The Upward Look

Christ Calls for Unity, May 7

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. John 17:21. UL 141.1

We each need the help we can receive from other minds. God will work in other minds than ours. The various gifts given to different ones are to blend for the “perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12).... UL 141.2

The Lord Jesus Christ will heal our infirmities and our weaknesses. He owns us. We are His by creation and by redemption. We must all be united in Him. He is the only source of healing. All restoring power comes from Him. He has opened a fountain “to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” He gives each one an invitation to come and be healed, and to drink of the water of life. Let us not trust in ourselves, but in Jesus. UL 141.3

There will always be obstacles before us, but we are to follow our Leader, and meet our difficulties unitedly, hand in hand. There is only one way to heaven. We must walk in the footsteps of Jesus, doing His works, even as He did the works of His Father. We must study His ways, not man's ways; we must obey His will, not our own. Walk carefully. Do not go ahead of Christ. Make no move without consulting your Leader. Ask in humble prayer, and “ye shall receive.” He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. UL 141.4

Read and study carefully the prayer that Christ offered just before His trial, recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John. Follow its teachings, and you will be brought into unity. Our only hope of reaching heaven is to be one with Christ, and then, in and through Christ, we shall be one with one another. No one is called to walk alone. In Christ life and immortality are brought to light. He has opened the way to the kingdom of heaven to those who believe in Him, but He assigns to no one a path different to that which all must travel. He calls for unity, and unity we must have. God asks us to sink self in Christ. For the natural man this is not easy. But through the power of the incarnation of Christ, God manifest in the flesh, the strength of God is revealed in gentleness and beauty. To “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” By this power we may overcome our evil tendencies and so modify our imperfect dispositions that the will of God may be fulfilled in us.—Letter 79, May 7, 1903, to J. A. Burden and wife. (Elder Burden was engaged in sanitarium work in Australia.) UL 141.5