Address—H. Brinkmann
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115.
Head off the church I.
Oh my God. Great.
Love, sweetheart.
I like to read from Colossians chapter one.
We read from verse 9 on.
And I will.
Not exactly. Read it word for word as it is in the King James.
But give you some.
Changes that are in Mr. Darby's translation, which are helpful.
To understand, in some cases the meaning conveyed more correctly for this course we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that you might be filled with the full knowledge of His will.
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In all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the true knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, and to all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.
Giving thanks unto the Father which has made us meet.
To be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in life.
Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins? Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. For by Him we are all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be Thrones or dominions.
Or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him.
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the first born from among the dead, that in all things she might have, he might have the preeminence.
For in him the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell.
And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now as he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you wholly and unblameable and unreprovable in his side.
If we continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, Whereof I, Paul, and made a minister, who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the Church.
Whereof I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you to complete the word of God, even the mystery which has been hit from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his Saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of?
This mystery among the Gentiles.
Which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, who we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus, We are unto also our labor, thriving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
It's good to make some comparisons sometimes.
Between for instance.
Ephesians and Colossians.
In Ephesians, the subject is that we are in Christ.
That's how we stand before God. When He looks at us, He sees his son. That's why we are acceptable in Him.
But in Colossians, that is Christ in.
Our body.
Is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and the Lord said that he would come and make His abode with us in John 14.
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And.
So we are in Christ, but also Christ is in US.
Tremendous to lay hold of these things.
And.
This epistle here the epistle to the Colossians.
In Ephesians, it is what the Church is to Christ. Here it is what Christ is to the Church.
You know, get ahold of that.
The glories of the person of the Lord Jesus are presented here.
In such a way as you find difficulties to find it in any other part of the scriptures. Hebrews one comes close, but.
It's tremendous to see the glorious person who is our head.
Christ in you, the hope of glory, the fact that he is in US, assures the future glory to us. That's the simple meaning of it. Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's not a maybe, you know, when hope is used in the New Testament, it is deferred certainty. I think I mentioned that.
Earlier yesterday, the Christian hope is deferred certainty. It's not a maybe.
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Well, but then.
The prayers.
And the requests that Paul made on behalf of the Saints, You know in Ephesians you have Paul's prayers for the Saints, and here too.
You have what Paul was praying for.
That they might be filled with the full knowledge of his will. The danger among Christians is that they get occupied and concerned about a certain part of the will of God and neglect other aspects of the will of God. But Paul says he was praying that they might be filled with the full knowledge of his will.
But that was not possible to just intellectually enter into it.
In all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
And how can we walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, if we don't know His will in every aspect?
You know unto all pleasing it doesn't mean unto all people.
That means as to all of the will of God.
And how can we walk and have an exercise to be walking as to?
All that the Lord expects of us pleasing him in everything.
Being fruitful in every good work, increasing or growing.
In or by the true knowledge of God.
We know God different than any St. in the Old Testament ever knew him.
We have partial revelations of God in the Old Testament.
All you have to do is read Exodus chapter 6. When God revealed himself to Moses, He says I was known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known, and he revealed himself as the Jehovah to Moses entering or making him and God's people entering into a relationship consistent with the revelation that God gave of himself to Moses.
That's a very important point. The relationship into which we enter as Christians is based upon the revelation that we have of God in Christianity. We have the full revelation of God.
There's nothing further to be looked forward to.
And how important it is to have the desire to have the true knowledge and the full knowledge of God and the full knowledge of Israel and the true knowledge of God, and that that will lead to our spiritual growth.
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If I were, for instance, or any of us here want to know God as Jehovah, it will stand us in our spiritual growth.
He is not our Jehovah. That doesn't mean that he isn't Jehovah the Lord Jesus. But he has revealed himself and has revealed God in a much fuller way than the Old Testament Saints ever knew him. And we have to come to know him the way he has revealed himself in the person of his Son. And he has made the Father known. Nobody ever knew God is Father.
In the Old Testament, that's a New Testament Revelation.
That's a simple, wonderful truth to lay hold of that we can say ever Father by the Spirit of God.
You know what does ABBA mean?
You know, if you would be able to visit in Israel and here a boy or girl in Hebrew address the father, they would say ABBA father.
It would be like in our case here, children, saying Daddy.
