Jack Jurgens's Ministry Library

Women in John’s gospel

[0:00] Now, it’s very nice to see the Hall so well-filled, and obviously the believers in Parsippany have canceled their meeting to be here. We appreciate that very, very much. Thank you for your kindness and consideration. Turn again, if you will, to the Gospel of John, back to chapter 2 for just a moment. John’s Gospel, chapter 2.

[0:29] And just reading the very end of the chapter, verse number 23.

[0:34] Now when he, that is the Lord Jesus Christ, was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men, And he did not that any man should testify of him, for he knew what was in man. I’ve read that especially for the last expression, he knew what was in man. From this point on in the Gospel of John, the Lord Jesus Christ will be dealing with individuals. Individuals. So he will be dealing in chapter 3 with Nicodemus, in chapter 4 with the woman at the well, the end of chapter 4 with the nobleman, chapter 5 the man by the pool of Bethesda, and on to chapter number six and his disciples and dealing with them and the feeding of the 5,000. Chapter nine and the man born blind and on and on we go. He’s interested in the gospel of John and individuals. He knew all men, knew what was in men. And as a result, he deals with individuals in their need. And I think if I’m correct, where we will be reading tonight in John chapter four and his one-on-one with the woman by the well is perhaps the longest dialogue he has with one person. So this may be the longest one-on-one interview the Lord Jesus Christ has in all the gospel accounts with any one person. So we’ll notice this and notice some things together as we consider this chapter. So John’s Gospel chapter four and verse number one.

[2:03] When, therefore, the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself baptized not but his disciples, he left Judea, departed again into Galilee, and must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, or Shechem, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, therefore, being weary with his journey, sat thus on the well at about the sixth hour. Then cometh the woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. His disciples are gone away into the city to buy meat.

[2:40] Then said the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink. Thou wouldst have asked of him, he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with. The well is deep, from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself and his children and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband. Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, in that saidst thou truly. The woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain,

[3:49] and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshiper shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is spirit. They that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah is cometh, which is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee, am he. And upon this came his disciples and marveled that he talked with the woman. Yet no man said, what seekest thou? Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city and saith to the men, come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city and came unto him. Now look down at verse number 34.

[4:45] The disciples offer him food and he doesn’t need it. he saith to them, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Down the chapter, he has the two days with the Samaritans. And then finally, verse number 42. And then say to the woman, now we believe not because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves and know this is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world. And the chapter ends with the healing of the nobleman’s son in Cana of Galilee again. God will add blessing to the public reading of his word.

[5:18] We’ve been looking at the Lord Jesus Christ dealing with women and placing them into new relationships. Considered last evening, his dealing with his own mother and lifting her from a natural relationship of a parent to a child to a spiritual relationship far superior of a child of God bowing to her Lord. Now this evening, we’re looking again at another woman, the woman at the well, very familiar to us, used often in the gospel, filled with lovely gospel truth. But I want you to consider this especially. In what way did the Lord Jesus Christ change her relationship? She had five husbands. That didn’t satisfy her. She had a sixth man with whom she was living. That didn’t satisfy her. The Lord Jesus Christ offered her something that would satisfy her forever. So he changes her from a very immoral relationship to a satisfying relationship. Here’s where satisfaction is found in the person and the work of the Christ of God. So we’re looking then at a change in relationship, bringing her into a place of satisfaction. I want you to consider the context for just a moment.

[6:27] Not sure if you’re familiar with the term replacement theology. Well, this in John’s gospel is genuinely replacement theology. The Lord Jesus Christ replaces everything. Chapter one, we didn’t read it, but we read there that the word became flesh and tabernacled amongst us. So in chapter one, he replaces the tabernacle of Israel. Chapter two, you recall, he says, destroy this temple. He replaces the temple of Israel. Chapter three, he replaces the teacher, Nicodemus. Nicodemus has to own that before this teacher, he was very far inferior. And he’s going to replace all the types of Israel as well. But here in this chapter, we see him replacing everything. He’s greater than Jacob, greater than Abraham in chapter number 8. He is replacing everyone and everything. He’s also greater than Joseph. Here he comes to a parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Joseph’s bones, if you recall, from Joshua 24, Joseph’s bones that had been carried through the wilderness by the children of Israel were buried at Shechem. Lots of history linked with Shechem. Some of it we’ll mention in a few moments. The chapter is really going to introduce to us the water of life, the will of God, and the worship of God. Three great themes that permeate this chapter.

[7:41] I find it interesting as well that the Bible begins with a woman by a well who says, thou God seest me, right? Hagar, fleeing from her mistress when she was treated harshly. A woman by a well saying, thou God seest me. We have another woman at a well, conscious that God is seeing her. Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did is not this, the Christ. Here is someone who has an insight into her very heart and being. So we see something in the context. I want you to consider something of the contrast. Now, I know it’s dangerous to say one chapter is more important than another chapter. So I won’t say that. I will say, though, that Isaiah chapter 40 is one of the mountain peaks of truth, the majestic truth of the character of God in Isaiah chapter 40. In that lovely chapter, recall, it tells us that God holds the waters in the palm of his hand. He faints not, neither is weary. The inhabitants of the earth are counted as grasshoppers in his sight, and so on and so on. So just think with me for just a moment what the great contrast. Isaiah 40, speaking of the majesty of God, says, he faints not, neither is weary. Jesus being weary with his journey, sat thus on the well. Likewise, the one who holds the water in the hollow of his hand said, give me to drink.

[8:59] The one who sits on the circle of the earth, according to Isaiah 40, sat on the well.

[9:06] The one who in Isaiah chapter 40 views the inhabitants as grasshoppers, he cares for a Samaritan woman, marked by immorality, marked by grief, marked by tragedy in her life, cares for her, goes out of his way to find her. And certainly the other thing that is true in Isaiah chapter 40, you recall there, Jacob says, my way is hid from God.

[9:29] Thought God was unaware of his need, God was unaware of his condition. Here’s a woman and she finds that he knows all about me. He’s aware of everything about me. So the great contrast between the Jehovah of John chapter four and the Jehovah of Isaiah 40 could not be greater. In his humanity, in his willingness to accept incarnation, he endured weariness, thirst, hunger, fatigue, all of these things. He did not partake of any of our moral nature, but he took into himself the fullness of human nature apart from sin. So we see that here, the contrast with chapter 40. Of course, the chapter brings three encounters. We don’t have time to look at them all. There’s an encounter with a woman. Then there’s an encounter for two days with the men. And at the end of the chapter, there’s an encounter that probably only takes a few minutes. According to our reading, he encounters a nobleman and heals his son. So the Lord Jesus deals with different people in different ways, depending upon their need. Here is a woman to whom he makes great revelations, truth relative to himself, relative to the worship of God and the will of God. So we have that.

[10:37] Connection also between chapters two and chapter four, just hurriedly.

[10:43] In both chapters, we have women. Chapter two is Mary. Chapter four is the woman at the well. In both chapters, we have water. You recall, he told them to fill the water pots with water. Here again, there is water spoken of, water that is going to give satisfaction and life to this woman. In both chapters, there’s a miracle done at Cana. Chapter two, the miracle in Cana of Galilee. Chapter four ends with a miracle of the nobleman’s son in Cana. But more importantly, in chapter two, you recall, we didn’t read it, but at the close of that chapter, the Lord Jesus cleanses the temple. Chapter two, he regulates Jewish worship. Chapter four, he regulates Samaritan worship. He is the one who has come to regulate worship. Going to say it’s not linked with a place anymore. It’s linked with a person, linked with him. Worship is linked now from this moment on with Christ. Of course, obviously in chapter two, there was a wedding. In chapter four, there were five weddings.

[11:42] You’ll forgive me. I heard someone say that, I guess they were very, very much against divorce and remarriage, that this could not have been divorce. These men had to have died and remarried. And if that’s the case, and she’s still a young woman, young enough to live with a man and young enough to be out in the middle of the day, hauling water, I would suspect she has something to do with their deaths. But that’s, we’re not here as detectives. I would gather the Lord Jesus pointing to this is pointing to a life marked by serial monogamy and now open immorality. So the Lord Jesus is putting his finger upon her sin. In chapter two, he replaces the temple. As I mentioned here, he’s going to replace a mountain the Samaritans worshipped at. But that being said, I want to consider then the setting of this particular miracle and something of how the Lord Jesus Christ deals with this woman. Think with me of the territory. This is Shechem. Now, if you go back in the Old Testament, there was another defiled woman at Shechem.

[12:41] Jacob had stopped there. God had told him to return to Bethel. Jacob came short, stopped at Shechem, built a house. His daughter, Dinah, went out to see the daughters of the land. She’s taken by the son of the prince there, and she’s defiled. And you know this sad story. Jacob is failing again in his leadership, in his headship in the family. And his two brothers, her two brothers, Dinah’s two brothers, Simeon and Levi, concoct a plot, complete with deceitfulness and lying and bitterness and cruelty and slaughter the men of the city. And Jacob has to leave saying, you’ve made my name to stink among the inhabitants of the land. We’re at Shechem again, have a defiled woman. The Lord Jesus doesn’t have his name stink. The Lord Jesus leaves with his name as the savior of the world amongst these people. Also, I want you to think with me for just a moment.

[13:38] We read here about Joseph. If you go back to the book of Genesis, when Joseph was exalted, Joseph received a name, Zathnathpenea. Now, depending on your margin, depending on translators, the name Zathnathpenea has two possible interpretations. Number one, revealer of secrets. Number two, savior of the world. Now, both were true of Joseph, right? He revealed secrets, interpreted dreams. As well, he was the savior of the world. He saved the world from famine. So two names were given to Joseph, savior of the world and revealer of secrets. How does the Lord Jesus Christ appear in John chapter 4?

[14:18] The revealer of secrets. Come see a man that told me everything that ever I did. He knows all my secrets. What else? The men of the city say, this is indeed the Christ, the savior of the world. So the Lord Jesus Christ here contrasts with what occurred at Shechem long ago and also contrasts with Joseph in his names and in his titles that he receives here. Now there’s some differences of opinion about when the sixth hour was. Some think it’s Roman time and she came out at six in the evening. Others think it’s six in the afternoon. I don’t think it’s too germane that we argue about that right now. But nevertheless, she came at a time when likely she would avoid the other women of the city. And I think it’s so touching to see the Lord Jesus Christ. He sends his disciples away. He uses his weariness. This is what is so amazing about the Christ. He used his weariness, not as an opportunity for self-indulgence. I need some me time. I need some, I need time to rest. Don’t have anybody bother me. He used his weariness to be alone so this woman could come and he could meet her and bring her everlasting life.

[15:21] So different from how you and I act. He actually used his weariness, sent the disciples away, you go get the food, I’m gonna sit here and rest. But he had in mind that Samaritan woman coming that he might meet her and be with her and reveal all he has done here in this chapter to her. The tiredness of the savior, the triumph of grace. Often pointed out, all the Lord Jesus Christ overcame in a sense. He overcame ethnic prejudice, overcame religious bigotry, overcame gender feelings. Everything was set aside. He speaks to a woman of Samaria. That’s what she says. How be thou being a Jew speaks, I’m a Samaritan, you’re a man, I’m a woman. This is highly unusual. Such was his grace, such was his goodness, such was his kindness. Then how sensitive he is in dealing with her in all that he does, marked by wisdom, gentleness, and so forth. But then we need to look at the symbolism for just a moment. He’s going to give this woman something that will satisfy, not just for a day, a moment, a year, but for all eternity, springing up onto eternal, everlasting life. Now, the water in John’s gospel can be looked at in two ways.

[16:31] Water that is found in a basin or still is usually the word of God. Water that is running is the spirit of God. Here is water that is springing up onto everlasting life, water that will satisfy thirst, living water, water that is going to be marked by its availability, to everyone. It’s abundance, not just to Jacob and his family and cattle, but to everyone. It’s ageless, it’s eternal. Here he is promising something that will satisfy and satisfy eternally.

[16:58] Let me go back with you for just a moment. All the way back to the fall at the beginning of time. We lost many, many things in the Garden of Eden. Many things. Along with innocence, along with a relationship with the Lord. More germane to each of us is we lost, first of all, our sense of significance. Adam, you’re just dust. Dust you are, the dust you’ll return. Adam, you were once the one who wore a crown of glory and honor here, representing me in the garden. Now you’re just dust. Lost significance. He lost satisfaction. Adam, from now on, when you till the earth, as you labor, it’s going to just be thorns and thistles in the sweat of your brow. You’re going to be laboring and it’s going to be a constant struggle. No satisfaction, no significance. Adam, you just lost your security as well. So we lost our satisfaction, our significance, and our security when sin came into the world. Now, if you think of that, and don’t have to think too hard, everything we do is to try to regain those different things. Some of us do it by what we own, how much we have in the bank, the cars we drive, the homes we live in. Look at how significant I am. My IRA, my 401k, this is my security. And here’s my significance. Here’s my satisfaction. And I have all the toys we play with.

[18:25] We are trying desperately to recover a sense of significance a sense of security a sense of satisfaction. Now what the Lord Jesus Christ is showing in this chapter he gives all of that he gives all of that to us the water of life springing up unto everlasting life brings all of that. It gives us satisfaction gives us security gives us significance. Everything is given to us by virtue of Christ and his grace and his dealings with us. The ministry of the spirit of God is revealed in the gospel of John in the upper room mentioned yesterday in the division of the gospel of John chapters 13 to 17.

[19:04] Secrets disclosed in the upper room. One of the great secrets is the ministry of the spirit of God never before quite revealed in his fullness. Five mentions of the spirit in the upper room chapters 15, 13 and 15 rather 15 and 16. He’s companion for the way, counselor to teach us, confirming our testimony in chapter 15, the one who convicts the world, the one who communicates truth, all of that. So let me just come then, without going into all the detail then, the Lord Jesus Christ promises satisfaction here to this woman. Whosoever drinketh that this water shall never thirst again. Now, if we were all honest, I’m not preaching down to you. I’m on the same level playing field as you, a failure, okay? If we were honest, do we really find all of our satisfaction in this book and in the person it reveals to us? Do we? We all have our other toys, right?

[19:59] The Lord Jesus intended every one of us to find our satisfaction in him and in this book, to find our security in him and in this book, to discover our significance that we belong to God and he has given us the most precious gift, the spirit of God to indwell us. That is one of the most valuable fruits of Calvary, that he is able to place his spirit within us, to live within us and to be all that he can be to us. So remind us here then of the satisfaction that he gives. What makes life worth living for most people? I remember, this goes back a long time now, approaching 60 years, a man by the name of Mr. Lorne McBain spoke at our wedding, and he said, what makes life worth living is someone to love, something to live for.

[20:55] Something to learn, and something, I think I said something to love, something to learn, something to look forward to, something to live for, something to look forward to. Those four things. You get all of that in Christ, don’t you? Someone to love, someone to live for, something to look to, something to learn. All of that is in Christ. But yet we go elsewhere. We look elsewhere. We have our entertainment. We have everything that we need to keep ourselves content. Always remember, it was a very, very insightful comment. My brother was out visiting one day and going door to door with a gospel meeting, inviting people in. And the man said to him at the door, I don’t need heaven. I have my heaven right here on earth. I have everything I need. I’ve got my 56-inch wide screen. I’ve got my computers. I’ve got everything I need. What do I need heaven for? Then try to find satisfaction in all the toys of life. And sadly, we follow suit so often. Reminded here that the Lord Jesus was going to give everything to this woman that her heart could desire.

[22:04] Joseph-like, he is the savior of the world, the revealer of secrets. And he reveals himself to her as the Messiah. Now, a lovely line of truth that you could follow a theme in this chapter is notice her growth and her appreciation of Christ. He’s a Jew, he’s sir, then he’s a prophet, then he’s the Messiah, then he’s the savior of the world. So there’s an unfolding revelation of Christ in this chapter to deepen her appreciation, her satisfaction with Christ. But he’s teaching her as well that he is a sphere of worship. The hour cometh and now is when the Father seeketh worshipers. The true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and in truth. So a link with satisfaction is this concept of worship. Now, I’m not sure if I can convey this as I ought to.

[22:48] Nothing gives you a sense of significance and satisfaction as much as actually being a worshiper of God. God did not institute worship so that he would get something. God needs nothing. God is not somehow flattered by my worship. God does not somehow feel better about himself because of my worship. God did not institute worship for his good. He instituted it for my good. Because when I am a worshiper in his presence, I am really reaching my highest usefulness for which I was created to be a worshiper of God. And I enter into the greatest satisfaction, the greatest significance, the greatest security when I am a worshiper of God. So the Lord Jesus Christ is linking together satisfaction and worship as well here in this chapter. These truths of worship, he really reveals to a woman, a Samaritan woman and a sinful Samaritan woman. We would have thought it belonged in chapter three, But of course, it belongs in chapter 4 because it is intimately linked with satisfaction. So I want to speak to you then again about this as well, and see if I can to interest young people, especially in the Word of God and in worshiping the Father.

[24:07] You will notice that the woman left her water pots. The Lord Jesus Christ left his food. She was satisfied with Christ. He was satisfied with her. Do you realize the joy you brought to Christ the night you got saved, the day, the morning, whatever it was, you brought him joy? Like the shepherd of Luke chapter 15, placing the sheep upon his shoulders, returning home, rejoicing. He finds joy in saving us. And now we find joy in worshiping him. He intends us to be satisfied with worship and with knowing him better. So let me just, if I can, take a few moments and talk to you about reading the Word of God, learning about Christ. Where do I find satisfaction?

[24:58] I was thinking today, I was driving along in places where I could see people sitting and people talking. Majority of people, when they have nothing to do, they’re on their cell phones. Walking, talking, whatever, they’re on their cell phones. And I find myself doing the same thing. In a boring moment, I turn to my cell phone. That’s become my little God. That’s what I’m occupied with, to my shame. When my mind has nothing else to do, it should really occupy itself with him, with him. Psalm 1, the man, the blessed man, he meditates in the law of the Lord day and night. His mind is occupied with the word of God.

[25:47] Mary, you recall, we heard of her last evening. She meditated on these. She kept all these things in her heart. She threw them back and forth, trying to understand more deeply what the word of God, what the message to her was all about. So I just want to speak to young believers about reading the word of God and actually reading it. You have to make it a priority. You’ll never find time to read the Bible. You’re too busy. You have to make time. You have to carve it out of your day. You have to say to yourself, this time is for the word of God alone. Whether it’s early in the morning, late at night, there are owls who love to stay up late, there are larks who love to get up early, and tragically, there’s a few people who fall in between and don’t do well at either end. But whatever the case is, make your time and give yourself to reading the word of God. Make a commitment to read and read it consistently, read it consecutively. When I say consecutively, what I mean by that is, don’t just say, I’m going to read in Genesis 3 today, Psalm 24 the next day, John chapter 3. No, take a book and read it beginning to end, back and forth, so you know it and you feel like you’re living in it, so God can begin to speak to you about that book. Read it carefully. Read it confidently. Do you realize that God actually wants to speak to you? You don’t have to struggle to find something in your Bible. God wants to speak to you. That’s how he communicates with us, is by the word of God.

[27:15] And he wants to communicate. Now, it doesn’t mean that every time you sit down with the Bible in front of you, you’ll get some great revelation, but it does mean if you consistently give yourself to the word of God, he will communicate with you and give his truth to you. Now, already I hear people saying, but wait a minute, I’ve tried that and I get nothing and I feel like, what’s the use? I feel like a failure.

[27:39] So I just put my Bible away, get it out Sunday morning and that’ll be fine. Well, one of the great pundits of baseball said, it’s amazing what you see when you look, okay? We won’t mention names here on the platform, but what are you looking for when you’re reading? What are you looking for? You’re waiting for something to pop out like a great revelation? Or are you reading the word of God with intelligent questions in your mind? Could I just suggest four questions you could ask yourself as you’re reading that are, I would almost say, guaranteed to give you something when you read the Word of God. Number one, if this were the only chapter I had in the Bible, if all I had was John chapter 3, John chapter 4, and I was marooned on a desert island, and this is all I had to read, what would I learn about God? What is God like?

[28:32] Okay. You say, that’s really a question to ask? Your life is a life of learning what God is like. Because the more you learn God, the better you become as a worshiper, the better you become as an intercessor for praying. So number one, what can I learn about God from this portion of the word of God? What’s he like? Number two, looking for Christ. Is Christ in this portion in any way, Directly, indirectly, prophetically, in contrast with someone, is there anything here that reminds me of Christ? Thirdly, listening for the spirit of God to speak to me. Hopefully, as a young believer, there are things you’re praying about. Praying about education, praying about university, praying about career choices, praying about places, assembly fellowship, where to go, which to be in, a job offer, a spouse in life, and all those things.

[29:28] Well, answers don’t come in the mail. They come in the word of God. Guidance comes from the word of God. So listening for the spirit of God to speak to you through the word of God, it’s one of the great value of reading consecutively. It’s not just a matter of picking and choosing and hoping the verse is there. No, God can guide you as you’re reading. He may impress on you as you’re reading a particular section the need of patience and waiting, or he may be making clear he’s gonna open the door very soon, whatever it may be. He can communicate. He’s a master of communication, and he does it through his word. So learning about God, looking for Christ, listening for the Spirit. Fourthly, anything I should be living out from this section, anything I should really put into practice in my life? Is there something that I’m being told I should be doing, and I should do it? We mentioned last night Mary’s advice. Whatsoever he saith to you, do it. So whatever the Lord Jesus Christ reveals to you in his word as you’re reading, do it. You have everything you need for life in this book.

[30:31] Most of you would not remember the name of William Randolph Hearst. If you’ve ever been to California, there’s Hearst Castle that he built out there. He built a 200 and I forget how many, 165-room mansion with endless, and it cost back then in the early 20s and 30s, $37 million to build. He was an avid art collector, and he once commissioned one of his agents. He heard of a particular painting, very valuable, very impressive, and he commissioned one of his agents to go and find it and whatever it cost, buy it. Six months later, the agent came back and he asked him if he had found it. No, he hadn’t found it. Why not? Because you already own it.

