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A Living
Organism
Paul used a perfect metaphor when he
used the human body to picture the Church. In great wisdom he
gave us an example that we could understand because it made
the message so clear. The point he was endeavoring to get
across to us, as a people, is that THE Church is not an
organization--it is a living organism. Ever since she has
existed, man has endeavored in every era of time, to organize
the Church. Whenever the organization catches up with the
organism, it kills the Church. That is why we have movements
of men who were once on fire, standing by God's Word and
heralding the truth, who have made shipwreck of the faith and
are alongside the highway of holiness.
We need to
realize that the Church is a living organism with many
members, and every one of those members is controlled by one
Spirit. This is not just a beautiful story; this is something
to live by. There are a lot of people who think truth is
beautiful, but they do not take it home and live it. An
organism is a whole, consisting of parts which exist and work,
each for all and all for each. There cannot be a bit of
selfishness in the Church that Jesus built. Every gift which
God gives you is not given for your enjoyment.
Just as
was done in Paul's day, many of this day and age have tried to
focus on certain gifts of the spirit, while totally ignoring
the others. They give special emphasis to this one or that
one, while failing to rightly divide the Word of God, taking
scriptures out of context to back up their theories, opinions,
and misguided beliefs, even to the point of establishing
entire doctrines on this one gift or a partial group of
gifts.
One in particular, which we have all heard
about, is the gift of speaking in tongues. Paul addressed this
very thing in the fourteenth chapter of I Corinthians. It had
become a serious issue in the body of believers. Because of
how it had been elevated above the other gifts, contention had
entered that congregation. While "speaking in tongues" is a
sure gift, to elevate it above the other gifts, to focus on it
alone, is pure selfishness because it edifies self, instead of
edifying the whole body.
Paul made it VERY plain, my
friends, that the Spirit of God works through every one of us
for the GOOD OF ALL, for EVERY OTHER member. He begins in our
Scripture text to let us see how we become members of the body
of Christ, the Church. He explains how God inducts us into
this wonderful, living organism --the body of Christ, the
Church -- and that the body is one.
The Apostle Paul
said in Ephesians 4:4-6: There is one body, and one Spirit,
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord,
one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is
above all, and through all, and in you all. Verses 12 and
13 of our Scripture text tell us: For as the body is one,
and hath many members, and all the members of that one body,
being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit
are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made
to drink into one Spirit.
How did this body begin
to come into being? For by one Spirit are we all baptized
into one body, no matter what our state was before. Paul
is teaching that the same work of salvation which put us into
the Church, or makes us a member of the Church, will produce
one body or one people, if we keep drinking in of that one
Spirit which baptized us into the
body.
Try The Spirits
John tells us to try the
spirits ( 1 John 4:1). There are false prophets all over this
world of today who come around with a teaching and a spirit,
which is contrary to the Spirit of Christ. If we drink in that
false spirit, it will dissect and divide the very body of
Christ, the Church. Jesus in John 4:10 and 14 told the woman
at the well: If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is
that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked
of him, and he would have given thee living water. But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall
never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in
him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
[this He spake of the Spirit]
On that last great day of
the feast, when the priest went to the pool of Siloam, got
water, poured it out and quoted Isaiah 12:3, "Therefore with
joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation," Jesus
stepped up and said: "If any man thirst, let him come unto me,
and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said
[the water I give him will be a well within him], out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water, (But this spake he of
the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for
the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not
yet glorified.)" (John 7:37-39). Since He has been glorified,
every believer drinks in of that one Spirit. When he drinks in
of that one Spirit, he is baptized into the ONE body of
Christ. He becomes a MEMBER of the BODY OF CHRIST, the bride
of Christ, the Church that Jesus built.
A real
experience of conversion through the power of the Holy Spirit
does not put you into any church except the Church that Jesus
built. Not the "Church of God" or the "Church of Christ", as
used to name certain doctrines or denominations. Those names
or phrases have been abused and clearly seem to be causing
confusion. In the Scriptures, the Church was referred to many
times as the "Church of God" (or some form of that term) and
one time as the churches of Christ. There are various church
groups that have identified with both those names /
phrases...and have been "in competition" with one another.
