Address—Eric James
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Just wanted to make a comment before I launch into my subject that is that.
We're in a spiritual war zone, aren't we? I think we all feel that. And our brother Doug has been speaking at this time slot for the last several days about music, and I appreciate that. And that's one of the spiritual battles we have to fight, don't we? We have to be discerning regarding the music that we that we allow.
And, you know, there's always a danger in a war that the soldiers lose sight of what the war is all about. That's happened in Iraq, hasn't it? And so some soldiers had to be put on trial for abuses to humanity because they forgot that they were there for a good cause or should have been there at least for a good cause.
And they got their eye off that good cause, and so now they have to stand trial. And some have actually had to go to prison, haven't they?
Same thing happened in Vietnam when I was a young person. There were a number of soldiers that lost sight of the purpose for which we were fighting, the battle, the wars. And as a result, they did some atrocities that they never should have done and that violated the very spirit of the purpose that brought them there in the 1St place. Well, I'd like to speak about that this afternoon, a little bit this morning.
And that is that we are in a spiritual war zone.
Sometimes we feel overwhelmed. Don't wait. But one thing we have to remember is that there's a purpose why we're in this battle, in this war. We need to keep our eyes on the purpose that brought us here in the 1St place. I'd like to speak this this this morning if you'll turn over to.
Psalm 138. To begin with, I'd like to speak about the present testimony.
Again, I know we often feel overwhelmed day by day, but let's remember that the Lord has called us with a high calling.
And so we want to be faithful to the Lord. Don't wait. It's been mentioned in this meeting, these meetings, that not only do we want to be saved and get to heaven, but we also also want to be careful that we continue on so that when we get home, the Lord can say, well done now, good and faithful servant. And so we want to talk about that. What is it that constitutes, at least in part, a good and a faithful servant? Well, there is such a thing as the present.
And I want to speak about that. That's one of these positive things that the Lord has called us into the warfare for. Let's turn over to.
Psalm 138.
First of all, I want to look at some general principles regarding the present testimony that I'd like to pass on and look at the church specifically. We want to understand what Scripture says. Then I want to look at some history, both Israeli history.
The church's history, and then we'll finish up from there. But in Psalm 138, I think we have some clues as to the nature of the present testimony. I might mention if we turn over to the book of Jeremiah and I.
I encourage young people to read your whole Bible. Jeremiah is, perhaps I speak for myself, but perhaps one of the most neglected books in the Bible. And yet Jeremiah speaks to the very subject we have before us tonight. If you read what Mr. Kelly wrote, for instance, on the book of Jeremiah, you find that he's applying principles from Jeremiah to our very day and how important and helpful it is.
That's the very nature of Scripture, isn't it? Is that it doesn't apply just at the time it was written, but it applies to other times. And there's parable, there's parallel times, and we live in a parallel time to the time in which Jeremiah lived. And one comment was made about Jeremiah by one of the commentators, I don't remember which one now, but he said that Jeremiah was conflicted between the value of the people of God.
And the value of God's glory.
That's an interesting statement, isn't it? Let me just repeat that Jeremiah was conflicted between the value of God's people and the value of God's glory. Sometimes they're at odds, and that's what I want to speak about. As to the present testimony today, what is the nature of the present testimony? Sometimes we hear the the statement or the expression, a remnant testimony.
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Sometimes the question is, is the present testimony is a remnant testimony? What is the word of God say, or is it a testimony which considers the whole Christian profession? And so it's the principle of a remnant testimony versus a testimony of the whole Christian profession. How do we, how do we, how do we know what the present testimony is?
Well, here's a principle we have as we look at the subject of the present testimony.
In verse two of chapter of Psalm 138, we'll look at the end of the verse. Thou hast magnified thy word, above all thy name. Here's an important principle. If we're going to understand what the present testimony is, the nature of the present testimony, we have to understand that it's the Word of God that takes precedence over what attaches itself.
To the name of Christ.
Isn't that an important principle? We have to understand what the Word of God says, not just go along with the crowd that are identified with Christ. Name the crowd of profession. So there we have the dichotomy, don't we? There we have the issue. Is it a remnant testimony on the one hand, or is it simply going along with the whole of the mass of Christian profession on the other side?
Well, here we have a principal. Thou hast magnified thy word above all, thy name his the principles of God's word.