[31:13] You already have everything you need to navigate life. Everything you need to learn more of God and to be the Christian that God wants you to be. So we’re reminded here then of the word of God and its fullness, its richness, all that we have. And all that is available to us. And we have promises from God. He satisfies the hungry soul and fills, he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry with goodness. In Mary’s great magnificat, recall there, he fills the hungry with good things and the rich he sends empty away. Who satisfies a mouth with good things. Thy youth is renewed like the eagle. The myriad of promises in the word of God that God will satisfy us, fill us, and make life full and enjoyable for us as believers in Christ. So coming now again to what we have, the satisfaction that he brings through his word.

[32:06] Finding Christ in the word of God is what satisfies. Here’s a woman. She tried everything else in terms of marital relationships, immoral relationships. She didn’t find satisfaction. The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who gives satisfaction to his people. But also linked with that satisfaction that I want to speak to you for a few minutes about worship. Worship is spoken of as the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. Now fruit doesn’t say a seed it’s fruit fruit develops from seeds don’t bring your seeds to the breaking of bread bring your fruit to the breaking of bread that means you’re going to be developing something reading the word of god you’re you’re seeing things about christ seeing things about his salvation learning something about his mercy his grace his goodness something of his glory. Some of the things we mentioned, for example, contrasting Isaiah 40 with John chapter four and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ being rich became poor. And you begin to appreciate that and develop it in your mind. And you’re developing it in light of the Lord’s day. And you’re mentioning each day in your private worship to God. And by the coming of the Lord’s day comes, it’s developed. And you want to bring that fruit to God. It says in Hebrews chapter 13, from where I just quoted. To do good, communicate, forget not. I’m sorry, go back earlier.

[33:31] Not just getting the first beginning of that verse. Just give me a second and I will read it because I think it’s important to read.

[33:44] By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name, to do good and communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. So three things there that tells us God is well pleased with. Number one, the works that I do for him. Number two, the wealth that I share with others. Number three, the worship that I offer him. Now he calls all of those things sacrifices. With such sacrifices, God is well pleased. Now it’s twofold significance. Hebrews is pummeling us with the concept that there are no more sacrifices. No more sacrifices. One sacrifice forever. No more sacrifices for sins. The work is done. No more sacrifices. But then he comes to chapter 13 and says, yes, there are sacrifices we can make as believers. Our works, our wealth that we share, our worship that we offer. But you see, there are sacrifices. That means if you are going to be a worshiper, something has to go. You have to sacrifice.

[34:48] Time is probably the biggest thing we have to sacrifice. Time spent in the word of God, time spent looking at Christ, time spent feeding upon him, time spent drinking from the fountain of life. Something has to be sacrificed. Now you have to decide that for yourself. I can’t tell you what to sacrifice, whether it’s an extra hour of sleep, whether it’s time on the computer or social network and all the rest, or whether it’s Netflix, hopefully not. But whatever it is, I get the smiles, okay. Whatever it is, you may have to, you will have to sacrifice if you’re going to be a worshiper, if you’re going to find satisfaction in his book, if you’re going to find all your delight, all your satisfaction in Christ, you’re going to have to sacrifice, because it will not come naturally, it will not come easily. Reminded here then, what is my appetite how hungry am I really it comes down to how hungry am I really to know Christ better how hungry am I really to enjoy this book more, I’ll tell you a little secret. Maybe it’s not such a secret. When you get to be my age, you become very content, okay? Cruise control button is hit and you’ll just cruise home to heaven. I’ve studied enough. I’ve learned enough. No, no. God never. Peter ends his epistle. The old man, Peter, before his head is about, before he’s about to be crucified. He says, grow in grace and in the knowledge. Keep growing is really the tense there. Grow and keep growing in grace and in knowledge. Never give up. Never stop.

[36:18] Because when you land on that shore, I think you’ll begin with where you left on this shore. I think I’m building my capacity for appreciating Christ down here and it’s going to continue and grow up there. But where I leave off here is where I start there. So he wants us to keep growing. Never be content with where you are in your Christian life. Never, never put it on cruise control and feel I’m good enough. I’ve learned enough. I can get by enough. We all can get by on a Sunday morning, can’t we? I mean, the brethren would be honest. We can just drag out the old comments we’ve made, the old appreciation, and get by. Everyone thinks it sounds good, you know, okay. But to be fresh, to be able to bring fresh material to God about his son, greatest privilege we have. The word there is to do good and communicate, forget not. The word that is used really that Paul, the writer of Hebrews uses in chapter 13 is saying the same thing God says. What that means is when we’re worshiping, we’re saying the same thing about his son that God says about his son. Same thing. God appreciates when we appreciate what he has appreciated eternally about his son. So we come back then to the idea of worship and satisfaction. The satisfaction we find in the person of Christ through the word of God. What is my appetite like?

[37:48] Time and again in the Psalms, we are reminded they shall be abundantly satisfied, abundantly satisfied. God is able to satisfy every appetite with his word about his son.

[37:58] Here this woman is promised, a well of water springing up onto everlasting life. Now that doesn’t mean that every moment of every day you’re going to be enjoying some fresh thought of Christ, but it does mean that satisfaction will be found alone in him, found in him alone now and for all eternity. So we have that. So we are left then with a woman who is satisfied with the water of life, of a savior who is satisfied with the will of his father, of a city that became satisfied with the witness of Christ. Now we know indeed this is a Christ, the savior of the world. And at the end of the chapter, a courtier who is satisfied with just a word from Christ. I know it’s very abbreviated, I’m sorry, but I feel convicted by my own ministry. I fail to find everything in Christ. I fail to let go of the trinkets of life and be occupied alone with him. That’s the standard of the word of God. That’s the standard that has been set for us to find everything we need in Christ. All our satisfaction, all of our joy, all of our sense of significance, all of our sense of security, everything tied up in a person who has come as our redeemer to save us. So I trust God will challenge us, challenging me, challenge each of us and seek by his grace, if we can, to be all we ought to be. May God bless this word. Shall we pray?

Living in the light of the revelation

The second letter to the Thessalonians contains some significant verses in chapter one and also in chapter two. In Second Thessalonians chapter one, verse 3, Paul says this: “We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity, the love of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and your faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure.” And this is a manifest token—an evidence of the righteous judgment of God. That ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer. Now, Paul obviously has in view the manifested kingdom of God when Christ comes to reign in glory, and he’s saying that what they were experiencing now, suffering, persecution, and tribulation, would ensure that they were worthy, in a sense, of the kingdom that was yet to come. He says, “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense trouble to them that trouble you.” Now, that word “tribulation” is not referring to the tribulation period, but God is going to pay back trouble to those that are troubling you because they were suffering persecution. And to you who are troubled, “rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day.” Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. So that first chapter has to do with persecution, especially. That’s what you can write over the chapter. Paul is trying to encourage these believers in the midst of persecution. And part of the way he encourages them is by reminding them of the second coming of the Lord Jesus in glory and in power. That was what they were suffering for, ultimately, to enjoy the kingdom. Now, chapter 2—chapter 1 is about persecution. Paul will encourage them. Chapter 2 is all about God’s purpose for the Thessalonians. And he is going to educate them in this chapter because they had been deceived, and there was a misunderstanding. Now, we could spend a long time on these verses, and well, we will. So look at verse 1. “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him” (that’s the rapture) “that ye be not soon shaken in mind or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” Now, really, that should read, according to Mr. Darby’s Revised Version, that “the day of the Lord has come.” So these Christians were confused, and Paul doesn’t know how they have been confused. It might have been a false spirit or the reporting of a false word. Paul has been saying this; he’s been preaching that somewhere. This is what he said. Or by a letter that pretended to be from Paul. Paul doesn’t know how the error has come, but it has deceived these believers. They now think that the day of the Lord has already come. And the day of the Lord is a long period of time; it includes the millennial reign of Christ and the kingdom. But the day of the Lord focuses on seven years of tribulation and judgment and the return of Christ to the earth. So they thought that because of their persecution, they were already in the tribulation—the tribulation had come. Paul says, “Not at all.” Verse 3: “Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.” Now, he is one of the trinity of evil of the end days that will arise in the tribulation. I think that this man of sin, well, he is the first beast that you read of in Revelation chapter 13. This man of sin, I call the Antichrist. This man of sin will be revealed. He is the son of perdition. He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, all that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Now, that will take place at the midpoint of the tribulation, the midpoint of the seven years. This devilish man, who is satanically inspired, will claim worship as God. And the Lord Jesus calls that the abomination of desolation. Now this is a lot of prophecy, but very interesting prophecy, and I hope that some of it is familiar to you. So that’s what Paul is speaking about. And he’s saying, “You’re not in that day. You are not in the tribulation because these things have not happened.” You may say, “Listen, I haven’t been saved for very long. All this stuff about the tribulation and the man of sin and the abomination of desolation, who do you think I am? I need to be saved for 20 or 30 years before you tell me of these things.” Big red cross, you’re wrong! What does Paul say in verse 5? “Remember not that when I was with you, I told you these things?” Do you know how long they had been saved? Weeks! Weeks. And he had been telling them about the man of sin and the abomination of desolation. So don’t you turn your nose up at me, will you? Right? You should be taught these things. And if you find them to be too difficult or too awkward, or you can’t be bothered, train your mind to listen to what I’m saying and try to understand it. Then it’s your problem, really, and you need to make a better effort to try and understand what Scripture teaches about these things; they’re basic. They’re essential. They’re for people who have just been saved. Think about that. In verse 6, now, you know, “Wish we did,” Paul. This is a little bit awkward, but I’ll tell you what I think in a moment. He says, “You know what withholds? What is restraining? What’s holding back this man of sin and all the terrible things that are going to happen?” Paul says, you know what is restraining him, holding him back that he might be revealed. He will be revealed in his time, at the right time. But at the moment, something is holding him back. Verse 7: “For the mystery of iniquity already works.” There’s an undercurrent of iniquity that’s already working. It was working in Paul’s day, and it’s working in our day. “Only he who now restrains will restrain, until he be taken out of the way.” And then that wicked shall be revealed, this man of sin, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth. Again, this is not the rapture; this is the revelation. When Christ comes at the end of the tribulation, he’s going to consume this individual with the spirit of his mouth. He will destroy him with the majesty, the brightness of his coming. This person whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Interesting stuff. Now, here is Paul’s practical exhortation in light of all that. It’s not just prophecy. He says in verse 15, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught.” He’s talking about the word of God. Hold fast the word of God. What you’ve been taught, whether by word of mouth or by our epistle, hold it fast. Now, finally, chapter 3—and we won’t have time to get to chapter 3, but you ought to notice one or two things here. If chapter 1 is all about persecution and Paul is encouraging the saints in their persecution, chapter 2 is all about God’s purpose and prophecy, and they’ve been deceived, so Paul is educating them about God’s purpose. Then chapter 3 has a problem—a big problem in Thessalonica. He’s been hinting at it in the first letter, and now he’s going to meet it head-on because the problem hasn’t been solved. Paul is going to exhort them. So not encourage them or educate them, but he’s going to exhort them about this problem. You say, what was the problem? Look at verse 6: “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly.” Now, that word means to live your life out of step with others. So he’s almost viewing the Christians or the assembly as those who are marching in rank. And there are certain brethren who just aren’t marching in time and in step with the rest of them. He says they are walking disorderly and not after the tradition which was received of us. “Now, Paul, give us a bit more detail; we want the juicy story. Why are these individuals not walking in step with the other believers?” Well, he tells you. So, verse 11: “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly.” Now, here’s what the problem was: working, not at all. So here were individuals that had chosen not to work. They could have worked; work was available to them. But they were choosing not to be employed and not to earn money. Now, it wasn’t individuals who would love to work and couldn’t work—individuals that had been made redundant or anything like that. These are individuals that could have been working and earning money and putting bread on their table, but they chose not to. They were, verse 11 says, busy bodies; literally, they were poking their noses into other people’s business. And because Christians, because they couldn’t afford to put bread on their own table, they were coming round to your house at barbecue time, and they were saying, “Oh, is it dinner time? I was just coming round to see how you are. Well, since you ask, and since the sausages are on the sizzle, I don’t mind if I do.” And they were literally poking their noses into other people’s business. They were sponging off all the other Christians and the good nature of the other Christians. They were choosing not to work. Now, it’s good work if you can get it, right? Just sponge off everyone else and enjoy yourself as the day goes by and poke your nose into other people’s business—a great life if you can get it. Well, Paul says, “No, no.” He says, “They are busy bodies.” And here’s his commandment in verse 12: “Them that are such, if you’re doing this, we command you and we exhort you by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness you work. And as a result, you will be able to eat your own bread.” Shall I paraphrase for you? “Get a job!” That’s what Paul says, right? “Get a job! Stop causing a fuss in society. Stop making a fuss about being quiet. Get on with your life. Don’t cause a disturbance in society. Work quietly, put bread on your table,” and all that in the light of the soon return of the Lord Jesus in glory to the earth. Right, we’ll leave it there. I’m not going to say anything about chapter 3 because I’ve said enough, and we won’t have time to get there, but God will bless his word to us. So remember what I said yesterday, and we’re going to have to move at a rate of knots because I understand that at one o’clock the dinner bell sounds, and saints can’t hold themselves together, right? So I’ve got 30 minutes to squeeze all this in. Remember what I was saying yesterday. 1 Thessalonians emphasizes the rapture—the first aspect of the second coming of the Lord Jesus. And Paul says, “Here is the truth of the rapture.” At the end of every single chapter in 1 Thessalonians—five of them—he’s speaking about the rapture and the coming of Christ. And he says, “Now this is how you should live; it affects your life. This truth about the soon return of Christ affects the way you live.” It’s living in the light of the rapture. That’s 1 Thessalonians. When you come to 2 Thessalonians, the emphasis is on the revelation—the second aspect of the second coming of Christ. So not the fact that imminently he’s coming to the air, but the fact that after the tribulation, he’s coming to the earth with his saints. He’s going to reign on the earth and over the earth. And that truth, too—the glory and the majesty of the return of Christ—should have an impact on the way that we live. We do not just look. Read through your New Testament epistles. There is much more said about the manifestation of Christ than the rapture. The fact that Christ is coming back to the earth in glory with us, and he shall reign, should have a tremendous impact upon our lives. Any rewards that are obtained at the judgment seat of Christ will be manifested in that kingdom. So don’t just be fixated with the rapture; think about the wonder of the fact that Christ is coming back to the earth—his glorious reign upon the earth. And that is the focus of 2 Thessalonians. So chapter 1 is all about the persecution that these saints were experiencing on earth. And he says, in light of the coming kingdom of Christ, he says, “I want you to be encouraged in the midst of your suffering.” Now let me just summarize it for you. Look at verse 4; he says, “You are suffering.” This is the end of verse 4: “in all your persecutions and your tribulations.” And he says, “You are enduring those persecutions and those tribulations.” In fact, at the beginning of verse 4, “We ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, because you are patient and you are full of faith in the midst of these persecutions.” So Paul says, “Wherever I go”—and at this point Paul was in Corinth—”whichever church I visit—I must tell you about the saints down in Thessalonica. They are really suffering for their faith, but they are suffering so patiently.” And “they are suffering, keeping their faith and confidence in God in the midst of that persecution. They’re enduring it all.” Says Paul, “I love those saints down in Thessalonica.” And whichever assembly he went to, he would say, “You know, those saints in Thessalonica—just how marvelous they are. They were really suffering for the fact that they put their faith in Christ.” You’ll have to go back to the book of Acts. You’ll have to see that when Paul first visited Thessalonica and preached the gospel, souls were saved; a whole rabble—a riot was stirred up in Thessalonica against Paul and what he had been preaching. They hounded Paul out of the city. He was taken away very quickly lest he would lose his life. But obviously, that persecution against Paul and those associated with him was affecting the Christians—they’d only just been saved. They were really suffering for the name of Christ. But Paul says, “I want to encourage you. You’re suffering well. You are enduring in the midst of all this persecution.” I want to tell you something strange. Now this should be relevant; it could be relevant; it will be relevant to us, to those of you who are in the hall this afternoon. We may not be suffering persecution because we’re Christians, although there might be a little bit of that, even with our employers and even in our local society. But there will be some of you who are experiencing, at this moment, real difficulties and suffering in life. It may not necessarily be because of the name of Christ, but God has allowed you to go through a difficult time. Do you know what Paul says to these believers? He says, “But don’t criticize him for this.” He says, “God is righteous.” Meaning, God has allowed you to experience this. And he may not take you out from that experience for some time, but he certainly will strengthen you in the midst of that experience. I want to show you this. Look at verse number five. He says, “the righteous judgment of God.” Look at verse number six: “It is a righteous thing with God to pay back trouble to them that are troubling you.” And he says, “the Lord Jesus is going to come from heaven.” This is the manifestation. And verse eight: “He is going to take vengeance on them that know not God.” And in the middle of that word “vengeance” in the Greek is the word for righteousness. When God brings judgment and punishment upon individuals, it does not mean that he’s lost his temper. It does not mean that he’s out of control. When God takes vengeance, he does it righteously. He perfectly measures out the judgment that is required for those individuals. That’s what vengeance means—not too much, not too little; the right amount. But you see all the way through the verses: “You’re suffering. It’s tough for you. But God is righteous.” What is Paul trying to say? Well, he’s saying this: Christ is coming in glory, and first of all, he is going to measure out judgment upon those who are troubling you—those individuals that are causing you all this pain. He says, “God is going to measure out pain upon them.” Don’t think that they will not pay for the fact that they are persecuting you. God will see that every wrong is put right. Vengeance belongs to the Lord; it does not belong to you. We are living in a day of grace. If you feel offended, or if you feel that somebody has done something against you, you leave vengeance with the Lord. This is a day of grace; that’s why the Lord Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.” It’s not what the psalmist said. The psalmist said, “Bring down heaps of coals of fire upon their head.” Not in a day of grace. Do you remember Stephen? As he was being stoned, he said, “Lord, lay not this to their charge.” This is not a day of vengeance; the day of vengeance is coming. And friend, if you’ve been wronged, you leave that wrong with the Lord. He will see to it that it’s put right; you make sure you forgive and you exercise a forgiving spirit. So says Paul, “I want to encourage you; those who are wronging you, God will see to it at the manifestation. God will see to it that they get their comeuppance.” Something else, and this is a real challenge to him. He says, “As far as you’re concerned, God has allowed this suffering. God has allowed this persecution for a higher cause.” Look at verse 5: “This is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer.” So Paul, what are you saying? God never wastes suffering in the life of his people. God has allowed you to come into that suffering because he is fitting you for future responsibility in a great kingdom that is yet to come. I hope that’s an encouragement to you. You say, “Life at the moment is not easy for me.” Well, remember you have a great high priest who will see to it that he will hold your hand through every difficulty. And remember that what you are experiencing is training; God is using it so that you will be fitted someday to reign alongside Christ. Isn’t it wonderful? God is so wise that he can use our suffering and our pain for greater good—greater good in a day to come. So, we’re going to rest, by the way, when that kingdom comes to a certain extent. Ultimately, we will rest. Hallelujah! We’re suffering now, but there’s going to be rest in that day. And we’re going to be perfectly fitted for that coming kingdom. So says Paul, “I want you to wait patiently in the light of the fact that Christ is coming and will establish a kingdom; you’re going to reign with him. Wait patiently under the weight of the tribulation and the suffering you’re experiencing.” Right, chapter 2—chapter 2 is not about encouragement in persecution. Chapter 2 is about God’s purpose for these Thessalonians, and they’ve got it slightly confused. So what Paul’s going to do now is not encourage them so much; he is going to educate them about God’s purpose for them. Now, look at verse two: “You are shaken in your minds; you are troubled.” He says you think that—and remember the translation now—it’s not the day of Christ is at hand. There are various prophetic days in Scripture: the day of man, the day of Christ, the day of the Lord, the day of God. They all refer to extended periods of time; they’re not 24 hours at all; they’re extended periods of time. What’s in view here is the day of the Lord that starts at some point after the rapture. It takes in the tribulation—seven years on earth. It takes in the manifestation of Christ when he comes at the end of the tribulation. It takes in the whole kingdom—thousand years. So the day of the Lord is when God is intervening in affairs on the earth, and he’s dealing with the nation of Israel on the earth. The day of Christ has to do with things in heaven and the church. The day of the Lord deals with things on earth—the nation of Israel. The translation here should be this: “You are shaken in your minds. You’re troubled. You’re worried because you think that the day of the Lord has already come.” It hasn’t! Now, you could understand how they could be confused. They knew that the day of the Lord was a period that began with awful judgment, tribulation. And they were suffering; they were being persecuted. So you could see how they might think that that awful trouble in the day of the Lord was the trouble that they were experiencing. And to make it worse, something had deceived them. Paul doesn’t know what it was, but he does say, “Whether it’s by spirit or by word or by letter.” So you get the idea—somebody had come to the assembly at Thessalonica and said, “Listen, listen—somebody told me,” you know how it goes, right? “Somebody told me that Paul was preaching down in Corinth and said we’re in the day of the Lord! Exclamation mark! Look out! Go and tell everyone.” And this person turned up at Thessalonica and said, “Listen, we need to have a church gathering; apparently, somebody said that Paul had said that we’re in the tribulation!” They were deceived! It might have been a letter: “Dear Thessalonian saints, the tribulation started! Signed, Paul.” They thought they were in the day of the Lord. So they were deceived and confused. And Paul says, “It’s not the case; it’s not the case.” They had been shaken from their moorings—that’s what verse 2 means. “Why are you so soon shaken in mind and troubled?” It’s a word that’s used of a ship that’s tied up to its moorings in the harbor, but now those moorings have been let loose; the ship has been untied. The ship is starting to drift out of the harbor into the storm, and he’s saying, “That’s what’s happened to you. You’ve heard this apparently from me, and so quickly you’ve been shaken away from your security.” And do you think it’s true? He says, “Don’t you remember what I taught you?” Anyway, he says, “Listen, you cannot be in the day of the Lord.” You say, “Does this really matter to me?” Yes! Thank you! There is a lot of teaching today; it’s called reformed teaching. There are a lot of Christians today who believe that the church will go through the tribulation—that’s what they believe. If you haven’t met them yet or spoken to them, you soon will. You might find that next Lord’s Day, somebody turns up at the door who holds this very truth. I wonder if you could prove from Scripture that that is not the case. I think you need to listen to this. Here’s what Paul says: “You cannot be in the day of the Lord, and you cannot be in the day of the Lord for these three reasons.” Now, I’ll give you these three reasons; I’ll tell you the practical exhortation, and then we’ll be done for dinner. Three reasons why you cannot be in the tribulation. Paul, what is the first reason? Verse 1: “We beseech you, brethren, by the rapture.” Hallelujah! Isn’t it simple? He says, “We beseech you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”—this is not two separate statements, by the way; they’re connected in Greek—”We beseech you by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto him.” So listen, you cannot be in the tribulation because Christ doesn’t come yet. You can’t be in the tribulation because we haven’t been gathered to Christ. It’s impossible. You would say the same thing. If somebody said to you, “Oh, the tribulation’s already started,” you would say, “No, it hasn’t because the rapture hasn’t happened yet. I’m still here!” That’s what you’d say. You’d say, “I haven’t been taken up to heaven yet, so the tribulation can’t be started because you’re well taught.” But it’s exactly what Paul says. He says, “I beseech you by the coming and by our gathering together unto him: don’t be soon shaken in your mind.” So here’s reason number one why you can’t be in the day of the Lord, the tribulation, because the rapture hasn’t happened yet. And he wrote this letter a few months after 1 Thessalonians. And in 1 Thessalonians 4, that we were thinking about yesterday evening, Paul says, “Remember, you’re going to be caught up into a meeting with the Lord in the air. You’re going to be gathered to him; you haven’t been gathered yet.” So you can’t be in the tribulation. That’s simple, isn’t it? So reason number one: the rapture. Reason number two: he goes on to explain this in verse 3. He says, “Let no one deceive you. That day cannot come; he says, the day of the Lord is characterized by these things. He says the day of the Lord cannot come except there be a falling away first.” That’s not the rapture; he’s spoken about that in verse 1. That is a rebellion. This is essential: a falling away first. That word in Greek is the word for apostasy—in Greek, the word is apostasia, apostasy. Paul says when the day of the Lord comes, it will be characterized by a rebellion against God, by a falling away from divine truth. The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24, in that day of the Lord, iniquity will abound. You say, “But it’s pretty bad today, isn’t it?” You say, “In the world in which we live today, iniquity is everywhere.” You say, “There is a great rebellion against God and against his word today.” You say, “The last 10 or 20 years have got even worse.” People today are denying male and female, made he them. See, I can’t. How far has humanity fallen away and departed from divine truth? You say, “It sounds like a rebellion today.” Well, there is, but it will be nothing compared to the departure from divine truth that there will be in that day. In fact, Paul already says, look at verse 7, he says, “This mystery of iniquity already works.” This idea of iniquity—an undercurrent of iniquity running through the world, says Paul, it’s already happening today— and that was 2,000 years ago. How much more today? But when the day of the Lord comes, he says there will be a great rebellion—a great falling away from divine truth. You say, “How much worse can it get?” I’ll tell you: in that day, every religion will be destroyed. In that day, there will be one single religion. In that day of awful apostasy, there will be one object of worship. You say, “Who or what will that be?” It will be the worship of the devil through the worship of the man of sin. That’s apostasy. The whole world will be taken up with devil worship. You say, “That’s pretty serious.” Look at verse 4. It says, “the man,”—this is the end of 3—”the man of sin will be revealed.” He is a man who personifies sin. He’s the complete opposite to Christ, by the way, who’s the incarnation of purity and holiness. This man, he’s a real man, is the incarnation of sin; he’s devilishly supplied and energized. He “opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, all that is worshipped, so that he as God will sit in the temple of God in Jerusalem.” So, it’s going to have to be rebuilt. What will happen to the Dome of the Rock? I don’t know. But that temple—the Jewish temple in the tribulation—will have to be rebuilt. And in that temple, which has always represented the worship of God, Jehovah, in that temple a man will sit as if he is God, indwelt by the devil, and the whole world will bow their knees to a man as God, when in fact he’s devilish at his very core. The world is going to worship the devil. That’s a serious rebellion. That is serious apostasy. Paul says that’s what the day of the Lord is like. You can’t be in it yet. There’s an undercurrent of this, but the full revelation of it has not yet come. So you’ve got his reasons, haven’t you? This is why you’re not in the day of the Lord—number one: the rapture hasn’t happened yet. Number two: this great rebellion against God, though there’s an undercurrent of it, it hasn’t yet come to its full bloom; this man of sin hasn’t been revealed. Number three: why hasn’t the man of sin come yet? Why hasn’t he arrived yet? Surely the devil would like nothing more than for the whole world to bow down and worship him. Why hasn’t this man of sin been revealed? Well, I’ll tell you why: because there is a restraint upon him. God has put a restraining hand on the man of sin being revealed and the work of the devil. Look at verse 6. Paul says, “You know what is holding him back.” He’s going to be revealed at the right time—all in the purpose of God. He will be revealed, this man of sin. But at the moment, something is holding him back. In verse 7, the something of verse 6 becomes a someone. So in verse 6, “You know what is holding him back.” In verse 7, “Only he who is holding him back will hold him back until he be taken out of the way.” I have a question for you: the Thessalonians knew what this was. I wonder if you know what this is? Paul says there is something, and there is someone. Now they must be very powerful because this is holding back, restraining the full onslaught of iniquity and the power of the devil displayed in this man of sin. But something and someone is just holding him back. You say, “What is it?” Well, I believe it’s a divine person that is holding back the full flow of sin and iniquity in this world. I believe that the someone who is doing the restraining is the Holy Spirit. And that person, says Paul, is going to be taken out of the way. And when he is taken out of the way, then this stream of iniquity will burst onto the earth. So here’s what I think: I think that the someone who restrains is the Holy Spirit. I think that the something that is restraining is the work of the Holy Spirit in and through the church—because Christians are salt and light. And when Christians are removed and the Spirit of God is removed, there will be a flood tide of evil that bursts upon this world. The question is, when’s the Spirit being removed? Now just grasp this because it will help you understand these verses. You understand, don’t you, that the Holy Spirit is a divine person? He’s everywhere. Go back to the Old Testament; the Spirit of God came upon individuals at different times to empower them for service. In Acts chapter 2, something unique happened. Not only did the Lord Jesus go back to heaven, but the Holy Spirit came down from heaven. Acts 2. And the Holy Spirit took up his residence on earth. The Spirit of God had been coming and going. He had been moving upon individuals before that. But in this day and age, something unique has happened: the Spirit of God has taken up his residence on earth. He’s here; he’s been here for 2,000 years, indwelling believers and corporately indwelling the church. But there’s a day coming when the residence of the Spirit is going to be removed. He will be removed. You say, “When will the residence of the Spirit be removed?” Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? When the church is removed. When’s the church going to be removed? At the rapture. And then the residence of the Spirit—with and in the church, his residence will be removed too. That’s not to say he won’t be here in the tribulation. He will be, and folks will be saved in the tribulation—millions! He will be operating, but his residence will not be here because the church has been removed. You see what Paul’s saying? You can’t be in the tribulation. Come on, the rapture hasn’t happened yet. The rebellion hasn’t happened yet. And there is a restraint upon that rebellion. But when he that restrains is removed with the church, then the flood tide of evil will come. It will come! So that’s a whole lot of prophecy. You say, “I don’t mind prophecy; it’s a bit better than doctrine, isn’t it? It’s not quite as dry; it’s quite exciting what’s going to happen in the future.” Prophecy is alright, but it has a practical impact on us. I’ll leave you with this: chapter 1—persecution; encouraging them in persecution. Paul says, “Wait patiently; God is using that suffering for greater good.” Chapter 2—God’s purpose, all about prophecy. “I’m educating you because you’ve been deceived.” The practical outworking of that truth is this: not wait patiently, but hold tightly. Hold tightly to what? Well, you’ve been soon shaken in your minds. You’ve been deceived; you thought you were in the tribulation. And I taught you these things. So what does Paul exhort them to do? He exhorts them to hold tight to the word of God. If they had held tight to Paul’s teaching, they wouldn’t have been so upset and worried and confused. So look at the verse. I know the dinner bell is sounding, but just relax. Verse 15: “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions.” These are not man-made traditions; we’re not talking about the Pharisees here and all the traditions they had built up around the word of God. We are talking about truth that Paul had taught them—truth that Paul had written to them. He says, “Stand fast; hold tightly; be glued to Bible truth, and maintain it with all that you are.” If they had just stuck firmly to the first epistle, they wouldn’t have been so confused and so worried and so deceived. So I say this to you after seven—by the way, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it; thanks very much! Some of you have no idea who I was, and you had no input inviting me here whatsoever, but I appreciate the fact that I’ve been here and it’s been lovely to spend time with you good folks—it really has! One thing I would say after seven days is this: in light of the world in which we’re living and in the light of the fact that Christ is coming very soon—not just for us, but to reign—until that moment comes, and the fact that iniquity is spreading through this earth, could I just exhort you to hold tightly and hold firmly to the truth of the word of God? You can’t just depend on ministry meetings like this. You will need to read this book for yourself. Reading is not studying; you will have to spend a bit of time with the Word of God. You will have to develop convictions about what this book teaches—convictions about the local assembly, convictions about the soon coming of Christ. When you hold a truth, it’s a belief; when the truth holds you, it’s conviction. Read this book, study this book, develop convictions, and stick to them like glue. And God will bless you until he comes. We’ll leave it there. God will bless his word to us. Let’s just pray.

