Yes, in the body of Christ, which is the church, there is one fellowship in the same Spirit, being joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, having the same love, with the same mutual care for one another. Eph. 4:3-4; 1 Cor. 12:13; Phil. 4:2, 2:2; 1 Cor. 1:10, 12:23. If someone says that this is not the case, it is nevertheless true. And if someone says, “I don’t think I can belong to this body,” he does so anyway as long as he has drunk of this Spirit, the Spirit of truth. John 15:26; 1 Cor. 12:13. If they themselves say or if someone else says: Because you are not an apostle, or: because you are not a prophet, or: because you are not a teacher, or: because you do not perform miracles, or: because you do not have the gift of healing, or: because you do not speak in tongues, or: because you cannot interpret them, or: because you do not have the gift of helps, or: because you do not administer, or: because you do not exhort, or: because you do not give, or: because you are not an evangelist, or: because you are not a shepherd, or: because you do not have the word of wisdom, or: because you do not have the ability to test spirts, etc., therefore I cannot be a member of the body, you are a member anyway as truly as you possess the Spirit of truth. 1 Cor. 12:15. God put the body together; who then can change it? 1 Cor. 12:8-10, 28-30; Rom. 12:6-8; Eph. 4:11; 1 Pet. 4:10-11. And He put it together in such a way that greater honor is given to the part which lacks it. 1 Cor. 12:24. Here all the proud waves have to stop! God be praised! When God has honored someone, who will then take his honor away from him? God, with His unsearchable wisdom, has created our natural bodies. He has also created this body—the church—according to the same laws of wisdom. There are many people who call on the name of the Lord who do not know anything of this fellowship in the light. The reason is that they did not believe in the work that God has accomplished, and that is because they do not want to lose their life. They want to live for themselves—they do not want to humble themselves under God’s mighty hand and be guided and led by it; they would rather control their own lives; they want to be the head. Thus they kick against the pricks to their own hurt and to the grief of others. Christ is the Head. Sanctify Him as Lord in your heart and it will go well! Then there are those who have submitted; they have signed the death sentence, agreeing to lose their lives; they have died to the law by the body of Christ, they have been baptized with the same Spirit to be that one body—but they have fallen from their own steadfastness by ceasing to walk humbly with their God among their brothers. They have begun on the path of wanting to control their own lives; they have exalted themselves even to the extent of wanting to be like God, thinking they can dispense grace. They even go so far in their arrogance as to cut off members from the body and to despise the lesser members to whom God has given the greatest honor; but they themselves are in the process of withering away—those who cannot make a hair either black or white—they are on the point of being cut off. For God’s word is unchangeable: He gives grace to the humble. And without grace we cannot do anything. God gives grace only to the humble; thus only they can bear fruit. Therefore, if someone does not bear fruit, he is cut off. Pay heed, people! In these days, many people are in the process of withering—simply because of their arrogance. Many people are growing cold whose lot is outside. John 15:2; Rev. 3:15-16. Now some people may ask, “This fellowship, this church, where is it? Where can I find it?” I can understand this question very well. The natural man simply does not understand it, for he cannot comprehend the things of the Spirit of God. It also requires much grace for those who have received God’s Spirit to understand it fully. They are required to acknowledge the grace that is in Christ while at the same time denying and rejecting all thoughts of their own sufficiency, which is to be reckoned as dung. When this happens, you will understand it, whoever you are. Then you will surely, like Jesus, sing praises to the Father who has hidden it from all those who are conceited but has revealed it to a lowly and bowed people. Hallelujah! Back to the question: Is this church the Methodist Church or the Baptist Church? Far from it! We find some of the members here, others there. None of them are as they should be before God takes them away from this earth. Every single member can be in possession of various things that can be unwise and erroneous. Every single member sees much ahead of him that he has still not received; consequently, this word applies at all times: “And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” 1 Cor. 12:26. Seeing that God has made one body and that He baptizes the many different members of this one body with the same Spirit so that all the members must suffer when one member suffers, why then (in people’s own imagination and in the stiffness of their hearts) form groups and imagine that God is pleased with them—the very thing that is contrary to the Spirit who works the same mind, the same love, and the same care just so there shall not be division in the body? It is arrogance and conceit, or in other words, stupidity and ignorance that cause such things. May God by His grace enlighten everyone’s eyes so they can understand His good and acceptable will. If someone knows that God is holy, he also knows that we are called to be holy just as He is, and he will be careful not to give occasion for the ministry to be reproached. But in what state is the ministry now? Most people gather to boost their conceit, seeking their own honor! But the person who seeks the honor of Him who has sent Him is