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The Greatest Object

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 1:7.

Union is strength, and the Lord desires that this truth should be ever
revealed in all the members of the body of Christ. All are to be united in
love, in meekness, in lowliness of mind. Organized into a society of
believers for the purpose of combining and diffusing their influence, they
are to work as Christ worked. They are ever to show courtesy and respect for
one another. Every talent has its place and is to be kept under the control
of the Holy Spirit.

The church is a Christian society formed for the members composing it, that
each member may enjoy the assistance of all the graces and talents of the
other members, and the working of God upon them, according to their several
gifts and abilities. The church is united in the holy bonds of fellowship in
order that each member may be benefited by the influence of the other. All
are to bind themselves to the covenant of love and harmony. The Christian
principles and graces of the whole society of believers are to gather
strength and force in harmonious action. Each believer is to be benefited
and improved by the refining and transforming influence of the varied
capabilities of the other members, that the things lacking in one may be
more abundantly displayed in another. All the members are to draw together,
that the church may become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.

The covenant of agreement in church membership is that each member would
walk in the footsteps of Christ, that all will take His yoke upon them, and
learn of Him who is meek and lowly in heart. Doing this, "Ye shall," saith
the dear Saviour, "find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my
burden is light" (Matt. 11:29, 30).

Those who wear Christ's yoke will draw together. They will cultivate
sympathy and forbearance, and in holy emulation will strive to show to
others the tender sympathy and love of which they feel such great need
themselves. He who is weak and inexperienced, although he is weak, may be
strengthened by the more hopeful and by those of mature experience. Although
the least of all, he is a stone that must shine in the building. He is a
vital member of the organized body, united to Christ, the living head, and
through Christ identified with all the excellencies of Christ's character so
that the Saviour is not ashamed to call him brother. . . . A church,
separate and distinct from the world, is in the estimation of heaven the
greatest object in all the earth. . . . The church is to be as God designed
it should be, a representative of God's family in another world (Selected
Messages, book 3, pp. 15-17).

>From Lift Him Up - Page 295

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