Living in the light of the rapture

And we’ll read from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. And chapter 4. Now that was some good food. So, thank you, everyone, on behalf of the Assembly and all those who enjoyed it. We certainly do appreciate everyone who worked so hard to provide all of that good food. It was very good. I forgot tonight—it’s the first time I’ve forgotten to do this in a long time—but I forgot for some reason to put on my belt today, which normally means that my, well, we call them trousers; you call them pants, right? Which normally means that, well, they’ll slide away. But because I’ve been, well, eating over the past week, they seem to be standing up very well. So it doesn’t really matter that I forgot my belt, right? Although my wife says I don’t preach very well if I don’t have a belt on. So there we go. You be the judge of that. But we do appreciate all those who have put in a lot of effort to bring all that food and supply. It was very, very nice indeed. So thank you for doing that. It’s been a great pleasure, of course, to be with you during this week. And we look to the Lord to bless and help us tonight.

Right, we’re stepping away from the subject of the local assembly. And what we’re going to do is think about the return of the Lord Jesus, but we’re going to think about it in very practical terms. So what I call this meeting is “Living in the Light of the Rapture.” And really that summarizes Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. When he speaks about the return of the Lord Jesus in this letter, primarily he is referring to the rapture. That’s the coming of the Lord Jesus to the air for His saints. And it’s something that could happen at any moment. I hope you believe that. In the UK, everyone would have shouted “Hallelujah!” at the tops of their voices. And if you believe that, you’ll believe anything. We are very reserved in the United Kingdom. They wouldn’t have said a thing, just like you. They would have been stony and silent. But I believe, at least, I thought in America, you know, there’d be a little more celebration. But anyway, I believe at least that the Lord Jesus could return even today, at any moment, even before the meeting is finished— that the Lord Jesus could descend to the air and every believer in Him caught away to meet Christ in the air. That’s what we call the rapture. And that is a scriptural word as far as the Latin Bible is concerned, but maybe more about that later. Rapturo, to be caught away to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. So that’s what Paul is emphasizing in 1 Thessalonians, that aspect of the coming of the Lord Jesus. And at the end of every single chapter in 1 Thessalonians, Paul will speak about the coming of the Lord Jesus.

Now, when you get into 2 Thessalonians, he’s not so much speaking about the rapture, the Lord Jesus coming to the air. In 2 Thessalonians, he’s going to emphasize what sometimes we call the revelation or the manifestation—that Christ is coming in glory, not to the air, but to the earth, to establish and to set up His kingdom and to reign for a thousand years. Now, there are at least seven years between the rapture and the revelation, but 1 Thessalonians is all about the rapture. 2 Thessalonians emphasizes the revelation. I’ll make distinctions between them in a moment. But in both of these epistles, that truth never exists in some kind of vacuum. Whenever Paul teaches truth, it should have a practical impact on the way we live our lives. It’s not just something airy-fairy and future. It is truth to change the way that we live here and now. And that’s why I’ve called these two meetings “Living in the Light of the Rapture.” So that’s 1 Thessalonians tonight and tomorrow, God willing, at high noon, living in the light of the revelation. So we’ll think about 2 Thessalonians.

Now, you were singing that hymn, right? Right. And I’m sure you’re well taught here. I know you get some good men from England, so you must be well taught, right? Or Northern Ireland. But you know just that hymn by Mr. Daniel W. Whittle. I think he was an American, by the way. I think he worked with Mr. Dwight L. Moody. Now, that hymn—did you think about which aspect of the coming of Christ it was about? Because in actual fact, he’s mixed it all up. He’s mixed it all up. So we were singing in verse number one, “He’s coming to reign as the glorified Lord.” Absolutely right. What’s that? Well, that’s not the rapture. He’s not coming to reign as the glorified Lord at the rapture. That’s the revelation when He comes to earth. And then you get to the second verse, and the second verse says this: “Caught up together to Him in the sky.” What’s that? Well, that’s not the revelation. That’s the rapture. So in verse one, you’ve got the revelation. In verse two, you’ve got the rapture. Verse three says He’s coming to give to the warring earth peace. Now, what’s that? Is that the rapture or is that the revelation? It’s the revelation, when He comes to earth and establishes His kingdom, peace. So I’d like to think that Mr. Whittle knew what he was doing. But verse one is revelation; verse two is rapture; verse three is revelation. Verse four: “Waiting and watching, prepared for review.” That’s the review of the judgment seat. So he has in view, in verse four, the rapture. So rapture, revelation? No, the other way around. Revelation, rapture, revelation, rapture. I’d like to think he knew what he was doing. Otherwise, he’s completely misunderstood, and he’s completely misunderstood the two aspects of the second coming of Christ, and he’s viewed them as one. So these things are very important, very important. We’ll make some distinctions in a moment.

Let’s read these verses together. So 1 Thessalonians chapter 4—not criticizing the hymn at all. If you’re in the good of the truth, you can sing it all and enjoy it all, no doubt. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 13. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 13. So these are very, very precious words to those of us who are believers in the Lord Jesus. They describe the next event in the prophetic calendar: The Lord Jesus is coming to the air for those who belong to Him. So 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 13 says this: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep.” These Thessalonians were very young Christians. They had not been saved very long at all. As far as their age is concerned, they might have been older people, but as far as their salvation was concerned, they’d only recently trusted the Lord Jesus a number of weeks or months. And he says, “I don’t want you to be ignorant about this, about those which have fallen asleep.” Now, that is biblical language to describe Christians who have died. They’re not asleep as you and I speak of sleep. But this is a lovely way of describing death for the believer in Christ. Their bodies have been laid in a grave. Their bodies are sleeping. And you understand that when you go to sleep, you go to sleep with the hope and expectation that you will wake up come the morning. Now, this is a lovely way of describing what happens to a Christian’s body when they’ve died. Their soul and their spirit go immediately to be with the Lord Jesus. That’s far better. But their bodies are buried in the ground, and it’s as if they are sleeping. Why? Because there’s a day coming when the bodies of Christians will be raised again from the dead, and they will be reanimated, and those bodies will be joined with the soul and the spirit of that individual. That’s resurrection. So obviously, these Thessalonians had a concern about some of their company, some of their number that had died. They had fallen asleep, and he says, “I know that you are sorrowing.” He’s not telling them not to sorrow. When loved ones die—and death is an inevitable part of life and human existence—when loved ones die, we are sorrowful. But here’s what Paul says. He says, “I don’t want you to sorrow”—that ye sorrow not, even as others—those who are not saved, don’t know Christ—which have no hope. So I expect you to be sorrowing, but I don’t want you to sorrow to the extent of those who have no hope. They’re not believers in the Lord Jesus. Now, here’s why: For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and we do, there’s no doubt about that statement at all—although Paul is asking you to think about it and to affirm it. For if we believe, and we do, that Jesus died and rose again, even so, them which have fallen asleep, those which have died in Jesus, then will God bring, or even gather together with Him. Now, Paul, you need to explain how that’s going to happen.

So he says, “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord”—and Paul obviously thought that he could be a part of that company—”we shall not prevent.” We will not go before. We will not have any precedence over them which are asleep, those that have died. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.” He will descend from heaven with a shout, or literally enveloped, wrapped in a shout. That shout is His. That shout is characterized by the voice of the chief angel, the archangel. There’s one archangel who is named in the Bible; his name is Michael. It’s not so much that Michael is in view here, but it characterizes the shout of the Lord Jesus. He shall descend from heaven with a great shout and it will be archangelic in character. Speak about that in a moment. It could even be characterized as the trumpet of God. What a shout it’s going to be. And when He descends from heaven in that shout, those who have died in Christ, they will rise first.

Then, we which are alive and remain, we shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. Now, you see that little phrase, “caught up together”? Caught up. Now that is in the Latin Bible, the word “rapture.” So that’s why we call this aspect of the coming of Christ the rapture. It’s the idea of a snatching away, a catching away. There is strength, power, energy—almost violence—associated with the word. These individuals will be snatched away from the earth, and they’re going to meet the Lord Jesus in the air. So we which are alive and remain shall be raptured together with them in the clouds, white fluffy things, into a meeting with the Lord in the air. By the way, the Greek has two different words that are translated air. One Greek word describes the air which is above the mountaintops; the other Greek word describes the air which is beneath the mountaintops. So either the air in which birds fly or the higher atmosphere in which there are satellites and that sort of thing. You say, which air is in view here? Right. Well, it’s the lower atmosphere, the lower air. So the Lord Jesus, at least, is coming beneath the top of Mount Everest. He’s coming right into the air and the atmosphere where even the birds fly. Remember that the devil is the prince of the power of the air; that is the lower atmosphere. So we’re going to meet the Lord in the air. Okay.

“And so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Now, by the way, we’re not meeting Him in the air, and then He’s bringing us back to earth. That would be rather disappointing. I don’t know about you; I’d be disappointed. Caught away to meet the Lord in the air, and we’re coming straight back again? No, no, no. You have to go to John 14 for that. The Lord says, “If I go, I will come again, and I will take you by the hand, receive you unto Myself; but where I am, not where you are, where I am, you will be also.” Of course, He’s been speaking about the Father’s house. He has been speaking about heaven. So when the Lord Jesus meets us in the air, He is going to take us to the Father’s house. He’s going to take us to heaven. And this is what we call the rapture. So verse 18: “Wherefore, comfort, comfort one another with these words.”

Now, you just read a couple of verses with me, won’t you, in 2 Thessalonians? Just look at chapter one. You’re turning over the page. 2 Thessalonians 1 and verse 7. Paul says, “And to you who are troubled,” again, he’s speaking about the return of the Lord Jesus, but now he’s not speaking about the rapture. Now he’s speaking about the revelation. He’s coming back to earth, at least seven years later. He says, “When Christ is revealed, you who are troubled—you are suffering tribulation at this time—he says, you will rest with us.” When, now listen to this, “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven,” not the rapture, the revelation. Now He’s being revealed from heaven with His mighty angel, enveloped or wrapped this time not in a shout, but in flaming fire, taking vengeance, communicating judgment on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction away from the presence of the Lord. Isn’t that very solemn? You see, the rapture is associated with rejoicing and comfort and encouragement; but the revelation, when the Lord Jesus comes to the earth, that is associated with fire and with judgment and even with destruction. And those who know not the Lord Jesus, they will be banished away from Him, away from His presence into everlasting judgment. That’s very solemn, but those are the two aspects of the coming of Christ.

Right, just turn back to 1 Thessalonians 4. We will wander for a moment through those verses, and then we’ll see how Paul makes this truth very practical. Now, let me say again, and I want to re-emphasize this because I don’t know what you’re like when it comes to prophecy. I’m sure you’re rock solid, but I need to talk about a few of these things. And I know that there is fried chicken and there is curry and all sorts of things, right? Even those Korean donuts. I wanted to—a brother said to me, “You should try one of those; they’re really good.” And I wanted to, but dirt got there before me and the top box disappeared. So maybe there’ll be some left later. I know it’s all floating around in the belly somewhere, right? Do your best. Do your best to stay with me, and I won’t shout too loud. I know some of you like it when I’m dramatic, but do your best.

1 Thessalonians, the rapture—that’s what’s emphasized: Christ coming to the air for His saints. The Bible teaches that that could happen at any instant. It is imminent. Not meaning that it must happen at any moment, but that it could happen at any moment. The Lord Jesus will descend from heaven in that shout. He’s descending to the air. Every believer in the Lord Jesus—every believer is going to be caught up, snatched away from the earth to meet Christ in the air. That is the rapture. That’s the emphasis of 1 Thessalonians. But there are two aspects to the second coming of Christ. That rapture is the first aspect. It’s the first stage. After the church, every believer in the Lord Jesus, from the Day of Pentecost until the rapture—after the church has been gathered to meet the Lord Jesus in the air, for the first time ever in history, the great assembly will be gathered together in one place with their Lord and Savior. What a dramatic, what an awesome occasion that will be. You say, but millions upon millions of Christians from the Day of Pentecost—you say they’re dead and buried. You’re right. You’re right. But Christ is going to raise them out from the grave. And we’re all going to meet Christ in resurrection or change. We’re all going to meet Christ in the air. What a demonstration of tremendous power when the Lord Jesus takes the church home. We’re going to go to be with Christ in the Father’s house. You say, what’s going to happen on earth? Well, on earth, as soon as the church is raptured, God is going to take up His dealings again with the nation of Israel, and He’s going to take them through the refining fire of the tribulation period on earth. That’s an awful period—seven years of divine judgment upon primarily unbelievers who will be living on the earth. It’s not for me. I’m not going to see one second of that tribulation period. I’m going to be taken away before it comes. But seven awful years of tribulation, judgment upon the earth. More about that tomorrow. And then at the end of those seven years, the Lord Jesus is coming again. Revelation 19 says heaven will be opened. You cannot see into heaven today. Living in New Jersey, you look to the sky and you see, well, you see the satellites that are distant, don’t you? Blue skies, the sun’s always shining, I know. Today was a bit of an anomaly, right? But normally in New Jersey, you’re staring into the blueness of the sky. You can see a long way, but you can’t see heaven. In Revelation 19, you’ll be able to see heaven. Because after those seven years of tribulation judgment on the earth, then heaven—you read it in Revelation 19—heaven will be opened. You’ll be able to stand on earth and see right into heaven. And Christ will come in glory and majesty. Every eye will see Him. Every knee will bow before Him, whether willingly or forced to bow the knee in worship before Him. He will come to destroy His enemies. He’s not coming for His saints then; we’re already with Him. He’s coming with His saints. He’s coming to establish a rule of righteousness and justice and equity on the earth. For a thousand years, King Christ is going to reign in righteousness. Two aspects to the second coming of Christ. I hope you know that inside out. And if you do, when you were singing that hymn, you were thinking to yourself, “Hmm, revelation, rapture, revelation, rapture,” weren’t you? I wonder. Anyway, two aspects to the second coming of Christ. You say this is all very strange? Shouldn’t be. You see, when the Lord Jesus came the first time—that was 2000 years ago—it was one coming, but there were two aspects to it. When Christ comes in the future, there’s one coming—His second coming—but there are two aspects to it: the rapture and the revelation.

