I have come to bring you the greetings of the Congregational brotherhood, a brotherhood having so much in common with your own that the wonder is that we have not fraternized in the past more than we have. You stand for a free church, so do we; you stand for a pure church, so do we; you stand for a Bible church, so do we; you stand for a united church, and so do we. [485] Your fathers struggled, suffered and sacrificed in the nineteenth century, encouraged and stimulated, we are pleased to believe, by the splendid spectacle of the martyrdom of our fathers, who fought and died for the same principles in the sixteenth century. Freedom from authoritative human creeds, the liberty to preach and teach the word of God independent of all ecclesiastical interpretations thereof, is our precious heritage as well as yours. Why, then, should we not cultivate a more intimate acquaintance and a closer fellowship.

J. H. LUCAS.

We congratulate you upon the wonderful progress you have made as evidenced by the size and enthusiasm of these Conventions, as well as your splendid showing of statistics, and we are glad to strike hands with you in the great effort to win the world for Christ, the one Saviour.

      Christianity is the only universal religion. Before Christ came the world had its religions; now it has its religion. The Jews had a religion, but it was a religion for the Jews. Greece had a religion, but it was a religion for Greece. Rome had a religion for the Romans. All nations had their religions, but they were all national religions. The religion of Jesus Christ is world-wide and world-embracing. This is one of its distinctive characteristics--that it may be applied to all men, to all races, to all climes, to all conditions and to all ages. No wonder Judaism, with its narrow doctrine of election, rejected it. No wonder that Pharisaism, with its spirit of exclusivism, sought and secured the death of its founder. When Jesus Christ came and mingled with the common people, and entered their huts and hovels, soothing their sorrows, healing their diseases and saving their souls, including "publicans and sinners" in his gracious ministrations, he struck a death-blow to the doctrine of exclusive privilege, and in its place introduced the doctrine of a universal brotherhood, a doctrine destined to fill the whole earth with its blessings and glory.

      Brethren, we are all one--not one in a creed, not one in a book, not one in an ecclesiastical organization, but one in Christ. This glorious oneness was realized by the primitive churches. Not until human errors and human prejudices and human ambitions came in and corrupted the church was this bond of unity broken. Two generations passed before the storm of dissension arose, and divisions, rather than union, became the order of things. And now, after centuries of battling and bloodshed, the shattered forces of the Lord's army are again calling to mind the last prayer of Jesus, that his followers might be one, and are beginning to seek a realization of that prayer in Christian life and church work. Human dogmas, ritualistic forms, ecclesiastical orders and bonds and trappings, still exist, but they exist as the debris of the devastating storm and not as essentials of church life. The doctrinal warfare is over, and denominational hatred, which first melted into tolerance, later became friendliness, then warmed into co-operation, now seems almost ready to fuse into unity.

      And why not? Christ prayed for this, your fathers and ours prayed for it, and an ever-increasing multitude of God's children are praying for it. Will not the loving Father of us all answer the prayer of his children thus led by his only begotten Son?

      Already the bow of promise appears. Church federation is now a reality. In our own and other lands, kindred denominations, and even those holding doctrines hitherto regarded as irreconcilable, are coming together in councils and conferences to find a basis of union. And, as they gather and greet and come into touch with one another in Christian fellowship, their prejudices disappear and they begin to wonder that things not essential have kept them apart so long.

      As different denominations meet and co-operate in evangelistic work at home and abroad, they come to see that underneath all differences of doctrine and forms and ecclesiastical adjustments there is an essential unity, like the unity of the ocean under its tossing [486] billows, and with anxious hearts they stand and pray and wait for the coming of Him who said to the tempestuous waves of Galilee, "Peace, be still." Like naughty children, those fighting waves sobbed themselves to sleep in His presence. So some of us dare to think that at His rebuke and in obedience to His command the war of all denominational contentions will one day cease, and that the calm of Christian unity will yet prevail.

      Did you ever think of the purpose of the Master's prayer for unity--"That the world may know that thou hast sent me"? Christ wants the church one that the world may believe. It may be well to consider the economic and dynamic value of union; but it should never be forgotten that the great thing to be gained in Christian unity is the salvation of the world through faith in Jesus Christ. The world does not now believe. After all our arguments and sermons and efforts, only a few here and there believe. The masses are disgusted with our theological contentions and denominational competition. They wait for a practical demonstration of the power of Christianity to bind Christ's followers together in one great fellowship of love. This is the new apologetic which is needed to convince the world of Christ's divine sonship. When we really get together in Christian love and service, the world will believe that Christ was sent of God. The disciples got together thus before Pentecost. They were all with one accord in one place, and, when they prayed, power came and three thousand souls were saved in one day. Pentecostal power is always dependent on the "upper room" unity and prayer. Let us have more of the "upper room" experience, so that we can claim more Pentecostal blessings. Let us get together and pray until the house trembles, to the end that the world may believe.

      I do not know what form the unity of the church of Christ will take, nor what name the body of Christ will finally be known by, nor what garments that body will wear; but I do know that in a different sense from now it will be one body in Christ. As the denominations continue to look to Christ as their ideal, and move and work toward that ideal, they must approach one another. The nearer we come to Christ the closer we get together. That we shall ever all see alike, and think alike and believe alike, I doubt; but we must all learn to love and live and serve alike, and this will make us one. When the great organ in yonder Music Hall was built, noise and confusion attended the work. The pipes of all sizes were made and tuned and put in place one by one. They were all brought under the control of the one keyboard, over which swept the magic fingers of the master musician, flooding the hall with delightful music. Brethren, the time will come when all God's people will be tuned and brought under the control of the keyboard of Christian unity. Then the great master Musician, our blessed Lord, will strike the notes which will flood the world with the music of God's love, and men everywhere will believe. In that hour the prayer of our Lord will have its complete answer.

[CCR 485-487]