Unity in our Work
209
Let us seek to understand our privilege of walking and working
with God. The gospel, though it contains God’s expressed will, is of no
value to men, high or low, rich or poor, unless they place themselves in
subjection to God. He who bears to his fellow men the remedy for sin
must himself first be moved by the Spirit of God. He must not ply the
oars unless he is under divine direction. He cannot work effectually,
he cannot carry out the will of God in harmony with the divine mind,
unless he finds out, not from human sources, but from infinite wisdom,
that God is pleased with his plans.
God’s benevolent design embraces every branch of His work. The
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law of reciprocal dependence and influence is to be recognized and
obeyed. “None of us liveth to himself.” The enemy has used the chain
of dependence to draw men together. They have united to destroy
God’s image in man, to counterwork the gospel by perverting its
principles. They are represented in God’s word as being bound in
bundles to be burned. Satan is uniting his forces for perdition. The
unity of God’s chosen people has been terribly shaken. God presents
a remedy. This remedy is not one influence among many influences
and on the same level with them; it is an influence above all influences
upon the face of the earth, corrective, uplifting, and ennobling. Those
who work in the gospel should be elevated and sanctified, for they
are dealing with God’s great principles. Yoked up with Christ, they
are laborers together with God. Thus the Lord desires to bind His
followers together, that they may be a power for good, each acting
his part, yet all cherishing the sacred principle of dependence on the
Head.
* * * * *
Christ was bound up in all branches of the work of God. He made
no division. He did not feel that He was infringing on the work of the
physician when He healed the sick. He proclaimed the truth, and when
the sick came to Him to be healed, He was just as ready to lay His
hands on them as He was to preach the gospel. He was just as much at
home in this work as in proclaiming the truth.
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