein they had a a saving knowledge of, and living fellowship with, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
THE SUPPER OF THE LORD.
Intimately connected with the conviction already expressed is the view that we have ever maintained as to the true supper of the Lord. We are well aware that our Lord was pleased to make use of a variety of symbolical utterances, but He often gently up- braided his disciples for accepting literally what He had intended only in its spiritual meaning. His teaching, as in His parables or in the command to wash one another's feet, was often in symbols, and ought ever to be received in the light of His own emphatic declaration, "The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life." (Jno. vi. 63.) The old covenant was full of ceremonial symbols ; the new covenant, to which our Saviour alluded at the last supper, is expressly declared by the prophet
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to be "not according to the old." (Jer. xxxi. 32, Heb. viii. 9.) We cannot believe that in setting up this new covenant the Lord Jesus intended an institu- tion out of harmony with the spirit of this prophecy. The eating of His body and the drinking of His blood can not be an outward act. They truly partake of them who habitually rest upon the sufferings and death of their Lord as their only hope, and to whom the indwelling Spirit gives to drink of the fullness that is in Christ. It is this inward and spiritual par- taking that is the true supper of the Lord.
The presence of Christ with His church is not designed to be by symbol or representation, but in the real communication of His own Spirit. "I will pray the Father and He shall give you another Com- forter, who shall abide with you forever." (Jno. xiv. 16.) Convincing of sin, testifying of Jesus, taking of the things of Christ, this blessed Comforter com- municates to the believer and to the church, in a gracious, abiding manifestation, the REAL PRES- ENCE of the Lord. As the great remembrancer, through whom the promise is fulfilled, He needs no ritual or priestly intervention in bringing to the ex- perience of the true commemoration and commun- ion. "Behold," saith the risen Redeemer, "I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me." (Rev. iii. 20.) In an especial man- ner, when assembled for congregational worship, are believers invited to the festival of the Savior's peace, and, in a united act of faith and love, unfettered by any outward rite or ceremonial, to partake to-
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gether of the body that was broken and of the blood that was shed for them, without the gates of Jerusa- lem. In such a worship they are enabled to under- stand the words of the apostle as expressive of a sweet and most real experience: "The cup of bless- ing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not the communoin of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body ; for we are all partakers of that one bread." (I. Cor. x. 16, 17.)
PUBLIC WORSHIP.
Worship is the adoring response of the heart and mind to the influence of the Spirit of God. It stands neither in forms nor in the formal disuse of froms: it may be without words as well as with them, but it must be in spirit and in truth. (John iv. 24.) We recognize the value of silence, not as an end, but as a means toward the attainment of the end; a si- lence, not of listlessness or of vacant musing, but of holy expectation before the Lord. Having become His adopted children through faith in the Lord Je- sus Christ, it is our privilege to meet together and unite in the worship of Almighty God, to wait upon Him for the renewal of our strnegth, for communion one with another, for the edifiication of believers in the exercise of various spiritual gifts, and for the declaration of the glad tidings of salvation to the unconverted who may gather with us. This worship depends not upon numbers. Where two or three are gathered together in the name of Christ there is a church, and Christ, the living Head, in the midst
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of them. Through His mediation without the nec- essity for any inferior instrumentality, is the Father to be approached and reverently worshiped. The Lord Jesus has forever fulfilled and ended the typi- cal and sacrificial worship under the law, by the offering up of Himself upon the cross for us, once for all. He has opened the door of access into the inner sanctuary, and graciously provided spiritual offerings for the service of His temple, suited to the several conditions of all who worship in spirit and in truth. The broken and the contrite heart, the confes- sion of the soul prostrate before God, the prayer of the afflicted when he is overwhelmed, the earnest wrestling of the spirit, the outpouring of humble thanksgiving, the spiritual song and melody of the heart, (Eph. v. 19.) the simple exercise of faith, the self denying service of love, these are among the sacrifices which He, our merciful and faithful High Priest, is pleased to prepare, by His Spirit, in the hearts of them that receive Him, and to present with acceptance unto God.
By the immediate operations of the Holy Spirit, He, as the Head of the church, alone selects and qualifies those who are to present His messages or engage in other service for Him; and ,hence, we cannot commit any formal arrangement to any one in our regular meetings for worship. We are well aware that the Lord has provided a diversity of gifts (I. Cor. xii. 4-6.) for the needs both of the church and of the world, and we desire that the church may feel her responsibility, under the government of her Great Head, in doing her part to foster these
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gifts, and in making arrangements for their proper exercise.
