Address—P.L. Johnson
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Read first of all in the first chapter. A few verses there to.
At the beginning is of this and have a desire to speak on this evening.
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his Kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying Thus the Cyrus king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth.
And he has charged me to build him and house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
Who is there among you of all his people? His God. Be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the House of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem.
And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold and goods.
And with beasts beside the free will, offering for the House of God that is in Jerusalem. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah, and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the House of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem.
And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered. Then the third chapter. And when the 7th month would come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
Then stood up Joshua the son of Joseph and his brethren the priest, and Zerubbabel the son of Shot Heel and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel.
To offer burnt offerings there on, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
And they set the altar up on his basis, for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries.
And they offered burnt offerings their own unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening. They kept also the Feast of Tabernacles as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the custom, as the duty of everyday required. And after it offered the continual burnt offering both of the new moons and of all the set feasts of the Lord that were consecrated, and of everyone that willingly offered a free will offering under the Lord.
From the first day of the 7th month began they to offer burnt offerings under the Lord, but the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.
They gave money also under the Masons into the carpenters and meat and drink and oil, and to them of Zaiden, to them of tire to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Jaffa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus, king of Persia. Now in the second year of their coming into the House of God in Jerusalem, in the second month began to rubble the son of Sheltio and Joshua, the son of Josedac, and the remnant of their brethren, the priests and the Levites, and all they that.
Come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites from 20 years old and upward to set forward the work of the House of the Lord.
Since to Joshua with his sons and his brethren, Cadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah together to set forward the Workman in the House of God, the sons of Hinnad with their sons and their brethren the Levites. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asus, with symbols to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David, king of Israel.
And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because He is good for his mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praise the Lord.
Because the foundation of the House of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the Fathers, who were ancient men that had seen the 1St house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice. And many shouted aloud for joy. So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people. For the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.
Well, I read considerable in order that we might have.
Enough before us that we might fill in between to understand the circumstances.
Of this little remnant that returned from the land of the captivity back to the place of the divine center, the place where the Lord had put His name. And I thought we might consider for a little while this evening some of the principles that we find here in this portion of the book of Ezra in connection with a remnant testimony.
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Because it is important for us to realize that the day in which we live, and of course I'm not, when I say the day in which we live, I'm not just limiting it to this decade or this generation or even this century.
Because for many years the testimony of God in this world has been of a remnant character, a remnant testimony.
If you were to take up the seven churches of Asia, as we have in Revelation 2 and three, you will find that.
In the fourth stage of the Church's history there in Thyatira.
We have mentioned for the first time a remnant, while the Church in general had become corrupt through the teachings of that prophetess of the one who called us. Have a prophetess Jezebel. He speaks of a remnant, the rest in fire Tyra who have not.
This doctrine, a remnant is mentioned and from there on in the church's history, it's been a a remnant testimony, a remnant testimony. And what do we mean by that? We mean that as far as the Church of God established in this world.
Bearing a faithful testimony in its entirety. It's all over. There is no such thing as the.
Church in general, in its entirety, bearing a faithful testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ into the truth of God, though it was set up in this world for that purpose.
We see in the history of the Church, prophetically even in the Book of Revelation, that when it reaches the stage of fire, Tara.
It is given up as far as general testimony is concerned.
And its testimony is in ruin and failure, and from fence forward.
God is occupied with a remnant testimony, that is, that there would be those who can.
Bear testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the truth of the Church.
But they cannot claim to be the Church in its entirety.
A remnant. Of course, the very thought of a remnant is that it's not the whole thing. Isn't that true?
If you have a bolt of material and there's only you speak of a remnant of that, it means it's not the whole boat. It's only a remnant. It's just what's left. It's a part of the hole.
The client cannot claim to be the whole, it's only a part of it. But there is another aspect in the thought of a remnant is this though the the remnant is not the whole thing in its entirety yet the remnant is just like the original. In other words, a remnant of something is not something different from what it was originally. It it maintains the same characteristics of the original, but it's just not in the whole thing in its entirety.
And I thought for a little while this evening we might consider some of the principles that are brought out here in Ezra in connection with the remnant testimony. Because we will see that when this little remnant returns back to the divine center, they go back to the original pattern, they go back to what things were in the beginning.
