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Christ Is Not Divided, September 10
But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it
hath pleased him.... 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.
1
Corinthians 12:18-21
.
Because men are not of the same stamp of character, this is no reason why
they should draw apart. If we are children of the heavenly King, we shall not
be at such variance that we shall stand in one another’s way.
It is by the Lord’s orders that His servants have varied gifts. It is by
His appointment that men of varied minds are brought into the church, to
be laborers together with Him. We have many different minds to meet, and
different gifts are needed. God’s servants are to work in perfect harmony.
I thank the Lord that we are not all exactly the same, while we are all to
have the same spirit—the spirit that dwelt in Christ. The apostle John was
not the same as the apostle Peter. Each was to subdue his peculiarities and
soften his temperament, that they might help each other, through belief in and
sanctification of the truth.
It is the righteousness of Christ that goes before us. It is His character
that we are to copy. And then what?—The glory of the Lord shall be our
rearward. Our Leader goes before us, and as we follow Him, He imparts to us
His righteousness, which is revealed in our lives by a well-ordered life and a
godly conversation. It is faith and works that makes us Christians, preparing
us to sit together in heavenly places with Christ.
Is Christ divided?—No. Christ abiding in the soul will not quarrel with
Christ in another soul. We must learn to bear with the peculiarities of those
around us. If our will is under the control of Christ’s will, how can we be
at variance with our brethren? If we are at variance, we may know that it is
because self needs to be crucified. He whom Christ makes free is free indeed.
We are not complete in Christ unless we love one another as Christ has loved
us. When we do this, as Christ has given us commandment, we shall give
evidence that we are complete in Him.
We must have the faith which prophets foretold and apostles preached—
the faith that works by love and purifies the soul.—
Letter 141, September 10,
1902
, to Elder S. N. Haskell, in city evangelism in New York City.
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