We are weak and can do but little. Let us not rely on _our own_ position, but the one the Lord has appointed; _our own_ views or theories, but the clear teachings of our Lord and his apostles. Here is the strength, and those who stand here will find the Lord of hosts with them. We must plead for the Lord, the gospel, the teachings of Christ and the apostles, the ground on which they stood, maintain that and nothing else. Here is the power, and it is nowhere else.
The Lord gave the commemoration of his sufferings and death to _his disciples_, and Paul, in Corinth, gave it to the congregation of the saints, and not to any others. Those who are his disciples, who are in Christ, in the body, are communicants, and those not in Christ, are not communicants. We “neither invite nor exclude,” but show to whom the Lord has given the communion, and that no others have any right to it, only those in good standing in the body, and _give it to no others_.
But for any preacher or church to arrange _purposely_ for communion with persons whom they know are not in Christ, not in the kingdom, and try to blur over the clear violation of the law of the kingdom, as thus deliberately arranged for, by defining the position of his church to be that they “neither invite nor exclude,” is certainly a weak and shallow device. It is an attempt to ignore the very act by which we enter into union with the Father and with the Son, as, also, the “whole family in heaven and on earth,”—immersion into Christ, into the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, under the sham pretext of a _union_ meeting, a _union_ communion. There is no _Christian union_ in any meeting that intends to ignore the clear law of induction into the kingdom of God. It is only a _union in disloyalty_ to the Great King—_ignoring his law_.
We know of two or three wandering pilgrims that are now old men, of good enough talent to have made a permanent record long ago, and yet received in doubt wherever they go, held in distrust, and, to say the least, they have nothing that could be called a standing. To be safe, all the overseers in the church need do is simply to receive no man till he produces clear evidence of good standing. Look back over the record and see where the men have gone to who have tried the _gospel of soul sleeping_. Where are Elias Shortridge, Wm. P. Shockey, Wm. S. Speer, J. K. Speer, Snooks, and others of the same ilk? and where are their works? A streak of desolation has followed in their train all the way. They have divided churches, set the people of God at variance, and sown the seeds of discord. This is the kind of fruit that has been gathered from their work. Look back over the ground and see what has followed every man that has stranded among us. Nothing but ruin has followed. Men that stood fair, had line talent and valuable attainments, by some kind of departure or other, have gone, little by little, blaming those that loved them, and would, had it been in their power, have done anything to make them happy, till all is lost and they feel averse to almost everything. This is what it brings to get restless and dissatisfied with the plain truth of the Scriptures.