With some exceptions.
And this is important too, with some exceptions.
Well, now, first of all, let us just give a little.
Resume of the.
Of the history of Israel. It brings us down to this point. We know, of course, that.
That nation after it was established in its Kingdom.
Under David, and in all of its glory, under under Solomon.
His glorious reign. The Kingdom was established there in a peaceful and glorious reign in Solomon, and God gave the word to Solomon that if he continued to walk.
In the ways of David his father, and if he walked before the Lord in integrity of heart.
Then God would not only establish his Kingdom, but perpetuate it that he would see that there would be.
Successors who would maintain the glory and power of the Kingdom.
But we know that Solomon himself failed in this. Solomon failed in the.
In heeding the word of God, and multiplying horses out of Egypt, and multiplying wives to himself. And then his heart was turned away from the Lord to serve other gods. And the result of this was that in the days of his son Rehabon, the Kingdom was divided, ran asunder in 10 tribes, revolted under Jeroboam, leaving only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin under the House of David. And we know something of the subsequent history.
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Of these two separate kingdoms now as recorded.
And the in the Book of Kings, how did the 10 tribes of the north went from bad to worse? And the the kings continued in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebad, who made Israel descend, until finally they were carried away into captivity by the king of Assyria. And the Kingdom of Judah for a while fared a little better. There were from time to time godly kings whom God raised up, and there were notable revivals of course, under.
And Josiah and the Kingdom of Judah continued a little longer. And finally.
Because of persistent wickedness and idolatry.
And turning from the Lord, why God brought to the adversary Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, against.
The against Judah and finally the city was was besieged and there were they were carried away into captivity and then the final rebellion under Zedekiah and the king of Babylon comes up again and burns the city with fire, destroys the walls, and then all are carried away with the exception of just the poor of the land. Well, we know that this the city lay in desolation and ruins that glorious temple that.
Been constructed in Solomon's day was was destroyed and so the Israel, the Jews were not allowed to continue their worship there in the divine center of the place where God had put his name. He abandoned it, as it were, and they were carried away into captivity. But we know that God gave the word as we read here in Ezra through Jeremiah.
That the land would lie rest for 70 years, but that he would bring them back. He would cause the them to return.
And we know, of course, that Isaiah prophesied about this man Cyrus, as being the servant of the Lord, who would be the instrument for the return of his people back to the place of his appointment in Jerusalem, the divine center. Well, and what we have now here in the book of Ezra is the fulfillment of that promise of God to to restore a little remnant. And it is only a remnant. The 10 tribes never returned.
They were carried away into captivity by the Assyrians and they have never returned to the land as a group.
We know, of course, that they were individuals from those tribes who found their way back to the divine center even before the Assyrian captivity and perhaps some later. We know that even when the Lord came into this scene, there were those from the from these 10 tribes we we know that Anna was of the tribe of Asher. She was not of the tribe of Judah, but chiefly those who were back in the divine center belong to Judah and Benjamin.
The 10 tribes have were lost and they have never been recovered even in a partial way like Judah and Benjamin.
So it was only a part of the nation. First of all, this this return of the remnant involved only the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, and then not all of both.
All of those who were carried away captive into Babylon did not return.
Very enumerated here the families are brought out and we see that there was a there was a sort of a, you might say a little sample from each group of the of the Jews, but not the totality. It was just a remnant brought back to the place of the divine center, the place where the Lord had put his name. When I first of all, I would like to point out.
That the first principle we see in in the recovery.
And remnant testimony is that there is a return to the divine center, the place where the Lord is pleased to put his name. They owned that there was a there is a divine center and it's there that the Lord had placed his name. You see, they, they were not, they did not set up a center in Babylon and they did not seek to make a new center in some other place.
The desire was to go back to the place where God had originally originally.
Placed his name in the city of Jerusalem.
Well, we might make a little parallel here as to the history of the professing church, the church here in this world, and comparison with that, an analogy with the history of Israel. We know too, that the church was set up on the day of Pentecost in this world and in its early stages there, as as recorded in the book of Acts. We see its power and its glory. We see, its purity, we see.
