The question of the Church is bound up with these two truths: the return of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. For the Holy Spirit is come down here below, and it is that which gives to the Church its unity and its bond as a whole on earth. With the Church it is as with the body of a man, of which, it is said, all the elements are entirely renewed in a very short time; but it is always the same man: the spirit of a man which is in him is vitally linked together, and appropriates to itself new heterogeneous elements, and unity and person do not change.
There are three great truths which are linked with Christ, the center of all truth, or three different positions, if you please, in which He is seen: dead and risen; then in heaven (to which corresponds, as proof, the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth, John 16.); and, lastly, returning here below. Dead and risen, there is the Church, His body, justified and risen with Him; this is the doctrine of justification, and though evidently true for all the Church, viewed as a body, it is in its employment, for each day and for each conscience, an individual affair. The Holy Spirit, seal of this doctrine, dwells in the body of the individual as in a temple. Afterwards in heaven, Jesus is hidden in God, but crowned with glory and honor; the doctrine, which flows from it, is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church on earth, in His body; of the Holy Spirit, who gives to this body its unity, and which renders applicable the terms: body of Christ, bride of Christ, Church of Christ,—to those who, on earth, are united to Him who is in heaven, and thus form an unity on earth; the dead in Christ being for the moment out of sight. If this is understood (for one may be converted without understanding it), we desire, as the bride of Christ, the return of the Bridegroom. Justification is tied to His death and resurrection: for we know that His death has been accepted on high. The unity of the Church, and its waiting for Christ as becomes a faithful spouse, are what is bound up with the glory of Christ on high and the presence of the Holy Ghost here below. These are the two great truths which have been specially put forward, which God Himself, I believe, has put forward in these times, and which have produced so much uneasiness in those who desire to abide outside their force..... That people may not know these things, is intelligible; that others may oppose them, is very sad; but to say that they are secondary truths, is to be seriously deceived. To make little account of the glory of Christ manifested in the unity of the Church here below, is a proof, in effect, that the glory and love of Christ for His Church are not near the heart, and therefore there is hardly the occasion of speaking to conscience. If after having insisted before a son upon what he ought to be toward an affectionate and tender father, and having shown him what a filial spirit is, he demands that one should track out his duty with exactness, one may abstain from it: he wants the spirit to understand his position; it would be the spirit of a servant, of a hireling. The feeling must be awakened for conscience to act; but woe, woe to him in whom it is wanting! It is just so with the responsibility of the Church; the grace of the relationship must be recognized, and it is the heart taught of the Holy Spirit which will understand it. I doubt not that there is enough to condemn, by conscience itself, him who wants it; but such is neither my task nor my desire. If the heart can be awakened so as to feel the force of this relationship, of this obligation, this will be the most precious prize of the battle one has to join. Israel might have been condemned by the law, but is not the call of God far stronger, and Israel more hardened not to respond to it, when it was said, and in vain: “Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel”? For us the first principle is love. If that is wanting, all is wanting.
I admit, and have admitted, that one can understand the love which saves without knowing that the Church is bride of Christ; but, in present circumstances, this is what the Holy Spirit recalls particularly: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come.” Such is the normal position, the first testimony, which the Church bears. After that, it can turn to others and say: “Let him that is athirst come,” for the living waters already flow there, and “whosoever will,” &c.; but for
Christians, there is what the Spirit has bequeathed to the Church, as its true position. Its feelings are founded upon its relationships with Christ, and the Spirit demands that those who hear join this desire of His heart. Is it ill done to enlist those who have heard the voice of the good Shepherd, to take the position of the bride and join this cry, Come?
But the doctrine of the presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church here below, and of Christ’s return, are identified with its unity on earth, with its position of bride (or rather of betrothed here below, in order to be presented as a chaste virgin to Christ), and with this desire of His coming which detaches us from all that is not of Him, and attaches us entirely, exclusively to Him.