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dition will allow. This should be remembered as the great and guiding principle in all that is to follow.

"The church, then, is to watch over its children as faithfully as over its adult members. The baptized children are the peculiar objects of its hopes, its instructions, and its prayers. When such children fall into open sin, the church should mourn over, pray for, and seek to reclaim them.

"In doing this they must exercise great gentleness and discretion. Anything like espionage, or officious intermeddling, or attempts at undue restraint in things unessential, should be scrupulously avoided. The young have rights and liberties, as well as the old. When it is said that they are in some sense the subjects of discipline in the church, it is intended rather that they are entitled to the affectionate supervision of adult members in full communion.” 1

"One thing seems certain-there is no necessity for hasty exclusions. We may wait for indications of repentance, while by prayer and all judicious means we seek to secure it, one year, or ten, or even under some circumstances till the individual is excommunicated by death. In the meantime, such persons should be regarded, not as heathen and publicans, but as wanderers from the Good Shepherd's fold. They are the prodigal sons of the church, for whom unwearied intercessions should be made, and to whom messages of mercy should be often sent, and of whose return strong hopes should be cherished, until we see them standing in the church, and saying: 'I have sinned.' Moreover, if children were rightly educated as members of the church, it is believed that cases requiring severe discipline would be as infrequent as they now are among adults." 2

"If the child has occasion to leave the parental roof, and fix his residence in some other city or town, it may not be necessary to give him a letter of dismission and recommendation, as in the case of adults; but it is important that he should carry with him testimonials of character and church-membership, and be regularly introduced to the 1 Infant Church-membership, p. 58. 2 Ibid. p. 60, 61.

pastor and brethren of the church with whom he is intending to worship. It then becomes their duty, according to the principles of fellowship adopted by Congregational churches, to love, watch over and cherish him as a lamb of their own fold. ..... If at any time a baptized person proposes himself for public profession in some other church than that to which he properly belongs, testimonials of character and a certificate of church-standing should be required as always indispensable to an orderly reception. Thus, in all cases, the children of the church are to be kept under its sanctifying influences and supervision." 1

Considered in this light, there is a peculiar propriety and significance in regarding baptized children as members of the church. The relation is most intimate and endearing, sacred and responsible. Taught to regard themselves as of the body of Christ, how can the influence of this thought be otherwise than hallowed and redeeming? Looking upon them as members of herself, how can the church be otherwise than most deeply interested in their welfare? How can she fail to be quickened to fidelity, diligence, and prayer, that they may be shielded from danger, nurtured in the truth, trained for service, and fitted for heaven?

But to speak of the special advantage of this doctrine, in its influence upon the minister, the church, parents, and children, or of the special end of this relation, as for protection, nurture, service, and salvation, would be to transcend alike the leading purpose of this Article and the limits assigned it.

1 Infant Church-membership, pp. 63, 64.

ARTICLE IV.

THE IDEA OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM ON EARTH, IN ITSELF AND IN ITS HISTORY, PROOF THAT IT IS FROM GOD.1

BY SAMUEL HARRIS, PRESIDENT OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE.

THE theme of the present lecture is this: "The idea of Christ's kingdom, in itself and in its historical origin, development, and prevalence, is proof that it is from God and that it will be realized on earth."

In unfolding this proof the following points are to be considered:

I. The Idea of Christ's Kingdom is an Existing Power in Human Thought and Action.

The thinking of Christendom is now earnestly directed upon the person and work of Jesus, the Messianic King. The number of treatises recently published on the significance of his life and work, the extent to which they are circulated, and the interest with which they are discussed, are remarkable. More than one of them have been translated into different languages of Christendom and have had a sale that is extraordinary in the history of bookselling.

This power over the thinking of our day of one who lived in an age and country so remote, is a pregnant fact. If, as careless observers say, this is a superficial age given to novelreading, it is significant that such an age is interested in a personage of antiquity who addresses himself only to that which is most profoundly spiritual in man. If, as is more correctly said, the age is unsurpassed in earnestness, this power of Jesus is equally significant in view of the direction of that earnestness-the political and social questions urgent

1 This is the first of a Course of Lectures on "The Kingdom of Christ on Earth," delivered in Andover Theological Seminary. The Lectures will be published in successive numbers of the Bibliotheca Sacra.

in every Christian nation, involving in some instances the constitution and even the existence of the nation; the industrial interests absorbing human enterprise; the philosophy and science apparently leading away from religion.

In the generation preceding this, other questions pertaining to the life and work of Jesus were the subjects of excited controversy. This is another fact of similar significance. So in every age of intellectual or moral earnestness since Christ came, his person and kingdom have been powerful in human thought and action.

No other personage of antiquity has power over the age sufficient to awaken general interest in any discussion or controversy respecting him. Homer is one of the greatest of the ancients. His authorship of the Iliad and Odyssey, and even his existence, are denied. Yet the public is utterly indifferent to the question, and it would be impossible to awaken any general interest in its discussion.

This interest in Jesus is not speculative, but practical, pertaining to him as the world's Redeemer and King. The idea of his kingdom on earth, and the expectation of its progress and triumph in fulfilment of the prophecy and promise of the gospel, have become familiar elements of human thought and determinant forces in human action. The sublime idea of the conversion of the world to Christ has become so common as to cease to awaken wonder. Its realization is the object throughout Christendom of "systematic, persistent, and energetic action, and elicits every year heroic consecration and self-sacrifice. The prayer, "Thy kingdom come," is perpetually offered.

Besides this direct interest in the conversion of the world, modern civilization is characterized by ideas derived from the gospel of the kingdom; the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God; philanthropy; the promise of human progress; the rights of man; the removal of oppression; the reign of justice and love displacing the reign of force.

These facts must be accounted for. This idea and expectation of Christ's reign over men in righteousness, an idea

and expectation never associated with any other personage, have so penetrated human history that they demand explanation. The only rational explanation is, that the idea and the promise are from God, and will be realized on earth.

II. The Idea of the Kingdom is in itself a Proof of its Divine Origin.

The consummation which it proposes to realize on earth is the universal reign of justice and love.

This consummation is not the reign of abstract truth and right, but the reign of Christ, the Messianic King, who is the truth and the life impersonated.

It is to be realized not by the spontaneous fermentation of human thought, nor by a natural law of progress, nor by the propagation of philosophical or ethical truth, or scientific discovery and inventions, but by the divine grace in Christ coming down upon humanity from above, and establishing itself in humanity as a power of redemption. The doctrine of the kingdom presupposes the knowledge of God, of sin, of condemnation, and of all that pertains to natural religion. Its distinctive and essential characteristic is redemption as an historical action of God in humanity. It emphasizes the person and the propitiatory work, as well as the reign and administration of the King. God in Christ, the divine in the human, enters human history as Redeemer, and makes propitiation for the sins of the world. The love, which God is, and which became incarnate in Christ, comes in the Holy Spirit and establishes itself in humanity as an energy of saving grace, and abides through all human history, working redemption for man. Through him the redeeming love of God in Christ is perpetually penetrating humanity and becoming the life of the world. Thus Christ reigns and administers his government on earth. Christ, the King anointed on the holy hill of Zion, seated at the right hand of Majesty on high, all power given to him in heaven and on earth, reigns over his kingdom on earth, administering his government through the Holy Spirit, through whom the

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