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No. 31 —Extra.  Battle  Creek.  Hich.,  May,  1901,  
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CHURCH ORGANIZATION  
Sermon by  
ELDER A. T. JONES.  
PUBLISHED BY THE  
REVIEW AND HERALD PUB. CO.,  
BATTLE CREEK, MICH.  
Entered atthe post office in Battle Creek, Mich,  
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WORDS OF TRUTH SERIES.  
Issued quarterly, with occasional extras. Sub- 
scription  price, 10 cents a year. No. 26 contains  
what was No. 35.  
No. ' Cents.  
1. Coining of the Lord ^ 
2. How the Sabbath Came to Me..., 3 
3. Review of W. S. Gamble on the Sabbath  Ques- 
tion 1  
4. A Challenge to Protestants  y2  
5. Fundamental  Principles  of Seventh-day  Ad- 
ventists '. ,... 1  
6. Candid Admissions y2 
7. Personal Questions and Answers Concerning  
the Sabbath 31^  
8. The Way, The Truth, The Life „......'..". 4 
9. The Reign of Righteousness 3  
10. First a Willing Mind. Then all  
11. The Law in Christ 3 
12. The War between  Capital and Labor 3  
13. Last-day Tokens 10 
14. Come, Lord Jesus.. % 
15. The Spirit  of Burning  3  
16. What to Do with Doubt \ 
17. If's and Why's of Baptism  
18. Sanctification  1  
19. A Woman-Ministry  5  
20. Should Not Christians  Keep the Sabbath? 2  
22. Is the End Near? ^  
23. The Rest Day 3%  
24. Ownership  and Tithing  %  
26. The Open Letter and Ahswers to the Open  
Letter 1  
27. Important  Questions on Great Events %  
28. Hypnotism—What  Is It? 3  
29. The Seven Last Plagues 3  
30. Bible Readings on Education  3  
31. Church Organization 2  
REVIEW  AND  HERALD  PUBLISHING  CO.,  
Battle  Creek,  Mich.  

CHURCH ORGANIZATION.  
Sermon in General Conference by Elder A. T.  
Jones, 7 P. ft., April 2, 1900.  
THE fourth chapter of Ephesians,beginning  
with the seventh verse: "Unto every one  
of us is given grace according to the meas-
ure of the grace of Christ."  
The word was given to us to day that God  
calls for a reorganization of the General Con-
ference, its work, its processes. That, con-
sequently, must be our chief study.  
The General Conference is now formally,  
by representation,  in session; but this repre- 
sentation that is here is not all that there is  
of the General Conference. AVe do not find  
all of the General Conference, till we have  
included every Seventh-day Adventist in the 
world. Consequently  a reorganization of the  
General Conference calls for a reorganization  
of each individual  Seventh-day Adventist  
throughout the world.  
This is called for not only on the part, and  
in behalf, of the General Conference itself 
within itself, but it is called for by the inter- 
ests of God in the earth. The world has  
reached that time in which a work is to be  
done by the Lord, which work he can not do


4 Church Organization.  
unless each one of us shall be reorganized, 
renewed. Therefore I have begun with this 
verse; and we shall follow on through a num- 
ber of verses of this same chapter; for this is 
the story of reorganization.  
Life, the Source of Organization.  
All organization that is not of God is a  
mere makeshift for the time being. There is 
no true organization but that which is of God.  
And it is only life that is the source of organ-
ization. Organization is not the source of 
life. Organization does not give life. Life  
produces organization. Therefore, for God  
to have a reorganization of only the General  
Conference that is in session here, demands 
that God's life shall reach us anew and in  
fuller measure than ever yet it has. And  
whomsoever it is that God shall reach by that 
life of His, that is organization; and whomso-
ever He shall reach by that life of His in  
greater measure, that is reorganization.  
Therefore I have read this verse; for this is  
the beginning of life. All true organization 
comes from God to men by the grace of God,  
which is the gift of God himself to men.  
So then '' unto every one of us is given  
grace according to the measure of the gift of  
Christ." Then, since the grace of God is the  