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Shining testimony for the Lord Jesus. It's heavenly character why they were so engrossed.
With their heavenly calling in those early chapters of Acts that they didn't even call the things that they owned their own. They we read as Juan Barnabas who had the houses and lands and he sold it and brought the price and delayed it at the apostles feet. They were so engrossed with their heavenly calling and such a holiness was maintained in the church that where there was hypocrisy and lying to the Holy Spirit.
Why immediately it was judged?
And we see that there was number mixture of the world and the church, because we read that the believers were together in Solomon's porch, and of the rest, the rest of the people. No one dared join themselves to them.
There was number such thing as joining a Christian company for convenience. No, they wouldn't join because of the.
Of the evident power of the Spirit of God in the midst, and the holiness that was maintained. What a wonderful picture of the Church in the early chapters of Acts we have, we see.
But we know that the church did not continue in that state.
But we know that, as Paul said, there arose men among them to speak perverse things and draw away disciples.
We know that grievous wolves entered in not sparing the flock and as Jude had to say that ungodly men had crept in unawares. Paul had to say later all those that are in Asia be turned away from me. He had to say that some heard from the truth, heard concerning the truth, saying the resurrection is passed already and overthrow the faith of some. He had to say that they have turned away, the time will come when they will turn away their ears from the truth.
He had to speak of a demonus who had once been a a a Co laborer with him as having forsaken him.
Having loved this present world, so we see how that things did not continue, and we might say that the Church went as it were into captivity. For we read in the message to Pergamos, the Lord says to the to the assembly there as characterizing the period of the Church's history when it became merged in the world. He says, I know for thou dwellest even where Satan's throne is.
That is, the Church, as it were, became in captivity.
To Satan in this world, it came under the domination of the world. It became a pawn of the world, and that's true.
And for many years it was so the church in the world waited together. But God has graciously from time to time.
Made recoveries and a remnant testimony has been brought out.
No doubt the Reformation itself in one sense, could be considered in that light, because there was much truth recovered there in respect to the soul, salvation by faith, and in respect to the supremacy of the Word of God over any of the words of the so-called church in any farm, placing the Word of God where it belongs as the supreme authority for the.
Faith and conduct of the believer, but more especially I believe.
God by His Spirit recovered remnant testimony last century.
In the recovery of truth, not only in respect to justification by faith and in respect to the supremacy of the Word of God.
But also as to restoring the true character of Christianity itself.
Which had fallen into much darkness, and into the recovery of the truth of the Church and of the Lord's coming.
Well, perhaps we can liken some of the things, the very circumstances of the book of Ezra to a situation like that where God has has affected a recovery, has affected a recovery. And I thought that it is very important for us in our day to be acquainted somewhat with the principles.
That were that were a part of that recovery and belonged to a remnant testimony, because it will be a remnant testimony until the Lord comes.
There will be no longer a united, ecumenical, worldwide testimony of the Church. Now, when I say worldwide, I mean by the Church in general.
As it was in the early, early days of the church.
Until the Lord comes, we will continue to be a remnant testimony, and these are the principles that we want to be guided by that we would seek to maintain by the grace of God. Well, with that rather lengthy introduction, let us turn to some of the thoughts in the book of Ezra in connection with these principles.
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First of all, when they come to the to the city, to the land in verse one of chapter 3.
We see that they gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
Here is the thought of their gathering in unity as one man, and it was in Jerusalem, although they were in their various cities. Notice here it says.
When?
The children of Israel were in the city.
But they gathered as one man to Jerusalem.
They didn't just remain in their in their cities and independency of one another. They didn't say, well, now this is a day of ruin and failure. And this is not the days of Solomon. This is not the days of David. It's not even the days of of revival under Josiah or Hezekiah. These are days when when everything is in weakness and ruin and failure. So we'll just each one stay in our own city and.
According to our own thoughts, what we see is here. They said no, Jerusalem is the divine center. There is a place where the Lord has placed his name, and it's there we should meet. And also they gathered as one man.
This would suggest to us that in connection with a remnant testimony, there should be the recognition of the divine center, the place where the Lord has placed His name.
And I have no doubt that what the Lord Jesus had this in mind in Matthew 1820.
