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Testimonies for the Church Volume 5
labor for the strength and unity of the church. They will watch carefully
lest opportunity be given for diversity and division to creep in.
There have of late arisen among us men who profess to be the
servants of Christ, but whose work is opposed to that unity which our
Lord established in the church. They have original plans and methods
of labor. They desire to introduce changes into the church to suit their
ideas of progress and imagine that grand results are thus to be secured.
These men need to be learners rather than teachers in the school of
Christ. They are ever restless, aspiring to accomplish some great work,
to do something that will bring honor to themselves. They need to
learn that most profitable of all lessons, humility and faith in Jesus.
Some are watching their fellow laborers and anxiously endeavoring to
point out their errors, when they should rather be earnestly seeking to
prepare their own souls for the great conflict before them. The Saviour
bids them: “Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
shall find rest unto your souls.”
Teachers of the truth, missionaries, officers in the church, can do
a good work for the Master if they will but purify their own souls
by obeying the truth. Every living Christian will be a disinterested
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worker for God. The Lord has given us a knowledge of His will that
we may become channels of light to others. If Christ is abiding in us,
we cannot help working for Him. It is impossible to retain the favor of
God and enjoy the blessing of a Saviour’s love, and yet be indifferent
to the danger of those who are perishing in their sins. “Herein is My
Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.”
Paul urges the Ephesians to preserve unity and love: “I therefore,
the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 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.”
The apostle exhorts his brethren to manifest in their lives the power
of the truth which he had presented to them. By meekness and gen-
tleness, forbearance and love, they were to exemplify the character of
Christ and the blessings of His salvation. There is but one body, and
one Spirit, one Lord, one faith. As members of the body of Christ all