I'm not suggesting that we should address God as Daddy, but what I am suggesting is that ABBA is the intimate, most intimate term that anyone can use addressing the Father, and we have the true knowledge of God.
You know by the Spirit we can enter into these things we will never know the Lord Jesus the way God knows him.
Only the Father. No one knows the Son but the Father, the Lord Jesus says.
But nobody knows the Father but the Son, and to whom the Son will reveal him.
But there are things as to the person of Christ that are beyond our comprehension.
But that doesn't mean that we don't know him. You know, we can know him as our Savior. We can know him as our Lord individually. He's not the Lord of the Church. He's the Lord of the individual believer, and we can know him as our head.
We can know that he is our bridegroom.
That we are in that intimate relationship. That's how we know Him. No Old Testament saying ever knew him in that way. So the true knowledge of God is very important. If we want to grow, if we want to address God and know him the way the Old Testament Saints to him, that stands us in our growth. You know I don't listen to so-called Christian radio programs.
Very often. But when I used to travel a lot in business and I sometimes would turn on the radio and who wants to listen to that garbage that is normally on the radio station. So I would normally if I do turn on a Christian station and then when they address God.
Almighty God, how often you hear.
Him being addressed that way.
That is not the way we as Christians address him. That doesn't mean that God is not any longer the Almighty God you know. But that's how he was known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He made himself even full, unknown to Moses, and we had the full revelation of God in the person of his Son.
And then?
We also have to realize that as Christians.
We need to have patience. We have to be willing to suffer long and do it with joyfulness.
And by knowing God the way he has made himself known, that will result in us being strengthened.
According to his glorious power or the power of his glory?
And it will lead us to be willing to patiently wait till he comes back and comes back in power and glory brings us with him, and then we will reign with him. But at the present time we have to suffer and be willing to be patient and wait for that day and suffer. That's our portion now.
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Anyone that desires to live godly will suffer persecution. Remember that.
Thankfully, we are not and don't have to worry about being physically attacked, as many of our brethren in Christ are in Arab lands, in Muslim lands.
Have you ever heard there are more Christians killed in the last century than in all the centuries previously?
And primarily in Muslim lands or in communist lands, the people in China, the people in North Korea got people, they suffer very much.
But we will be persecuted. We might be ridiculed. Children might be made fun of.
You know.
The story is told that a girl was playing on the street.
And.
It was school time, She wasn't in school. So why you're not in school?
Well, she grew up in a Christian home. She know the Lord as savior. And when she was in school at lunchtime, she was used to pray loud, giving thanks for her food. And she did that, and she was given trouble, you know, and she did it again.
Probably increased.
And then she stayed home.
And well.
It takes courage sometimes children to even as children, take a stand for the Lord.
You know, other children might be pretty cool. You make fun of you. Never mind, that's not the worst thing that can happen. And as you get older.
If you learn in these little things that you as children have to endure to patiently take it, it will strengthen you as you get older and face more difficult things, that you will be able to suffer there for the Lord as well.
And then?
We give thanks to the father.
Who has made us fit?
To be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in life.
It's wonderful to realize as we have it also in First John that we walk in the light as he is in the light.
It's not how we walk, Mr. Kelly says. It's where we walk.
We have been brought into the light of the divine revelation.
And how wonderful we have been made partakers fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in life.
You see what we have as Christians.
That it's not just for us individually, although we have to individually come to enjoy it. We have it in fellowship with others who also love the same Lord.
But in order to be able to be.
Partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in life, we had to be delivered.
From the power of darkness.
Once we were not only in the darkness, Ephesians says. Once we were darkness.
Now we're light in the Lord, but we're also walking in the light delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of His Love. Mr. Darby's rendering. I think it's beautiful to get a hold of what is conveyed here.
It is not the Millennium.
That is not even the Kingdom of heaven. That's the present aspect of the Kingdom. In mystical form, we have been introduced into a realm that at one time could only be enjoyed by the Lord Jesus.
The love that God has for his Son, He has for us. Now I'm giving death to help us, trying to help us understand what is conveyed. The Kingdom of the Son of His love. You see, we have been introduced into the very family of God, into very realm that at one time could only be enjoyed by the Lord Jesus. Now we can enjoy it.
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And then in whom we have redemption?
That is.
All that is, I believe, in Mr. Darby's rendering and people have found fault that he leaves out through his blood.
