Address—Norman Berry
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For this also that it's not Satan who is behind moral evil, it's the flesh.
The flesh makes me do immoral things, not Satan.
Tells us that in violations and Ephesians the flesh lust lost us against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. So the flesh are is opposed by the spirit and the spirit of causes the flesh. Satan or I should say the Father is opposed by the world. Godsell of the world and the world is the enemy of God. James chapter 5 tells us that they were a friend of the world. We're an enemy of God, so those two are lined up.
And finally, Satan is against Christ. Try to remember that he's a subtle, educated, advanced thinking and he's the master, uh, greatest salesman of antiques that we have state. And he's got that. All of them always reboiled up in a new way. And it's always aimed at Christ, Oh, aimed at Christ.
Satan is the enemy of Christ. He was jealous of Christ's position and ever since he has been seeking to destroy as we saw there, and he's still working here tonight, this afternoon.
Now here's here's more morale evil in the assembly. I stumbled over this when I was a young brother because the brother said to me one time why he said you folks here so fussy about all kinds of things that soon as somebody does something wrong and put them out, throw them out as he said.
So they didn't call, didn't put this, so this man out, and he didn't dissolve the assembly and car. And I stumbled over that for a long time until I read an article of Darby's and I recommend everyone to read it. It's in volume one of the collected writings, The last Verse, The Last Second, The last, uh article in the book Separation from Evil, God's Principle of Unity. It just changed my life when I read that and I saw the truth of what it means.
To be gathered to the Lord's name, evil cannot be allowed in the assembly. And secondly, the Lord runs the assembly, He holds the key. And so here we find now moral evil, very often very awful condition in the assembly. To finish my story.
I stumbled over that until I read that article and I found that Paul writes this first fifth chapter in order to tell them what to do. If they didn't do it, then there would be a setting aside of that assembly. Can I make that claim it is written The spirit of God allowed these evils to come in so that he would enable.
Paul, to write this for you and my admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come, so there was.
Evil in this assembly and Paul writes them and he says this verse.
Verse.
I have to bring in verse 2 for a minute, but ye are puffed up.
So here we see an introduction now that there were two evils in that assembly. One that there was moral evil, and that there on the other side the assembly was puffed up with this man of going on in in this corrupt evil. Had the assembly been in a good state of soul, no, he could have could come in the door and he would say, I can't stand it in here. My conscience is stricken like a brother told me it was going on in sin, and he told me afterwards when he confessed it all, he said in the reading meeting.
When this very chapter was coming up in the in our Reading meeting, he said it was a man with a £50 mallet was hitting me on my head. That's.
What your responsibility of the assembly has, and that is for each one of us to be walking in inward personal purity with God before him. And then you sisters that are here, you have a heavy responsibility as part of the assembly. Don't take part, but you have a very grave responsibility. And so here was there were the two evils. One was the man was going on an immorality, and the other was that the assembly was puffed up.
So we see those two now in parallel. So let's go on.
Verse 3. For I verily add absent in bodies, as the apostle is writing this, but present in spirit, have judged already as though I were present concerning him that have so done this deed. Notice the comma there. In other words, it goes right into the fourth verse. I don't know get twos involved in this.
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But he was saying that he had the authority from God to commit this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Sometimes people are saying that this means that the assembly has that power, but it's not. So it is Paul saying that he had already done this in spirit. And now the fourth verse. Look at the fourth verse and notice three things here. Now for authority in the assembly, first thing in the name of our.
Lord Jesus Christ, there is the authority. See, we're not gathered to the person of the Lord Jesus. We're gathered to his name, Matthew 1820 says, Where two or three are gathered together unto my name. The authority of that name, does it have authority of your life and mind? The name of the Lord, That's always authority. And so he says here in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Secondly, when ye are gathered together now there is the assembly.
In session, brothers and sisters.
Everybody has to be there, no, but everybody has to be invited there, or know that the assembly is going to have an assembly meeting. And so when ye are gathered, ye is the plural again. Ye are gathered together, gathered together. Does it say when you gather together? No. It's the path of tense. When ye are gathered together, the spirit is the gatherer. But the Assembly needs to be gathered together just the same as if our government, The cabinet is off on a holiday, and they're up at the.
This neat lake where they where they Prime Minister has his private home. Suppose all the cabinet is there, They decide that they're going to pass them laws and do that.
Has to be where the seal of the crown is in the capital and they are in session and then they can pass a law in the assembly. It must be when we are gathered together. That's the second thing, Not brothers doing it by ourselves, gathered together. And then the third thing it says there with my spirit. Paul was is no longer here now, but his spirit is with us. So we can leave that part out. And then the third thing it says.