You say, what about this first coming? How do you know? When the Lord Jesus came the first time, He came to a little place called Bethlehem. It was very quiet. Not many knew that the Son of God had come. Isn’t that remarkable? I know that there was an angelic appearance to the shepherds. And I know that Zacharias and Elizabeth and Joseph and Mary knew a little bit about the fact that the Christ was born. And here are some shepherds coming in: “You will find Him wrapped, lying in a manger.” There He is in swaddling clothes. Not many knew He had come. And for 30 years, the Lord Jesus lived in relative obscurity. We know very little about Him and about His life. And then Luke says, about 30 years of age, everything changed. About 30 years of age, He was baptized in the River Jordan. And the Spirit of God came to rest upon Him. And the Lord Jesus, for the best part of four years—maybe even longer—He entered into His public ministry. And then everyone knew about Him, and everyone wanted to see Him, and everyone had heard of the mighty miracles that He had performed. Do you see that it was one coming, but there were two aspects to it? A quieter, more private stay, and a much louder, more public manifestation.

Now, if that was the case at the first coming, you can be sure it will be the case at the second coming. So there are differences to be made, just like we made differences between the great assembly and the local assembly. So there are differences to be made between the rapture and the revelation. Let me give you a couple of differences, and then we’ll speak about the rapture. For example, there are absolutely no signs whatsoever to precede the rapture; it could happen at any moment. There are no signs to indicate, “Yes, it’s going to happen next week. Yes, it’s going to be next month.” Not a single sign. But the revelation has a huge amount of signs attached to it. You read Matthew 24. The Lord says there will be famines, and there will be pestilences. The Lord says there will be signs in the sun. The sun will not give its light. There will be signs in the moon. The moon will be darkened. There will be signs in the stars. There will be earthquakes. There will be wars and rumors of wars. There are a huge number of signs to indicate that the second coming of the Lord Jesus to the earth is very soon, but not the rapture. No signs at all.

Did you notice that when it comes to the rapture, the language is very comforting? Paul says at the end of these verses, “Comfort one another with these words.” The truth of the rapture is to encourage and to comfort one another. He says to His disciples in the upper room, “Peace, peace be unto you. My peace. I’m coming again.” The revelation is different. We read in 2 Thessalonians 1: fire, destruction, judgment. You see the difference between them? You have to differentiate between the rapture and the revelation. The rapture is something that is New Testament revelation only; but the manifestation of Christ when He comes to the earth, the Old Testament is full of that glorious coming of Christ to the earth—full—but you’ll not find the rapture there. I know it’s pictured; as we look back to it, we can see Enoch who walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. What a picture of the rapture, by the way! But the rapture is not in the Old Testament; it’s in the New Testament that the truth of the rapture is being revealed. So there are differences.

Now let’s think about, first of all, what Paul has to say in some detail about the rapture. And let’s try to explain this, and then just as we come to the end of the meeting, we’ll see what the practical implications of this truth are. So we’re thinking about the rapture, not the revelation at least seven years later after the tribulation. Look at verse 13. You could just write over verse 13 the word “sorrow.” Obviously, these Thessalonians had reported to Paul, and they were separated at this point in time, hence why Paul is writing a letter. Obviously, these Thessalonians had reported to Paul that one or more of their number had died. Now, they might have died through natural causes; they might have died because they were being persecuted for being Christian. But no matter, one or more of their number had died. And they were very upset. So you write over verse 13 the word “sorrow.” And this is what Paul says. He says, “I don’t want you to be ignorant concerning those who have died, those who have fallen asleep.” He says, “I know that you are sorrowing.” That is expected. Christians are expected and are allowed to be sad and sorrowful when loved ones die. But listen to what he says. He says, “You sorrow not, even as others that have no hope.” He’s saying those who don’t know Christ, those who are unbelievers, they have no hope of resurrection. They have no hope of life beyond the grave, but you do. So you sorrow because your loved ones have died, but you don’t sorrow to the extent of those who don’t know Christ because you know there’s resurrection. You know those loved ones of yours will be raised again. You know that there is life after death. Isn’t that wonderful? So we sorrow, brethren, but if our loved ones knew Christ, then there’s a sense of rejoicing in our hearts that, in a day to come, we’ll see them again. They’ll be raised from the dead. We’re going to meet them, either in the air or in heaven.

Sorrow. Now, it seems as if the Thessalonians had lost sight of that truth of resurrection because of their grief. And so Paul, in verse 14, gives them some security about resurrection. I do. I love the argument. You follow the argument. Paul says, “I’m going to give you some security now, some guarantee that your loved ones who have died in Christ will be raised again.” You say, well, what is the guarantee they’ll be raised again? What’s the security? Simple. “For if we believe”—or since we believe. I think if Paul was preaching this, he would have waited for a response—”Since we believe, don’t we?” “Yes, we do.” “That Jesus died… yes, we believe that. And that Jesus rose again—yes, yes, preacher Paul, we believe that!” “You do, I hope!” He said, “Since we believe that, even so, those which have fallen asleep, those that have died in Jesus—or in Christ, they’re believers—God is going to bring or gather together with Him.” This is a cardinal truth of the faith. What is our security? What is our guarantee that loved ones in Christ will be raised again? The death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. That guarantees it. So if Jesus died and rose again, in exactly the same way, God is going to raise believers from the dead to live again. And He’s going to gather them together in a day to come, in the air with the Lord Jesus. So resurrection is secure—it is guaranteed on the basis of the fact that Christ died and rose again. Isn’t that wonderful? It can’t fail then, can it? Can it? Resurrection can’t fail; life after death cannot fail because Christ died and rose again, and those believers that die in Him will follow His patterns; they will be raised in a day to come.

So he speaks about sorrow. He speaks about the security that we have in Christ. And then verse 15 seems to be a separate but connected side issue. In verse 15, you have a supposition that on the part of these Thessalonians, they had supposed something, but they were wrong. Listen to verse 15 and see if you can identify what they had supposed. Paul says, “This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent, shall not have any advantage over those that have died.” So these Thessalonians, they seem to believe that those who were still alive when the Lord came—and remember, some of their number had died—but these Thessalonians believed that those who were still alive when the Lord came would in some way have an advantage over those that had died. Perhaps they thought that those who had died would miss the rapture and would only be raised at the revelation; we don’t know what they thought. But for some reason they thought those who had died were going to miss out on some aspect of the coming of Christ. Paul says it’s not the case; your supposition is absolutely wrong. He says, “Those of us who are alive and remain, we won’t have any advantage. Not at all. We’re not going to precede those who have fallen asleep.” Now, Paul, you better explain how that’s going to be the case. So from verse 15—which is supposition—to verse 16, this is all about the Savior. Now this is what’s going to happen! Isn’t this glorious? And we could spend a couple of weeks, couldn’t we, on these verses? But verse 16 says, “For the Savior’s coming.” The Savior’s come. He says, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.” Literally, in Greek, “Himself, the Lord shall descend from heaven.” Isn’t the rapture personal and intimate? You know when it comes to the revelation, don’t you, that Christ is going to send angels into the four corners of the earth and the angels will gather the elect together unto Christ. You say, that’s not happening here? There’s no mention of the angels here. Thank God! It’s Christ Himself who is descending from heaven into the air. It’s Christ Himself who’s coming for us. We must be precious to Him. We must be valuable to Him. “Himself, the law shall descend out from heaven.” You say, I know what you’re saying, preacher Dan, but listen, the rapture is not very intimate, is it? You say, there must be millions of believers in the Lord Jesus around the world today—not to mention those who have already died in Christ. From the Day of Pentecost onwards, you say, when this happens, there literally are going to be billions in the air—literally. You say, I’ll enjoy the rapture, just to meet the Lord in the air; it’ll be wonderful. But I’ll just probably, from some sort of distance, be saying, “There’s the Lord! There He is!” I don’t think so. I think—and this is miraculous—I think the rapture is very personal and very intimate. Do you know what the Lord said in John 14? He said, “If I go, I will come again.” He said, “I will receive you unto Myself.” That’s the rapture! The word literally is this: “I’ll come alongside you. And I will take you by the hand.” Продолжение следует… I’ll bring you unto Myself. I think it will be incredibly personal. Christ is coming for me, and He’s going to take me by the hand. He’s going to lead me to the Father’s house. Personal, intimate—my Savior, your Savior, our Savior—is coming for us. Thank God He’s not sending Moses, not sending Abraham, not sending Paul; He’s not sending an angel. The Lord Himself is coming.

So that’s the Savior. And then notice, too, in verse 16, His shout. He’s descending out from heaven, literally enveloped in a shout. You have never heard a shout like this! I know in John chapter 11, the Lord Jesus said, “Lazarus, come forth!” That was a shout of some power; this will be even greater. The shout has the idea of a word, a military word of command. Christ is descending to the air with a word of command. It goes right back to John chapter 5: “All those who are in the graves shall hear the voice.” The day is coming: All those that are in the graves shall hear the voice—His voice, the voice of the Lord Jesus. He’s shouting to dead ones. He’s shouting to the dead in Christ. They’re coming right out of the grave. That shout! Now, it’s not that the archangel is involved, I don’t think. The Lord Jesus is far greater than any angel, by the way. Hebrews chapter 1. He doesn’t need the strength and power of an angel to do what He’s going to do. Rather, His shout is, listen, archangelic in character. You say, what about this archangel? There are some very famous angels in the Bible. One of them is called Michael. He’s the chief angel, the archangel. Another one is called Gabriel. You’ve heard of them. Whenever you find Gabriel on the scene, Gabriel always brings some kind of revelation; he reveals truth. Michael is always associated with power. Power! Whenever you find Michael, you read in Jude, for example, or read in Daniel. Wherever you find Michael, he’s always in conflict with the devil, infernal powers. He was arguing with Satan over the body of Moses. That’s Jude. And he said, “I rebuke you, Satan.” No, he didn’t. The devil’s more powerful than Michael. He said, “The Lord rebuke thee!” Well, now here is the Lord, and He’s coming right into the devil’s domain and He has a shout that is archangelic in His power. He’ll destroy! He’s already destroyed the devil. He’s coming right into his domain. He’s going to snatch bodies out of death from the very domain of the one who had the power of death. It’s powerful! And this shout, too, is like the trumpet of God. This, I think, is the call heavenward. We which are alive and remain will be changed. Those that are dead in Christ, their bodies will be raised. All caught up—all called up—with this great shout, which is trumpet of God in character.

Now, 1 Corinthians 15 will tell you about the last trump. That’s the last trump as far as the church age is concerned. Do you know what I like to think about in terms of this trump of God? Revelation 4 verse 1. And after the Lord Jesus has spoken to the churches—seven churches, Revelation 2 and 3—Revelation 4 verse 1, a door is opened in heaven and a trumpet-like voice says to John, “John, come up here!” Now that’s not the rapture, but it’s a lovely picture of it. When the church age has come to an end, a door is opened in heaven and the trumpet-like voice that he’d heard at the beginning—it was the voice of Christ—said to him, “John, come up here!” That’s what the trumpet of God is: It’s the voice of Christ that says to us, “Come up here! We’re going to meet Him in the air.”

So there’s the Savior in verse 16; there’s the shout in verse 16. And then, well, you’ve got the sequence because verse 16 says at the end, “The dead in Christ shall rise first.” So no, you’re not going to have an advantage over them because they have priority in order. The dead in Christ will rise first. Do you remember 1 Corinthians 15? That’s the mystery of the change! In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, says Paul, they will be changed. 1 Corinthians 15 is not the revelation of the rapture—it’s the revelation of the change that will take place at the rapture. So those who are dead in Christ shall be raised first, and according to 1 Corinthians 15, in an instant, their bodies will be changed! In a moment. The word in Greek is the word for “atom.” So in an atom of time, in the smallest divisible moment of time—just in the blinking of an eye—those bodies will be raised and changed. But don’t forget the sequence. You say, what about those of us who are left? Verse 17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be carried off by force…” We shall be snatched away, plucked from Satan’s domain. We’re going to be eagerly claimed by the Lord Jesus. And we’ll all be caught up together into a meeting with the Lord in the air.

“Comfort one another with these words.” I tell you, that was tremendous! What a blessing that should have had for the Thessalonians. But listen, and this is my last 10 minutes—this meeting isn’t really about the doctrine of the rapture. This meeting really is about the impact that that truth should have on your life and my life. If we really believe it, if we really believe the imminent return of the Lord Jesus, then the way that we live should be different. Different! Now you say, where do you find that? Well, I did tell you to read 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5, right? I’m sure you did that. That’ll take you about two minutes. 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5. I don’t really want to say this, but there is a rapture sandwich. I know you’ve been eating too much, but there are sandwiches here. You see, Paul never, never—you say, I don’t get on very well with Paul. You know, he always starts his letters with all this doctrine. Paul always starts his letters with all this teaching. And I’ve got one chapter in and I’m just suffering under the weight of the doctrine! But Paul is very practical in all of his letters. You know, you can divide Paul’s letters basically into two parts: The first half is always doctrine, teaching; the second half is always practice. You say, what’s he doing? He’s always forming a firm foundation and basis of truth which has a practical impact on the way we live. Now, these verses are no different because at the start of chapter four, you have practical exhortation. Then at the end of chapter four, you’ve got the rapture. Then at the start of chapter five, practical exhortation again. You’ve got a rapture sandwich. And the reason Paul has done that is to show us that that glorious truth should affect the way we live.

Now, here are three things that I’m going to pick out. I’m just going to drop them in front of you, and then I’m done. There are many more things. Here is Paul’s first lesson. He says, in light of the soon coming of Christ, he says, “You good Christians should be sanctified.” What does that mean? Just in case you think I’m making it up, look at chapter 4, look at verse 3. He says, “This is the will of God.” You say, hang on, he hasn’t yet got to the rapture. You say, “Are you sure this is practical instruction in light of the rapture and the second coming?” Well, look at the end of chapter three. He says, “The Lord make you to increase and abound in love towards one another,” for this reason—that your hearts may be established without any kind of blame, without any kind of censure, in holiness before God, even the Father, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints. Oh yes, he’s been speaking. That, by the way, is the rapture and it’s the judgment seat. He says, “I want you to be without blame at the judgment seat.” One way in which you can be without censure at the judgment seat—without any loss—is by loving one another. And immediately he goes on to say, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification.” I think we need this word more than ever today. Bye! Please, folks, listen—especially you younger folks—but not just you younger folks. Paul says, “In light of the soon coming of Christ, I want to tell you what God’s desire is for your life.”

Young people always ask—or at least they do in England—”How do I know the will of God for my life?”—by which they basically mean, “How do I know which girl to marry?” or “How do I know which boy to marry?” Right? Whatever the case. That’s basically what they mean. But anyway, “How do I know the will of God for my life?” Well, here’s where the will of God begins—with the word of God. You got that? And the word of God will teach you a good deal about which girl you should marry and which girl you shouldn’t marry, and which boy you should marry—a believer who believes the same kind of truth as you do—and which boy you shouldn’t marry—an unbeliever. If you want to know God’s will for that, read the Bible. Now here’s what Paul is saying: He said, “Look, here is an aspect of God’s desire for your life; this is not the will as if God only has one desire; He has many desires for you as a believer.” He says, “Here is one aspect of the will of God: It is your sanctification.” Thank you. What is sanctification? This is practical sanctification. I’m not going into the difference. Paul is saying God’s desire for your life in light of the soon return of Christ is— a practical, everyday separation from what is evil, what is impure, what is unclean. He says, separate yourself from the filth that is in society.

But sanctification isn’t just negative. Sanctification is also positive. It’s not sanctify and separate yourself from only. That’s the negative; it’s separate yourself to in the positive. Absolute devotion to Christ. So here’s the lesson. You ready? Christ is coming at any moment. You say, “I believe it.” How does it affect my life? Be sanctified! Make sure that in your everyday living, you are separating yourself away from the filth, the sin, the iniquity of this world. Run away from sexual immorality. Flee fornication! Every instance and appearance of immorality and sin—keep away! You say, “It’s very difficult, you know. It’s so alluring and attractive. How do I keep away?” Or remember the positive side: by devoting your life and your time to Christ, you will find that you have less time and less inclination—although the attraction is always there whilst we’re in the flesh—less inclination for the filth of this world. Now, I’ll be very pointed: These Thessalonians lived in a filthy society. The history books tell me that every man in Thessalonica had at least four women. He had one woman to look after the affairs of the house domestically, he had another woman who was his wife and raised legitimate children, he had another woman that was used for other purposes, and another woman who was used for… I’ll not go into the sordid detail. It was immorality. Paul says, “Stay away from them! That’s not for you as those who belong to and who appreciate the soon coming of the Lord Jesus!” So, young folks, keep clean from all the sexual immorality in this world.

So there’s lesson one: Be sanctified. Here’s lesson two. Look at verse 9. “But as touching brotherly love,”—that’s the word Philadelphia. You know, Philadelphia means love of a brother. He says, “As touching brotherly love, you need not that I write unto you, because, in fact, you have been taught by God to love.” And the word there is not Philadelphia. The word there is agape, love. “You’ve been taught of God to love one another.” And indeed, you do this towards all the brethren in Macedonia. That was the region in which Thessalonica was. You say, well, thanks, Paul; that’s very kind of you! He’s saying, “I don’t just want you to be sanctified; he says, I want you to be sacrificial in your love for one another.” And he says, “You’re doing that! You are doing!” He says, “In light of the soon coming of Christ, I want you to be Philadelphia love.” It’s a beautiful word, isn’t it? It’s the love of the family.

He says, “You Thessalonians—I know some of you don’t belong to the same sort of earthly physical fleshly family.” I know that, he says. “We all belong to the same spiritual family.” You know that, Thessalonians—every other word is “brethren, brethren, brethren, brethren.” What’s Paul saying? He says, “We’re part of the same spiritual family.” And the love—now I’m saying this with a bunch of teenagers in my house, right? I’ve got children who are teenagers—brothers and sisters! The love that should be experienced between family members—that’s what I tell the older boy anyway when he’s beating his sister with… no, that doesn’t happen in my house, right? But anyway, the love that there should be between family members—he says that characterizes you as a spiritual family: Philadelphia!

And he says, “You also agape love one another.” You’ve thought about that word, haven’t you? That’s the word that describes unconditional love. It is a word that describes a person who will lay aside any thoughts and feelings he has about another. It doesn’t matter what they’ve said to him in the past. It doesn’t matter what they’ve done to him in the past. It doesn’t matter what they look like, what they sound like, how they smell—unconditionally, I will sacrifice myself—my money, my time, my effort, my love. I’ll sacrifice what I have to bless you because I love you. You say, well, I do love most of the saints, but there is a sister here who in 1967 said something to me that I’ve never forgotten, and I can’t love them. Well, you’re wrong because God knew every sin that you’d ever committed against Him. You were odious in His sight, but unconditionally—in the sense of being unclean, defiled, filth because of sin—but unconditionally, He loved you and He sacrificed His Son to save you from your sins. It’s love!

Now, what I like about this is Paul says, “Philadelphia love?” Tick! He says, “You’re doing it! Great!” “Agape love?” He says, “God has taught you how to love that?” Tick! “You’re doing it? Great!” “Thanks, Paul!” What does Paul say? Now, sometimes he just can’t help himself, can he? Sometimes you’d like to say to Paul, “Listen, Paul, just sit down in a chair and have a coffee, right? Have one of those yum-yum donuts. Just relax, brother Paul.” Because what does he say in the verse? He says, “I know that you love, but verse 10, do it more and more!” Do it more and more! Increase more and more! Love more and more! You can’t do it enough!

So here’s the lesson: How are you doing? Be sanctified, be sacrificial in your love towards one another. I close with this point, and there are lots here, but when you come into chapter 5, well, see if you can do the alliteration. Your genius is here, right? Verse 5, and Paul, by the way, has been speaking at the start of chapter 5 about the tribulation. He’s been speaking about the day of the Lord. Interesting that the rapture comes before the day of the Lord because the rapture does come before the day of the Lord, right? We’re going to be taken away before the day of the Lord, before the tribulation judgment comes on the earth. And Paul is talking about that in chapter five. He says, “Verse 9: God has not appointed us to wrath.” We’re not going into the tribulation! We are not appointed to wrath. That’s not eternal judgment, hell fire— that is tribulation wrath in Thessalonians. He says, “We’re not appointed to that, but to obtain salvation.” Now, this is how you live. And how do we obtain salvation from that judgment? Because the judgment’s coming on the earth, and we’re on the earth. Well, this is how you obtain salvation: “Christ is taking you out of the earth.” He’s taking you to the air. Hallelujah! They’re wonderful the way it all fits together! This is what Paul says! “Verse 6″—no, no, “verse 5.” He says, “You are sons of the light,” which basically means you’re saved! He says, “You are sons of the day.” You know what characterizes the period of the day, don’t you? Light. He says, “You’re saved.” He says, “You don’t belong to the night. You don’t belong to darkness.” Therefore, verse 6—”Let’s not sleep as others do, but let us watch and let us be… not sanctified; be sacrificial.” No, “be sober.” Do you know what he’s saying? The tribulation period on earth is for the sons of darkness—those who aren’t saved! But you’re not sons of darkness; you’re sons of light, which means the tribulation is not for you. God has not appointed you to wrath. You belong to the day and to the light. So he says, “Live consistently with what you are!” Those who belong to the darkness and the night sleep, because people sleep at night—not in meetings. But those who belong to the day, they’re not characterized by sleep! They’re characterized by being awake and alert and focused in their minds and their thoughts! He says, “Be sober! Live Christian lives that are not lazy and lethargic, but Christian lives that are attentive. Be awake and energetic spiritually! Be busy!” He says, “Be sober!” What tremendous lesson! Living in the light of the rapture! I hope your Christian life is energetic! You say, “Dan, you just wait until you’re twice your age and you’ll realize how difficult it is to be energetic!” I’m not talking about physical energy; I’m talking about your spiritual life, what you’re doing for Christ: your exercise for Him, your work in the assembly, your prayer life, your Bible study life, your evangelistic outreach! Don’t be lazy! Christ is coming! Be busy! Be attentive! Be energetic! Be awake! And be self-controlled in a spiritual sense. Be sober!