Take precedence over what's happening in the general Christian profession, an important principle. Let's turn now. I want to turn to several verses here, initially over to John's Gospel. Want to look at them fairly quickly?
John chapter 12, a well known verse.
You know, we hear a lot about Christian service, and it's a wonderful thing, isn't it? But what's the very first principle of Christian service? Here we have it, I think in John chapter 12 and verse 26.
If any man serve me, let him follow me.
And where I am, there shall also my servant be.
If any man serve me, him will my Father honor. Here's the most fundamental principle of Christian service, isn't it?
It's to be where Christ is.
Sometimes we hear great ideas and Christian profession has great ideas as to what constitutes Christian service. But let's remember the fundamental issue. If any man serve me, let him follow me. That's the very first principle of Christian service. And where I am, that's the important thing, isn't it, to be where the Lord Jesus is.
There shall also my servant be, if any man serve me.
Him will my father honor. Do we want the Father to say well done, thou good and faithful servant begins here, Doesn't it? Being where the Lord Jesus is following him and then many men serve me, him and my father honor. We're looking at general principles here. First, let's turn over to Matthew chapter 5.
I hope I don't wear your fingers out here, but I just want to look at some general principles regarding the.
Present testimony.
What does the Word of God say about these things? Matthew chapter 5, verse 13.
Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost its say his savior.
Wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Year the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hit. You know, we often think that these two verses are strictly parallel, but they're not.
They actually refer to different things, progressive things, the salt of the earth, the word Earth.
Is a restricted sphere, and it speaks in scripture when it's used in a technical sense of the sphere of profession.
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Ye are the salt of the earth. He was speaking, of course, to the disciples at the time, wasn't he? But he says your responsibility is to be the salt. What salt speak about? We've often heard these things, haven't we? Salt speaks about the preserving principle. Before they had refrigeration, they used to use salt. They would salt meat, for instance, so they could preserve it. And so the responsibility of the disciples here.
Was to be the salt of the earth.
You see the conflict again, that Jeremiah had, the conflict between the value of God's people in general, as much as he might love them, and the conflict between God's glory. What are we called to do? We're called to put God's glory paramount. Ye are the salt of the earth. What if we decide to go along with the rest of Christian profession? I say we individually. What happens?
If the salt have lost his Savior, wherewith shall it be salted. It is thenceforth good for nothing.
But to be cast out and to be trodden.
Under foot of men isn't That's what's happening today. We're reading our brother Doug, I think mentioned Jehoshaphat and how good King Jehoshaphat compromised with that king of Israel. You know, Israel had a certain name of profession. They had a certain, they had the Lord's name attached to him. In a certain sense. There were the 10 tribes there.
But there was a great deal of evil there, wasn't there?
A great deal of evil was identified with the Lord's name, and the time came when they had to be carried away. And so it was a sin for Jehoshaphat. As Elijah points out, it was a sin for Jehoshaphat to be identified with that king of Israel because he knew better. He should have been the salt of the earth, but he was compromising, and he was going along with those who were identified with the name of Jehovah.
Wait, but we're not faithful men.
Well, there's the principle. Ye are the salt of the earth. What's going to happen to the great Christian profession at the end of our dispensation?
As more and more compromise takes place, eventually there's going to be no difference between those who call themselves Christians and those they were called out to be a testimony to. And the Lord is going to close this dispensation. You know, I've often said that a dispensation ends when those who have the peculiar calling of the dispensation are no longer distinguishable from those from which they were called. I believe that's a faithful.
Principle and that's what happens when the salt loses its savior. So here again we have careful attention to the word of God. And his glory is paramount even in a day of weakness, as we've been hearing in Second Timothy, our talks on Second Timothy, haven't we? Well, the rest, the rest of it goes on. Then ye are the light of the world. That's the world is a broader sphere then it includes the whole.
We speak of and so that's the gospel testimony that has to go out either by our lives or by our word. But the salt of the earth is that preserving principle within Christian profession. What an important principle we have here. Let's just look at a couple more verses in this general area and then I want to get move on to the church in general or the church specifically.
Let's turn over to Luke chapter 19.
Luke chapter 19 Remember when the Lord Jesus was coming into Jerusalem for the very last time, there were some that were saying.
Well, let's read it in verse 38, Luke chapter 19 and verse 38 saying blessed be the king that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven and glory in the highest.
