Ecclesial Harmony

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="054fd5a3.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Tyler - Longview Christadelphian Ecclesia</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tyler Longview Christadelphian Ecclesia"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Who We Are">Who We Are</A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Symbol" >   ·   </FONT><A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News and Events">News and Events</A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Symbol" >   ·   </FONT><A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ecclesial Statements">Ecclesial Statements</A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Symbol" >   ·   </FONT><A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Daily Bible Readings">Daily Bible Readings</A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Symbol" >   ·   </FONT><A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Statement of Faith">Statement of Faith</A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Symbol" >   ·   </FONT><A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bible Study">Bible Study</A><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Symbol" >   ·   </FONT><A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Apples of Gold">Apples of Gold</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Recent Apples">Recent Apples</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="God">God</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christ">Christ</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Be Ready Always">Be Ready Always</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Daughters of Sarah">Daughters of Sarah</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Doctrine">Doctrine</A></div> <div> Ecclesial Harmony</div> <div> <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Encouragement">Encouragement</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Exhortation">Exhortation</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Faith">Faith</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fear">Fear</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flesh">Flesh</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="God Manifestation">God Manifestation</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="In Defense of the Faith">In Defense of the Faith</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Instructing the Children">Instructing the Children</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Judgment">Judgment</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Kindred Company">Kindred Company</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Kingdom">The Kingdom</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marriage">Marriage</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Duty">Our Duty</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Our Walk">Our Walk</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Patience">Patience</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Praise and Poetry">Praise and Poetry</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Prayer">Prayer</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reading">Reading</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Self Examination">Self Examination</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sojourners">Sojourners</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Trials of Faith">Trials of Faith</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="We Have This Treasure">We Have This Treasure</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christadelphian History">Christadelphian History</A></div> <div> <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Word">The Word</A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <B>Ecclesial Harmony</B></div> <bR> <div> "Let him seek peace and ensue it" - 1Peter 3:11</div> <div> Peter's exhortation implies that positive action needs to be taken to establish Ecclesial peace,</div> <div> rather than merely passively wishing and waiting for it to come.</div> <div> Ecclesial peace is something to be sought, pursued, established and treasured...</div> <div> If we are right-minded we shall not pose as conscientious objectors to fighting,</div> <div> while harboring a bitter, contentious, quarrelsome attitude</div> <div> toward our brethren.</div> <div> Instead, we shall do all in our power to establish and preserve peace,</div> <div> even if it means turning a blind eye and deaf ear on many an action</div> <div> or statement which may offend us.</div> <div> There is a promised blessing for those who seek for peace.</div> <div> "Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God."</div> <div> Therefore any sacrifice we may be called upon to make in the cause of peace shall turn to profit ultimately</div> <div> when heaven's blessing is received.</div> <div> Meanwhile, we have to cooperate with God to establish it...</div> <div> Brother H.P. Mansfield</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> Nothing more easily blights friendship</div> <div> and very good work connected with it,</div> <div> and nothing is more liable to wreck an ecclesia,</div> <div> and all the beautiful interests associated with its existence,</div> <div> than the general habit of neglecting the Scriptural method prescribed</div> <div> for dealing with matters of wrong (Matt. 18),</div> <div> and resorting to the natural-man method of talking over evil reports,</div> <div> instead of either being silent or going to the person concerned.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> The Statement of Faith</div> <div> Must become more to us than a document</div> <div> used merely to preserve a formalized set of doctrines.</div> <div> The principles set down therein must be so understood by each one of us</div> <div> that their power is to be felt in our lives.</div> <div> Not until we are transformed by the force of the Truth can it be said</div> <div> we have gained the true purpose of our search.</div> <div> This demands an understanding of first principles that</div> <div> will excite us to study the Bible in depth,</div> <div> so that its influence on us will be increasingly felt.</div> <div> That is an individual responsibility.</div> <div> When we do this we will not be found challenging those vital doctrines</div> <div> clearly set forth in the Statement of Faith.</div> <div> In contradiction to that attitude</div> <div> we adhere to the exhortation of Paul:</div> <div> "Take heed unto thyself,</div> <div> and unto the doctrine; continue in them;</div> <div> for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself, and them that hear thee"</div> <div> 1 Tim. 4:16</div> <div> Brother H.P. Mansfield</div> <div> 1964</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> Never</div> <div> think of your own interests exclusively.