truthful. Only they are truthful! The others have to speak a lie, for the very fact that they seek their own honor in God’s name is a lie! God has never sent them to do that! God’s grace is sufficient for all the members of the body. Some people err in so many ways simply because they are not satisfied with this arrangement. They want to help God with their own understanding! Unfortunately, you are wrong, you child of dust! Cease from your vain striving which only deceives you, even to the point of spreading instead of gathering! Blessed is he who lives in the acknowledgment that God’s grace is sufficient for him. He waits on the Lord. Moreover, he does not wait in vain, for he will prevail in all things and see God’s salvation! What have all these people done who, as leaders for others, have left the “mother” church and the various faith fellowships throughout the ages? Those who have left because the light forced them to do it have done very well in doing so, but they have almost all gone beyond their measure of grace and have in their fervent zeal wanted to help God with their “good” recommendations for a new order. This is where they have erred, which has caused much harm. Therefore people do not believe in Christ because they see all this confusion, this self-seeking! We are to gather in one name only, only to one thing, which is: the truth—Jesus Christ! And this we will do, all according to the grace which God has given to every one of these members in particular. To conclude: How are you going to find your place? Seek fellowship with all the saints in every place, and you will discover that you have fellowship and understanding with every one of them as far as God’s grace has brought you, and no further. Let God’s grace be sufficient for you. Despise and reject all things human. Let the cross of Christ be your only boasting, by which the world has been crucified to you and you to the world. I exhort everyone in the name of Jesus Christ not to neglect to come together with all the saints, as many of them do. Some people are busy with their business, some with their farms, some with their parents, and others with their spouses; but as many of us as have this one mind, the same love, and the same care, we esteem only the new creation in Christ Jesus, and it is far from us to glory in anything except in the cross of Christ! Some people also find it best to be alone, they say. We have it best where God has put us—namely, in the church, where we can sense this delightful fellowship of the Spirit which is in purity—only by God’s grace. Therefore we can also sing together with David: “Therefore I keep to the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.” Ps. 16:3. Look at Paul! The fact that some of them said they kept to Paul, others to Apollos, others to Cephas and again others said that they kept to Christ—that was enough for him to ask, surely with holy anger: “Is Christ divided?” 1 Cor. 1:12-13. But now, how is it now? I could almost be tempted to clothe myself in sackcloth and ashes. When will all this ignorance come to an end? God be thanked! The light is beginning to shine; the day is dawning, but ignorance is still wide-spread! Now it has not only become a question of some people liking this and other people liking something else, but they have—without any better understanding—organized their own churches or associations in which Christ as the head of each person has also become a kind of “honorable member.” This is where the mystery of godliness applies! By it a person is constrained to discern between evil and good, between light and darkness, between sweet and bitter, between holy and unholy. Is. 5:20. Judge yourself what is right! Something is either from God or it is from Satan; it is either light or darkness! Every person who fears God wholeheartedly knows this. I want to say to everyone who acknowledges that he is God-fearing: Flee from all that is shameful and human, and be content with the body as God has created it and is pleased to let it grow; be content with the fellowship that God gives and have nothing to do with separating what God has put together. This entails many difficulties to which I am not blind, but I also know that by God’s grace—and by His grace alone—they will all be solved, just as I also know that the way to all perfection is to begin at the beginning and then to continue—always with what is at hand, i.e., the first thing I think of, the first thing I meet. And what shall you do? You shall discern between good and evil. Reject the evil by choosing the good, and you shall always eat curds and honey, which is incredibly good-tasting. Praise and thanks be to God—always! Let us take Paul’s exhortation to heart: “You look at things only according to outward appearance.” 2 Cor. 10:7. All imagined and given names are the result of carnality. The spiritual person interprets things with spiritual words. This is not of small significance, for we shall reap what we sow. What is the reason for wanting to have a name? The reason is that people are not content with God’s grace. God’s kingdom is within us, and our life is hidden with Christ in God, but we eagerly wait for the redemption of our body, for the revealing of Christ when we, too, will be revealed together with Him in glory! Therefore we also have the invisible things before us. Let us now, as many as are members of Christ, strive to be obedient so that we all the more quickly can be fully equipped for the work of ministry, for care and sacrifice for each other in this same love that God is pouring out by the Spirit into our hearts. Let every one of us humble ourselves so that we can find wisdom and walk in purity. Let brotherly love continue and increase until Christ, the head of the body, is revealed, to the joy of all of us who are waiting for Him!Elias Aslaksen