Address—T. Clement
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225.
It seems of confusion and creature complaints. I'll speak to the soul. Is communion with Saints to find that the banquet of mercy? There's room to feel in the communion, a foretaste of home, sweet bonds that unite all the children of peace. 225 Could someone start that increase?
It seems.
Like.
A blank I want to bring.
Out and proud and I'm young and we're playing.
We say.
We shall come.
And fly the river.
Sake in your eyes?
Once we know.
The way I.
From.
The first day, snake up all our face down the fall.
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I read verse in Psalms 120 a 133. I believe it is Psalm 133.
I believe it's connected with this hymn that we saw. It's.
I mean, it's most important as Christians that we have first of all, above all communion. We've got our Father, our communion with our Lord Jesus Christ. That has to be first, brethren. But there is such a thing that I believe today is communion was saying agreement with Saints, community no means agreement. And there's many voices in the world today that are calling out for unity. You know, there's a great plague in Christianity of unity. It is unity at some terrible, terrible price, the price of the truth, the expense of the truth and the expense of holiness and that can't be.
So I thought today we'd look at some portions and scriptures to speak about the Saints being together.
What they did together and what was the expression of unity in the Scriptures. And I believe here's a good verse to start with and Psalm 133 to give us a little encouragement, a song of degrees of David. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to go out together in unity. Well, many people a day in the world are saying that's a great idea. It's a good idea that we all get together.
Wonderful theory, but you notice the scripture here says how good and how pleasant.
Idea, but I'll tell you the pleasantness of it comes when it's practice. There's a real unity in the spirit. That's what is pleasant. The idea is good. The practice is pleasant, isn't it? You know, in many ways the scriptures, we might know what the scriptures say that the real joy comes, doesn't when we practice it, when we do it, when we live it. The joy of living for Christ is far better than just the theory of knowing is what I need. You know, the joy of being saved is far more wonderful and just knowing that I need to be saved.
I knew at a time I needed to be saved, but the joy didn't come until I received the Lord Jesus. And I know from scripture that it's good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity. You know the joy comes when you see a good doubt and expressed. But I thought we turned to Ezra chapter 3 and look at some ways and wish the Saints were united, what they did together, how they came together. I believe these things are written in the Old Testament for our learning. I don't believe this is doctrine.
For the assembly and for the church. But I believe there's some things here that are encouraging for us and should be an example, I suppose adopting you get in the New Testament. But here in Ezra we get a shadow, a little picture of what we have taught in the New Testament. Well, you know, the book of Azure and Nehemiah are important books because they're the last historical books of the Jews. If you would like to read what the Jews were like collectively in at the end of their history before the Lord Jesus came the first time. And you read Ezra in Nehemiah and you get some good ideas about the kind of situation during the day.
And that's why you hear Ezra Nehemiah ministry from quite a bit. I know when I was first gathered, several brothers came through and these are the books that they took up. And I was surprised to learn such things out of the Old Testament. But since then I've seen the importance of it. But in Ezra chapter 3, we have a.
Three things in general about the people being together. Ezra 3 and verse one. And when the 7th month was come, when the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. Instead of Joshua the son of Joseph and his brother, and the priest and his rubber boy the son of Chiatio and his brethren, and build of the altar of God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings there on as it is written and allowed Moses the man of God.
And they set the altar on His basis. The fear was upon them because of the people of those countries. And they offered burnt offerings thereon under the Lord, even burnt offerings, mourning and evening.
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Gathered together, there is unity here. Now, what's the first thing that these people did in the book of Azure as far as coming together? Why were they coming together? Well, it was the offer burn off things to worship and to exalt the God of Israel. And I believe there's going to be any expression of unity in Christianity Today. The first reason Christians ought to be together is to magnify God in the Lord Jesus Christ is to worship, to bow down in their presence.
You know, and I look around Christianity and I visit with other Christians, I see they want to be together, but it's not on this basis. They don't understand worship and they're coming together for almost infinite variety of causes while we disagree with this church and that church and that church. So we've gathered together because we disagree.
That's not the basis of God's unity in the Scripture. These people came together first of all to offer up to God, burn off things. And that reminds us it as we're together as Christians, we gather ourselves together, especially on the Lords day morning, and we come together to offer something to God, our worship. What is worship you say? Well, I don't believe first of all that worship is a meeting. And in front of many buildings today, on Sunday, you'll see worship meeting 10:00 or 9:00 or 11:00 or 12:00.