Real salvation does not make you a member of any religious
organization on the face of the globe. Real salvation makes
you a member, or a part, of the BODY OF CHRIST, the Church
that Jesus built, the only church recognized with authority in
the Bible. Through a born-again experience, drinking in of one
Spirit, you become a member of it. The bond of real Christian
unity is not in ordinances, creeds, or confession of certain
faiths, but it is by the baptism into Christ! We are not made
one body by believing certain truths; this is where division
is working today. Just because a person does not believe as
others do on certain points, there are those who want to begin
to divide and set up another body to let everybody know that
you are not part of their body.
This is a grand play by
the enemy of our souls. Nothing could be more pleasing to his
purpose than to cause division and contention among the
church. Yet, we ALL need to remember this: For God is not
the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of
the saints. I Corinthians 14:33. This is why we are told
in I John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try
the spirits whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world.
The bond of
true Christian union and unity is the baptism by the Spirit
into Christ, drinking in of one Spirit. You cannot have
division without getting ANOTHER spirit. We can disagree in
our mind about teachings and ideas, but if we both keep the
Spirit of Christ, we will never walk away from each other and
work contrary to one another. Before I divide with you, there
has to be a DIVISIVE SPIRIT working. The great need today is
to keep drinking of that one Spirit. We will never see people
in a unity, which will represent Christ and the body of
Christ, until we see every one of them with the Spirit of God
permeating their lives. By one Spirit we are baptized into one
body and become a member of the body of Christ, the
Church.
Members One of
Another
Paul clarifies something in the
fourteenth verse of our Scripture text, which needs to be
clarified today, "For the body is not one member, but many."
People today get independent spirits and live in isolation.
God does NOT want you to live in isolation. Too many are
pampering themselves because they are isolated and do not have
anywhere to go to church. I have a message for you from God:
you need to do one of two things, either start a congregation
where you are, or move to where there is one. God wants you
active in a congregation. God does not teach isolation. We are
all the Church, many members brought together in
unity.
Paul's message did away with this isolated and
independent idea, which people get today. Because some bit of
truth crosses them up, they go their own way and live
isolated. We only stay spiritually alive by walking in the
light of God's Word. God ordained for His people to have
ministers; it is His means of feeding the Church. You cannot
rightly say, "I am The Church." No, if you are a Christian,
you are a member of it, and if you have one Spirit with all
the other members, you will be hunting your members. When you
become a member, you not only have the love of God shed abroad
in your heart, but you also have a special love for God's
people.
In verses 15 through 17 of our Scripture text,
Paul sets forth some vivid truths: If the foot shall say,
Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it
therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I
am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of
the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the
hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the
smelling? If the whole body were tongues, where would be
the listening? There are people who think the whole body is a
tongue, but we have to have some ears too. Paul is trying to
teach that we cannot run off on just any one thought of truth,
or any one thing, which God has done for us personally, and
teach that it is a standard requirement to be a member of the
body. No! No! We have hands, feet, eyes, and ears.
In
the first ten verses of this chapter, Paul taught about the
differences of administrations, operations, and then he put it
into language we can understand. He broke down the operations
and administrations to ears, hands, and feet. Every member in
my body does not have the same office; but every member, it
they get in the right office, can do it right. My fingers can
pull out my handkerchief so I can blow my nose. Try to do it
with your feet, and you will get the same thing that many have
found happening in the churches of today: misplaced people in
the Church, trying to do something which God never gave them
the gift to do!
Each Christian has his own gift.
Remember this: when God gives any gift, it is for the
edification of the WHOLE body. Whenever the Spirit of God
moves through you, every spiritual member of the body (the
Church) will be edified. It is not to build your self-esteem:
"Why, I am so great with God. Just look at what I do!" It is
not to cause others to elevate you: "Why Brother So and So is
VERY important. He's the one who __________ (fill in the
blank) more than anybody!" Each Christian has his own gift,
which he uses for the benefit of the whole Church (and if you
are not using that which God has given you, you need to
be!)
