Seven Deacons
59
the contrary, they were fully qualified to instruct others in the truth,
and they engaged in the work with great earnestness and success.
To the early church had been entrusted a constantly enlarging
work—that of establishing centers of light and blessing wherever there
were honest souls willing to give themselves to the service of Christ.
The proclamation of the gospel was to be world-wide in its extent, and
the messengers of the cross could not hope to fulfill their important
mission unless they should remain united in the bonds of Christian
unity, and thus reveal to the world that they were one with Christ in
God. Had not their divine Leader prayed to the Father, “Keep through
Thine own name those whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be
one, as We are”? And had He not declared of His disciples, “The
world hath hated them, because they are not of the world”? Had He
not pleaded with the Father that they might be “made perfect in one,”
“that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me”?
John 17:11,
14, 23, 21
. Their spiritual life and power was dependent on a close
connection with the One by whom they had been commissioned to
preach the gospel.
Only as they were united with Christ could the disciples hope to
have the accompanying power of the Holy Spirit and the co-operation
[91]
of angels of heaven. With the help of these divine agencies they would
present before the world a united front and would be victorious in the
conflict they were compelled to wage unceasingly against the powers
of darkness. As they should continue to labor unitedly, heavenly
messengers would go before them, opening the way; hearts would be
prepared for the reception of truth, and many would be won to Christ.
So long as they remained united, the church would go forth “fair as the
moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners.”
Song
of Solomon 6:10
. Nothing could withstand her onward progress. The
church would advance from victory to victory, gloriously fulfilling her
divine mission of proclaiming the gospel to the world.
The organization of the church at Jerusalem was to serve as a
model for the organization of churches in every other place where
messengers of truth should win converts to the gospel. Those to whom
was given the responsibility of the general oversight of the church
were not to lord it over God’s heritage, but, as wise shepherds, were to
“feed the flock of God, ... being ensamples to the flock” (
1 Peter 5:2,
3
); and the deacons were to be “men of honest report, full of the Holy