And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. Just keep your finger there if you would. And let's turn over to Romans 11 to get the connection here.
I say, then, hath God castaway his people, God forbid.
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For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not castaway his people which he foreknew what she not what the Scripture saith of Elias. That's Elijah, isn't it?
How he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and dig down my altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself 7000 men.
Who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Now notice this next verse.
Even so, then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Well, in that those verses in Luke, I read those because.
If those who have the outward responsibility of glorifying the Lord don't do it, God is going to raise up others that will.
There will always be those who will be a remnant of grace, just as we read about there in Romans 11. If those who have the privilege to to occupy that place don't take it as the Pharisees did in their day, the Lord will give that over to others. But the Lord will make sure. Here's the point I want to make that His glory is maintained.
At all times the Lord will make sure that He is glorified if he has to raise up stones to do it.
He's going to make sure that that happens. Well, we know historically that's what did happen, didn't it? Israel was set aside and the Gentiles were brought in, that the Jews called the Gentiles dead dogs. They just referred to them as dogs. But nonetheless, what happened was because those who had the privilege to glorify the Lord in their place refused to take that place.
The Lord gave that privilege to others. So there's another principle. The Lord will have a remnant that glorifies Him. It may not be those who it appears to be.
But the Lord will make sure that His glory is maintained. That's a helpful principle, isn't it? So again, we're talking about the present testimony.
Sometimes they say, oh, we've heard all these things before.
We have to be careful that that doesn't happen, that we get jaded to these things because this is the very reason why we're in warfare, is to maintain the Lord's glory and honor. We don't want to lose sight of that.
Let's turn over now to the church. I want to look at some examples from the church. What is the word of God say about the church now? Again, our main principle here is the conflict between a remnant testimony and the general profession.
What does God say about that conflict? How is the present testimony to be maintained? That's an important principle, and there's a lot of voices about that. We want to make sure we get the right ones. Let's turn over, first of all, to First Timothy chapter 3.
You know, the Church of God has looked at in three main ways in the in the New Testament. I know there's a number of other metaphors that are used, but they generally will fall under the the topic of these three main types in Scripture. The first one I want to look at is the the assembly is the House of God, the place where the Spirit of God dwells. And because the Spirit of God dwells in the assembly, there's a certain.
That becomes his presence, isn't there? That's the very principle of the House of God. That's a simple principle, but a very important principle tells us in Psalms. Holiness is the law of the house. If we're going to be in God's presence, we have to be holy, don't we? That's a simple principle, and yet it's one that we tend to overlook.
Let's look at First Timothy 3 and chapter 15. But if I tarry long.
That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the House of God.
Which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. What's that mean? Pillar and ground of the truth. You know, there was a pillar. Remember when Jacob left his father-in-law, Laban, they parted and they set up a, a stone, a pillar there and they called it Mizpah. A pillar is a testimony. And that's how it's often used in scripture, sometimes port, but often times in Scripture, you see.
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You you read about these monuments that are set up and I believe that's what is in mind here. The apostle has in mind, it's a testimony to the truth. It's the pillar and ground of the truth. What does that mean, that the ground or the base of the truth?
The assembly is the place where God has deposited the truth on earth.
You know the word synagogue means a voluntary gathering.
And the synagogues were begun, as many are aware, during the time when the Israelites were carried away in the Babylon. They didn't have the temple anymore, and they wanted to meet together for edification and to maintain their their Jewish culture and religion and language and so on. And so they began synagogues. But when we come to the New Testament, we don't have exactly synagogues, not a voluntary association.
But we have that which is a little different.
It's the assembly is the place where God has deposited the truth.
Remember, that's one of those great principles for which we're in this great warfare. Let's not forget about it. Some people like the church hop.
And sometimes I visited with those people and I said, well, we can look up this verse. And I said one thing if you want to test as to whether a group is really the Assembly of God or not.
This verse tells us that it's the place where the truth is held and maintained.
That's the Assembly of God, the place where the truth is held, the ground or base of the truth, and the place where it's maintained, where there's a testimony to the truth. So this is how God set up the assembly in the 1St place. He deposited the truth. That's where it's to be held. That's where it's to be passed on from one generation to another.
And that's where there's to be a testimony outwardly. Now let's look at the next verse before we move on.