Church Organization. 13  
fountain of all good to men, and that grace  
is given unto every one of us according to the  
measure of Christ, it follows that there is the  
supply, there is the source, the fountain of 
abundance of grace to accomplish that for 
which God calls to-day.  
What is the measure of the gift of Christ?  
—" In him dwelleth all the fullness of the 
Godhead bodily." Unto every one of us, 
then, is given grace according to that meas-
ure of all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.  
And he  gave himself—not loaned himself, but  
gave, gave, in an eternal gift, himself—to us.  
That is the measure of the gift of Christ.  
There is no limit to it. It is boundless as the  
fullness of God; and is given to every one  
of us—US! to you, to me. 0, then, when  
God opens (I will not say the fountain) the 
boundless sea of his grace to you and to me  
individually, and then says to us that God  
calls for a reorganization, what shall hinder?  
Is not the prospect bright enough for us to  
.throw ourselves away upon his offer,—to  
plunge off into that boundless sea of his 
grace, which works only salvation to every  
one whom it reaches? 0,—  
"There's a wideness in God's mercy  
Like the wideness of the sea;  
There's a kindness in his justice  
That is more than liberty."


7 Church Organization.  
So much for the gift; so much for the in- 
ducement, the qualification, which he gives  
to every one of us to accomplish upon us, to  
accomplish in us, and to accomplish for us;  
and then, having accomplished upon us and 
in us and for us, to accomplish through us; 
his wondrous purpose in this day, to glorify  
God upon the earth, ancl to finish the work 
which is given us to do.  
Object of the Gift of Grace.  
Now let us see what he proposes to do by  
that grace which he has given boundlessly to 
every one of us.  
First of all this grace is given " for the  
perfecting of the saints;" and anything else 
for which this grace is given can never be ac-
complished, unless this first purpose for which 
it is given shall be recognized, looked unto, 
and aimed at,— the perfection of the saints.  
The next clause is, '' For the work of the  
ministry;" and the next, "For the edifying  
[the building up] of the body of Christ."  
But what can God do with a ministry that 
does not recognize the perfecting of the  
saints? What can God do in building up  
His church, when God's grace in the perfect-
ing of the saints who compose the church, is 
not recognized?  

Church Organization. 13  
So then He has rightly laid the foundation;  
rightly, He has put the  first truth first. The  
perfecting of the saints, then, is the first  
work of the grace of God. And since He 
has given all the grace that He haa, and has  
given all the fullness of God in the gift of 
grace — all that God is, all his power, all 
his sanctifying holiness and Spirit —all this  
is given, pledged, to him who receives the  
grace, that that grace shall accomplish God's  
purpose in bringing him unto perfection.  
Then no one who has named the  name of  
Christ, no one who professes to have received 
the grace of God, is ever to be content for one  
moment with anything short of perfection as 
God sees it — as He has set it before our eyes  
in Jesus Christ. And it is He who is to do  
it; not we to perfect ourselves, not we to do 
the work, but He who gave himself that He  
might do it. There is the foundation of our 
confidence! there is fixed the foundation of 
our trust,—that it is He who is to accom- 
plish it; and then we know that it shall cer-
tainly be done.  
The Gospel Ministry.  
The next thing for which this boundless  
gift of the grace of God is given, is "the 
work of the ministry." The ministry of the


18 Church Organization.  
gospel is the highest calling, and to be a 
minister of the gospel is to hold the highest 
position in the wide universe. That is the 
truth. I mean the highest among creatures,  
of course.  
I say it again: the  ministry of the gospel  
is the highest calling; to be a minister of the  
gospel is to occupy the highest place, and to  
hold the highest position, that there is to be  
held or occupied in. the universe of God.  
Therefore, I exhort every soul who has ever  
thought of the ministry, not to allow him- 
self to  entertain any thought of the ministry  
of the gospel that is any lower than that 
which I have named. For anyone to allow 
himself to think of the ministry of the gospel 
of Christ in any lower degree, to any possibly  
conceivable extent, is to miss the true minis- 
try of the gospel. Any man who holds the 
ministry of the gospel at any lower standard, 
in any degree, than that which I have named, 
has missed the true idea of the gospel minis-
try. Then may the Lord by His Spirit  and  
by the abundance of His grace work upon 
our minds and our hearts, to broaden our  
comprehension, and lift us to that height at  
which He himself has placed the standard of  
the ministry of the gospel of Christ.  
Think, for a moment, of what it is to be a  