So there you are—be sanctified, be sacrificial, be sober. There’s a whole lot more besides, but God will bless His word to us. Let’s just pray.

Metaphors of the assembly

Now, great to see everyone here again tonight. Thank you very much for coming. I do appreciate not just your presence here, but your longevity and your stamina. I’ve had enough of me by now. Don’t know about you. But the Lord has helped us and blessed us, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed these few days with you. I’m not finished yet, by the way. Sounds like a parting speech, doesn’t it? But I have thoroughly enjoyed the time with you. It’s been a real pleasure to be here, and we trust the Lord will bless His word to us.

So, we’re just finishing off tonight our studies and our thoughts on the truth of the local assembly. The final meeting tonight, we’ve called The Metaphors of the Assembly. We’re going to look at some of the pictures that Paul, especially, but others too, have used to describe truth, illustrating truth really in association with the Assembly. This is a lovely way just to close out this series on the local church.

As we’ve been thinking about, now tomorrow and Sunday, God willing, we’ll think in a little more practical terms. We’re going into 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians. We’re going to talk about the return of Christ. So if you have the opportunity, and I’m sure you do, read 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 before the meeting tomorrow night, and we’ll talk about how we should live in light of the soon return of the Lord Jesus, in light of the rapture. Then on Sunday, if you can read 2 Thessalonians, that won’t take you long at all—chapters 1, 2, and 3—we’ll talk about how we should live in light of the revelation of the Lord Jesus.

I’m sure you know the difference: there’s one Second Coming, but there are two aspects to that Second Coming: the rapture and then the revelation. The Lord is coming to the air and then at least seven years later, He’s coming to the earth. So we’re going to be talking about prophecy, and we’re going to be talking about how we should be living in the light of the soon return of the Lord Jesus. So that’s Saturday evening and Sunday, in the will of the Lord.

Right, tonight, the metaphors of the local assembly. There are many of them, many of them. I might just try to finish the meeting early tonight. You know, you’ve suffered long, haven’t you, during this week? I’ve probably taken from you 40 or 50 minutes more than I should. So maybe I’ll give you back a minute or two tonight. We’ll just see how we get on, and maybe we’ll just visit—I’ve got on my mind to visit—four of these metaphors, and I think that will see us finished in good time.

Right, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Now, remember, this is one of those epistles which is dealing especially with Church of God truth—local assembly truth. Paul uses, in fact, he uses three metaphors in this third chapter. I’m just going to speak about two of them, but there are three here. So, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 5, he says, “Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?” Paul says, “I have planted,” in the sense that he was the first one to come to Corinth and preach the gospel, and folks were saved because of the preaching. And then Apollos came by after that, and he watered those saints with the teaching of the word of God and the further preaching of the gospel. So, he says, “I have planted, Apollos has watered, but it is God who gave, keeps on giving the increase.”

So then, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. Now, he that planteth and he that watereth are one; that is, they are one in aim, they’re one in objective, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God, or under God’s employment. Now, listen to these two metaphors. He’s speaking of the local church at Corinth. He says, “You are God’s husbandry. You are God’s cultivated field or cultivated garden.” And then he says, “Ye are God’s building.”

So, there are two metaphors to describe the local assembly: a garden or a field, and a building. Now, he goes on to further explain that metaphor, the building that is. So, verse 10: “According to the grace of God, which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

Now, if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble, every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it. Now, he’s thinking about the day of review and reward. He’s thinking about the judgment seat of Christ because it shall be revealed by fire. That is, every man’s work will be revealed. The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. So that, of course, is the gold, the silver, the precious stones. If any man’s work shall be burned, wood, hay, stubble? He shall suffer loss. But he himself shall be saved, yet so as through the fire.

So we’re thinking about believers here, but it is possible for believers to suffer loss as far as reward is concerned because of the character and the caliber of the work that they put into the assembly. So you have God’s husbandry, His cultivated field or garden. Then you have God’s building, and we’re building upon the foundation.

Now, I’m not going to speak about this particular metaphor tonight, but it’s here. Verse 16, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?” I think this is now a separate metaphor. I know we’ve been thinking about a building, but now he’s speaking about a temple. The idea here, of course, is sanctity, purity, and holiness—the presence of God. He says, “You are, it’s the assembly again, you are the temple of God.” And the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. That’s not just individually; that’s corporately, collectively. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Now, keep your Bible open because we’re going to read more scriptures in due course, but that will do for now. I won’t speak about all of the metaphors. I think just as I’ve been wandering through the scriptures and looking for these metaphors that describe the local assemblies, I have found—here’s some more homework for you—I have found at least ten different metaphors, little pictures that describe for us the local assembly.

Now, there are other metaphors as well, and some of these metaphors are used of both the great assembly and the local assembly. You think, for example, of the body of Christ. Do you remember that we began by saying that the great assembly, that church of the dispensation, from Pentecost to the rapture, every believer—that great assembly is described in Ephesians and Colossians as the body of Christ—the church which is the body of Christ. Christ is the head in heaven, the exalted head. The body is the church on earth, the body of Christ.

And yet we’ll find in a moment when we turn to 1 Corinthians 12 that Paul uses exactly the same metaphor, not to describe the great assembly, but the same metaphor to describe the local assembly. And there are some differences, because the head this time is not Christ in relation to the local assembly. In fact, the saints that belong to the assembly at Corinth were part of the head because he speaks about the foot of the head. And somebody in the assembly—sorry if this is demoralizing to some of you—but some in the assembly are just like a foot that belongs to the body. He speaks about the hand, and he speaks about the eye, which is part of the head. He’s saying there are members in the assembly at Corinth that are like a foot and like a hand and like an eye. So it’s the same metaphor, but it’s just used in a slightly different way as to whether Paul is referring to the great assembly or whether he’s referring to the local assembly.

You say, well, why does Paul use the same metaphor sometimes of both the great assembly and the local assembly? For this reason: though they are—and I want to re-emphasize this just at the end of these meetings and this series on the assembly—though they are separate and distinct, there is a sense in which they are analogous. You say, what does that mean? Well, they are comparable in certain respects. And you need to remember that. But tonight we’re talking about the local assembly.

And we’re thinking about some metaphors that are used in relation to the local church. Now, listen to some of them: God’s husbandry, God’s builder, temple of God. 1 Timothy 3 speaks about the house of God. Later on, we’ll read in 1 Corinthians 12, the body of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 3—I’m not going to give you any more (well, I am actually just at the end of the meeting)—2 Corinthians 3 Paul describes the church at Corinth as an epistle, a letter belonging to Christ. Aren’t these lovely metaphors?

Now, by the way, I’m trying to emphasize something. Did you notice? Temple of God, cultivated field that belongs to God, building that is God’s, household that belongs to God, body of Christ, epistle of Christ. What are you learning? You’re learning just this: that the local assembly belongs to God, and it belongs to Christ. That’s what gives it such dignity. I want to remind you of that. I hope that you love the assembly. And I hope that as a result of these meetings this week, you have been deepened in your appreciation for the local church. But let me remind you of this: it doesn’t belong to you. It exists for divine glory.

It belongs to God, and it belongs to Christ. It is our responsibility to seek to bring glory and honor to God and to Christ by all the things that we do and all the things that we say. So, and you might think this to be a little strange, please understand this: primarily this local assembly is not for you. Now, we derive a whole lot of blessing and benefit, don’t we, from belonging to a local assembly, but primarily it’s not for you and it’s not for me. It is here to bring glory and honor to God. Let’s remember that.

You know, sadly, sometimes in the UK, and in local churches in the UK, there are some very large local churches, but a lot of local assemblies would be somewhere in the region—depending on where you are—but a lot of local assemblies in the UK would be maybe in their tens or in their twenties, in terms of the number of saints that belong to an assembly. If you get into the thirties and forties and somewhere in the hundreds, then that’s a very healthy assembly as far as the numerics are concerned. But when you get an assembly of 10 or 15, very often you find that the saints that are in fellowship there are much older. Perhaps there’s a younger couple, and they’ve got some younger children, and they go along to that assembly for a few months or a couple of years or something like that, it won’t be long—and there have been many stories like this—it won’t be long before that family will decide that that assembly is not for them.

I’m thinking of one particular example. They left the assembly, and having a conversation with them about why it was that they had moved away from that assembly, which was much larger and had many more people in it, and young people in it, and so on. Yes, they were jettisoning some of the principles of the local assembly. And you say to them, well, why is it that you’ve left that little assembly that could have appreciated and did appreciate your presence and your help? And they would say something like this: they would say, “Well, it was all right, but there weren’t very many folks there.”

And they were much older. And in that assembly, there wasn’t really anything for us and for our children. We were concerned that our children didn’t have any other children to play with. We were concerned that, well, it wasn’t enough for them. So we took them somewhere else where there were more young people, so that they could enjoy their company. It just wasn’t for us. But the local assembly has never been for us. The local assembly isn’t for our children; it’s for God and His glory and God and His honor. And you know, it might have been difficult for some years for that younger family to be in a small fellowship made up primarily of older people, but how much delight they could have brought to the heart of God just by laboring in that assembly for His glory and His honor.

I think the children would have learned a lot. And isn’t it sad that people seem to belong to a local—I hope this isn’t you—people seem to belong to a local assembly because it’s convenient to them, because they like it, because they live nearby, because there’s something that attracts them. But as soon as circumstances change, any conviction or part of a conviction they had goes out of the window, and they’ll go anywhere, and they’ll throw away what convictions they might have heard just for a sense of convenience.

My brother, my sister, I’ve been trying to teach you that the local assembly here is running as close as it’s possible to be to the teaching of the word of God. And we want to belong to a local church that conforms to divine order and divine pattern. That’s what matters. That’s what’s important. And that’s why we’re here. We’re convicted—we should be—convicted that this is the place where God would have us be. This is the place that is according to His mind and will. And whatever comes, and however small the numbers might dwindle, this place is honoring to God, and the assembly is precious to Him, and I’ll be here through thick and thin.

Well, there you are. The metaphors—they belong to God and to Christ. Let’s think about some of them. Here’s the first one. Verse 9 of chapter 3, Paul speaks about the assembly at Corinth as God’s husbandry. So the thought here is the idea of cultivation or the idea of growing. Isn’t it a lovely way of describing a local assembly? He says, verse 9, “We are laborers together in God’s employment.” He’s thinking particularly about himself and about Apollos. Paul first came to Corinth; he preached the gospel. Souls were saved, the foundation was laid, which is Jesus Christ. The assembly began to grow. Apollos came sometime later. He taught the word of God. He also preached the gospel. He says, “Well, I, Paul, and Apollos, my friend, my colleague, we are laborers together for the same cause, for the same purpose.” He says, “We are under God’s employment—laborers for Him.”

And he says, “This is what you’re like.” He says, “We’ve been sowing the seed, sowing the seed of the gospel, and it’s fallen into good ground. You’ve been saved, and now that’s been springing forth into fruit. There is growth in this field and in this garden. And Apollos has come by, and Apollos has been pouring water on the seed. And these plants—that’s you, by the way—these plants have been springing up.”

Now he says, “This assembly in Corinth—look at them all. Look at you. You are a beautiful, ordered field. You are a beautifully fragrant garden.” That’s what the local assembly is like at Corinth. What a beautiful picture. And, of course, what you’re learning is this: that if the assembly is like a field or a garden, then Paul expects that the saints are growing—not necessarily growing physically, but you should be growing spiritually. I hope that is the case. And I hope that you can look back and say, “Well, yes, if I look back a year, or if I look back to before COVID—remember that? I wonder if you could look at your own spiritual life and say, ‘Yes, spiritually I have been growing.’

In association with the assembly and all the teaching that we’ve been receiving, you say, ‘Yes, spiritually I have grown. I’ve grown in my appreciation of God’s word. Most importantly, I’ve grown in my appreciation of God’s Son—that’s critical. I am praying. I am reading and learning the word of God. I am contributing to the assembly.’ You should be growing in a spiritual sense. And if we are growing spiritually, hopefully there will be a real fragrance about her—a fragrance of Christ, a sweet smell of Him.

So that’s why Paul describes the local assembly at Corinth as a cultivated field. You’ll notice he says, “I’ve planted, Apollos has watered, but look at verse 7. I may have planted, Apollos may have watered, but he says—well, it’s the end of verse 6—’but God keeps on giving the increase.'” So he says, verse 7, “It’s not the one that plants. I’m not anything. I’m not important. Neither is the one who watereth. Apollos isn’t important, but God is the important person here because He is the one who gives the increase.”

Paul says, “I once and for all planted. Apollos once and for all watered. But God keeps on giving the increase.” I’m very thankful that God keeps on giving the increase. As servants that labor in the assembly, we promote conditions for growth, but it’s God ultimately who gives the increase. It’s the same in your garden, by the way. You might not be a gardener. I certainly am not green-fingered, right? But gardeners promote conditions in their garden for growth, but they can’t make anything grow. You say, who makes it grow? Well, God makes it grow because He’s the Creator, and Christ upholds all things by the word of His power. Christ makes things grow.

You promote the conditions. You remove the stones. You remove the weeds. You aerate the soil and fertilize the soil, but it’s only God who gives the increase. Wonderful truth. It’s the same in the assemblies. We can do all that we can to try and promote conditions for growth, but it’s God ultimately that gives the increase. Could I just encourage you in terms of the preaching of the gospel? You say, “We haven’t seen souls saved for some time.” God gives the increase; that’s God’s responsibility. Do you know that’s a wonderful thing?

Even if you’re a teacher of the word of God, those who teach the scriptures, they don’t often see the tangible results that an evangelist would see through the salvation of souls. I have no idea really whether the teaching this week will have any impact on, or blessing upon your lives. Very little. I’m heading back to the UK. But I just lean upon God because He’s the one who gives the increase. Don’t ever forget that. We are here to promote conditions for growth. We are here to spread the message of the gospel, but ultimately, the one who brings fruit and from the preaching of the gospel and the teaching of the word of God—that is God Himself. Tremendously encouraging, isn’t it?

And Paul will go on to say, just look at this, verse 8. He says, “He that planteth and he that watereth, well, they’re all one in their aim and their objective. But he does say this: Every man shall receive his own reward according to the increase.” No. God gives the increase. Every man shall receive his own reward according to his labor. I’m pleased about that.

Have you ever thought about the great preachers of the past? You say, “Some of those great men, whether it be Charles Spurgeon, or whether it be John Charles Wesley, or whether it be Mr. Dwight L. Moody, these great and mighty preachers of the past, and they saw hundreds, they saw thousands of souls saved under their ministry and gospel preaching.” You say, “God will richly reward them.” God will richly reward them, but not because of the number of souls they saw saved; the increase comes from God. God will richly reward them because of the labor that they expended for His name. Now I say that to encourage you, my brother, my sister, you keep on laboring. You keep on working. You say, “But I don’t see this and I don’t see that.” Leave that with God. You work, you labor, and according to your labor, God will richly reward.

It’s a lovely metaphor—God’s husbandry. Look at the next verse—well, it’s still in verse 9. “We are laborers together under God’s employment. You’re God’s husbandry.” Then he says, “You are God’s builders.” So now we’re not talking about cultivation; we’re not talking about growing. Now, this metaphor of God’s building—we’re thinking about construction. And, of course, we’re thinking about building. So the local assembly now—not a field, not a garden—but the local assembly now is a building.

This building is under construction. It is being reared. And those who belong to the assembly—now, primarily in the context, it is the preachers and the teachers that are building into the fabric of the assembly. But by application, every single believer that belongs to the assembly is building into the fabric of that assembly. You say, I hope it’s a good, solid, firm foundation. Well, it is. It is. The foundation upon which every assembly is laid, built, is the foundation of Christ. He’s the one that was preached—the gospel of the grace of God in relation to our Lord Jesus Christ. He’s the one that was preached.

So says Paul in verse 11, “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” He is the foundation of the assembly at Corinth. Individuals came to faith in Him, they founded their lives, and now the assembly is founded upon that firm foundation—all that Christ has done—all that Christ is. He’s the basis of the assembly. But Paul says, “I’m building.”

So look at verse 10. He says, “According to God’s grace.” Now, this is the grace that God afforded to Paul in giving him the role and responsibility that was his as an apostle. He says, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, I as a wise master builder.”

The idea is that Paul was the principal constructor. Not that he was the architect; he didn’t design the building. God designed the building. The building, of course, is after the pattern of what is divine. Says Paul, “I am the principal constructor of this building, and I am working according to a divine pattern.” And others like Apollos, they have come, and they too have been building into this building. And then he says, “But, verse 10, let every man take heed how he builds thereupon.”

You see, the foundation is Jesus Christ. The substructure is Jesus Christ. And what you build upon that foundation—the superstructure—it must answer to the foundation. Now, you know that’s true, don’t you? You can’t have a foundation that’s too small or too weak for a larger building. The foundation must answer to the size and shape and weight of the building that it supports. Paul says your foundation is Christ. So what you’re building into this local church must answer in terms of character and quality to Him.

So all of our labor and all of our exercise—it’s calculated to bring glory and honor. It should be in line with the character of the Lord Jesus. I wonder if your service in the local assembly is worthy of the person of Jesus Christ. Now, says Paul, look at this verse 12. You know these verses so well. He says, “If any man builds upon this foundation…” Now, you understand, it’s not so much the quantity of the material that matters, it’s the quality of the material.

So he says, “If any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones”—that’s choice quality material. Or, he says, “You can build in wood, hay, stubble”—that’s cheap, substandard material. You saints, you have the privilege of building into the assembly. Now, I’ll give you some of the background. You understand that Corinth as a city is a city. Ancient Corinth had long ago been destroyed by fire. The Romans burnt ancient Corinth to the ground in 146 BC.

See, about a hundred years later, the city of Corinth was rebuilt as a Roman colony. So for a hundred years, the city of Corinth had been absolutely ravaged by fire, and when the Romans set it on fire, it was only the buildings that were in the richer quarters. It was only the buildings that had elements of gold and silver and precious stones—quality materials—that could withstand anything of the fire. The smaller buildings, the less expensive buildings—the wood and the hay buildings—were utterly destroyed. And for a hundred years, Corinth was in the dark.

Now, all of that was in the recent history of the city, and Paul is writing to the assembly, and he’s saying, “Now listen, what are you building into the assembly? Because it’s only what is quality that will last when the testing fire of the judgment seat comes upon your work.” Now, here’s something of the context. Paul, in the context of 1 Corinthians 1, 2, and 3, is speaking about two kinds of Christians. He speaks about carnal men, and he speaks about spiritual men.

Carnal Christians—they’re Christians, and sadly a lot of folks at Corinth were carnal. These were individuals that were believers in the Lord Jesus, but they were energized by—they were guided by the flesh. What they did was for themselves. What they did was so that they would look good in the sight of others. They were carnal Christians, given really to the world, given to the flesh, given to themselves. Paul says, “You know what they’ll be building into the assembly, don’t you? Wood and hay and stubble.”

Oh, they’re there. They might even be busy. They might be active. They might be helping in the assembly. But because what they do is calculated to bring honor to themselves, Paul says, “When it’s tested at the fire of the judgment seat, it will disappear into nothing. They’ll be saved; they can’t lose their salvation. But the reward that might have been theirs will have gone up in smoke. They will suffer loss.”

You say, “What about the gold, the silver, the precious stones?” Well, these are the individuals that were spiritual in character—not a carnal Christian driven by the flesh, but a spiritual believer who is full of the Spirit of God. He’s in the assembly too, and he’s there, and he or she, they’re working away in the assembly, and maybe they’re unseen, unheralded, unheard. But what they’re seeking to do in the assembly is driven and energized by the Spirit of God. They just want to bring glory and honor to Christ. They’re not interested in themselves.

Think of the gold—glory, the deity of Christ—that’s what gold speaks of in Scripture. Think of the silver—that’s a material which is associated with redemption, the work of Christ. Precious stones—the varied glories and the richness of the character of Christ. These individuals just want to honor the person of Christ. They want to honor His glory, honor His deity, honor His work, honor His character. Everything they do is for Him. They’re driven by the Spirit. Paul says they’re building into the assembly.

And when that work is tested at the judgment seat, it will last, and they will be rewarded. Could I just ask you good folks here? If you don’t belong to the local assembly, then Christ can’t reward you in a day to come for your work in the assembly because you don’t belong to it. If you do belong to the assembly, think about your motivation for everything you do. This old heart in here is wicked, isn’t it? I think about my motivation this week. Why am I here? Why have I sacrificed what I have to be here?

Is it because I want you lovely folks in Midland Park to look at the preacher from England and say, “Isn’t he great? Let’s have him back as often as we can”? Or am I here because I just want to bring some honor to the person of Christ by speaking well of Him and directing the attention of the saints to His assembly? I hope it’s the latter. I hope it’s not the former. If it’s the former, it’ll be worth nothing at the judgment seat. If it’s the latter, it’s worth much.

