But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.
God himself places every single person in the church as it pleases him, giving each one an appointed place, post of duty and work in the body with Christ as head. Diversity of gifts, talents, temperaments and abilities is his own arrangement, so no one member is the whole body and no one has all the wisdom to carry the work alone. As hands, feet, eyes and ears are closely united and cannot live and act independently, members are to remain joined together in harmonious action, supplying one another's deficiencies and sharing varied gifts rather than working as separate lines. Because places differ, there is to be no pride, envy, contempt, judging or strife over who is greatest or who is unneeded, but humble, loving respect that bears burdens, guards one another's interests and leaves each free to serve as God convicts. The life of Christ flows through every member like blood through the body, so none can flourish except by abiding in him, and faithful use of the assigned work in love and humility is what gives it worth and blessing.
God Sets Every Member
But now God himself has set every one of the members in the body as it has pleased him, placing each one according to his own will and assigning to every man his post of duty and his given work. Each member has a distinct part and different role, and no one member or gift can make up the whole, yet each is essential to the completeness of the body and none may be judged, dismissed, or declared unnecessary. Anyone with a question about his post is to pray to God for guidance, and his work will be assigned to him under the supervision of the great Master-worker who knows just what each one in his service should do to meet the necessities that arise. Those brought together in church capacity are to be united understandingly and intelligently, with no crowding, no self-sufficiency, and no measuring of one gift by another, for many different gifts in active exercise are called for and all remain members of one body.
The figure of the members composing the body represents the church of God and the relation its members should sustain to one another, even his commandment-keeping people formed into one body under Christ and the Spirit with no member outside it or without a needed role. That body has Jesus Christ as its head, in whom all the members center, and the Holy Spirit as Comforter and guide to lead into all truth, whose fulfillment to the church is seen in the gifts set in the body. God has set certain gifts of the Spirit in the church for its edification and instruction as it has pleased him, and they continue in active exercise to the end of time until Christ returns. The teaching of 1 Corinthians 12 with 1 Corinthians 13 is therefore to be committed to memory, written in mind and heart, studied and digested, and worked out in unity and coordinated service rather than ignored.
The bonds uniting member with member are to be as firm and harmonious in operation as the different parts of the natural body, for hands, head, feet, eyes, ears and limbs are closely united and mutually dependent. One member cannot live and act independently of the others, but depends on the others to make a perfect whole, working together in harmonious action in conformity to the laws governing the being, with reciprocal action and sympathy of every part with the whole so that none can be dropped without affecting the whole. Each worker is to stand in his appointed station, office and place, speaking the truth in love and working together under the head as the members of the human body work as a well-regulated machine, with each part respected, encouraged and sustained and with no fitful, spasmodic movements. Every particular member is sustained and caused to flourish by the life and Spirit of Christ, living because Christ lives in them, and as the branch cannot live or bear fruit except it abide in the vine, so members cannot live except they abide in Christ, bearing one another's burdens and becoming one as Christ is one with the Father.
Applied to Scripture, the same setting of every member means the Word of God is a complete body pervaded by one divine life, just as the human body is a complete structure with every part united to and dependent on the others for life. Each member has its special office and each book of the Bible has its special use, adapted to human beings in every phase of life to secure a special result. Every portion teaches some lesson, and together they make the human family complete in Christ.
Diverse Gifts Equal Value
Diversity of gifts, offices, talents, temperaments, minds and abilities is God's own arrangement, for he himself sets every member in the body as it pleases him, from head to feet and from eyes to feet, with different functions centered in Christ as Head yet belonging to one body. This variety rather than uniformity is purposed to meet the varied organizations, make-up and minds in the world, so the strength of one servant is not the strength of another and each keeps distinct natural traits and independent qualities that give access to a class others could not touch. God gives to each person talents and mental and physical powers as his gifts and sets each one in the church as he pleases, and amid the perils of the last days every power is to be cultivated because all are essential to make the church a building representing the wisdom and character of the great Designer, used in right relation to each other to make a perfect whole. The more believers drink in of the Spirit the more they are animated and united by his surpassing love, working together in harmonious action in conformity to the laws governing the being, with the mind as the Lord's garden to be earnestly cultivated to form character after the divine similitude. Therefore will and identity are not to be suppressed by too much governing and managing, bending other minds to one's own ideas or molding judgment and character to oneself, for human molding and training can spoil and destroy the endowment God gave; each person must be left free for God to convict the heart, call forth powers, and develop individual strength and experience for a special work.
No single member or gift is the whole body or can make up the whole, for each believer is only one member set in place by God and each role is essential to the body's completeness. No one person has all the wisdom needed to manage the work alone, God has not given all wisdom to any one man, and one man's mind and judgment must not mold and direct important interests as a voice for the people. Workers have different gifts and duties, none is a complete whole or can successfully do the work alone, and no one should regard his own talent or way of working as sufficient or refuse to cooperate because duties differ. Each supplies another's deficiency so that together they are a complete whole doing God's work in perfect harmony, with efforts and gifts blended rather than held apart, and those in trust are to modestly regard others' opinions as worthy of respect and likely as correct as their own, linking with helpers whose minds run in different lines. No one is an independent whole to be controlled by men, for there is only one Head and Master, Christ, and unity is preserved only as the different members are controlled by the Holy Spirit, each performing his several office with all tact and strength of mind and heart — whether preaching, teaching, practicing as physician, cultivating soil, following a trade, acting in councils, or going to foreign lands — looking to the Lord as companion, counselor, guide, helper and friend while keeping clean and unspotted from the world.
Work compared to a hand or foot may seem lowly and small, yet it is important and not inferior or of little account, for one need not be head or heart to serve effectively. Its worth depends not on size but on the love and motive with which it is done, and when the appointed part, whether great or small, is done cheerfully, humbly and in the meekness of Christ it is for the member's own best good, for the best good of fellow men, for the advancement of God's cause, and results in the glory of God. Even the smallest gift has a place and should be valued and used, for each one, however small, affects the usefulness of the whole, and each person should carefully preserve and use physical and mental gifts in the Master's service. Each person added through conversion is to be given a post of duty and every member should be willing to serve in any role in the gospel, prepared to take part in bringing souls to salvation rather than leaving responsibility to ministers alone or seeking ease and personal amusement.
Each person is to cultivate, develop and use the powers, capabilities and measure of ability God has given in the branch suited to them and in the work where they can serve most effectively, remaining in proper capacity united with the body rather than separating into an independent course. Anyone questioning his post of duty should pray to God for guidance under surrender to Christ, and his work will be assigned, for God has placed every man at his post and assigned a given work, all under supervision of the great Master-worker who knows just what each one should do to meet necessities as they arise. Members act their different parts guided and controlled by the same Spirit though not having the same gifts, with talents kept under the Holy Spirit's control so varied gifts benefit and strengthen one another, what is lacking in one being supplied by another, and even the weakest and least experienced member being vital and to be valued without despising another's work or envying greater gifts. Church leaders are to make plans giving everyone opportunity to work according to ability so no one is idle and the church is fruitful, for truth must shape life and character in cooperation.
