Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
Two lying together keep warm in a way one alone cannot, showing that people need one another for warmth, help, support and strength. In union there is strength, victory and safety, while in discord and division there is weakness and defeat. Safety comes from counseling together, so that plans are viewed from all sides and advances are carefully studied instead of being carried out by one mind alone on its own responsibility. Selfish independence that exalts one's own plans and labors must be overcome by concerted action under one Leader, with steady perseverance in knowing and doing God's will. Those who follow Christ are therefore to esteem others above themselves and press closely together in peace, helping, encouraging and strengthening one another so their common work moves forward effectively.
Warmth Through Togetherness
The picture is of two lying together sharing heat that one alone cannot keep, so that companionship supplies the warmth, help, support and strength that a solitary person lacks, and human beings truly need one another. Through such togetherness comes added strength and safety, because unity and counsel allow every plan to be examined more carefully and lessen the danger of hasty, mistaken decisions, while division brings weakness and defeat. In Christian work this means united action is safer and stronger than acting independently, and in Christ's army believers must work together rather than act on their own, with the success of their common work depending on each person's faithful cooperation. Staying in harmony with a fellow worker brings strength, whereas alienation weakens effort and encourages discouragement, while those united in ministry help, encourage, bless and strengthen one another and together carry the work forward more effectively than they could separately.
Those who follow Christ are therefore to esteem others above themselves and press closely together as true yoke-fellows who unite because they can help one another. In such union there is victory, while in discord and division there is weakness and defeat. The warmth of fellowship belongs to those consecrated to God and at peace with one another, among and through whom God works, with the Holy Spirit helping their infirmities.
In marriage this warmth becomes two united of one heart working more successfully than one alone. Husband and wife are to unite closely in searching the Scriptures, understanding the Word and the reasons of faith, bearing burdens together, and encouraging each other to do Christ's works and save souls who are outside Christ. The wife in this union is a true helpmeet, helping her husband see truth more clearly, copying, keeping accounts, and strengthening him for labor.
Strength Through United Action
In union there is strength, victory and safety, while in discord and division there is weakness and defeat. Togetherness gives support and strength that acting independently cannot give, for people need one another. True yoke-fellows help one another, and the Holy Spirit helps their infirmities.
Safety comes from counseling and consulting together rather than moving independently. When several minds are enlisted, every plan is criticized and viewed from all sides and every advance is more carefully studied, so hasty mistaken decisions are reduced and no enterprise is entered upon that brings confusion, perplexity and defeat. One mind alone can be warped by Satan out of its proper channel, and even two who view things in a similar light can be led astray, but with several minds enlisted there is greater safety against his wiles.
The danger is selfishness that places a higher estimate upon one's own plans, opinions and labors and moves independently of brethren, which threatens usefulness and will bring ruin if not seen and overcome. For this reason no one is to start out on his own responsibility to advance disputed ideas, and all strife and rivalry are forbidden, along with wasted, meaningless, occasional and spasmodic independent efforts. Instead there must be concerted action in the various departments of soldiers in Christ's army, each acting with reference to the others under one Leader, with strength in God husbanded for noble, concentrated action, with steady perseverance and continuous searching to know and do God's will, for in union there is strength even when numbers are few.
In God's work believers must labor together rather than act independently, and the success of their common work depends on each person's faithful cooperation. Those whom God is leading out and fitting for translation are to stand as sentinels for God, unite their forces, become servants of all, and imitate Christ. People united in ministry help, encourage, bless and strengthen one another and together carry the work forward more effectively than separately, while staying in harmony with a fellow worker brings strength and alienation weakens effort and encourages discouragement.
Applied to the church, the principle requires pressing together in unity. Calling the Seventh-day Adventist Church Babylon and bearing messages that divide the church violates it and puts the church to shame before the enemies of truth. Such division reveals the working of the great deceiver to hinder perfection in unity, as divisive teachers follow the sparks of their own kindling, move by independent judgment, cumber the truth with false notions and theories, refuse the counsel of their brethren, and become unbalanced in mind.
