THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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the church.— Foster. Every one in th e body. God’s glory is expressed through th e harmony of variety. We do not need sameness in order to gain union. Every note in th e organ is needed for th e full expression of noble harmony. God has endowed no two souls alike and every soul is needed to make th e music of the realm of th e blest.— Jowett. v. 21. I have no heed of thee. An independence which should refuse to give anything to ano th er or should a t tem pt to hold itself aloof in self cen tered, self contained, self sufficing full ness of life, is u tte rly alien from C h rist’s idea. Such Christians could never make a church. Every single member has something to give me which I need from him. Every member may demand from me all I have which can serve him. The cheerful acknow ledg ment, “I have need of th ee,” Is politic ally, socially, as well as in th e church, th e saving law of all happy corporate organized life.B -Foster. v. 22. Seem to be feeble. Many nec essary members are incapable of self defense.-—-Beet. A re necessary. One im po rtan t function of th e church is to elicit and utilize every faculty for good which its members possess. One *may feel out of place and awkward when he attem p ts to do w hat others are doing. He can do it only in a groping manner, bu t th is may be only a h in t th a t he is m eant for other work, not for none. It is for him to discover and for th e church to help» him discover w hat his Christian in stincts lead him to.— Exp. Bible. v. 23. We th in k to be less hono r able. Some of th e delicate members of th e body th a t do its essential work, are hidden from view. They are more nec essary th a n th e hand or foot, the loss of which may cripple bu t does no t kill. So in th e church it is th e hidden souls who, by th e ir prayers and domestic god liness, m aintain the whole body in h ealth and enable more conspicuously gifted members to do th e ir part.-—-Dods. v. 24. God h a th tempered. There was to be no self exaltation as it un doubtedly was among ' th e Corinthians on account of the gifts which they had so abundantly, especially th e sign gifts. They looked down upon other members who were less prom inent and th is was responsible for th e th reaten ing division in th e body. The blessed injunction is th a t th e members should have th e same care one for another, th en th ere wotild be no schism in the body.— Anno. Bible, v. 25. Should be no schism. Two
(8 ) The co-ordination of th e mem bers should be m anifest in h eart co-operation in glorifying Him. (9 ) If th e members are subject to His will, they will be placed in th e position He provides. (10) The g reater th e g ift He gives, the g reater th e responsibility, the g reater the resu lt He requires. (11) Mark th e distinction, believer; the church is an organism , not an or ganization. v. 14. The body is n o t one member. The apostle would have th e Corinthians understand th a t no man is pérm itted to use his gifts for his own individual in- . terests b u t for COMMENTS FROM the general wel- MANY SOURCES | fare of th e body. K eith L. Brooks Ju s t as th e power of vision is not for th e benefit of th e eye b u t for the good of th e whole man, so all sp iritu al gifts are no t for individual bu t for the collective blessings of th e church.— Evans. v. 15. I f th e foot shall say. The humbler members ought not to dis parage themselves or to be disparaged by others more noble.— Jam ieson. Su perior as th e eye is, it would not do if it were th e sole member, to th e exclu sion of th e rest.-—J. F . & B. v. 18. God h a th set. Each member has its own place w ith a g ift and func tion which is suitable for it. Nothing in th e body is le ft to man himself. It is His church and God orders th e place of each and of all in th a t body. There fore self choosing is excluded. How all th is is m arred, if not wholly forgotten in th e professing church, is only too evident. The conditions of today, th e divisions in the body, th e false doc trines, and un scrip tu ral practices th roughou t Christendom , are plainly th e resu lt of having set aside th è tru th con cerning th e one body.— Gaebelein. I am set in th e body w ith my own small capacity for something. I am no t “ of no use.” L et th e Head H imself com mand me and claim me, even me. He th a t is a t his best for th e sake of th e body has his reward. He is a t his best for himself. If a man would get th e utm ost of advantage from th e church, let him do his utm ost of service and be a t his best of sp iritu al h ealth for
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