I believe in Scripture. Worship is a state in my soul, and there's a portion in Psalm 95 that I've enjoyed about this comments. That is worship and bow down before the Lord our Maker, for we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of his hand. Worship, I believe, is a broken and a contrite spirit. It's not a form. Worship is not something I can turn on at 11:00 on Sunday morning. See, when I come into the presence of the Lord, I should already be in a worshipping attitude.
And so when they gather themselves together, I trust that these dear souls back in Ezra stayed whoever broken and contrite heart. And then they offered up to God, their worship and their praise to burn off the very first thing. They didn't gather together to start a revival. They didn't gather together to work. They didn't gather together to sanctify themselves. They didn't gather together to read the word of God or to pray necessarily. They gathered together rather than first of all, as one man, their unity.
To offer something.
Oh, what a privilege we have. The thing is, we read this morning that we've been washed by the precious blood of Christ. We have every right to come into the holiest of all of the boldness to give God our praise and our Thanksgiving. That's my first responsibility as a Christian. Individually, I believe collectively the Lord Jesus said to the 11, the 12, I have chosen you first that you might be with me, and then that I might send you forward to teach and preach and to cast out demons. The first reason the Lord Jesus saved any of us and God drew us to Christ was first that we might be with him.
And here in this sense, it's not individual, it's collecting. I believe as an individual, my first responsibility, and I believe yours too, is to spend time with the Lord, to set aside a time during the day, especially prime time. Not when we're too tired from the day, but prime time to give the Lord 5 minutes or 15 minutes or 15 minutes, whatever we can, to be in His presence, to read His word, to pray, and to speak with Him first thing individually, but collectively.
That's the first thing to worship.
Well, people, you know, they call lots of things worship today and, and Brother Ron Reeves and I went into a meeting last time meeting Spearfish. It was not a church meeting at all. It was a group of people that have left a church and they're wanting to know what to do. They don't know what to do and they're struggling and what they thought they were doing, the way of worship. I really grieve my soul to see 50 or 60 Saints that really don't know the first thing about worship. You know, they have a few musical astronauts and the things that they sang, brother.
Fire removed from the hymns that we have in this book. So there's nothing even close to what you have in this treasure chest of hymns. And I really grieve my heart, you know, as I listened in my watch those souls and we're both there to try and help.
And we were invited to come and we had the liberty to go since it wasn't a church meeting, a formal Church of any kind. And I think you all that are gathered together in one place, like they were here in Jerusalem, they were gathered here in Pella, have a lot to be thankful for. Because most of your brethren are in confusion, like him said. And at the scenes of creature comforts and confusion, all Christianity is full of confusion. What's a great secret? You know, what is it? Why should I be here? I mean, why do I come to a meeting like this and tell her when there's so many other big, beautiful places to go?
There are some words here in verse 2. The end of verse 2.
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It's good to make note of this as it is written as it is written, you know, our worship, our gathering together to offer the current offering to OfferUp Christ to God and Thanksgiving and pray that it has to be the boundaries for that kind of worship for that kind of meeting is the word of God. We've got to carry things out according to the Scriptures and that's why many of our brother and are so confused because they don't know what the word of God says about praise and worship by assembly meeting. They just don't know. Well, I trust God that maybe.
Someday it goes in Spearfish. At least a few of them will get some ministry and and seek to know what the Lord really has for them. They some seem to want to know.
I tell you what, the difference between last week and this week, our Mother's Day is just stunning to me, and I'm so thankful that I have a refuge like this to come to that the Lord is showing me from the Scriptures where I ought to be and how I ought to gather together with my brother.
Well, as it is written, the Lord Jesus says ye worship, you know, not well, he said to the Samaritan woman. And as many people in this world, they don't worship, they don't even know if they worship or how to worship. But the Lord Jesus says the Father seeketh us to worship. And those who worship in spirit and in truth, I believe that spirit is probably there, the spirit of man. I realize anything we do toward God is by the Spirit of God, but the spirit of man is also involved and that's what worship is. It's a broken spirit. How can we ever come into the presence of God?