And in Ephesians that is correct. There we have it in whom we have redemption. Through His blood there is the means by which we have redemption. In Colossians, it is not the means, it is the person in whom we have redemption. That's why that is not to be there.
And it is not that way in the original.
And I suppose the translators might have thought that it was a mistake in not having the blood mentioned here. But here is the question. In whom do we have redemption? And then this person, in whom we have redemption, and the forgiveness of our sins is presented in His glories as we have it in no other New Testament scripture?
He is the image of the invisible God. If you want to know what God is like.
Look at him.
We never need to see anything other than the person of the sun to know what God is like.
We have the full revelation of God in the sun, and he is the image of the invisible God and then the first born of all creation. The Jehovah Witnesses used this rendering in the King James. You see, he's the first creature, first born of every creature. He is not a creature, he is a creator. But when he enters his own creation of necessity, he has to have the place of the first born.
Adam was brought into existence long before the Lord Jesus took humanity into union with his person.
But when the Lord Jesus comes.
He has to have the place of the first born.
You know, we find that in other cases in the Bible, Solomon wasn't the first son of David, but he took the position of the first born. He was the heir.
And when the Lord Jesus comes into his own creation, He's the first born of every creation of the whole creation.
He's given the place of preeminence, of hedging, That's what that speaks of.
If you don't have the habit of reading Mr. Darby's translation, I would recommend very strongly that you do it because.
That is the best translation available. I don't know if I mentioned that the other day we were having Bible study with a Catholic couple that used to be our neighbors, and I'm happy to tell you they eventually got saved.
But to make it more acceptable to them, since there were devout Catholics, we were looking for good Catholic translation.
And there are several good Catholic translations.
Confraternity and to do it.
So we found.
A Bible that we used for the reading meetings with that couple. But when we were looking, they had in that Christian bookstore a short explanation about all the available translations at that time. So I was interested, what do they have to say about the J&D translation? You know what they said, at least the most accurate critical rendering available.
That was not written by somebody who sympathized with Mr. Darby's church position. That was written and the judgment of scholars who knew the language from which the Bible is translated.
It's the most accurate critical rendering available. It's still so today.
My wife and I read the translation every morning and every night at home.
I'm not suggesting that we should get rid of the Kate James Version in the assembly, but I'm suggesting that you familiarize yourself with G&D's rendering because some scriptures will become more clear to you if you do the first born of all creation.
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And the reason why he has to have the position of the first born is given in verse 16 for by him.
We're all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be Thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him.
You know, the question was raised once at a conference out East.
Why is creation attributed to the Lord Jesus? In Genesis? One verse one it says in the beginning God created the heavens and earth. Those who know the original tell us that does not speak of just one person. It speaks of the Triune God as the creator. But in the New Testament several times we find that creation is attributed to the sun, to the Lord Jesus.
Why is that?
The explanation was given. God wants us.
To never look at the sun as in any way inferior. As a mere man. He is God, the Creator that created the universe.
Isn't that remarkable? We know more about the universe now than we ever did.
Past centuries or even last century? A century ago.
You know they can look so much further now into the universe and then to realize that came into existence through the Lord Jesus. He spoke it into existence. Hebrews 11 verse three. It was not created from anything that was there already. There is no such a thing as eternal matter. That's nonsense. He spoke it into existence.
He created it. He is the Creator, and not only the visible things. Even the spiritual powers, the angels, are created by Him. And when the earth was created and the universe, they rejoiced seeing what was taking place.
Scripture very plainly teaches so and.
All things were created by him and for him.
And I like to think of the word Jesus looking down. In spite of the ruin that sin has brought in into the creation, there are still things that he can enjoy.
You know, we can enjoy looking at what we can see in creation and then never forget that it's the result of the work of the Lord Jesus.
You know, we know more about the mysteries of how things work now through science.
Than what's ever known before. All science can do is.
Tell us how things work, but can never tell us where they came from, the purpose for which they are here, and the destiny even of ourselves, the future that we need divine revelation for that. And how wonderful to know the Lord Jesus as the Creator, and not only as the Creator, as the Redeemer.
This wonderful, great person came into the world in order to save our souls. He became a man.
Born in a Manger. Born in a stable lady in a Manger.
What grace?
What infinite grace to stoop that law. He that was rich for our sake became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich, and then he is before all things.
