Open—E. Smith, A. Roach, G. Hayhoe
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General Meetings. Montreal, October 1973. Open meeting.
288.
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You've got to open your Bibles at Psalm 133.
133.
Behold.
How good?
And how pleasant it is.
For brethren to dwell together in unity.
It is like the precious ointment upon the head.
The ran down upon the beard.
Neither of these.
That went down to the skirts of his God.
As the dew of Herman.
And as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord commanded the blessing.
Even life forevermore.
As you notice, beloved, this is a song of degrees.
Which was sung in those early days as they came up to Jerusalem. And of course it will be resiled in a coming day.
We know.
As dear old Mr. HP Barker used to say to me, Eric, remember.
To whom the word of God is written, but don't forget to apply the truth of that particular portion.
For it is written for air in structure.
We might notice at the very beginning that I shall be very long this afternoon because I don't feel well.
But I want you to notice, beloved, that.
This.
Unity spoken of here.
Is good God will.
And pleasant man, we repeat, it is good God war.
And pleasant man war.
And the summer says it's like the precious Anchorage.
That compounded of spice, of special spices.
It was poured upon the head. Aaron and his sons were anointed.
The ointment then was for the police head and ran down upon the beard.
He even ate on his beard that went down to the skirts of his garment.
And it says here it possessed the dew of Herman.
Those of us who have seen the mount.
Know that it's more or less a mountain of 9300 feet and usually covered with snow.
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And this is understood that.
Excessive dew falls there on the slope.
And we believe that it was there on the slope.
That the transfiguration took place.
Of which we've been reminded today.
The dew speaks of refreshment and as I mentioned yesterday.
It fell not on the sand of the desert, which was contaminated.
But it fell on the dew and thus became a beautiful type of that essential.
Aspect of price spotless.
First manhood.
Well.
It says that this unity is as the due and due just forms falls on a still night.
Never falls when there's a storm.
And so when there's dissension, beloved, there's no refreshment and new due.
For a stormy singing never brings that refreshment.
There hath God commanded the blessing.
Even life forevermore.
One day a brother said to me, an earnest brother.
Who knows something of the troubles in these lands, He said. Brother Smith, you're an old brother.
You know, I've been trying to keep the unity of the body so long, I said. Have you?
Yes, he says. I have. He was quite sincere.
Will, dear brother, I said. Perhaps you.
Would never be able to do that because it's God's prerogative to keep the unity of the body.
Then another brother said I've been trying to get a unity of our spirits for years.
And I said, dear brother, I don't think you'd be able to do that.
For you know, that is a communism.
Of which we read plenty in the book of Isaiah. We won't have time to read that.
Say not the Confederacy. God blows upon that, and we know where it's heading below it.
We know where it's heading. Pray for the Bolivian Saints that they may not get mixed up with it. 150 of those dear President who were plagued with that thought of unity of spirits.
Were so trouble they got together for three days to pray about it and they wrote me a sweet letter saying, Brother Smith, we've written one word over that business separation.
Separation.
No, it's the unity of these spirits, beloved in Ephesians 4 that we are to keep.
In that uniting bond of peace.
Are we forgetting this?
There is a growing weakness, and you'll excuse me as an old servant.
There is a growing looseness among us.
And we are liable to slip over truths that are so very precious.
To us.
Truth which impressed my soulless in a special way when I was gathered in the South of New Zealand where Broward **** Mr. JG **** the author of 41 of the hymns we've seen in the year 1918.
As you know, I came out of system.
And it costs something to move away from a lifelong association. And my dear brother, you took me to the first meeting.
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There they were. There were five weekends still left. FG Pets of wind.
And so did Mr. Darby. And so those five meetings were in fellowship and they didn't know much about this part of the world.
Through the visit, Mr. Darby and Peter visit here as you know, and also the stage.
But if you remember the story as I was told by my eldest brother, a man of God.
Whom God used in those early days.
You will remember that Mister **** forfeited the truth that characterized the first the gathering of the Saints.
Strong minded barrister from breast from Bethesda. He went to New Zealand and he convinced Mr. Mr. **** that there was a need of an amalgamation.
Mr. **** was a sick man.
And he acceded to his petition.
Will before Mr. **** died.
He made a confession that he had failed. Beloved.
As he wrote home and asked his dear President of England to forgive him.
And we know they did, and we know the Lord forgave it. But what about the testimony?
When I went there, there were 350 sitting in a circle.
My brother, Hugh said. Now, Eric, don't be in a hurry. You may sit back again. You may sit back too. Sit back and listen.
And I'll never forget that wonderful unity that.
Filled the hearts of those Saints.
There was a table in the center with one big goblet of wine and only One Cup which was filled and refilled.
And I looked at this group of God's dear people, and I said, who's going to? I said to myself, who's going to lead? Who's going to take charge?
You know how your mind gets.
Frozen and perturbed when you're mixed up in system like I want.
An old brother got up.
And he announced to him.
And I always remember that hymn O Christ was burned, fell the hymn.
