THE next mark of God's assembly, observable in the first epistle to the Corinthians, is the presence and sovereign action of the Holy Spirit (chaps. 12., 14.). It is important to see that the Spirit of God dwells in the saints individually, and among the saints collectively. Without going outside the present epistle, the first truth is expressed in chap. 6:19, and the second in chap. 3:16, 17. To the saints individually the apostle could say, “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God:” and to the saints in their collective character, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” This is an immense, truth, too often overlooked in Christendom, to the damage of souls, and, above all, to the Lord's dishonor.
Let us consider briefly 1 Cor. 12:44Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:4)., &c. The apostle tells us “there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” Here we find one Spirit operating, not exclusively through one vessel, but through many; for the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. Of what value are the various gifts, if there be not liberty, when the saints are gathered, for their exercise? That such liberty obtained in the Corinthian assembly is clear from the perusal of 1 Cor. 14, which chapter gives us the practical working out of the truth expressed in chap. 12. The apostle asks in ver. 23, “If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?” How could such questions or exhortations be addressed in many companies in Christendom to-day? If all were wrong in speaking, whether with tongues or otherwise, why did not the apostle embrace the opportunity of saying so? Yet he does not, but he rather lays down a golden rule for all utterances in the assembly, “Let all things be done unto edifying.”
Nor is the epistle to the Corinthians alone with regard to this truth, for similar teaching is found in 1 Thess. 5:19, 2219Quench not the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)
22Abstain from all appearance of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:22). The assembly is there urged not to quench the Spirit, but to allow Him his due place among the saints; prophesyings were not to be despised, but all was to be tested; the good only to be timid fest, and every forum of evil abstained from. To pass thence to the apostle of the circumcision, we find that each is to minister according to the measure of gift received, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, all who speak being charged to speak as the oracles of God, “that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 4:10, 1110As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10‑11)). And the writer to the twelve tribes expresses no other principle when he says, “My brethren, become not many teachers, knowing that we shall receive greater judgment” (James 3:11My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. (James 3:1)).
Clearly then liberty obtained in the assemblies of. God in apostolic days, for the Spirit of God to lead whatsoever He would. These gifts of the Spirit are also “administrations” (1 Cor. 12:44Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:4)), and those who leave them are responsible to the Lord in the exercise of them; and it is God Who operates— “it is the same God which worketh in all.” Again this diversity of gifts is in connection with the truth of the one body. By one Spirit are all the saints baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and are all therefore members of Christ, and members one of another, mutually dependent. As in the human body every member should be in healthy exercise, and none kept in a state of disuse; so in the body of Christ there is that which every joint supplies, and what the Spirit has given to each is needed for the blessing and edification of the whole. How seriously are saints the losers who ignore all this, and who look to a humanly-appointed vessel for all their nourishment and edification! The Spirit of God will not be thus restricted. Though He is very compassionate over the saints, He is sovereign, and divides to each severally as He will.
But such a truth must be held in power, or all is vain. Wholesome and humbling is it for us to remember not only that is the Divine Spirit present when saints are gathered together, but that the flesh is present also, ever ready and ever corrupt. How it becomes us to be found in the presence of our God with examined and judged hearts, having no confidence in the flesh, but patiently waiting upon the ever-present Guide, Who will never fail or disappoint us! Whenever flesh does manifest itself, either in haste or worse, it is not because of “a rotten system,” as an unfriendly critic once said, but because of the unfaithfulness of man as a steward of the precious things of God. And the remedy is not the suppression of liberty, and the appointment of a human leader, which is the carnal way of disposing of difficulty and trial; but humiliation before God that the truth, so well-known in the letter, should be so little known in power. And where God's order is systematically set aside and God's Spirit displaced by unbelief in its many forms, how can we discern God's assembly? Failure and weakness we are bound to bear with and seek to correct, as the apostles ever did; but from false principles we must resolutely turn away. Bad practice is one thing; bad principles are quite another.
There remains another mark of God's assembly in the first epistle to the Corinthians, viz., purity of doctrine. Alas, for man! Not only had corrupt morals crept into the assembly of saints of which we have been speaking, but bad doctrine had appeared also; for there were some who denied the resurrection of the dead. This the apostle speedily dealt with (chap. 15.), and showed that if there be no resurrection of dead men, then Christ had not been raised; and if Christ had not been raised, all the preaching was vain, all who had received the testimony were not pardoned and justified but were yet in their sins, and all who had fallen asleep in Christ had perished. Those who taught this fundamental delusion probably saw not the tendency of it, until pointed out by the apostle. Had the assembly formally adopted the error, the apostle would have written in a different strain; but under the circumstances he seeks their restoration to the path of truth and simplicity.
Alas for a company of saints who willfully tolerate and are passive towards evil of a doctrinal character! Where is fidelity to Christ? where zeal for the honor of Him Who bought us with His blood? Foul doctrine is more subtle in its working than ungodly practice; the latter is obvious and readily discerned, but the heart and ear of saints need to be quick of apprehension when the former is in question. We are told by some that scripture is silent as to how to deal with false doctrine. To what effect then is Rev. 2:14, 15, 2014But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. (Revelation 2:14‑15)
20Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. (Revelation 2:20), to say nothing of 2 John? Why should the Lord so solemnly rebuke the assemblies of Pergamos and Thyatira for allowing persons to remain among them holding and teaching false doctrine, if such is not the assembly's concern? And why should Paul deliver unto Satan Hymenæus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:2020Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:20))? Granted this is a case of apostolic action, and not of assembly discipline; but why done at all, if false teachers should be allowed to remain among the saints? Not a word in scripture is written in vain; every word commands our attention: when will saints see this? Holiness becomes the dwelling-place of God both in doctrine and morals; or its character is lost, and its testimony is gone.
Will any say it is difficult to carry out to day such principles as these we have been considering? It is difficult, yet not impossible, and the highest favors are promised to the loyal and true, if but “two or three.” Humility of mind, brokenness of spirit, and true dependence draw forth all grace and blessing from the ever-faithful unchanging Lord upon the throne. We may fail deeply, but He abides the same until the end.