The chief reason why Christianity was persecuted was that
from its very nature it could accept no such truce. It is either
a universal religion or no religion at all. It is, like all other
systems which claim to be the true, in its own nature exclusive."

It is because of its universal character that truth can accept no such
truce as has been declared by the modern sects. Truth is exclusive,
and hence can make no compromises. The church of God is universal or
it is no church at all. The whole truth concerning the church question
must and will come out. The times demand it; the people of God
demand it; the Spirit of God demands it; and, as we shall show, the
Scriptures declare it.

[Sidenote: A new awakening]

It is very evident that the people of God are not satisfied with
the present sectarian situation. Everywhere there is manifested a
restlessness and uneasiness respecting the arbitrary lines of
sect which separate between those who have a recognized spiritual
affinity--recognized except formally by the ecclesiastical powers that
be. _The Christian consciousness is becoming awakened._ Men are coming
to see that Christianity is to be measured, not by sect lines, but by
that broader, Scriptural rule of the divine family embracing all
true disciples of Jesus--those who possess his life and bear the
appropriate fruits of righteousness. This awakening, with its logical
consequences, is what I have termed THE LAST REFORMATION. It will give
form and character to the Church of the Future.

[Sidenote: Apologies for sects]

Sectarianism still has its defenders, however. In the midst of the
rising tide of spiritual fellowship and love, there are those who
bring forward a few sickly apologies for sects, apologies which
generally impress the earnest student of the Scriptures with the
thought that the apologist has a hard case to make out. The excuse
most commonly advanced is that the sect system is a useful arrangement
for accommodating the variety of tastes and feelings found
among Christian people. It is assumed that some are natural-born
Episcopalians, with an innate fondness for formal liturgies and
ecclesiastical vestments, and that others are so constituted by nature
as to require certain other particular forms of worship.

[Sidenote: Diversity of taste and culture]

If there is any such fundamental demand in human nature for a variety
of sects, as different climates are required to suit different
orders of life on