Robert Davis suddenly bethought himself of the new religious paper.  Those words which he read when he first saw a copy stood out before him again: 

“A Definite, Heart-Searching, Non-Sectarian
Religious Weekly
Published in the Interests of
the church of god.”

“Mary,” Robert suddenly said to his wife, “there is beginning to form in my mind an idea of what a church ought to be.  I suppose that text in the Acts that you read this morning for worship, and that religious paper, are responsible for it.  These words paint a beautiful picture: 

“’And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:  neither said any of them that ought of these things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus:  and great grace was upon them all.’

“This, it seems to me, is the kind of church there ought to be today.  Where is it?  By the way, those words were written of the early church, were they not?  Yes, for see here, in Acts 2:47 it says, ’And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.’  This description is of the early church then.

“They were united, with one heart and soul; one holy purpose animated them; one powerful motive brought them together.  There were no divisions among them, they all believed the same thing, and their holy fellowship was complete.  Everyone knew them as the disciples of Jesus, and anyone under conviction of sin knew where to go for salvation.  It was a pure church.  I suppose that there was not a sinner who dared to profess very long among them.  It was not a mixed multitude, part saved, part unsaved, part trying to do God’s will, and part with a bent on pleasure and full of worldliness.  They were all full of grace.  They were humble, too, and consecrated.  They were not classified as rich and poor—­they were all brethren, and the wealthier members had a care for the poorer members’ temporal welfare.  What a contrast with the churches as they exist today!  My heart longs for a pure, united church which will bear the pure testimony to the world.”

“Mary, do you suppose that there is any church today like the early church was?” asked Robert.

“I do not know,” said Mary.  “It may be that there is.”

“Do you suppose the ‘church of God,’ in whose interests this paper is printed, can be that pure apostolic church?” said Robert.  “What should the true church be called, anyway?  This paper says it is ‘non-sectarian.’  What is a sect?  What does ‘non-sectarian’ mean?  Say, Mary, let us set this afternoon apart as a time of investigation of what the Bible has to say about the church.  What do you say?”

“Let us do that,” said Mary.  “We have not read the Scriptures at all on this subject.  Now, since we wish to find a church home, it would be well to first search the Scriptures; probably the Bible will direct us in this most important step.”