When he utters those words for where two or three are gathered together.
Under my name, there am I in the midst of them.
I've often wondered why he said two or three.
Why did he not just say where my disciples are gathered under my name? There I'll be in the midst.
Where the Saints are gathered into my name, there I'll be in the midst. Why did he specify two or three?
Well, I believe the Lord was looking forward, as it were. I don't say that this is necessarily what they understood by it at the time. But the Lord was looking forward and He knew that they would become a time in the history of the church in this world, that He would be only a remnant testimony, and that the two and three would be literally all that could be gathered together to act on such a verse.
That you could only get two or three who would, who would take the place of gathering to the Lord's name? And he put that figure in there, that number two or three, in order, I believe to to to have a word that faith can act upon in a day of ruin and failure and confusion for two or three. And they have the authority of the Lord in the midst.
They have the authority of the Lord in the midst, he said to the disciples earlier in that chapter, You know, 18.
That whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven.
Well, one might say, well I can understand that in the early church when all that believed were together, but is that true in a day of ruin and failure? Well, I think that's why the Lord said where two or three are gathered together under my name. For that verse comes in in connection with the disciples gathered for discipline or in prayer when he says, when if any two of you on earth shall agree as touching anything, it shall be done as my Father in heaven.
Forward two or three are gathered together under My name. There am I in the midst of them.
Well, we see that in remnant testimony. In a remnant testimony, the principle of the divine center is found, the divine center with the Lord in the midst, giving authority to the acts of those so gathered to His name, even though they cannot claim to be the whole church. Just like this little testimony, this little remnant couldn't claim to be the whole nation, Israel, and they couldn't claim to have all the power that Solomon had.
We shall see in a few moments, the Lord willing, some of the things they couldn't do. There's some things that can be done in a remnant testimony, and there's some things that can. And the things that can be done, we find in the Word of God, authority, Father. Things that cannot be done, we leave into the hands of the Lord. And that's what this little remnant did here. But they could gather to the divine center that was entirely, as it were, within their power to do so.
It was something they could do, and it is something thank God that we can do in this day. We can gather to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and know Him in the midst.
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And know His authority in the midst of those so gathered.
Well, another thing is here they gathered at one man. This would suggest to us too, the principle of the one body.
We know that the word of God says in Ephesians 4 there is one body.
One spirit, 1 Hope of your calling. And these are three things that all of the ruin and failure of man, and the unbelief and unfaithfulness of the Saints of God can never alter and take away. There is one body.
It's connected with the one Spirit, and it directs us to that one hope of the Lord's coming. These are the essentials.
You might say of that which is real Christianity, one body composed of every true believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, indwelled by the one Spirit, and they all have the one hope of his coming. And that's true today.
And faith laid hold of that.
You know when.
In the when the Lord came and in the days of the.
This early days of this dispensation, when the apostles went forth with the gospel.
Why? We know that the 12 tribes of Israel were scattered. As we've mentioned, the 10 tribes were carried away by the king of Assyria.
And they were never restored.
And yet, you know the Apostle Paul speaks in the book of Acts when he is defending his preaching of the resurrection.
He says which hope our 12 tribes instantly serving God, hope to come. He speaks of the 12 tribes and James writes an epistle to the 12 tribes scattered abroad.
Well, the to the 12 tribes of Israel, we see that to faith.
They recognized that the 12 tribes still existed as a unity before God. That is, the the national unity of Israel was a fact and a reality to faith. Who recognized that God saw that unity? That is, God sees all the 12 tribes, though they're scattered and peeled and man doesn't see them.
Well, in a similar way, today we can say there is one body.
And we know before God the one body exists.
It is seen by God and by the eye of faith. We can say there is one body, though we can't point to it.
And give a demonstration of it as far as saying there's all the members of the body right there.
Because we know that some of the members of the body are scattered, but still to face there is one body. And we act on that truth, that principle, when we gather to remember the Lord. And there's the one loaf upon the table. We're told that we that expresses the one body of Christ. And our partaking of that one loaf, we give expression to the truth of the one body. That's what 1St Corinthians 10 says.
Maybe ought to read it.
1St Corinthians 10.