</div> <div> Have a care to make other people happy.</div> <div> Only thus can you be a child of God.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> Ecclesias require not showmen, but servants-</div> <div> men who are prepared to lose time, money, sleep and even health,</div> <div> for the Truth's interests.</div> <div> Such men are content to await Christ's return for recognition and reward,</div> <div> when the true sons of God</div> <div> will be openly manifested and glorified together.</div> <div> Logos 1964</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> The best system of rules will be a failure</div> <div>  if the members of an ecclesia are unsubject to the commandments of Christ</div> <div>  which prescribe patience, benevolence, submission to wrong,</div> <div>  and a controlling regard to the approbation of Christ in all we do. </div> <div> Where men love God and their neighbours as themselves,</div> <div>  almost any rules will work well if they are in the least reasonable. </div> <div> If these two commandments, on which hang all the law and the prophets, </div> <div> are not in force, no set of rules will protect a community from </div> <div> the destructive personal ambitions of the carnal mind.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <div>   1884</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> Wherever there is a tendency to boast about ecclesial well-being,</div> <div> there is a bad state of things in a spiritual point of view.</div> <div> For in a truly healthy state, </div> <div> men perceive that the very best state possible at a time when God is rejected on the earth,</div> <div> is necessarily a poor and an afflicted one,</div> <div>  and that the only tolerable attitude at present is that of</div> <div>  gratitude for so much mercy in the midst of so much sin.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <div>  </div> <div> Quietness should prevail within the hall,</div> <div> so that the congregation can enter fully into the spirit of the gathering,</div> <div> and mentally seek Him who is invisible to mortal sight.</div> <div> We are there to worship,</div> <div> not for the pleasure of fraternal intercourse.</div> <div> That is best reserved until the close of the meeting.</div> <div> Let the utmost quietness prevail before the memorial service and public proclamation of the Word,</div> <div> and let the congregation engage itself in meditation and prayer,</div> <div> that the divine blessing might be upon all that is done-</div> <div>  Brother H.P. Mansfield</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> Quietness should prevail within the hall,</div> <div> so that the congregation can enter fully into the spirit of the gathering,</div> <div> and mentally seek Him who is invisible to mortal sight.</div> <div> We are there to worship,</div> <div> not for the pleasure of fraternal intercourse.</div> <div> That is best reserved until the close of the meeting.</div> <div> Let the utmost quietness prevail before the memorial service </div> <div> and public proclamation of the Word,</div> <div> and let the congregation engage itself in meditation and prayer,</div> <div> that the divine blessing might be upon all that is done-</div> <div>  Brother H.P. Mansfield</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> To show patience in tribulation will not only benefit ourselves but those who may be watching us. Christ's approval will also be earned, for he knows that apart from patiently borne tribulation his disciples will never attain to the Kingdom (Acts 14:22).</div> <div>  Logos 1965 pg 22</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> The ecclesia is not a place for argument; It is for fellowship in agreement.</div> <div> <I>Let all who name the name of Christ avoid the very appearance of evil, that love among themselves and the truth's progress may be unchecked.</I></div> <div> “Without rebuke,”  “a good report among those that are without,”</div> <div> are necessary conditions of success.</div> <div> The breath of calumny is a blight upon the delicate operations of the spirit among men, and our policy ought to be never to thwart it by “giving none occasion”</div> <div> for its malicious activity.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> The object of Christ in gospel operations is to provide a community actuated by a common sentiment,</div> <div> not only in doctrine, but in affection, interest and love.</div> <div> Unity in doctrine is only the beginning of their unity;</div> <div> the end is good brotherhood.</div> <div> Unity in doctrine in absence of moral or sympathetic unity,</div> <div> is a very poor thing.</div> <div> It is beautiful in its way,</div> <div> good and excellent in these days when so difficult to get at,</div> <div> but a mockery if unaccompanied by that higher unity which comes as the fruit thereof when the soul is not barren.</div> <div> Alone, its beauty is the beauty of a cold day; the sun may shine brightly,</div> <div> but we are chilled to the heart by the cold.</div> <div> We have other faculties other than the intellect,</div> <div> and into these must the truth penetrate with warming ray.</div> <div> <I> And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;</I></div> <div> <I> And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;</I></div> <div> <I> And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love.</I></div> <div> <I> For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.</I></div> <div> <I>2 Pet 1:5-8</I></div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <div> The Christadelphian 1868</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> Between the well gifted and the ill gifted there should be no schism.</div> <div> The one should be modest and kind,</div> <div> and the other, contented cheerful and kind.</div> <div> There should be no schism in the body.</div> <div> Loving cooperation ought to be the rule all around.</div> <div> It is highly necessary to remember these things.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> It is well to be zealous for ecclesial purity; but if we are to abstain from ecclesial association till we find an ecclesia that is perfect, we shall never have ecclesial association at all. We must have compassion as well as zeal.</div> <div> We are <I>all imperfect</I>, and unless we practice some of the charity that 'hides a multitude of sins, we shall hinder and destroy instead of helping one another.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <div> 1886</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> Nothing can be done collectively to heal existing differences.