Two lying together keep warm in a way one alone cannot, showing that people need one another for warmth, help, support and strength. In union there is strength, victory and safety, while in discord and division there is weakness and defeat. Safety comes from counseling together, so that plans are viewed from all sides and advances are carefully studied instead of being carried out by one mind alone on its own responsibility. Selfish independence that exalts one's own plans and labors must be overcome by concerted action under one Leader, with steady perseverance in knowing and doing God's will. Those who follow Christ are therefore to esteem others above themselves and press closely together in peace, helping, encouraging and strengthening one another so their common work moves forward effectively.
Warmth Through Togetherness
The picture is of two lying together sharing heat that one alone cannot keep, so that companionship supplies the warmth, help, support and strength that a solitary person lacks, and human beings truly need one another. Through such togetherness comes added strength and safety, because unity and counsel allow every plan to be examined more carefully and lessen the danger of hasty, mistaken decisions, while division brings weakness and defeat. In Christian work this means united action is safer and stronger than acting independently, and in Christ's army believers must work together rather than act on their own, with the success of their common work depending on each person's faithful cooperation. Staying in harmony with a fellow worker brings strength, whereas alienation weakens effort and encourages discouragement, while those united in ministry help, encourage, bless and strengthen one another and together carry the work forward more effectively than they could separately.
Those who follow Christ are therefore to esteem others above themselves and press closely together as true yoke-fellows who unite because they can help one another. In such union there is victory, while in discord and division there is weakness and defeat. The warmth of fellowship belongs to those consecrated to God and at peace with one another, among and through whom God works, with the Holy Spirit helping their infirmities.
In marriage this warmth becomes two united of one heart working more successfully than one alone. Husband and wife are to unite closely in searching the Scriptures, understanding the Word and the reasons of faith, bearing burdens together, and encouraging each other to do Christ's works and save souls who are outside Christ. The wife in this union is a true helpmeet, helping her husband see truth more clearly, copying, keeping accounts, and strengthening him for labor.
Strength Through United Action
In union there is strength, victory and safety, while in discord and division there is weakness and defeat. Togetherness gives support and strength that acting independently cannot give, for people need one another. True yoke-fellows help one another, and the Holy Spirit helps their infirmities.
Safety comes from counseling and consulting together rather than moving independently. When several minds are enlisted, every plan is criticized and viewed from all sides and every advance is more carefully studied, so hasty mistaken decisions are reduced and no enterprise is entered upon that brings confusion, perplexity and defeat. One mind alone can be warped by Satan out of its proper channel, and even two who view things in a similar light can be led astray, but with several minds enlisted there is greater safety against his wiles.
The danger is selfishness that places a higher estimate upon one's own plans, opinions and labors and moves independently of brethren, which threatens usefulness and will bring ruin if not seen and overcome. For this reason no one is to start out on his own responsibility to advance disputed ideas, and all strife and rivalry are forbidden, along with wasted, meaningless, occasional and spasmodic independent efforts. Instead there must be concerted action in the various departments of soldiers in Christ's army, each acting with reference to the others under one Leader, with strength in God husbanded for noble, concentrated action, with steady perseverance and continuous searching to know and do God's will, for in union there is strength even when numbers are few.
In God's work believers must labor together rather than act independently, and the success of their common work depends on each person's faithful cooperation. Those whom God is leading out and fitting for translation are to stand as sentinels for God, unite their forces, become servants of all, and imitate Christ. People united in ministry help, encourage, bless and strengthen one another and together carry the work forward more effectively than separately, while staying in harmony with a fellow worker brings strength and alienation weakens effort and encourages discouragement.
Applied to the church, the principle requires pressing together in unity. Calling the Seventh-day Adventist Church Babylon and bearing messages that divide the church violates it and puts the church to shame before the enemies of truth. Such division reveals the working of the great deceiver to hinder perfection in unity, as divisive teachers follow the sparks of their own kindling, move by independent judgment, cumber the truth with false notions and theories, refuse the counsel of their brethren, and become unbalanced in mind.