The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1912-05-22

ing of the will OF the Heavenly Ia
Their. BY such faithfulness He per-
fected Himself on the Divine plane
that is. He proved Himself worthy &C.
cording to the covenant--"Worthy IL
the Lamb that was slain, to receive
glory, honor. dominion and power"
Similarly the followers of Jesus are
to be sharers with Him in the suffer
ings Of this present time and in the
glories which shall follow, for III we
suffer with Him we shall also reign
with HIN" Although we are imper-
feet in the flesh. while He was perfect,
yet the robe Of His righteousness. the
merit of His sacrifice. covers all Of our
blemishes and makes US. as His foot
step followers, holy and acceptable be.
fore the Father, as joint-sacrificers
with Jesus
The begetting of the Holy Spirit
starts us In the life Divine. We are not
to be perfected 10 the flesh. but in the
spirit, and our perfection and accept.
ance with the Father will be demon
strated by our loyalty Of heart and the
fullness and thoroughness with which
we submit our all to the Divine will
and seek to glorify God in our bodies
and spirits, which are His Our JUST
fication comes to US as a reward of
faith, regardless of works. but our glO
rification will follow only as a reward
for faithfulness-"Be thou faithful
unto death. and will give thee q
crown of life"
These Gifts Are Lasting.
Not merely for few days or years
were these gifts to the Church pro
vided: on the contrary. they were to
endure throughout this entire Age.
until the Church perfected shall pass
beyond the veil and be forever with
her Redeemer. to share His glory.
honor and Immortality The Lord
from time TO time has raised up evan
gelists. pastors and teachers for this
glorious service of preparing the
"chaste virgin" the Church. to be the
Bride in glory. But the Apostolic
office, as represented in The Twelve
specially provided by the Father. has
continued and needs no replenishment
We still have their Instructions AZ
fully as the early Church. that the
man of God may be perfect, thorough
~ furnished unto every good work "
That the Apostle did not understan
the matter to be merely for day. bu
throughout this Age, until the CON
pietiOn of the Church. is clearly ev
denced by His statement, namely. th;
all these gifts were for the ediiicatio
of the Body of Christ and the PEI
fecting of the saints to the last ''unt!
we all come to the unity of the fait4'
and to the knowledge of the Son
God, unto perfect Man. unto III
measure of the stature Of the fulnes
of Christ" Verse 10.
This is wonderful statement. how
ever we view it. Shall we say that ii
applies to each individual member OF
the Church of Christ. and that each
individual must come into that full
unity Of faith. and that full kno wledge
of the Son. of God. and the perfection
of manhood I'm Christ. and to a devel
oped stature or maturity in Christ
| Or shall We understand the mea ming
, to be. until the entire Church Of Christ
shall have reached q full knowledge
| and shall. as whole. have come t.
the condition of perfect Man, OF
which Christ is the Head and we are
| the members--to the full development
or stature of the Amounted. the Mes
siah, Head and members? We he
! lieve that the latter is the Apostle 5
thought.
Nevertheless. 1t cannot be disputed
the way down the Age must have been
| along the lines here indicated. ind
(. vidually, one partially developed would
not be fitted for the Kingdom. One
not in the unity OF the faith would not
i be suitable. One not developed to the
/ proper measure or stature as a Chris
| tan would not be suitable. Nothing
is more plain than that the individual
Christian needs great deal of instruc-
| ton. eGihcation. building up in the
holy faith, testing. proving. chiseling
| polishing, fitting, preparing before be
! shall be ready for place in the glOri
Gus Temple OF God. the Church IN
glory.
Gods People No Longer Need Be Mis-
led.
This thought is confirmed by the sue
ceeding verses. in which the Apostle
tells us that by the assistance OF these
the Dvinely provided gifts. teachers
etc. Gods people need no longer like
! children, to be tossed to and fro, and
be mised by the sleight OF men and
cunning craftiness of those who would
| deceive. On the contrary. being sin
cere. and speaking the truth In love
they are to grow up into membership
In the Amounted One in all things
coming fully and completely into fel
lowship and obedience. under the
Head. even Christ.-Verses IA, Is.
Proceeding, the Apostle tells us that
all who are recognized as mem bers OF
the Body of Christ must be property
Joined to the Head-by proper com
pact, or covenant. intelligently made
and fully intended. This union must
be compacted. and 1t requires the en-
| tire Gospel Age to effect this develop
ing and compacting as members. that
- a