The power of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I always ask myself, I ask you, do we lack anything in the assembly? We have those three things.
The name of the Lord Jesus Christ. When the assembly is gathered together, the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, we can act. But I always say this. I think it's important for us to realize that when an assembly makes a decision, it must be made in the fear of the Lord. Secondly, it must be made slowly.
And thirdly, we can count on the Lord, but it that it isn't, We're not infallible. The assembly isn't infallible. The brother isn't infallible. But the assembly has the decision. They have to make it slowly and in the fear of the Lord. And so here He. These are This verse to me is a very important verse. Verse 4. Now then.
Verse six your glory. Now he comes to the moral condition or the bad condition of the assembly. Your glorying is not good. No, you're not. At 1111 as a whole lump that applied to moral evil here deprived to doctrine. When we start the compromise on doctrinal evil, it is a weakening. And so here is a strong warning that their glorying was not good. They were proud of their being able to speak their tongues and.
Being able to heal and so on. And they were enjoying the gift, but they weren't conscious of the presence of the Holy Spirit. They weren't sensitive to the evil that was going on right in the midst. And neither will an assembly, I believe, if there is carelessness. That's why I come back to emphasize again how important it is for every one of us to be walking in holiness, young and old alike. Because your behavior is going to pull down the assembly.
Pull it down if there's something in your life that's going on.
That is not a car not pleasing to the Lord. You're going to affect everybody in the assembly collectively, and so here, he warns them. Now then, verse 7.
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Purge out, therefore the old leaven that ye may be a new lump as you are unleavened, or even Christ. Our per Passover is sacrificed for us. Here is a little difficult word. It says purge out that means.
Put a clear clean out put it. They had to put out that mask I have people write me off and but the chapter day and they say well we're not to judge each other. That's what Satan is whispering into groups of Christians today. We can't judge each other or the assembly as we're going to see in a view versus father. It has the responsibility and the power to judge my life. I can get a phone call today from my assembly and they say Norman Berry we want to talk to you. We hear something.
Uh, that is very serious. Come back. I can't say. Well, I'll be back in a month or so. I can't say that the assembly has control of my life. And it's a good thing for us all to realize there's authority from the Lord in the assembly. And may you, dear younger ones, realize that too. It's so important not to think that we're in a voluntary association, a kind of a club that we can leave at any time we want to and we shirk our and we get rid of our responsibilities. Let me say this, too.
I don't increase my responsibilities when I'm at the Lord's table and maybe some of you younger ones.
Maybe you're the Lord and you're not at the Lord's table. They're just as responsible as if you were. Because you and I are responsible for what we know or should know, how important it is for us to listen in a in a meeting. Because if something is said and you're not listening, you're gonna be held responsible for that. And so because the Spirit of God is working to make us, uh, partakers of His Holiness, as Hebrews 12 Says.
Purge out there for the old level. Now every assembly is the new level.
And so he says to maintain it as the new leaven you must purge out. If you looked at Second Timothy two, you would find that the assemblies had gone down so far, and there was so much weakness in those closing days of the apostles writing to Timothy in Second Timothy that he said to the individual the opposite Purge yourself.
Here he says the assembly purge it. This was when there was authority in the assembly, when they would judge themselves also.
And then go down verse nine. I wrote all unto you in an epistle not to keep company, not the company with fornicators yet, not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous or extortioners, or with idolatrous. For then must your needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man, or any person that is called a brother, be a fornicator or covetous, or an adulterer.
Or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner with such an one, no, not to eat and so on. Let me just explain that quickly. I go to work and I there's no other place to eat, but with all the other men, A bunch of immoral men and so on. Don't choose it, but I have to work there with them. I can eat there with a good conscience with them. But some suppose one of the men's titles up to me, and he says.
I know you're a Christian. I'm a Christian too. But I'm a backslider and I I'm kind of ashamed of my life. I can't eat with that man anymore.
Because he's going on in sin. He's a brother, he's called a brother and he's going on in sin.
But otherwise we uh, because the scripture says otherwise, we'd have to go out of the world. We couldn't exist here on this earth because it it's all full of corruption and filth. You dear boys and girls at school, you know more than I do of the awfulness that is going on in in the school systems. You and I need to keep ourselves pure. And if the other boys and girls you know are Christians, then you and I need to be very careful that if they're going on and doing bad things to keep right away from them so.