(Jhurch Organization. 9  
minister of the gospel! What is the gospel?  
— It is the power of God. Rom. 1:16. Then  
the ministry of the gospel is the ministry of  
the power of God. You and I, brethren, are 
commissioned of God to go and minister to  
men the power of God. The power of God is  
to be ministered unto men by us in such a 
way that it shall work their salvation.  
But wherein lies the power of God which  
the gospel is? Why is it that the gospel  
is the power of God? The next verse tells 
(Rom. 1:17). " For therein " — therein —  
"is the righteousness of God revealed."  
The righteousness of God is the very es- 
sence of his character; and that is the source  
of the power of the gospel. The gospel is  
the power of God, because therein — in the 
gospel — is the righteousness of God. The 
ministry of the gospel is the ministry of the  
character of God. To you and me, as min-
isters of the gospel, God has given by his  
grace that commission to preach the gospel, 
to preach the power of God, to preach the  
very essence of the character of God, unto  
men; so that they shall find the power of  
God; so that they shall find the essence of  
the character of God; and in that find the 
salvation which God works in the lives of 
men, in human flesh.


Church Organization.  
And how shall you, how shall I, how shall  
we, minister the power of God unless we our-
selves have the power of God? How shall we 
minister the power of God unless God shall 
so clothe us with the power of God that the 
words of the gospel which we speak shall  
reach the hearts of men in such a way that 
they shall know that God is speaking to their  
hearts; that they shall recognize that God is  
present, and that they shall answer to God 
for what they shall do in response to the word 
that He has given them? But God does just 
so clothe those whom He sends: "He hath  
clothed me with the garments of salvation,  
He hath covered me with the robe of right- 
eousness." Isa. 61 :10.  
And in the way of righteousness is life —  
the life of God. Is it not true that he has 
said that in former times we, as Gentiles, were 
alienated, separated from the life of God? 
But in Christ we are joined to the life of 
God: and that is eternal life. And so it is  
written, in John  5:24: " Verily, verily, I  
say unto you, he that heareth my word, and 
believeth on him that sent me, hath ever-
lasting life." Hath it — not shall have it, 
but hath it. As to the future it is : " Shall 
not come into condemnation." But as to the 
present—"but is passed from death unto  

(Jhurch Organization. 10  18  
life." Thus the believer in Jesus is joined  
to the life of God, even as it is written,  
"With thee is the fountain of life." Then  
this life of God becomes our life. And there  
is the revealing of his power : for Jesus Christ  
is made an High Priest, "after the power  
of an endless life." And he has made us "a  
royal priesthood," with that same power of  
an endless life; for nothing short of the  
power of an endless life can ever make any- 
body a priest and minister of God, in the  
gospel of God. "Ye shall be named the 
priests of the Lord: men shall call you the  
ministers of our God." Isa. 61:6.  
The gospel is the power of God, because  
that in it the righteousness of God is revealed,  
and "in the way of righteousness is life." 
And there is the hiding of his power, the end-
less power of an endless life. And this end- 
less life of God that comes in the boundless  
righteousness of God, is revealed in the gos- 
pel which he has given to us to preach.  
The True Christian  Life.  
Another word about that life. That life of  
God is in Jesus Christ. He is the source of 
life. Brethren, there is a higher conception 
for us than to think that we as Christians get  
our life through the breath which we breathe


12 Church Organization.  
here, as all men breathe; and the food which  
we eat, as all men eat. We had all that be-
fore we were Christians at all. We would  
have had all that if we had never been Chris- 
tians. But when God calls us to him, to be- 
come connected with the life of God, we are 
lifted above the place we were before, and are  
joined to that boundless sea of the life of  
God. And there is the source of our life as  
Christians. God proposes so to connect us 
with himself that we shall be conscious day 
by day, and all the time, that there is an  
inflowing of life from the throne of the living  
God to the heart and life of the believer in 
Jesus. And when we have allowed ourselves  
to be lifted up to that place, and to receive 
that flow of the life of God into  our lives day  
by day,—0, then the power of God will be  
upon us! Then the power of God will be  
manifested in our ministry, even the endless  
power that belongs to the endless life of God.  
That is the truth.  
There is just as much reality—in degree  
there is more, of course, because it is more 
substantial; but in the matter of fact—in  
the matter of tangibility, there is just as  
much reality in finding the life of God flow- 
ing to our lives day by day, when we believe 
in Jesus, as there ever was in finding life flow  