With a haughty spirit or lifted up spirit, it doesn't even sound right to say that, does it? We can. So when we meet in the presence of the world, I believe, whether it's the breaking of bread or the prayer meeting or an open meeting or a reading meeting where we believe it's an assembly meeting or the Lord Jesus is in the midst, the Lord Jesus is the same for any meeting that he's in the midst. He's the same. Oh, I'd be there with a worshipping attitude. So that should not, you know, the Lord isn't any different on the Lord's Day than he is on the paranoid. The meeting is different.
The Lord is the character of the meetings is different. I believe a worshipping attitude becomes God's people all the time, and of course, especially collectively when we come together into his presence. Well, as it is written in verse three, they set the altar upon his bases. Well, I think there's probably some ways to interpret this, but I believe if we're going to have unity in offering to God anything, the sacrifices of praise to God continually.
You know, our altar has to be right and our altar is Christ. And I looked at this verse this way. Perhaps some others have enjoyed some other things, but I, I see this altar here as the Lord Jesus and four things about the Lord Jesus, his person in his work, his person, He's perfectly the Son of God, the eternal Son of God. He's also the Son of man. And he was wholly harmless and undefiled and suffered from sinners. He could not sin absolutely pure as a man. And then also he died on the cross.
For our sins. And then the fourth thing, he rose again from the dead. And that's the basis of my coming into God's presence. The person of Christ. He's absolutely perfect. And the work of Christ, that's absolutely perfect in eternal, It's fitted me to be into his presence. That's my altar. And I believe we have to have at least those four things before we can come into God's presence collectively. I trust each one here has an appreciation to the person of Christ who he is and understands that you can explain it and defend it to somebody if you have to, and also the work of Christ.
You know, maybe people don't argue so much today about the working price, but I found more and more people claiming to be Christians that want to argue about the person or the person of Christ. And it's scary because if the person is wrong and the work is wrong too.
The devil has taken some people to the root of our faith, and that's the person of Christ. Let's be sure that we understand who the Lord Jesus is and what He has done to save us from our sins. Well brethren, they offered burnt offerings thereon under the Lord. That's the first thing that brought them together. They were united together as one man in Jerusalem to offer unto the Lord. Burn off wings. You know, it impressed me this morning that my brother gave out that hymn that the Word accept our feeble songs and praise. And I really feel that too, you know.
Who can show forth all this praise? Nobody can hear, Nobody can't hear. And we think what the Lord do for me? He offered himself on the cross. He's a sin offering. I've laid my hands on that and I'm saved. And I'm thankful to God for sending the Lord Jesus. I'm thankful to the Lord Jesus for dying for my sins. But everything I can think and say about that fall short.
And you know, you know what I'm trying to say because you'd like to express more things to to the Lord, wouldn't you? I tell you there's a help, there's a help in this. You know, there's something better than what Christ has done for me. What does Christ mean to God? That's the grown-ups. The sin offering is what the Lord Jesus means to me. And I trust I appreciate that and you do too. But the run offering is something higher is what Christ needs to God. And God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. And God the Father has taken the Lord Jesus and set him at his right hand until his enemies have made his foot to and their scriptures which speak about how God has anointed his son with the oil of gladness above all his fellows.
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Jesus has a place above everything and everybody you know. That comforts me. I don't know about you, but when my praise fails, I know God's praise hasn't.
You can think about that and if you feel Lauren, I just don't know how to thank you enough. Think about this. God has praised him better than you and I are all of us together. And that brings me some comfort to burn off. And that's what they offer. First of all, they burn off.
Let's go on here. In verse four, they kept also the Feast of Tabernacles as it is written and offered the daily burnt offerings by number according to the custom as the duty of every day required. And the end of verse five, everyone that willingly offered a free will offering under the Lord. Well, in verse four, there was a duty and in verse five there was a free will offering. Now Christian is not under law. We're under law, but we have a responsibility as Christians. I believe collectively to be together during the week.
Jesus has given us instructions in his word from heaven that we should continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, fellowship, breaking the bread in prayer. And I can view that if you would allow me to use the word, a Christian duty day of privilege. And I think I'm glad where I come from that there's those four meetings during the week. But then there's also, and that's what we should be doing. There's also the free will offering. There's other things we can do too Together. We can reach out on Sunday school work or gospel work. These are more or less free will offerings.
We can go visit one another. We can visit with the loss. Think, brethren, all the things we can freely offer to the Lord during the week, maybe just to visit somebody that's discouraged, all those countless things that we can do also to the Lord, in addition to the things we have to do regularly as an assembly.
Well, they gathered themselves together, unity to worship and verse 9.