And perhaps we could we could just refer to it, but in reading it, it may have more force for us. 1St Corinthians 10 and verse 17.
In the 16th verse, the bread is an emblem of the body of the Lord in which he suffered on the cross.
The Lord's own body, but in verse 17 For we being many are one bread, one body.
For we are all partakers of that one bread. Now the partaking of the one bread. Here is the bread on the table.
The bread which we break it has A2 fold signification.
It is first of all an emblem of the Lord's own body. Then it is also a symbol of the what might be called the Mystical Body of Christ, the body of Christ composed of the many members we who are believers. And in partaking of that one bread we give expression to the truth that we are members of that one body. It's the very ground on which we gather as members of the body of Christ.
We do not break bread as being members of any religious sect.
Or of any particular group. We break bread as members of the body of Christ, and we own that.
One time a brother told me, he's a well known brother, I will mention his name that has labored among us for years. He said that in speaking to a fellow Christian about taking his place at the Lord's table, It was a man apparently who had much light on the Scripture, but he had never really taken his place at the Lord's table to remember the Lord, where the Lord's people is a member of the body of Christ. And he was visiting him one day and this, this brother.
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Says to his Christian friend. He says, you know, he says.
I saw you in the break at the breaking of bread last large day morning and this Christian friend says, well, I don't know how you how you did that. He says I wasn't there. Oh, he says you were there. He says, no, I wasn't at your meeting last Thursday morning. He says I saw you in the loop as a member of the body of Christ. I saw you in the loaf and you have a place there as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and there was no, no scriptural hindrance to his breaking bread. Well.
Saw you in the loop there on the table. Because in the loaf he discerned not only the Lord's own body.
But the those who are members of the body of Christ, and we express that as we read there in First Corinthians 10 in the breaking of bread. Well here we see the two of the principles, the principle of the divine center and the ground of gathering on that divine center. You see this, this really constitutes.
The position, by the grace of God, that we would seek to take as gathering to God's divine center on the ground of the one body, as members of the body of Christ. And so they gathered as one man to Jerusalem. Well, now I mentioned that there are some things that they couldn't do.
We see the things that they could do, and there's some things they couldn't do, and perhaps we ought to consider some of those.
In the second chapter we have a.
Some of the things that they were unable to do.
We read here in verse 61 of the Children of the Priests.
The children of Abaya, the children of Cause, the children of Barzillai, which took a wife of the daughters of Brasilia, the Gileadite, and was called after their name. They sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found. Therefore were they as polluted.
Put from the priesthood, and the Tishata or the governor said unto them that they should not eat of the most holy things till they stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim. And I hear we read a some who who claim to be in the priesthood and.
Attempted to take the place of priests and to enjoy the privileges of the priests.
And to perform the functions of the priesthood.
But they weren't allowed to. And why were they not allowed to?
Because they were not priests. Because they didn't belong to the priestly family? No, that isn't it. They may have been.
In the priestly family, but the reason they were not allowed to perform the functions of the priest and to enter into the privileges of the priest is because they could not prove their connection with the priesthood by their genealogy.
So we see here that when this remnant returned, there's a little change in in the activities as far as the priesthood is concerned. And we know, of course, that this would be typical. The priesthood would bring before us and type our drawing near into the presence of God. And I would connect it with our gathering together to remember the Lord.
As not only those to remember Him, but as true worshippers, it would be involved, as we have in Hebrews 10, about coming within the veil.
Through that new and living way as worshippers in the presence of God. But here were some who were not allowed that privilege and were not allowed to function in that capacity.
Because they were not able to prove their connection with the priestly family.
Not that they were not, so they didn't know, but they couldn't prove it. Well now, back before the captivity, before the temple was destroyed and the city was in ruins, this was not necessary.
The genealogies were untouched. The genealogies were kept very ardently.
And there was number possibility of one being in the priestly family and it not being known, it was known who were in the priestly family because the genealogies were intact. But what had happened, of course, was that in the destruction of the city and in the scattering and so forth, these genealogies were interrupted. And perhaps some of them didn't value the genealogy, perhaps the record that they had in connection with their priestly.
Function was not very important to them. They felt well now.