Mutual Dependence and Unity
God himself has set every member in the body as it pleased him, joining together men of different minds, experience, abilities, gifts and functions so that no one is qualified to bear the burden of the work alone and no one person has all the wisdom needed to manage it alone. Deficiency in the experience and abilities of one is supplied by the experience and abilities of another, and their differences allow them to complement one another, counsel with and assist one another, and work in harmony as a complete whole. Varied gifts must be blended and shared rather than treated as exclusive possession, with different gifts and minds joined even when plans differ, and no one regarding his own talent or way of working as sufficient or refusing to cooperate because duties differ. Each has a specific role deserving respect because it contributes to the good of the whole, so no member is to consider itself superior or unnecessary, despise another's work, or envy greater gifts or achievements, but each is to develop the gifts given. This calls for careful study of what Corinthians and Ephesians teach about relation to one another as members of the body of Christ, dying to self and living to Christ, uniting human weakness to his strength, having strong unchristlike traits softened, subdued and purified, and uniting with one another in order to be one with Christ in God.
No member is to live for himself, act or work independently of the body, or stand as an independent whole under human control, for each has a distinct capacity and place and is to work in connection with the body, united and likeminded with God. Each worker has a part in the larger work and should not act as though the work belongs to him alone, but remain joined to the agencies God appointed, work in proper capacity, remain open to counsel, and blend mind with mind in planning. God does not reveal everything to one person and has not given all wisdom to any one man, but teaches different people whose contributions can benefit one another, so their counsel and words or writing are to be welcomed and received with confidence, freedom and brotherly kindness. Those in trust must modestly regard the opinions of others as worthy of respect and likely to be as correct as their own, and must be linked with helpers whose minds do not run in exactly the same lines, so each supplies the other's deficiency and together they do God's work in perfect harmony, because one man alone cannot bear the responsibilities of sacred office and making him supreme endangers both him and those who cooperate with him. Refusing separate lines and party gatherings belongs to this same placement, since to call Christ's work undenominational and separate and to refuse fellowship with God's chosen people is forbidden by the mutual joining under Christ as living head.
The members are to work together in unity as one living, active, orderly body, each working in harmony under sanctified intelligence and under God's direction and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Every believer is to serve as a burden-bearer, and each new member adds an agency for carrying forward the work of redemption, with every member having work to do and different work given to different people according to their abilities. Each is to fulfill the appointed role while depending on and cooperating with the other members, standing distinct in action yet depending on the other like well-adjusted machinery, drawing in even cords without friction or jealousy over Paul or Apollos or Cephas. Their different abilities are entrusted by God for service, and unselfish work for others develops those abilities and helps bring the whole body to maturity, so that together their varied work serves the one purpose of drawing people to Christ.
Hands, head, feet, ears, eyes and limbs are closely united and mutually dependent, so one member cannot live and act independently of the others, and the bonds uniting member with member are to be as firm and harmonious as the different parts of the natural body. All share one life sustained by the life and Spirit of Christ, who causes every particular member to flourish, so they live because Christ lives in them, and as the branch cannot live or bear fruit except it abide in the vine, so members cannot live except they abide in Christ. If one member suffers all the members suffer with it, and if one member is honored, enlightened and rejoices all are honored and rejoice with it, which requires bearing one another's burdens as one Christian family meant to strengthen and bless one another and the world. This is to be one as Christ is one with the Father, with Christlikeness blending every quality in harmonious proportion to present a symmetrical whole, showing Christlike sympathy, taking kindly interest in fellow workers, rejoicing in helping them, and recognizing that each person's well-being affects the whole, so that mutual care produces righteousness, lets light shine to others, and benefits the church through the sanctifying power of Christ's grace. Even the weakest believer belongs to Christ's body, is changed in character, is strengthened by the courage and faith of the whole, and through humble dependence on God can become strong and share the privileges of a child of God, being given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ for the perfecting of the saints until 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 Christ.
Humility Love and Respect
God sets each member in Christ's body as He pleases, giving one gift to one and another gift to another for the good of the whole, so differences in gifts, qualifications and lines of work do not make any member unnecessary and give no leave to judge or dismiss another. Because members do not all act the same part and no one is complete or able to carry the work independently, there is to be no self-sufficiency, no crowding, no measuring of one gift by another, no emulation, pride, envy, contempt, despising of another's work or envying of greater gifts, and no more reason for strife over who shall be greatest than among the members of the body. Contention, rivalry and party spirit violate His placement, show work needing reformation, and are replaced by no division but one common interest, all cooperating with Christ in restoring in man the moral image of God, each discharging a God-given responsibility, sphere of usefulness and work as His helping hand according to daily gained knowledge in righteousness, consecrated to Christ as Creator and Redeemer who purchased and owns every person. Highest usefulness lies not in possession of talents but in using them with exactitude through the sanctified influence of the Holy Spirit to be and do good, set a Christlike example, bless others, and work out one's own salvation and that of family and associates under Christ as Master-worker, while to refuse the assigned work robs Him of His due and dishonors God, bringing the record of unfaithful servant with no place in the redeemed family, and faithful trading brings the greatest blessing to self and fellow men.
The verse begins with self-examination and calls for the continuous humbling of individual self, taking self critically in hand, denying self, and bearing one's own cross of self-denial, self-humiliation and self-sacrifice instead of laying it on another to carry. It is to have more weight when tried and tested and seeking for the Lord of heaven to shut one in with Him where the wicked one has no power, with humbled hearts before the Lord, building on the solid Rock, and unity of purpose and action. Severity is to be turned inward in close self-examination of peculiar temperament and weaknesses of character, with decided, brave dealing with perverse disposition so that God is not dishonored. No worker is qualified to decide important questions until a new conversion conquers old hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, gives up habits formed in selfishness, banishes love of supremacy and desire for mastery when seen in true light, and works out a clean, unselfish character by studying Christ's life and learning of Him, with men of responsibility closely examining whether they are free from selfishness and converted from high opinion of self, since each is only a part of a great whole whose value is determined by his course of action, and it is not safe to work on independent lines or be left alone.
Those brought together in church capacity are to be united understandingly and intelligently as members composing the body which represents the church of God and the relation its members should sustain to one another, and the teaching of chapter 12 with chapter 13 on love is to be committed to memory, written in mind and heart, studied and digested rather than ignored or turned into factions. When believers come together for counsel they are to speak good words to help and strengthen brethren instead of standing afar off to criticize and condemn, revealing the same unceasing tenderness the Lord shows to His people, not standing apart in self-confidence but uniting in service and jealously guarding one another's interests even though mistakes are made. All who show repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ are to be welcomed and given courage to fight Satan's temptations instead of having bars placed in their way by criticism, loving God supremely and one another truly and fervently with Christlike sympathy and kindly interest, rejoicing to help, which produces righteousness, lets light shine, and benefits the church through the sanctifying power of Christ's grace.