Verse nine and Mr. Joshua with his sons and his brother brethren, Cadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah together they stood together to step forward the workmen of the House of God, the sons of Hanedad with their sons and their brother in Levites. Second thing they did, they stood together to build a house. That's unity. Oh, it's so good and pleasant and brother and dwell together in unity, whether it's to worship the Lord and to offer.
The sacrifice of praise to him.
Thanksgiving or whether it's to build the House of God. You know, and yesterday there was that meeting in Newton and I believe there was a real unity of spirit there. I thought there was a good spirit. I didn't plan really. I'm going to that. It just seems like the Lord directed my way here from Wyoming and South Dakota with Ron and but I'm glad I went because I saw there were people there that were earnest about doing something for the Lord building the House of God unless the first thing we do to build the House of God.
You go out and preach the gospel. You know, you can't have an assembly unless you have first the gospel. How are people brought into the assembly, into the church is through the gospel. Through the gospel. Oh, that's so important that we be evangelists and we work together for these things. And then after we're saved, there's many things we can stand together and work together in and building the House of God. Just being saved and having seen people come to Christ through the gospel is a good step. That's the beginning, but only the beginning.
And there's a shepherd in the teaching, the fellowship that has to go on all our life, and that's building the House of God. And Joshua and Camille and his sons and their son, the sons of Judah, they stood together to do this work. What a wonderful expression of unity. And it's so sad when you have the spirit of criticism.
Sometimes it gets among God's people where they begin to criticize anything that's going on for the Lord. You know, we need to judge evil and be careful of things that are not lawful and contrary to Scripture. But I believe it's very important that we try to help one another in building the House of God, building up one another in our faith, and also reaching out in the gospel to bring the loss to Christ and then shepherding those that are saved by the gospel of God's grace.
You notice in verse seven, they gave money also under the Masons and to the carpenters and meat and drink and oil under them of Sidon and to them of tire to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa. According to the grant they had Osiris kind of Persia. I mean they were willing to give not only their substance, but their time. They they give everything to the to the building of God's house. And you remember this is the spirit of the church in the early days around Pentecost. They had all things in common.
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And if a brother or sister had a need, they supplied that need. Nobody said, well this is mine, I'm going to keep it all to myself.
Until two people said that they sold a portion they kept out for themselves and you know what happened Ananias the Lord took them away. I kind of broke the unity there for time. The fear fell upon the church, but I believe this is encouraging to to gather together to.
Worship the Lord Jesus collecting way and to gather together also or stand together to serve and work together in the gospel work and also in the church work.
Well, in verse 10, when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, OK, how are we going to work together? There's no other foundation which is laid in that than that which is laid which is Christ Jesus. We've got to build on Christ. In other words, I need to know His person and His Word. I need to know who the Lord Jesus is and what He's done. Otherwise it's good hand stubborn instead of gold, silver and precious stones. Again, this is only a type, but we need to understand if we're going to stand together.
And work together in building God's house.
The fundamentals of Christianity.
There's too many today, and I meet them that are called pastors or teachers or those that are missionaries or evangelists that hardly know the first thing about Scripture. They've got a piece of paper, they've been to a school for a couple of three or four years, but they've just learned a system of things and they don't hardly even know the Lord.
You know, so that's up to us rather than individually to search the Scriptures and learn the fundamentals of our faith. And we have a real treasury of ministry that we can that God has given to us to help us learn these things. Well, what else do they do? They gather together to worship. They stood together to serve. And in verse 11, they sang together by force and praising and giving thanks unto the Lord because he is good. They sang together and praising and giving thanks. You know what a joy it is anytime.
Any meaning for the Saints are gathered together to hear someone give thanks unto the Lord. And what a privilege it was this morning as we met around the Lord Jesus to sing those hymns of praise. What a privilege it is too, for any brother, young or old.
Educated or uneducated, doesn't make any difference to stand up and say something to the Lord Jesus and God the Father in the way of Thanksgiving and praise, you know? And it's good if we say Amen to what we hear, to those prayers of praise they sang together.
Together, that means they said Amen to the prayers that went up. That's important.
Very discouraging. Sometimes when you go to a prayer meeting and you hear somebody pray and nobody says Amen, you wonder if there's really unity in the soul of those people that are there. So we're talking about unity. It's wonderful. We sing together and praising and giving thanks. You know what, What a little thing the Lord asked from us. You know, we'll learn His presence, especially if we're breaking the bread just to stand up and thanking for going to the cross. Thank the Father for sending Him.
