Correspondence: Psa. 138:2; Acts 2:16-17; Rom. 11:26; The Lord's Table

From: Correspondence

From: Young Christian: Volume 2, 1912

• 5 min. read • grade level: 7

Ques. 57. Please explain Psa. 138:2²I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Psalm 138:2): "Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name." L. S.

Ans. The absolute authority of the Word of God is seen in this verse. Jehovah has made His Word great above all His renown. We must therefore receive and honor the written Word above all that we have heard of Him: above everything else.

Ques. 58

Is there any authority in the Word of God for women preaching? Does Acts 2:16-17¹⁶But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; ¹⁷And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: (Acts 2:16‑17), give any? I. E. K.

Ans. 1 Cor. 14:34-36³⁴Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. ³⁵And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. ³⁶What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? (1 Corinthians 14:34‑36) and 1 Tim. 2:12¹²But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. (1 Timothy 2:12), distinctly forbid women speaking in public, or taking a place as teacher or preacher to men. We never find a woman speaking publicly in Scripture. Mary carried a message to the brethren (John 20:17-18¹⁷Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. ¹⁸Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her. (John 20:17‑18).) Philip had four daughters that prophesied, but it must have been privately. They were forbidden to be speakers in the assembly. The quotation from Joel's prophecy will be fulfilled in the day of Israel's restoration. The apostle said, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;" that is, it was of the same kind. It was not drunkenness, as they supposed.

Ques. 59

Please give a few scriptures to prove that Ques. 45 is answered right, as I have heard another interpretation. I. H. (Ques. 45. What does "ALL ISRAEL shall be saved" mean? Rom. 11:26²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: (Romans 11:26).)

Ans. Rom. 11:26²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: (Romans 11:26). Just now Jews and Gentiles are all alike needy sinners, are all concluded in unbelief. (Rom. 11:32³²For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. (Romans 11:32), John 3:36³⁶He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36).)

Ezek. 37:11-12¹¹Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. ¹²Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 37:11‑12). "The whole house of Israel" is the uniting of the two and the ten tribes together into one stick, one kingdom. "I will open your graves", in this passage and in Dan. 12:2²And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2), is taking the Israelites out from among the heathen nations and bringing them into their own land. (Ezek. 37:21²¹And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: (Ezekiel 37:21).)

Zech. 12:9-13:1⁹And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. ¹⁰And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. ¹¹In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. ¹²And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; ¹³The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; ¹⁴All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. ¹In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. (Zechariah 12:9‑13:1). This is the way the Lord brings every one of them who will be saved, to repentance, and the fountain is opened for them; but in Zech. 13:8-9⁸And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. ⁹And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God. (Zechariah 13:8‑9), we see two-thirds of them cut off and die; in Ezek. 20, it is the ten tribes who are brought into the wilderness and are purged there, so that the rebels do not enter into the land at all. (Ezek. 20:34-38³⁴And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. ³⁵And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. ³⁶Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. ³⁷And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: ³⁸And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 20:34‑38).) (Read also Matt. 13:41-42⁴¹The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; ⁴²And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41‑42)) The antichrist is himself a Jew (Dan. 12:37), and is cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 19:20²⁰And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. (Revelation 19:20).)

But in the millennium, when the covenant is established with Israel (the ten tribes), and with Judah (the two tribes), then each of them shall know the Lord, from the least of them unto the greatest of them. (Heb. 8:8-12⁸For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: ⁹Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. ¹⁰For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: ¹¹And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. ¹²For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:8‑12); Ezek. 36:25-29²⁵Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. ²⁶A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. ²⁸And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. ²⁹I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. (Ezekiel 36:25‑29).)

Ques. 60.

How do we really know that we are at the Lord's table? There have been so many divisions; how do we know that we are with the ones who have remained faithful to His name and are still meeting on the ground of the one body? Are there any scriptures to prove the same? L. M. S.

Ans. The truth that "there is one body", that we are united by one Spirit to Christ our head, and to all believers as members one of another, is the blessed truth that brings us together. Every denomination claims to have the Lord's table, and they have professedly (1 Cor. 1: 2), and many believers in them enjoy individual fellowship with the Lord in taking the Lord's supper, but it is with those actually gathered to Christ's name (Matt. 18:20²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)), that His presence is promised, "there am I in the midst of them". To be gathered to His name, is to be gathered in holiness and truth; His name means that. (Rev. 3:7⁷And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; (Revelation 3:7).)

The Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of truth: He is the gatherer and can gather only to that name. The truth, where it is owned, will have us together as one in separation from evil. The two wave loaves baken with leaven (Lev. 23:17¹⁷Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two tenth deals: they shall be of fine flour; they shall be baken with leaven; they are the firstfruits unto the Lord. (Leviticus 23:17)), is typical teaching, that evil, that is the flesh, is in us all, and we need forbearance with each other on this account (Eph. 4:2²With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (Ephesians 4:2)), but the leaven is not working when it is baked. There are three kinds of evil, which, if allowed, would deprive us of the presence of Christ in the midst.

First: Immorality, or unrighteous living. (1 Cor. 5.) Second: Bad doctrine that touches the foundation of our faith in Christ and His finished work. (2 John 9-10⁹Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: (2 John 9‑10).) Third: Divisions. (1 Cor. 1:10¹⁰Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10); Rom. 6:17-18¹⁷But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. ¹⁸Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (Romans 6:17‑18); Eph. 4:1-4¹I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, ²With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; ³Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (Ephesians 4:1‑4).)

The first two are easy to understand. The last asks our submission to the truth that we are one, for without this unity of the Spirit, discipline could not be carried out, nor divisions kept out. The unity of the Spirit implies identification with all those with whom we break bread, and judges all those who, though right in their individual walk and doctrine, are associated with loose or independent meetings of Christians, and who are therefore not gathered in the Spirit's unity.

The start of each meeting of Christians generally tells what principles it is gathered on. If not gathered by the Spirit, it is man's will that brought them together; they cannot in truth claim Matt. 18:20²⁰For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20). A wrong thing will not grow right. It is of no use for any of us to say, we are right, for a right thing often goes wrong. What we need is subject hearts to the truth, hearts that desire to keep Christ's word and not to deny His name. (Rev. 3:8⁸I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8).) Going on, subject to, and maintaining, the truth of the unity of the body, in separation from evil, the Lord will be with us according to His Word.

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