He never had to come into existence. He existed as an eternal being, part of the Triune God.
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And he existed. He was there before all things, and by him all things consist.
By him everything keeps on functioning together. He holds things together.
I sometimes have said if he were to remove the law of gravity, make it to stop, what would happen to us? We would fly into outer space, you know, the law of gravity keeps us on this planet, you know?
And I understand that there isn't the same amount of gravity on the moon for instance, as it is on the earth where they found that out. When they shot rockets up there, God allowed them to do that. I never thought God would allow them to do it because the earth has he given to the children of men. The scripture says in Psalm. So I thought God wouldn't allow them to get to the moon, but he did allow them.
But only to discover some more of the secrets of creation.
And but now?
There is an additional information given. He is the head of the body, the church.
Who is the beginning?
You know there is a beginning.
When did he become the head of the body? In incarnation, No.
Unless the kernel of weed fall into the ground and die and abide as alone. John, chapter 10. He was a human being, but he was alone, and there was a different kind of human being when he came than even Adam. When he was made, there was an innocent.
Human being, when Adam was created and then he fell into sin and you have sinned full humanity, but when the Lord Jesus comes, you have holy humanity.
And he had to fall into the ground and die while he would remain alone. But he did die. And Henry's resurrection. He is the head of the body. When the Spirit comes down on the day of Pentecost, then the believers were joined together in one body. It didn't exist before. The work of Calvis Cross was necessary, and the Spirit had to become down, had to come down.
In order to bring this about.
And that is a great comfort that this truth still exists today.
Whenever somebody is saved, even if he is saved in the Catholic Church, and thank God there are people saved in the Catholic Church, I know some personally.
Somebody told me on the phone one time, a Catholic, he knew we were Christians. He said hi. What more than anything accomplished atonement from a Catholic, a question like that.
I haven't stabbed you, though I did answer right away and he gave me the answer, he said. The blood of the Lord Jesus.
Do you have any doubt that that man is going to be in heaven?
He rests his salvation on the blood of the Lord Jesus.
Well, I'll see Francis there in heaven.
But he's the head of the body, the church.
And in Colossians we are told to hold the head. How important there is that we do not let any man presumptuously take the place as if he is the head. Yes, there is leadership in the Assembly.
There are those who take the lead. In the King James, the word rule is used repeatedly, but Mr. Darby consistently renders that lead, because rules suggest the rulers are here and those who are ruled over are down there, among whom the Holy Spirit has made you overseer. You see, they were all on the same level. There are those that lead and those who are left, but those who lead.
According to Scripture, we lead people to be attached to the Lord Jesus and recognize him as head. He is the head of the body, the church, and then he is the beginning.
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You see, when he became that head, there was something new formed.
And the first born from among the dead.
You know.
The resurrection from among the dead. There were resurrections before people were resurrected through the natural life and they died again.
But when the Lord Jesus arose.
He is the head of.
That resurrection from among the dead, the first born from among the dead, and then those who will be raised or changed at the rapture, we will also be brought into the same glorious position that the Lord Jesus is in in resurrection.
You know, my mother, my son and dad, and loved ones that have gone before. What a wonderful fact it is to remember when they passed away, that wasn't the end. That was the beginning of something most wonderful. They were with the Lord Jesus from that day on, you know, and they will be raised and we who our life will be changed and we will all go together to be with the Lord Jesus.
And he's the first one from among the dead. Also those who will die after thereafter for the word of God and the testimony they bear, they also will be raised. And it says literally in connection with those people that we don't make their mistake and thinking that only we Christians will be raised. Blessed is He that has part in the first resurrection, the first resurrection. Christ is the first fruit, then those.
Who will be raised at the time of the rapture and those who will die for the word of God and the testimony they bear they will also be raised and they have specifically says blessed is he that has part in the first resurrection. So the first resurrection is more than one part and but the Lord Jesus is the first fruits he has to have in everything the first place.
And then in him the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell. See, he had to say, as it is in the King James Fort, please, the father that really limits.
The truth conveyed the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to reveal itself in the person of the Lord Jesus bodily.
We find in Chapter 2.
Verse 9. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Read that verse in connection with verse 19.
For him the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell.
And then he made peace through the blood of his cross.
And.
Peace is reconciliation.
Is going to be accomplished based on the blood of the cross.
