the holy Catholic Church
we understand the Church invisible composed of all the true children of
God, it must be conceded that every devout student of the Scriptures is
bound to express his belief in its existence and its excellence. This
Church is precious in the eyes of the Lord; it is the habitation of His
Spirit; it is the heir of His great and glorious promises. But the holy
Catholic Church, in the current ecclesiastical phraseology of the third
century, had a very different signification. It denoted the great mass
of disciples associated under the care of the Catholic bishops, as
distinguished from all the minor sects throughout the Empire which made
a profession of Christianity. A sincere and intelligent believer might
well have scrupled to give such a title to the mixed society thus
claiming its application.

It is quite true that there is no salvation out of the Church, if by the
Church is meant that elect company which Christ died to redeem and
sanctify; but the Word of God does not warrant us to assert that the
eternal well-being of man depends on his connexion with any earthly
society. Even in the days of the apostles, some who were subjected to a
sentence of excommunication were the excellent of the earth. "I wrote
unto _the Church_," says John, "but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the
pre-eminence among them, _receiveth us not_. Wherefore, if I come, I
will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with
malicious words, and not content therewith, neither doth he himself
receive _the brethren_, and forbiddeth them that would, and _casteth
them out of the Church_." [640:1] This Diotrephes seems to have been
some wayward and domineering presbyter who took the lead among his
fellow-elders, and who induced them by the influence of commanding
talent, combined, it may be, with superior worldly station, to support
him in his wilfulness. [640:2] But it would be very foolish to suppose
that the brethren who were thus _cast out of the Church_ were thereby
eternally undone, for such certainly was not the judgment of the beloved
disciple. Faith in Christ, and not a relation to any visible society,
secures a title to heaven. Thousands, as well as the thief on the cross,
have been admitted into paradise who have never been baptized, [640:3]
and we might point out numberless cases in which individuals, in the
wonderful providence of God, have been led to a saving knowledge of the
truth who have never had an opp