It doesn't have to be an elaborate drawn out elephant prayer. You know, the best prayers are the simplest prayers. The prayers that have just broken my heart and made me weak and breaking the bread again when somebody stumbled through it, you know, they, they, they were so near to the Lord, they just could hardly talk to me. What they said, you know, just broke you down because they were talking with the Lord. It's wonderful to hear that I.
I was at a meeting recently where they had a lot of difficulty over the years and I was a little nervous about being there. And there was a break in the bread meeting and I was saying, well, Lord, I hope this just doesn't turn out to be a saying. You know, we just sing some hands and somebody breaks the dread and then we go home. I was shocked. I was shocked.
There was a five brothers that stood up before the breaking of bread and prayed and gave thanks. I have never seen that in my life.
Five brothers and I thought, here's the meeting. This had all kinds of trouble and the father all just hang their heads and.
Hope that this gets over with. I was dumbfounded. A wonderful movie they came to praise to this. What a privilege. And I learned early on in my life after I was saved. You know, we we think we got to play catch up with our brother and you know, well, they all leave Darby and they got all these big books. They know all these big words and where am I you know, I just got saved and I don't even know where to turn to John 316. Somebody has to find that for me and and an older brother cautioned me. Don't you ever play that game of ketchup. So there's one thing you can do Tom. You can stand up and thank the Lord.
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I never forgot that and I'm glad for it, he said. You can do that even before you can give out of him because he's giving out of him sometimes to be take some wisdom.
To know how the Spirit is leading, Brother, let's sing together and praise together. You know what? An expression of unity, how God delights to hear His people lift up their voices together.
Well, it's a day of confusion. There's a day of small. Well, it's a day of confusion and it's the day of small things. And I'd like to look at the end of this chapter, it says.
Well, the end of verse 11, all the people shadow with a great shout when they praise the Lord. You know that's what it does. Praise the Lord is infectious. When I hear somebody praise the Lord, it gets to me and I want to do the same. And it unites people to exalt the Lord Jesus.
Because the foundation of the House of the Lord was laid. That's good. Christ has been exalted. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men that had seen the 1St house from the foundation of this house, was laid before their eyes, wet with a loud voice. And many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shadow of joy from the noise of the reaping of the people.
But the people shouted with a loud shout and the noise was heard afar off.
Well, it's kind of confusing, isn't it? Well, I haven't been around.
The Lord's Table very long.
I don't know much about the past and some of you.
Our my grandfather's in the faith and I sometimes it's difficult even to talk about this because I like I said, I haven't been around very long. But I know some of you have seen the past days of glory among the so-called brethren and you've seen some of the power and the things that have happened. And you may look at things today and say, well, it sure isn't like it used to be. And that's right, it's not. You know, there is no going back. And Ezra's day, they could go back and rebuild Solomon's temple. That was done over and done with it.
I think we had that a little bit yesterday at Newton. You know, we can't go back and start preaching the gospel and mimicking just what they did 100 years ago. But we're in the day of ruin and confusion. You know, I get some encouragement for this. We don't need to be overcome with grief that we failed. It's true we have failed and there should be weeping and humiliation on our part because we have failed as a testimony to the truth of the gospel and the Lord's church. But let's remember this. There were some there that.
Cried with a loud voice, shout out to joy, a loud for joy. And I think this is encouraging that we can rejoice over one soul that saved a day or one soul is gathered and God will take place in it. And this day Haggai said, well, I said, you're sitting in your your group houses and he says my house lies waste. Why don't you just go up to the mountains and bring some trees, bring some wood and build the house and I'll take pleasure in it. It won't be anything like Solomon's house, but if you just go out and bring some wood and build the house that's in Haggai chapter one, I believe I'll take pleasure in it.
And I've enjoyed that. You know, I don't have to go back and say, well, you know, I want it to be like it was 150 years ago. It can't be that way. It will not be that way. What can I do? Go out and bring one soul to the gospel meeting. Go out and look for one Christian that's searching or struggling and encouraging to come to the prayer meeting and Bible study. Just one, That's all. That's not too hard. And God will take the pleasure in it. And someone shouted for joy.
