Address—N. Berry
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Christian doctrine is not learned from the Old Testament. We know that.
It's learned only from the new the revelation that Paul received from an ascended, glorified Christ. He's the one who completes the Word of God and brings the truth of the church for you and for me today.
However, we learn great lessons by illustration, by picture.
From the Old Testament, we must have the key from the new, otherwise we're just going to be using our imagination and then we are off the track. So we will turn to a scripture that I'm fond of to give us permission to do the to do this, to use the illustrations out of the Old Testament and apply them in the new First Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 11.
This chapter is a.
Rapid review right from the first verse of Israel's history in the wilderness.
And threw it into the land.
Good lessons for us and on baptism.
And as we learn there, they went through the Red Sea, but it didn't save their souls.
Because with many God wasn't pleased. So it's teaching us a very important lesson and that is that though our position is secure in Christ, our walk in order to be established and strengthened, but live for God's glory, it must be consistent with the teachings that we learn day by day. So this was.
A warning to them that just because they went through the Red Sea, they weren't. That wasn't the end of the story.
Now then in the 11Th verse it says this. Now all these things, all of them happened, happened. They were the experiences. They happened unto them.
For an example, for in samples or types, as the margin says, that's one thing. Secondly, and they are written, not were written, are written.
For our admonition not something history book and interesting to read some of the history they are written. They're present need for you and for me today they are written.
For our admonition.
That word means stirring up where necessary, upon whom the ends of the world are. Ages are come Now That makes it very important, isn't it, that you and I, young and old alike, here the Old Testament is given for us, and all the things happened to them, and are written down the Old Testament.
But therefore you're in my admonition.
No, I'm looking into the faces of some young ones here. If you listen to what God says through his word.
You want to be blessed, You want to be blessed. Everyone of us, young and old alike, we're going to put it into practice, not just say, well, that's what they say in the meeting. No, we must let this word of God take a hold of us. And if it does, or it works as Thessalonians tells us, it works in those that believe it, not for salvation, but day by day living in the good of these things. Now that's what it says that the Old Testament gives us permission.
To do this now, go over to the 15th chapter.
46 Verse One Corinthians 1546.
Howbeit, that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual.
Now it makes it plain. On the chart you see that we have a circle written in green to represent the earth, the Old Testament story and unequally sized equal size circle in blue heavenly side Old Testament, New Testament.
Illustration, substance, place, person, everything so precise in the word of God, so precise, you'll see as we look now in Deuteronomy to the first of the subjects that I have before me. How that as you take note of it carefully, the words.
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Are so similar in their in their.
In there in the word and the wording that we will see the parallel even in the words Old Testament, New Testament 1700 years between the writings of Moses and the writings of the last of the of of the New Testament. And yet you would think they were in collaboration. It's all the mighty word of God and it's living and it's operative.
In our hearts, our lives, if it groups us, if it takes a hold of our souls, if it.
Is lived out in our life now. This is instruction from the Old Testament.
First, on one subject which is before me and that is worship. You have to pardon us because some of these words are written in other languages and in the Portuguese, and we use this chart in different languages and so we put in the keywords in English. But this means God's center. God center only has one center at anyone given time, never two centers.
Never. Whether it's today or whether it was back in the days of the Tabernacle or two Tabernacles. Tabernacles, one got into the land, one center, Jerusalem.
Prior to that, there was one center and that was up in the north.
Where the Shiloh, where they put the Tabernacle, it went to Gibeon and so on. Only one center at one time. God always works that way. So we're going to look now at 2 main subjects. One is the worship of God.
One place, one place. Moses didn't know what the place was.
When he wrote these books of the first five books of the Bible, but by instruction through the Holy Spirit, he wrote of it, He wrote of that one place. Then tomorrow night, Lord willing, we'll take up the other subject, and that is the authority vested in that place.
After we have the intermission tonight, we will be looking at the person of the Lord and the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the one not place, but now person for worship. He is the substance of our worship. Worship is lifting up Christ to God.
And then we will see tomorrow evening the authority vested in the assembly. So we will look now for the first half at the subject of the worship of God in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy chapter 12.
Verse 2.
Seven things I'm going to go over this rapidly. I don't want to spend too much time, but you will notice seven different things about these were these verses instructions. First of all, there was the to be the eradicating the clearing out the destroying God doesn't trifle and in your life and mine if we're going to be blessed.
First of all, there has to be the clearing out the judging of those things. I'm speaking now to believers, but young and old, you young boys and girls that are here tonight, if you're going on with things that your parents don't know about and you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to know that you're going to be in trouble because the Lord doesn't want.
Us to be pretending he wants reality, but when you and I learn.
And may we learn it that when we take a real stand for the Lord, you might say you don't want to do that at school, but when you do take a stand for the Lord, you're going to find that thank you that it is much easier, much easier. You might think otherwise, but that's Satan that is whispering that in into you that if you compromise a bit that then it'll be won't be quite so hard to be.
Christian and live it secretly. It's impossible. You can't do that. God is showing us here.
That if they were going to build.
This center, and it was going to be a place for worship. First of all, they had to eradicate. They had to clean out all the corruption and the filth. But notice now as we read these things that it is religious evil. It's not immorality.
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Religious evil, our compromise in our Christian life leads to immorality, doesn't start with it, it leads into it. But here we are getting rid of the root of these, of this situation. The first thing is they had to utterly destroy verse 2, seven steps. As I said, two of them -5 of them positive. So here's the first one in verse 2.
Ye shall utterly destroy all the places.
Where in the nations which ye shall possess, serve their gods.
Upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree. Now there is the first thing utterly destroyed. And say, just throw them into garbage heap. Utterly destroy. Get it rid of it. Notice that each one of them that is mentioned here is in the plural. They're all plurals.
It says places plural.
Nation where? In the nations?
Their gods upon high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree. Plural. I'll come come to that in a moment. Next step, verse three. And ye shall overturn their altars.
Or statues and break their pillars. Notice that plural pillars altars and burn their Groves with fire Groves plural. And ye shall hew down the graven images plural of their gods plural, and destroy the names of them.
Out of that place.
All of them in the plural. Why would that be? Oh, it's very simple. And that is that everyone of us here who belongs to the Lord Jesus, you have an old nature and a new nature. The old nature in every one of us is entirely different. As I look into your faces, every one of you has an old nature that is appealed to by Satan in one way, different than even husbands and wives that we are. We are appealed to by Satan. He's a.
Of duplicity and diversity. And he will set before one person something that somebody else will say, oh, that's awful, isn't it? That's the old nature. That's Satan setting before us these things. Here we see the illustrations, all these things. I think there are about 10 of them, and they're all in the plural. Mountains for those who are extremists, hills for those that weren't quite so.
Didn't want to go up so high, all that type of things. Everything to appeal to the old nature.
And they were to be utterly destroyed. First of all, even the names of them. He probably remember in in Catholic history how that the queen of Heaven was a heathen goddess. And they had pictures in their heathen God in their heathen temples. And when in the days of Constantine, they turned to Christianity.
Why they they gave up many of these things, They weren't real about it because.
It was just in name only and so some of the churches, they just left the picture there.
And took out Queen of Heaven and put on Mary. Now what do they call Mary now? Queen of Heaven? That's Catholic teaching. Queen of Heaven, utterly destroy the names out of the out of out of those places. Nothing was to be left, even the names. Now let's go to the positive side, verse 5.
But.
But big change but.
Unto the place, one place.
The place which the Lord your God shall choose.
Out of all your tribes to put his name there?
You could say his name. He was going to be.
The center of that place, one place, one place his name Psalm 84 verse one says, how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts? Why the the very Tabernacle is the personification of the Lord. He is. He makes that place. I think it's 30 second of Exodus says there is a place by me. Oh how beautiful this is.
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As we go on here now in this Third Point battle of the place which the Lord your God shall choose, that of all the tribes to put his name there even unto his habitation, Oh, isn't that beautiful? His habitation wasn't going to be delegating a place and say go there and worship God. No God was going to be there. He was going to be at the center.
His habitation, he's going to live there with them.
Shall ye see what's that mean? This is the next step. They had to be in earnest about it. They had to be diligent to seek after seek. Matthew 1129 says take my yoke upon you and learn from me. That's a conditional blessing. 28th verse is come unto me all you that labor and Harvie laden and I'll give you a rest unconditional.
That's the rest of conscience that a believer has. But the next verse 29 and 30 are the.
The exercise of your heart and mine as a believer here is the same thing taught in the Old Testament. Ye shall seek, seek.
Are we in earnest about this Christian life, or is it just something that we put on on Sunday and come to the meetings and so on? Unless the Lord Jesus Christ grasped your heart and mind, you were going to drift away. We're not going to lose our salvation, but we're going to lose the meaning of life. Paul and Timothy, I think it is, he says, are Thessalonians to learn what is truly living.
Well, this is a wonderful life, but it must be lived to be enjoyed. And so here it was to seek after. That's the third one, and the 4th one. And scissor thou shalt come.
Doesn't only to seek after it goes to act on it. And faith is acting. It's not theorizing.
It is acting and there they were to come to that place next.
Verse 6 And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your free willing offerings, and the firstlings of your herds, and of your flocks. How does the change there? Not His yours. What are we to bring all these things? What are they all Speaking of Christ?
Christ the written in the middle. Here Christ is all. Or in the new translation, Christ is everything.
Is he everything to you and to me?
You don't get anything else out of these meetings. Get that verse. Christ is effort.
How much is he to us?
Is what he's saying here now. They were to bring. This was the only place where there was going to be the bringing of their sacrifices. Well, that's bringing your life and mine, our bodies, a living sacrifice, living.
And it's a reality they had to do that. This was the one and only place. They had many synagogues throughout that land. 1 temple, one center and.
God was going to choose that place. He didn't choose the middle of the land of Israel so to be equally.
Convened nor Jerusalem as a way down at the bottom, and it might have been 125 miles or so that they would have to come from up down in the north, but it was the place where God chose what to do to place his name there. Now then go on to the 7th verse and here we see the 6th step and.
There notice how often that word there is. Ye shall eat before the Lord your God.
Oh, that's beautiful, beautiful eating, you know, eating in Christ, you're feeding on Christ. Or are we feeding on, on the husks of the world or wasting our time with TV? We've just been traveling around the world. Sad to see so many homes even in those those far less.
Mercifully, blessed lands that we have.
And here yet they have those. The TV, it's going to just deaden your soul. Beloved ones, pardon me for speaking bluntly, and I don't have anybody in mind at all because I don't know of any TV's here. But I'm just going to say that our soul is blighted and our children are going to be put through the fire. And that means that we're going to just be destroying our children because we're going to be teaching them those worldly things.
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Here God is saying that we must be rid of those things.
And then we're going to be able to feed the supper table tonight.
When asked Steven if he'd been eating something else, why did he ask that? Because it's going to SAP your appetite and mine. The worldly things, the things that we allow in our life apart from Christ, are we feeding on Christ? One place for them to feed on.
Those sacrifices that there's the peace offering that they ate. Now then the last part, and ye shall rejoice.
You and me to be a happy Christian. He's made every provision for it, and he's given us the ability to, to enjoy him. That your joy might be full, John said four times in his gospels and in his epistles. Fullness of joy. That's what he wants in your life and mine.
Not only to make us happy, but to be occupied with the same objective that fills.
The heart of God the Father, like the prodigal son, sat down at the table and ate the same food as the father.
That's rejoicing, that's feeding on Christ. And so the two of them run closely together, eating there. And ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto. Oh, that's nice. Isn't every part of our life, our business life? We can't separate our business life from our Christian life. We can't take off one coat and put on another one. We come into the meetings.
No, it must be a consistency. If we're feeding, we're going to be rejoicing.
And so there it is, he shall rejoice.
In all that he put your hand unto, the Lord will do that He'll fill your life worth with with the things that are for his glory.
Unto and your handle and your household. So isn't that lovely households lovely to go into Christian homes and find the children happy to go into many, many homes sometimes that children are unhappy. What's wrong? Parents not enjoying the Lord? That's the key of it all, isn't it? I often say if my children turn out badly, I'm to blame if we if they turn out well.
There's zero credit to us, nothing, because He has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
Or how important it is for you parents and each one of us to be feeding on Christ ourself. Then the children, they just know that the Christian home is the home of happiness and joy. They go into the schools and they hear all the filth and the corruption, The Dirty stories and all the stuff that's going on.
The child that is coming from a home, a heavenly home where Christ is exalted, that child is going to save. I know they've got nothing.
I know there's nothing to this world. That's the way we're going to show it to our children, and that's the way we're going to be living for God's glory. Well, there they were. There was the one place for worship and there was going to be blessing. Look at the where we close. Look at the 12Th verse.
11Th verse.
Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. Little different dwelling there thither shall ye bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord. And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye.
And your sons, and your daughters, and your men servants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates. For as much as he hath no part nor inheritance with you, take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place.
That thou seest, but in the place.
Which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes. There thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. One place for worship. I see our time has gone, so we'll stop for 5 minutes to go ahead now with seeing first of all that.
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Everything failed in those in that Old Testament story. Its turn for a verse I think I can find it in.
In Acts chapter.
Seven yes. Acts Chapter 7 and verse 39.
Act 739.
To whom our fathers would not obey.
That was the word of God and God Himself.
But thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again to Egypt.
Verse 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the work of their hands.
Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven. That's the stars and the sun and the moon, as it is written in the book of the Prophets. O ye House of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of 40 years in the wilderness. Yay, He took up the Tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God Rimphan figures, which he have made to worship them.
And I'll carry you away beyond your battle. Well, it showed there that they didn't carry out any of the instructions and they forfeited everything.
Of God's promises and their rights, I should say too, they forfeit them. But God kept his promise, though they didn't. And we know the blessed story how that God's promise was that he would send the Messiah, and he sent him right into that very.
Family of the children of Israel, born into the tribe of Judah, the royal tribe, and we know that the dreadful story they crucified.
But wonder who wonders God turned that cross around?
Turned around, speaking reverently, and made at the very means.
Our blessing. Untellable blessing.
To whosoever will, Mr. Bell, it so beautifully puts it this way, that God, he said as it were, brought his left hand from behind his back, and he gave man the world, but through disobedience and listening to Satan.
Man lost the world. God didn't restore it. He brought his right hand out from behind his back and he gave man heaven. Oh, how sweet. That's what He has given to you and to me. This is why we have it in blue on this side, the heavenly color. Heavenly.
Now let's go over to Matthew 1820.
I don't think there's a verse that is so.
Criticized for laying any stress on.
By Christian groups, then Matthew 18 and 20.
It's constantly thrown.
At us and saying, well, you're taking the verse right out of context. Well, I just would remind you that this is exactly what Moses was doing. He didn't know where that center was. He didn't even know the name of it, but he knew there was going to be a center where God was going to place his name. Remember I mentioned that we could right across here, his name there.
Notice how similar Matthew 18 and 20 is no longer a place, now a person injured.
Read and I will read Matthew 18 and 20.
Or where two or three are gathered together.
In my name.
There am I in the midst of them.
My name.
Not his name, my name.
Unto my name there am I, in the midst of that beautiful closest we ever come to heaven on this earth, when we're gathered by the Holy Spirit.
Are gathered, not gathers, not an act of tense. It's the passive tense. Are gathered. I didn't decide that I was going to get saved. In 1928, God, the Spirit of God saved my soul. He gathered me equally so. Oh, how precious it is. You young ones that are here today. Do you say yes, I'm a believer? Well, then I say to you.
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Do you pray to the Lord? Yes, yes, I pray. Do you remember the Lord? Do you respond?
No.
Ask the Lord to help us keep you at school and so on, and the Lord asks you to do 1 little thing.