Diversity is God's arrangement to meet varied organizations and minds in the world, so the strength of one servant is not the strength of another and each keeps distinct traits, temperaments and abilities that give access to those others could not touch, as flowers differ in a garden yet each has worth. Therefore no one is to suppress another's will and identity by too much governing and managing, bending other minds to his own ideas, molding judgment and character to himself, prescribing another's work against conviction of duty, or making his own abilities the standard, lest powers and qualities God gave as endowment be destroyed. Every person must be left free for God to convict and work upon the heart, call forth powers, and develop individual strength and experience for a special work, with room to serve and learn, while counsel and plans may be offered and each seeks direction from God whom he serves; experienced members should help and patiently teach those with less experience rather than dictate a fixed role or assume one person can encompass the whole work. God has not given all wisdom to any one man, so one mind and judgment must not mold and direct important interests as a voice for the people, but those in trust are modestly to regard others' opinions as worthy of respect and likely as correct as their own, linking with helpers whose minds run in different lines so each supplies the other's deficiency and together they are a complete whole doing God's work in harmony, since one man alone cannot bear sacred responsibilities and making him supreme endangers both him and cooperators.
Those God Himself places in the body to bear leadership and its responsibilities are channels of light and means He ordained for the help, encouragement and strength of His people, so to neglect, despise or pass them by is to reject His provision. No worker is to pass them by claiming his light comes directly from God alone, for holding individual judgment supreme brings grave peril of deception and overthrow. In wisdom God arranged that Christian be united to Christian and church to church in close relationship, so human effort cooperates with divine power, every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit, and all joined in organized, well-directed effort to give the world the glad tidings of grace, since separation from brethren is Satan's studied effort.
Order Leadership and Duty
God himself has set every member in the body as it has pleased him, and in doing so he has ordained simple organization and church order for the unity and perfection of the church. One holding office is placed as a leader, adviser, counselor and helper in carrying the burdens of the work and as a leader in offering thanksgiving to God, but he is not appointed to order and command the Lord's laborers, to exercise kingly authority, or to act as conscience for others. Position gives no man freedom from error, not even the president of a Conference, and it gives no right to forbid a worker to enter a field or to refuse support, for there are to be no kings in its midst and every part of administrative, publishing, sanitarium, medical and educational work is equally under God's control to be governed by mutual counsel without central domination. Those appointed to bear leadership are channels of light ordained for the help, encouragement and strength of his people, and they are to be received rather than neglected, despised or passed by on claim of direct light alone, since holding individual judgment supreme brings peril of deception and separation is Satan's studied effort. The Holy Spirit pervades this organized body, bringing the power of the future world into the present so that the divine cooperates with the human in united plans, all influences bearing upon one another by reciprocal influence to transform human agencies into divine agencies that reveal Christ and the cross to a world perishing in sin.
Each worker is to stand in his own station, keep to his own place and diligently and faithfully do his own work correctly in right relation to God. No one is to leave his own work to rearrange the church or to correct the whole body, nor to take hold of the work that belongs to another or interfere with a fellow worker's distinct line, for such interference does not help but hinders and jars like leaving one's own machine to fix the great wheel, making discord worse until reproved and brought back to draw in unison. No one man, or two or three men, are to take all the work and power into their own hands while others only listen, but others chosen by God are to stand by their side and share responsibilities, with those in advance in experience and knowledge instructing and helping their brethren by trusting them with responsibilities that perfect them. Even those without ability to open the Scriptures have a place set by God and can do good service in secular lines, and the deficient are not to be ignored, criticized or made a subject of remark but helped, esteemed and yoked up with rather than made errand boys, while those in high positions are not excused when through neglect they get out of place and tangle their work.
No one is qualified to bear the burden of the work alone, so God has joined together men of different minds, experience, gifts and abilities to counsel with and assist one another. Deficiency in the experience and abilities of one is supplied by the experience and abilities of another, for no one person has all the wisdom needed to manage the work alone and God does not reveal everything to one person. Workers are therefore to respect others' opinions as likely to be correct as their own, to link with helpers whose minds run in different lines, and to let mind blend with mind in planning, working in harmony even when they do not share the same plans. This requires welcoming counsel and receiving words or writing with confidence, freedom and brotherly kindness, accepting advice and combining abilities in service, with unchristlike traits softened, subdued and purified as self dies and human weakness is united to Christ's strength.
Highest usefulness lies not in possession of talents but in using them with exactitude through the sanctified influence of the Holy Spirit to be and do good, to set a Christlike example, to bless others and to work out one's own salvation and that of family and associates under Christ as Master-worker. God appoints to every man his work and gives talents to all to use and improve in proportion to the capabilities of the receiver, to some five, to others two and to others one, committing as a special honor the treasure of his Word to be understood, appropriated and employed in every circumstance of life to his glory. No work he appoints, whether great or small, is inferior or of little account, for it is given for the member's own best good, for the best good of fellow men and for the advancement of his cause, and when done cheerfully, humbly and in the meekness of Christ it results in the glory of God. To refuse the assigned work robs him of his due and dishonors him, bringing the heavenly record of unfaithful servant with no place in the redeemed family, while faithful trading as a steward with the same prudence and wisdom as for one's own gain brings the greatest blessing to self and fellow men. The efficiency of the Lord's work on earth depends on members faithfully filling their appointed stewardship in harmonious action, blessing and comforting those of like precious faith, being a light by example and rendering cheerful service with assurance of Christ's help when true to him who gave his life to save.
Medical Work as Arm
God has set medical missionary work and health reform in the body as the arm and hand and right hand joined to the body, while the gospel ministry of the word and the third angel's message are the body itself and Christ is the head over all. Each member has its own appointed place and work by His will, and the parts are meant to work together under the direction of the head, with no part taking the place of the whole or being treated as unnecessary. Medical missionary work is one member so placed, essential to the body's work and a helping hand and leading member, but not the head or the whole body, and its role is to help the other parts. Publications containing present truth are another of God's agencies for impressing hearts, made effectual by faith as the Holy Spirit sends truth home, and one agency is not to supersede another.
The arm must not be made the body, the head, all and in all, or the principal and all-important line. It must not be separated, conducted independently, exalted above the ministry, allowed to absorb all means and rule, or gather all strength into itself. When separated from the church and ministry and from the ministry of the word, it becomes unbalanced like flying hands without direction of the head. Then confusion follows, portions of the vineyard are left unworked, the ministry is sapped, and truth is scoffed at. The arm must not separate workers in the ministry from their work nor say to the head that it has no need of it, for the body needs both head and arms to do active, aggressive work, and making so-called medical missionary work the body in place of the arm brings great harm.