Anything, which God definitely gives us is to/for
the edification of the WHOLE Church, the body. Paul said in I
Corinthians 12:7, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is
given to every man to profit withal." He then goes on and lets
us know that he also had his own limitations; therefore, he
needed the help of the gifts of other Christians. Isolation,
even in our thinking, is not the law of religious life, let
alone of the Church. We need the help of other believers for a
full, deep Christian life.
Strength From Each
Other
If you are isolated due to circumstances
beyond your control, certainly God can take care of you. On
the other hand, if you are there and do not really need to be
there, God cannot feed your soul and bless you as He wants to.
Many times He blesses you through another member. This is why
we must not neglect the assembling of ourselves together. Some
of the strength which I need, I am going to get from other
members. A great percentage of the time, your strength and
your help comes through another member. That is God's means of
working when we come together.
We, as individual
members, are confronted with problems and may have 'the heat
put on us' for two or three days. The devil will try to make
us feel that he is going to wipe out the Church, that this is
the end. It may look as though we will never have victory, but
when we come to church, they do not get through the first
verse of a song, until somebody is shouting and praising God
for a victory. Thereby, God spills his cup of blessing all
over you, and the first thing you know, you are taking
strength and being spiritually lifted. God is sending you help
through another member. We are not only members of Christ, but
we are members one of another. We not only draw our strength
from Christ individually, but also from one
another.
One of the older pioneer brethren lived in
this city and worshipped in the little church building
downtown where we used to be located. He was just like anybody
else. (We can criticize Elijah for getting discouraged, but
ALL of us are quite human. You do not have to get discouraged,
but do not be too upset if you do once in a while, because we
are human.) He had been preaching the Gospel for forty years
or better, and the people rose up, just as they do today when
they do not want the truth. He stayed with another brother,
and he told this brother's wife that he and his wife were
going downtown, "We heard about a little store that is for
sale, and we are going to buy it and retire and rest there.
People do not want the truth anymore, so I am just going to
quit preaching."
Well, he got to church on Wednesday
night and somebody began shouting, "Thank God for Brother
________. If he had not come this way, I would not have
learned the truth."
This pioneer brother jumped up and
shouted, "I expect to preach this truth until I
die!"
The sister where he stayed was sitting behind
him, and she said, "Brother ________ , what about the
store?"
He said, "Forget about the store!"
We
need each other. We not only need God; we need every member of
the body of Christ. The devil wants us to get fanatical ideas,
build up walls, and separate ourselves from our brethren.
Brother, we are suffering today. The devil is taking something
from us, which belongs to us. God sends us strength through
one another. Isolation is not the law of religious life, let
alone the law of the Church. We need the help of other
believers for a fuller and deeper Christian
life.
The Visible
Church
Let us read verse 18 of our text: But
now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as
it hath pleased him. He does not set sinners in the body;
He is only setting in members. It is one thing to be born
again -- baptized by the Spirit into Christ, to be inducted
and made a member of the body of Christ, but it is another
thing to let God, through His Word, set you into a visible,
working body of Christ.
One of the worst things, as far
as I am concerned, which came out of the Dark Ages and right
over into the days of Protestantism, was a teaching, which
taught that there were two churches, one visible and one
invisible. People are held in the bondage of Babylon (false
religion/religious confusion) today. They are joining
religious organizations because they are falsely taught that
they are a member of the invisible church. The Church that
Jesus built is visible! If you are born again (no matter where
you were born again, whether at some denominational altar, in
the hen house, the garage, or wherever), you are a member of
the body of Christ. But it is another thing to allow God to
set you in a visible, working body. Understand this: God did
not save you just to take you to Heaven; He saved you to make
you a worker in the Church!
Paul told the Church at
Corinth, "For we are labourers together with God" (I
Corinthians 3:9a). God takes the members, every born again
person, wherever they are, and sets them in a visible, working
body. Members of the Church can be scattered today (and they
are), but the Church is visible. We read in I Corinthians
12:28, "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles,
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers..." Ephesians 4:11
tells us, "And he gave some apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers."
