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Source: Church History Vol. 3 Chapter 34 Page: 653 (~1872)

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653 of Christ. How much has been accomplished towards effecting an equality in worldly wealth, upon a supposition that in this and this alone depended the oneness to be wrought by the testimony of Jesus, the history of the churches and of the church, but too plainly reveals. As the eye, the hand, the foot, has each a conscious existence with the body of man, so with the membership of the body of Christ, each member has a conscious identity with the body. But as the conscious identification of the several members of the human body with that body, does not change the respective organism and relationship of each separate member with every other one of the body, so it is that the conscious identification of those who become members of the church, the mystical, visible body of Christ, does not change the several relations which the separate identities hold to each other in that body. As there is a conscious oneness pervading the entire physical body of a man, through the spirit of man which is in him, so was and is this oneness to pervade the entire body of Christ, the church, through the 'Spirit of God,' the 'Spirit of Christ,' the 'Spirit of truth,' the 'Comforter,' which is the Holy Ghost. This testimony of Jesus is the one bond of unity in which the saints may be one with Christ as he is one with the Father. It was given unto the saints of former times; it is given to saints of the latter days.

"Our hope in the gospel is then easily summed up. It is found in two sentences, and what is contained in them as contingent results. They are, firstly, THE SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL; and, secondly, THE GATHERING.

"The gospel dispensation is a gathering dispensation. The direct and the remote effect of the preaching of the offer of 'life and salvation' is to invite men to come out of spiritual darkness into spiritual light; from the darkness incident to the natural man, into the bright effulgence of the light of the spiritual man; to gather out from the degradation of a servitude to sin, unto the exaltation of the service of righteousness. The cry is, 'Come out of her, O my people;' 'Flee out of Babylon, the city of confusion.' To do this, gathering is involved as a consequence; for as

(page 653)

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