Neither part is complete without union, for the body needs the hands to do active aggressive work and a body without hands is useless and can do nothing. The right hand opens doors for the body to enter and largely prepares the way for present truth to be received, so the honor given to the body must also be given to the helping hands, and the body that treats the right hand with indifference and refuses its aid can accomplish nothing. By the ministry of the Word the gospel is preached, and by medical missionary work the gospel is practiced and demonstrated in illustration, while medical work needs the ministry to give it prominence and stability. Therefore gospel ministers and medical-missionary workers must blend in Christian unity with no dividing line in inseparable union, as closely united as arm to body, with evangelical work and medical work in perfect unity and every feature complete when occupying its proper place. Every minister of the gospel is to do practical medical missionary work, and in large cities medical missionary work must go hand in hand with the gospel ministry to open doors for the entrance of truth.
Every branch of administrative, publishing, sanitarium, medical, and educational work has its own God-given place and value under His supervision and control. No branch in Battle Creek or in other countries is to become a kingdom of itself or exercise kingly power over the others, and no person or department should treat itself as more important than the rest. None is to push to hinder another, draw territorial lines, or obstruct the work by insisting that God work only in a particular way, but all are to be governed by the same principles of mutual counsel without central domination and move proportionately hand in hand to help and strengthen one another. The arm must stay connected to the body with no division, and the body must work the arm and not the arm the body. Applied to tithes, this means the tithes of workers in medical lines must not be separated to the Medical Association but must all go to one treasury, with the Conference then being liberal in sending ministers to labor in connection with the medical work, because medical work and ministry and church work are all one interest laboring to one end.
Life in Christ for Service
The life and Spirit of Christ sustains every particular member and causes each one to flourish, for members live because Christ lives in them. As the branch cannot live or bear fruit except it abide in the vine, so no member can live except abiding in Christ. All draw strength and life from the same stock in close union with Christ and with one another, yet without becoming exact duplicates, just as branches and leaves of a vine differ while sharing one life. Christ’s love is to flow through every member for the good of others as life-blood serves the whole body, and the member that refuses to impart will perish. A merely nominal connection without drawing life from Christ is like a paralyzed member with no lasting spiritual activity or growth, while genuine connection brings life and fruitful growth. A name on the church record does not make one a true member, for only those who belong to Jesus remain, while those without Him are like fruitless branches taken away, and the true member has spiritual connection with God and proves absolute allegiance to Christ by bearing fruit, with faith and love ever working to unite and harmonize the body.
Connection with Christ therefore involves connection with His church, and connection with the church is one of the first steps in a life of service to Christ. The church is a living, breathing, spiritual body with life in itself, where each member has something to do and individual duties that must be done, with order carefully preserved under spiritually minded leading men who look after its spiritual good. Members are to be organized into companies for the various lines of work that are needed, including one company to pray with and help the lame and the sick and dependent, and doing this work is a great blessing to the church. It is the instrumentality to stand next to heaven, where the light of glory shines in unmistakable rays by living faith founded on a living Word and a living God, with every part working connected with every other part, joined together by golden links of heaven. Loyalty to Christ demands faithful performance of church duties as an important part of training, and in a church imbued with Christ’s life this training leads directly to effort for the world without.
God is making the church the continued incarnation of Christ, so with all its working forces it must become one with the Head and stand out prominently. He designed His people to organize and combine all the united elements sanctified through the truth into one vast influential agency, with the Holy Spirit pervading His body and bringing the power of the future world into the present, so that the divine cooperates with the human in united plans that transform human agencies into divine agencies. The law of cooperation governs the body by reciprocal influence, with all influences brought to bear one upon another, and forbids kingly power where one man controls the whole. All in church capacity possess the ministry of reconciliation, beseeching men and women to be reconciled to God, and the whole body is to work harmoniously with no counter-influence, settling disagreement at once and coming into unity, with heart cemented to heart and self-will and selfishness put to death. Union is strength and variance is weakness and sin, and when every member acts in concert in sacred duties for the strengthening and establishment of the church, the united working agency exhibits miracle-working power as a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
Unity in diversity preserves individuality without submerging it, for the church lives by diversity in unity and unity in diversity. Each part is kept in action by an unseen indivisible unity and works in harmony with every other part, all members of the same body worked by the same Spirit, drawing spiritual supplies from the same storehouse and fed from the same source. As many stones each with its special light and significance make one breastplate, so many members make one body, and as sunlight falling on different objects gives a different hue, so the Creator of all ideas may impress different minds with the same thought and each may express it in a different way without contradiction. Different minds may give different figures and presentations of truth to interest and educate different minds, and those writing on the third angel’s message may use their own individuality and different ways of presentation without speaking the very same things in the same words, yet all testimonies unite to form one whole. It is no virtue to differ or to strain for originality, and when the same vitalizing current flows through minds and hearts believers act in harmony, revealing tender compassionate love in words, character, and unselfish deeds. Believers may differ in disposition and remain distinct as individuals, yet the same Spirit sanctifies them and joins them as different parts of one great temple, and their harmony and union bear witness that God sent His Son to save sinners.
To believe on Christ means to put on Christ and be united to Him as a limb is united to the body. Christ clothed His divinity with humanity so that His humanity might touch and uplift humanity while with His divine arm He grasped the throne of the Infinite, thus linking finite man with the infinite God, and this union is entered individually by believing on Him. The verse is illustrated when complementary workers unite, as in the Reformation where Melancthon’s gentleness, caution, and exactness complemented Luther’s courage and energy, and their union strengthened the work. This unity includes the calling and training of people of different races for service, for the members belong together and are complete in Christ, who raises people from sin’s degradation and makes them laborers together with God. God has a work for the French brethren which American ministers cannot do, and there are places where Americans can do nothing and Frenchmen are needed, so because their nature is not exactly like that of their American brethren they must be given elbow room to act themselves and not be pressed to become exactly like others in mind and ideas. So too the workers throughout the printing office in Nashville are members placed in one institutional body, where the Spirit of Christ must circulate as blood circulates through the body, which requires true conversion of heart and mind and spirit with no half-way work and the crucifixion of self.
Keeping God’s order of each in his place keeps the church in a healthy state and prevents trouble, whereas in Boston and vicinity trouble and confusion came because this order was not observed and some ran before they were sent. Separation from people whose interests and affections were bound up with one’s own can feel like tearing a limb from the body. The church is a living body and the Health Institute is a branch and arm of that body, which the church controls and supplies. When the church stands in the counsel of God in a healthy condition it diffuses light and sends a vitalizing, healthful current to the Institute, but when the church is sickly and does not enjoy the favor of God nor the light of His countenance, its moral darkness creates moral darkness and spiritual death in the Institute, and a sickly, deathly influence is circulated through the whole living body until disease is apparent everywhere.
