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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
December, 1934
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body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). This body was first formed on the day of Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:1-4, 41-47), and since that time, every sinner who trusts in Christ for salvation is joined to that body by the same Holy Spirit. What an expressive figure it isl We see at once that the true church is an organism —not an organization. And this body is not one member, but many; and the different members are de pendent one on the other, just as the va rious members of the human body are. Verse 18 is a cure-all, a panacea for spirit ual pride: “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” Each member has a God-appointed place, and each has his own gift, his own talent. Self-choosing is ex cluded. There is blessing in the exercise of any ability which the Lord has granted, and there is sweet comfort for those who have the lesser gifts: “Those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.” Finally, there comes the solemn truth of verse 26: “And whether one member suf fer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members re joice with it.” These words fill our hearts with awe as we realize our tremendous re sponsibility toward our risen Head, Christ Jesus, and toward our fellow members. As we think of our relation to others in the body of Christ, Paul’s challenging dec laration should be ours: “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth.” In the great benedic tion in Hebrews 13:20, 21, there is the prayer that God may “make you perfect in every good work to do his will.” Dr. Griffith Thomas has called attention to the fact that the literal meaning of the Greek verb in the words translated “make you perfect” is “to adjust”—as in the adjusting of a dislocated joint. The church, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, needs to be in perfect adjustment in every part, that mutual helpfulness may enable the body to render perfect service. My wish for all Endeavorers is that we, “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). _______ Leader’s Helps I. G lorifying G od Suppose the mole should cry, “How I could have honored the Creator had I been allowed to fly I” It would be very foolish, for a mole flying would be a most ridicu lous object, while a mole fashioning its tunnels is viewed by the naturalist with ad miring wonder. The fish of the sea might say, “How I could display the wisdom of God if I could sing, or mount a tree like a bird! But a dolphin in a tree would be a very gro tesque affair, yet when the fish cuts the wave with its agile fin, all who have ob served it say how wonderfully it is adapted to its habitat, how exactly its every bone is fitted for its mode of life. Just so it is with the Christian. If you begin to say, “I cannot glorify God where I am and as I am,” I answer, “Neither could you any where if not where you are.” God has placed you “in the body, as it [Continued on page 438]
OVER
YEARS AGO When Zachary Taylor*, fresh from the Mexican War, was President o f the United States, the American Bible Society, was sending checks to its annuitants.
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the society makes payments promptly and regularly to the many holders o f its annuity agreements. These checks always sent when due in spite o f wars, panics and depressions, relieve anxiety today just as they have done through all these years.
L O U tOO, can secure
and have the satisfaction o f helping in the important work o f Bible distribution through an annuity agreement o f the American Bible Society. Mail the coupon for full information. § President Taylor having been made a LifeDirector of the American Bible Society in 1850 stated: “Believing that our prosperity and greatness as a nation, no less than our happiness as individuals, is in direct proportion to our observance of the teachings of that Book in which the holy religion is revealed, I cannot be indif ferent to those labours which tend to diffuse its instructions and render it more accessible to all.” M A I L T H I S C O U P O N T O D A Y I XT American Bible Society, Bible House, Astor Place, New York Please send me, without obligation, your booklet K.B.-39 entitled “A Gift That Lives.” He
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