We're in captivity in Babylon. We won't need this anymore for the cities and ruins. The temple is destroyed and perhaps they didn't value it and they lost it. They didn't. They weren't careful to maintain it. So the result is now when they come back, they couldn't prove that they were in a priestly family. They couldn't prove it. They had no genealogy to prove it. So first of all, we see here that in a remnant testimony and a day of ruin and failure.
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There there is the such a thing as putting to the test a person's profession.
You see, in the early days, the profession did not need to be tested because.
The very fact that one made a confession was generally evident of reality. For it entails such persecution, it entails such a precarious life and walk that it would of course have been a very unheard of for one to make a profession for convenience. And also there wasn't the scattering, there wasn't the false teaching and so forth. But in a day of ruin and failure, it is necessary to to test.
Confession of those who profess to be the Lord. In other words, it isn't everyone who can be brought in.
To the Lord's table, and afforded the privileges and functions of those who are at the Lord's Table to remember the Lord.
Because they have to prove their genealogy, there must be the pudding to the test, the profession as to whether or not they are really the Lord. Turn to the second chapter, second Timothy, just to make a reference. There. We see that this is brought out in this portion. Here we see where the the confession is put to the test and remember as what we read there in Ezra 2.
The governor.
Did not say to those who could not produce their genealogy. He did not say to them. Now you're hypocrites.
You're not in the priesthood at all, you're just trying to get into something that doesn't belong to you. He didn't say that, he said now we don't know. We don't know, and all we can do is wait until a priest arises with the Urim and the thumb, someone who has absolute authority and absolute discernment, who can unravel this and determine whether you're not Well, of course we know that there was no priest with Urim and Thummim in those days and there never lose 1.
Because of course, in a day of ruin and failure, that absolute authority is lost, and it is resident in the Lord alone, and we see this in Second Timothy 2.
In verse 19, nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his.
That answers to the priest who would stand up with the Urim and the thumb and give an authoritative answer. Only the Lord knows them that are his. In a time of ruin and failure and remnant testimony, we cannot determine absolutely who are and who are not, who are not. So you will notice that the governor there in Israel, he didn't even consider as to whether or not they were in the priesthood.
That question was never raised.
The whole question was, could they prove they were in the priesthood?
And today we do not raise the question actually as to whether one is really the Lord.
It is only do they prove does their profession stand the test. Sometimes individuals say, well I know this came up one time in which I was personally involved and I visit the individual that that was not received and the person said you have judged me and you have practically said I have not a Christian by not allowing me to break bread. I said no, we haven't done that.
No, we haven't said. We didn't raise the question as to whether you're a Christian or not, but I said we did raise the question as to.
Whether or not you are associated with those things that you cannot associate the Lord's name with, you profess the name of the Lord.
Now the test for the profession of the name of the Lord is to depart from iniquity. That's what we have here in the very verse that I read to her. The Lord knows them that are here. We do not, as it were, say that one is not the Lord's.
Notice his second Timothy here. The Lord knows them that are his, and let everyone that name it the name of Christ, or it should be as we have in the new translation. Name is the name of Lord. Depart from iniquity. And if one does not depart from iniquity, known iniquity that is brought out to them, and they continue to go on with it, then they cannot complain that they are misunderstood as to their profession of the name of the Lord, because here we see that in profess.
Name of the Lord 1 cannot associate iniquity in any form with it. It cannot be associated with iniquity, the name of the Lord naming the name of the Lord.
Profession must be put to the test and one who continues in association with iniquity.
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And continues on willfully. Then he is not carrying out what his profession called for. He's not really proving his genealogy.
And we have to wait until the Lord comes to find out really who are those his and who are not, but one declared his pedigree or his genealogy by departing from iniquity. That's really the way we we show the reality of our profession of the Lord. You profess to know the Lord because you know if one really knows the Lord and you stop and think about it, you know that the Lord and iniquity does not go along together.
The two things cannot be combined.
You cannot combine the Lord's name with iniquity.
Well, let everyone that name it the name of Lord depart from iniquity, and they could not.
Act and something beyond them. Well, another point we find here is this.
We noticed that the governor back in Ezra too.
The governor said to them that, uh, they had to wait until there was a priest with Urim and Thummim.