It is not for individual exaltation, but for mutual profit, that the gifts are bestowed; (I Cor. xii 7.) and every living church, abiding under the government of Christ, is humbly and thankfully to receive and exercise them, in subjection to her Holy Head. The church that quenches the Spirit and lives to itself alone must die.
We believe the preaching of the Gospel to be one of the chief menas, divinely appointed, for the spreading of the glad tidings of life and salvation through our crucified Redeemer, for the awakening and conversion of sinners, and for the comfort and edification of believers. As it is the prerogative of the Great Head of the church alone to select and call the ministers of His Gospel, so we believe that both the gift and the qualificaiton to exercise it must be derived immediately from Him; and that, as in the primitive church, so now also, He confers spiritual gifts upon women as well as upon men, agreeably to the prophecy recited by the apostle Peter, "It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy." (Acts ii. 17.) respecting which the apostle declares, "the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts ii. 39.) As the gift is freely re- ceived so it is to be freely exercised, (Matt. x. 8. See also Acts xx. 33-35.) in simple obedience to the will of God.
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Spiritual gifts, precious as they are, must not be mistaken for grace; they add to our responsibility, but do not raise the minister above his brethern or sisters. They must be exercised in continued de- pendence upon our Lord and blessed is that ministry in which man is humbled, and Christ and His grace exalted. "He that is greatest among you," said our Lord and Master, "let him be as the younger; and he that is chief as he that doth serve. I am among you as he that serveth." (Luke xxii. 26, 27.)
While the church cannot confer spiritual gifts, it is its duty to recognize and foster them, and to pro- mote their efficiency by all the means in its power. And while, on the one hand, the Gospel should never be preached for money, (Acts. viii. 20, xx. 33-35.) on the other, it is the duty of the church to make such provision that it shall never be hindered for want of it.
The church, if true to her allegiance, cannot for- get her part in the command, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mark. xvi. 15.) Knowing that it is the Spirit of God that can alone prepare and qualify the instruments who fulfill this command, the true disciple will be found still sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening that he may learn, and learning that he may obey. He humbly places himself at his Lord's disposal, and, when he hears the call, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" is prepared to respond, in childlike reverence and love, "Here am I, send me." (Isaih vi. 8.)
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PRAYER AND PRAISE.
Prayer is the outcome of our sense of need, and of our continual dependence upon God. He who uttered the invitation, "Ask and it shall be given you," (Matt. vii. 7) is himself the Mediator and High Priest who, by His Spirit, prompts the petition, and who presents it with the acceptance before God. With such an invitation, prayer becomes the duty and the privilege of all who are called by His name. Prayer is, in the awakened soul, the utterance of the cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner;" ( Luke xviii. 13.) and, at ev- ery stage of the believer's course, prayer is es- sential to his spiritual life. A life without prayer is a life practically without God. The Christian's life is a continual asking. The thirst that prompts the petition produces, as it is satisfied, still deeper long- ings, which prepare for yet more bounteous sup- plies, from Him who delights to bless. Prayer is not confined to the closet. When uttered in response to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, it becomes an important part of public worship, and, whenever the Lord's people meet together in His name, it is their privilege to wait upon Him for the spirit of grace and supplications. (Zech. xii. 10.) A life of prayer cannot be other than a life of praise. As the peace of Christ reigns in the church, her living members accept all that they receive, as from His pure bounty, and each day brings them fresh pledges of their Father's love. Satisfied with the goodness of His house, whether as individuals, in
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families, or in congregations, they will be still praising Him, (Psalm lxxxiv. 4.) heart answering to heart, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name." (Ps. ciii. 1,)
LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE IN ITS RELATION TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT.
That conscience should be free, and that in mat- ters of religious doctrine and worship man is ac- countable only to God, are truths which are plainly declared in the New Testament; and which are con- firmed by the whole scope of the Gospel, and by the example of our Lord and His disciples. To rule over the conscience, and to command the spiritual allegiance of his creature man, is the high and sacred prerogative of God alone. In religion every act ought to be free. A forced worship is plainly a contradiction in terms, under that dispensation in which the worship of the Father must be in spirit and in truth. (John 'iv. 24.)
We have ever maintained that it is the duty of Christians to obey the enactments of civil govern- ment, except those which interfere with our alle- giance to God. We owe much to its blessings. Through it we enjoy liberty and protection, in con- nection with law and order. Civil government is a divine ordinance, (Rom. xiii. 1., I. Pet. ii. 13-16.) instituted to promote the best welfare of man, hence magistrates are to be regarded as God's ministers who should be a terror to evil doers and a praise to them that do well. Therefore, it is with us a
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matter of conscience to render them respect and obedience in the exercise of their proper functions.