V-I-S-I-B-L-E. They are visible, their duties are visible,
their gifts are visible, their works are visible, the results
are visible.
God sets pastors in and they are visible.
God's ordained way is for a man to get a call and go raise up
a congregation, but we have it all messed up today. Preachers
today ask, "Do you know where a congregation is, who wants a
pastor?" I said, "No, but I would like to find a pastor, who
wants a congregation." God does not call a congregation
together and then call pastors; He calls the apostles to go
out and raise up a people. God sets every member in the body
as it pleases Him.
Burned works
You cannot build the temple
of God, THE Church, in Babylon ( false religious confusion).
You may put in a lot of work there, but when you come out (if
you measure up to the truth), you can be saved, but your works
there will have to burn. I Corinthians 3:13-15 tells us:
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's
work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a
reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer
loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by
fire.
There, we read the truth: the works that we
are in are tried by the fire of God's Word. We are saved by
walking in the light and coming out, but all the efforts which
are put forth in Babylon (false religious confusion) will get
burned because that which God said is fallen cannot be
rebuilt. When we are born again, we are baptized by one Spirit
into one body. We become a member of the body of Christ, and
God is working through His eternal Word to take those members
and set them in the body as it pleases Him.
All you
have to do is read the whole chapter to know that the Church
is a visible, working body. If God has His way, every saved
person will be led by the Spirit of God through the teaching
of His truth to a visible, working body of Christ, THE Church.
God does not want us to put our time, money and efforts into a
false religious work and have all those works burned. Build on
THE ROCK; where your works will stand and where you will not
lose your reward.
Big billboards tell us to go to the
church of our choice. There is not a thing in the Bible which
allows us to choose. The only choice we have is the strait way
or the broad way. When you turn to Christ and deny yourself,
you then move as it pleases Him. When Jesus comes back, He is
not coming after yours or mine; He is coming after HIS OWN. We
do not have any choice about these things. God has already
decided what the Church would be, where the Church would be,
who would be the leaders of it, what the name of it is, what
they are going to teach, and how they are going to act. The
only choice we have is whether we are a member of it or not.
He makes it very plain that the setting in of the members is a
visible setting in. To choose a place for ourselves is to put
ourselves out of place.
God calls and God places. Too
many choose a place for themselves. This is why we have so
many religions. Any church you can join, was started by some
man or group of men, and God is not back of them. When Jesus
said, "Take up thy cross and follow...", just exactly WHO did
He say to follow? Men? No! Jesus spoke the words, "If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24). We need to follow God
and the dictates of His Word. Enter ye in at the strait
gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because
strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it. Matthew 7:13,14.
(Notice that word, "strait". It's not "straight"--it's
"strait", as in narrow.)
Spiritual
Fornication
Paul, bringing forth a lesson, says in I
Corintians 6:15-18: Know ye not that your bodies are the
members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ,
and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know
ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for
two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto
the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication... Certainly
there was physical, literal fornication going on in the
church, but friend, there is a truth set forth here, which we
need to consider. Many of God's people are still in Babylon
(false religious confusion), and God still says, "Come out of
her, my people." And he cried mightily with a strong voice,
saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become
the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit,
and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations
have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and
the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her,
and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the
abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from
heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues. Revelation 18:2-4 (bold is mine).
False
religion has risen up with many systems and ideas. I do not
call them churches, because they are not churches. They have
people believing that they must have a church home to live in
just until Jesus comes again. Those systems lead you right
away from the Bible, teaching things contrary to Christ's
Word, and all the time making you feel that you will be happy
to see your Husband (Christ) come again. The Bible calls that
spiritual fornication.
In Revelation 17:5, John saw
that woman sitting on a beast and he called her the mother of
harlots and abominations of the earth. False religion is
called harlot bodies because you cannot join the true Church;
no man durst join it. You may come to the true Church and try
to adhere yourself to it, but they will tell you, "Go see my
Husband. Get right with Him." False religion, supposedly,
makes you able to collaborate and hold fellowship with Christ,
without really selling out from sin, giving up and making a
commitment to Christ and Christ alone.