That is, they did not have official authority and capacity to act beyond their power.
They couldn't act beyond their power. They didn't say, all right, well, now we do not have a priest with Urim and Thummim. That's true.
We don't have anyone that can say I have the Urim and the thumb so I can act with authority.
But since we have a case here, decide we're going to, we're going to use some expediency and we will, we will appoint certain ones to act as if they have this authority. They didn't do that. They didn't try to imitate anything at all. They merely left it alone and said, well, we can't do anything. We don't have the authority to act what we see in a day of remnant testimony to this principle that we cannot act beyond the authority that we have.
We can't go back and act with the authority that they had in the New Testament.
We can't, for instance, appoint elders. We can't have all of that power of the Holy Spirit that they had in the beginning. We're not going to have it in remnant testimony.
You know, there are those today who are increasingly getting on the line of of some emotional outbreakings as they speak of is the power of the Holy Spirit in connection with tongues and healings. And only recently I had a woman who is in a in a denomination that is ordinarily not associated with those things at all said that she was.
Very much impressed with the thought of this divine healing and even with tongues.
And she said. I thought that maybe the reason we don't have more of it is because we don't have enough faith.
No, I told her. I said. That is not the reason. That is not the reason. It is because of the ruin and failure of the professing church.
God is not going to publicly accredit the ruin and failure by giving great powerful manifestations of the Spirit. Just like this little remnant that returned back to the divine center and gathered as one man Why? I suppose it was rather humbling in a way for them to have to say, well, we just don't have the power to deal with this. We have to leave this with the Lord. It no doubt was humbling for them to realize that there was once a time when there was a priest with Urim and Thummim in their midst.
There was a time when when there was a priest who could say, now I have the Urim and the thumb and this is the mind of the Lord.
No doubt it was very humbling for them to realize that they were in such a broken state that they didn't have such power.
But they didn't try to imitate it. They just accepted and said, we'll act on what we can. We can gather as one man to Jerusalem, We'll do that. And another thing they had, they didn't have all of them. But I like to think of this too in the in the second chapter we read there in verse 36 about the way they had priests, they had the worshippers. And in verse 40, they had some Levites.
The Levites, of course, were those who did the work of the service of the Lord, and they had singers in verse 41.
You know, we can still have singers and the remnant testimony worshippers and service servants and the singers and also in verse 42, the headquarters. What about the porters?
Oh, you know, the porters were those who who stood by the doors. They, they had, they had, they were in connection with the entrance into the, to the temple. The porters. Well, we see here that in this little remnant they had, they had the worshippers, they had servants, they had singers, and they also had those who, as it were, watched for.
The less that would enter in their midst, which was not of the Lord.
And so you know, we read about in Hebrews 13.
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Obey your guides or your leaders, for they are those who watch for your souls, and it is of the Lord that there be the porters.
Now we know in that holy city Jerusalem in Revelation 21. Why?
The doors are never shut. You don't need any porters there because there's nothing enters there that defiles or make a lie. But we're not there yet.
And there are many influences about in this world that will defile and will make a lie. So the porters are necessary in a remnant testimony. We can't let the the bars and the gates down and open the doors there. There is necessary that there be the porters, those who would watch for the souls of the Saints and for the glory of the Lord, that there be not introduced and brought in that which is not according to the mind of God, which would spoil the testimony. Well, they had also the Netanyahu.
And Solomon servants these various connections of of service for the Lord. They had all of them well now back again in the third chapter.
There is another point I would like to bring out here in connection with what they did with the principle for us in this day.
We read that the first thing they did was to set up the altar of on his basis.
They built the altar in verse two, and in verse three they set up the altar upon his basis.
They set up the altar. That's the first thing, the restoration of the.
Of the place where there was worship to ascend unto God, where they offered their burnt offerings.
Perhaps this would bring before us that in remnant testimony there is the there is the restoration of the true principles of Christian worship, the restoration really of of what the truth of Christianity is, as we some of us had before at last Lord's Day, mourning the thought of the true worshippers as set free in heart and conscience and worshipping God in spirit and in truth.
True worship and contradistinction to.
The worship that is, that is found around about in that which is false in connection with outward farms and ceremonies.