Well, I believe they both feel together, the weeping and the shouting. I think it's probably appropriate today that we week that we're not what we should be, but we rejoice that God is still working soldiers still getting saved and gathering in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Well, three things in this chapter about unity and gather themselves together to worship. They stood together to serve and build and they sang together to praise the Lord. Now can we do that together, brother? And I think we can and we should. It may be with two or three. I think it's better to do with two or three what is right than to do with two or three hundred what is wrong? And unfortunately, that's what most of the Christians are doing today. They they would rather go where there's a crowd.
Are there many principles that are contradicted in those big crowds? You know the Lord is noise in the midst of the big numbers. He's in the midst of those that are gathered according to the Scriptures as it is written. As it is written. Thou hast a little strength, but thou hast kept My word and not denied My name.
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I'd like to have that accommodation. I don't know that I do, but I would like to have it. I trust you do too. And if we're gathered on those grounds, well, then we can stand together and pray together and worship together.
Well, let's go to chapter 6, Ezra chapter 6.
See some other things that they did together.
Ezra 6 and verse 20.
With depression that leave Levi's were purified together, all of them were pure and kill the Passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brother and the priest, and for themselves and the children of Israel, which were come again out of the captivity. And all such as had separated themselves under them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land. To seek the Lord God of Israel, did he, and kept the feast of Unleavened bread seven days with joy. For the Lord had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the Kingdom of Assyria under them to strengthen their hands in the work of the House of God.
Well purified together. Now this would be late. I believe very directly to that verse in Second Timothy. Let him and name it the name of Christ. Depart from iniquity and flee also youthful lost will follow righteousness and peace and joy within the call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. If you and I are really seeking to follow the Lord with a lack of holiness, be only for I am holding for the Lord is going to unite us with others to have the same desire. You know no man lives to himself or dies to himself.
And the Lord has many Saints that have not bowed the knee to Babylon, the veil. So God would have us to go on together in purity. Now some will say, well, I want to live for the Lord, but I know in myself I'm not perfect. I've got defects of personal things. Hey, I do too. We all do too. But what are these things that we need to be clear of or free from or what are the works of the flesh? Keep your finger here. We should read something in Galatians six, I think, when we speak about separation or purification, I.
I want to speak is simply and as plainly as I can, so there's it's not some.
Nobody thinks I'm talking about whether you from your hair a certain way, you shine your shoes a certain way. That's not separation at all. The kind of things that a Christian needs to be clear out if he's going to go on together in unity for the glory of God are are very obvious things in in Galatians chapter 5. I'm sorry, Galatians 5 and verse 16 this I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
And verse 18 if he be LED of the spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, they're obvious. Now these are the things I believe a Christian needs to be exercised about being separated from when I first got saved, you know, I I don't even want to talk about what I was involved in. It was all these things.
And I right after I was saved, as soon as I was saved, I knew in my soul, well, boy, you got some things you need to get rid of. Well, enjoying the Lord so much, I didn't want anything to do with that anymore. And that's really true. Separation is, you know, God gives us something far better. But if somebody would like to know as a Christian, well, what do I need to be careful of as a Christian? I want to be holy. I want to walk through the Lord. I want to be an expression of Christ. Here's what the flesh is. It's adultery, fornication, uncleanness and lasciviousness or wantonness.
Idolatry, witchcraft, that's drugs. Where there's pharmacy, it means drugs. Hatred, variance as divisions of jealousy or emulation, grass drives, seditions, heresies, envying murders, drunkenness, partying or reveling and such. Life of which I tell you before, as I have told you in time past that they would do such things, shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. These are things that a Christian needs to be separated from if we're going to go on together. I mean, it's very practical. These are not petty little things.
You know, sometimes the Saints of God, they get pretty hung up on some, you know, almost Bible trivia, you know, some little thing out of the Old Testament. And there's a number of things. But then we need to have an exercise about personally. And if I have faith about some things that I can't do, and maybe some of you can, well then I need to have my faith in myself and not run around and circumcise my brethren. You know, thou shalt, thou shalt not. But they were purified together here in Ezra chapter 6. They kept themselves from the filthiness of the heathen. And I've been delivered from that. You've been delivered from it. And we don't go back. We don't go back. No turning back. And Christ has given me everything. I'm drawn to the Lord Jesus. He should fill my view, my vision of the future.
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I'm going to be with Him, I want to listen to Him, and that separates me through Christ, and then I leave those things behind. Seeing therefore, beloved, that you have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and set your affections on things about where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, not on things on the earth.
