Unity of Effort
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work, a strange work, a great work, given us by God, links us heart
and soul together. You dare not throw off your armor. You must wear
it till the end. When the Lord releases you, it will be time for you to
lay your armor at His feet. You have enlisted in His army to serve
till the close of the battle, and you would not disgrace yourself and
dishonor God by deserting.
May the Lord open to you many matters that He has opened to
me. Satan is watching his opportunity to dishonor the cause of God. I
have been shown your peril, and I have also been shown your guardian
angel preserving you again and again from yourself, keeping you from
making shipwreck of faith. My brother, lift up the standard, lift it up,
and be not fainthearted or discouraged.
I have given the leading men in the General Conference and the
Mission Board the light given me by God: that you and they should
counsel together; that, instead of holding themselves aloof, they should
be your fellow helpers; that you had been ordained by God to stand in
a position of trust, and you needed help instead of censure.
[176]
In the intensity of my desire that you should make straight paths
for your feet, I have written earnest words to you, but never, never, to
denounce or condemn you. Oh, that God would make you understand
that my deep interest in you has not changed in the least. I have a most
earnest desire that you shall stand fast in God, firm, tried, and true. I
know that the Lord wants you to have the crown of victory.
* * * * *
“When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave
gifts unto men.... And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and
some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children,
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by
the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait
to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him
in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint