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276.
Guidance.
O thou gracious Savior.
Bread of Heaven.
Feed us now and evermore.
Guide us so, thou gracious say.
We are because I want to always believe.
Oh my God, what is my heart for that?
Umm.
We also think M #303.
Him #303.
Psalm 78.
Second part of verse 19.
Place that and got furnace and table in the wilderness.
Verse 23.
He implemented the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven, and it rained down man upon them to eat, and had given them of the Lord of heaven. Man did eat angels food.
Like to suggest that we take up First Corinthians 12 brethren. It's has to do with the body of Christ.
And, uh, we know that the church is his body and I find there's a lot of basic principles that are very important to lay hold of.
Being come recently from Brazil and seeing the work that the Lord is doing in that country and how souls are laying hold of the truth of the scriptures and simplicity.
I it is impressed me, brother, and it's not just merely knowing what scripture has to say about this, but to lay hold of it in the heart that really has power in the life. And I would like to suggest we read this chapter. That's OK.
Read it right.
First Corinthians chapter 12, verse one. We'll read the whole chapter.
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. You know that you were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as you were led. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus a curse, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are diversities of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh All in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit with all four. To one is given by the Spirit, the word of wisdom, to another, the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit.
To another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these work at that one and the self same spirit dividing to every man severally as he will, or as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of that one body being many, are one body.
00:10:02
So also is Christ, For by 1 Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit.
For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, because I'm not the hand, I'm not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I'm not the eye?
I am not of the body. Is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now has God set the members, every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him? And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are there men, But now are they many members, yet but one body and the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee, nor gain the head to the feet, I have no need of you.
Nay.
Much more of those members of the body which seemed to be more feeble are necessary, and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable. Upon these we bestow more abundant honor, and our uncommonly parts have more abundant comeliness, for our comely part have no need. But God has tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another.
And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored.
All the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular. And God set some in the church. First apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, are all workers of miracles.
Have all the gifts of healing.
Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
But covered earnestly the best gifts. And yet show I unto you a more excellent way.
We live in a day that there is a lot of religious confusion.
And in this chapter I think a central verse is verse 12 and 13. Really, as the body is one and have many members, and all the members of that one body being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by 1 Spirit we are all baptized into one body.
It's interesting how many times that word one is used. Is there one body today?
Yes.
By faith-based on what God says in His Word, there is one body.
Well, what about when I look around in the city of Mayfield or any other city as well? I see a group of Christian over here, another group over here, another group over here, and they are not working together.
That is what confuses especially younger folks sometimes.
In connection with this truth, and we have to say that the testimony is in ruins, but that doesn't change the truth. There continues to be one body and to me it's a very precious truth to lay hold on.
And in the measure that we view the truth of Scripture, you're going to see it clearly. The moment you start looking at people and there are gifted brothers in one group and another group, let me tell you, it's going to get cloudy. The picture, it's looking at it as Scripture presents it. That will help you to see it clearly.
I see so many young people up here sometimes they see and they relate what they see to the meeting. You know what I mean by the meeting? Those gathered to the Lord's name and they see so much failure. I said, don't take your reference point there. Take your reference point back to the Word of God. That's where you're going to see it clearly. And that's so important to keep that focus clear.
00:15:26
There is one body Jim read in Ephesians 4 today he read the 1St 3 verses but verse four says one body and one spirit even as you are called in one hope of your calling and that a precious truth. There is one body. So thank God that to you keeping of the unity of the body was not connect collect not given to man because.
Because.
Everything that has ever been committed to man, he has failed in and it has broken down.
We have failed to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. And so when you approach a town like Mayfield City, like Mayfield or the town of Smith Falls where I come from, you see some of these famous signs that say the churches of Mayfield or Smith Falls or whate, whoever, welcome you. When did that start? Well, it started long ago, didn't it? The seeds of it were being sown in Corinth that led to what we have today.
But let's just go back to the 10th chapter for a moment, because I think it's important to.
Really establish this truth of the fact that there is one body.
Not many bodies. There may be many groups of Christians because we have failed in our responsibility to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. But as Bob said, God looks down the afternoon and he says there is one body. Now just notice in connection with the Lord's table what He says in well, let me read verse 15 of chapter 10.
I speak as to wise men. Judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is that not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Now notice this.
For we being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Now the subject in this chapter, as we get in the end of the 21St verse as the Lord's table.
In the next chapter, the 11Th chapter, the subject is the Lord's Supper.
And I believe that the loaf in each case has a little different significance, and it's given in a different order in the 10th chapter where it's a question of the Lord's Table than it is in the 11Th chapter.
Where is the question of the Lord's Supper? Why? Because let me take it up in connection with the Lord's Supper first. That's the way the Lord instituted it in the upper room in the 22nd chapter of Luke. And that's the way we all we celebrated in keeping with the Lord's instructions. And you notice that the cup is given separate from the loaf, because the separation of the blood from the body was the proof of death. And so in when we keep the Lord's Supper, the loaf is first.
And the cup is second. But the loaf in the 11Th chapter represents everybo the Lord's body given in death for us. When we break the bread on Lord's Day morning, it is to be a reminder in partaking of the Lord's Supper, of the Lord's body given in death for us, and then the cup his bloodshed for us. But here in where I read, it's a question of the Lord's table. The cup is given first.
Speaking of the blood of Christ, because that's our title to be there, what is our title to be in the Lord's presence? It's the blood of Christ and nothing but the blood of Christ. But then the low fear has a little different significance than the 11Th chapter. In the context here, the loaf represents to us the body of Christ here on earth. And brethren, when we view the loaf on the table tomorrow morning, if the Lord leaves us here.
We need to view it the way God views it. I'm going to put it very simply. When we look at that one loaf, and it's always one loaf, it's not wafers or crackers or or rolls. It's it's one loaf in the way the Lord instituted it. And when God looks down and his eye rests on that loaf on Lord Sea morning, God sees in that loaf every believer alive on the face of the earth at that time. That loaf doesn't just represent.
00:20:09
Everybod the believers that are here on that on the the occasion. It doesn't just represent the believers who practically express the truth in the breaking of bread. No, tomorrow morning when we sit down and remember the Lord Jesus here in the breaking of bread. That loaf to the heart of God represents every member of the body of Christ, every believer alive on the face of the earth. And brethren, that is the way we need to view it as well if we don't.
We become narrow and sectarian in our view. So just to go along with what Bob said, there's one body. That loaf represents the one body. And again, it's not just those gathered to the Lord's name. It represents every believer alive on the face of the earth at that time.
I'd like to make before we get into this chapter, go back to Ephesians chapter one where we read beginning of the prayer meeting, uh, verse 22.
At the end it speaks of the church which is his body. Church is a word that means called out ones and the church is presented in different.
Aspects in the Scriptures. One of those aspects is the body of Christ. It's the Lord Jesus.
In his relationship with us, it's viewed as one body, and Scripture speaks of members of the body of Christ. It never really speaks.
Uh, that way about the church never speaks of members of a church.
It's members of the body of Christ and so it's it's best to view things in the simplicity in which Scripture presents them. So here we have the aspect. I don't know that the word church is used in this chapter, but it is.
The body of Christ, which is the church, it's one of the aspects. It's also the church is presented in the aspect of the House of God.
But here in this chapter, we have it as the body because it's what's united to Christ. To me it is the most amazingly wonderful thing to be able to realize, brethren, that here we are as believers in the Lord Jesus sitting in this room together, but we are intimately by vitally united to Christ in glory that could never take place.
Before the Lord Jesus died and rose again, when he rose again, he was here in this world for 40 days, showing himself alive, a real living man. And then he ascended to God's right hand. And after another 10 days, in the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down, as it says in verse 13. That was the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Was to form the body of Christ, and united to Christ in glory. The apostle Paul, who was the major one to give us this doctrine, learn that truth. The day he got saved, he was on the road to Damascus as Saul of Tarsus, and to persecute the Christians. And the Lord appeared to him and said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
I think that must have been a jolt to him, me persecuting somebody in heaven. But in touching those believers, he was touching Christ and glory, and he felt it, and that's the way he said it. So he learned that precious truth of the one body of Christ the day he got converted. So it's a wonderful, precious, precious truth, brethren, that we are united to Christ and glory. Couldn't have happened.
Before redemption's work was complete, now the Spirit of God can come in a permanent way on his people and unite them not only one to another, but to Christ in glory.
00:25:02
Like to mention in verse one of our chapter, you'll notice in our King James version the word gifts is in italics.
And it's not wrong because we deal with the question of gifts in this chapter. Gifts are always taken up in connection with the truth of the Church as the body of Christ.
But the thought is more manifestations of the Spirit. Concerning spiritual manifestations, you go over to the 14th chapter in the first verse, you're gonna find.
The same thing gifts is an italics. It was added by the translators and while not wrong. Still the thought is follow after charity and desire spiritual manifestations, but rather that you may prophecy so the question is spiritual manifestations and that's what you get in the first part of this chapter down to verse 12 different ways in which the Spirit of God.
Manifest His presence is the Spirit of God.
In US, yes, He is. Does he manifest His presence within us?
Yes, she does.
How? And that's what's taken up in these verses.
So hard he makes a contrast here, reminding them that they once had been idle worshippers. Because any of us who have been to countries where idolatry is prevalent realize that what characterizes idolatry is confusion and disunity.
You know, if I've been in countries where you see Hindu temples on every corner and every temple is going to have a different God, and if you don't like the God that somebody else is worshipping, you come up with another one, and so on. Complete disunity in idolatry. And as a result, there's this, there's confusion, But what is it that characterizes the manifestation of the Spirit? When the Spirit of God is given liberty, when the Spirit of God is allowed to manifest itself, there's unity in order.
And that's what he's really bringing before these Corinthians. Now God has diversity. He's gonna go on and develop how that every believer is different. Just like in a natural body, every member of the BA, our natural body is different. Every member of our natural body has a different function. So there's diversity in the body, but there's unity. And when our bodies naturally work together, then there's a healthy happy.
Body and we can accomplish.
Things that are good and so on. But, and so he's making this contrast. And so again I say if he's gonna develop this, but overall, when the Spirit of God manifests itself, there is there's unit, there is unity and order. And this is, this is helpful because if there's disorder and there was disorder in the assembly in Corinth, they weren't waiting on the Spirit. There were, they were creeping over one another in the meetings and everyone had a Psalm and everyone had a doctrine and there was disorder.
As well as other difficulties as well. But the apostle says this is not of the Spirit of God.
If the Spirit of God is really working, I say again, there will be unity and there will be order.
When they were following their dumb idols like it says in verse two behind idolatry.
Are evil spirits. Go back to the 10th chapter where Jim was reading and verse.
19 It says, What say I then? That the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols as anything, but I say that the things which the gentiles sacrifice.
They sacrificed the devils or the demons and not to God. There were demons behind those idols and so there's demon influence.
It's a well known phenomena in Pagan lands where they have never heard the name of Jesus that people speak in tongues.
00:30:02
How is that remember uh.
Brother Flavio Kill in Brazil, who is now with the Lord, used to tell me he had a neighbor girl lived next door and when it was hot and the windows were open, he could hear her because she was into spiritism, quite a bit of spiritism in Brazil, and she thought I was talking all sorts of languages. So it's a well known phenomenon, but he gives the test.
And verse three says, Wherefore I give you to understand that no man.
Speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, so the Spirit of God.
Inhabits the body of Christ, unites us together, unites us to Christ in glory. And here's two tests in verse three. No man that speaketh by the Spirit of God.
'Cause Jesus accursed, does not say anything derogatory to our head to whom we are united, and that no man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost, so we follow the direction of the Spirit of God. Not only will there not be anything said derogatory to the Lord Jesus, but it will give the Lord Jesus his place of authority.
In our midst.
OK.
I have a question though, are there not false teachers who call Jesus Lord who is terrible? The man would be lost after calling him Lord Lord.
I'm sure there is, but not by the Holy Spirit.
If Jesus, if Jesus is Lord, my Lord, it's going to be evidence in my life that I am subject to Jesus Lord. And that's going to be by the power of the Holy Spirit that guides and directs me because I'm going to have the spirit of God in me that leads me to own Jesus Lord and to follow him in my life. If I, when, when I speaking with some Muslims in, uh.
In Malawi, one man, he wanted to talk to me because he thought I was a pastor and he wanted to. He was having difficult times in his life and he was losing his business and and so forth. I went back and talked to him a year later and he was telling me that the Lord helped him and he recovered and I thought he had gotten saved. But here he was calling Allah Lord. He was still serving Allah as his Lord. So you cannot follow Jesus as Lord unless you have God, the Spirit of God.
And just a little hint too, in connection with what Bob alluded to, when you have the expression Lord, Lord, it's profession. It's like vain repetition in that sense. And so there are many who say Lord, Lord, but they'll seek to enter in in the coming day. But he'll say, I never knew you. It was mere, it was mere profession. But just in connection with what Brother Tim has said, it's important to stress as we take up the subject of the body of Christ.
That all direction, as we've been saying, is to come from the head. And again, that's why he uses the illustration of a body, because we understand in a natural body that all our members take their direction from the brain. They take their direction from the from the head. And so on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God descended, well, it's interesting. Let me back up for a moment, because in the first chapter of Acts, there was a problem faced the people of God.
They needed to appoint an apostle to replace Judas. Judas was not real. He had gone out and hanged himself and gone to a lost eternity. But there had to be 12 apostles.
And it's interesting that in the first chapter of Acts, before the Church of God was formed, they cast lots to decide who that apostle would be. And God honored that because in Proverbs it says the Lord is cast in the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. And so it was right and proper for them to cast lots to make a decision in that regard. But one time there was a problem in a brothers meeting, and a young brother who hadn't been saved and gathered very long said to the brethren, well, why don't we cast lots?
00:35:20
That's what they did in the first chapter of Acts. And why don't we cast lots? And that'll bring us to a decision. Well, it was pointed out to him, and rightly so, that once the Spirit of God came and the church was formed.
And the members on earth were linked to the Spirit by the Spirit of God to their head in heaven. They never cast lots to come to a decision again in the in the Church of God because they got their direction directly from the head. And it's remarkable that as you go through the acts and problems arose and decisions were made, it will say something like this. And the Spirit said, is that interesting? Now it was no doubt through one of the brothers.
Through the instrumentality of a member of the body of Christ on earth, but so direct.
Was the word given from the head in heaven through the Spirit that that's the way it is recorded in Scripture?
And the Spirit said, And you see that when that instruction is followed in the act, there's beautiful unity in the church.
The 15th chapter, some problems, doctrinal issues had risen in the early church.
And they looked to the Lord about it and the Spirit said, the Spirit said, and in the end there was perfect submission to it and unity as a result. Well, if we were all taught of the Spirit on all things at all times, there would be that practical unity, submission and unity. Sad to say, it isn't always the case. But that's why, brethren, we often say the assembly, the church is not a democracy. It's not where we take a vote.
Nor is it a business where we arbitrate and come to some compromise. No, it is always looking to the head, owning His authority and accepting whatever we have in the Word of God as to the direction given for the situation.
And one of the problems that have arisen among the gathered Saints on that, on that very thing you're talking about, uh, brothers making decisions in brothers meetings. And then when something goes different in an assembly meeting, there's a controversy that arises. I remember talking with one brother, I said, why do you think you have the right to dictate what will take place in an assembly meeting when that's one of the things we noticed about.
Denominations and so on, where they arrange everything so you may be determined, something that you think might be the Lord's mind that should take place in an assembly meeting when the Lord is in the midst. But if you get upset when it doesn't go exactly like you said, are you really believing that the Spirit of God has liberty to do that it sometimes?
For others can get very churchy and the brothers meetings, like it's some kind of Deacon elder meeting that where things get past or moved on because, uh, it was a consensus or something. Well, how about let's, uh, do that, do the diligent work and then allow the Spirit of God to have his say in an assembly meeting when he might have a little different opinion of what took place in a brother's meeting.
There is. However I would just say without getting into it, there is.
The precedent in Liberty for Brothers meetings in the book of the Acts. And that's where things were taken up and discussed and the Spirit of God gave a word.
When it was brought to the Assembly, like in the 15th chapter, then there was there was the recognition by the members of the body that this had been directly from the Spirit. But the discussion and so on did take place in the brothers meeting. Trace it out. Sometimes there's three brothers meetings in the Acts. They're very helpful and very instructive in that regard.
Others, you know, sat or discussed or whatever. Umm.
Back to the main part of what we're talking about here, Uh, I've had young people and others say, well, you know, what's the big deal about all this? There are good groups of Christians out there and they don't necessarily, you know, hold these things completely some, umm, kind of do and so forth. And they seem to be getting on just fine. It is in, we're in the day of ruin. So what's the big deal about insisting upon those things?
Well.
I worked in a factory years ago. I was a welder and I remember this, uh, assembly line, they had a engineer's drawing and there was a bracket that was supposed to be put in this place. It was an engine mount. And every time it was put on and they would send a welder like myself down to the line, cut it off, move it down and put it where it belonged. This went on and on and on and on and on. And I remember saying to an engineer who came down the line, I said that.
00:40:28
You know, we're cutting this thing off and moving it over here because that's what the, uh, what, the way they've been doing it. I know where it belongs. Why don't we just do it up here and avoid all of this confusion and so forth. Well, that's what the engineer is drawing saying. Well, maybe the engineer drawings need to be corrected. Well, we don't need to correct this book to, to be right about something. But, uh, if you don't have a standard to hold by, then everything goes. We're seeing in our day if somebody says something like that.
If you don't know the fundamental basic principles and truths of this book, not just about the gospel, even that's being let go. We're living in a day where almost all of Christendom is letting go of some more very basic things. And it's because if you don't hold them, you don't know them, you don't get taught them or don't understand them, what's to hold on to? You didn't even have it to start with. So today, in our day, we used to think that amongst the evangelicals there was a lot of truth, and there still is.
But now there's a swarm of false teachings coming in among just about every group of Christians anywhere, and the ones who know and understand the truth of this book, whether it's about the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the truth concerning the gospel, or these things that we're talking about today. What's going to hold you if, you know, somebody says something that's contrary to that or tries to institute a practice or give instruction to go against it? You know what the truth is if you've never had it.
What's there to hold on to? So all of these things are slowly being swept away, and the testimony of the evangelical Christendom is at the point where you almost be embarrassed to even say that you're an evangelical because of what's taking place. There are bright spots here and there, but once you let go of things and say, well, what does it really matter? It's down the road that you soon find out why it really matters.
The body of Christ, the head is supreme, and we need to keep that before, as I must say, rather than it impresses me going back and forth between South America and North America quite a few times a year.
How that humanism has affected entirely our culture. People think I do what I want and you ought to respect me and you should not judge me.
That you lose in that kind of a way of thinking. You lose completely your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the head. He is the one to direct. Like Jim says, it's not a democracy and it's not casting loss. It's getting into the Lord's presence to ask him what he wants to be done. And that's what was done in the book of the Acts. It's beautiful to see. Sometimes the axe is called the axe of the Holy Spirit, and I think that is.
A proper title for that book. But it's the Holy Spirit that guides us. And then as we've been mentioning these first three verses, He guides us to give the Lord Jesus His place a preeminence.
And then we come down to verse 4-5 and six. You will notice what Jim mentioned earlier, they speaks about diversities. In fact, in verse five, that word differences is really the same word as diversities. And it's used in verse four and used in verse five and used in verse six. In verse four it is the Spirit of God. In verse five it's the Lord.
And in verse six, it's God who works All in all. So the whole Trinity is occupied in the working of the body of Christ. And what is so beautiful about it, brethren, is Jim mentioned this is by diversity and at the same time the unity. How can something be diverse and united at the same time? That's what we have in the body of Christ.
Beautiful to see it.
00:45:01
Anybody ever meet a brother like Jim Highland? I've never seen anybody like him. He's completely different.
But if it's the same Spirit that leads you, brother and me, we're not going to be at odds with each other. I might have to stop, step back and say, well, let me think about this a bit. But that's where we are in the body of Christ. There's diversity of the gifts, and you have that mentioned later on in the chapter, but it's the same spirit. There's diet differences or diversities of administrations.
Or we use the word ministry service. The service he gives to one person and another is not the same, but it's the same Lord. And so if we're following the Lord's direction, we're not going to be at odds with each other. And then there's diversities of operations. How I do things is not the way another brother may do things, but if we're.
Directed by the same God, then there will be unity at the same time that there is diversity. I mean, it is so amazingly interesting to see in different parts of the world the Lord working in blessing and how He saves people you might least expect Him to save and brings them to be useful to the Lord's people.
In one way or another doesn't mean that everybody has a gift of ministering the word publicly, but it might be in service.
Quietly behind the scenes. But oh, how important each member is in the body of Christ. Sometimes we tend to think that when we come together in our public meetings, we tend to look at one brother, or two brothers, or three brothers.
Be careful that we do not quench the Spirit of God by doing that. The Lord Jesus is in the midst, and by His Spirit He wants to guide. How many?
Each one of the members of the body of Christ sisters too. Did you say the sisters including that? Yes, they are too very clear in chapter 14 that the woman is not to speak in a public meeting of the assembly.
But that doesn't mean that they're not active. They certainly are, and they're a great blessing.
I remember brother saying that and thinking about these matters. He was thinking how ugly his little toe was. Uh, before he had it lopped off, uh, he had an accident where he lost it. And he said, I never thought too much about that little toe except that looked kind of gnarly. But he said after I lost it, I really knew that I was missing something. I got used to it over time and adapted. But I remember him saying that, that this little toe that I didn't pay much attention to.
When I lost, it really affected the rest of my body and that's what the, the verses here say. I thought about sometimes, uh, people that, uh, maybe feel shy and obscure and maybe off in the corner some place, maybe sometimes it's, uh, it could be a boy or girl or a man or a woman. Uh, but they do things that, uh, might surprise you or they have an opportunity to, There is a little lady over the years that every time I see her, she'd say, brother, I'm praying for you.
It meant a lot to me that she said that, Jim, I bet you have some of that happening along the way from, uh, dear sisters and others and umm, you know, you don't know some of these quiet things that are going on, little works that are taking place, but umm, supporting others, umm, the large sees every bit of it and he's got them busy doing what he has for them to do umm.
Uh uh, brother, I forgot your name.
John.
Uh, just for the meeting, he was talking about this very thing, about the niche that each person has, this little place that God has for us and that there is a place that we can find and even tell them, Tell everyone what, umm, you asked an old brother about what kind of wisdom he might give you about seeking things. Tell him what he told you.
I, I had the privilege of speaking to an older brother, uh, a day and a half before he passed away. And he had been a teacher for his whole life. And I, I asked him what, what instruction he would have for, for a younger brother towards the beginning of his life as, as he was finishing his. And he quoted a verse in the book of Ecclesiastes that says whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do what I might. That was, that was the sum total of his wisdom that he had acquired.
00:50:23
That he would pass on, you know, they're over time with the Lord. If your desire is to really find the place, the Lord has you, what your gift is. I have people ask me that, Well, I don't know what my gift is. I, I don't know what my ministry is. A lot of times people from the churches use that expression. What's my ministry? Well, I can tell you one Paul says he's given, the Lord has given to all of us the ministry of reconciliation. I know that's one everybody has. But, uh, over time you find out even in secular things, what you don't like to do by doing it.
And seeking to do it well, well, that's not for me. Uh, you find other things that your hands more readily fit to. And over time you can find the thing that you're suited to. Someone finds it nursing. I was, uh, we were talking over there. I said, uh, uh, there's a guy that, that goes around this country. He does a reality TV show about the dirtiest jobs in America. And I was astonished to, to see how some people cleaning sewer tanks and cleaning these portable toilets.
Actually, we're enjoying their job and love doing it and that made a business out of it. I don't think that's something I'd be too thrilled about doing. But yet even in a natural way and secular things there someone can find their hand fitted to something that they really enjoy doing. They be they're good at it. They find that place and in, in the, the area of, of spiritual gifts, a lot of the churches don't allow opportunity. You need to become a minister or you're a servant, serving, helping with stuff In between that there's not much place. Maybe in Sunday school or something you can be a teacher.
But when there's freedom for the Spirit of God to develop gifts and you find something your hand is fit to in spiritual things, the Lord will open that up to you, that this is an area where He wants you to go and that He does that all the time. So to allow the Spirit of God to work, isn't it? That's what he's talking about here. It's the manifestations of the Spirit of God and in the measure in which the Spirit of God is given liberty, whatever Christians are.
There's going to be blessing and thank God for it. So again, again, we want to make this very clear. The Spirit of God doesn't just dwell amongst those gathered to the Lord's name. The Spirit of God dwells in the House of God, the Church of God.
And wherever the Spirit of God is given liberty, there's going to be blessing, whether it's in the salvation of souls or the edification and building up of the people of God. But I want to just sum up what we've said about the body of Christ so that we have a full understanding of what constitutes the body of Christ. In the book of Colossians, we have the Lord Jesus presented to us as the head of the body. In Colossians, it's what Christ is to the body, and he's the head of the body.
And without sounding mundane, if I can put it this way, in Colossians a body without a head is incomplete.
And so, as members of the body of Christ on earth, we cannot operate on earth properly without looking to the head.
To whom we are intimately linked by the Spirit of God. So in Colossians, he's the head of the body. In Ephesians it's different. It's not so much what Christ is to the church, it's what the church is to Christ. So ahead in Colossians.
A body without a head is incomplete. But I find this a tremendous truth to get a hold of, brethren, in Ephesians, a head without a body is incomplete too. Do you realize that as the body of Christ, as the members here on earth, we are the fullness of him that fill us All in all. I mean we, we, we readily give a sense of the fact that we're incomplete without our head Christ. But to think, brethren, that he's incomplete without us.
We are the fullness of him that filleth All in all. We are as the members of the body of Christ are the full, the full they fulfilled a film fulfillment of him. We we complete Christ the head now in in our chapter here in Corinthians. We're incomplete without one another and MO a body is incomplete without a head. A head is incomplete without a body, but we're incomplete without the other members.
00:55:03
You know, if if we lose a if I lose a hand like the other hand can take over and I can get through life like that, but not as well as with two. If you lose a foot, you can still get around, but not as well as with two. We are incomplete when the members of as members of the body, we do not in the power of the Spirit go on in practical unity and function in the little place that God has given us. So in these verses.
We have the Trinity at work, as Bob has pointed out, it's the Spirit that gives the gifts. It's the Lord that leads those gifts in the various services that he has for each one of us. And it's God that produces the fruit and result when there are those gifts, the those those those gifts are are administered or used in in the proper way. So the Trinity.
It's three and one, isn't it? You talk about unity. Here's the here's the Trinity working.
The Trinity working together, the Spirit, the the Lord God working together, what for what purpose? So that the members of the body will work together in the diverse positions and services that God has given them, so that there will be practical unity exhibited here on earth amongst the members of the body of Christ.
No John, chapter 16.
It speaks of umm.
The Spirit coming. The Lord Jesus speaks of Him coming.
The end of verse seven says the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
Verse 13.
When He, the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify Me, for He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine, therefore said I, that He will take of Mine, and show it unto you. Now there there's a little different thought.
Preps help us out on that we get.
The Spirit and the Lord and God.
Chapter 12 we're reading and here we get the the Spirit and Jesus and the Father.
So a little it makes me think of the expression of brother, Smith said. That every believer is the father's love gift to the son, and as such can never perish.
And that.
Uh, wondrous gift we become a spend brought out the we're.
The fullness of him that filleth All in all. You know that the love, the oneness of the God has seen in it, and the different expressions that bring out the thought of affection and relationship. Just splendid, isn't it?
Want to encourage the younger brothers too, and your function in your local assembly to be exercised when we come together in public meetings. I don't mean that you take over what the Lord may have given older brothers, but the exercise I find that when younger brothers can interject, perhaps a question.
Or perhaps a comment it really does help in the opening up of Scripture. The point is is the Lord is directing and we're all different. Look at chapter 16 of of first Corinthians to took a look at two different individuals mentioned here. One is Timothy in verse 10. Now if Timothy.
Timotheus come see that he.
May be with you without fear, for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren Timothy was.
01:00:08
A timid type individual, and the Paul had to exhort him to stir up the gift of God. And so in the Corinthian assembly, if he was to come, perhaps there were those who would dominate.
And we need to be sensitive as God is saving and bringing along new souls to let them develop, to give them.
A opportunity to develop. But now we come to another individual who is different. Verse 12 As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren.
But his will was not at all to come at this time. But He will come when he shall have convenient time.
Apollos was a real gifted orator.
The Apostle Paul, did he command him? No. He recognized that Paulus, in his exercise before the Lord, did not have direction to come at this time.
And he said he will come when he has a convenient time. He recognized that it was the Lord that was directing in his body. So we need to be sensitive, brethren. Seems to me sometimes we sit down in an assembly meeting, kind of have our position mapped out. I don't think I'll take part tonight. Don't do that. You are quenching the Spirit of God. Perhaps if He wants to use you.
And So what we need to do is be exercised in the Lord's presence. May the Lord give you to be exercised. Dear young brother, I find that your interaction is a real blessing if you can be exercised and speak at a proper time. Don't think that you're going to never make any mistakes either. I have to say that I've made mistakes and I've received correction and it has been very profitable for me.
So sometimes people say not make any mistakes, that better just completely shut down. That's not the answer either.
I just, I just want to get back to this diversity. Umm, brother Sam, you mentioned you're a welder. If I tried to Weld something, it wouldn't work. I you said you don't like to clean dirty things. I've probably cleaned everything you can imagine.
And from toilets to dead bodies.
And we're all different and God gives us different experiences. And in chapter 14 of first Corinthians and then in verse 31, it says all may prophecy one by one that all may learn and all may be comforted. And so God gives you different experiences. Me different experiences were different personalities. But there's other people that we can reach. You can reach people that I can't reach. I can reach people you can't reach. Jim can reach people that we none of us can reach.
And so God uses all of us. Maybe your young brother, maybe you're not married, you don't have a wife. And Bob speaking about a young brother, just asking, asking a question. But if a young brother doesn't get married, he still has a function in the assembly and he can still be a help. Maybe we can have some insight on how how that that can work with a, a young brother who is not married yet. Can he be a help to the assembly?
We have the, the qualifications of an elder in uh, in, uh, Timothy and Titus, but that that doesn't preclude a brother from being a help in the assembly. He may still have the gift of a teacher. He may be a shepherd, he may be an evangelist. He can still be a help, especially asking the question, how do you offend or make mistakes when you ask the question? I remember a couple of young brothers talking to me. They were in their 20s and they said if I ever spoke up in meeting, I'd hear from my dad all the way home.
I said, well, how about if you ask the question, even a question, you may know something that, uh, you feel that the Lord would have you contribute to in a particular moment. But if you ask it as a question, there's other, there are other people with questions that haven't been answered yet. If you said to someone, even your dad, I said, how would you explain this to someone who's a young Christian and you ask the question, who's going to be offended or upset by that? And how do you make a mistake with a question?
01:05:05
Some of the greatest teachers is the secular world and in the Jewish world and wherever have used questions as part of their teaching, even, you know, asking the right question. And I believe that the Spirit of God can lead in that way and some remarkable ways with asking the right questions. You may have a dozen people sitting around you to say, oh, oh you man, I'm glad somebody asked that question. But in the response you can give older brother an opportunity to umm, you know, add.
And explain that and if some of them are gracious enough they may even return and say.
Well, after they do that they may ask you to contribute or say something and what an opportunity that is. And you know those two brothers, umm they, they tried it and their dad about fell off the chair but still because he had never spoke before.
That's what you said. You know, the Apostle Paul never was married himself, and he was a very useful leader raised up by God, Mr. Darby, who God raised up in the recovery of the truth in the 1800s, he was never married.
And I think he said himself in one of his letters, he realized he could never fill the local office of a Bishop in that way because the Bishop was to be the husband of one wife and to have not a child but children. Floral.
And so on. But he certainly was raised up as a leader and teacher amongst the people of God.
And these manifestations and the exercise of gift that we're Speaking of here aren't just in the assembly meetings, are they? This is for the edification of the body. And remember this, brethren, gifts were not given to a certain group of believers. They are given to the body at large. And so in Ephesians where he lists those gifts, the evangelist, pastors and teachers, that's not gift given to the local assembly or the local meeting.
That gift given to the body at large and again, who are the body at large? They are every believer alive on the face of the earth. You know, we are so very thankful that in the book room work that with the Lord has committed to our trust and we're able to carry on in various countries. We're thankful that we can supply the body at large with good solid gospel material, good solid sound ministry.
We can provide them with Bibles in these poorer countries at a price that the average person can can afford. We're not just serving a certain group of of believers. We're glad when we have opportunity to present the truth to believers in all con that are connected with all kinds of different fellowships. If they come to us and they're interested to know what the word of God says, we're thankful that by the grace of God and whatever ability the Lord gives us, we can present it.
The qualifications though.
For the use of gift, whether it's, as Bob was saying, in an assembly meeting or on a wider sphere, is really what we have in verse 7. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit. That's really the bottom line. If you open your mouth in an assembly meeting, is it for profit? Is it for the blessing of the people of God? Is it according to the Spirit of God in connection with worship?
Is in connection with ministry. Is it as he takes up in the 14th chapter? Ministry is for the edification, exhortation, and comfort of the Saints in prayer? Is that those things that the Spirit of God has laid on our hearts?
Collectively to pray for for the good and blessing, uh, of souls, whether it's on a wider sphere in presenting the gospel of the truth, is it for the blessing and profit? So when I open my mouth, my exercise is to be is this in the power of the spirit of God for the prophet and blessing of those that hear me? Is that right, Bob?
We sing 200 and 10210.
01:10:37
10-4, 940 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4 0 10-4, 0, 10-4, 0, 10-4.
0154.
Give me my friend's voice.
Uh.