You know when you have problems between people in the world, very seldom is it's A1 sided thing. But when it comes to God and man, it's A1 sided thing, you know. But he has made peace and he has reconciled. And here at first it speaks of what will happen when all things are going to be reconciled that is brought into proper order and relationship to God.
You know, because even.
The confusion in creation that we witness is the result of the fall of man. But the Lord Jesus by His work has provided a basis that things will be brought into proper order, all things to be reconciled to Himself, brought into proper order with Himself.
Whether the things be in earth or the things in heaven, you see, the devil is going to be cast out of heaven and his angels. He has access in heaven now and is the accuser of the brethren. But the Lord Jesus, because he died on the cross, has authority to cleanse the heaven and the earth. You know, deal with things and bring proper order about.
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But now, verse 21, we don't have to wait until all things be reconciled.
At you, that is the Christians he is addressing, that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now has he reconciled?
We Christians are reconciled. Peace has been made through the blood of the cross. And he came and preached peace to those who were near and those who were far. Ephesians 2 When did he preach that peace?
To those who were far. He didn't preach the gospel to the Gentiles, but he was preaching it through his disciples after he was in glory. That is still going on today, and the effort is to bring them into a proper relationship to Him and to bring them into a peaceful relationship.
To the Lord Jesus and to God.
And then what a tremendous statement we have in verse 22.
To present you wholly.
And unblameable and unreprovable in his sight.
That's positionally true of every St. of God.
That's how you stand before him, based not on what your conduct is, but what the work of the Lord Jesus has accomplished.
Now there are scriptures that admonish us to walk in holiness, practical holiness.
We might say to walk and demonstrate practically what we are positionally, you know, and wonderful to see that.
And we stand before him. He has presented us to himself, wholly unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Nobody can bring any accusation against us.
And then he gets a warning, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven whereof I Paul, and made a minister.
You know some people who deny eternal security? Say you see here you can.
Move away from.
From the hope of the gospel and you cannot continue in the faith.
This does not speak of a Christian.
Who might fall into sin?
This speaks of an apostate.
Who turns away from the faith?
A Christian can never become an apostate.
Because only one who by profession only is a Christian.
He can fall into a state of apostasy.
And there's no hope for certain. One they can never be brought back.
It's a very solemn thing.
That it is possible that somebody who grew up amongst Christians in a Christian family and has made a false profession.
He's in danger that he might become an apostate.
But a true St. can never become a prostate. They can never perish. The Lord Jesus says in John chapter 10. We headed the other night. The other day they shall never perish but one who is 1 only by profession. A Christian he might become an apostate.
And then?
Paul speaks of two ministries.
And there was suffering connected with his ministry.
And.
Paul was the minister of the church.
And he presented that truth. Look how much trouble it caused him from his brethren, according to the flesh. The Jews, you know, but.
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He accepted that.
And to whatever extent we have to suffer as Christians, accept it, You know, one of the things that we've been gathered to the name of the Lord might have to learn to bear is that that people say you're a proud bunch of people.
Well, I've sometimes used this example.
When the remnant returned from the Babylonian captivity.
And they were again at the divine center in Jerusalem.
Would have been wrong for them to say we know we are in the divine center.
Of course, the possibility existed that they would be proud.
And attributed to their own faithfulness.
We better don't do that when it comes to being gathered to the name of the Lord.
If there's anything less than I believe there is, that is his faithfulness that had preserved the testimony to the name of the Lord.
We have to humbly identify ourselves with the failure in the Christian profession, not only with the failure in the Christian profession, with the failure that has come in among those so-called brethren.
We cannot divorce ourselves someday. We have even contributed to it, you know?
That's the proper position to take, but at the same time.
It's possible still today, by God's grace, to be truly gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus.
And to be on that ground of the one body.
You know, how can you be on that ground if you take a different position than an assembly out in?
Canada.
You're no longer on the ground of the one body.
You know, anyway.
How wonderful.
That the truth of the Church can still be enjoyed.
And in our own feeble way we can give expression to us as the Lord enables us to do. And so Paul had the ministry in connection with the gospel and had.
The ministry in connection with the truth of the Church. This is what you find in these last two.
Verses here in chapter one.
He was made a minister of it, of the gospel according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me to you, to fulfill or to feel full or complete the word of God.