Now you think about it, my brother, my sister, everything you do—whether it’s cleaning the hall, whether it’s setting up the various aspects of the meeting, whether it’s giving out hymn books, whether it is your ministry to other saints, whether it’s associated with the production and provision of food—whatever your work is in the assembly, what’s your motivation for doing? Not of a flesh boot. It must be driven by the glory and honor of Christ. I’m doing it for Him. And if I am doing it for Him, nothing will be too hard. Nothing will be too much because it’s all for Him.

Paul does have in mind here, doesn’t he, the judgment seat of Christ. You understand, don’t you, that every single believer will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Paul speaks about that on three different occasions, and on the three different occasions, he tells you that there are different aspects of our life that will be reviewed and rewarded at that judgment seat. Nothing to do with salvation. Nothing to do with sin. Your sins are forgiven; you’re saved eternally.

This individual here who’s carnal, he is saved, even though he’s passed through the judgment of the fire. That’s just a metaphor; it’s a symbol for Christ reviewing the work of this believer. He’s not literally passing through fire, but Christ is casting judgment on his work; his sins are forgiven. He’s saved even though the work that he did didn’t amount to much in the view of the Lord Jesus. But, my friend, you are going to stand before the person of Christ.

Three things will be reviewed: the actions that you have performed in your body, they will be reviewed (1 Corinthians 5), your architecture—what you build into the local assembly—will be reviewed (1 Corinthians 3), and finally, your attitude to your brethren will be reviewed. How do you get on with them? Your relationships with other Christians. Now, you’ll need to read that in Romans 14. All of that is going to be reviewed at the judgment seat.

How much and of what quality of labor have I put into the assembly? How have I lived my life, the deeds that I’ve committed? And how did I get on with my brethren? Three things that are going to be raised at the judgment seat. Right, you’ve got the idea of these metaphors, haven’t you?

So there is God’s husbandry, and there is God’s building. Right, two others, very briefly. Just turn over the pages in 1 Corinthians 12. We could have spoken about the temple and about the purity and the holiness of the assembly, but I think that will come up in the next couple of days. Turn to 1 Corinthians 12. I want to talk to you about the body of Christ.

Now, if that field is all about cultivation and growing, and the building is all about construction and building, then the body of Christ is all about a community—a local assembly which is a community. And now we are not so much growing and building, but we’re all contributing. I think this is my favorite metaphor. Is that allowed? I don’t know. But look at 1 Corinthians 12. Look at verse 12. Paul says, “For as the body is one.” Now listen, he’s speaking about a human body—a human body here.

So you think about your own human body. He says, “As the human body that you have is one body—you haven’t got two bodies or three, right? You’ve got one, and you’re stuck with it for eternity. Sorry if you don’t like it. But you’ve got it. You say, ‘I’m getting a new body.’ Wrong! You’re getting a changed body. That’s 1 Corinthians 15. It won’t be altogether new; it’ll be changed. It will be very different. So if you don’t like it, well, you have to take that up with the Lord, right?

You have one body, and this body, verse 12, has many members, many parts. Meaning my body has feet, my body has elbows, hands, a single head, two eyes, two ears. Right? My body is one body. But it’s got lots of different parts. He’s talking about the human body. And all the members of that one body, there are many of them. But there’s only one body. He says, “So also is the Christ.”

Now he’s talking about the great assembly in that verse—the Christ—Christ the head in heaven, the church which is His body on earth. He says, “It’s very similar. It’s one unique body, and yet there are lots of different parts to it.” Now what he’s going to do in verse 13 is tell you how that came to be the case. How was the church formed? The church, which is the body of Christ, on the day of Pentecost, he talks about baptism in the Spirit—that’s a whole other meeting. But that’s how the church was formed on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

But then verse 14, he says, “Now you know this figure of a body.” He says, “I’m going to take it now, and I’m going to apply it to you saints in Corinth.” He says, “Let me talk to you about the metaphor of the body of Christ.” Now, I do love this—for the body is not one member, but it is many. So, our human body is not just one part; it is many parts.

And so, he goes on to say, “Well, here are some of the parts.” Here’s a foot. And if the foot says, “Well, I’m not the hand, and I would quite like to be the hand, because, well, hands are much easier to be seen and more dexterous than I am. And I smell quite a lot, and there are always socks put on me, and no one can see me.” If the foot shall say, “Because I’m not the hand, I’m therefore not part of the body,” Paul says, “What a ridiculous thing to say. Even though the foot would love to be the hand, because it’s not the hand, it’s still part of the body. It can’t remove itself from the body.”

Now you say, “Mr. Preacher from England, you’ve lost all of your marbles.” No, this is inspired. What’s Paul talking about? Well, he’s saying, “Now come on, this local assembly at Corinth, listen, there are many of you; look at the diversity; and look at the diversity we’ve got tonight. I know there’s more than one assembly represented, but look at this diversity,” he says, “it’s remarkable. Some of you are male; some of you are female; some of you are older; some of you are middle-aged; some of you are younger; some of you come from all different kinds of countries around the world; you have different ethnic backgrounds; you maybe speak different languages.”

He says, “The diversity is incredible. Many members. But guess what? One body.” Now that’s the local assembly. You see? Diverse. But one company—only God can do that. There’s diversity, but there’s unity in diversity because you all belong to one company. That’s the wisdom of God. I’m thinking now about the great assembly rather than the local assembly. But Ephesians 3 says God’s wisdom is displayed in this: that He was able to take Jew and Gentile—never the twain shall meet, you use that phrase here—never will Jew and Gentile ever meet. They’re as far apart as they could possibly be.

But you know, in the New Testament assembly, saved by the grace of God, they were sitting down with one another—Jew and Gentile! They were sitting down with one another at the Lord’s Supper. And they were sharing a loaf and sharing a cup and saying, “We are in fellowship with one another.” Only God can do that. Now there’s an expression of that in the local assembly. He says, “You are like then a body, different parts, and God wants you to be different.”

Different roles, and God has given you different roles. There’s diversity. But he says there is a unity because you’re all bound together in one local assembly for the glory and the honor of God. Now, what about this case in verse 15? Because here is—now forgive me for saying this—Paul is illustrating the saints, right? He’s saying, “There’s a saint in the assembly at Corinth that’s like a foot.” And this saint probably is saying this: “Oh, here I am. Look, nobody notices me. Look, I’m right down here at the bottom. Maybe you’re thinking like this: I’m right down here at the bottom of the body. Nobody can see me because feet aren’t nice to look at. You always put socks and shoes on feet. Here I am down at the body, just bearing the weight of the whole body, and nobody cares about me.”

And the foot is looking up to the hand and saying, “I wish I was a hand.” You see, hands are seen. Hands aren’t often covered unless it’s really cold. And just look at how dexterous they are. And look at how the preacher is able to—well, look at how he’s able to paint pictures with his hands. I wish I was a hand. Maybe you feel like that in the assembly. You say, “Nobody cares about me. Nobody sees me. Nobody encourages me. Here I am bearing this weight and bearing that problem, and I wish I was someone else, or I wish I could do that work or be engaged in that service.”

So because I can’t, I’m not part of the body anymore. Paul says, “What a silly thing to say.” The foot is part of the body, whether it likes it or not. The point is this, my brother, my sister: God has given you a role in the assembly. God has given you a responsibility in this assembly. And even though you might not love it or like it, and even though you might feel like you have an inferiority complex, that does not mean that you cannot serve in the assembly. You are vital to this assembly.

Don’t sit in a huff, will you? Don’t stay away for weeks on end. Don’t say nobody cares about me. You belong to the body, and you’ve been given a place by God, and it’s a great responsibility, whatever it is that you’ve been given. You cannot absolve yourself of that responsibility. You are needed, and you are vital. And that’s what Paul will go on to say. Look at verse 18: “He says God has set the members, every one of them in the body as it hath pleased Him.”

So, if you belong to the fellowship of an assembly, God has given you a place in that assembly, and you’re vital to it. You are vital. Now here’s the thing: if I cut off my hand, I could survive. But I wouldn’t be able to function as effectively as I might if I had two hands. You could cut off parts of my body; I would live, but I just wouldn’t be able to behave as effectively as if I had all my members. Do you see the point? You’re not absolved of responsibility; you’re needed.

And number two, you’re actually vital. My brother, my sister, don’t have an inferiority complex. You are vital to the proper development. You are vital to the effectiveness of this local assembly. It needs you. It needs your presence; it needs your work; it needs your labor; it needs your prayers—you are needed. And if you’re not here and you’re not putting the labor in, the assembly will survive, but it won’t be as effective as if you were here. Isn’t it a lovely metaphor?

And I’ve been going on about an inferiority complex. Well, later on in the verses, maybe some of you feel more like this. Look at verse 21. This is not an inferiority complex; this is a superiority complex. Look at verse 21: “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I don’t need you.” Ever come across believers like that? They think they are the bee’s knees. I don’t know if you say that here. But there are some believers in assembly fellowship that just think, “The more of me there was in this assembly, the better. Me, me, me, and more of me! If only the assembly was me, what a wonderful assembly it would be!”

Right? No such thing as a superiority complex. Don’t think that the assembly can’t do without you. Oh, you’re vital, but so is everyone else. Don’t think that you’re more important than any other member just because you have a greater gift—and you may! Just because you have a more public role or responsibility—and you may! Don’t think you’re more important. Paul will actually go on to say it is the hidden members; it’s the members that appear weaker that actually are the vital ones.

Oh, isn’t that true with the human body? You see, it’s my heart. You can’t see it. It’s very weak. It has to be protected by a ribcage. But I tell you this: I couldn’t do without it. It’s the hidden members; it’s the almost more feeble members which are absolutely vital. So I want to encourage you good folks here: if you belong to the assembly, just how important every single member is.

Now, I’ll close with this. Well, 9 o’clock, isn’t it? Let me just show you one more. Turn to the last book in the Bible, the book of the Revelation, and this is chapter 1. I won’t say all I wanted to say about this, but we’ve talked about God’s husbandry—that’s cultivation and growth; God’s building—that’s construction, building. The body of Christ—that’s a community and contribution. In Revelation 1, local assemblies are viewed as golden lampstands. The idea here is of character. They are golden lampstands, and it’s the idea of witnessing.

So not so much growing or building or contributing, but witnessing. Look at what John says or even what it is—John. Verse 12 of chapter 1. John says, “I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven,—it’s not candlesticks; it’s lampstands—one like unto the Son of Man.” Now that, of course, is the Lord Jesus. You say, “Why is He standing in the middle of seven golden lampstands?” Well, look down to verse 20, the last part of the verse: “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches.”

So these seven churches that John is about to write to, and the Lord has something to say to each of these local assemblies that were scattered through Asia Minor, they are portrayed under the metaphor of a golden lampstand. What a thought! Well, there are many thoughts. But let me just say a couple, and we’re done. They’re not candlesticks. The proper translation of the word is a lampstand. That is, here is a pedestal; it’s a golden pedestal.

And this pedestal was representing each of those local churches—that’s why there were seven. Hanging from that pedestal or sitting upon it was a reservoir of oil. A wick would have been placed into the oil. The oil was the fuel to keep the flame burning. The local assembly was not the lamp; the local assembly is not the oil; the local assembly is the stand. Now, why is it not a candlestick? Because candlesticks, generally speaking, they’re made of wax, and the fuel for the flame or the light is that wax. Candlesticks are self-consuming.

After a few minutes or a couple of hours, the wax disappears, and it melts away. That would be a very poor picture of a local assembly. Sad to say, many local assemblies are like candlesticks. You say, “What do you mean?” They’re self-consuming! Many assemblies in the south of England since Covid are self-destructive and self-consuming. A brother said something to another brother; a sister has said something to another sister; the whole place implodes, destroys itself like a candlestick. What a shame upon us! What a disappointment! Thank God these are not candlesticks; they are lampstands!

Now in the Revelation, a lampstand pictures witness and testament. Now, just grasp this, right? And I’m finished. But grasp this: you say, “Who or what is the lamp?” Well, there’s only one lamp in the book of the Revelation, and the only lamp in the book of the Revelation is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 22 says that in that great, eternal, heavenly, holy Jerusalem, the Lamb is the lamp thereof.

So there’s only one person in the book of the Revelation that is the lamp—that is the light—it’s Christ. You say, “So what of these churches? They are the lampstand.” Those churches are the pedestals upon which the lamp sits. Those churches are the pedestals that lift up for everyone to see the light of the lamp. So what’s the responsibility of the local assembly—whether it’s Ephesus, or Smyrna, or Pergamos, or Thyatira? You say, they’re all lampstands. What’s their responsibility? To lift up, to exalt, to honor the person of Jesus Christ. We’re here to witness to Him. That’s it.

You’ve got that truth, haven’t you? Not about me; it’s all about Him. You say these lampstands are golden. They’re golden because they’re valuable. These local churches are valuable to God. You say, “Even Smyrna? Smyrna was just such a small assembly. Smyrna was being crushed by persecution.” You say, “Surely God doesn’t care much for Smyrna.” Golden lampstand!

So is the assembly here valuable and precious to God. There’s another truth, isn’t there? Do you remember that in the Old Testament—now, because I close my Bible that doesn’t mean you stop listening, right? If there’s one criticism of the saints at Midland Park, this is what it is: When I shut my Bible, you switch off! Don’t switch off! Back in the Old Testament, in the tabernacle and in the temple, there was a lampstand. You say, “Yeah, I know all about that lampstand. That lampstand represented Israel as a nation in testimony and witness for God.”

Here’s the thing: it was one lampstand, and it had seven branches—three on one side, three on the other side, and one straight up through the middle—the menorah. You say, “Hmm.” Come to the New Testament, seven assemblies. You say now, “Hang on! Why have we got seven different lampstands?” And the Lord is in the midst of them. So it’s almost as if there are seven lampstands around the Lord, and the Lord is just walking in the middle of them, in the midst of them.

You say, “This would be a wonderful opportunity just to have one lampstand, a menorah, you know, like Israel in the Old Testament. And wouldn’t that be a lovely way of displaying that these seven assemblies were all part of one organization, one lampstand?” That’s exactly the point! They are not.

These churches are separate; these churches are distinct; these churches are autonomous. You’ve heard that word, haven’t you? They don’t belong to a federation; they don’t belong to an umbrella organization. They’re very similar; they’re in fellowship with one another. Christ is in the midst of everyone, and He’s just as close to each one of those assemblies, but they are separate and distinct. Now, that again is the teaching of the New Testament.

Each local assembly is accountable to Christ and Christ alone, free from any kind of external authority, control, or organization apart from the person of the Lord Jesus. No federation of assemblies, but wonderful fellowship between them. And that’s why I can come from Bracknell Gospel Hall in Berkshire, England, knowing that we believe the same kind of truth. I have no jurisdiction here, although I’m teaching you. You have no jurisdiction in my assembly.

They are autonomous, and they are separate and distinct, but we have lovely fellowship together because we trust the same Savior and we believe the same truth. Now you go and follow some of those other metaphors through! What wonderful illustrations of local assembly truth. God will bless His word to us. Let’s pray.

Spanish

Me alegro de volver a verlos a todos esta noche. Muchas gracias por venir. Aprecio no sólo su presencia aquí, sino su longevidad y su resistencia. Ya he tenido suficiente de mí. No sé ustedes. Pero el Señor nos ha ayudado y bendecido, y he disfrutado mucho de estos días con vosotros. No he terminado todavía, por cierto. Suena como un discurso de despedida, ¿no? Pero he disfrutado mucho del tiempo que he pasado con vosotros. Ha sido un verdadero placer estar aquí, y confiamos en que el Señor bendecirá Su palabra para nosotros.

Entonces, estamos terminando esta noche nuestros estudios y nuestros pensamientos sobre la verdad de la asamblea local. La reunión final de esta noche, la hemos llamado Las Metáforas de la Asamblea. Vamos a ver algunas de las imágenes que Pablo, especialmente, pero también otros, han utilizado para describir la verdad, ilustrando la verdad realmente en asociación con la Asamblea. Es una hermosa manera de cerrar esta serie sobre la iglesia local.

Como hemos estado pensando, ahora mañana y el domingo, si Dios quiere, pensaremos en términos un poco más prácticos. Vamos a entrar en 1 Tesalonicenses y 2 Tesalonicenses. Vamos a hablar del regreso de Cristo. Así que si tienen la oportunidad, y estoy seguro de que la tienen, lean 1 Tesalonicenses 4 y 5 antes de la reunión de mañana por la noche, y hablaremos de cómo debemos vivir a la luz del pronto regreso del Señor Jesús, a la luz del rapto. Luego, el domingo, si puedes leer 2 Tesalonicenses, que no te llevará mucho tiempo, los capítulos 1, 2 y 3, hablaremos de cómo debemos vivir a la luz de la revelación del Señor Jesús.

Estoy seguro de que sabes la diferencia: hay una Segunda Venida, pero hay dos aspectos en esa Segunda Venida: el rapto y luego la revelación. El Señor viene al aire y entonces por lo menos siete años después, El viene a la tierra. Así que vamos a hablar de la profecía, y vamos a hablar de cómo debemos vivir a la luz del pronto regreso del Señor Jesús. Así que eso es el sábado por la noche y el domingo, en la voluntad del Señor.

Bien, esta noche, las metáforas de la asamblea local. Hay muchas, muchas de ellas. Tal vez intente terminar la reunión temprano esta noche. Sabes, has sufrido mucho, ¿no es así, durante esta semana? Probablemente te he quitado 40 o 50 minutos más de lo que debería. Así que tal vez te devuelva uno o dos minutos esta noche. Veremos cómo nos va, y tal vez visitemos -tengo en mente visitar- cuatro de estas metáforas, y creo que terminaremos a tiempo.

Bien, 1 Corintios capítulo 3. Ahora, recuerden, esta es una de esas epístolas que trata especialmente con la verdad de la Iglesia de Dios-la verdad de la asamblea local. Pablo usa, de hecho, usa tres metáforas en este tercer capítulo. Sólo voy a hablar de dos de ellas, pero hay tres aquí. Así que, 1 Corintios capítulo 3, verso 5, él dice, “¿Quién, pues, es Pablo, y quién es Apolos, sino ministros por los cuales creísteis, como el Señor lo dio a cada uno?” Pablo dice, “Yo he plantado,” en el sentido de que él fue el primero en venir a Corinto y predicar el evangelio, y la gente se salvó por causa de la predicación. Y entonces Apolos vino después de eso, y él regó a esos santos con la enseñanza de la palabra de Dios y la predicación adicional del evangelio. Así que, él dice, “Yo he plantado, Apolos ha regado, pero es Dios quien dio, sigue dando el incremento.”

Así que, ni el que planta, ni el que riega, sino Dios es el que da el crecimiento. Ahora bien, el que planta y el que riega son uno; es decir, son uno en el fin, son uno en el objetivo, y cada uno recibirá su recompensa conforme a su labor. Porque somos obreros juntamente con Dios, o bajo el empleo de Dios. Ahora, escuchen estas dos metáforas. Él está hablando de la iglesia local en Corinto. El dice, “Ustedes son la labranza de Dios. Ustedes son el campo cultivado o el jardín cultivado de Dios”. Y luego dice: “Ustedes son el edificio de Dios”.

Entonces, hay dos metáforas para describir la asamblea local: un jardín o un campo, y un edificio. Ahora, él continúa explicando más esa metáfora, el edificio que es. Así, versículo 10: “Conforme a la gracia de Dios que me ha sido dada, como a sabio maestro de obras, he puesto el fundamento, y otro edifica sobre él. Mas cada uno mire cómo sobreedifica. Porque nadie puede poner otro fundamento que el que está puesto, el cual es Jesucristo.”

Ahora, si alguno edificare sobre este fundamento oro, plata, piedras preciosas, o madera, heno y hojarasca, la obra de cada uno se hará manifiesta; porque el día la declarará. Ahora, él está pensando en el día de revisión y recompensa. El está pensando en el tribunal de Cristo porque será revelado por fuego. Es decir, la obra de cada hombre será revelada. El fuego probará la obra de cada hombre de qué clase es. Si permaneciere la obra de alguno que sobre ella edificó, recibirá recompensa. Eso, por supuesto, es el oro, la plata, las piedras preciosas. Si la obra de alguno se quemare, madera, heno, hojarasca… Él sufrirá pérdida. Pero él mismo se salvará, aunque sea a través del fuego.

Así que estamos pensando en los creyentes aquí, pero es posible que los creyentes sufran pérdida en cuanto a la recompensa por el carácter y el calibre del trabajo que ponen en la asamblea. Así que tienes la labranza de Dios, Su campo o jardín cultivado. Luego tienes el edificio de Dios, y estamos construyendo sobre el fundamento.

Ahora, no voy a hablar de esta metáfora en particular esta noche, pero está aquí. Verso 16, “¿No sabéis que sois templo de Dios?” Creo que esta es ahora una metáfora separada. Se que hemos estado pensando en un edificio, pero ahora el esta hablando de un templo. La idea aquí, por supuesto, es santidad, pureza, y santidad-la presencia de Dios. El dice, “Ustedes son, es la asamblea otra vez, ustedes son el templo de Dios”. Y el Espíritu de Dios mora en vosotros. Eso no es solo individualmente; eso es corporativamente, colectivamente. Si alguno destruyere el templo de Dios, Dios le destruirá. Porque el templo de Dios es santo, el cual sois vosotros.

Ahora, mantengan su Biblia abierta porque vamos a leer más escrituras a su debido tiempo, pero eso será suficiente por ahora. No voy a hablar de todas las metáforas. Creo que así como he estado vagando por las escrituras y buscando estas metáforas que describen las asambleas locales, he encontrado-aquí hay más tarea para ti-he encontrado por lo menos diez metáforas diferentes, pequeños cuadros que describen para nosotros la asamblea local.

Ahora, hay otras metáforas también, y algunas de estas metáforas se usan tanto de la gran asamblea como de la asamblea local. Piensen, por ejemplo, en el cuerpo de Cristo. Recuerdan que comenzamos diciendo que la gran asamblea, esa iglesia de la dispensación, desde Pentecostés hasta el rapto, cada creyente-esa gran asamblea se describe en Efesios y Colosenses como el cuerpo de Cristo-la iglesia que es el cuerpo de Cristo. Cristo es la cabeza en el cielo, la cabeza exaltada. El cuerpo es la iglesia en la tierra, el cuerpo de Cristo.