God himself places every single person in the church as it pleases him, giving each one an appointed place, post of duty and work in the body with Christ as head. Diversity of gifts, talents, temperaments and abilities is his own arrangement, so no one member is the whole body and no one has all the wisdom to carry the work alone. As hands, feet, eyes and ears are closely united and cannot live and act independently, members are to remain joined together in harmonious action, supplying one another's deficiencies and sharing varied gifts rather than working as separate lines. Because places differ, there is to be no pride, envy, contempt, judging or strife over who is greatest or who is unneeded, but humble, loving respect that bears burdens, guards one another's interests and leaves each free to serve as God convicts. The life of Christ flows through every member like blood through the body, so none can flourish except by abiding in him, and faithful use of the assigned work in love and humility is what gives it worth and blessing.
God Sets Every Member
But now God himself has set every one of the members in the body as it has pleased him, placing each one according to his own will and assigning to every man his post of duty and his given work. Each member has a distinct part and different role, and no one member or gift can make up the whole, yet each is essential to the completeness of the body and none may be judged, dismissed, or declared unnecessary. Anyone with a question about his post is to pray to God for guidance, and his work will be assigned to him under the supervision of the great Master-worker who knows just what each one in his service should do to meet the necessities that arise. Those brought together in church capacity are to be united understandingly and intelligently, with no crowding, no self-sufficiency, and no measuring of one gift by another, for many different gifts in active exercise are called for and all remain members of one body.
The figure of the members composing the body represents the church of God and the relation its members should sustain to one another, even his commandment-keeping people formed into one body under Christ and the Spirit with no member outside it or without a needed role. That body has Jesus Christ as its head, in whom all the members center, and the Holy Spirit as Comforter and guide to lead into all truth, whose fulfillment to the church is seen in the gifts set in the body. God has set certain gifts of the Spirit in the church for its edification and instruction as it has pleased him, and they continue in active exercise to the end of time until Christ returns. The teaching of 1 Corinthians 12 with 1 Corinthians 13 is therefore to be committed to memory, written in mind and heart, studied and digested, and worked out in unity and coordinated service rather than ignored.
The bonds uniting member with member are to be as firm and harmonious in operation as the different parts of the natural body, for hands, head, feet, eyes, ears and limbs are closely united and mutually dependent. One member cannot live and act independently of the others, but depends on the others to make a perfect whole, working together in harmonious action in conformity to the laws governing the being, with reciprocal action and sympathy of every part with the whole so that none can be dropped without affecting the whole. Each worker is to stand in his appointed station, office and place, speaking the truth in love and working together under the head as the members of the human body work as a well-regulated machine, with each part respected, encouraged and sustained and with no fitful, spasmodic movements. Every particular member is sustained and caused to flourish by the life and Spirit of Christ, living because Christ lives in them, and as the branch cannot live or bear fruit except it abide in the vine, so members cannot live except they abide in Christ, bearing one another's burdens and becoming one as Christ is one with the Father.
Applied to Scripture, the same setting of every member means the Word of God is a complete body pervaded by one divine life, just as the human body is a complete structure with every part united to and dependent on the others for life. Each member has its special office and each book of the Bible has its special use, adapted to human beings in every phase of life to secure a special result. Every portion teaches some lesson, and together they make the human family complete in Christ.
Diverse Gifts Equal Value
Diversity of gifts, offices, talents, temperaments, minds and abilities is God's own arrangement, for he himself sets every member in the body as it pleases him, from head to feet and from eyes to feet, with different functions centered in Christ as Head yet belonging to one body. This variety rather than uniformity is purposed to meet the varied organizations, make-up and minds in the world, so the strength of one servant is not the strength of another and each keeps distinct natural traits and independent qualities that give access to a class others could not touch. God gives to each person talents and mental and physical powers as his gifts and sets each one in the church as he pleases, and amid the perils of the last days every power is to be cultivated because all are essential to make the church a building representing the wisdom and character of the great Designer, used in right relation to each other to make a perfect whole. The more believers drink in of the Spirit the more they are animated and united by his surpassing love, working together in harmonious action in conformity to the laws governing the being, with the mind as the Lord's garden to be earnestly cultivated to form character after the divine similitude. Therefore will and identity are not to be suppressed by too much governing and managing, bending other minds to one's own ideas or molding judgment and character to oneself, for human molding and training can spoil and destroy the endowment God gave; each person must be left free for God to convict the heart, call forth powers, and develop individual strength and experience for a special work.
No single member or gift is the whole body or can make up the whole, for each believer is only one member set in place by God and each role is essential to the body's completeness. No one person has all the wisdom needed to manage the work alone, God has not given all wisdom to any one man, and one man's mind and judgment must not mold and direct important interests as a voice for the people. Workers have different gifts and duties, none is a complete whole or can successfully do the work alone, and no one should regard his own talent or way of working as sufficient or refuse to cooperate because duties differ. Each supplies another's deficiency so that together they are a complete whole doing God's work in perfect harmony, with efforts and gifts blended rather than held apart, and those in trust are to modestly regard others' opinions as worthy of respect and likely as correct as their own, linking with helpers whose minds run in different lines. No one is an independent whole to be controlled by men, for there is only one Head and Master, Christ, and unity is preserved only as the different members are controlled by the Holy Spirit, each performing his several office with all tact and strength of mind and heart — whether preaching, teaching, practicing as physician, cultivating soil, following a trade, acting in councils, or going to foreign lands — looking to the Lord as companion, counselor, guide, helper and friend while keeping clean and unspotted from the world.
Work compared to a hand or foot may seem lowly and small, yet it is important and not inferior or of little account, for one need not be head or heart to serve effectively. Its worth depends not on size but on the love and motive with which it is done, and when the appointed part, whether great or small, is done cheerfully, humbly and in the meekness of Christ it is for the member's own best good, for the best good of fellow men, for the advancement of God's cause, and results in the glory of God. Even the smallest gift has a place and should be valued and used, for each one, however small, affects the usefulness of the whole, and each person should carefully preserve and use physical and mental gifts in the Master's service. Each person added through conversion is to be given a post of duty and every member should be willing to serve in any role in the gospel, prepared to take part in bringing souls to salvation rather than leaving responsibility to ministers alone or seeking ease and personal amusement.
Each person is to cultivate, develop and use the powers, capabilities and measure of ability God has given in the branch suited to them and in the work where they can serve most effectively, remaining in proper capacity united with the body rather than separating into an independent course. Anyone questioning his post of duty should pray to God for guidance under surrender to Christ, and his work will be assigned, for God has placed every man at his post and assigned a given work, all under supervision of the great Master-worker who knows just what each one should do to meet necessities as they arise. Members act their different parts guided and controlled by the same Spirit though not having the same gifts, with talents kept under the Holy Spirit's control so varied gifts benefit and strengthen one another, what is lacking in one being supplied by another, and even the weakest and least experienced member being vital and to be valued without despising another's work or envying greater gifts. Church leaders are to make plans giving everyone opportunity to work according to ability so no one is idle and the church is fruitful, for truth must shape life and character in cooperation.