No, no, that's what you're doing, increasing your responsibility very much. But you really can't pray with a good conscience. Can't.
Is not responding to what the Lord said one place?
Not one place, one person, one person.
His name my name there.
Elijah was told to go to the brook.
And there.
The Ravens would feed him, but it says the Ravens would feed him there, he said. I don't like the brook like another one. Jay Book is nicer. I'll go up there. No Ravens are going to feed him there.
And it's always, as we saw there, there they were to feed.
Oh how blessed it is when the Lord Jesus becomes so attractive to our heart. Not to say nothing is going to hold me back. I went to one assembly one time and one of the boys that was sitting always at the back, he told me. He said I asked for my place at the Lord's table and he said when I told the other boys that sit with me in the back row, they all said bye John.
He said I couldn't stand it, couldn't stand it, He said I I didn't ask for my place. So I said to him a little while later, what did you do, John?
He said. I decided I was going to put the Lord first. Never mind the boys. That's what it means.
Happily gathered now.
His my name there.
One center.
I don't hesitate to say that I believe that Scripture teaches there cannot be two corporate gathering centers.
Can't be.
Any more than there could be two ways of being saved, One way of being saved, God always has one way.
As for God, His way is perfect.
One center, One center.
Let's turn to Colossians 3 and 11. End of the verse.
That Christ is all or everything.
Christ is everything.
And in all.
What more precious statement in the Word of God? How much? How much does that mean to you and to me?
Christ as ever.
If that is so, is our whole life regulated? Our work, our school life, family life, everything? Yes, yes, everything Paul could say for me to live is Christ. I wondered for years what that would mean. I would believe that it just means that everything in life, he could only see whatever he looked at, he could see Christ in it. Or how precious.
Christ is everything.
Christ is he he's going to be the center of your and my life in or this eternity. He wants to be that now to the degree that he is. He's going to reveal himself. Matthew John's Gospel 14. I think it's in 23 that's turn to it too important, yes.
1423 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
20.
One is the verse, He that hath my commandments and keepeth them. He it is that loveth Me, and he shall, and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and notice this, and will manifest myself to him personally.
But it's conditional.
Obedience to the Word of God and the Lord Jesus is going to manifest himself. He's going to open up as if we're speaking reverently that window and we'll see his face. It's going to be an attraction to my heart.
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If you and I are obedient to the Word of God, we're not going to be worried about whether we're in the right place or not. And if we are occupied by the by the place, we're going to be proud of it. But it's the person of the Lord Jesus Christ who fills and makes that place. Where two or three are gathered together under my name, there am I in the midst of them. We're not gathered to a person or gathered to his name. Tomorrow night we will see the authority that is vested.
That name. But tonight we are emphasizing the worship side of of the one person. Now let's go over to 1St Corinthians.
Chapter 12 and verse 13.
All by 1 Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jew or Gentiles, whether we be born or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit?
Now we have to look back and in our thoughts to Israel.
When an Israelite was born into the family.
He was a Jew. He didn't join it. There was number preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom to the nations around and inviting them to become Jews. One thing was the gate born into the congregation of Israel when they were born into it. They're in it so that everyone in Israel.
All Israel, they were a homogeneous whole. They were just.
All I was a Jew, all was an Israelite born there nationally. Now this is beautifully illustrated. At least that's a beautiful illustration of the fact that every believer now is in the one body. We're all in that one body, every believer, no matter how we're going on.
Our life hasn't anything to do with the fact that we're in that one body. We are in it because we are born again.
The blood of Christ is that which has made us, is our birthright, and it has placed us now in this wonderful position and the Holy Spirit.
At Pentecost, it wasn't that the Christians were changed at Pentecost.
They weren't indwelt by the Holy Spirit there first it was when the Lord Jesus and resurrection life in 19th of John when he breathed on them and he said to the disciples receive ye the Holy Ghost then was when they received the Holy Ghost individually into their hearts, but at Pentecost they were all brought into.
The one body they were made into 11 body as it tells us there.
In the rest of that chapter, one body, one body, every believer. Now then, what about?
