The Church the Body of Christ
By R.
THE church is the body of Christ. Eph. 5:30. This does not cover mere profession. If a man joins the church, the visible church, purely for matters of business, or that he may get into society, this of itself does not make him a member of Christ’s body. The union with Christ is an actual union—a vital connection. It is as close as between the human body and one of its members, as a hand, or a foot. 1 Cor. 12:20, 27. This is the statement of the Word itself. It is not the speculation of man. It is not merely an illustration to try to point a truth; but it is Inspiration’s representation of the living connection which the members of the real church of Christ have with Christ Himself. Tried by this rule, how many churches—all its members—are really parts of the body of Christ? We see at once that the visible church embraces members who may belong to the body of Christ, and that there are also in this visible church those who in works, and therefore in fact, deny Christ, and are no part of His real invisible church. In the time of the Flood only eight persons comprised the church of God,—Noah and those who were with him in the ark. All else were rejected; and no matter what their profession, they comprised no part whatever of the church of that day. Later on in the history of the world the church, so far as the record goes, comprised only Abram and the few associated with him. Still later on the church was represented by the Israelites in bondage. We know, however, from the experiences in the wilderness, that many of these were really not members of the body of Christ. They were no part of the real church of God. They were rejected. But in each one of these examples we have given, God issued a call. Every one who accepted this call was given an opportunity. Noah and his associates made the proclamation of a coming Flood, and warned the world to prepare for the awful calamity. There were times, doubtless, when some were afraid, and listened to Noah and worked upon the ark, and seemed to identify themselves with the interests that were represented by the construction of that big boat. But when the final crash came, there were only eight persons. Abraham and his attendants were called of God to leave the land of idolatry, to come out into service for the Lord. And there were some connected with him who had accepted the call, and yet who fell away, who left Abraham and the interests that were involved, and were no longer identified with the church of which he was a part. When God called Israel out of Egypt, as we have seen, there were those who accepted the call who were given an opportunity to show their loyalty, who were really acting in all from selfish motives. They murmured and complained. They rose up in insurrection against the purposes and plans of God; and they were destroyed by fire, by earthquake, by pestilence, by serpents, and in war. When the Lord called the Jews out of Babylon, there were those who came away from that land of the Chaldeans and came to Jerusalem merely for the temporal benefits that they would receive. Earnest work had to be done on account of the half-hearted efforts of those who compromised with sin and idolatry. Ezra, Nehemiah, Zachariah, Haggai, and Malachi, and others, bore their straight testimony to bring about a pure condition of the church of God of that day. Again in the time of Christ we find that God’s church, His professed people, were many of them wandering in the maze of heathenism, and were farther away from God than the pagans and the idolaters of their time. There is a vast chasm between professing and actually being. All these things point to the moral that we must not rest upon a mere profession. “My sheep,” says Christ, “hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27. “I know Mine own, and Mine own know Me, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father.” John 10:14, 15. This close connection of the believer with Christ is also represented by Him under the type of the vine and its branches. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” May God help us to search our hearts, to know if we be truly His. God forbid that we should be disappointed because we have been deceived by a profession that has not come up to the actuality. Trusting in visible membership we may be really cut off from Christ. “Many are called,” and many seem to accept the call, “but few are chosen.” Only a few really do the earnest work necessary to become really partakers with Christ. God’s church is a called-out body. It is a separated body—separate from everything that pertains to this world. It is a body in which move life and purity, the impulses of holiness. Are you a member of Christ’s body? “Examine yourself, whether ye be in the faith.”