27-Last Words

I hope I have made my meaning clear. Throughout this book, I
have been contending for the life of the church, its spirit and vitality, not
merely its form, order and pattern of government. Oh, that we could
discover more and more of the sheer joy of belonging to one of the
churches of Christ. That having been said, I do argue that the life of the
church is affected by its pattern and order; very much so. To say otherwise,
is to contradict the New Testament. Of course, good men can disagree
strongly about church order – they do! – and because of that, until the end
of the age we will need different churches, no doubt. Nevertheless, while
there may be honourable differences of judgement on order, should we not
all agree on the life of the church?
The Particular Baptists in the 1640s, I submit, were second to none in
this regard; their church life was of a very high calibre indeed. And I say
that they were in that position partly at least because of their emphasis
upon New Testament order for their churches; certainly not in spite of it.