Responsibility But though there are so many divisions and different religious bodies in Christendom today we are not thereby excused from our responsibility to give practical testimony to the glorious truth of the one Body of Christ and to visibly confess in action the unity of the Church of Christ. We are not only to hold the theory and truth of there being one body, but we are called upon to give a practical expression to that blessed truth in our Christian fellowship and a practical testimony against everything that denies it. To use the words of another: “The first step in confessing the unity of the Church of God is to step out of the divisions of Christendom. Let us not stop to ask what is to be our second step. God never gives light for two steps at a time. Is it true that there is but one body? Unquestionably, God says so. Well, then, the divisions, the sects, and the systems of Christendom are plainly opposed to the mind and will and Word of God. Truly so. What are we to do? Step out of them. This, we may rest assured, is the first step in a right direction. It is impossible to yield any practical confession to the unity of the Church of God while we stand connected with that which practically denies it. We may hold the theory in the region of our understanding, while we deny the reality in our practical career. But if we desire to confess the truth of the one body, our very first business -our primary duty-is to stand in thorough separation from all the sects and schisms of Christendom. “And what then? Looking to Jesus; and this is to continue right on to the end. Is this ... to form a new sect, or join some new body? By no means; it is but fleeing from the ruins around us to find our resource in the all-sufficiency of the name of Jesus, to keep the eye fixed on Him amid the wild watery waste, until we reach in safety the haven of everlasting rest and glory.” (C. H. M.) Its Various Members We shall now consider the various members of the Body of Christ and their functions as outlined in I Corinthians 12. There we read of various parts of the body, such as the foot, the hand, the ear and the eye, and of their various functions and need of each other. Then in verse 28 the apostle says, “God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.” These are some of the various gifts or specific members of the body which were found in the early Church. In Ephesians 4:11 we read of Christ ascending up on high and giving gifts unto men, “some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” These, undoubtedly, are the permanent gifts found in the Church at a later date those which abide until Christ comes as verse 13 indicates. These special gifts and members of the body, enumerated in the above passages, are the more public and prominent members, so to speak, given “for the edifying of the body of Christ.” The nature of these gifts and their functions we will consider later, when we take up the ministry of the Church. But the apostle in I Corinthians 12 is careful to stress the importance and need of the less honorable members of the body which are not so prominent and manifest as the above mentioned ones. No member can say to another, “I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary,” says the inspired writer. “God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it” (v. 24-26). These are very practical considerations which are connected with our being members of the Body of Christ. They concern our daily life and relationships one with another in material things as well as spiritual, and we need to consider daily the practical application of the truth set forth in the above verses. There is another important Scripture bearing upon the body and its lesser members to which we must also refer. It is Ephesians 4:15, 16: “the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” This verse reminds us that even such a small member as a joint must supply its measure from Christ the head and also that every part must work effectually if the whole body is to function properly and increase. This, we know, is definitely true in the human body and is likewise so in the spiritual Body of Christ. Place Assigned of God God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (I Cor. 12:18). Here we have the sovereignty of God in placing believers in the Body of Christ and giving each member a special place and function as it pleases Him. No one can choose his place or say what he wishes to do in the Body of Christ. Each one is given his place by God and fitted of Him for the performance of his special work as a particular member of the body. We should remember that if we are given a place in the Body of Christ it means also that we are placed there for a definite purpose and for a specific work. This is the practical side of the truth and the realization of it in our souls will lead to practical manifestation of our being specific members of the Body of Christ. “To every man his work,” are the words of the Lord in Mark 13:34 Head Directs Members It follows, then, that human appointments and human aspirations for certain work and places in the Church of God are entirely wrong. No one has a right to choose to preach or teach, etc., or to appoint someone else to do so. He must be called of the Lord to this and be sure that such is his appointed place in the Body of Christ. If such is his place, he will be gifted and fitted of God for this work, and his gift will be manifest to the Church. He is responsible to the Lord to perform it in dependence upon Christ, the Head, who has called him. It is for each one to learn from the Lord by personal communion and experience what is his or her place in the Body of Christ and what work is to be performed as such. It is the head that directs the movements and functions of the human body and likewise it is Christ, the head of His spiritual body, the Church, who must direct the movements and work of its various members. In our bodies the control of the members by the head is through the nervous system which goes from the head to every member and part of the body. In the spiritual body this control and directing of the members by Christ, the head, is through the Holy Spirit who dwells in each member and joins all the members together and to the head in heaven. We might liken the Holy Spirit in this respect, then, to the nervous system of the human body, which is the connecting link between the head and the body. If the Spirit is ungrieved within us, He will exercise the heart as to certain service for the Lord and lead on in it under the direction of the Head of the Church. But this means that we must yield to the Spirit and not quench it. If the reader will turn to Acts 13:1-5, he will there find an example of the directing of the Head by the Holy Spirit. As certain prophets and teachers in the Church at Antioch ministered to the Lord, “the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.” The Church then expressed their fellowship with them by fasting, praying, and laying their hands upon them and sent them away. It Is then expressly added, “So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia;” etc. Such was the order then and such is God’s way for us at all times.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:56:33 +0000
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