1885 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

R732 : page 3Go forth, beloved! life's ministry is earnest,Crushed hearts throng round thee, in thy path below;Fond hopes once cherished, now by death are blighted;Knowest thou not a balm to soothe their woe?Yes, Yes, beloved! I read thine heart's glad answer;Yes, thou wilt do this work of love for me.Only "a little while," and earth's sad scenes of sorrowShall change to glory bright--prepared by me.Then, then, beloved! heaven's songs of joy awaking,Triumphant "hallelujah" thou shalt raise,Then shalt thou gaze upon my face, and ever,"Knowing as known," pour forth thine endless praise.====================--Titbury.IF THE WHOLE BODY WERE AN EYE.1 COR. 12:12-27.A more apt illustration of the oneness of the true Church [whosenames are written in heaven] can not be conceived of, than thiswhich the Scriptures so frequently present--the human body madeup of various and dissimilar members, yet unitedly constituting onebody and each member dependent largely, upon each othermember.What a loss to the human body is even one member. Though its lossdoes not cause the destruction of the body, it does impair itsusefulness. And so with the body of Christ, the church: eachmember is necessary, and has a duty to perform toward othermembers, as well as blessings to receive by its fellowship withthem: Hence the Apostle urges that there be "no schism in thebody"-- that is that there be no sectarian division of those who arethe Lord's body.The body when complete and perfected, united with its Head andglorified, will be perfect, lacking no member; there will be no sector division among the members. Only such as are fully undercontrol of the one spirit, of the Head, will be members then. But notso now: Now some of the members are not fully submissive to theHead, and mislead by the blinding delusions of Satan, areseparated, and in that proportion deprived of the blessings andprivileges of the body, and the body is also deprived of theirassistance and influence. And as in the human body, if certainmembers are absent, or refuse to fill their office, other memberswill endeavor to compensate to the body for the deficiency, so inthe body of Christ, those who realize the necessities of the bodyshould rejoice in the privilege of over-work for the benefit of all.There is danger to those members of the body who are failing to fill