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Last Updated on : Saturday, October 11, 2014

 

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Chapter 8

Trials of Ecclesial Life


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You are troubled at the un-Christlike ways of some in your meeting. You thought, when first you came among the Christadelphians,¾ that everyone would be exemplary, gentle, kind, upright, pure. It is not strange, dear sister, that you should think thus. You have our sympathy. But do not be downcast. There is no real ground for disappointment. You have left some things out of account. You must not forget that the ecclesia as at present constituted are not the Kingdom, but merely a collection of imperfect men and women, in a state of preparation for it, and that many of these, according to divine intimation, are destined to turn out unworthy, abortions, styled by Paul mere wood, hay, stubble and earth (1 Cor. 3:12; 2 Tim. 2:20). Reflect upon ecclesial life in the light of this revelation, and your surprise will cease. Remember that many in the brotherhood have only just started on the road of well doing. To expect from such the ability and spirituality of an aged Paul is not reasonable. But you say that there are some who have been on the road for a long time who are far from satisfactory. True, if it were not so something would be wrong, the Scriptures would not be fulfilled. The brethren also would be lacking in opportunities for the display of patience and long-suffering, as divinely enjoyed. If there were not the unruly, the feeble minded, and the weak in our midst, what scope would there be for carrying out such a duty as that referred to in 1 Thess. 5:14? Think again upon the subject, and you will see that the situation of which you complain is inevitable, that it is nothing more than what the Scriptures lead us to expect. Ecclesial life, more or less, is one of trial, and will continue so to be until Christ shall come. The experience, however, will end, and that gloriously for all who remain "steadfast, un moveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord."

 

 


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