A load was laid on the.
Well, that impressed me.
And then another brother got up and prayed.
As I thought, well, isn't this wonderful? He followed the same line of truth exactly.
He read from Psalm 22 and then from Psalm 102.
And then turned over to Matthew 27 and read a few versions and sat down.
Then another hymn was sound just the same thing. And you know, I began to get so interested.
I could see that the Spirit of God had taken place, had taken over.
Then an old brother was a white beard, who commended me to the one of nine, who commended me to the work of the Lord. Two years afterwards he came to the table, and he broke the bread and was passed around.
Then when they had brought back the bread.
He came forward and thanked the Lord for the precious blood of Christ.
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And spoke concerning what that cup represented and it was passed around.
After that, a hymn was sung, the same theme.
A basket was passed around.
As they quietly put in their gifts and it was put on the table.
Then an old brother spoke on the sufferings of Christ just for about 8 minutes and sat down.
Him was so the same, the same thing as the meeting finished.
My first experience of seeing the breaking of the brain in a scriptural way. After the meeting, my brother came to me and said, Eric, what did you think of it?
Oh, I said you. I'd love to be there.
Well, he said, don't hurry.
If you don't see the truth, don't you move?
But if the Lord reveals to you this precious truth, then you ask for your place, which I did. I've never regretted it, beloved.
And I stayed two years with those old brethren, helping them.
One day I was called by nine of those present and I took my Bible and I said, surely I'm in for it. They're going to correct me or do something or say something about.
They'd listen to me simply giving a little ministry during the time.
And they handed me a letter.
Signed by 9 of them.
Eric, you are commended to the work of the Lord anywhere in the world.
I cherish that letter.
Afterwards I went to the living and I've tried, beloved, to teach them the truth.
Of the gathering sector, and God has blessed His word in a remarkable way.
Though.
Coming back to this song, it's the unity of the spirit.
We are enjoying the peace.
In the uniting bonds of peace, it's not the unity of our spirits.
It couldn't be the unity of the body because that's God's prerogative. It's the unity of the Spirit we are enjoying to give diligence in the grief, to keep in the United peace.
Now, what happened to those meetings in in New Zealand?
A man rose up there as a leader.
May the Lord preserve us from such things. As leaders present, we are nothing. Our brother Heyhold has stretched stressed that. And remember what Mr. Darby wrote, and I read it as a young laborer.
Man called of God into his service go from a place of strength, realizing their own nothingness.
Nothing.
What happened?
A leader took over.
Those five meetings, I didn't know the actual little flock Hamburg, because I used always that first edition, you know, the tiny ones.
I didn't know this.
Little flock that you use, we use the first one.
So precious. Those hymns are beloved. Oh, they are so precious.
To the soul. Well, what happened? This leader took over.
And in self will, and you know, beloved self will is absolutely pride, pride.
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And those five meetings, Happy meetings.
Where I sat at the feet of God's servants.
They have folded up.
Brother Harry Haver said Eric, if you go to New Zealand, I'll go with you to try and link up with some of those dear Saints. But he said my dear wife's heart is weak and Eric, I don't think I can possibly leave her.
Well, dear brother Harry Hamilton, he would have gone with me back there to link up, but God didn't permit it.
And as I've been back once since 1920, beloved, all I can find out concerning my brother. Eldest brothers with the Lord my, second older brothers with the Lord, fathers with the Lord my.
Four of us are all all home. And so I've lost contact. But I saw a brother in a meeting in Los Angeles and I said, brother, where were you born? He said, in such a part of New Zealand. Well, I said I was born there too.
Can you tell me anything of those meetings in New Zealand? He said. Brother, they are all they have all folded up, nothing left.
How sad.
How no unity there?
I refused fellowship from those meetings for 10 years and worked with my own hands in Bolivia to maintain the truth of the one body.
Fortunately, the Lord gave me time as a student to acquire something of geology, and I took up the mining projects in Bolivia and worked for 10 years in the mines.
And became manager of one of the last Anthony Mines after so many years.
Saved sufficient to build 3 little halls and the and a couple of trucks which have been wheeled to the Saints to carry on. I have the sake in the world in Bolivia.
But what I want to make this afternoon, beloved.
When when we take or assume the place that the spirit of God.
Alone says we are on the wrong beat.
It hurts to say this.
Leaders are springing up.
Once their brother said to me that brother is his. Well taught isn't he Brother Smith?
I said, well, he's well read.
But I don't think he's well taught. He's well read. I'd sort of be a wee voice beloved than a strong echo any day. A weak voice for Christ.
And the strong April.
Well, this is sad.
How good and how blessed it is for breath to dwell together. Don't. Do you really think that we're going to be numerous? No, we are not.
We are becoming fewer and fewer.
And if we would hold fast to those first principles and its principles we're talking about.
And at all costs below, if we surrender these first principles, we are going to become quickly fewer and fewer, and we are going to become fewer and fewer if we really do hold to these first principles.