Sin embargo, dentro de un momento, cuando pasemos a 1 Corintios 12, veremos que Pablo utiliza exactamente la misma metáfora, no para describir la gran asamblea, sino la misma metáfora para describir la asamblea local. Y hay algunas diferencias, porque la cabeza esta vez no es Cristo en relación con la asamblea local. De hecho, los santos que pertenecen a la asamblea de Corinto formaban parte de la cabeza, porque él habla del pie de la cabeza. Y alguien en la asamblea -perdón si esto es desmoralizante para algunos de ustedes- pero algunos en la asamblea son como un pie que pertenece al cuerpo. El habla de la mano, y habla del ojo, que es parte de la cabeza. Está diciendo que hay miembros en la asamblea de Corinto que son como un pie, como una mano y como un ojo. Así que es la misma metáfora, pero se utiliza de una manera ligeramente diferente en cuanto a si Pablo se refiere a la gran asamblea o si se refiere a la asamblea local.

Tú dices, bueno, ¿por qué Pablo usa la misma metáfora a veces tanto de la gran asamblea como de la asamblea local? Por esta razón: aunque son -y quiero volver a enfatizar esto justo al final de estas reuniones y esta serie sobre la asamblea- aunque están separadas y son distintas, hay un sentido en el que son análogas. ¿Qué significa eso? Bueno, son comparables en ciertos aspectos. Y hay que recordarlo. Pero esta noche estamos hablando de la asamblea local.

Y estamos pensando en algunas metáforas que se usan en relación con la iglesia local. Ahora, escuchen algunas de ellas: La labranza de Dios, el constructor de Dios, el templo de Dios. 1 Timoteo 3 habla de la casa de Dios. Más adelante, leeremos en 1 Corintios 12, el cuerpo de Cristo. En 2 Corintios 3-no les voy a dar más (bueno, en realidad estoy justo al final de la reunión)-2 Corintios 3 Pablo describe a la iglesia de Corinto como una epístola, una carta que pertenece a Cristo. ¿No son preciosas metáforas?

Ahora, por cierto, estoy tratando de enfatizar algo. ¿Os habéis fijado? Templo de Dios, campo cultivado que pertenece a Dios, edificio que es de Dios, hogar que pertenece a Dios, cuerpo de Cristo, epístola de Cristo. ¿Qué estás aprendiendo? Estás aprendiendo precisamente esto: que la asamblea local pertenece a Dios, y pertenece a Cristo. Eso es lo que le da tanta dignidad. Quiero recordároslo. Espero que améis la asamblea. Y espero que, como resultado de estas reuniones de esta semana, hayan profundizado en su aprecio por la iglesia local. Pero permítanme recordarles esto: no les pertenece. Existe para la gloria divina.

Pertenece a Dios, y pertenece a Cristo. Es nuestra responsabilidad tratar de traer gloria y honor a Dios y a Cristo por todas las cosas que hacemos y todas las cosas que decimos. Así que, y puede que pienses que esto es un poco extraño, por favor entiende esto: principalmente esta asamblea local no es para ti. Ahora, obtenemos muchas bendiciones y beneficios, no es así, de pertenecer a una asamblea local, pero principalmente no es para ti y no es para mí. Es para traer gloria y honor a Dios. Recordémoslo.

Sabes, tristemente, a veces en el Reino Unido, y en las iglesias locales en el Reino Unido, hay algunas iglesias locales muy grandes, pero muchas asambleas locales estarían en algún lugar de la región-dependiendo de donde estés-pero muchas asambleas locales en el Reino Unido estarían tal vez en sus decenas o en sus veintes, en términos del número de santos que pertenecen a una asamblea. Si se llega a los treinta y cuarenta y en algún lugar de los cientos, entonces eso es una asamblea muy saludable en cuanto a los números se refiere. Pero cuando se llega a una asamblea de 10 o 15, muy a menudo se encuentra que los santos que están en comunión allí son mucho mayores. Tal vez hay una pareja joven, y tienen algunos hijos jóvenes, y van a esa asamblea por unos meses o un par de años o algo así, no pasará mucho tiempo-y ha habido muchas historias como esta-no pasará mucho tiempo antes de que esa familia decida que esa asamblea no es para ellos.

Pienso en un ejemplo concreto. Abandonaron la asamblea, y tuve una conversación con ellos sobre por qué se habían alejado de esa asamblea, que era mucho más grande y tenía mucha más gente, y jóvenes, etcétera. Sí, estaban abandonando algunos de los principios de la asamblea local. Y uno les dice: bueno, ¿por qué han abandonado esa pequeña asamblea que podría haber apreciado y apreciaba su presencia y su ayuda? Y ellos decían algo así: “Bueno, estaba bien, pero no había mucha gente allí”.

Y eran mucho mayores. Y en esa asamblea no había realmente nada para nosotros ni para nuestros hijos. Nos preocupaba que nuestros hijos no tuvieran otros niños con quienes jugar. Nos preocupaba que, bueno, no fuera suficiente para ellos. Así que nos los llevamos a otro sitio donde hubiera más gente joven, para que pudieran disfrutar de su compañía. Simplemente no era para nosotros. Pero la asamblea local nunca ha sido para nosotros. La asamblea local no es para nuestros hijos; es para Dios y Su gloria y Dios y Su honor. Y sabes, pudo haber sido difícil por algunos años para esa familia más joven estar en una pequeña comunión compuesta principalmente de personas mayores, pero cuánto deleite pudieron haber traído al corazón de Dios sólo por trabajar en esa asamblea para Su gloria y Su honra.

Creo que los niños habrían aprendido mucho. Y no es triste que la gente parece pertenecer a una asamblea local -espero que no seas tú- la gente parece pertenecer a una asamblea local porque les conviene, porque les gusta, porque viven cerca, porque hay algo que les atrae. Pero tan pronto como las circunstancias cambian, cualquier convicción o parte de una convicción que tenían se va por la ventana, y se irán a cualquier parte, y tirarán por la borda las convicciones que pudieran haber escuchado sólo por un sentido de conveniencia.

Mi hermano, mi hermana, he estado tratando de enseñarles que la asamblea local aquí está funcionando lo más cerca posible a la enseñanza de la palabra de Dios. Y queremos pertenecer a una iglesia local que se ajuste al orden divino y al patrón divino. Eso es lo que importa. Eso es lo importante. Y por eso estamos aquí. Estamos convencidos -debemos estarlo- de que este es el lugar donde Dios quiere que estemos. Este es el lugar que está de acuerdo con Su mente y voluntad. Y venga lo que venga, y por pequeños que sean los números que disminuyan, este lugar honra a Dios, y la asamblea es preciosa para Él, y yo estaré aquí en las buenas y en las malas.

Bien, aquí tienes. Las metáforas pertenecen a Dios y a Cristo. Pensemos en algunas de ellas. Aquí está la primera. Versículo 9 del capítulo 3, Pablo habla de la asamblea en Corinto como la labranza de Dios. Así que el pensamiento aquí es la idea de cultivar o la idea de crecer. ¿No es una manera encantadora de describir una asamblea local? Dice en el versículo 9: “Trabajamos juntos en la obra de Dios”. Está pensando particularmente en sí mismo y en Apolos. Pablo vino por primera vez a Corinto; predicó el evangelio. Las almas se salvaron, se puso el fundamento, que es Jesucristo. La asamblea comenzó a crecer. Apolos llegó algún tiempo después. Enseñó la palabra de Dios. También predicó el evangelio. El dice: “Bueno, yo, Pablo, y Apolos, mi amigo, mi colega, somos obreros juntos por la misma causa, por el mismo propósito”. El dice, “Estamos bajo el empleo de Dios-trabajadores para El.”

Y dice: “Así eres tú”. El dice, “Hemos estado sembrando la semilla, sembrando la semilla del evangelio, y ha caído en buena tierra. Ustedes han sido salvos, y ahora eso ha estado brotando en fruto. Hay crecimiento en este campo y en este jardín. Y Apolos ha venido, y Apolos ha estado echando agua sobre la semilla. Y estas plantas-eso eres tú, por cierto-estas plantas han estado brotando.”

Ahora él dice, “Esta asamblea en Corinto-míralos a todos. Mírense ustedes. Ustedes son un campo hermoso y ordenado. Ustedes son un hermoso jardín fragante”. Así es la asamblea local en Corinto. Qué cuadro tan hermoso. Y, por supuesto, lo que estás aprendiendo es esto: que si la asamblea es como un campo o un jardín, entonces Pablo espera que los santos estén creciendo-no necesariamente creciendo físicamente, sino que deberían estar creciendo espiritualmente. Espero que así sea. Y espero que usted pueda mirar hacia atrás y decir: “Bueno, sí, si miro hacia atrás un año, o si miro hacia atrás a antes de COVID-¿recuerda eso? Me pregunto si podrías mirar tu propia vida espiritual y decir: “Sí, espiritualmente he estado creciendo”.

En asociación con la asamblea y toda la enseñanza que hemos estado recibiendo, dices, ‘Sí, espiritualmente he crecido. He crecido en mi apreciación de la palabra de Dios. Lo mas importante, he crecido en mi apreciacion del Hijo de Dios-eso es critico. Estoy orando. Leo y aprendo la Palabra de Dios. Estoy contribuyendo a la asamblea”. Debes estar creciendo en un sentido espiritual. Y si estamos creciendo espiritualmente, es de esperar que habrá una fragancia real sobre ella-una fragancia de Cristo, un dulce olor de Él.

Por eso Pablo describe la asamblea local en Corinto como un campo cultivado. Notarás que dice: “Yo he plantado, Apolos ha regado, pero mira el versículo 7. Yo habré plantado, Apolos habrá regado, pero él dice -bueno, es el final del versículo 6- ‘pero Dios sigue dando el incremento'”. Así que él dice, verso 7, “No es el que planta. Yo no soy nada. Yo no soy importante. Tampoco el que riega. Apolos no es importante, pero Dios es la persona importante aquí porque Él es el que da el incremento.”

Pablo dice: “Yo planté de una vez por todas. Apolos regó de una vez por todas. Pero Dios sigue dando el crecimiento”. Estoy muy agradecido porque Dios sigue dando el incremento. Como siervos que trabajan en la asamblea, promovemos las condiciones para el crecimiento, pero es Dios en última instancia quien da el incremento. Por cierto, lo mismo sucede en tu jardín. Puede que no seas jardinero. Yo, desde luego, no tengo dedos verdes, ¿verdad? Pero los jardineros promueven las condiciones en su jardín para el crecimiento, pero no pueden hacer que nada crezca. Tú dirás, ¿quién lo hace crecer? Bueno, Dios lo hace crecer porque Él es el Creador, y Cristo sostiene todas las cosas por la palabra de Su poder. Cristo hace que las cosas crezcan.

Promueve las condiciones. Quita las piedras. Quita las malas hierbas. Tú aireas la tierra y la fertilizas, pero es sólo Dios quien da el crecimiento. Maravillosa verdad. Es lo mismo en las asambleas. Podemos hacer todo lo que podemos para tratar de promover las condiciones para el crecimiento, pero es Dios en última instancia, que da el aumento. ¿Podría animarles en cuanto a la predicación del evangelio? Usted dice: “Hace tiempo que no vemos almas salvadas”. Dios da el incremento; esa es la responsabilidad de Dios. ¿Sabes que es una cosa maravillosa?

Aunque seas un maestro de la palabra de Dios, los que enseñan las escrituras, no suelen ver los resultados tangibles que vería un evangelista a través de la salvación de almas. Realmente no tengo idea si la enseñanza de esta semana tendrá algún impacto o bendición en sus vidas. Muy poco. Estoy regresando al Reino Unido. Pero solo me apoyo en Dios porque El es quien da el incremento. Nunca lo olviden. Estamos aquí para promover las condiciones para el crecimiento. Estamos aquí para difundir el mensaje del Evangelio, pero en última instancia, el que da fruto y de la predicación del Evangelio y la enseñanza de la palabra de Dios – que es Dios mismo. Tremendamente alentador, ¿verdad?

Y Pablo continuará diciendo, sólo miren esto, versículo 8. El dice, “El que planta y el que riega, bueno, todos son uno en su meta y su objetivo. Pero el dice esto: Cada uno recibirá su recompensa de acuerdo al crecimiento”. No. Dios da el crecimiento. Cada uno recibirá su recompensa según su trabajo. Eso me complace.

¿Has pensado alguna vez en los grandes predicadores del pasado? Tú dices, “Algunos de esos grandes hombres, ya sea Charles Spurgeon, o ya sea John Charles Wesley, o ya sea el Sr. Dwight L. Moody, estos grandes y poderosos predicadores del pasado, y ellos vieron cientos, ellos vieron miles de almas salvadas bajo su ministerio y predicación del evangelio.” Tú dices: “Dios los recompensará ricamente”. Dios los recompensará ricamente, pero no por el número de almas que vieron salvadas; el aumento viene de Dios. Dios los recompensará ricamente debido a la labor que ellos gastaron por Su nombre. Ahora digo eso para animarte, mi hermano, mi hermana, sigue trabajando. Sigue trabajando. Dices: “Pero no veo esto y no veo aquello”. Deja eso con Dios. Tú trabajas, tú laboras, y de acuerdo a tu labor, Dios recompensará ricamente.

Es una hermosa metáfora: la labranza de Dios. Mira el siguiente versículo, bueno, todavía está en el versículo 9. “Somos trabajadores juntos bajo el empleo de Dios. Ustedes son la labranza de Dios”. Luego dice: “Ustedes son los constructores de Dios”. Así que ahora no estamos hablando de cultivar; no estamos hablando de crecer. Ahora, esta metáfora del edificio de Dios-estamos pensando en la construcción. Y, por supuesto, estamos pensando en construir. Así que la asamblea local ahora-no un campo, no un jardín-sino que la asamblea local ahora es un edificio.

Este edificio está en construcción. Se está levantando. Y los que pertenecen a la asamblea-ahora, principalmente en el contexto, son los predicadores y los maestros que están construyendo en el tejido de la asamblea. Pero por aplicación, cada creyente que pertenece a la asamblea está construyendo en el tejido de esa asamblea. Usted dice: “Espero que sea un fundamento bueno, sólido y firme”. Pues lo es. Lo es. El fundamento sobre el cual cada asamblea es puesta, edificada, es el fundamento de Cristo. El es el que fue predicado-el evangelio de la gracia de Dios en relación con nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Él es el que fue predicado.

Así dice Pablo en el versículo 11: “Nadie puede poner otro fundamento que el que está puesto, el cual es Jesucristo”. Él es el fundamento de la asamblea en Corinto. Los individuos vinieron a la fe en Él, fundaron sus vidas, y ahora la asamblea está fundada sobre ese fundamento firme-todo lo que Cristo ha hecho-todo lo que Cristo es. El es la base de la asamblea. Pero Pablo dice: “Yo estoy edificando”.

Así que mira el versículo 10. Dice: “Según la gracia de Dios”. Ahora, esta es la gracia que Dios le concedió a Pablo al darle el papel y la responsabilidad que le correspondía como apóstol. El dice, “Conforme a la gracia de Dios que me es dada, yo como sabio maestro de obras”.

La idea es que Pablo era el constructor principal. No es que él fuera el arquitecto; él no diseñó el edificio. Dios diseñó el edificio. El edificio, por supuesto, sigue el modelo de lo divino. Dice Pablo: “Yo soy el constructor principal de este edificio, y estoy trabajando según un patrón divino”. Y otros como Apolos, han venido, y ellos también han estado construyendo en este edificio. Y luego dice: “Pero, versículo 10, que cada uno tenga cuidado de cómo construye en él”.

Ves, el fundamento es Jesucristo. La subestructura es Jesucristo. Y lo que edificas sobre ese fundamento-la superestructura-debe responder al fundamento. Ahora, ustedes saben que eso es verdad, ¿no? No puedes tener un cimiento que sea demasiado pequeño o demasiado débil para un edificio más grande. El fundamento debe responder al tamaño, forma y peso del edificio que sostiene. Pablo dice que tu fundamento es Cristo. Asi que lo que estas construyendo en esta iglesia local debe responder en terminos de caracter y calidad a El.

Así que toda nuestra labor y todo nuestro ejercicio-está calculado para traer gloria y honra. Debe estar en línea con el carácter del Señor Jesús. Me pregunto si tu servicio en la asamblea local es digno de la persona de Jesucristo. Ahora, dice Pablo, mira este versículo 12. Usted conoce muy bien estos versículos. El dice, “Si alguno edificare sobre este fundamento…” Ahora, usted entiende, no es tanto la cantidad del material que importa, es la calidad del material.

Asi que el dice, “Si alguno edificare sobre este fundamento, oro, plata, piedras preciosas”-eso es material de calidad selecta. O, el dice, “Puedes construir en madera, heno, rastrojo”-eso es barato, material de calidad inferior. Ustedes santos, tienen el privilegio de edificar en la asamblea. Ahora, les daré algunos antecedentes. Ustedes entienden que Corinto es una ciudad. La antigua Corinto había sido destruida por el fuego hacía mucho tiempo. Los romanos quemaron la antigua Corinto hasta los cimientos en 146 AC.

Verás, unos cien años después, la ciudad de Corinto fue reconstruida como colonia romana. Así que durante cien años, la ciudad de Corinto había sido absolutamente asolada por el fuego, y cuando los romanos la incendiaron, fueron sólo los edificios que estaban en los barrios más ricos. Fueron sólo los edificios que tenían elementos de oro y plata y piedras preciosas -materiales de calidad- los que pudieron resistir algo del fuego. Los edificios más pequeños, los menos caros -los de madera y heno- quedaron totalmente destruidos. Y durante cien años, Corinto estuvo a oscuras.

Ahora, todo eso fue en la historia reciente de la ciudad, y Pablo está escribiendo a la asamblea, y está diciendo, “Ahora escuchen, ¿qué están construyendo en la asamblea? Porque sólo lo que es de calidad perdurará cuando el fuego de prueba del tribunal venga sobre vuestra obra.” Ahora, aquí hay algo del contexto. Pablo, en el contexto de 1 Corintios 1, 2, y 3, está hablando de dos clases de cristianos. El habla de hombres carnales, y el habla de hombres espirituales.

Cristianos carnales-son cristianos, y tristemente mucha gente en Corinto eran carnales. Estos eran individuos que eran creyentes en el Señor Jesús, pero eran energizados por-eran guiados por la carne. Lo que hacían era para ellos mismos. Lo que hacían era para verse bien a los ojos de los demás. Eran cristianos carnales, entregados realmente al mundo, entregados a la carne, entregados a sí mismos. Pablo dice, “¿Sabes lo que estarán construyendo en la asamblea, verdad? Madera, heno y hojarasca”.

Oh, ellos están allí. Incluso podrían estar ocupados. Podrían estar activos. Podrían estar ayudando en la asamblea. Pero porque lo que hacen es calculado para traer honor a ellos mismos, Pablo dice, “Cuando sea probado en el fuego del tribunal, desaparecerá en nada. Serán salvados; no pueden perder su salvación. Pero la recompensa que podría haber sido de ellos se habrá esfumado. Sufrirán la pérdida”.

Tú dices: “¿Y el oro, la plata, las piedras preciosas?”. Bueno, estos son los individuos que eran espirituales en carácter-no un cristiano carnal impulsado por la carne, sino un creyente espiritual que está lleno del Espíritu de Dios. El está en la asamblea también, y está allí, y él o ella, están trabajando en la asamblea, y quizás no son vistos, ni anunciados, ni oídos. Pero lo que están tratando de hacer en la asamblea es impulsado y energizado por el Espíritu de Dios. Sólo quieren traer gloria y honor a Cristo. No están interesados en sí mismos.

Piensa en el oro-la gloria, la deidad de Cristo-eso es de lo que habla el oro en las Escrituras. Piensa en la plata-ese es un material que se asocia con la redención, la obra de Cristo. Piedras preciosas-las variadas glorias y la riqueza del carácter de Cristo. Estos individuos solo quieren honrar la persona de Cristo. Quieren honrar Su gloria, honrar Su deidad, honrar Su obra, honrar Su carácter. Todo lo que hacen es por El. Son impulsados por el Espíritu. Pablo dice que están edificando en la asamblea.

Y cuando ese trabajo sea probado en el tribunal, durará, y serán recompensados. ¿Puedo preguntarles a ustedes aquí? Si no perteneces a la asamblea local, entonces Cristo no puede recompensarte en un día venidero por tu trabajo en la asamblea porque no perteneces a ella. Si perteneces a la asamblea, piensa en tu motivación para todo lo que haces. Este viejo corazón de aquí es perverso, ¿verdad? Pienso en mi motivación esta semana. ¿Por qué estoy aquí? ¿Por qué he sacrificado lo que tengo para estar aquí?

¿Es porque quiero que ustedes, gente encantadora de Midland Park, miren al predicador de Inglaterra y digan: “¿No es genial? Que vuelva tan a menudo como podamos”? ¿O estoy aquí porque sólo quiero honrar a la persona de Cristo hablando bien de Él y dirigiendo la atención de los santos a Su asamblea? Espero que sea lo segundo. Espero que no sea lo primero. Si es lo primero, no valdrá nada en el tribunal. Si es lo segundo, valdrá mucho.

Ahora piénsalo, hermano mío, hermana mía, todo lo que haces, ya sea limpiar el salón, ya sea preparar los diversos aspectos de la reunión, ya sea repartir libros de himnos, ya sea tu ministerio a otros santos, ya sea que esté asociado con la producción y provisión de alimentos, cualquiera que sea tu trabajo en la asamblea, ¿cuál es tu motivación para hacerlo? No de un arranque de carne. Debe ser impulsado por la gloria y el honor de Cristo. Lo estoy haciendo por Él. Y si lo estoy haciendo por El, nada será demasiado difícil. Nada será demasiado porque todo es para El.

Pablo tiene en mente el tribunal de Cristo. Entiendes que cada creyente estará ante el tribunal de Cristo. Pablo habla de eso en tres ocasiones diferentes, y en las tres ocasiones diferentes, te dice que hay diferentes aspectos de nuestra vida que serán revisados y recompensados en ese tribunal. Nada que ver con la salvacion. Nada que ver con el pecado. Tus pecados son perdonados; eres salvo eternamente.