Mutual Dependence and Unity
God himself has set every member in the body as it pleased him, joining together men of different minds, experience, abilities, gifts and functions so that no one is qualified to bear the burden of the work alone and no one person has all the wisdom needed to manage it alone. Deficiency in the experience and abilities of one is supplied by the experience and abilities of another, and their differences allow them to complement one another, counsel with and assist one another, and work in harmony as a complete whole. Varied gifts must be blended and shared rather than treated as exclusive possession, with different gifts and minds joined even when plans differ, and no one regarding his own talent or way of working as sufficient or refusing to cooperate because duties differ. Each has a specific role deserving respect because it contributes to the good of the whole, so no member is to consider itself superior or unnecessary, despise another's work, or envy greater gifts or achievements, but each is to develop the gifts given. This calls for careful study of what Corinthians and Ephesians teach about relation to one another as members of the body of Christ, dying to self and living to Christ, uniting human weakness to his strength, having strong unchristlike traits softened, subdued and purified, and uniting with one another in order to be one with Christ in God.
No member is to live for himself, act or work independently of the body, or stand as an independent whole under human control, for each has a distinct capacity and place and is to work in connection with the body, united and likeminded with God. Each worker has a part in the larger work and should not act as though the work belongs to him alone, but remain joined to the agencies God appointed, work in proper capacity, remain open to counsel, and blend mind with mind in planning. God does not reveal everything to one person and has not given all wisdom to any one man, but teaches different people whose contributions can benefit one another, so their counsel and words or writing are to be welcomed and received with confidence, freedom and brotherly kindness. Those in trust must modestly regard the opinions of others as worthy of respect and likely to be as correct as their own, and must be linked with helpers whose minds do not run in exactly the same lines, so each supplies the other's deficiency and together they do God's work in perfect harmony, because one man alone cannot bear the responsibilities of sacred office and making him supreme endangers both him and those who cooperate with him. Refusing separate lines and party gatherings belongs to this same placement, since to call Christ's work undenominational and separate and to refuse fellowship with God's chosen people is forbidden by the mutual joining under Christ as living head.
The members are to work together in unity as one living, active, orderly body, each working in harmony under sanctified intelligence and under God's direction and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Every believer is to serve as a burden-bearer, and each new member adds an agency for carrying forward the work of redemption, with every member having work to do and different work given to different people according to their abilities. Each is to fulfill the appointed role while depending on and cooperating with the other members, standing distinct in action yet depending on the other like well-adjusted machinery, drawing in even cords without friction or jealousy over Paul or Apollos or Cephas. Their different abilities are entrusted by God for service, and unselfish work for others develops those abilities and helps bring the whole body to maturity, so that together their varied work serves the one purpose of drawing people to Christ.
Hands, head, feet, ears, eyes and limbs are closely united and mutually dependent, so one member cannot live and act independently of the others, and the bonds uniting member with member are to be as firm and harmonious as the different parts of the natural body. All share one life sustained by the life and Spirit of Christ, who causes every particular member to flourish, so they live because Christ lives in them, and as the branch cannot live or bear fruit except it abide in the vine, so members cannot live except they abide in Christ. If one member suffers all the members suffer with it, and if one member is honored, enlightened and rejoices all are honored and rejoice with it, which requires bearing one another's burdens as one Christian family meant to strengthen and bless one another and the world. This is to be one as Christ is one with the Father, with Christlikeness blending every quality in harmonious proportion to present a symmetrical whole, showing Christlike sympathy, taking kindly interest in fellow workers, rejoicing in helping them, and recognizing that each person's well-being affects the whole, so that mutual care produces righteousness, lets light shine to others, and benefits the church through the sanctifying power of Christ's grace. Even the weakest believer belongs to Christ's body, is changed in character, is strengthened by the courage and faith of the whole, and through humble dependence on God can become strong and share the privileges of a child of God, being given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ for the perfecting of the saints until 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 Christ.
Humility Love and Respect
God sets each member in Christ's body as He pleases, giving one gift to one and another gift to another for the good of the whole, so differences in gifts, qualifications and lines of work do not make any member unnecessary and give no leave to judge or dismiss another. Because members do not all act the same part and no one is complete or able to carry the work independently, there is to be no self-sufficiency, no crowding, no measuring of one gift by another, no emulation, pride, envy, contempt, despising of another's work or envying of greater gifts, and no more reason for strife over who shall be greatest than among the members of the body. Contention, rivalry and party spirit violate His placement, show work needing reformation, and are replaced by no division but one common interest, all cooperating with Christ in restoring in man the moral image of God, each discharging a God-given responsibility, sphere of usefulness and work as His helping hand according to daily gained knowledge in righteousness, consecrated to Christ as Creator and Redeemer who purchased and owns every person. Highest usefulness lies not in possession of talents but in using them with exactitude through the sanctified influence of the Holy Spirit to be and do good, set a Christlike example, bless others, and work out one's own salvation and that of family and associates under Christ as Master-worker, while to refuse the assigned work robs Him of His due and dishonors God, bringing the record of unfaithful servant with no place in the redeemed family, and faithful trading brings the greatest blessing to self and fellow men.
The verse begins with self-examination and calls for the continuous humbling of individual self, taking self critically in hand, denying self, and bearing one's own cross of self-denial, self-humiliation and self-sacrifice instead of laying it on another to carry. It is to have more weight when tried and tested and seeking for the Lord of heaven to shut one in with Him where the wicked one has no power, with humbled hearts before the Lord, building on the solid Rock, and unity of purpose and action. Severity is to be turned inward in close self-examination of peculiar temperament and weaknesses of character, with decided, brave dealing with perverse disposition so that God is not dishonored. No worker is qualified to decide important questions until a new conversion conquers old hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, gives up habits formed in selfishness, banishes love of supremacy and desire for mastery when seen in true light, and works out a clean, unselfish character by studying Christ's life and learning of Him, with men of responsibility closely examining whether they are free from selfishness and converted from high opinion of self, since each is only a part of a great whole whose value is determined by his course of action, and it is not safe to work on independent lines or be left alone.
Those brought together in church capacity are to be united understandingly and intelligently as members composing the body which represents the church of God and the relation its members should sustain to one another, and the teaching of chapter 12 with chapter 13 on love is to be committed to memory, written in mind and heart, studied and digested rather than ignored or turned into factions. When believers come together for counsel they are to speak good words to help and strengthen brethren instead of standing afar off to criticize and condemn, revealing the same unceasing tenderness the Lord shows to His people, not standing apart in self-confidence but uniting in service and jealously guarding one another's interests even though mistakes are made. All who show repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ are to be welcomed and given courage to fight Satan's temptations instead of having bars placed in their way by criticism, loving God supremely and one another truly and fervently with Christlike sympathy and kindly interest, rejoicing to help, which produces righteousness, lets light shine, and benefits the church through the sanctifying power of Christ's grace.