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Some are going back even now to the beggarly elements of the world. They've never seen the truth of separation. Separation, beloved, is to Christ, and consequently from this world, it's sin and its system.
I was a slave of a system.
When God is passive, delivered me while their sister said to their brother Jackson. You were a pastor, Roger, like Smith of a large congregation, weren't you?
1000 odd in that big meeting in Atlanta, Brother Jackson. Yes, he said. Dear sister, but the Lord forgive me.
The Lord forgave.
So he forgave me too. Beloved, he forgave.
We are becoming fewer and fewer and.
Let nothing, beloved.
Whether it be parental affection or affection for a friend, let it let nothing turn us away from these divine principles. It will see him who said How wonderful it is to be gathered.
Where the Spirit of God is free and open to wield and to ply all His truth calculated to separate us in heart and feet to Christ.
And from this world.
He said this is not presumption, but it's faithfulness to God. May we be found faithful, beloved.
Yes, some are going back to the Begley things of the world.
Dear young Mr. Christian, you won't find any place in there, and God will have the last word with you. If you've known the truth, and you and you go back to the bagel and things from which you came out, you'll never be happy.
Some are going back to the systems they professedly left.
And others are throwing up their hands and saying it's not worth it.
Let's give up and go. Beloved, all these three things are wrong.
We read in Second Timothy 222 Follow righteousness, faith, love, peace.
With them that call them a lot out of a pure heart. With these we can go along beloved.
Those two words with them have been Mother's Day of this poor heart of mine all these long years.
With them.
I've finished brother.
16th chapter of Matthews Gospel.
Verse 18.
I say unto thee, I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church or my assembly, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
One feels the solemn responsibility that our brother put upon all here this afternoon when he made the announcements for this meeting.
Not one of us would dare stand up here and say I definitely know and I'm sure that I have the mind of the Lord to be here. We may have the sense of it in our souls. The Lord has given us something, but the Scripture says let the others judge. And so this a question of spiritual judgment in your soul and mine when we hear the word of God. I want to speak this afternoon for a few moments on the assembly.
The church.
Our brother Smith yesterday let our thoughts out in the connection with the days of David, when Jonathan was attracted personally to David, loved him but never went outside and identified himself with David in the place of rejection.
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I believe in those days, as now, it was a question of knowing the mind of the Lord as to the state of things in Israel.
And what ought to be done?
The priesthood had failed. God brought in a king. He allowed them to bring in a king, and that king failed. But God marked out David. David was anointed king twice. He was anointed first in the purposes of God in the 16th chapter of First Samuel. He was actually anointed as king in 5th chapter of Second Samuel.
But in the 16th chapter he was marked out as God's king, and anyone in Israel who had the mind of God, who sought to know what Israel ought to do, would find themselves in company with David. And we were reminded that Jonathan never took his place out there in the place of rejection. David was the true king, but he was not accepted. He was in the place of rejection.
And it's better and more popular to be with something that is loved by the people, loved by the world. And so we find that Jonathan, who did not identify himself with David, he ends up on the walls of Beth Sham. He himself had said to David.
When you come into the Kingdom, I will be next unto thee. He know that David was a true king.
And he expected to share that Kingdom, but he was not next to David in a day of his rejection. Well, I believe there is a truth. If it gets hold of our souls today, it will guide us in this path. Is there a place today that corresponds to David and The Cave? Adela, Beloved Bradman, I believe there is. But it is founded on the truth that is in principle brought out in the verse I read.
In Matthew 16, the assembly. Now God had an assembly in the Old Testament, but that assembly consisted of a nation. You didn't have to have new life, you didn't have to be saved. All you had to do by natural birth to be an Israelite and you are part of that earthly assembly which was called together by the 2 silver trumpets. God had an assembly, but now the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is introducing another assembly of which we have no counterpart and no definite Speaking of in the Old Testament. Shadows and types, Yes, which we know of now, having been instructed in the New Testament. What is the assembly now? We know the word church. When the translators came together in 1611, they were instructed through the cane that they were to keep as many words.
As they referring to the Church and the bishops and usual Church terms without correcting them. And they carried this out in connection with the word assembly. Now in the old and the ancient days the Greeks had two forms of assemblies. They had the General Assembly, which consisted of all the states of Greece. But then there was a specific assembly, the assembly of the first born ones.
The leaders, those who are in the position of the first families of the of the state who formed the assembly in that particular estate, that state. Now Paul uses both of those in the 12Th of Hebrews, he speaks of the General Assembly.
That includes angels and the spirits of just men made perfect, and it includes Zion and the city of the living God. But then he distinguishes the assembly of the first born ones whose names are written in heaven. And it's that assembly we want to speak about. God has an assembly.
Assembly of first born ones, all beloved. Who are those first born ones? They are sinners saved by grace, indwelt by the Holy Ghost, and they are the assembly of the first born ones. Let us notice one or two things.
The Lord Jesus says.
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I will build my assembly.
As plain and clear that he was not doing it then.
It is plain and clear that it had not been done before and it was not being done when the Lord spoke. He says I will build my assembly now. There were two things that had to take place before that assembly could be built.
Two things had to take place, one consequent upon the other, and we'll give scripture for that in a moment.
The Lord Jesus Christ had to finish the work of the cross, go down into the grave, be raised and ascended up into glory, and from there, the second thing He was to send the Holy Ghost. Now the Holy Ghost could not be sent, could not come until the Lord Jesus Christ was glorified. Now hold our place here and turn to the 7th of John.
For scripture that proves this to us, I believe we want to get clear in our souls.
The true foundation and basis and composition of the assembly.
In John 7.
Verse 37.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man's thirst, let him come unto me and drink, he that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Now notice the next verse. But this fake He of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive.
For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. Or you can read carefully John 1415 and 16. And what does the truth develop there? It's expedient that I go away.
If I go not away, the Holy Spirit will not come, the Holy Spirit whom I shall send from the Father, and when he is come, He shall glorify me. That spells out very clearly the fact that the Lord Jesus, when he went away, he would send the Holy Spirit.
This verse in John 7 makes clear that the Holy Ghost could not be given until the Lord Jesus glorified. Now that brings out the next point. How do we know then that the whole the church could not be formed until the Holy Ghost was given? Well, let's turn to 1St Corinthians 12. We want to get the basis of this First Corinthians 12.
And.
Verse While we read the 12Th verse to get the connection, it brings in the unity for us. A body is 1 and how many members? And all the members of that one body being many, all one body, So also is Christ.
4 by 1 Spirit are we all baptized into one body?
Whether we be Jews or Gentiles will stop there. Notice that the Spirit of God formed the Church of God formed the body. Here it's looked at as a body, not so much the building. The Holy Ghost joined these members together and formed the Church, that unity to which we ought by His grace to be committed in principle. Here it says.
For by 1 spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles. Now the assembly that God had in the wilderness in the Old Testament was not true and Gentile. It was true, only there was something new. The Lord Jesus said I will build my church. Now let's go to the second of Acts where we have.
The coming of the Holy Ghost.
In the second of acts.
Well, let's notice in verse in chapter one first. There's a interesting little note in verse 15.
And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said, the number of names together were about 120 men and brethren, so forth. The number of the names together were about 120.
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Here we find a very small company. Here they're all believers. They love the Lord Jesus Christ, they're in company with the apostles, marry the mother of Jesus is there as brethren who now believe on him, they are there.
But they are individual believers. If you ask each one of them if they love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, I'm sure every one of them could have said yes. He is my Savior. He is the one who died for me. His precious blood has put away my sins. But they were not one body.
They were there were individual believers. Now in the second chapter.
Verse one.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and a sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now we have for the first time on earth, we have the church that Christ is building.
We have 120 individual believers and they are linked together into one body.
Into one building, as it were, by the Spirit. Now when we speak of the building, I must we must remember there was a second aspect to the building. There was that which Christ builds, and He only builds good material. But there is an outward aspect of the building.
In which men build three other kinds of material. We won't go into that now. That's not our purpose. We want to notice what Christ builds. Christ only builds real good material into his building. Now here it is, the day of Pentecost. 120 believers, they're now united. Now the feast of Pentecost is very instructive. We may make an offhand reference to it in Leviticus. We find that on the Morrow after the Sabbath.
There were 4049 days. There were 7 Sabbaths and then the Morrow after the Sabbath. The first day of the week was the day of Pentecost. Day of Pentecost was the first day of the week and on that day they offered two lows and they were bacon with leather.
You'll find 2 meat offerings in that chapter in Leviticus, and one of them has no sin offering with it. The other has a sin offering with it. In the first case, that meat offering is Christ. There's no leaven in there, no sin offering needed. But in the other offering, it's the church brought in, the two loaves I would take to represent Jew and Gentile brought together before God. But there's 11 and it's bacon, and there was a sin offering in connection with it.
So the work of Christ is the foundation of the Church, but here in the second of Acts, the Holy Ghost comes from heaven and links them together. Now what happens in the rest of this chapter? Let's go down. I'd like to notice how.
People became members of this church. Always think of church membership.
Young girl asked me one time. She said, what church do you belong to? Well, we don't have a stock and trade answer. I believe we ought to look to the Lord each occasion for an answer. The one felt constrained at that moment to say this to us. I belong to a church that nobody can join.
All she said.
How do you get members then? And I told her that the church to which I belonged.
Was the church which was purchased by the blood of God's own Son. And if she was washed in the blood of Christ, she was also part of that church. Now let us see how this works out practically in the second of Acts and we find that there are 3000 souls. This is an interesting thing. We'll notice this in passing. There were 3000 souls who listened to Peter and and bowed to the word. And it says in verse 41.
Than they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day there were added unto them.
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About 3000 souls. So what were these 3000 souls added to the church which the Holy Ghost had formed on earth? You mean that 3000 were added to the 120? You know, in a human way we would speak of the 120 being added to the 3000.
