There is one law among us which we must all observe: We have to see what the Body sees, reject what the Body rejects, and accept what the Body accepts. We cannot function independently. The Body has its own law, and oneness is the authority. We cannot follow our own will. Following our own will is disobedience and rebellion against authority. Today we must realize that the Body is the authority, and the Body is the representative of the authority of Christ. If we move independently of the Body, we are rebellious.
I have used the illustration of a cancerous tumor. Cancer is one of the most serious illnesses; it is even more menacing than tuberculosis. When cancer breaks out in certain parts of the body, the cells of that part begin to multiply. One cell becomes two, two become four, and four become eight. Ordinarily every cell has the ability to grow, but there is a law that regulates its growth. This law tells it when it should grow and when it should not grow.
The cells in my hand do not multiply continuously and indefinitely. If I cut my hand accidentally, the cells around my cut will start to grow again. Two cells will multiply and become four, and four will become eight. They will continue to grow until the cut is healed. The cells do this because there is a law which causes the cells to grow. When the wound is closed and the cut healed, the cells will stop growing. What tells the cells to stop growing? We do not know how they grow, and we do not know how they stop growing. We know only that it is right for cells to grow when there is a wound, and it is right for them to stop growing when the wound is healed. There is an inner law which the cells obey. They know through the biological law of the body when to grow and when to stop growing. They know submission.
Please bear in mind that the law of our body tells us about the authority of God. Every cell submits to the body’s authority. When does an ailment become serious? Suppose my hand is cut by a knife and the cells on both sides of the wound grow around it. When the wound is healed, the cells stop growing. I thank God that all the cells stop growing when the wound is healed. What would happen if they continued to grow? If they did, it would be a cancerous growth. Cancer means that the body has no need of more growth, yet a cell disobeys the regulation which governs this body and continues to grow independently. This growth becomes a cancer.
Every cell must be restricted in its growth. With cancer, however, cells do not want to be told when to grow and when to stop growing; they just grow on their own. They ignore the other cells in the rest of the body. They grow by themselves continuously. We call this kind of cell malignant and evil. Please bear in mind that the whole body is affected by its growth. The cells of the whole body will be affected by malignant cells and will be forced to help them grow. Cancerous cells only cause growth to themselves; they do not bring health to the whole body. All the cells of the body should bring health to the whole body. But they all become affected by cancerous cells. When a person has cancer, the cells of the other parts of body are corrupted by the cancerous cells as soon as they come into contact with them. All the while, the cancer continues to grow. It becomes a separate entity, something no longer under the law of the body.
If a person does not submit to authority, if he does not submit to the law of the Body or work according to the principle of oneness but works according to his own will, he is a cancer in the Body. All the nutrients passing through him will be eaten up by him for his own growth, not for the growth of the Body. He will only take care of his own growth, not the growth of the Body. It is difficult for a doctor to treat cancer because another principle is operating in the body, a principle that operates on its own.