Church Organization. 13  
to us day by day by our breathing when  we  
first lived in the world. That is the divine 
fact. That is the true higher life. That is , 
the true Christian life. The life that flows 
to us from Jesus Christ, we get from heaven  
day by day, by faith, as constantly as we  
breathe; so that faith is the breath of the 
spiritual life as really as the air is the breath 
of the natural life. We breathe it in from  
Jesus Christ direct, the Life-giver. That is  
the Christian life.  
Ministers of an Endless Life.  
But why is that given to us? — 0, for the  
work of the ministry. But to whom do we 
minister? — To mankind. What do we min- 
ister?— 0, Jesus Christ has thus brought us 
to the Fountain of life, and connected us  
therewith, that we may be indeed those who  
shall stand between the living and the dead,  
to convey to the dead the life that shall cause  
them to live. That is what we are in the  
world for. It is that Jesus Christ, the living,  
may, by us, reach the dead with the life that 
measures with the life of God.  
Thus we are ministers of life. We are  
called, correctly, truly, ministers of Christ.  
But What is Christ?—He  "our life, " and  
" the Author of life."


Church Organization.  
Let us read that beautiful passage in first  
John: "That which was from the beginning, 
which we have heard, which we have seen  
with our eyes, which we have looked upon,  
and our hands have handled, of the Word of 
life." And that shall be all true of you and  
me to-day. True, John spoke of the time  
when they looked upon Him in the flesh;  but  
John did not stop with that. John looked 
upon Jesus Christ in the Spirit after He had 
left the flesh and gone to heaven. And it  
belongs to you and me to-day to look upon  
Jesus Christ, to behold Him with our eyes as  
He is to-day at the right hand of God, to give  
repentance, remission of sins, to shed forth  
life to the dead.  
"Which we have looked upon, and our  
hands have handled, of the Word of life;  
(for the Life was manifested, and we have  
seen it, and bear witness, and show unto .you 
that eternal life, which was with the Father,  
and was manifested unto us;) that which we-
have seen and heard declare we unto you,,  
that ye also may have fellowship with us:  
and truly our fellowship is with the Father., 
and with his Son Jesus Christ."  
Who is He? — The life. When we are min- 
isters of Christ, we are only the ministers of  
that endless life, "that eternal life." Oh,  

(Jhurch Organization.  18  
then, how can I be a minister of the life of  
Christ, a minister of the life of God, when 
my ministry is as continuous as my life, 
unless I am connected with that fountain of  
life, so that that eternal life is my life? 
Only thus can I become  a minister of life;  
and this is life eternal, you all know, "that 
they might know Thee, the only true God, 
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent."  
Do "you see your calling, brethren"? We  
are ministers of Christ, and in that are minis-
ters of eternal life to the dead. What a 
calling! and what a height there is to the 
calling!  
Brethren, let us ask God to lift us up to the  
height of it; and there let us dwell. There 
let us remain, never asking to come down. 
There at that height let us abide, looking 
into His face, drawing from Him the life, the  
light, the glory, that perfects saints, and  
makes efficient the ministry of the gospel.  
That is the great thing. Each of those  
steps we must take, or the next one can not 
follow. Then I beg again, I pray again, that 
the Lord, in the abundance of His grace, may 
so impress it upon each soul, that we have 
not found our true attitude in the Christian  
life until we know that there is flowing con-
stantly to us from the throne, the stream of


17 Church Organization.  
life that shall cause us truly to live; and  
shall make us the channel of life to the dead.  
"For the building up of the body of  
Christ," the church of God. First, the per-
fecting of the saints; then the work of the 
ministry; then the building up of the church. 
The church needs building up! That is why 
God calls for reorganization. Then let us 
recognize that he has set before us that true  
standard,—nothing short of the perfecting 
and the perfection of -  the saints, then the  
true height of the ministry of the gospel, the 
ministry of Christ.  
Ministry Embraces All.  
Now just a word or two before I leave that  
finally,—that this ministry takes in all: " As 
every man hath received the gift, even so  
minister the same one to another, as good  
stewards of the manifold grace of God."  
Whosoever has received the grace of God has 
received in  that the gift of the ministry of  
that grace, the ministry of Christ, the min-
istry of the gospel.  
The fifth chapter of 2 Corinthians states  
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world  
unto himself, and that he hath committed  
unto us the ministry of reconciliation. Who- 
soever find" reconciliation, the reconciliation  