But the 3000 were added to the church that was already formed. Now you go down to verse 47.
It says praising God and having favor with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. I know there's some textual question about the word church here, but the principle is true that they were added to that which God had already formed on earth. The church, it says such as should be saved. Now if you're here a saved person, you belong to the only church on earth that God recognizes.
The only church that God recognizes. Now men have set up divisions and churches so-called, and if you check out, you'll find that these churches are organized after man's order and they have names to them. Some of them are named after doctrines, some of them are named after forms of church government, others are named after men.
Dear Martin Luther, nobody can read his history without recognizing that he was a great and marvelous servant of God, faithfully faithful to the to the position in which God had put him. But when it came to the truth of the church, the dear man was not walking in the good of that.
And so we have a church named after him, but we find in the Word of God the church is the church which Christ is building, and it says the Lord added to the church such as should be saved. So I look back to that night in September 1918 when I heard the gospel and I received Christ as my Savior. Something happened to me that night that I didn't know took place. I know it was saved. That was wonderful to go away from that corner. Praise God, the burden is gone.
The sins are gone, Christ is my Savior. But oh, I didn't know. I found out later through the gathered Saints in the Brooklyn meeting that that night I was added to the church. Now let me ask this question. If the Lord has added me to His church, what is my responsibility? My brother was saved at the same time, and we decided ourselves where we were going to go. We didn't say in our work we learned the way to get saved. There was a word of God.
Showed us how to be saved. We ought to look into the word of God to see where we should go. My brother remembered a mission where he had gone when when he was a boy with his grandmother, and he said, let's go there. So we began to go there. Well, what was that?
Self will if I choose where I'm to go, if I follow the advice you get in the world to go to the Church of your choice, then I am acting in self will for God is revealed in this word. What the truth of the church is God's assembly. It means a call out company, called out to home, called out to Christ. You mentioned before the coming of the Holy Ghost. Now the Holy Ghost work on earth.
Is to glorify Christ. Now to whom will the Holy Ghost gather me? He will not gather me to the name of dear Martin Luther. The Spirit of God may have activated Martin Luther in his gospel efforts, but the Spirit of God couldn't lead me to a name. Could it lead me to a form of church government or to some doctrine? The Holy Ghost will lead us nowhere but to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. What did the Lord mean in Matthew 1820? He said where two or three?
Are gathered together unto my name. There am I in the midst of them. There is the principle, the simplicity of the church, two or three gathered together unto the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does it mean to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Lord implies authority, one who ought to be obeyed. That was the first thing that entered Saul. Saul on the way to Damascus, he says.
Who art thou, Laird?
He owns that the one he was seeing there should be obeyed. And so when we speak of being gathered to the Lords name, it's a question of his authority in the midst. And I believe, beloved brethren, as our brother Smith was just warning us, this is the truth.
00:55:17
That the enemy has sick, has been seeking to weaken. Let's go to Matthew 18. I believe it's an important passage in relation to the church.
We have the simple form of the assembly here as gathered.
In Unity.
Verse 18 The Lord says, Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven.
Whatsoever shall loose on earth should be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you.
That the two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of by Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in or unto My name, there am I in the midst of them. Notice that the the Lord in the midst, it's His authority. Now the Lord being in the midst, the Lord is the Holy One, and He is the truth. And so that should mark the character of all those who draw nigh unto Him.
And if we are acting on the truth that there is one body that the Lord adds to the church daily, such as should be saved, we cannot, unless we act in self will join a man made church or division. God would have us seek the place where the Lord Jesus Christ is in the midst, where there is the liberty of the Holy Spirit to use whomsoever He will and to exalt Christ. But notice there's authority here.
The assembly as such has no authority in itself. The authority is in the Lord.
But it says in verse 18, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be found in heaven, whatsoever shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And so an assembly at Corinth.
Disciplines a man and puts them out. So Ephesus and all the other assemblies are in unity with current, and so they bow. They acknowledge that if they do not, they are rejecting the unity which the Spirit of God has formed.
Rejecting that this is the Lord's authority in the midst of his people. And I want to say this, I had been away from this, from the mainland here for 13 years, from 1937 to 1950. And I was amazed and astonished when I came back, the meeting, beloved brethren, at conferences and other places to find that assembly decisions were being questioned. One brother came to me and he said there's a such and such a situation and what about it? I said.
Brother Matthew 1818 is the answer. We're near it to that assembly than you are. But if they disciplined, we bow to that, we accept that and that's what the principle I found as I went about that this principle is being lost sight among us. Why have we lost sight of the truth of the assembly as one?
The church is 1, the body is 1, And as our brother remind us, we can't keep the unity of the body. Thank God he does that. But the expression of it in a practical way, keeping the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace, that's another question. And so here we have the assembly.
In a simple form, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. That's a little illustration about this binding. I shall. I'll call from the insurance business in which I was for a number of years and we lived in Honolulu. We represented a company in Hartford.
Connecticut, all that distance. But that company gave us what we call binding authority. And if I went out or anyone else in the office and someone wanted coverage, as they call it, on a certain building, we didn't have to go and ask the company. We could bind it and cover it on the spot. And the moment we covered it, it was covered in Hartford. Whatever we found in Honolulu was covered in Hartford later on of a mistake was made. If it was a poor risk, the company would raise a question.
And settle the matter. That's another thing, but the binding was there and once that was bound by us 6000 miles away, it was binding in Hartford. And so the Lord says whatever you bind on earth with my authority in the midst binding in heaven. And this is a truth I believe we ought to cleave to. Well this is a deviation. We just were thinking of the fact of the expression there of two or three gathered together under the Lord's name. Just one or two thoughts and we'll.
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He finished the church is mentioned in the 5th of Acts just to notice how it's now spoken of as an existing thing.
After the day of Pentecost.
Verse 11 Great fear came upon all the church.
And upon as many as heard these things, the church was in existence. Now fear came upon, and this was God's judgment upon Ananias and Sapphira, but the church was in existence. Us go to the 8th chapter.
Verse one.
And Saul was consenting unto his death, and at that time there was a great persecution against the Church.
Which was a Jerusalem and they were all scattered. The church which was at Jerusalem. You know there's a doctrine at the enemy is introduced that tries to separate the early church from the church that we know of after Pauls ministry. Now God knew the end from the beginning. He formed the church in the day of Pentecost when it consisted of those Jews. But God's purpose was to bring the Gentiles in also.
And on his own occasion he raised the Apostle Paul to bring this out in a special way, that as a divine revelation. But here we have the church which was at Jerusalem. Notice that still the assembly, whether it's before Pauls ministry or after Pauls ministry, it's the assembly. It's the same one body, the one body of Christ. And so those who are disassociated, and the reason I mentioned is those who try to do that.
Try to do away with the breaking of bread to say that was connected with the Jewish aspect of the church.
When there was only the Church of Jerusalem, but all in, what do we learn in first Corinthians 11 after the Lord had gone back to glory, He speaks from heaven to Paul and reveals the Lord supper to him. I've received the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you, how the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. That is, the Lord speaks from heaven as much as to say, now Paul, you weren't there that night in the upper room.
When I instituted that feast, but I want that feast continued as long as the church is on earth till I come again. So we see that these truths should be held together. If it be the Church of Jerusalem, it's the body of Christ there. It would be the Church of God, which is a current. It's the Church of God there.
But overall it forms 1 unity. Now let's go down to the third verse. It says As for Saul, he made havoc of the church.
The church was persecuted and all I believe this is our brother has reminded us, if we seek to act upon the truth, that there is one body and that we gathered simply to the Lord's name in the place of rejection, it'll not be popular.
It will not be popular. People want a name for everything. Not too long ago, over a year ago, I remember when I was admitted to the hospital. They want to know what your religion is, but they won't let you tell them what it is they'll put down. After you tell them the truth, they'll put something else down. And I, we sought to show them that we were neither Protestant nor Catholic. We belong simply to Christ. He was my savior and I belong to him. And so it's a little.
Disturbing in the world.
Not to be able to give ourselves a standing. If I say to a man, I used to go to the Presbyterian Church when I was a boy, suppose someone says, what church do you belong to? And I, well, let me give you an exact case. There was a man I used to deal with on the train years ago and I commuted between Woodbridge and New York. And I used to talk with every, every opportunity I had. So one day on the train, he reared himself up. I got a smile on his face. He said, look, he says I am a Presbyterian.
Of 14 years good standing.
Well, I said Tom, I said when I came to Christ, I came as a Sinner who had no standing, and he received me. He was, he was proud to say what church he belonged to. But if someone asked you and me, what do we say?
Do we have a little difficulty? If we could say we belong to the Plymouth Brethren, why now? Then a reproach is gone. We've got a standing, then we've got a name. The world likes to give us that name. I used to meet a minister on the train. He used to commute too. And I used to get talking with him and he used to say, what do you belong to? And I said, we have no name. We belong to Christ. We gather to us that. But you've got to have a name, you've got to have an organization. And he cried around.
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Well, finally, I don't know how he found out. He knew that I was with the guy that Saints, but he didn't call him that. He says you know what, you belong to the Plymouth Brethren.
No, I don't belong to the Plymouth bread when I belong to Christ, but I meet with my brethren, those who know Christ and want to walk in accordance with the truth. The only I've often said this, the only Plymouth brethren I ever met.
I say this to be factual.
The only Plymouth president I haven't met were at Plymouth, PA. We visit them in their own home. Why were they Plymouth present? Just a lifted Plymouth. They were brethren. They belong to Christ, and they were Plymouth bread, and they lived in Plymouth. Plymouth. Same as we got Montreal brethren, Ottawa brethren. The moment we take any kind of a name to designate our position, we have sacrificed and set aside the reproach. There were two Christian men. They grew up together. They went to college.