This is what it that scripture, I believe means that as long as we know that a person is a believer, I have to separate. I can't even eat with them. I can't show social fellowship with them. Now then finally 12 or what have I to do to judge them also that are without, Do not ye judge them also that are within There's the authority of the assembly to judge and to act, but then there are without God judges.
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Awful place to be outside. God judging those, the assembly judging those that are.
Within therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked first.
That was the instruction to the apostle to the assembly just before I close.
This assembly was in such a bad state as I said, that they didn't have the power because they were so puffed up and so proud of themselves that in the second chapter, the second book, second chapter, when this man really confessed that he was apparently that and he was restored. They didn't have the spiritual discernment to detect, to recognize that the man was restored and they wouldn't restore.
Danger again. Fault in the assembly. Not until the 7th chapter of the second Epistle do we find that the assembly. Paul writes them and says, Ye have cleared yourself. So it really took longer for the assembly to cure it to clear itself than the man did. And so these are the two evils there.
Want to make a couple of minor?
Clarifications.
I get the I won't say.
And one is I I didn't didn't make it clear. Apparently the umm.
Then the in First Corinthians 5.
The umm.
The 11 There.
A new love that he may be a new lump. I'd just like to clarify that a little bit. The the assembly is the new lump.
If they didn't.
Clear themselves. If they didn't judge this, if they didn't put the man out, they would have been allowed allowing 11. So it was a question of.
Continuing to be a new lump. Not that they were not being near lump, but that they would continue to be in new lump if they acted in judgment and put this man out.
Any questions that you would like to raise on any of those points?
Well, let's turn over to Acts 15.
Here is.
Plain doctrinal evil.
Jerusalem was the original.
Areas where they were baptized the Jews, Jewish believers into the one body of the day of Pentecost. They were in the in the Jerusalem, but it spread through the Apostle Paul.
Into the Gentile he was into the Gentile areas. And now we come to a place called Antioch. It was a very gifted assembly. There was an apostle there, Paul, in his early days there were prophets, and there were many well taught brethren emphasizing that because I want to show that influential brethren have no authority to make any decisions.
They can bring scriptures before an assembly, but they can't make a decision even they are great. The Apostle Paul he was in his early years here, but he still was a delegate right from heaven. He was raised up by God and so there he is in this place and and Barnabas is there and they can't settle this problem that has arisen because uh some of the people.
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Or their believers, or not they had come from.
Uh, from Judea and they were saying bad doctrine in the assembly, in Antioch they were saying that you had to be circumcised if you wanted to be a continue to be a Christian. And so there was a lot of pro there were a lot of problems there. But I want to emphasize this fact that the individual brethren couldn't solve it and neither can any individual growth. Uh, let me say this I I've been called sometimes to.
Buy assemblies uh to visit them and to.
Help them. I refuse. I refuse, and I don't think we should interfere with the work of the Spirit of God in other assemblies. Your assembly here has the absolute authority from God in the fear of God, depending on your state of soul as to how to deal with it. Deal with a problem. And I think we need to remember that, because the Holy Spirit is, as it were, the chairman of the assembly, and he wants.
Christ to be exhausted and he's the guardian. And if individuals interfere with that, it is an infringement on the glory of the Lord's perfect. Uh, order, not organization. Men make organization. God has order and the skip here always speaks of a Colossians 2 Says joy and rejoicing. And seeing your order and your faith in Christ in that order, we will think about Faith in Christ is before order, no?
In the assembly.
Order is of paramount importance, for strength is 14 says. God is not the author of confusion, but of order, uh, of peace. As in all the assemblies of the Saints, a characteristic of an assembly is going on in happy order before God, doing everything decently and in order. Same thing with a father and a family, where the children are in obedience to the father.
The children feel secure and secondly, they are very happy, very happy. But discipline is essential in our home and discipline in the assembly is equally so. But it's vested in the Lord and through Him to the Assembly. So now here were here was the situation where they didn't know how to cope with the situation. So let's start there. Act 15.
And certain men which came down from uh Judea, taught the brethren and said except to be circumcised after the manner of Moses, he cannot be saved. Now here come the problem. What are they going to do? And there is a big discussion. Next verse. When therefore Paul Paul.
Also Paul and Barnetts had no small dis dissension and disputation with them they determined Now here is the fact that they admit they can't solve this problem. So it has decided that they were going to uh go ahead and uh another course. They determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other of them. I like that. Now see what that's saying?
Paul and Barnes, they were very prominent men in the assembly.
And certain other of them.
I would like to aspire to be one of those ones.
These are ones that the brethren had confidence in certain other of that you know what I'm saying? Sometimes we see in an in an assembly or a brothers meeting where a brother doesn't take very much part a godly brother shy type, but sometimes he just speaks in the brothers meeting and just solve the problem. Now that's a certain, I would say that that would be light certain of them.