Because here's the great secret I think to going on and being faithful to that, that calling without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit scene of angels preached under the Gentiles believed on in the world.
Received up in glory. Why are those two verses brought together? Are you still wonder about that? And I don't know if I have the exact answer, but it's one that's been a help to me.
Why is it that those two verses come together the way they do, First speaking about the House of God. The assembly is the House of God is the pillar and ground of the truth, and then it seems to go off to the side a little bit and it talks about the mystery of godliness. Well, I think that the secret is right here, and that is we cannot go on in the truth of God unless we keep close to the Lord.
Isn't that the secret, the mystery of godliness? Really.
Is an appreciation of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ to keep close to Him, to grow in our appreciation of what He's done and who He is. That's the only way that the truth that we've been speaking about and reading about is going to be maintained is by walking close to the Lord. Well, we had that really before, didn't we? If any man served me, let him.
Follow me. That's the secret. Well, this is the way the assembly was set up in the House of God. If we turn over to Second Timothy 2, where our brother Bob has been reading, we see what happened at that time.
Two Timothy is a sequel to First Timothy, isn't it? It's often been said that in First Timothy we have God's house in order, the way it was supposed to be. It's the order that becomes the very presence of God, because the Spirit of God indwells the assembly, the Church of God on earth.
And so the House of God is the order. That is the place where God's order is maintained, because his Spirit is there.
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But what happened? Everything that's entrusted to mankind declines, doesn't it? And as a result, things went downhill. And So what does God say then? Does he say, well, I guess you just need to go along with everybody else who calls himself a Christian? Is that what the word of God says?
What has Bob been speaking to us about the last several days?
And verse two of verse one of chapter 2, might thou therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. If we were to turn back a few verses, we find that Paul says all they that be of Asia have forsaken me. Does he go after him and say, well, I'm going to, I'm just going to change my principles a little bit, adjust my principles so I can go on with the mass of all these Christians in Ephesus.
It's not what he does, does he?
Rather, he says to Timothy, Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which thou hast heard of be among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, and so on. And we heard about those faithful men. So in a time of difficulty, in a time when many are giving up the truth, what is the what is the appeal of the Spirit of God?
It's to go on with those principles.
That have been entrusted to the church in the 1St place. Isn't that simple enough? Has God changed his thoughts about what the assembly is? The House of God? It's still the place where the truth is deposited. Does he want that truth to be compromised and watered down?
No, He wants there to be the the assembly, to be the place where the truth is held and where it's practiced. Well, what happened though, if we look in verse 19?
Nevertheless, the foundation of God stand is sure having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. That means that there's been failure that we can't we can't tell who the who's who belongs to the Lord or not of those who profess to be Christians. But God hasn't changed, has he? His foundation stand sure he knows, but what's the believer to do in such a day?
And let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. There's a fundamental.
Principle, wasn't it?
Does he want his name identified with iniquity?
Do those who call themselves Christians sometimes go on with iniquity? They do indeed. What are we to do to go along with the Christians to try to help them out? Well, yes, we do want to try to help them out. But are we going to help them out by falling to the lowest common denominator?
What does the Scripture say? That's what's important, isn't it? Thou hast exalted thy word above all thy name. The Word takes precedence above what's general and Christian profession. So what does the Word of God say? Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The story has been often told about Alexander, Alexander the Great, you know, who was from Macedonia and conquered so much of the known world.
Matter of fact, he conquered so much of the known world that when he got to the Indus River, he wept because he didn't have any more worlds to conquer.
The known world had been conquered, and so he conquered that world, but the story is told about.
The time when a young soldier was brought to him that had been derelict in his duty, and the soldier came, was brought before Alexander the Great. Alexander was just a young man. He died in his early 30s, but he was brought before that Alexander.
And they started to tell them the problems this soldier had. He had how I'd been derelict in his duty for whatever reasons. And finally Alexander said. Young man, what's your name?
He said my name is Alexander.
And what did he say then? He said, young man, either change your name or change your ways. Can't have it both ways, can we? Either change your name or change your ways. And that's exactly what this says, doesn't it? Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. That's the salt of the earth. That's the salt of the profession.
The profession has identified the name of Christ with all all kinds of things.
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That our iniquity.
With God's mind and God's spirit.
And So what are we exhorted to do? If we're going to be faithful men? Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ.