Church Organization.  13  
of God in Christ, in that finds the ministry of  
that same reconciliation to those who have 
not found it. So the ministry, this ministry, i  
is universal. But, brethren, unless we who 
are called to the preaching ministry; appre- 
ciate what that ministry is, how can those to  
whom we preach ever appreciate it?  
And this is all given, "till we all come  
in the unity of the faith, and of the knowl- 
edge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man."  
A perfect man. How many of us?—Till we  
all. Put the two together. Unto every one 
of us is given grace according to the measure 
of the gift of Christ, till we all come to per-
fect men. Thank the Lord! "Till we all 
come in the unity of the faith, and of the  
knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect 
man, unto the measure of the stature of the 
fullness of Christ."  
Next, the blessed reward that comes upon  
that: " That we be no more children, tossed  
to and fro, and carried about with every wind 
of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cun-
ning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to  
deceive." Brethren, God has that for us  
that shall, make us stable. God has that for  
us that shall make us, in the truth,—in right-
eousness, and in the principles of righteous-
ness,—as firm as the Rock of Ages himself.


18  Church Organization.  
Organization From the Head.  
More. Read in that verse again and the  
next one with it (Eph. 4:14, 15): "That we 
henceforth be no more children, tossed to and  
fro, and carried about with every wind of  
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning  
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to de- 
ceive; but speaking the truth in love, may  
grow up into him in all things, which is  
the Head, even Christ."  
Here is true reorganization, and there is no  
other: "Speaking the truth  in love, may  
grow up into him in all things, which is the 
Head, even Christ, from whom the tohole body  
fitly joined together and compacted by that  
which every joint supplieth, according to the  
effectual working in the measure of every 
part, maketh increase of the body unto the  
edifying of itself in love."  
There, is reorganization; and there is no  
other way. Any organization that does not  
come from Jesus Christ is not organization at  
all: it is only machinery.  
Note that this organization — this reorgani- 
zation comes from the HEAD. Organization 
does not come from the  members; it comes  
from the Head. Let me read that again now, 
and I will read another verse with it.  
"Speaking the truth in love,"—this body of  

(Jhurch Organization. 19  
Christ,—"speaking the truth in love,— these  
members,—"may grow up into Him in all  
things, which is the Head, even Christ:" from 
whom?—from Christ—"the whole body" 
— that is, all the members. "The whole  
body fitly joined together and compacted by  
that which every joint supplieth, according to  
the effectual working in the measure of every 
part,"—this from the Head,— "maketh in- 
crease of the body unto the edifying of itself  
in love." Then do you not see that onlj  
this is organization in the church of Christ?  
All reorganization must come from Christ  
himself, through the Spirit of God. He <ssss  
do it; and only He can.  
Turn also to Colossians, to the corres^pnad- 
ing verse to which I call your attention in  
connection with this (Col. 2: 18, 19):. "Let 
no man beguile you of your reward in a vol-
untary humility and worshiping of angels, 
intruding into those things which he hath not  
seen, vainly  puffed up by his fleshly mind,  
and not holding the HEAD, from which all the 
body by joints and bands having nourishment  
ministered, and knit together, increaseth with  
the increase of God."  
This says, then, that this body is built  
from the Head; and that those who do not  
hold the Head are beguiled of their reward.