Diversity is God's arrangement to meet varied organizations and minds in the world, so the strength of one servant is not the strength of another and each keeps distinct traits, temperaments and abilities that give access to those others could not touch, as flowers differ in a garden yet each has worth. Therefore no one is to suppress another's will and identity by too much governing and managing, bending other minds to his own ideas, molding judgment and character to himself, prescribing another's work against conviction of duty, or making his own abilities the standard, lest powers and qualities God gave as endowment be destroyed. Every person must be left free for God to convict and work upon the heart, call forth powers, and develop individual strength and experience for a special work, with room to serve and learn, while counsel and plans may be offered and each seeks direction from God whom he serves; experienced members should help and patiently teach those with less experience rather than dictate a fixed role or assume one person can encompass the whole work. God has not given all wisdom to any one man, so one mind and judgment must not mold and direct important interests as a voice for the people, but those in trust are modestly to regard others' opinions as worthy of respect and likely as correct as their own, linking with helpers whose minds run in different lines so each supplies the other's deficiency and together they are a complete whole doing God's work in harmony, since one man alone cannot bear sacred responsibilities and making him supreme endangers both him and cooperators.
Those God Himself places in the body to bear leadership and its responsibilities are channels of light and means He ordained for the help, encouragement and strength of His people, so to neglect, despise or pass them by is to reject His provision. No worker is to pass them by claiming his light comes directly from God alone, for holding individual judgment supreme brings grave peril of deception and overthrow. In wisdom God arranged that Christian be united to Christian and church to church in close relationship, so human effort cooperates with divine power, every agency subordinate to the Holy Spirit, and all joined in organized, well-directed effort to give the world the glad tidings of grace, since separation from brethren is Satan's studied effort.
Order Leadership and Duty
God himself has set every member in the body as it has pleased him, and in doing so he has ordained simple organization and church order for the unity and perfection of the church. One holding office is placed as a leader, adviser, counselor and helper in carrying the burdens of the work and as a leader in offering thanksgiving to God, but he is not appointed to order and command the Lord's laborers, to exercise kingly authority, or to act as conscience for others. Position gives no man freedom from error, not even the president of a Conference, and it gives no right to forbid a worker to enter a field or to refuse support, for there are to be no kings in its midst and every part of administrative, publishing, sanitarium, medical and educational work is equally under God's control to be governed by mutual counsel without central domination. Those appointed to bear leadership are channels of light ordained for the help, encouragement and strength of his people, and they are to be received rather than neglected, despised or passed by on claim of direct light alone, since holding individual judgment supreme brings peril of deception and separation is Satan's studied effort. The Holy Spirit pervades this organized body, bringing the power of the future world into the present so that the divine cooperates with the human in united plans, all influences bearing upon one another by reciprocal influence to transform human agencies into divine agencies that reveal Christ and the cross to a world perishing in sin.
Each worker is to stand in his own station, keep to his own place and diligently and faithfully do his own work correctly in right relation to God. No one is to leave his own work to rearrange the church or to correct the whole body, nor to take hold of the work that belongs to another or interfere with a fellow worker's distinct line, for such interference does not help but hinders and jars like leaving one's own machine to fix the great wheel, making discord worse until reproved and brought back to draw in unison. No one man, or two or three men, are to take all the work and power into their own hands while others only listen, but others chosen by God are to stand by their side and share responsibilities, with those in advance in experience and knowledge instructing and helping their brethren by trusting them with responsibilities that perfect them. Even those without ability to open the Scriptures have a place set by God and can do good service in secular lines, and the deficient are not to be ignored, criticized or made a subject of remark but helped, esteemed and yoked up with rather than made errand boys, while those in high positions are not excused when through neglect they get out of place and tangle their work.
No one is qualified to bear the burden of the work alone, so God has joined together men of different minds, experience, gifts and abilities to counsel with and assist one another. Deficiency in the experience and abilities of one is supplied by the experience and abilities of another, for no one person has all the wisdom needed to manage the work alone and God does not reveal everything to one person. Workers are therefore to respect others' opinions as likely to be correct as their own, to link with helpers whose minds run in different lines, and to let mind blend with mind in planning, working in harmony even when they do not share the same plans. This requires welcoming counsel and receiving words or writing with confidence, freedom and brotherly kindness, accepting advice and combining abilities in service, with unchristlike traits softened, subdued and purified as self dies and human weakness is united to Christ's strength.
Highest usefulness lies not in possession of talents but in using them with exactitude through the sanctified influence of the Holy Spirit to be and do good, to set a Christlike example, to bless others and to work out one's own salvation and that of family and associates under Christ as Master-worker. God appoints to every man his work and gives talents to all to use and improve in proportion to the capabilities of the receiver, to some five, to others two and to others one, committing as a special honor the treasure of his Word to be understood, appropriated and employed in every circumstance of life to his glory. No work he appoints, whether great or small, is inferior or of little account, for it is given for the member's own best good, for the best good of fellow men and for the advancement of his cause, and when done cheerfully, humbly and in the meekness of Christ it results in the glory of God. To refuse the assigned work robs him of his due and dishonors him, bringing the heavenly record of unfaithful servant with no place in the redeemed family, while faithful trading as a steward with the same prudence and wisdom as for one's own gain brings the greatest blessing to self and fellow men. The efficiency of the Lord's work on earth depends on members faithfully filling their appointed stewardship in harmonious action, blessing and comforting those of like precious faith, being a light by example and rendering cheerful service with assurance of Christ's help when true to him who gave his life to save.
Medical Work as Arm
God has set medical missionary work and health reform in the body as the arm and hand and right hand joined to the body, while the gospel ministry of the word and the third angel's message are the body itself and Christ is the head over all. Each member has its own appointed place and work by His will, and the parts are meant to work together under the direction of the head, with no part taking the place of the whole or being treated as unnecessary. Medical missionary work is one member so placed, essential to the body's work and a helping hand and leading member, but not the head or the whole body, and its role is to help the other parts. Publications containing present truth are another of God's agencies for impressing hearts, made effectual by faith as the Holy Spirit sends truth home, and one agency is not to supersede another.
The arm must not be made the body, the head, all and in all, or the principal and all-important line. It must not be separated, conducted independently, exalted above the ministry, allowed to absorb all means and rule, or gather all strength into itself. When separated from the church and ministry and from the ministry of the word, it becomes unbalanced like flying hands without direction of the head. Then confusion follows, portions of the vineyard are left unworked, the ministry is sapped, and truth is scoffed at. The arm must not separate workers in the ministry from their work nor say to the head that it has no need of it, for the body needs both head and arms to do active, aggressive work, and making so-called medical missionary work the body in place of the arm brings great harm.