Depart from iniquity, verse 20, but in a great house.
That's what christened them in a sense has become there are not only vessels of gold that have silver. Those are people that are real, I believe, as Bob was telling us, but also of wooden, of earth. Those are professing Christians that are not real, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
While those that are real, those that are not real, cannot be vessels to honor, can they? They are vessels to dishonor. So it must mean that those that are gold and silver, those that are real.
May either be vessels to honor or vessels to dishonor in a sense. Again, that's the salt of the earth, isn't it? One who's a vessel to honor is the salt of the earth. One who's a vessel to dishonor is not the salt of the earth. He's given up the reality of his profession. He forgot the reason why he's in this warfare, and he's become sucked up, as we sometimes say.
And the the confusion of the battle.
And forgot the purpose that brought him there. Verse 21 If a man therefore purge or purify himself from these.
He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the masters, use and prepared unto every good work. You know, some have suggested that there's really three classes here for those that are believers. A believer may be a vessel to dishonor. That's true, isn't it? If I'm a believer, if I really trusted the Lord Jesus as my Savior, there is a danger that I may not be a faithful man.
That's a vessel to dishonor.
But then there's vessels to honor.
People like that are figured by Jonathan in the Old Testament.
That though he did not have the grace to go with David, he still was faithful and a measure, wasn't he? And my brother Dan Hollowell was telling me about some people that were certainly seemed to fall into that category. Would hardly say they're vessels to dishonor really. They're people who certainly love the Lord and sacrificed a great deal for the Lord to serve the Lord according to their measure of intelligence. How could I call them a vest, the dishonor?
I think that's true, but then here's a third class. It says in the middle of verse 21, He shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified.
And meet for the master's use. And prepared unto every good work. Remember that principle we had. If any man serve me, let him follow me. The very first principle of service, that where I am, there shall also my servant be. If any man serve me, him will my father honor. So there's vessels to honor sanctified those who have obeyed what it says.
Here let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity and have come out, I shouldn't say come out of the great house or come out of the general House of profession. Can't do that, can we? What we have to do is separate to a part of the profession of Christendom where the order where the where the Spirit's presence is recognized.
That's what we're called to do. We can't leave the House of professing Christendom, otherwise we'd have to give up the profession of Christendom. We're not about to do that, are we? But.
We are called to separate, to a place within the professing house where the Spirit of God is given His due place. That's a simple principle, isn't it? But how important it is. And that's what a vessel to honor sanctified is. That's what the Lord calls us to do intelligently. That's what He calls His people to do. So that's the first one. The church is looked at as the House of God. It's where the truth is deposited.
How is that good deposit going to be maintained? It's going to be maintained by separation from iniquity. We are identified with the name of Christ. We separate from iniquity by God's grace, and we separate to a place of the house where His presence. His presence is in the house, but it's not recognized. Mr. Darby once said that the modern day sin against the Holy Ghost was.
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The clergy system because it completely suppressed the liberty of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God was there.
And the professing house, but his presence was not recognized.
And so by God's grace, he was able to act on that exercise, to recognize the Spirit's presence and to give him his due place and due honor as he so rightly deserves. Well, that's the principle of the House of God. The Scripture speaks clearly about being vessels to honor, and being vessels to honor sanctified.
Not going along with the general profession, not going along with anything that's identified with the name of Christ.
But to be where Christ is and identified with him. What a important principle in our day and so much neglected. Let's look at the body of Christ. I mentioned the Church of God in first Corinthians 12. The Church of God is looked at in primarily three ways. The House of God as we've just been speaking the body of Christ and then thirdly.
The Bride of Christ.
One Corinthians 12. We had this at Walla Walla conference here a couple weeks ago.
And.
Look at verse 12.
What the apostles doing in this chapter is he's using the figure, the metaphor of a human body, to describe what's true of the church.
And so he talks about the different members and so on, but when he gets to verse 12, he speaks a little differently. For as the body is one, Speaking of this general metaphor, the human body and half many members, we have arms and legs and and so on and so forth, and all the members of that one body being many.
Are one body. So also is the Christ. He's been speaking about the body, the human body now.
And now he says that, you know, this body, this body figure, the body can be applied to the church. So also is the Christ. What's that mean? I believe what it means is that the church scene is the one body, is the expression of Christ in this world below.
Isn't that a high calling?
