God Has Given to Every Man His Work

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My mind is drawn out to speak expressly of the duty of church members to draw together in the service of God, though all have not the same office or the same talents. Christ gives different men different abilities, to be exercised in different lines of work.

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Some are strong to carry on one line of work, while others are especially fitted to carry on another line, or to labor in a different way to accomplish the same results. Let no worker feel that his fellow-workers should labor in exactly the same way that he does.

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It is by the Lord’s order that his servants have varied gifts. It is by his appointment that men of varied minds are brought into the church, to be laborers together with him. We have many different minds to meet, and different gifts are needed. God’s servants are to work in perfect harmony. I thank the Lord that we are not all exactly the same, while we are all to have the same spirit-the spirit that dwells in Christ. The apostle John was not the same as the apostle Peter. Each was to subdue his peculiarities and soften his temperament, that they might help each other, through belief in and sanctification of the truth.

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It is the righteousness of Christ that goes before us. It is his character that we are to copy. And then what? The glory of the Lord shall be our rearward. Our Leader goes before us, and as we follow him, he imparts to us his righteousness, which is revealed in our lives by a well-ordered life and a godly conversation. It is faith and works that makes us Christians, preparing us to sit together in heavenly places with Christ.

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Is Christ divided? No. Christ abiding in the soul will not quarrel with Christ in another soul. We must learn to bear with the peculiarities of those around us. If our will is under the control of Christ’s will, how can we be at variance with our brethren? If we are at variance, we may know that it is because self needs to be crucified. He whom Christ makes free is free indeed.

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We are not complete in Christ unless we love one another as Christ has loved us. When we do this, as Christ has given commandment, we shall give evidence that we are complete in him.

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We must have the faith which prophets foretold and apostles preached-the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. If we reach the standard of perfection, our peculiar traits of disposition must be molded into harmony with Christ’s will. Then we shall sit together in heavenly places in Christ; brethren will work together, without a thought of collision.

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Little differences, dwelt upon, lead to actions that destroy Christian fellowship. But this is not profitable. Let us keep drawing near to God, and he will draw near to us. Then, as one, we shall reach upward to him. The churches will be like gardens of the Lord, under his cultivation. God’s people will be trees of righteousness planted by the Lord, and watered with the river of life. And how fruitful they will be! Did not Christ say, «It is my Father’s good pleasure that ye bear much fruit? «

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Shall the vines of Sodom and Gomorrah be permitted to grow in the garden of the Lord? Will the terrible judgments of God be visited upon those who know the truth because they have not formed characters after the divine example? Will God be obliged to say of his people today, as he said of Israel. «I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine?» Let us subdue self. Let us overcome every evil trait of character. Then the graces of the Lord will once more grow on the once flourishing vine, which will no longer bear the grapes of Sodom and the clusters of Gomorrah.

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Hear the words of Christ, «A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another.» —