Mortify the members of your body, uncleanness, fornication, adultery, lying and anger, all those things. You know we can do that. We can purify ourselves because as involved with Christ, I am in Christ, I'm safe in Christ, Christ is in me. The hope of Dora. I have the Holy Spirit and these things.
Purified together and they kept the Feast of Unleavened bread seven days, seven days with joy. It was a delight to these people to keep themselves clean.
From the heathen around, and so it ought to be a delighted house to enjoy the Lord and stay away from those things which we used to do.
Well, sad to say, people today are trying to claim unity and yet they're not separated. They're not separated to Christ. They're going on with drunkenness, Christians going on with drugs, Christians going on immorality, which is going on by going to parties with the world and just enjoying it. I don't mind going to dinner with an unbeliever. And I've done it at certain times. I've had liberty. The structures say if somebody is not believer, invites you to dinner, we'll go. But you got to go for the Lord and you've got to make a testimony for the Lord.
That's all right, that's fine, but you don't go there to partake of what they're doing, enjoying their fellowship. You go there to try and help. You know, every time the Lord went into this kind of situation, here's the perfectly sanctified man, we're usually over trouble, wasn't it? You go in and sit down to dinner at the pair of seeds and right away the Lord began to get to the conscience. So if we do have contact with the world, let's be sure that we contact them with the motive of time about the Lord is showing it the virtues of Christ.
Well, there's separation. I believe that's an important thing, but you'll notice here that it's not the first thing. Christians are never to be united based on the principle of separation or to be united, first of all, to worship and praise the Lord and serve the Lord. You know, this is the fourth thing that we've listed, and it's the chronological order in this book. Some of the day they think the whole principle of unity is separation. I know Mr. Darby printed a tract on that.
God's principle of unity is separation, but he later printed another tribe that really taught, I think, the full truth of that we're drawn to Christ. Our unity is to be to Christ, and as we go to Christ, we're united to Christ, to worship and to praise and to serve him. Then we're separated from evil. Then we're separated from evil. That's what he intended to teach. Although some have taken separation as being a rallying cry, I don't think it is. I believe the Lord Jesus is our gathering center, and it's not a particular truth.
Well, in chapter 8 we have another expression of unity and being together by God's people.
Ezra 815.
And I gather them together to the river that runeth through a haven there a boldly intense 3 days. And I view the people and the priests, and found their none of the sons of Levi.
And in verse 21.
Then I proclaimed the fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before God to seeketh Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substitutes.
And verse 23 So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he was entreated of us.
I was reading yesterday in the letters of Mr. Darby about the meetings he called in 1852 for humiliation.
A lot of people today don't have never heard of such a thing, but I see this in Scripture. This was a meeting brethren united together for one reason, to humble ourselves before God and deceive the right way for ourselves, for our families, and for our possessions. I talked to a number of brothers that that travel around and they said, well, I see, I see what you're saying in Scripture, but I've never heard of such a thing in practice.
And if you read the letters of J&D in 1852, you'll find out that there was such a thing, they had such a thing as I think it was 2 days of meetings for humiliation after the division of the Open Brethren and Mr. Darby and some others, that they wanted to confess that they, they were partly to blame for that division.
Partly to blame for that division. You can read those letters and you'll see them. And I think I see this in Azure here, gathering the people together, proclaiming it fast that they might humble themselves, afflict themselves and seek the right way. And I trust yesterday at Newton, I believe very definitely in Newton, there was that spirit of humiliation and confession that, hey, we have not been preaching the gospel. We've been derelict. We've been asleep at the switch, so to speak. We've got the truth and we're not doing anything with it. I heard a number of prayers. I thought that was true. It's not to come together and say, yeah, yeah, we've got the truth and and we're going to defend it.
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Now we've got the truth and we've been hiding it, and it's really a wonderful time because there was two prayer meetings during the day and maybe three. I wasn't there in the evening. But I believe that was a spirit of Ezra here, that he called people together and he came together to humble themselves. And I believe that might be appropriate from time to time, that God's people realizing that, Lord, you seem to be a little dead or stale when I'm growing. We're not reaching out what kind of existing to ourselves. Maybe we ought to get some of the assemblies in this area just to come together for one day.