The fact? Let's go back to the 10th chapter.
Verse 16 First Corinthians 10/16 the cover blessing which we bless is if not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break is it thought the communion of the body of Christ. Now this verse for we being many, that's many.
Individuals.
R1 Low on low on bread.
One body.
For we are all partakers of that one loaf, as it should be translated. One loaf. Large day, morning.
We are gathered by the Spirit of God around one loaf might be two. Four cups at this cup isn't the symbol of the unity. The body, The loaf is one loaf on loaf. Every believer on the face of the earth is seen in that one loaf.
Very important to see that every believer in the city of Vancouver is in the one loaf. When you sit down around that table to eat that low, must see every believer there. Somebody may be next door. They're saved. They're in that one loaf. They're not here. They're not gathered to the Lord's name. Why? Oh, it's because of self will that keeps us, isn't it? Or something that we set before the Lord.
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But to sit around.
That table is to recognize that that loaf is a picture of the one body. That's what we are gathered to. We're gathered to the truth of the one body. Now, there may be others who claim that there are 650 groups of Christians in the world today, true believers probably in every one of them.
What's happened? What has happened?
Wasn't so at the beginning, Acts 2 Says they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship. Just one fellowship, one doctrine. What has happened? 1St Corinthians 110 says.
Beloved, I beseech you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no divisions amongst you, but that you be perfectly.
United together in the same.
Judgment not quite quoting it correctly and in the same opinion.
Versus before, at least almost immediately after that, Say, is Christ divided? No, he's not divided.
But Paul was writing to the Corinthians in those first ten chapters to correct 10 evils that were creeping in amongst the Corinthian assembly, and the first one was division. The first error that he'd dealt with was division. Oh, it is a sad condition to realize that in the world today Satan has succeeded in dividing the Christians.
I often say this.
A little the Lord Jesus Christ has for all his work.
This just should fill.
With sorrow.
For his sake.
His precious blood is powerful enough to save every soul in this world. 4,700,000,000 people in the world. That precious blood of Christ is able to save everyone, including the man who shed that blood. That is the power of the blood of Christ. How many are the Lords? How many have accepted him as Savior?
So very few. And of all the believers.
How few will respond and bow to the authority of the Word of God will cover this more fully tomorrow night. How she.
What a privilege then, for you and for me.
By God's grace alone, to be gathered by His Spirit to lift up Christ before God Lord's Day, mourning to remember Him in his death. And as I said then, out of that remembrance of the Lord, our hearts are filled with worship and praise and Thanksgiving. Oh, how precious it is. Let's turn to Ephesians chapter 4.
Verse 3. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit.
In the uniting bond of peace.
Endeavor.
There's the same word as we found in Deuteronomy 12. Seeking. Seeking. That's endeavor.
No, don't be confused with.
The unity of the body and the unity of the spirit. These are two entirely different things.
The unity of the body. The Lord Jesus holds that firmly in his hands. I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish.
That's the unity of the body. That's unbreakable. But I'm sure that here in your city there are hundreds of people that are saying that you can lose your salvation after you've after you haven't, that it depends on your life and so on. This is impossible. This is an insult to the finished work of Christ.
That body can never be touched. It's his body. We are the fingers and we are the hands and we are part of that one body and never can be separated from Him.
But this verse now is talking about the unity of the Spirit. What is that unity of the Spirit?
Ah, it would.
The Holy Spirit desires.
That each one of us would be gathered to His name to respond to that blessed precious privilege. Another verse just comes to my mind. As in John's Gospel chapter 17, The three unities familiar to many of us. Verse 11, unity of the past. And now the Lord's speaking to his Father. And now I am no more in the world but these.
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In the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name.
Those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. That was a word to the apostles and the disciples in that day. The desire that there'd all be 1:00 and that they would maintain that unity didn't last very long. Wasn't very long after the apasal of the apostles were passing off the scene. Even the Apostle John in his day, there were those that were already.
Creeping in, speaking against the person of the Lord, and that's why.
We have the Epistle of John to warn against that turning away from the Lord Jesus. Come in the flesh. That's the unity of the past. Go over to the unity of the future, verse 22.