Isaiah spoke of
it as "in that day" and his prophecy reached right into the
gospel day, beginning A.D. 33 to the end time, And in that
day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will
eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be
called by thy name, to take away our reproach. Isaiah 4:1.
In every period of time, there was a true Church; God kept a
seed. But in every age there was a false church, and the false
church, just wants to go by Christ's name; they say, "We will
eat our own bread."
In John 6:51, we find: I am the
living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of
this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will
give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world. The true bread is the Word of God. The false church
eats their own food, have their own creed, and wear their own
apparel. God has ordained that we be dressed in righteousness
and holiness, but they have their own apparel--spotted
garments, spotted with the flesh and the world.
This
woman in Revelation 17:5 symbolizes a false church, yet she is
the mother of many daughters. Those daughters are the many
Protestant organizations which spring forth from Roman
Catholicism, every one of them with a human head, human
doctrine, and human government. They are an abomination to God
and they are against the cause of God. God is saying, "Come
out of her!"
We read in II Corinthians 6:14-18: Be
ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what
communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath
Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with
an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with
idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath
said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be
their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out
from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a
Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith
the Lord Almighty.
(There are those who say this
only applies to human relationships. God was not talking about
marriage here. Paul says in I Corinthians, Chapter 7, that if
you have an unbelieving wife and she be pleased, stay with
her. Now, he did not turn around in the second letter and tell
you to leave her. The scripture passage of II Corinthians
6:14-18 has nothing to do with marriage. Certainly the Bible
teaches us to not get yoked up [married] to anyone out of the
will of the Lord, but the Bible is not talking about marriage
here.)
The way to get "yoked up" with unbelievers is
when those who preach/teach false doctrines open up their
doors and take you in. We have to be mighty careful, Brothers
and Sisters in Christ. There is a lot of running back to
Babylon today, thinking we can get help. Or we willingly
partake of their ungodliness by our unwillingness to make a
TOTAL commitment to God. It's not what "sounds good" or "sets
well with you" that is going to save your soul. It is the
truth from the Word of God that causes us to examine ourselves
and keep our relationship with God as it should be. Not
soothing, warm and fuzzy messages from the pulpits and
lecterns that lull you into a false sense of security--it is
the unadulterated truth from the Word of God that warns us:
Come ye out from among them, and be ye
separate!
Bestow More Abundant
Honor
Let's read I Corinthians 12:18-21:
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the
body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member,
where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but
one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need
of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of
you. Paul wrote, "The eye cannot say...I have no need of
thee." You cannot have one Spirit and be a part of this one
body and have any selfishness. It is contrary to the nature of
the body. It is a sin against the organism. You cannot be a
part of the body and not respect and love every other member
of the body.
In this day and age of ours, it does not
take a very big thing to separate God's people. Whenever we
begin to get the feeling that we can get along just as good
without other brethren, it does not take much to separate us.
But, if we hold that one Spirit, keep that love and care one
for another, and know that we truly need each other, it will
be hard to separate us. We can overlook a multitude of things
if we have that Spirit. Whenever we get to the place that we
feel we do not have any need of him or her, then it is easy to
destroy our brother or sister.
In Judges, Chapter 12,
you read about the Ephraimites and the Gileadites at battle on
the farther side of Jordan. The Gileadites seized the fords of
the river Jordan to cut off the return of the Ephraimites. To
test them and have a good reason to kill them, they stopped
every one of them who came by and made them repeat the word
Shibboleth. They chose that word because they knew the
Ephraimites were just like many Jews yet today, they cannot
pronounce "sh." Instead of saying Shibboleth, they said,
"Sibboleth." When they could not properly pronounce
Shibboleth, they were killed. Forty-two thousand were slain
because they could not pronounce a word right.
Today,
just because you may not pronounce a doctrine as some want it
pronounced, you cannot enjoy good spiritual fellowship with
them. We are members in particular, not individual members
anymore; we have lost our identity. We are part of a body, and
the head needs the feet. No saint is self-contained; you must
have room in your heart for every one of your brethren and
sisters in Christ. No one thinks selfishness is worthy of
praise. God, well knowing this tendency, has made moves to
save us from it.