21 Church Organization.  
They humble themselves, they work, they  
pray, and all that; but what does it amount  
to? It is all simply works. And all this  
simply because the Head is not recognized,  
"Not holding the Head."  
So then the body is organized from the  
Head. The life energy, flowing by the Spirit  
of God from the Head to all the members,— 
each member actuated from the Head, each  
member guided by the will that resides in the  
head — that is perfection of organization.  
The human body is the same; and that is  
the illustration which the Scripture uses for  
this very thing. Here is the human body —  
many members, but it is all one body. Each  
member of this body of ours which God has  
given us, is actuated and guided only by the  
head.  
By the way, let me pause upon that one  
thought. In our bodies, which we have ever 
with us, and to which we were directed to-
day,— why is it that in all this exhortation of 
the Spirit of prophecy to reorganization, 
health reform comes in every time? Why is 
it, as to-day it was clearly cited, "I am fear-
fully and wonderfully made "?—It is because 
that in this organization in which we ourselves  
are, our bodies which God has made us, he  
has presented before us an everlasting illus- 

Church Organization. 13  
tration of the organization of the church. 
And it is exceeding carelessness, and from 
that, blindness, that can not see the organi- 
zation of the church,—what it must be,—  
when every day each one carries about with  
him, and is constantly using, this body, which 
is composed of many members. Every one 
of these members is actuated by the head, 
and no two of tliem ever come into quarrel,  
ever have any difference of opinion, or act in  
contrary ways.  
You simply can not have schism in the  
body which God has organized from the Head.  
Therefore, since God calls for reorganization,  
let not any soul be afraid that there is going to 
be confusion, or schism, or anything of the  
kind. There is no danger whatever—except  
among those who hold not the Head.  
Who compose the church?—Those who  
look to the Head; those who seek the Head;  
those who are joined to the Head. It is no  
difference how many members there may be,  
though we are only one on one side of the  
earth, and another on the other side of the 
earth, we two members will move together,  
and act together; because the Head,  Christ  
Jesus, the Lord, is organizing both, his will  
actuates both, he is the One who is working 
in both. Center for Adventist ResearPi\  
Andrews University  
Berrien Springs, Michigan


22 Church Organization.  
" Look Ye Out Men."  
Then we come to this: There must be reor- 
ganization. God calls for it. In this reor- 
ganization now, God calls for an additional 
thing to what he called for before, and that 
is a change of men. Those other men whom  
God calls for, and whom God will call—let 
me say that again, whom God will call,—  
these must come from this company. They 
must come from ourselves, must come from  
the church of God somewhere. Then that 
throws upon you and me, upon each soul of  
us, the Heaven-sent responsibility that each  
one of us shall be reorganized from heaven 
by the direct power and agency of the Head.  
These coming men must be chosen to  
places. The Scripture says, has said it all  
the time, "Look ye out men." In the 
looking out of these men, what are we to look 
for? How are we to look, and how are we to  
proceed to know the proper man to fill a cer-
tain place? We must ask God to open our  
eyes, and anoint our eyes with the heavenly  
eyesalve that we may see the men whom God 
has already called. That is the true way of  
"looking out men."  
Nothing short of that can be the looking  
out of men. There must be men looked out  

Church Organization.  13  
from among us. God has them. He has  
prepared them. They are already prepared. 
He has told us so. Then what we are to do  
is to ask that our eyes shall be opened, that  
God shall anoint them with the heavenly  
eyesalve, so that we shall be able to see and 
know that there is the man whom God has 
called to that place, to that work.  
It can be so. God does not do things in a  
corner, or under cover, but openly before the 
eyes of all. All whose eyes God shall anoint  
and open shall be able to see,  
Position Gives no Authority.  
This also must be considered: that position,  
place, never gives authority. Authority qual- 
ifies for place—when God calls the man to a  
place.  
I will say it again; it must be a watchword  
for everyone in this Conference. Position  
never gives authority. Whomsoever God has 
called to be the president of the General Con- 
ference the next term—when he shall have 
been chosen, and shall stand before us here 
elected—will have no more authority than he  
has right now: and we do not yet know who 
he is.  
Place, position, never bestows authority.  
No authority is derived from place. But


25  Church Organization.  
authority that a man  already has from God,  
which God has put upon him, will qualify a  
man for the place to which God calls him; and  
if he has not that authority before he enters  
the place, he has not the authority when he  
is in the place. The view that place gives 
authority is precisely the principle of papal in-
fallibility. The pope is not infallible before 
he is elected. Nobody claims that. He is  
only a cardinal before he is elected; but as  
soon as he is elected, then he is infallible;  
then he is inspired by the Holy Ghost, be-
cause he holds his place. That is the papacy.  
Christianity is that God clothes men with  
authority: and whether they have any place  
or position, or not, they have authority.  
Look at it: Jesus Christ was  in this world,  
truly saying, "All power [and that is "all  
authority" in the Revised Version] is given  
unto me in heaven and in earth." And he 
had no place at all. He had no position at  
all. The Pharisees, the priests, the scribes, 
the lawyers, the hypocrites, had position;  
they had place; and they could lord it over  
Him, and summon Him before them, and sit 
in judgment upon Him. But where was 
their authority? —They had none: and so he  
told the people: « The scribes and the Phari- 
sees sit in Moses' seat:  all therefore whatso- 

