sacred bond which united so closely the
Church of Israel. The ritual observances of the Hebrews, which had all a
typical meaning, are described by the inspired lawgiver with singular
minuteness; and any deviation from them was forbidden, not only because
it involved an impeachment either of the authority or the wisdom of
Jehovah, but also because it was calculated to mar their significance.
Under the Mosaic economy the posterity of Abraham were taught to regard
each other as members of the same family, interested, as joint heirs, in
the blessings promised to their distinguished ancestor. The Israelites
were knit together by innumerable ties, as well secular as religious;
and when they appeared in one multitudinous assemblage on occasions of
peculiar solemnity, [249:1] they presented a specimen of ecclesiastical
unity such as the world has never since contemplated.

Some, however, have contended that the Christian community was
originally constructed upon very different principles. According to them
the word _church_ [249:2] in the New Testament is always used in one of
two senses--either as denoting a single worshipping society, or the
whole commonwealth of the faithful; and from this they infer that, in
primitive times, every Christian congregation was independent of every
other. But such allegations, which are exceedingly improbable in
themselves, are found, when carefully investigated, to be totally
destitute of foundation. The Church of Jerusalem, [249:3] with the tens
of thousands of individuals belonging to it, [249:4] must have consisted
of several congregations; [249:5] the Church of Antioch, to which so
many prophets and teachers ministered, [249:6] was probably in a similar
position; and the Church of Palestine [249:7] obviously comprehended a
large number of associated churches. When our Saviour prayed that all
His people "may be one," [250:1] He evidently indicated that the unity
of the Church, so strikingly exhibited in the nation of Israel, should
still be studied and maintained; and when Paul describes the household
of faith, he speaks of it, not as a loose mass of independent
congregations, but as a "body fitly _joined together and compacted_ by
that which every _joint_ supplieth." [250:2] The apostle here refers to
the vital union of believers by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost; but he
apparently alludes also to those "bands" of outward ordinances, and
"joints" [250:3] of visible confederation, by which