Unmentioned because the name isn't prominent.
But suited by the spirit of God for this work. So I just say that as an encouragement, and to you brothers in an assembly might not take a prominent part.
Maybe your voice isn't raised very much in the meetings. The Lord has a job for you to do in that assembly, and likewise with your sisters. Mark 4. Mark 14 says to every man his work. You sisters have been chosen and saved and gathered for a job to do in the assembly we pass from assembly to assembly. Lovely to see young sisters growing in their souls.
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And.
We see some moving from one place to another and go back in a couple of years. And here that young sister is has fitted right in and she's one of the shepherdesses in the assembly. God is pleased, and if you and I individually seek the blessing of the assembly, you are walking close to God because he decide he desires that. And if you and I are the instruments, why then we are blessed of God and our own souls, and God is glorified.
So here were those ones. Certain of them. Now notice this should go up to Jerusalem onto the apostles and elders about the question. Now here's the first assembly meeting verse 3.
And being brought on their way by the assembly.
Brothers had much dispute disputing Brothers Meetings no doubt galore, but they couldn't make the final decision as to sending these brethren to Jerusalem. An assembly meeting is called and they are brought on their way.
By the assembly.
And they packed in Phoenicia and Samaria Declaring doesn't say They talked about all the problems. They didn't say in in. So they say, oh fine, we got problems in our assembly. You should hear about it. No, they didn't talk about that at all. They talked about how God was working amongst the Gentiles and it's a good thing to contain in an assembly. The problems we there are lots of problems that are on and I believe that they are being allowed by the Lord to test every one of us.
But I think we should keep our problems local and try to solve them in the fear of the Lord, in the presence of the Lord.
And not to have them be spread, but so there you see that they just didn't speak about their problems at all. But they caused see what it says at the end of the third verse. And they caused great joy unto all the brethren. Oh, that's nice, isn't it? Yeah. They were talking about the wonderful work of the spirit of God. And when the other assemblies on the way, they heard about that, why they're all rejoicing in spite of the fact that the worst very serious problems. Now here comes the second assembly meeting verse 4. Mm-hmm.
And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the assembly.
Didn't go to the chief men amongst the brethren, Went right to the assembly to hear the matter.
And of the apostles remember this that all the apostles, the whole 12 of them were staying in Jerusalem. They shouldn't have because they were told to go out to preach the gospel all over. But here they are still in in in the book of the Acts in early chapters tells us that they remain there, the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them and then jumped down to the sixth verse.
Here comes the brother's meeting, and the apostles and elders came together.
For to consider of this matter so as came together it doesn't doesn't say we're gathered together the work of the spirit it was a voluntary brothers meeting called and they came together act of 10 not passive and so here is the brothers meeting call very important what is the brothers meeting for It's an investigative body nothing more than that in Deuteronomy very valuable to read it those for 17 chapters.
Thereabout it tells us how they were to be to diligently inquire into every detail of the matter that was before them. 17th chapter tells us that when a decision was made and to went up to Jerusalem to have a matter settled. If those two men said, one of them said, I'm not going to accept that decision. Dead never gets back home.
A lesson to us in the assembly No, not that we get killed if we don't accept an assembly decision, but it is very important to see.
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The importance of the power of the Lord in the midst in an assembly meeting versus a brothers meeting. They called the brothers meeting now and they have this great discussion. We won't go into the details of it from verse 7 right on.
Down 1314.
Verse 22.
All those verses of long discussion, serious dissension, very important to have everything come out now, it tells us in the 1St Corinthians 11.
There must need be divisions amongst you, or schisms amongst you that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. It's important for a brother to take a stand on a subject, not to be all mixed in together. And as some groups of Christians that we know of, they're just going on and agreeing to disagree. No, that is not good. The assembly tells us in First Corinthians 110I beseech you by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that the all say the same.
Thing and the Spirit of God will teach us to say the same thing, speak the same thing if we are walking in personal communion with the Lord. And so here were the the long discussion. And then finally verse 22. Then please get the apostles and elders with the whole assembly. There's an assembly meeting now.
To send.
Chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely Judas surnamed, Varsity and Silas, chief men among the brothers. Now let's count up the number of people that are involved in this. The assemblies made a decision. They could have just said to Paul and Barnabas and certain of the others that have come up there. Here is our decision, no?