Church Organization.  13  
ever they bid you observe, that observe and  
do," — because, as tbey sat in Moses' seat,  
they read the words that Moses had written.  
All right; that is the word of God; but " do '  
not ye after their works: for they say, and 
do not."  
With Moses in the seat, there was authority  
from the seat; but with a scribe and a Phari- 
see in the seat, in the place of Moses, there 
was no authority except from God in the 
word which the man happened to lead,  and  
which, because of his hypocrisy, was alto-
gether independent of him and apart from  
him.  
But it is said of Jesus: They all "won- 
dered at the gracious words which proceeded  
out of his mouth." And why? — 0, "he  
taught them as one having authority, and 
not as the scribes." Precisely. All that the  
scribes could speak was borrowed, and every- 
body could know that it was borrowed; for it  
was alone, so far as any connection that  
they had with it was concerned. But when  
Jesus Christ spoke the same words that the 
Pharisees and scribes had said, everybody  
knew that what he said was not borrowed, 
but was substance; that it was of himself: 
that that word lived in Him; that He himself 
was but the expression of the word which He


27  Church Organization.  
spoke; and when the word was spoken, it was 
with weight that impressively struck the ears, 
and rested upon the hearts of those who 
heard. It rested upon the hearts of those  
men with comfort, and brought them joy.  
And that is the grace with which God wishes  
to clothe every one in this whole assembly  
and throughout the world.  
Thus Jesus Christ had the authority. And  
the people knew it. And the Pharisees who 
did not have authority, grew so jealous of 
Him that they could not-bear Him any longer.  
All the world has gone after Him,  and so  
they must put Him out of the world to "save  
our place. If we do not we shall lose our 
place^ If we let Him thus alone the Romans  
will take away both our place, and nation."  
But the man who is connected with the  
Head, the man who serves God, the man who 
lives in Jesus Christ, can never lose his place;  
for his place is with Jesus Christ under the 
wings of the Almighty, and he is safe.  
The True Source of Authority.  
But where was Jesus' authority, when he  
did not have any position or any place? How 
could he have authority? — Ah! it was where  
true authority always lies in the truth which he  
preached from God. All true and right  

Church Organization.  13  
authority of any man in the church comes to  
him only through the truth of God which he  
receives. When we shall find a man in this 
world who has as much of the truth of God (  
as had Christ, we shall have found a man who  
has all authority  in heaven and earth, be- 
cause he has all the truth in heaven and 
earth. The measure of truth that a man has,  
is the only measure of authority that he has  
wherever he is. And if he is in the highest  
place of responsibility on this earth,  and that  
is the presidency of the General Conference, if  
he has no truth, he has no authority. All  
the authority he can ever have in that place  
is simply from the truth that is in him, and  
which is a part of him. Therefore Jesus 
said: "The princes of the Gentiles exercise  
dominion over them, and they that are great  
exercise authority upon them. But it shall not  
be so among you." What do the princes of 
the world do? — They exercise authority.  
God has never given to any man in his  
church authority to exercise authority.  
That is the difference between the princes of  
the world and the princes of God; for we are  
princes of God. The princes of this world 
in places of authority, but without true au-
thority, exercise authority. The princes of 
God having true authority, never exercise


29  Church Organization.  
authority; being the authority of the truth of  
God, it exercises itself.  
Therefore, there is no such thing as domin- 
ion among the princes of God. There is no  
lordship. There is none of that kingly spirit  
which was described to us. • There are no  
territorial boundaries among the princes of  
God,— that this is my Conference. It is  
God's Conference. It is not my territory.  
It is God's. The princes of this world are 
they who "exercise dominion;" "exercise  
authority." The princes of this world who  
have no real authority, are they who exercise,  
authority. The princes of God have true 
authority, but exercise no authority. The 
princes of God have authority, and that is  
enough to satisfy them, and God takes care  
of the rest, so that no one is greatest; but  
only one is Master, and all of us are breth-
ren.  
Then, let us see that we be organized from  
the Head. Let us see that our authority shall 
come from God; and that we never exercise  
authority. Yet speak with all authority, be- 
cause the authority is in the truth which we 
speak. Only there lies our authority. Let  
us now read again the passage that we have  
studied: '' But unto every one of us is given  
grace according to the measure of the gift of  