True worship, and you know, worship is different from ministry.
And they found sound like a very simple statement, but there's multitudes you've never stopped to think of such a thing.
And how many times someone speaks of a worship meeting and you go there and a man preaches.
Well, ministry is God speaking to His people. It's coming down from God to the Saints for our health and blessing and edification. But worship is that which ascends up unto God from the hearts of his people.
Well, the worship is different from ministry, but we see here that they restored, but we might speak of as the true character.
Of Christianity. The altar was set up upon his bases. But now, no. It's a little expression in the third verse.
For fear was upon them because of the people of those countries.
Now, you know, this sounds a little strange. Really. If they were fearful of the people round about, wouldn't you think the first thing they'd do is to build a wall?
To protect them from the people.
Well, the first thing they did was to build an altar.
And somehow or another they looked upon that altar as being protection from their enemies round about. And I believe this is true for a remnant testimony in our day in the church that we will not prevent the incursion of the enemy with false principles or false practices by building up a legal wall around about the only way in which we will be able to prevent the enemy from coming in. And.
Bringing in false doctrine or false practices or sin and things of that nature, and anything that would disturb the Saints and gathering to the Lords name, is by an entering in to the truth of true Christianity, of what Christianity is.
Well, this would involve, of course, many things. It would involve an entering into the gospel in its fullness, not only the gospel that saves us from our sins, but the gospel that attaches us to Christ in glory. It would involve to the truth of the church as members of the body of Christ. It would involve 2 also our being partakers of the heavenly calling, and that we're pilgrims and strangers.
It would involve two of the fact that we are a holy people.
It would involve many things then in fact all that we find written in the New Testament concerning true Christianity. And you know, if we stop and reflect a while, we will find that that Christianity has been greatly Lord in its true character in among professing Christians here in this world.
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Because Christianity is more than just the gospel, it encompasses the.
The walk and the future and everything of the child of God true Christianity well when we enter into that in its fullness enter into it more and more set the altar up on his bases then we will find that this is protection against the enemy without and I believe this is a very important principle because you know those I was mentioned about the recovery.
Now truth last century. Well now those men of God.
Did not sit down and determine and say, as it were, now we're going to start a new thing.
They didn't say we're going to start a new company. We don't like the various denominations. We we've sampled them all and we don't like them, so we're going to start anew. They didn't do that. They found written in the word of God, truth in connection with the church, in connection with the Christians calling, in connection with its separation from the world and the worldly methods and principles and all of these things. And they found that that truth put them outside the camp, put them outside the religious.
Man in which? Because these principles were not being acted on in those places.
And I feel that this is an important point for us in this day, that it is only as we enter in to those truths that have been recovered will we be able to be will be maintained in the position of gathered to the Lord's name. Otherwise things will arise and we will eventually find that the path is a little difficult and things great upon us and there are things to try us. And if it's just a gathering.
Little group of Christians, and maybe we say we don't like this group, we don't like this group, but I like this group.
And so I'll be with this group because I think they have more light and they have more truth. Well, sooner or later something will arise that we find out they're not the group we liked after all. And so we'll go off to another group. We find this constantly happening among those who are truly the Lord, sampling this group in that one and and determining which one they like best.
Oh, but that isn't really setting the altar up on his basis, entering into the truth of Christianity and acting on what we find written in respect to the church.
And the assembly and walking in these truths puts us in a certain place and in association with those who are walking likewise in these things, as we find in the Second Timothy 2, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. And we also realize too, that there is such a thing as bearing with one another, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. Well, we see here that this is what this is what kept them from the incursions of the enemy roundabout.
Well, these are some of the features that belong to a Remnant testimony. I don't say that it's all of them.
It's all we will consider tonight, but we have some important ones here in respect to gathering to the divine center.
On the ground of the one Body, and with the testing of the profession of individuals and of the leaving of things in God's hands for which we do not have power, and acting on that which we do have power to act on. And carrying out of His Word, and entering into the truth of the Christian calling and standing and the Christian's destiny.
In order that we might be kept from the inroads of the enemy, who would seek to mar and hinder the testimony to the name of Christ.
In our day, well may the Lord give us exercise in these things.
Shall we pray?