Even forever and confess what we are before the Lord and ask him Lord lift us up. We want to be used. We'd like to reach out in the gospel individually. We'd like to be united. Moore's brother and it says here that so we fasted and we saw our God for this and he was entreated of us. He answers pray, he answers prayer. Well, I believe what a uniting influence that has rather they came together. They came together for humiliation.
What a wonderful thing.
Because in humiliation you have a spirit of Daniel who confessed as he found out what the true state of God's people was. He said, I stand I in my father's house. And he cried out to God confessing that everything is ruined. And he asked God to lift him up. An Angel came and lifted him up and God knew the same for us. He did humbles himself shall be exhausted. Before honor comes humility. We'd like to have the honor of being gathered to the Lord's name and bearing that testimony down here before men. I mean that that's a real thing. That's right. But before that comes humility.
Reality and humiliation. I believe it would be a wonderful thing. Ron said it yesterday. And I've had other brothers say, a brother, Jim Kelcump, as a matter of fact, I was talking to him about these meetings for humiliation, he said. I never heard of sex.
And then he thought for a man and he looked at me and he was dead serious and said, brother, did you ever hear of those meetings? You call me right away. I want to go.
Now let's turn in closing the one last verse in Nehemiah.
Be together. Nehemiah, chapter 8.
The MI 8 and verse one and all the people gathered themselves together as one man.
Into the street that was before the Watergate. And they spake unto Ezra the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses the Lord had commanded Israel.
And verse 5.
And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord and the great and the great God, and all the people answered our man, Amen. And then in verse 8, so they read in the book of the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
Is very important that we be together to read the word of God like they were here, they were gathered together to hear the reading of the Word.
And that's why I'm so thankful that in Moses Lake we have at least two reading meetings a week and sometimes three, usually three Wednesday night and then Sunday morning and Sunday school. Then Sunday evening there's a Bible study. And I've learned a lot of what I've learned from those three meetings. It's very sad. And Christians want to go on and claim they want to go on in unity together, and yet they won't come out for a Bible study and they read very little at home and they won't come to an assembly meeting.
Where the Spirit can direct different brothers to minister the truth.
Or when a laboring brother comes through and he has a meeting and so few seem to come out. Sometimes it's sad. It's sad that that breaks unity. You see, we're unified rather than I believe around the person of Christ and according to the truth. And if I don't know what the truth is, what am I going to be gathered to? How am I going to know where to meet? That's where most Christians are. They have not read in the book of the law distinctly. Nobody has given them the sense. They don't know what it means. They don't understand to read.
I believe if we're going to give out the word of God ourselves as we gather together, we need to read distinctly and give the sentence. We need to rightly divide the word of truth.
This may apply to Israel directly. I realize this portion does in Nehemiah. It's really not about the church at all. It's about Israel both in that *** state and the future days. A picture of perhaps a little restoration that may come during the tribulation.
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But there's also there's some instruction for the church. I need to divide those things up. This is not about the church, but there's something there for me in it.
And cause of people to understand the reading. We want to, so to speak, that people will believe and understand what we say.
There's three things I found, you know, it was several years after I was saved, several years of reading the scriptures before I could even read it distinctly.
And I realize some people can read better than others, and I've never really been much of A reader, but I struggled through the Bible for some time before I begin to get familiar with it and begin to flow. But that's all right. We need to go through that. Some people today, unfortunately, think that they they just want to get a translation they can pick up and just the whole thing is just a snap. That's not true of any subject we're studying. I like to fish, and some of you farm and others you are trained in certain technical skills.
You never picked up a book on any of these subjects and read it right away and got everything that was in there, and you didn't understand every word in it either, right? I'm saying I would survive. God will bring us along as we need it, but we need to stay in it so that we can give a sense of what it means and cause others to understand.
Well, these are six or seven things that had to do with unity. The people being together for different reasons, to worship, to work together, to praise together, to encourage one another, to stand apart from the world, to come together, to read the Word of God. And I believe perhaps these things in Ezra, Nehemiah, a little picture of that verse in Ephesians 4, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the Father of peace. It's good and pleasant. The president can be together in unity.
Over these matters, these are the guidelines for our unity. We're not left up to decide what kind of unity we're going to have is given to us in the description.
And if we come together according to the word of God, I believe God bless and.
And I think I said a few minutes ago, I would rather do what's right with two or three than do what's wrong with 20 or 30. Unfortunately, that's where most Christians are today. They want to go either some members, well, let's pray.