And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them that they may be one even as we are one. There is the unity of the of the glory that is ahead. We're all going to be together in that one unity around the person of the Lord Jesus. I put it this way that I believe this that when our eyes.
First see the Savior might be tonight.
Our eyes are going to be soul enraptured by that vision of the glory of God in His blessed lovely face.
That our gaze is going to be transfixed on that face forever. We're never going to take our eyes off His blessed face.
Nothing in heaven, the atmosphere of heaven is going to be nothing. He is the one that is going to be the attraction of the harvest. How much is he the attraction of your heart and mine Now. Now let's look at the unity of the present verse 21 That they all well, maybe we should read verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone. Those were disciples around him.
But for them also which shall believe on me.
Through their word that they all may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I and thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Oh, how lovely that is, because it connects the testimony to the Lord's name.
With his glory one, and secondly, that the world would might believe.
Now I know people say, well, that's the gospel. I don't believe it's only the gospel.
I know one time in Florida, man said to me, why? He said, you're telling me about salvation. He said I'm talking to somebody else and they tell me something different and somebody else and something different. He showed me a quite a clever poem written by Ogden Nash, very clever. And he said this is what I believe. I read the poem and here he was saying that some Christians say this, some say that and some say this when they all get together.
Let's hear what the story is. That's what he said. It was a rich man, the mayor of the town.
And he said I'll, I'll, if you all get together and tell me one story. That's what this verse is saying.
Now you and I, beloved ones, have the blessed privilege of displaying this unity. I don't say this in pride, but it humbles us, doesn't it? Because surely, surely there is nothing that we can say. Well, look at us. I can prove it. Because when my heart gets cold, who are the first ones that I criticize, my brethren? The first ones? Why?
Oh we are so failing and I see that as soon as I get cold in my soul.
Immediately the inconsistencies of the brethren come before me going on with the Lord. Oh, I just see them, the objects of God's grace that we are preserved. Oh, may the Lord now just so become the attraction of our heart that we wouldn't let anything come between, nothing between, but he would be the object that Christ would be everything. He would be everything and in all then we're going to.
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Living for His glory, as I said before. How little credit, how little He has left. Just a little, as it were. Just a little Kingdom left.
Just a little handful.
Gathered to His blessed name corporately, according to his word.
May this be touching our hearts and warming us and realizing what a blessed privilege it is from week to week to be gathered by the Spirit of God into His blessed holy presence to His name, and then having the blessed assurance that He is in the midst well.
We hesitated very much to put this little line around there, and I hope it's not done in pride. But as I said before, I believe that there is a within and a without in that circle. To be within is to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Paul in First Corinthians chapter 5.
Return to it for a minute. Verse 12.
1St Corinthians 5 verse 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without that's outside the assembly.
Do not ye judge them that are within inside the assembly gather to the Lords name.
But them that are without God judges.
I wouldn't like to be in that place. They're believers.
Their neighbors.
That they're in that outside place them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. That person was still a believer. They had been gathered and I'd say this that in the early days, in those beautiful days, there was just one fellowship and almost all the believers.
Were in that fellowship, I say almost because they weren't all.
But there was only one fellowship.
On fellowship.
And it was the center.
And it went on for a short while, and all were within, except this man, and a few others that are mentioned that were outside. Paul speaks of those in the 20th of Acts that are from among yourselves shall men arise, seeking to speak perverted things, and draw away disciples after them. These were ones that were drifting away.
And bit by bit I use this simple illustration. Suppose this man had been gathered there in Corinthians chapter 5.
And he's put out of Corinth in a while later somebody else has put out for something else. And they're both outside. I'm only using this illustration. And after a while they, they meet each other and they say.
What are you doing? What are you doing? Well, I'm just, I've been put out and yeah, so am I, So they say, well, why not meet together?
Why? Why couldn't we just meet together and we remember the law? I get a bread and wine and we'll remember the Lord by ourselves. That's how division started.
Gradually spread more and more and more denial of the One.
