And are we not justified in declaring that next to the glory of the Head stands the great truth of the unity of His body--the Church? Unquestionably. If the nation of Israel was one, how much more is the body of Christ one! and if independency was wrong in Israel, how much more wrong in the Church of God! The plain fact is this: the idea of independency cannot be maintained for a moment in the light of the New Testament. As well might we say that the hand is independent of the foot, or the eye of the ear, as assert that the members of the body of Christ are independent one of another. "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; _so also is Christ_"--a very remarkable statement, setting forth the intimate union of Christ and the Church.--"_For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body_, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor again, the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more, those members of the body which seem to be more feeble, are necessary; and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness; for our comely parts have no need; but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked: _that there should be no schism in the body_; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. NOW YE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, AND MEMBERS IN PARTICULAR." (1 Cor. xii. 12-27.)
We do not attempt to dwell upon this truly marvelous scripture; but we earnestly desire to call the attention of the Christian reader to the special truth which it so forcibly sets before us--a truth which intimately concerns every true believer on the face of the earth, namely, _that he is a member of the body of Christ_. This is a great practical truth, involving, at once, the very highest privileges and the very weightiest responsibilities. It is not merely a true doctrine, a sound principle, or an orthodox opinion; it is a living fact, designed to be a divine power in the soul. The Christian can no longer view himself as an independent person, having no association, no vital link, with others. He is livingly bound up with all the children of God--all true believers--all the members of Christ's body upon the face of the earth.
"By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." The Church of God is not a mere club, or a society, an association, or a brotherhood; it is a body united by the Holy Ghost to the Head in heaven; and all its members on earth are indissolubly bound together. This being so, it follows, of necessity, that all the members of the body are affected by the state and walk of each. "If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it,"--that is, all the members of the body. If there is any thing wrong with the foot, the hand feels it. How? Through the head. So in the Church of God, if any thing goes wrong with an individual member, all feel it through the Head with whom all are livingly connected by the Holy Ghost.
Some find it very hard to grasp this great truth; but there it stands plainly revealed on the inspired page, not to be reasoned about, or submitted in any way to the human judgment, but simply to be believed. It is a divine revelation. No human mind could ever have conceived such a thought; but God reveals it, faith believes it, and walks in the blessed power of it.