Now the assembly sends those brethren back with the message that had come. Maybe there were certain ones that could have been, maybe three others. We would say five of them came from Antioch. What does the assembly do in Jerusalem? It appoints some more brethren from their own company, names them, and then it says in chief, uh, chief men amongst the brethren, doesn't say who they were.
But they are sent. Is that enough? You would think so, No. What is that? What is necessary? Sit down and they write a long.
A. A letter. A letter. So here are the original 5 or so coming from Antioch, and they're going back now. And in addition to this, the assembly in Jerusalem appoints some other of the brethren. And then thirdly, they write at a letter. So you say, oh, why would you need to do that? Because I believe the spirit of God is emphasizing the importance of an assembly decision that there will be no confusion.
So let's just look at it briefly.
Verse 22 verse 23 And they wrote letters by.
Them after this manner is even right, says the letter. The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren.
Encouraging that oneness and unity which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, they send the letter in general. It wasn't just a private inter UH assembly.
Communication. It was something that was of the mind of the Lord and so it could go to all of them. How beautiful. This is the operation of the one body I hear sometimes people say, well, I won't break bread there in such and such a place, but we'll go to another assembly and break right there that that's a denial of the truth of the one body. If we're in fellowship in here, invest all here in fellowship with with the people in in Egypt.
The one body.
That's the truth to which we have been gathered. And so here they send this letter out not only to Antioch, but to other assemblies as well.
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And then he cites the whole letter.
Verse 25. It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, not necessary to be unanimous, as it tells us in First Corinthians, Second Corinthians chapter 2.
It has inflicted of the many, it wasn't all of them. It's not necessary to have a unanimous decision, but godliness is going to lend weight to the voice of the Brethren.
Hope I say that whether it's offense, if there's a godly walk in the brother or a sister, there's going to be moral power in your life.
Go down to verse 30. So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch, and when they had gathered the multitude together, here's the next assembly meeting. They delivered the epistle and they were everything done decently in order deliver the letter calling the assembly and Antioch together. What's the result of it? Notice next, verse 31.
Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.
And when everything is done in order, there is rejoicing for the constellation. They were consoled, they were accepting, they were accepting what had been decided in the assembly in in Jerusalem, and it was conveyed in an orderly way. And they all rejoiced and rejoiced.
So there is the second one.
4:00.
Do you wanna another 10 minute break or do you want to go ahead with the?
Now let's go over to 1St Corinthians 11. Now here comes individual responsibility.
Must never confect. At least confuse the two.
Individually, as I said before, your life, my life greatly ascend. Uh affect the assembly where you are not a voluntary club.
This is the operation of the one body, as we read in Ephesians chapter 4. Every time you and I have contact with another brother, it's like a bone joining into the next bone.
The joints are the joints of supply. We're at that joints of supply. I ask myself. I ask you, how is your association with your brethren? How's mine?
Do we prize this or do we say, well, that's his responsibility, I go on myself. Vertical. Vertical. Yes, that's true, of course, the epistle of John.
Truly, our fellowship is with the Father.
And the sun. That's very true. But let's not lose sight of the seventh verse of that first epistle of John. It says if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. There is the horizontal pressure.
That's so essential for us to go on 133rd sum versus how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. The last verse says for there the Lord commanded the blessing. You want to go on and happy fellowship? He apprised his beloved ones here. Trust. I'm not out of place in saying these things. I trust that we're going to prize the.
Or at least value the presence of the Lord Jesus.
Yeah. Where do we come in late? No.
But I come in carelessly, indifferently, dressed for the Lord's presence. If I am conscious of his presence now, I'm making a noise in the meeting. No bringing up our children properly. Let me just say this in passing.
If you open the Bible at home, and we really should, shouldn't we?
With our children.
We have a happy fellowship around the table and there's maybe a little bit of noise and then the time comes for reading the Bible.
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I believe that we can teach our children that this is the signal that there's no more chattering and talking and it's quietness now. And if a father and mother teach our children that this is a signal for quietness, don't read too much of the scriptures to the children. Just have a brief reading of the scriptures in quietness so that even the little ones will associate quietness with reverence for the word of God.
When that child goes into the meeting, he's going to have the same effect. He's going to be quiet in the meeting. It's going to be attentive and he's going to realize that the open word of God, you know, every you little boys and girls, every word of this book came, every word of the book came out of Jesus at the mouth of God.
Everywhere. So we want to be reverent. Nothing to that word.
So I just say that it's important, I think, for us to train our children around the table to associate the Bible reading with quietness.
Is that not too long as I get tired of and then they associate it with it in the meeting?
Having said that, I hope I don't offend First Corinthians 11.
Verse 27.
Wherefore.
Whosoever individual now, whosoever.
Shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, or in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
Go down to 29 for he that eateth and drinketh in an unworthy way, unworthily.
Eat it and drinketh not damnation, but condemnation.
Judge to himself.
Not discerning the Lord's body. What does that mean?
Simply this that if I walk into the assembly large day morning and I sit down there and I see the table and a loaf of bread and a cup of wine there I just say to myself a loaf of bread.
Off of red cup of lime. I don't discern that that is a picture of the body of the Lord separated from His blood. If I may remember when they instituted the supper that the Lord took the bread and dipped it into the wine and gave it to Judas, and he went out. That wasn't separation of the body and the blood, but I believe that he went out of the room at that time.
And then the supper was instituted there. So it's important, isn't it, for you and for me to have a holy reverence of what that loaf of bread symbolizes. It's a symbol not only of the Lord's presence, but of his body. In Luke 22. It's a little bit different than First Corinthians 11 here, because it was instituted at a time when the disciples didn't know what the Lord was saying.
He was taking, as it were, the Passover table and putting it aside and bringing his table in associating the Old Testament Passover with the institution now of this beautiful link with the with the Church or the assembly. And so he is there bringing in this new teaching that this loaf of bread.
Represented.
His body in December.
Corinthians, Why? We learned that the loaf in addition to that means that it's a symbol of the oneness of the body. So it's a different view. You see, one is the body of the Lord Jesus, the other is in First Corinthians 11. It is a symbol of the unity. Look in the 10th chapter or just for a minute.
16.
The cover blessing which we bless, is it not the communion or fellowship of the blood of Christ?
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Community fellowship of the blood of Christ.
The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ or 17 For we, they many are one bread, one body. That's what I was saying before. The word bread and body are synonymous, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
There I come into the Lord's presence with unconfessed sin in my conscience.
If I do, and I've done it, I'm ashamed to say, not morally, the careless living.
We don't lose our salvation, but we lose our privileges of acting as priests.
And so here we are reading about the importance of realizing when I step in the door, the Lord is there. I don't want to get in 5 minutes after the Lord has been there. And I don't want to be strictly saying, well, we got to be legal about this. The meeting starts at 11, the Lord gets in there at 11. But let's have a holy fear for His presence. I say I know it's dangerous.
In your country but.
When Queen Elizabeth was crowned good many years ago, I read a startling article about her coronation in Westminster Hall in England. The ceremony lasted several hours. In the whole of the ceremony, there wasn't one person that even coughed. Now don't misunderstand me, because I got a letter one time from my brother and he said, are you saying they were not supposed to cough in the meeting? I'm not saying that.
But who is Queen Elizabeth? She's just a human being. But what about the holy presence of the Lone? Does it affect us?
Does it affect us? Are we conscious of the closest association with Christ on this earth that we ever come to when we sit down in His holy presence?
Not afraid of Him, but do we have a holy fear? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the Saints, and be held in reverence by all those around. There are others that are outside that circle. I believe that that is teaching held in reverence there, but holy fear in His presence.
Not discerning the Lord's body.
Very serious offense. Often cite the case of a sister in the Dominican Republic. I was there for a month one time.
And I noticed that one of the sisters didn't take the ambulance. I went to a brother and I said sister so and so I noticed he didn't take the bread in the wine. Oh, he said she's probably in a got something on our conscience. I watched for two weeks. Again I saw after two weeks she took the emblem. I said to the brother, sister so and so took the insulin this morning Oh, he said that's what she's restored. That's not right. Now two things I want to emphasize. One was it was better for her not to take.
The bread and the wine with a bad conscience. But First Corinthians here, as we see it says let a man examine himself, and so let him Saturday night, not on not setting dates, but before the Lord's Day morning. We need to gear our Saturdays so that we're going to be in that proper state of soul with things cleared in our conscience and confessed and forsaken, Proverbs 2813 says.
Do so can uh is a cover of his sin shall not prosper, but whoso confesses, and forsake of them shall have mercy. And so it's important, isn't it, for us for me to judge my own life in the weekend, not to be going on with things that I know don't please the Lord keep away from the world. But if I have involved myself in something that I know is displeasing, confess it and forsake it, and come to the Lord's table with a clear conscience.
Now I just want to say this. On the other hand, when that sister didn't take the emblems, she was really sitting in judgment on the assembly.
Because she was not in fellowship there and she put herself at a fellowship. Now it isn't an individual responsibility for her to come back and decide when she's coming back.