Body of Christ is Christ divided. I hope I make this plain for the younger ones. It's so important for us to see this and what happened or just spread more and more and more.
Groups of Christians here. There are some small What's happening these days is very sad because there are more and more little groups of Christians meeting on their own. We met them as we traveled in many countries.
Meeting on their own, giving up, throwing up and saying, throwing up their hands and saying, oh, we just can't find the right path, so we're just meeting by ourselves. Oh, First Corinthians chapter 12 points out the error of that. That's independency. And that is spreading more and more in the world. But what happened in those early days, in the days of Constantine?
When profession of Christianity without reality.
Spread more and more, and Christian groups became watered down, just as it is today. What happened? That whole thing the center became.
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Out of it came the Catholic Church. Out of that came the Protestant church. Henry the Eighth started setting up his own Church of England because he couldn't get a divorce through the Catholic Church. And so the whole thing has become rotten in the middle. And what has happened now?
Let's read the 13th of Hebrews, verse 13. Hebrews 1313. Let us go forth therefore unto Him, without the camp, bearing His reproach. Just a little brief reference.
To the camp of Israel, the illustration.
In the days of Moses when there was corruption in the tent in the congregation of Israel, Moses said all those that fear the Lord or want to follow the Lord go outside and he set up a tent outside the tent of meeting. All those who wanted to follow the Lord go out there. That's what you and I are called on today to do, to go without the camp.
What is the camp boy? It's anything that makes something of the old man.
That what is what has happened amongst Christians now, all seeking and all even claiming that they're gathered to the Lords name. Can there be two gatherings corporately to the Lorde name?
Could there be any division in that one center? No. Is Christ divided today? No.
No, he's not.
And so now that center, as it were, is outside the camp. And if we are going to follow a rejected Lord, it's going to be outside all the claims of of Christendom and all those who would say, well.
There's no center left. That's what every believer that I've spoken to have who has left. Not, I shouldn't say every believer, but those who have left the Lord's Table. One brother particular than new, well taught. He was the most instructed brother in the Scriptures.
In our assembly years ago and he got away from the Lord, or I should say he, he left the Lord's table seven years later, just before he died, he said to me, I believe that the decision that I made seven years ago was the right one.
He said, I don't think there's any testimony left now. And so it's a question of doing it by ourselves. And he said that's what I have followed for the last seven years just before the Lord took that man. Oh, may we be preserved, beloved once. May the Lord Jesus be seen. It's only the person of the Lord.
Let me give you one last verse before I close and in.
John's Gospel Again, 14th chapter, verse 3.
And if I go and prepare a place a place?
What was that? That's heaven.
No man had ever been in heaven before.
The Lord Jesus was the first man to enter heaven, and he's the only one still in heaven.
Bodily.
And when he went into heaven, he prepared heaven.
Our place spoke about our place.
Notice now how that changes and if I go and prepare a place for you.
I will come again and receive you into that place, no?
Unto myself.
Unto myself, O may the Lord.
So attract our hearts now. That's what I'm here for, to encourage you, beloved ones.
The Lord Jesus must be the attraction of our heart.
Being here in the meeting, no, the singing will never attract us, certainly in the building and anything about it. And if I allow the flesh to arrive and to be active in my life, I'm going to lose the attraction of Christ.
I'm going to get my eye on the failures of the breath, but oh, the Lord Jesus is the object before me. If Christ is ever in in our hearts and our lives, then he's just going to fill our hearts with himself. And as I read there, he's going to manifest himself to you and to me. And beloved ones, if you and I have this.
Mutual desire.
One mutual desire to exalt Christ in your heart and life.
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There's going to be unity here. Of those who are gathered to His blessed name, nothing will produce unity.
Like the mutual desire to exalt Christ, may He be the object of our hearts now while we wait for Him from heaven. Maybe tonight. 8:20 Now in 5 minutes we may be in His blessed presence. See His face that our eyes have never seen. See. Hear His voice that our ears have never heard. Blessed Savior.
Blessed Savior, He waits. May we be faithful now until we hear the show.