esus Christ Himself being the
chief corner-stone. It includes all who have ever fallen asleep in
Christ, and all yet unborn, who are to be saved in Him: its Body is as
yet imperfect; it will not be perfected till the last saved human spirit
is gathered to its God.

A man becomes a member of this Church only by believing in Christ with
all his heart; nor is he positively recognizable for a member of it,
when he has become so, by any one but God, not even by himself.
Nevertheless, there are certain signs by which Christ's sheep may be
guessed at. Not by their being in any definite Fold--for many are lost
sheep at times; but by their sheeplike behavior; and a great many are
indeed sheep, which, on the far mountain side, in their peacefulness, we
take for stones. To themselves, the best proof of their being Christ's
sheep is to find themselves on Christ's shoulders; and, between them,
there are certain sympathies (expressed in the Apostles' Creed by the
term "communion of Saints"), by which they may in a sort recognize each
other, and so become verily visible to each other for mutual comfort.

189. (2) The Limits of the Visible Church, or of the Church in the
Second Scriptural Sense, are not so easy to define: they are awkward
questions, these, of stake-nets. It has been ingeniously and plausibly
endeavored to make Baptism a sign of admission into the Visible Church:
but absurdly enough; for we know that half the baptized people in the
world are very visible rogues, believing neither in God nor devil; and
it is flat blasphemy to call these Visible Christians; we also know that
the Holy Ghost was sometimes given before Baptism,[143] and it would be
absurdity to call a man, on whom the Holy Ghost had fallen, an Invisible
Christian. The only rational distinction is that which practically,
though not professedly, we always assume. If we hear a man profess
himself a believer in God and in Christ, and detect him in no glaring
and willful violation of God's law, we speak of him as a Christian; and,
on the other hand, if we hear him or see him denying Christ, either in
his words or conduct, we tacitly assume him not to be a Christian. A
mawkish charity prevents us from outspeaking in this matter, and from
earnestly endeavoring to discern who are Christians and who are not; and
this I hold[144] to be one of the chief sins of the Church in the
present day; for thus wicked men are put to no shame; and better men are
encouraged in the