The Church, seen as the body of Christ, is the expression of Christ Himself.
Here below.
Christ is a certain thing, and He expresses Himself in the members of the one body.
In a certain sense, that's what we had at the house, didn't we? The truth has been deposited there. Here it is that the body of Christ is the expression of Christ himself. He's the head. We're the members. And how are we to act? Do we despise the instructions given? Do we say, well, that was just Paul's ideas about how the church should act? You know, it's maybe good if we can carry it out, but not so important.
No, because the body of Christ.
The Church, seen as the body of Christ, is the very expression of Christ himself in this world.
That's a high and holy calling, isn't it? The Lord has called us as one body, and we're to to remember that it's in the body that Christ expresses himself in the world below. Well, let's turn over quickly to Ephesians chapter 4.
What happens in a day of ruin? Does God give up the principle of the one body and the day of ruin?
Does Christ no longer express himself in the one body?
What are we to do? Look at Ephesians chapter 4.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation.
Or that word could be called calling wherewith ER, called. What is that calling?
We have it in verse four. There is one body.
And one spirit even as you're called, and all one hope of your calling. But I did skip a couple verses, didn't I? Remember these things always go together. Not only the principle, but the importance, the vital importance of walking with the Lord Jesus. Look at verse 2 with all lowliness.
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And meekness with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Does that end when things get tough? Are we to stop endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace? Is the body no longer to be the expression of Christ below? What does it say? Let's skip down to verse 11.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets. These are some of the gifts that the Lord gave. And some evangelists. You can take those little commas out. They don't belong there. And some pastors and teachers, notice what it says here. For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. How long? Only as long as everybody's getting along together.
Look at verse 13. Till we all come in the unity of the faith.
And of the knowledge of the Son of God undo a perfect man under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. When's that going to be?
It's not going to be before the Lord takes us home, is it?
It's not going to be before that. So these principles of the one body is the expression of Christ.
Are to be carried on until the Lord comes and takes us home.
Remember again, Thou hast exalted thy word above all thy name. We say, Well, the general profession of Christendom they don't carry out, they don't even try to carry out the truth of the one body. But what is the Spirit of God say, till we all come?
In the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, until he takes us home then.
It's and not until then does the Lord want us to go on and endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. You know, there's a verse that is exercised me and Luke, I think it's chapter 16. It says this.
It says the law and the prophets were until John. That's an interesting verse to me because what it means is that dispensationally, that is, at the current, the present dispensation, the law and the prophets were given and they were not suspended until John the Baptist came, and then God himself began to bring in a new dispensation, but not until then.
Were those first principles ever suspended?
The same thing is true in our day, isn't it?
The law and the prophets were, until John, those fundamental principles that were entrusted to Christians.
Are not forfeited or changed until God himself changes the dispensation. When's that going to be at the rapture?
Then we don't have to worry about these principles as such, because we're going to be with the Lord Jesus. But until then?
The full force of these original principles that have been entrusted to the believers.
Need to be carried out until the Lord comes. Well, so we've looked at the body. We're just a chapter over. Let's turn over to the fifth chapter. We've looked at the the church is the House of God, how it was originally entrusted to believers and how it's to be carried on until the Lord comes. We looked at the principles of the body of Christ.
And how it was entrusted to the Church, the expression of Christ, and it's to be carried out faithfully, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit until the Lord takes us home. Let's look at the bride then. What about the bride in chapter 5, 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 holding and without blemish. Skip down to verse 32. This is a great mystery.
But I speak concerning Christ.
And the church. The church is looked at as the bride of Christ.
And the Lord is right now sanctifying and cleansing it with the washing of water by the Word. But let's turn over to the sequel to this over in Second Corinthians Chapter 11.
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Those were the first principles that were laid down.
What about in a day of trouble, in a day of ruin? What are we to do? Well, here's what the apostle Paul says. Second Corinthians Chapter 11, verse 2. For I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin.
To Christ.
You know, I'm gonna borrow a illustration that her brother Bob Tony has used a number of times.
Bob is on his way I think now down to Oaxaca to go to a wedding and a wedding is among believers is a wonderful thing, isn't it, particularly when it's been when the young people have kept themselves pure before the Lord is a picture of Christ in the church speaks here as a spouse due to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Now, the illustration Bob's heard, and I'm sure some of you have heard it before, but perhaps some others haven't either, and it doesn't hurt us to be reminded.