Uh, so I know there's lots of groups of Christians. I hear them, hear of them saying those who want to take the communion remain behind that individual. Uh, responsibility. Wrong entirely. This is a question here of the individual getting cleared before Lord's day morning to come into God's presence, the Lord's presence and holiness and the sins confess. And so here that assembly must now.
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Should have.
Appointed some brothers to go and find out how serious that offense was. And that sister would need to say what it was that she had been going on with. And if it were a serious thing, she would have to be dealt with in a serious manner. If it were something that she was very tender about some, maybe she lost her temper or something and she would confess that well then the assembly could receive her back. But we see we have to distinguish between individual responsibility and collective responsibility.
So let's go on just a little farther.
In UH-11.
11.
We've covered 28. Let a man examine himself, Individual, uh, judgment on himself. And then it says if we.
Uh.
Verse What is that verse? It says uh judge ourself. We would not be judged 31.
Thank you. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. Personal responsibility requires us to do that and then we wouldn't be under the condemnation of the assembly.
Now there's one last verse I want to speak of. Yes, verse 30. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. That just simply means that the Lord in that day, the Spirit of God, would cause a sickness, allow a sickness. Now I'm not saying that every sickness uh, is caused by a careless walk, but I am saying that the scripture tells us here that the scripture says for this cause many are sickly amongst you and many sleep the Lord might take away.
Take away a person. And so this is a serious warning, just as we read in Deuteronomy 17, the man that didn't accept a judgment by the priest in Jerusalem, he was dead. And you might say, well, that was under law. And we're not under law, we're under grace. But here is a word of caution, isn't it that the holiness of the Lord must be maintained. He runs the assembly. The Lord is the Lord of our life.
Individually, he is head of our life. Collectively.
But we need to remember that we need to walk before. The Lord is my savior, but it's me. My Lord is He the one who controls. At least I am fearing. And to whom I'm responsible individually, collectively is the Lord is head of the assembly, but he's never spoken of as the Lord of the Assembly. Now here's the work of the enemy.
Testimony started out so strong in the early days of the church's history.
Yes, we are. We are. Now, I want to make sure that we understand that I, I I put in the word testimony. I don't want to confuse it with the gospel. The gospel is going out these days as never before. In America particularly. I wouldn't think there'd be 110th of 1% of the people of North America that haven't heard the gospel through these evangelical campaigns. Wonderful things that it is. But the testimony to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we have to read to scriptures. One is at 20.
Paul said after my departure.
Shall previous will center in amongst you, not sparing the flock, And of your own cells shall men arise, speaking perverted things to do to to Uh draw away, OK, disciples after them, who are living now in a dark, dark day. Beloved ones, which started, I really believe, right here at the death of the apostle Paul and the apostle John, who lived into the first second century.
The closing, uh, the collecting of the Bible in the 2nd century into the present book that we have and the death of all the apostles. I believe that it was like a curtain. No new revelation from that moment until the moment when the Lord Jesus comes and takes us away. Nothing new. We don't need to change anything. I don't want to be introducing anything. All I hope by God's grace is that I will say what I've been taught for many years in the assembly. I don't want to add anything. I want to try to say it simpler.
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And then person's language. But I don't add anything and I don't think that we can look for change. And I just say that in love for each one. We're living in times when people are trying to introduce changes and saying we have to adjust. I don't think there's any adjustment necessary. We have the total revealed word of God, but Satan is the one who at the beginning.
There he was very weak, but what was he doing at the very beginning? He was trying to frighten the sink of being under the city of Rome. And I believe that there are about 600,000 bodies of Christians buried there in the catacombs. They walked in the catacombs there, killed, frightened.
At least an attempt by Satan to frighten him. But now we're living in the last days, beloved ones, when it's not a question of being threatened so much as it is being deceived.
The roaring lion at the beginning to frighten the hidden serpent of the end.
And this beloved ones, I just say this in love to your soul. You're younger. We're living in very deceptive times where it's very hard to distinguish between the work of God and the work of Satan. 2nd Thessalonians 2 tells us the mystery of iniquity that already works, and we are living at a time, I believe, when unless you and I are walking in communion with a good conscience before the Lord.
We're going to be deceived. And so we put it on the chart here that Satan's increasing imitations, we never initiates anything. He always imitates is the master of duplicity. It always imitates what God does. And as the testimony to the Lord's name, here it goes right on. No change, never broken. And yet here's Satan's power getting stronger and stronger and stronger. And just at the moment when.
The testimony is at the weakest. What's going to happen here? The shout of the blessed sacred. And then we put it in a chart. Not dissent, not converging at all. Every last child of God is going to hear the voice of the Son of God. From Adam's day right on to the rapture. We're going to rise to meet the Lord in the air. Not one is going to be left behind. I hear that there are areas amongst the Christians these days that are saying.
