The Relationship of the Saved
The church was not, as we have seen, a mere aggregate of individuals that happened to gather or that assembled for ordinary purposes. A social club or a business organization would have possessed all those features. The church was the body of Christ, the body to which He gave spiritual life and through which He designed to manifest His power and glory…. The relation of the divine and the human characteristics was, therefore, the relation of soul and body—Christ, the soul; redeemed humanity, the body.
The organization and government of that church was based upon the charisma, or divine gifts and callings, of individuals composing the church. The power and authority of an apostle or an evangelist, for example, did not rest upon any selection or appointment made by men. The church did not act in a corporate capacity and confer ecclesiastical power and authority upon anyone. All such power and authority came direct from God through the Holy Spirit, and it was in God’s name and by His authority alone that they acted…. If, for example, the gifts of an apostle were conferred by the Holy Spirit upon an individual, he possessed apostolic responsibility and authority. The brethren recognized such gifts when these were evident, and submitted themselves voluntarily to such spiritual leadership and oversight; for at this period there had not been developed that ecclesiastical system by which human election and appointment gave positions and authority to men. In fact… the true church cannot be legally organized. Every attempt of men to assume the reins of authority and give governmental form and administrative direction to the church has been denominational and sectarian.
[Frederick G. Smith; The Last Reformation, “The Church in Apostolic Days”]
If a human body loses its soul (physical death), the physical members of that body began an immediate deterioration to the previous, original state before they became living organisms. Dust to dust; made from the dust—return to the dust. And, if a group of God’s children, redeemed and blessed, grieve the Lord from their midst, the spiritual life and blessings that flow from Him will be withdrawn or greatly diminished, and spiritual dissolution will occur. There will be more of men working and less of God. And the body of people will naturally fall apart unless it is embalmed.
A practical question is, How far could such a congregation lapse into an abnormal state and still be a church of God? Or, Can a church as a body backslide? The church at Ephesus evidently was on the verge of such an apostasy. Therefore in the special message addressed to it in Revelation, the Lord said: “I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place.” (Revelation 2:4-5) So also the church at Laodicea. “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:15-16)
The physical body may experience the mutilation of some of its members and still survive, but there is a limit beyond which death will ensue. So also the spiritual body may survive the encumbrance of a few false members. From the general facts and principles already adduced, however, we may safely assert that a local church is a church of God only so long as it is able to function properly as a body. As long as the Spirit of God is in the ascendancy, so that the people of God as a body manifest the power of God, maintain the truth of God, are filled with the Spirit of God, and are actually used by the Spirit in performing the works of God, so long they are the church of God. Whenever another spirit gains the ascendancy and the divine, spiritual characteristics are lost to view, then is brought to pass the saying that is written, “I will spew thee out of my mouth.” Beyond that time they may continue their formal services, singing hymns, saying prayers, and making speeches; but the real message of God describing their condition is, as was true of Sardis, “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and are dead.” (Revelation 3:1) Such dead congregations are no longer a part of the true church and are unworthy of the recognition of spiritual congregations.
[Frederick G. Smith; The Last Reformation, “The Church in Apostolic Days”]
A body of people will not remain a body unless a spirit enters into it. Either we are (1) a habitation of God through the Spirit, or (2) we are a habitation of some other spirit, or (3) the body will fall apart.
There is a wonderful binding force in God’s body, the church, “the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” (Ephesians 1:23) It is first a supreme love for God and His ways; then a love for everybody, saved and unsaved alike; then a depth of love and appreciation for all the truly saved that is well-nigh indescribable. For it is Christ in each of them, the hope of glory, and His perfect righteousness. And so, in loving our brethren and knowing them in this spiritual way, we are actually loving the dear presence of the Lord within them. How we wish that the Lord was in our unsaved loved ones that they might become dearer still!
When spiritual relationships are as they should be, our ties with our brethren in the Spirit are much closer and more precious than our ties in the flesh. “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37) And, if we walk in the spirit, we fulfill not the lusts (desires) of the flesh; and spiritual relationships continue to be esteemed more than fleshly ones.
Trueness to God demands that we love Him supremely—above all else. As Brother C. E. Orr states, “Holy living is to live unto God though all the world might oppose. Our dearest friend on earth must not be allowed to cause us to deviate one hair’s breadth from trueness to God. Here is one of the places in the Christian’s life that should be closely watched and guarded.” This brother, a survivor of the apostasy which occurred about the beginning of this century, also wrote:
We doubt if there be any other one thing that prevents God’s people living unto God as they should so much as the fear of man. It is so very subtle and cunning that many may have it and not be aware of it. There is an independence of man that is wrong and there is an independence that is most Christlike…. “The fear of man bringeth a snare.” (Proverbs 29:25) Many a one has fallen into this snare. Alas, how many have made compromise with man for man’s favor! “Conscious dependence upon God is the spirit of independence toward all men.” Perfect love casts out all fear of man. Those who can be influenced by men are not made perfect in love….. If faithfulness to God causes you to lose influence with men, then it were better for them and you also that you lose it. If you have to step aside from godly living to have influence with men, you are ensnared…. The apostle said, “But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment.” (1 Corinthians 4:3)
[Charles E. Orr; Helps to Holy Living, “The Fear of Man”]
And as Sister Hannah Smith writes in The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life:
You must remember that our God has all knowledge and all wisdom, and that therefore it is very possible He may guide you into paths wherein He knows great blessings are awaiting you, but which, to the short-sighted human eyes around you, seem sure to result in confusion and loss. You must recognize the fact that God’s thoughts are not as man’s thoughts, nor His ways as man’s ways; and that He alone, who knows the end of things from the beginning, can judge of what the results of any course of action may be. You must therefore realize that His very love for you may perhaps lead you to run counter to the loving wishes of even your dearest friends…. It often happens that the child of God who enters upon this life of obedience is sooner or later led into paths which meet with the disapproval of those he best loves; and unless he is prepared for this, and can trust the Lord through it all, he will scarcely know what to do.
[Hannah W. Smith; The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, “Difficulties Concerning Guidance”]
To value anything above our Lord’s truth is to set that thing up as a rival affection to the love of God in our souls. It is to create an idol—a rival god. If we value our association with others more than being absolutely true to God, then we give part of the affection which rightly belongs to Him alone to the human relationship.
The Spirit of God will lead each of us into a life of humility and dependence upon Him. He will teach us to abandon all fleshly confidences, beginning with our own natural reliance upon our own natural abilities; and He leads us into all truth. It becomes so plain—without Him, I can do nothing. Without Him, no one else can, either. It is in this way that we learn not to know one another after the flesh. “Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” (2 Corinthians 5:16) “We are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” (Philippians 3:3)
This distrust of the human with an absolute confidence in God is crucial to holy living. If we are to be part of God’s body, a member in particular, this outlook is vital. If we do not look to God, and God alone, we will look to man. If we are not led by the Spirit of God, we will be lead by something.
The practical results of having “no confidence in the flesh,” not knowing one another after the flesh, etc., keep us waiting on God—endeavoring to work when the Father works (John 5:17). It produces a people who are moved “at the impulse of Thy love.”* To those who possess this eyesight and walk accordingly—oh, how sweetly the scriptures harmonize! “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8) “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5) “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)