Later on, one of them was gathered, the other one became a minister. They met each other after many years.
And they got talking together as about what they believed. And the one who became a minister said, well, I believe that. And I believe, what have you got that I haven't got? The other Christians said, you haven't got the reproach. You haven't got the reproach. There is a reproach connected with being gathered outside the camp, just as there was a reproach to get down after The Cave of a dalam and be identified with David while the Lord is building his assembly. And let's in closing turn, let's just notice the destiny of the assembly.
There are so many scriptures we could turn to, but we just want to close with this one thought in Ephesians 5. Where will the assembly end? Where is Christ going to take the church?
Where is you going to take the church?
Ephesians 5 and verse 25.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.
That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy without blemish. Notice the three things He has said about the love of Christ. His past love took him to the cross. He loved the Church and gave himself for it. His present activity of love. The washing of water by the Word. His priestly service.
Now, what is the future activity of His love to present it to Himself? Christ is going to come. He's coming soon. He's going to present the church to Himself in all the beauty and all the glory with which He has invested it. May we in the meanwhile take the outside place, realize that the blessed Savior is in the midst of the twos or threes, simply gathered to His name on the ground of the one body.
We are gathered that there on the ground that there is one body as the Roman Catholic priest I've been corresponding with for some years, and he wrote to me a very excited letter one time about the ecumenical movement and he said this must be the work of the Spirit of God. Well, in my aunts, a part of my answer to him, I said, well, I have been connected. The company of Christians I'm connected with are not interested in the ecumenical movement for this reason.
That ever since they were called out, they have been committed to the unity of the body. That's the principle which they maintain. And the ground is broad enough to take in every believer on the face of the earth. And so may the Lord keep us walking in separation.
To himself.
I'd just like to read 3 scriptures, brethren.
In Matthew chapter 23.
Matthew, Chapter 23.
Verse one.
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Then spade Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat all. Therefore whatsoever they bid, you observe that observe and do, but do not. She is after their works, for they say, and do not. And shall we turn off to Acts chapter 20?
Hamburgers.
28.
Take heed, therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own cells shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance. Among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessity.
And to them that were with me I have showed you all things, how that solely bring me ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all.
One other passage in First Timothy, chapter 4.
First Timothy, chapter 4.
And verse 16.
Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.
Brethren, there's something very solemn in connection with these verses, and that is that a position as set before us in the Word of God is a very blessed and wonderful thing, something for which we can indeed be most thankful to the Lord. But I believe it's also important, as we see in these Scriptures, that the Spirit of God would have a walk that corresponds with the position that we take. When the Lord Jesus was here, He recognized that there was a place on earth.
That was according to his mind he had placed his name there and he said in that 23rd of Matthew, the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses seat all. Therefore whatsoever they bid, you observe that, observe and do. But he didn't stop there. It was a wonderful thing that there was a place provided of God, a place on earth where the Lord had chosen to put his name. But all what a sad response to that.
When the people weren't there, they found those who said and did not. When the Lord Jesus was born, we find that those people in that very place, they didn't even know or were too much concerned about where the Lord Jesus was born.
When he was brought into the temple, there were only two there that we read of when he was brought in.
And so the place was right. But alas, their walk didn't correspond with the place. And now we find in this 20th chapter of Acts.
In the 20th chapter of Acts, Paul calls for those who were the overseers among the Saints, that Ephesus. He doesn't speak of their human appointment. He says, Over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers. And I have instruct, rather than that it tells us in connection with the overseers, If a man desireth the work of a Bishop, he desireth a good work.
We might wonder why that is so. But again I say, brethren, the church is dear to Christ. He loved the church and gave himself for it, and to have a godly interest for his people is a great joy to his heart, for he loves them infinitely. He loves them under the end. As Paul came and talked to these people, he rejoiced that there were those raised up by the Holy Ghost who did have an interest and a desire.
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For the Church of God, which He has purchased with his own blood or with the blood of his own, Oh, what a cost. And we should never forget this, the cost by which that the Saints of God had been redeemed. But then he has to warn him, He has to warn these people that after that, after I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock, there would be those who would come in from the outside, who would seek to rob the Saints of God.
Who would seek to scatter the flock, and not only from without, but those from within? This was indeed sad. Now, this was what caused the tears of the heart of the apostle. It wasn't just giving out the truth that caused him tears, but all just like the man of God in the Old Testament when he realized what was coming upon the people of God. It says the man of God wept. The man of God wept.
Brother, there's cause for tears as we think of how busy the enemy is in these last days, seeking to do everything. It's a blessed thing, I say, to know the position that God is outlined in His precious word, where we can give expression to the truth that we are members of the body of Christ. But it's a solemn thing when our walk doesn't correspond with it, when we're not careful to walk it away. That shows that we realize that the one to whom we're gathered.
Is holy and true, and so these who would rise up would draw away disciples after them.