That unless we're watching and waiting for the Lord to come, we're going to be left behind to pass through the tribulation. These are the things that are deceiving many numbers of people. Secondly, ultra dispensationalism is the confusion of Israel, of the past with the present assembly or the Church today. Using the two of them and saying that there's no difference, just as one there's not true. These are the things that you, dear young ones, need to be established in and to listen in the meetings.
Is it going to be deceived if we don't walk in the truth that we have? Let me just quote Luke 818, which says, take heed how ye heal to him. That hath shall more be given, and he that hath not from him shall be taken. Even that which he seemed to have and might seem to have the truth. But unless I'm walking in it, I don't have it. And if I don't have it, it's because I'm not walking in it, and what's going to happen? I'm going to lose what I thought I had.
And so how important, beloved ones, it is to realize that we're living in dark days. Does that discourage us?
The new nature never gets discouraged. It's only the old nature in me that gets discouraged. 42nd of Isaiah says the Lord never gets discouraged. Don't get discouraged. Difficult circumstances. Yes, I hear mothers and fathers saying, if if it doesn't get anywhere, if it gets worse, we shouldn't be bringing children in the world. That's as much as to say if it does doesn't get any worse. I can manage. We can't manage a minute. We can't. No matter how difficult, how dark the days. The blessed Lord Jesus, He remains. Thou remains. Thou remains. Thou remains. Thou remains. Don't forget that two other words in Second Timothy chapter 3 say continue thou.
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And keep on beloved ones. It's dark days. Time for testing. Oh, how wonderful it is to keep on, to keep on counting on the Lord. And so we put the chart here, extending past the day of the Rapture, because Satan's work is going to come to a great climax. After that, we're cut to heaven. Satan is going to be cast. Uh, he's going to be allowed.
Uh, in those seven years that we're going to follow?
The Rapture is going to come down the cast out of heaven under the earth in the middle of those seven years, and he's going to enter into the beast and the false prophet, and it's going to be an unleashing of the most awful conditions the world has ever seen. Scripture tells us that those days weren't shortened, that there wouldn't be a soul left on the face of the earth. That's how serious it's going to be after we're gone. But oh, what a wonderful consolation to know that it even although it's going to extend past there, the day is going to have to come.
When, as it tells us in Revelation, the work of Satan is going to be totally cast into hell, and even the grave is going to be cast into hell. And the memory even of the what Satan was trying to do to rob the blessed Lord Jesus of his glory and I say to your dear young ones.
Don't let it rub you of your prize. Don't you will you want to rob the Lord Jesus of his Lord? He wants to rob you of your happiness and of your joy. And that work is going to be gone. And we're going to be with the Lord Jesus we see. We put God, and then God become man in the person of Jesus. And then through the work of the cross it becomes, uh, the the person of Christ in glory now.
He's exalted, man. He's not the lowly one. He's going to come back in the 19th of Revelation with fire out of this man.
Higher coming. When he comes back to rain over the earth with us, he's going to put down all the filth and corruption and dis and to undo, as the scripture tells us, all the work of Satan. A memory of it is going to be gone, and then the Lord is going to bring us back after seven years being in heaven.
There, when we're going to have all our life reviewed before Jesus and we're going to be satisfied. And he's going to be satisfied. Some of you, I know you're going through.
Tears and sorrows and testings that oh, to keep a good conscience before God, to know that He is allowing us to pass through these things. What for? To assist us. To refine us? To rid us individually of our careless ways? Let's judge them and forsake them, and count on the Lord to carry us through. He's going to come back. We're going to come back with him after seven years or so in heaven.
And he's going to reign over this earth for 1000 years. And you and I, if we are faithful to the Lord today.
These Li these days are going to be given jobs to do like replacing the angels. Hebrews chapter 2 tells us that not going to put the world to come under angels, you and I. Do you realize that you dear young ones, that if you're faithful in this life or faithful at school for the Lord, he's going to reward in the days of that Millennium, not eternal state, but in the days of the Millennium it's going to be rewarded as the day of reward. And then at the end of those thousand years 1St Corinthians 15, it tells us that the Lord Jesus is going to take that Kingdom that he's going to reign over. He's going to give it to his father.
And then it says that God might be All in all oh, what a story of grace and love. How thankful we can believe that we have been redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus. May we keep on beloved ones. Maybe today the story is going to end of this part and we're going to be gone to be with Him. May we keep on. Let's see Him number 197.