m scenes like these old Scotia's grandeur springs,
That makes her lov'd abroad, rever'd at home.

[1] Dr. James Martineau.

CHAPTER XV.

CHURCH.[1]

The word church is derived from the Greek word _Kuriakon_, the Lord's
(from _Kurios_, the Lord), and it has various significations. (_a_)
Sometimes it means the whole body of believers on earth--"the company
of the faithful throughout the world"--"the number of the elect that
have been, are, and shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head
thereof; and is the spouse, the body and the fulness of Him that
filleth all in all." [2] (_b_) Sometimes it is applied to a body of
Christians differing from the rest in their constitution, doctrines,
and usages; as, for example, the Church of Rome, the Greek Church, the
Reformed Church. (_c_) Sometimes it refers to the Christian community
of a country or its established religion, as when we speak of the
Gallican Church, the Swiss Church, the Church of England, the Church of
Scotland. (_d_) It is used in a still more limited sense to represent
a particular congregation of Christians who associate together and
participate in the ordinances of Christianity, with their proper
pastors or ministers. (_e_) It is applied also to the building in
which the public ministrations of religion are conducted, as when we
speak of the church in such a street, St. James' church, St. Peter's
church, etc.

In this chapter we use the word church in the fourth sense, as
representing a particular congregation of Christians. To such a
community every young man should belong, and in connection with it he
is called to discharge certain special duties. There are four aspects
in which the life of the Church, in this sense, may be regarded.

I. It represents Christian worship.--(_a_) Public worship seems
essential to the very existence of religion. At least, every religion
the world has seen has had its meetings for public rites and
ceremonies. Faith unsupported by sympathy, as a rule, languishes and
dies out in a community. Were our churches to be shut Sunday after
Sunday, and men never to meet together as religious beings, it would be
as though the reservoir that supplies a great city with water suddenly
ran dry. Here and there a few might draw water from their own wells,
but the general result would be appalling. (_b_) Public worship also
strengthens and deepens religious feeling. A man can pray alone and
praise God alone; b