Says what if Bob goes down to that wedding and the husband they get to their vows?
And it talks about forsaking all others. Cleave to your partner alone.
What if? What if the husband says you know?
I know before I got married, my wife and I discussed their vows and what we were going to say. What if the husband and bride before the marriage sat down and said, well, let's discuss our vows to figure out what we really want to say. And if he says, you know, I want to be devoted to you 95% of the time.
But the other 5%?
I want to be able to go out and play the field.
Would that be acceptable, do you think? Some people do that? I know people that have done that. I know people that have had so-called open marriages. We know of some of our little village that do such things and it's a defiling thing isn't it? But that's would that be acceptable to to a Christian young person? I certainly hope not. They look forward to the full commitment of their soon to be spouse, don't they?
That won't be satisfied with 95% and 5% for somebody else.
How about 90%? How about 99%? Do you think a Christian young person about to be married would be satisfied with with that negotiation? So in their vows they say I'll be 99% devoted to you, but I want to reserve 1% so I can play the field. 1% and 1%. That's only.
A few days a year, that shouldn't have much impact.
That would be unacceptable, wouldn't it?
So what about the church is the bride of Christ?
Paul says here.
I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
Only 100% is acceptable, isn't it in the intent and those who are intelligent that enter into the marriage bond and God wants nothing less. It's true of the principles of the House of God. They don't erode with time. But what happens is there must be a separation within the great profession of Christendom to a place where the where the Spirit is given his due due honor.
What about the body of Christ, the expression of Christ in this world?
There must be that maintenance until we're all home, safe home to harbor. And what about the church is the bride of Christ?
Nothing less than being a chaste virgin is acceptable when the Lord takes us home, is it?
So these are the principles we have in Scripture. What again is the question? The question is, does the Lord want us to maintain original fundamental principles, or does he want us to go along with the the regression of what Christian profession has become? This is the salt of the earth. Remember, the earth is Christian profession. It's a type of Christian profession.
And so the Lord wants us to maintain those principles because.
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They're the very expression of himself.
Let's our time is going on rapidly. Just want to talk very briefly about the history of Israel and the church. How have these principles been carried out in time? Just without turning to verses, let's remember what happened in the history of Israel. They came out of the land of Egypt.
One of the very first things they did when they got to the Mount of Sinai, remember Moses went up to the mountain and there he received the the law, the 10 commandments on 2 tablets. And what happened? Well, the people had already sinned had they had already made a golden calf, as we well know and so.
Moses comes down.
And we know there was a Great War. Wasn't there a conflict? And many were killed at that time. And it was an awful time. And what did Moses do? Remember, there was the Shekinah glory. That cloud was over the 10 of testimony. What did Moses have to do? He took that 10 of testimony and he took it outside the camp. And anybody who wanted to call on the Lord had to go outside the camp where that Shekinah cloud was.
He could no longer be identified with the camp because it had already associated itself with with that which defiled his name and was a dishonor to his name. And then what happened? Well, we know they went into the land, They came to the land. They came to a place called.
Obed Edom and not Obed Edom, but they came to the to the to the Jordan River.
And they said, well, let's send in some spies to see what happens, see if the land is a good land or not. And the Lord had already told him it was a good land, necessary that they send spies in because the Lord had told him it was a good land. He'd already led him for two years to get to that point. And yet they said, well, we better spend send spies in. And what was the report? Spies came back and said it's a very good land, but there's giants and there's Walt cities.
We're not going to be able to overcome those giants in a walled cities. What are we going to do?
All the people cried and they wept. They said we better go back to Egypt. Does that make any sense?
There was two people, weren't there? And who were those two people, those two of the 12 spies that stood up?
Caleb and Joshua and said it is a very good land and the Lord will bring us in and he'll give us the strength to overcome the enemies. There was a remnant, wasn't there? There's that principle of the salt again, preserving the the whole. Well, they had to wander for I suppose it was 38 years. Some say 40, I suppose maybe.
Maybe somebody has a stronger thought on that, but at least 38 years with their brethren until they came back.
And at that time there was a new generation which did not despise the pleasant land, as it says of that first generation. They were able to go into the land. But then we know as they went into the land, they had judges for a number of years. Then the kings were set up, first Saul, and then David and Solomon over united Israel.
