THE HEAD AND THE BODY by John Norton Loughborough

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 16, 1900

THE HEAD AND THE BODY.

By John Norton Loughborough

“Let no man beguile you of your reward, . . . vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” Col. 2:18, 19. The body referred to in the text is the church of Christ, of which he is the head. In this same epistle the apostle says: “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.” Col. 3:15. In addressing the Romans he said: “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.” Rom. 12:4, 5. In the Ephesian letter he says: “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.” Eph. 1:22, 23.

Again: we read of Christ, “And he is before all things; and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.” Col. 1:17, 18. Of Christ’s body it was said to the Ephesians: “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 supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.” Eph. 4:15, 16.

In the Corinthian letter we read: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the feet shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye can not say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but 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; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” 1 Cor. 12:12–27.

Paul illustrates the union that should exist in the church, by the oneness of the twain belonging to the marriage relation. He says, “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.” Eph. 5:23–30.

So close is the union between Christ and his church that he recognizes their sufferings as his own. He is “touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” Heb. 4:15. Paul spoke of his suffering for the church as “filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.” Col. 1:24. Again we read: “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.” 2 Cor. 1:3–5. The apostle expressed a desire to not only know Christ, but to know also “the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings.” Phil. 3:10.

The true basis of our fellowship is with the Father and the Son. This is plainly stated by the apostle John in his epistle: “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. . . . If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:3–7. Joyous and blessed assurances indeed,—fellowship with God and Christ, and that we may know, as expressed by the Spirit in the instruction to his people, that “the church, enfeebled and defective, needing to be reproved, warned, and counseled, is the only object upon earth upon which Christ bestows his supreme regard.”—Review and Herald, Sept. 5, 1893.

Again: “He in whom ‘dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily’ descended to our world, humiliated himself by clothing divinity with humanity, that through humanity he might reach the human family. While he embraced the human race with his human arm, he grasped the throne of God with his divine arm, thus uniting humanity to divinity. The Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, descended the path of humiliation step by step until he reached the lowest possible point for humanity to experience; and why?—That he might be able to reach even the lowest of mankind, sunken in the very depths of degradation though they be, that he might be able to elevate them to the heights of heaven.”—Mrs. E. G. White, in Review and Herald, July 9, 1895.

And here is still another quotation in which is set forth our Saviour’s fellowship with the trials, cares, and conflicts of his body, the church: “The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. His heart of love is touched by our sorrows, and even by our utterance of them. Take to him everything that perplexes the mind. Nothing is too great for him to bear; for he holds up worlds, he rules over all the affairs of the universe. Nothing that concerns in any way our peace is too small for him to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for him to read; there is no perplexity too deep for him to unravel. No calamity can befall the least of his children, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy cheer, no sincere prayer escape the lips, of which our Heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which he takes no immediate interest. ‘He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.’ The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul for whom he gave his beloved Son.”

Again: “Every believer should be whole-hearted in his attachment to the church. Its prosperity should be his first interest, and unless he feels under sacred obligations to make his connection with the church a benefit to it in preference to himself, it can do far better without him. It is in the power of all to do something for the cause of God. There are

those who spend a large amount for needless luxuries; they gratify their appetites, but feel it a great tax to contribute means to sustain the church. They are willing to receive all the benefits of its privileges, but prefer to leave others to pay the bills. Those who really feel a deep interest in the advancement of the cause will not hesitate to invest money in the enterprise whenever and wherever it is needed. They should also feel it a solemn duty to illustrate in their character the teachings of Christ, being at peace one with another, and moving in perfect harmony as an individual whole. They should defer their individual judgment to the judgment of the body of the church. Many live for themselves alone. They look upon their lives with great complacency, flattering themselves that they are blameless, when, in fact, they are doing nothing for God, and are living in direct opposition to his expressed word.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IV, page 18.

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.