Neither part is complete without union, for the body needs the hands to do active aggressive work and a body without hands is useless and can do nothing. The right hand opens doors for the body to enter and largely prepares the way for present truth to be received, so the honor given to the body must also be given to the helping hands, and the body that treats the right hand with indifference and refuses its aid can accomplish nothing. By the ministry of the Word the gospel is preached, and by medical missionary work the gospel is practiced and demonstrated in illustration, while medical work needs the ministry to give it prominence and stability. Therefore gospel ministers and medical-missionary workers must blend in Christian unity with no dividing line in inseparable union, as closely united as arm to body, with evangelical work and medical work in perfect unity and every feature complete when occupying its proper place. Every minister of the gospel is to do practical medical missionary work, and in large cities medical missionary work must go hand in hand with the gospel ministry to open doors for the entrance of truth.
Every branch of administrative, publishing, sanitarium, medical, and educational work has its own God-given place and value under His supervision and control. No branch in Battle Creek or in other countries is to become a kingdom of itself or exercise kingly power over the others, and no person or department should treat itself as more important than the rest. None is to push to hinder another, draw territorial lines, or obstruct the work by insisting that God work only in a particular way, but all are to be governed by the same principles of mutual counsel without central domination and move proportionately hand in hand to help and strengthen one another. The arm must stay connected to the body with no division, and the body must work the arm and not the arm the body. Applied to tithes, this means the tithes of workers in medical lines must not be separated to the Medical Association but must all go to one treasury, with the Conference then being liberal in sending ministers to labor in connection with the medical work, because medical work and ministry and church work are all one interest laboring to one end.
Life in Christ for Service
The life and Spirit of Christ sustains every particular member and causes each one to flourish, for members live because Christ lives in them. As the branch cannot live or bear fruit except it abide in the vine, so no member can live except abiding in Christ. All draw strength and life from the same stock in close union with Christ and with one another, yet without becoming exact duplicates, just as branches and leaves of a vine differ while sharing one life. Christ’s love is to flow through every member for the good of others as life-blood serves the whole body, and the member that refuses to impart will perish. A merely nominal connection without drawing life from Christ is like a paralyzed member with no lasting spiritual activity or growth, while genuine connection brings life and fruitful growth. A name on the church record does not make one a true member, for only those who belong to Jesus remain, while those without Him are like fruitless branches taken away, and the true member has spiritual connection with God and proves absolute allegiance to Christ by bearing fruit, with faith and love ever working to unite and harmonize the body.
Connection with Christ therefore involves connection with His church, and connection with the church is one of the first steps in a life of service to Christ. The church is a living, breathing, spiritual body with life in itself, where each member has something to do and individual duties that must be done, with order carefully preserved under spiritually minded leading men who look after its spiritual good. Members are to be organized into companies for the various lines of work that are needed, including one company to pray with and help the lame and the sick and dependent, and doing this work is a great blessing to the church. It is the instrumentality to stand next to heaven, where the light of glory shines in unmistakable rays by living faith founded on a living Word and a living God, with every part working connected with every other part, joined together by golden links of heaven. Loyalty to Christ demands faithful performance of church duties as an important part of training, and in a church imbued with Christ’s life this training leads directly to effort for the world without.
God is making the church the continued incarnation of Christ, so with all its working forces it must become one with the Head and stand out prominently. He designed His people to organize and combine all the united elements sanctified through the truth into one vast influential agency, with the Holy Spirit pervading His body and bringing the power of the future world into the present, so that the divine cooperates with the human in united plans that transform human agencies into divine agencies. The law of cooperation governs the body by reciprocal influence, with all influences brought to bear one upon another, and forbids kingly power where one man controls the whole. All in church capacity possess the ministry of reconciliation, beseeching men and women to be reconciled to God, and the whole body is to work harmoniously with no counter-influence, settling disagreement at once and coming into unity, with heart cemented to heart and self-will and selfishness put to death. Union is strength and variance is weakness and sin, and when every member acts in concert in sacred duties for the strengthening and establishment of the church, the united working agency exhibits miracle-working power as a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
Unity in diversity preserves individuality without submerging it, for the church lives by diversity in unity and unity in diversity. Each part is kept in action by an unseen indivisible unity and works in harmony with every other part, all members of the same body worked by the same Spirit, drawing spiritual supplies from the same storehouse and fed from the same source. As many stones each with its special light and significance make one breastplate, so many members make one body, and as sunlight falling on different objects gives a different hue, so the Creator of all ideas may impress different minds with the same thought and each may express it in a different way without contradiction. Different minds may give different figures and presentations of truth to interest and educate different minds, and those writing on the third angel’s message may use their own individuality and different ways of presentation without speaking the very same things in the same words, yet all testimonies unite to form one whole. It is no virtue to differ or to strain for originality, and when the same vitalizing current flows through minds and hearts believers act in harmony, revealing tender compassionate love in words, character, and unselfish deeds. Believers may differ in disposition and remain distinct as individuals, yet the same Spirit sanctifies them and joins them as different parts of one great temple, and their harmony and union bear witness that God sent His Son to save sinners.
To believe on Christ means to put on Christ and be united to Him as a limb is united to the body. Christ clothed His divinity with humanity so that His humanity might touch and uplift humanity while with His divine arm He grasped the throne of the Infinite, thus linking finite man with the infinite God, and this union is entered individually by believing on Him. The verse is illustrated when complementary workers unite, as in the Reformation where Melancthon’s gentleness, caution, and exactness complemented Luther’s courage and energy, and their union strengthened the work. This unity includes the calling and training of people of different races for service, for the members belong together and are complete in Christ, who raises people from sin’s degradation and makes them laborers together with God. God has a work for the French brethren which American ministers cannot do, and there are places where Americans can do nothing and Frenchmen are needed, so because their nature is not exactly like that of their American brethren they must be given elbow room to act themselves and not be pressed to become exactly like others in mind and ideas. So too the workers throughout the printing office in Nashville are members placed in one institutional body, where the Spirit of Christ must circulate as blood circulates through the body, which requires true conversion of heart and mind and spirit with no half-way work and the crucifixion of self.
Keeping God’s order of each in his place keeps the church in a healthy state and prevents trouble, whereas in Boston and vicinity trouble and confusion came because this order was not observed and some ran before they were sent. Separation from people whose interests and affections were bound up with one’s own can feel like tearing a limb from the body. The church is a living body and the Health Institute is a branch and arm of that body, which the church controls and supplies. When the church stands in the counsel of God in a healthy condition it diffuses light and sends a vitalizing, healthful current to the Institute, but when the church is sickly and does not enjoy the favor of God nor the light of His countenance, its moral darkness creates moral darkness and spiritual death in the Institute, and a sickly, deathly influence is circulated through the whole living body until disease is apparent everywhere.