Church Organization.  13  
Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended 
up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave  
gifts unto men. . . . And he gave some 
apostles and some prophets, some evangel- 
ists ; and some, pastors and teachers; for the 
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the  
ministry, for the building up of the body of 
Christ; till we all come in the unity of the  
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of  
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure 
of the stature of  the fullness of Christ: that  
we henceforth be no more children, tossed to 
and fro, and carried about by every wind of  
doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning  
craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to de- 
ceive."  
Remember that we were called to-day to  
put away childish things, to be no more chil-
dren, tossed to and fro, not knowing where  
we are, not knowing whether we are on solid  
ground. God wants us to build upon the 
foundation, the truth, which makes men free, 
and which we know is the truth. Then will 
not we fear though the earth be moved out of  
her place, and the mountains be carried into  
the midst of the sea. 1' But speaking the truth  
in love, may grow up into him in all things,  
which is the Head, even Christ: from whom  
the whole body fitly joined together and com-


30 Church Organization  
pacted by that which every joint supplieth, 
maketh increase of the body unto the edify- 
ing of itself in love."  
What man, what set  of men, can select a  
worker here and another there, and fitly join  
them together? Well has it been expressed  
that this work of conducting the cause of  
God is the most delicate in the universe, be-
cause it deals with minds. How can we fitly  
join together living souls in spirit, with the  
life of God? Only God can do that. Only  
Christ, the Head, can do that. He will use  
us in joining us together, knitting,—not 
weaving, but knitting—us together. In weav- 
ing, the  threads are held side by side, and  
across, that they shall hold; but in knitting 
it is only one thread, in and in, in and in, 
each stitch holding to all the others. That  
is what God proposes to do with us. We are  
joined—knitted—together, and compacted by  
that which every joint supplies, so making in- 
crease of the body the church, unto the build- 
ing up of itself in love: building up itself 
from the Head.  
That is organization. That is reorganiza- 
tion. Come, brethren, let us be organized;  
let us be reorganized.  

— 
The Battle  
of the  
Century  
BERBAN LIBRARY,  NO.  8.  
" The closing decades of the eighteenth century  
were big with momentous events." A new order  
of things was about to take place. Despotism and 
religious persecution were dethroned, and civil and  
religious liberty was vouchsafed to the teeming 
millions of the civilized world. The three great  
events which brought this about were the French  
Revolution, the birth of the United States govern- 
ment, and the taking prisoner of the pope, thus 
ending the civil power of the Catholic Church.  
" The Battle of the Century " tells all about this,  
and also shows that from the trend of present 
events this priceless blessing is being surrendered.  
From cover to cover, this pamphlet is full of truth.  

Only 10  Cents.  

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ECCLESIASTICAL  
EMPIRE  

By Elder A. T. Jones,  

is a history of the papacy in the Middle Ages,  
when she' reigned alone. What other histories do 
not tell is found in this volume. It relates how  
the papacy gained and held supremacy over the  
different - countries of Europe during- the Dark  
Ages. It prints the edicts and bulls of the Church 
against those who opposed  her nefarious designs.  
It tells of the relentless persecutions  waged against  
any who would not ally themselves with the  
papacy, the controversies within the Church, and 
the wars carried on by rival popes. It is a com- 
plete history of the Reformation in the different 
countries, from the time of its beginning to the 
time when the different Protestant churches were  
the ruling powers  in the respective governments,  
with the exception of one country. It describes 
how that one country, our own nation, finally 
yields to the assiduous  demands of the churches,  
enters the religious arena, wields a mighty power,  
and finally exalts the papacy to its former position  
of grandeur and glory in the earth.  
The book is not only instructive, but most enter  
* taining. Has emblematical cover design. Contains  
874 pages.  

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