You know the writings of the Apostle Paul. You know how many epistles he wrote?
Where do you find the truth of the Church?
If you want to know about the truth of the church, you turn to Paul S writings.
Assured is mentioned in Matthew 16 Upon this rock I will build my Church, and that the Lord would build it upon the profession that Peter made. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's the foundation, the rock upon which the Church is built. Not Peter, as the Catholics tell us. That would be a very weak foundation, wouldn't it? But it's based upon.
The truth connected with the person of the Lord Jesus and.
To be gathered to his name, with him in the midst.
You know, this is what is so important.
Him being in the midst gives authority to the actions that are taken in the assembly of those gathered through the name of the Lord. And if I rebel against that, I'm really rebelling against the Lords authority in the assembly. That's a very solemn thing.
And people say, but that was not an assembly action. What do they mean by that? Do they mean that everybody at the Lord's table has to be involved in the decision making? Nonsense.
Acts 15 tells us that the apostles and elders came together to consider the matter that had come to them from among the Gentiles. It wasn't the whole church coming together, entering into the discussion.
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And when they came to a conclusion.
James proposed a position to be taken. Then they brought in the whole church. Then it seemed good to the Parsons and elders and the whole church.
But the whole church was not involved in the discussion about the matter and so how wonderful that we have assembly truth and Paul was the minister of that. And if you want to learn about.
Paul, about the truth of the church, you go to Paul's ministry.
And but he also was a minister of the gospel, the gospel of the grace of God.
You know, I'm always very much thrilled when I hear a brother give the gospel that really has the gift of an evangelist.
You know, people might ask somebody to preach the gospel, and the brother might clearly set forth the truth of the gospel, but that's not the same then when an evangelist reaches the gospel, You know what I mean? You have witnessed that, haven't you? One can be thankful when the gospel is clearly presented, but there's nothing like hearing a real evangelist preaching the gospel. And I'm glad that there are evangelists.
Outside that are not gathered to the name of the Lord. You know, if the gospel preaching would be limited to the God at Saints only, there wouldn't be a lot of gospel preaching going on. You know, and I'm happy whenever somebody presents a clear gospel, no matter what his church affiliation is, the Lord uses it and has used it and is still using it. And so how wonderful. But we ought to not just.
Be concerned about the gospel. What we have experienced in our short Christian life is when people fail to claim to church truth.
What becomes characteristic of them all? The emphasis is on the gospel. All the emphasis is on the gospel. You might have witnessed the same thing.
But don't neglect any aspect of the truth of God. It's wonderful that the gospel can still be proclaimed and the many tracks that are printed and circulated. We always pray that the Lord may use these messengers to fall into the hands of searching souls. How many have been saved through a gospel tract?
But the Lord doesn't need God to attract necessarily. We know of people that have been saved by just reading the Bible, you know.
But not many people.
Grow up like us, who grow up amongst the Saints, where the Bible is read regularly and I hope it is regularly in every home.
You know, in Africa that's one of the things we have felt was very much needed to stress to the brethren, Read the scriptures with the family, pray with the family. It first of all your responsibility. Don't depend on the Sunday school and on the meetings.
If you would only feed those children twice a week natural food, how long would they live?
You know, they need to be fed spiritually more than twice a week, you know, And it's mainly first of all our responsibility to bring the scriptures before them the gospel.
Of course, pray for them, you know. Whenever you know that there is another child on the way, start praying for that child.
Say Lord, if you're going to give us another child, give us also joy of finding that child in heaven. It would be better not to have another child than to praise it for hell.
You know, have a child and raise it for health. Well, anyway.
The Epistle to the Colossians is a wonderful book.
It not that.
Other epistles are not wonderful, but what is especially so wonderful here?
Is to see what Christ is to the church. You know what a glorious head we have. And why would we, in view of that truth? What to allow a puny, failing mortal to take the place of headship? Well, may the Lord preserve us.
01:00:21
Help us individually to cleave to the Lord Jesus as families to cleave to him, and in the assembly you know we have to make much of him.
And very little of man, you know.
Paul says pre imitators of me as I am of Christ.
You know, we can find help by the example that older Christians give us in the way they live for the Lord.
But the important point is that we learn to become attached to him and that we personally follow the Good Shepherd, follow in his footsteps.
That's the secret of Christianity and how we can be preserved in the path of faith.