Elijah the Tishbite. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. VMackintosh, Charles Henry
Religion
Elijah the Tishbite. Miscellaneous Writings of C. H. Mackintosh, vol. V
Mackintosh, Charles Henry
Theology
And here, at the very outset, we would remind the reader that the
object of this brief paper is not to discuss the oft-raised question,
"How are we to know what meeting to go to?" This is, assuredly, a
question of cardinal importance, which every Christian--man, woman,
and child--is bound and privileged to have divinely settled ere he
takes his place in an assembly. To go to a meeting without knowing the
ground on which such meeting is gathered, is to act in ignorance or
indifference wholly incompatible with the fear of the Lord and the
love of His Word.
But we repeat, this question is not now before us. We are not occupied
with the ground of the meeting, but with _our state and conduct on the
ground_--a question, surely, of vast moral importance to every soul
professing to be gathered in or to the name of Him who is holy and
true. In a word, our thesis is distinctly stated at the head of this
article. We assume that the reader is clear as to the ground of the
assembly, and hence our immediate business with him just now is to
raise the solemn question in his heart and conscience, "Am I a help,
or a hindrance, to the assembly?" That each individual member is
either the one or the other is as clear as it is weighty and
practical.
If the reader will just open his Bible, and read, thoughtfully and
prayerfully, 1 Cor. xii., he will find most clearly established the
great practical truth that each member of the body exerts an influence
on all the rest; just as, in the human body, if there be anything
wrong with the very feeblest and most obscure member, all the members
feel it, through the head. If there be a broken nail, a broken tooth,
a foot out of joint; any limb, muscle or nerve out of order, it is a
hindrance to the whole body. Thus it is in the Church of God, the body
of Christ: "If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or
if one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it." The state
of each member affects the whole body. Hence it follows that each
member is either a help or a hindrance to all. What a profound truth!
Yes, and it is as practical as it is profound.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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