But what happened after Saul?
Again, idolatry began to creep in. Even Solomon himself, unfortunately we know, married strange wives, and as a result, there he began to worship their idols in order to please them. And so the people fell into sin. And what happened? 10 tribes were split off, and only two tribes remained. There was a remnant principle again, wasn't it?
And so.
The.
The heat, the breach was never healed. Eventually we know the 10 tribes were carried off by the king of Assyria.
The two tribes then were in time as well, carried off by Babylon. Why were they carried off? Well, that's when Jeremiah comes in that we mentioned. Jeremiah lived at the very end of the period when the two tribes were in existence and the period during which they were carried off by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. And what does Jeremiah tell us? Remember I said that Jeremiah is conflicted between the value of the people of God.
Love the people of God, but he knew that.
That government of God was about to fall on them because they had identified His name with things that were unholy and the Lord could no longer have His name identified with that and so.
The question was between the people of God, who he loved in God's glory, and what's the choice that he has to make?
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It's God's glory, isn't it? He's called the weeping prophet and he wept most of his lifetime. Most of his prophecy was a prophecy of weeping. He returned to the second chapter of Lamentations and you see how the Lord is the one who sent him into captivity. Some people were saying we're the people of God and nothing can happen to us. What happened in Sennacherib's day when he came up against Hezekiah with the Lord's modem all.
But Jeremiah said no, that's not going to happen today.
He said, well, the time has come when there's going to be judgment because of our moral condition, and that's what happened after 70 years. Remember that the Lord raised up a little testimony, didn't he? He brought him back from Babylon after 70 years. In the days that are described in the book of Ezra. There were four parts to that recovery, as we find out. First, there was a recovery of the place.
And Zerubbabel and Zechariah's day.
Then there was recovery of by the prophets. I think that corresponds to the recovery there there's been in the church. The truth is not generally recovered all at once, but by bits. And then there was a recovery by the priest Ezra we read in the 7th chapter and so on in the book of Ezra had a discerning ministry as a as a priest. And so it was with the recovery of the truth.
And then finally in the day of.
Nehemiah, who was one of the common people, he was number priest. He was no descendant of the royal lineage. He was a common man, but he maintained the truth that had been recovered by those before. And I believe we live in such a day. Lord hasn't asked us to do great things, but He's asked us to continue on and maintain the truth till He comes.
Well, if we turn to the church.
Time is running rapidly by. But we have a similar history, don't we? We turn to Revelation Chapter 2. We see in chapter 3. We see the history and outline of the church history, don't we?
And in the first three churches, let's just turn to it. We bend in a little bit here, but in Revelation chapter 2.
Revelation chapter 2, we see there was a fall on the very first Church of Ephesus. They were not what they should have been. There was a decline perhaps. I think that corresponds to what we have. Probably in the days after Solomon there was a fall among God's people, but it was not a fatal fall, yet there could have been a recovery. And so at the end of the first church it says in verse seven he that in Revelation 2.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. So he that hath an ear is addressed to all that profess to be Christians. There could have been a recovery to the first condition. When we get to Thyatira, notice what it says in verse 24. But unto you I say.
Unto it could read the remnant in Thyatira.
As many as have not this doctrine. Things had gotten so bad in Thyatira. Remember, That's a picture of Catholic Catholicism during the Middle Ages, when what was the professing church had become thoroughly corrupted and a dishonor to the Lord.
I say unto you, the remnant in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine in which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden but that which ye have already. Hold fast till I come. Now notice this.
He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to Him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. In the vessels of the Potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father, and I will give unto him the morning star. Now notice when this expression is stated, it stated after the address to the overcomers. In other words, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the churches.
With Thyatira is only addressed to the Remnant now.
Before, the thought was that possibly there could be returned to the original condition and acts, But with Thyatira things had fallen so low that the order is reversed, and the address of him that hath an ear is made only to the overcomers, to the remnant. Well, our time is gone. It's such an important subject, isn't it?
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The fundamental principle, again, I hope we can get a hold of that there comes that of the present testimony, is that we have to choose between the value of God's people as a whole, much as by God's grace we would love them all and love them all, and the value of God's glory. The same choice that Jeremiah had to make. And the instruction is, let him that nameth the name of Christ.
Depart from iniquity.