That is, they would have men before them instead of the Lord. And how easy this is. As spiritual life declines, it's very easy to have our eyes upon men instead of upon the Lord. Oh, may He exercise us that we may have our eyes upon the Lord. And so he goes on. And what does He do? What is their resource? Oh, I think this is lovely, brethren. And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace.
Oh, isn't this lovely? Do we have a resource in a day like this? Do we have a resource at a time when the walk doesn't correspond with the talk that we have a resource when the enemy is busy and there is an attempt made to divide the Saints of God? Oh yes, we have a resource. And what is the resource? Oh, isn't this lovely? God? What power, what love, what grace? Well, all that we could think of that's blessed.
All in himself.
Unchanged and unchangeable Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.
And then what about direction for our path? The Word doesn't just say the Word, but the word of His grace. Brethren, we need to have a sense of His grace in our souls. It's grace that's kept us to this day. Nadir Apostle could say, by the grace of God, I am what I am. He took no credit to himself. So it's not only the Word, blessed and indeed as it is, but the word of His grace because God would remind us in His last days.
It's only His grace that can keep us. It's only His grace. And So what a resource, command you to God and to the word of His grace, and then he points them on to the glorious future. Isn't that lovely? It says here, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. He said if the enemy is busy to pull things down, the Lord is able to build you up.
What does it mean? How can we build, be built up when everything is being torn down? Well, it says growing grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, yes, we can build up because the more we see the ruin of all that's committed to man, the more it magnifies His wonderful grace.
That's going to carry the church through and present us without spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
What a hope before us. And then why does he bring this in? I have coveted no man's gold or silver or apparel. What does he talk about? His own hands. Why does he speak about what he had done? Well, this is important. There needs to be the testimony of our own conscience that we're seeking to go on with the Lord. It's a serious thing, brethren, to walk in the presence of God.
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And to have that confidence you know the Israelite when he brought his basket of first fruits. He not only recognized what he was in the past the Syrian ready to perish, but he also was exercised that he his life corresponded to the place that he took and are you and I exercise that our life should correspond with the place that we take is gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. Are you and I exercise the apostle Paul was.
And he sought to go on in such a way about what he said had moral weight with those who listened to him, because they saw in him one who desired the blessing of the Saints of God. And isn't it lovely what he said? He didn't desire other people's possessions. He was willing to work with his own hands. He sought to support the weak, not to pull him down. And it says to remember the words of the Lord Jesus.
It's more blessed to give than to receive all the precious Savior. How lovely. He went about doing good. He was a giver. He said to the woman at the well, if thou knewest the free giving of God, thou wouldest have asked of him, and He would have given thee living water. He was in this world, brethren, as a giver, and you and I were going to go on with the Lord. We're going to be a blessing among our brethren. We need to realize this spirit too, not giving.
And that giving, as the little song says, for out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he give us and give us and give us again. And then the last one is addressed to Timothy. Here was the young man Timothy might have looked around and he might have easily become discouraged because tells us here in this 4th chapter of first Timothy in the first verse, the Spirit speaketh expressly than in the last days.
Some shall depart from the faith. He might have been discouraged, but here's what Paul says to him. Take heed unto thyself and under the doctrine. Isn't this remarkable too? Take heed unto thyself and under the doctrine, that is to apply the truth of God to himself. Oh brother, I feel the need of this in my own soul. I trust each one of us do. We've talked about these things.
We rejoice at the privilege of being gathered as members of the body of Christ, but may these words sink down into our hearts. And I say it for myself, Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine. Continue in them. As we said of Moses. Don't give up, but continue in them.
And what will be the result? In so doing, thou shalt both save thyself.
And them that hear these all, what a sad thing that we can make spiritual ruin of our lives.
It may not be manifested here, but at the judgment seat of Christ all will come out. For a long time Joab seemed to be the victorious general.
Looked to him and he won many great victories for David, but when the manifestation came.
He was omitted from the list of his mighty men. He was out in the front for all the activities. But the one that God makes note of is the armor bearer of Joab, the man who was unnoticed, but apparently his life corresponded, and David could talk about him the one as one of his mighty men. All may you and I brethren, seek his approval. Not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commandeth.
And so I just had this little word in my heart, and I say it to myself as well as to you. We have a wonderful privilege. The truth of being gathered as members of the body of Christ has been brought before us in a very blessed way. But oh, what a solemn responsibility is ours.
And yet let us not be discouraged, because there is that which sustains the soul in a day of ruin and breakdown, and a day when men arise, and a day when we feel our own coldness and departure. How lovely. I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among them, all them that are sanctified.
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By faith that is in me, O may the Lord give us grace to go on in these last days, and may keep the feet of His Saints, because he has to test his brethren about the truth that we profess, and if we don't walk in it, we will not be preserved. Because God wants reality, may He give us grace to go on for Him in these last and closing days of the Church's history.
Every distance is stolen right till it never lasts in you We have made our rescue 311.
Real time with all is changing things and all the grief that intervenes. Let his support he's fainting cars and thou assigned to our heart 309.
No.