</div> <div> The evil must be cured at the source - individual shortcoming;</div> <div> and this can only be done with every man setting his own mind and behavior right in the sight of God.</div> <div> Some will do this; all will not; and therefore discord will always exist.</div> <div> We must not be discouraged at it.</div> <div> The ecclesia is at present a mixture of</div> <div> "gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and stubble;"</div> <div> and these elements must continue mixed, until the Judge of all the earth returns to separate them.</div> <div> We are neither able or at liberty to judge at present</div> <div> as to who confessing the truth are the pearls, and who are the rubbish;</div> <div> but pearls there are, and rubbish there is,</div> <div> and therefore a lack of perfect harmony.</div> <div> We must use charity in the matter; this is the province of charity,</div> <div> to put the best face on things where nothing certain is known,</div> <div> and await the results in patience.</div> <div> Differences ought not to disconcert us; they ought not even surprise us;</div> <div> they are the inevitable offspring of the present organization of the ecclesia.</div> <div> Divisions - doctrinal and personal - will always occur as long as</div> <div> righteousness and unrighteousness, truth and error, coexist.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <div> Ambassador 1966</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> A perfect ecclesia cannot exist this side of the judgment seat...</div> <div> [but] a blameless ecclesia may however exist in this life.</div> <div> That such has existed in all of its elements is doubtful.</div> <div> The weakness, ambition, and the lust of the flesh is against its existence.</div> <div> Although such an ecclesia may not have existed in the past, and may not exist now,</div> <div> yet it is the duty of each member of the Lord's household to contribute all he or she can towards the establishment of such. To do this is but obeying the divine command embodied in various parts of the Holy Oracles. The greatest work the truth has to accomplish in frail human nature is the bringing of every thought and act of the heart and mind into harmony with the will of God, thus making the mind and heart of each child of God obedient to the mind of the Spirit. This work accomplished in each one</div> <div> would make all one mind and one spirit, a true reflection of the divine mind as revealed in the Word, and would constitute all such a blameless ecclesia. There would be no ambition for lording it over the ecclesia, no backbiting, no slanderous speech, no selfish interests to be promoted, no wrongs inflicted, no bitterness or wranglings over diversities of doctrines or practices. Instead there would be humbleness of heart and mind,</div> <div> brotherly love, kind words, a zealous promotion of the interests of all,</div> <div> guarding each one against affliction of any wrong, and perfect harmony of doctrine and practice.</div> <div> The Christadelphian 1894</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> If we will but remember</div> <div> that the ecclesia in the present state is but the workshop </div> <div> in which the stones are being shaped and polished for the great building of God</div> <div>  that is to be hereafter erected,</div> <div>  we shall be greatly enabled to preserve our souls in patience.</div> <div>  Let every man bend his strength to the saving of himself.</div> <div>  Look to no man: lean on none.</div> <div>  Fight your way through the darkness; there is light beyond.</div> <div>  By and bye our highest aspirations will find their goal </div> <div> in the perfection of the kingdom of God. </div> <div> When God makes up his jewels, our souls will luxuriate in excellence. </div> <div> From all ages, and all ecclesias</div> <div> will those be gathered who please Him and meet His purpose.</div> <div>  And we know that in that great body-in the one glorified body of Christ, </div> <div> there will be no schism, no jarr, no imperfection.</div> <div>  Meanwhile, we must remember that this is a time of imperfection, </div> <div> and we shall never get at what we yearn after;</div> <div>  it is a time of trial, a time of patient endurance, </div> <div> a time of evil in which our highest wisdom</div> <div>  is to make the best of a bad job.</div> <div> Robert Roberts </div> <div> The Christadelphian</div> <div> 1869</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> The question, who should be chief, is the most destructive of all discords: </div> <div> "When pride cometh, then cometh contention." </div> <div> It is the Lord's express command to all who aspire to be his disciples:</div> <div> "Be servants: take the lowest place." </div> <div> "If any among you desire to be chief, the same shall be last of all." </div> <div> When the reasonable spirit of modest self-assessment prevails, dis-union is impossible; </div> <div> for each holds the other up instead of pulling him down...</div> <div>  No man who wants to be head is fit to be head. </div> <div> The headship that comes from service is the only headship that is either useful or tolerable, or, in the long run, possible. </div> <div> Where the spirit of exalting each other, </div> <div> instead of exalting ourselves prevails (as Christ commands), </div> <div> there is little danger of difficulty arising, </div> <div> and an easy settlement of them when they do arise.</div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <bR> <div> The headship that comes from service </div> <div> is the only headship that is either useful or tolerable, or, in the long run, possible.</div> <div> Where the spirit of exalting each other, instead of exalting ourselves prevails</div> <div>  (as Christ commands),</div> <div> there is little danger of difficulty arising, </div> <div> and an easy settlement of them when they do arise. </div> <div> Brother Robert Roberts</div> <div> 1897</div> <bR> <div> ~</div> <bR> <div> “This lies in the rich indwelling of the Word of Christ </div> <div> in each individual  member of the ecclesia </div> <div> - a state to be attained in our day <I>only</I> by the daily and systematic reading of the Scriptures.</div> <div> When every mind is influenced by the Word, </div> <div> the worst rules work smoothly.</div> <div> When it is otherwise, the best will miscarry.</div> <div> The system of daily reading, as laid out in the Bible Companion,</div> <div> has for years been followed by thousands with increasing benefit.</div> <div> The brethren ought, above all things, to help one another in its observance…”</div> <div> The Ecclesial Guide #43</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>