18. "Quis Separabit?"
"Quis Separabit?"
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?" -Romans 8:35.
Another incident of the Review before the Queen, at Aldershot, is thus described by the "Daily News":—"The 86th (County Down) Regiment, with Lieutenant-Colonel Adams at its head, went by with a firm, elastic tread, never wavering as they passed the saluting point, but preserving the touch as if the old motto, 'Quis separabit?' had been instilled into every man."
We can scarcely credit that their motto, which is in somewhat questionable taste, can have any influence upon the 86th, but we are quite sure that it ought to operate very strongly upon those to whom it properly belongs. The question," Who shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord?" should bind us first of all to the great Captain of our salvation. If he himself by inspiration forbids the fear of separation from himself, let us not act as if such a division were possible, but cling to him with all the tenacity of vital union. Shall the member be cut away from the body? the thought is too painful. Shall the branch be torn from the vine? the result would be deadly. Shall the stone be rent from the foundation? the overthrow would be terrible. Shall the bride be divorced from her husband? the consequences would be dishonour, poverty, destruction. No force of persecution shall ever drive us from our Lord through fear, and no fascination of pleasure shall tempt us from him through selfish hope. Closer and closer let us cling to him who is our one and only hope for time and for eternity. Defying things present and things to come, and the great master power of evil, let us cry" Quis separabit?" and march on our way to the marriage supper of the Lamb, through all the opposing hosts of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Equally influential should this motto be with regard to our union with our fellow-Christians. The church is one and indivisible: imperfections and infirmities are frequent causes of discord; but where charity rules, they cannot create disunion: the existence of the old man is a dividing power, but the new man is ever one, and draws and attracts to itself all life of the same kind. "We will not leave our brethren because we cannot agree with them in sentiment in all respects, but we will endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. We will not forsake our brethren because they are in poverty or disgrace, but we will regard them as suffering members of the one body. We will not even believe that death can separate, but our faith and love shall follow to the skies the members of the general assembly and church of the first-born who have taken wings for the seats above. Our hearts are gladdened while we sing—
"One family we dwell in him, One church above, beneath;
Though now divided by the stream, The narrow stream of death."
Our love takes a sweep which, in its circle, includes all who are one in Christ, whether in heaven or in earth. It shall be ours throughout life to promote the visible union of the people of God, and never will we lend a hand to tear the seamless vesture of our Lord. Sinking selfishness, and cultivating ever the mind which was in Christ Jesus, we will labour to carry out the spirit of our great Master's prayer," That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." So will we challenge the dispersing influences of sin and the world with the grand question," Quis separabit?" never wavering as we pass the saluting point, but preserving the touch as if the old motto had been instilled into every man.
Reader, are you a peace-maker or are you a divider? Search your heart and see; for it is an important enquiry. The divider of churches will have hard work to prove himself a Christian, since it is written, " Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." More love would enable us to work in harmony with those who are now the victims of our dislike. Unity in error and in sin is increase of evil; but unity in the truth and in good works is so desirable that woe is unto that man by whom the offence cometh.
"Quis separabit" it seems is the motto of an order of knighthood, that of St. Patrick. The nationality indicated does not suggest the most united and peaceable of the human race, but the question suggests such a determined unity that we would urge each Christian church to write it upon its walls. When will true brotherhood become so strong among us that nothing can rend our churches, but all men shall exclaim, " See how these Christians love one another "?