MARRIAGE.
Marriage is an institution graciously ordained by the Creator Himself, for the help and continuance of the human family. It is not a mere civil con- tract, and ought never to be entered upon without a reference to the sanction and blessing of Him who ordained it. It is a solemn engagement for the term of life, (Matt. xix. 5, 6.) designed for the mu- tual assistance and comfort of both sexes, that they may be helpmeets to each other in things temporal and spiritual. To this end it should imply concur- rence in spiritual as well as temporal concerns, and should be entered upon discreetly, soberly, and in the fear of the Lord.
PEACE.
We feel bound explicitly to avow our unshaken per- suasion that all war is utterly incompatible with the plain precepts of our divine Lord and Law-giver, and the whole spirit of His Gospel, and that no plea of necessity or policy, however urgent or peculiar, can avail to release either individuals or nations from the paramount allegiance which they owe to Him who hath said, "Love your enemies." (Matt. v. 44, Luke vi. 27.) In enjoining this love, and the forgive- ness of injuries, He who has bought us to Himself has not prescribed for man precepts which are in- capable of being carried into practice, or of which
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the practice is to be postponed until all shall be per- suaded to act upon them.
We cannot doubt that they are incumbent now, and that we have in the prophetic Scriptures the distinct intimation of their direct application not only to individuals, but to nations also. (Isaiah ii. 4, Micah iv. 1.) When nations conform their laws to this divine teaching, wars must necessarily cease.
We would, in humility, but in faithfulness to our Lord, express our firm persuasion that all the ex- igencies of civil government and social order may be met under the banner of the Prince of Peace, in strict conformity with His commands.
OATHS
We hold it to be the inalienable privilege of the disciple of the Lord Jesus that his statements con- cerning matters of fact within his knowledge should be accepted, under all circumstances, as express- ing his belief as to the fact asserted. We rest upon the plain command of our Lord and Master, "Swear not at all;" (Mat. v. 34.) and we believe any departure from this standard to be prejudicial to the cause of truth and to that confidence between man and man, the maintenance of which is indispensable to our ·mutual well being. This command, in our persua- sion, applies not to profane swearing only, but to judicial oaths also. It abrogates any previous per- mission to the contrary, and is, for the Christian, absolutely conclusive.
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THE FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK.
Whilst the remembrance of our Creator ought to be, at all times, present with the Christian, we would express our thankfulness to our Heavenly Father that He has been pleased to honor the set- ting apart of one day in seven for the purposes of holy rest, religious duties, and public worship; and we desire that all under our name may avail themselves of this great privilege as those who are called to be risen with Christ, and to seek those things that are above where He sitteth at the right hand of God. (Coloss. iii. 1.) May the release thus granted from other occupations be diligently im- proved. On this day of the week especially ought the households of Friends to be assembled for the reading of the Scriptures and for waiting upon the Lord; and we trust that, in a Christianly wise econ- omy of our time and strength, the engagements of the day may be so ordered as not to frustrate the gracious provision thus made for us by our Heav- enly Father, or to shut out the opportunity either for public worship or for private retirement and devo- tional reading.
In presenting this declaration of our Christian faith, we desire that all our members may be afresh encouraged, in humility and devotedness, to renew- ed faithfulness in fulfilling their part in the great mission of the Church, and through the Church to the world around us, in the name of our Crucified Redeemer. Life from Christ, life in Christ, must ever be the basis of life for Christ. For this we have
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been created and redeemed, and, by this alone, can the longings of our immortal souls be satisfied.
SECTION 4.
WORSHIP.
It is the duty and the privilege of believers to meet together for the public worship of God. In do- ing this they each time make a public profession to the world of their faith in Christ, and avail them- selves of opportunities for spiritual blessing and mutual helpfulness not otherwise offered.
Worship is the highest act of which the human faculties are capable, and it can be truly performed only as it is in response to the influence of the Spirit of God. Public worship in the Christian Church is in accordance with the declaration of our Lord, that "where two or three are met to- gether in My name, there am I in the midst of them." The congregation is thus "the congrega- tion of the Lord," and the meeting is, primarily, with Him. He touches the spiritual consciousness of believers, and thus, through Him, their High Priest and Intercessor, they are enabled to worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Worship stands neither in forms nor in the formal disuse of forms; it may be without words as well as with them. Both silence and vocal exercises are recognized and val- ued not as ends, but as means toward the attain- ment of an end, which is the divine blessing upon the individual and the congregation.
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