6. Obeying the Law of the body of Jesus Christ Authority of Life No member has any authority, for authority rests only in the Head. It is a serious mistake for a member to claim he has such authority in himself. A member does not possess direct authority; he has only the authority delegated to him by the Head. And this authority is not something positional, it is wholly of life. Such authority does not come through appointment but by being: If a member is not an eye, the body has no way to appoint him as its eye. If he is not a hand, the body cannot make him a hand through appointment. He has the authority of holding or of seeing only because he can hold or see. And as he functions along that line, people receive help. Imparting Gift Through the Laying On of Hands Pray With Anointing Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord (Jas. 5:14). The Revelation Paul Received at Repentance Acts 9 shows us that at the time of Pauls repentance the revelation he received contained two aspects. As he traveled on the road to Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly shone on him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him: Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? The Lord is saying, Why are you persecuting Me?: He does not say, Why do you persecute those who believe in Me? And so Paul asked, Who are You, Lord? To which the Lord answered: I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:3-5). Here the Lord demonstrated to Paul that all who believe in Him are one with Him. Such was the first aspect of Gods revelation to Paul; namely, the intimate, indivisible oneness between the Head and the body. Paul was the first one in the Bible who saw the testimony of the body of Christ. No one can touch the member without at the same time touching the Head. For this reason, let us never think we can sin against our brother without concomitantly sinning against Christ. Let us ever be reminded that whoever touches even the smallest member of the body touches the very Head of the body. He who is hurt is the member; but he who feels it is the Head. The Judgment of the Brethren The following words from Matthew 18 are rather marvelous: And if your brother sin against you, go show him his fault between you and him alone: if he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if doesnt hear you, take with you one or two more, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established (Mt. 18:15,16
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 16:25:31 +0000
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