The Communion of Saints (3)

Rev. J.J. Van Eckeveld, Zeist, the Netherlands

The communion of saints also means that God’s children have a responsibility towards each other. They have the responsibility to use their gifts willingly and with joy for the benefit and salvation of the other members (Lord’s Day 21). They are called to instruct, admonish, and to comfort each other. They have a calling to weep with the sorrowing and to be joyful with those who rejoice. They are instructed to let their light shine so that others may see their good works and thereby glorify their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16; Ephesians 2:10).

If we pay attention to the saints, we notice what a diversity of gifts the Lord has granted them. The one has ten talents while the other has only one. Let us, therefore, not look down with scorn upon each other. The danger is that we will begin to bury the one talent because we see many more talents in others. No, everyone is called to use his/her gifts and to be busy with them in the setting where the Lord has placed us. We cannot do that in our own strength. It is only possible through the communion with Christ so that life flows out of Him. It is only then that we will be able to bear fruit. Not that we can place ourselves in the foreground and smite upon our breast because we think we can observe so many talents in ourselves, for then we become unbearable people.

Good gatherings are those where the King stands in the center and Christ has the leadership.

Who are frequently the ones who bear the most fruit? Those who carry their lamp upon their back. They cannot see it themselves, but others can see it. Without realizing it themselves they are a hand and a foot for others and, in this way, disperse the lovely fragrances of Christ. It becomes true as we read in Scripture, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). Then there will also be something in us of the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5).

One body

Paul uses the well-known example of a body. “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:4&5).The ears, the eyes, the hands, and the feet, and we could go on in this fashion, are parts of the body which all need each other, and each part has its own function. In this way the body forms a harmonious whole.

So it is with God’s children as it is with the body of Christ. With all of their differences in gifts and talents, God’s children need each other and complete each other. That is the communion of saints in practice. It is the serving of each other out of Christ with the gifts which the Lord has given us. That serves for the building up of God’s Church.

The communion of saints is a great benefit. The closer we are to the King, the closer we are to each other. Why is there so much separation amongst the children of God? Is it not because we live so far from the King? The communion of saints is to bear each other’s burdens. Does that still exist among us? When one member suffers, do the other members share in the suffering? Do other members then bow their knees? Do we bring each other’s burdens before the countenance of the Lord? In this way the communion of saints becomes reality in daily life.

A wonderful unity

The communion of saints implies meeting each other in the Lord. Everything else falls away; even church walls disappear. The wonderful oneness in Christ is experienced, and the hearts melt together. It is, “The sweet bands that bind me to the dear people of the Lord,” and it becomes, “Come, hear, all ye that fear the Lord, while I with grateful heart record what God has done for me.” Good gatherings are those where the King stands in the center and Christ has the leadership. The communion of saints is then also supported by love. It becomes a serving of each other by means of love.

Is it not a token of the end times that the love of many waxes cold? Is it not a sign that judgment begins at the house of God? Oh, that the Spirit of the Lord would yet blow through the garden of the Church as we can read in Song of Solomon 4:16, for then the spices of faith, hope, and love would flow out. “But the greatest of these is charity (love)” (1 Corinthians 13:13). John, the Apostle of love, writes about it in 1 John 4:21, “And this commandment have we from Him, That he who loveth God, love His brother also.”

How great is the love wherewith Christ has loved His people. Is it, therefore, not necessary that we love each other? It was the final message from the old Apostle John to the congregation of Ephesus, “Little children, love one another.” Where love abides, the Lord commands His blessing. Here below, the communion of saints is so imperfect. Here, time and again, that big I comes in between. What will it then be when the communion of saints will be perfected? Then Judah shall no longer vex Ephraim, but God shall be all in all. Will that be our portion? Oh, that there be no rest outside of Christ. When He is become our Head, then we will belong to that body which shall glorify a Triune God eternally.

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen