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The Greatest Object, October 8
If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1
John 1:7
.
Union is strength, and the Lord desires that this truth should be ever revealed
in all the members of the body of Christ. All are to be united in love, in meekness,
in lowliness of mind. Organized into a society of believers for the purpose of
combining and diffusing their influence, they are to work as Christ worked. They
are ever to show courtesy and respect for one another. Every talent has its place and
is to be kept under the control of the Holy Spirit.
The church is a Christian society formed for the members composing it, that
each member may enjoy the assistance of all the graces and talents of the other
members, and the working of God upon them, according to their several gifts and
abilities. The church is united in the holy bonds of fellowship in order that each
member may be benefited by the influence of the other. All are to bind themselves to
the covenant of love and harmony. The Christian principles and graces of the whole
society of believers are to gather strength and force in harmonious action. Each
believer is to be benefited and improved by the refining and transforming influence
of the varied capabilities of the other members, that the things lacking in one may
be more abundantly displayed in another. All the members are to draw together, that
the church may become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
The covenant of agreement in church membership is that each member would
walk in the footsteps of Christ, that all will take His yoke upon them, and learn
of Him who is meek and lowly in heart. Doing this, “Ye shall,” saith the dear
Saviour, “find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”
(
Matthew 11:29, 30
).
Those who wear Christ’s yoke will draw together. They will cultivate sympathy
and forbearance, and in holy emulation will strive to show to others the tender
sympathy and love of which they feel such great need themselves. He who is weak
and inexperienced, although he is weak, may be strengthened by the more hopeful
and by those of mature experience. Although the least of all, he is a stone that must
shine in the building. He is a vital member of the organized body, united to Christ,
the living head, and through Christ identified with all the excellencies of Christ’s
character so that the Saviour is not ashamed to call him brother.... A church, separate
and distinct from the world, is in the estimation of heaven the greatest object in all
the earth.... The church is to be as God designed it should be, a representative of
God’s family in another world (
Selected Messages 3:15-17
).
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