We continue reading in I Corinthians,
Chapter 12, Verses 22 and 23: Nay, much more those members
of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And
those members of the body, which we think to be less
honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our
uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. Considering
the natural body first, the heart, lungs, and stomach are
concealed. We live among people and they never see our lungs,
stomach, etc. They are less comely; you do not have to wash
them off. Nobody even knows you have them, but we bestow honor
upon them because they are very necessary for us to enjoy life
as God wants us to enjoy it.
In the body of Christ (as
in the human body), we have members, or people, in our
congregation, whom you may never hear sing a song or lead in
prayer. You might not even know they are around. We need them
just as much, and more, than some of those who do get up. They
are faithful in their living and in their giving. They do not
miss services, they pray for us, and they help us. All they
need to do is quit, and we will feel the loss of what they
have been doing. God blesses some people in the body of Christ
and makes them able to make a lot of money; He has given them
the gift of giving, and they give. There are members in the
body of Christ whom we do not see so much. We need to bestow
honor upon these faithful members. It is these who keep the
Church going.
We Must Work
Together
There is an old story about discontent
getting in the body. One day the natural body and all the
members said that they all worked hard, while the stomach did
nothing, but just ride along. So they rose up in bebillion
against the stomach: "Stomach, you just consume all our
labors. We work hard to get food, get it cooked and fixed, and
then just pour it into you, while you enjoy it." So, they set
up a conspiracy against the belly.
The hand said, "I
will never lift food to that mouth again."
The mouth
said, "If you do lift food, I am not going to receive
it."
The teeth said, "I am not going to chew it or
masticate it."
The throat said, "If you chew it, I am
not going to swallow it."
Acting upon the principle of
revenge, they decided to reduce the belly to famine. They did,
and the whole body went into a stage of consumption. The hand
soon got to where it could not be lifted, and the feet could
not be picked up. They learned a lesson, my friend, that the
belly did no small service for them. It took that which it
received and then sent out nourishment and strength to the
whole body.
Let us read verses 25-27 of our Scripture
text: That there should be no schism in the body; but that
the members should have the same care one for another. And
whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or
one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.
When we arrive at that standard, we are truly the body of
Christ, and members in particular. "Members in particular"
means when you come out and gather together with God's people,
we will have the same love one to another that the head,
Christ, has for us. We suffer together and we rejoice
together. By this, we really show that we are part of the
whole.
God told Jeremiah in Jeremiah 16:16 Behold, I
will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall
fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they
shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and
out of the holes of the rocks. Each of us are members of
one body, the Church. The body is beautiful, not mutilated or
divided up, but all under the control of one head. Each member
functions as the Head leads us to function.
I close
with the thought of the basic things needed to produce The
Church, visibly: first, the message of truth preached: second,
a people who will believe it, obey it, and live by it. This is
what it takes to produce the visible Church. That is the very
reason there was no visible Church for 350 years through the
cloudy day. God had a seed in that period of time, but no
visible Church. It takes the message preached and a people
receiving, believing, obeying and walking in the light of the
message. That will produce the visible Church anywhere it is
preached. Before He ever saved you, He built a Church to take
care of you. He made a place for you to work. He made a place
for you to get your food and an avenue through which you could
get your strength.
If you are a sinner, an unsaved
individual completely outside of God's plan, come in old-time
repentance, make a commitment of your life to Christ, and let
Him, by one Spirit, baptize you into membership of the body of
Christ. If you definitely know you have been born again, God's
message is, for you to come out of those places where you have
been scattered in the dark and cloudy day, and come back to
Zion, The Church of the Firstborn. The message to us, the
Church, is to be careful of these little cranky ideas, which
we get, that will spoil the oneness of the Spirit. Friend, we
have a command pressed upon us, to keep the unity of the
Spirit, until we come into the unity of the faith: With all
lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one
another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. Ephesians
4:2,3. |