Este individuo aqui que es carnal, el es salvo, aunque haya pasado por el juicio del fuego. Eso es solo una metafora; es un simbolo para Cristo revisando la obra de este creyente. El no esta literalmente pasando por el fuego, pero Cristo esta juzgando su trabajo; sus pecados son perdonados. El es salvo aunque el trabajo que el hizo no fue mucho en la vista del Señor Jesús. Pero, mi amigo, tu vas a estar delante de la persona de Cristo.

Tres cosas serán revisadas: las acciones que has realizado en tu cuerpo, serán revisadas (1 Corintios 5), tu arquitectura-lo que construyes en la asamblea local-será revisada (1 Corintios 3), y finalmente, tu actitud hacia tus hermanos será revisada. ¿Cómo te llevas con ellos? Tus relaciones con otros cristianos. Ahora, tendrás que leer eso en Romanos 14. Todo eso va a ser revisado en el tribunal.

¿Cuánto y de qué calidad de trabajo he puesto en la asamblea? ¿Cómo he vivido mi vida, las obras que he cometido? ¿Y cómo me he llevado con mis hermanos? Tres cosas que se van a plantear en el tribunal. Bien, has captado la idea de estas metáforas, ¿verdad?

Así que está la labranza de Dios, y está la edificación de Dios. Bien, dos más, muy brevemente. Pasen las páginas de 1 Corintios 12. Podríamos haber hablado del templo y de la pureza y santidad de la asamblea, pero creo que eso lo veremos en los próximos días. Vayan a 1 Corintios 12. Quiero hablarles del cuerpo de Cristo.

Ahora, si ese campo es todo acerca de cultivar y crecer, y el edificio es todo acerca de construir y edificar, entonces el cuerpo de Cristo es todo acerca de una comunidad-una asamblea local que es una comunidad. Y ahora no estamos tanto creciendo y construyendo, sino que todos estamos contribuyendo. Creo que esta es mi metáfora favorita. ¿Está permitido? No lo se. Pero mira 1 Corintios 12. Mira el versículo 12. Pablo dice: “Porque como el cuerpo es uno”. Ahora escucha, él está hablando de un cuerpo humano-un cuerpo humano aquí.

Así que piensa en tu propio cuerpo humano. El dice, “Como el cuerpo humano que tienes es un cuerpo-no tienes dos cuerpos o tres, ¿verdad? Tienes uno, y estás atascado con él por la eternidad. Lo siento si no te gusta. Pero lo tienes. Dices: ‘Voy a tener un cuerpo nuevo’. ¡Incorrecto! Tendrás un cuerpo cambiado. Eso es 1 Corintios 15. No será completamente nuevo; será cambiado. Será muy diferente. Así que si no te gusta, bueno, tienes que tomar eso con el Señor, ¿verdad?

Tienes un cuerpo, y este cuerpo, verso 12, tiene muchos miembros, muchas partes. Quiere decir que mi cuerpo tiene pies, mi cuerpo tiene codos, manos, una sola cabeza, dos ojos, dos orejas. ¿Verdad? Mi cuerpo es un cuerpo. Pero tiene muchas partes diferentes. Está hablando del cuerpo humano. Y todos los miembros de ese único cuerpo, son muchos. Pero solo hay un cuerpo. Dice: “Así también es Cristo”.

Ahora él está hablando acerca de la gran asamblea en ese verso-Cristo la cabeza en el cielo, la iglesia que es Su cuerpo en la tierra. El dice, “Es muy similar. Es un cuerpo único, y sin embargo hay muchas partes diferentes en él”. Ahora lo que el va a hacer en el verso 13 es decirte como llego a ser ese el caso. ¿Cómo se formó la iglesia? La iglesia, que es el cuerpo de Cristo, en el día de Pentecostés, él habla del bautismo en el Espíritu-eso es toda otra reunión. Pero así es como la iglesia fue formada en el día de Pentecostés en Hechos 2.

Pero entonces verso 14, él dice, “Ahora ustedes conocen esta figura de un cuerpo.” El dice, “Voy a tomarlo ahora, y voy a aplicarlo a ustedes santos en Corinto”. Dice: “Permítanme hablarles de la metáfora del cuerpo de Cristo”. Ahora, me encanta esto-porque el cuerpo no es un solo miembro, sino que son muchos. Asi que, nuestro cuerpo humano no es solo una parte; son muchas partes.

Y así, él continúa diciendo: “Bueno, aquí están algunas de las partes”. Aquí hay un pie. Y si el pie dice: “Bueno, yo no soy la mano, y me gustaría mucho ser la mano, porque, bueno, las manos son mucho más fáciles de ver y más diestras que yo. Y huelo bastante, y siempre me ponen calcetines, y nadie puede verme”. Si el pie dijera: “Como no soy la mano, no formo parte del cuerpo”, Pablo diría: “Qué ridiculez”. Aunque al pie le encantaría ser la mano, porque no es la mano, sigue siendo parte del cuerpo. No puede separarse del cuerpo”.

Ahora usted dice, “Sr. Predicador de Inglaterra, usted ha perdido todas sus canicas.” No, esto es inspirado. ¿De qué está hablando Pablo? Bien, él está diciendo, “Ahora vamos, esta asamblea local en Corinto, escuchen, hay muchos de ustedes; miren la diversidad; y miren la diversidad que tenemos esta noche. Sé que hay más de una asamblea representada, pero miren esta diversidad”, dice, “es notable. Algunos de ustedes son hombres; algunos son mujeres; algunos son mayores; algunos son de mediana edad; algunos son más jóvenes; algunos proceden de todo tipo de países de todo el mundo; tienen diferentes orígenes étnicos; tal vez hablen diferentes idiomas”.

Y añade: “La diversidad es increíble. Muchos miembros. Pero, ¿adivinen qué? Un solo cuerpo”. Ahora esa es la asamblea local. ¿Lo ven? Diversos. Pero una compañía-sólo Dios puede hacer eso. Hay diversidad, pero hay unidad en la diversidad porque todos pertenecen a una compañía. Esa es la sabiduría de Dios. Estoy pensando ahora en la gran asamblea en vez de la asamblea local. Pero Efesios 3 dice que la sabiduría de Dios se muestra en esto: que El pudo tomar al Judío y al Gentil-nunca los dos se encontrarán, tu usas esa frase aquí-nunca el Judío y el Gentil se encontrarán. Están tan separados como podrían estar.

Pero tú sabes, en la asamblea del Nuevo Testamento, salvados por la gracia de Dios, ellos se sentaban unos con otros-¡judíos y gentiles! Se sentaban unos con otros en la Cena del Señor. Y estaban compartiendo un pan y compartiendo una copa y diciendo, “Estamos en comunión unos con otros”. Solo Dios puede hacer eso. Ahora hay una expresión de eso en la asamblea local. Dice: “Ustedes son entonces como un cuerpo, diferentes partes, y Dios quiere que sean diferentes”.

Diferentes papeles, y Dios os ha dado diferentes papeles. Hay diversidad. Pero él dice que hay una unidad porque todos ustedes están unidos en una asamblea local para la gloria y la honra de Dios. Ahora, ¿qué de este caso en el verso 15? Porque aquí, perdónenme por decir esto, Pablo está ilustrando a los santos, ¿verdad? El está diciendo: “Hay un santo en la asamblea en Corinto que es como un pie”. Y este santo probablemente está diciendo esto: “Oh, aquí estoy. Mira, nadie me nota. Mira, estoy aquí abajo en el fondo. Tal vez estés pensando así: Estoy aquí abajo, en el fondo del cuerpo. Nadie puede verme porque los pies no son agradables a la vista. Siempre se ponen calcetines y zapatos en los pies. Aquí abajo en el cuerpo, soportando el peso de todo el cuerpo, y nadie se preocupa por mí”.

Y el pie mira a la mano y dice: “Ojalá fuera una mano”. Las manos se ven. Las manos no suelen cubrirse a menos que haga mucho frío. Y miren lo diestras que son. Y mira cómo el predicador es capaz de… bueno, mira cómo es capaz de pintar cuadros con sus manos. Ojalá yo fuera una mano. Tal vez te sientas así en la asamblea. Dices: “A nadie le importo. Nadie me ve. Nadie me anima. Aquí estoy soportando este peso y soportando ese problema, y desearía ser otra persona, o desearía poder hacer ese trabajo o estar comprometido en ese servicio.”

Entonces, como no puedo, ya no soy parte del cuerpo. Pablo dice: “Qué tontería”. El pie es parte del cuerpo, le guste o no. El punto es este, mi hermano, mi hermana: Dios te ha dado un papel en la asamblea. Dios te ha dado una responsabilidad en esta asamblea. Y aunque no te guste o no te guste, y aunque sientas que tienes un complejo de inferioridad, eso no significa que no puedas servir en la asamblea. Eres vital para esta asamblea.

No te quedes de brazos cruzados. No te ausentes durante semanas. No digas que no le importo a nadie. Perteneces al cuerpo, y Dios te ha dado un lugar, y es una gran responsabilidad, sea lo que sea lo que se te ha dado. No puedes eximirte de esa responsabilidad. Eres necesario, y eres vital. Y eso es lo que Pablo continuará diciendo. Mira el versículo 18: “Dice que Dios ha puesto los miembros, cada uno de ellos en el cuerpo como le ha placido”.

Así que, si perteneces a la comunión de una asamblea, Dios te ha dado un lugar en esa asamblea, y eres vital para ella. Tú eres vital. Ahora aquí está la cosa: si yo cortara mi mano, yo podría sobrevivir. Pero no podría funcionar tan efectivamente como si tuviera dos manos. Podrías cortarme partes del cuerpo; viviría, pero no podría comportarme tan eficazmente como si tuviera todos mis miembros. ¿Lo entiendes? No estás exento de responsabilidad; eres necesario.

Y número dos, en realidad eres vital. Hermano mío, hermana mía, no tengas complejo de inferioridad. Eres vital para el correcto desarrollo. Eres vital para la eficacia de esta asamblea local. Os necesita. Necesita su presencia; necesita su trabajo; necesita su labor; necesita sus oraciones-usted es necesario. Y si no estás aquí y no pones de tu parte, la asamblea sobrevivirá, pero no será tan efectiva como si estuvieras aquí. ¿No es una metáfora encantadora?

Y he estado hablando de un complejo de inferioridad. Bueno, más adelante en los versículos, tal vez algunos de ustedes se sientan más así. Miren el versículo 21. Esto no es un complejo de inferioridad; esto es un complejo de superioridad. Miren el versículo 21: “Y el ojo no puede decir a la mano: No te necesito”. ¿Alguna vez te has encontrado con creyentes así? Piensan que son lo máximo. No sé si se dice eso aquí. Pero hay algunos creyentes en la comunión de la asamblea que sólo piensan: “Cuanto más de mí hubiera en esta asamblea, mejor. Yo, yo, yo, ¡y más de mí! Si la asamblea fuera yo, ¡qué maravillosa asamblea sería!”.

¿Verdad? No existe el complejo de superioridad. No pienses que la asamblea no puede prescindir de ti. Oh, eres vital, pero también lo son los demás. No pienses que eres más importante que cualquier otro miembro sólo porque tengas un don mayor -¡y puede que lo tengas! No pienses que eres más importante que cualquier otro miembro sólo porque tengas un don mayor, ¡y puede que lo tengas! No te creas más importante. De hecho, Pablo continuará diciendo que son los miembros ocultos; son los miembros que parecen más débiles los que en realidad son los vitales.

Oh, ¿no es eso cierto con el cuerpo humano? Verás, es mi corazón. No puedes verlo. Es muy débil. Tiene que ser protegido por una caja torácica. Pero te digo esto: No podría vivir sin él. Son los miembros ocultos; son los miembros casi más débiles los que son absolutamente vitales. Así que quiero animaros a vosotros, buena gente de aquí: si pertenecéis a la asamblea, sabed lo importante que es cada uno de los miembros.

Ahora, terminaré con esto. Bueno, son las 9, ¿no? Permítanme mostrarles uno más. Vayan al último libro de la Biblia, el libro del Apocalipsis, y este es el capítulo 1. No voy a decir todo lo que quería decir acerca de esto, pero hemos hablado acerca de la labranza de Dios-eso es cultivo y crecimiento; el edificio de Dios-eso es construcción, edificación. El cuerpo de Cristo-eso es comunidad y contribución. En Apocalipsis 1, las asambleas locales son vistas como candeleros de oro. La idea aquí es de carácter. Son candeleros de oro, y es la idea de testificar.

Así que no tanto crecer o construir o contribuir, sino testificar. Mira lo que Juan dice o incluso lo que es-Juan. Versículo 12 del capítulo 1. Juan dice, “Me volví para ver la voz que hablaba conmigo, y estando vuelto, vi siete candeleros de oro. Y en medio de los siete, -no son candeleros; son candeleros- uno semejante al Hijo del Hombre”. Ahora eso, por supuesto, es el Señor Jesús. Tú dices: “¿Por qué está Él de pie en medio de siete candeleros de oro?”. Bueno, mira el versículo 20, la última parte del versículo: “Las siete estrellas son los ángeles de las siete iglesias, y los siete candeleros que has visto son las siete iglesias”.

Así que estas siete iglesias a las que Juan está a punto de escribir, y el Señor tiene algo que decir a cada una de estas asambleas locales que estaban esparcidas por Asia Menor, están retratadas bajo la metáfora de un candelabro de oro. ¡Qué idea! Bueno, hay muchos pensamientos. Pero permítanme decir sólo un par, y terminamos. No son candelabros. La traducción correcta de la palabra es un candelabro. Es decir, aquí hay un pedestal; es un pedestal de oro.

Y este pedestal representaba a cada una de esas iglesias locales, por eso había siete. Colgado de ese pedestal o sentado sobre él había un depósito de aceite. Una mecha se habría colocado en el aceite. El aceite era el combustible para mantener la llama encendida. La asamblea local no era la lámpara; la asamblea local no es el aceite; la asamblea local es el pedestal. Ahora, ¿por qué no es un candelabro? Porque los candeleros, en general, están hechos de cera, y el combustible para la llama o la luz es esa cera. Los candeleros se consumen a sí mismos.

Al cabo de unos minutos o un par de horas, la cera desaparece y se funde. Esa sería una imagen muy pobre de una asamblea local. Es triste decirlo, pero muchas asambleas locales son como candeleros. Usted dirá: “¿Qué quiere decir?”. Se consumen a sí mismas. Muchas asambleas en el sur de Inglaterra desde Covid son autodestructivas y autoconsumistas. Un hermano le ha dicho algo a otro hermano; una hermana le ha dicho algo a otra hermana; todo el lugar implosiona, se destruye como un candelabro. ¡Qué vergüenza para nosotros! ¡Qué decepción! Gracias a Dios, no son candelabros, son candeleros.

En el Apocalipsis, un candelabro representa el testimonio y el testamento. Ahora, sólo capta esto, ¿verdad? Y he terminado. Pero entiendan esto: ustedes dicen, “¿Quién o qué es la lámpara?” Bueno, sólo hay una lámpara en el libro del Apocalipsis, y la única lámpara en el libro del Apocalipsis es la persona del Señor Jesucristo. Apocalipsis 22 dice que en esa gran, eterna, celestial, santa Jerusalén, el Cordero es su lámpara.

Así que sólo hay una persona en el libro del Apocalipsis que es la lámpara-que es la luz-es Cristo. Tú dices: “¿Y qué de estas iglesias? Ellas son el candelabro”. Esas iglesias son los pedestales sobre los que se asienta la lámpara. Esas iglesias son los pedestales que se elevan para que todos vean la luz de la lámpara. Entonces, ¿cuál es la responsabilidad de la asamblea local-ya sea Éfeso, o Esmirna, o Pérgamo, o Tiatira? Tú dices, todos son candeleros. ¿Cuál es su responsabilidad? Levantar, exaltar, honrar a la persona de Jesucristo. Estamos aquí para dar testimonio de Él. Eso es todo.

Tienes esa verdad, ¿no? No se trata de mí; se trata de Él. Dices que estos candelabros son de oro. Son dorados porque son valiosos. Estas iglesias locales son valiosas para Dios. Tú dices, “¿Incluso Esmirna? Esmirna era una asamblea tan pequeña. Esmirna estaba siendo aplastada por la persecución”. Dices: “Seguramente a Dios no le importa mucho Esmirna”. ¡Un candelabro de oro!

Así también la asamblea aquí es valiosa y preciosa para Dios. Hay otra verdad, ¿no? ¿Recuerdan que en el Antiguo Testamento-ahora, porque yo cierro mi Biblia eso no quiere decir que ustedes dejan de escuchar, verdad? Si hay una crítica de los santos en Midland Park, es esta: ¡Cuando cierro mi Biblia, te desconectas! ¡No te desconectes! En el Antiguo Testamento, en el tabernáculo y en el templo, había un candelabro. Tu dices, “Si, yo se todo acerca de ese candelabro. Ese candelabro representaba a Israel como nación en testimonio y testigo de Dios”.

Aquí está la cosa: era un candelabro, y tenía siete ramas – tres en un lado, tres en el otro lado, y una recta por el medio – la menorá. Usted dice, “Hmm”. Ven al Nuevo Testamento, siete asambleas. Ahora dirás: “¡Espera! ¿Por qué tenemos siete candelabros diferentes?” Y el Señor está en medio de ellos. Asi que es casi como si hubiera siete candeleros alrededor del Señor, y el Señor esta caminando en medio de ellos, en medio de ellos.

Tú dices: “Sería una oportunidad maravillosa tener un candelabro, una menorá, como Israel en el Antiguo Testamento. ¿Y no sería una hermosa manera de mostrar que estas siete asambleas eran todas parte de una organización, un candelabro?”. ¡Ese es exactamente el punto! No lo son.

Estas iglesias son separadas; estas iglesias son distintas; estas iglesias son autónomas. Usted ha oído esa palabra, ¿verdad? No pertenecen a una federación; no pertenecen a una organización paraguas. Son muy similares; están en comunión unas con otras. Cristo está en medio de todos, y El está tan cerca de cada una de esas asambleas, pero son separadas y distintas. Ahora, eso otra vez es la enseñanza del Nuevo Testamento.

Cada asamblea local es responsable ante Cristo y sólo ante Cristo, libre de cualquier tipo de autoridad externa, control u organización aparte de la persona del Señor Jesús. No hay federación de asambleas, sino maravillosa comunión entre ellas. Y por eso puedo venir desde Bracknell Gospel Hall en Berkshire, Inglaterra, sabiendo que creemos el mismo tipo de verdad. No tengo jurisdicción aquí, aunque les estoy enseñando. Tú no tienes jurisdicción en mi asamblea.

Son autónomas, y son separadas y distintas, pero tenemos hermosa comunión juntos porque confiamos en el mismo Salvador y creemos la misma verdad. Ahora vayan y sigan algunas de esas otras metáforas. Qué maravillosas ilustraciones de la verdad de la asamblea local. Dios bendecirá Su palabra para nosotros. Oremos.

Maintenance of the assembly

First Peter, tonight, please. First Peter, chapter 4. First Peter, chapter 4. I appreciate it. We’re obviously persevering and hardworking. We’re just about halfway through, aren’t we? We’re more than halfway through tonight, I suppose. Good to see everyone, and those of you who are coming back, I appreciate that. Bless us as we continue our studies in the local assembly, the local assembly truth. Now, we’re thinking tonight about the maintenance of the assembly. So really, we’re thinking about how it is that a local church, a local assembly, can be kept in good spiritual health. That’s what we’re thinking about. We’re going to focus on three things in particular, and we’ll see what those things are as we read the scriptures together.

So, 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4. I’m reading scriptures in reverse form, so we will come to Peter just at the end of the meeting. One way in which you can keep a local assembly in good spiritual health is by the activity of the Spirit of God, of course. He grants us spiritual gifts, and spiritual gifts need to be used to edify and build up the assembly. There are a number of passages in scripture that deal with spiritual gifts, but there are a couple of statements here which are very helpful in Peter’s first epistle. Just notice verse number 9: Peter says, “Use hospitality one to another without grudging.” That is, be hospitable one to another without wishing that we didn’t have to.

Then verse 10: “As every man has received the gift…” Now, it’s not the gift as if it’s the gift of salvation, but this is spiritual gift, which is given by the Spirit of God to every believer. So, as everyone has received gifts, if you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus, you have been given a spiritual gift. That gift is used to build up and to maintain the assembly to which you belong. So he says, “Even so, minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace, the variegated, multicolored grace of God.”

Then Peter seems to divide spiritual gifts into two categories. So he says, “If any man speak…” There are some gifts that are speaking gifts. “If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.” Then he says, “If any man minister…” Some gifts emphasize speaking, while some gifts emphasize serving and ministering. “If any man ministers, let him do it as of the ability which God gives, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Still on our theme of spiritual gifts, just turn to Ephesians chapter 4. A number of different passages to read tonight. This is Ephesians 4, one of the other passages in the New Testament that deals with spiritual gifts. Verse 12, “For unto every one of us is given grace.” God has given us grace by His grace, freely given us, according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

“Therefore He said, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and He gave gifts unto men.” Verse 11: “And He gave some apostles, and some prophets” (New Testament prophets, that is), “and some evangelists, and some pastors.” Now that really is the word for shepherd. So a shepherd is a spiritual gift. “And some teachers.” Why were these gifts given? “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body.” This is all about the maintenance of the local assembly. These gifts, given by the Spirit of God and energized by the Spirit of God, are used to maintain the assembly and to keep it in good spiritual health.

Right, we’ll look at Acts chapter 20. We will talk about spiritual gifts tonight. We will also speak this evening about shepherds or elders. Of course, these men were appointed by the Holy Spirit, and they are used to maintain the assembly in good spiritual health. Acts chapter 20, look at verse 17: “And from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.”

Acts chapter 20 is very helpful because it describes these men, elders in the church at Ephesus, in three different ways. Here in verse 17, they are called elders. That’s their spiritual maturity. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are old, but certainly, as far as their spirituality is concerned, they are mature, not necessarily old in years. So he called the elders of the church, and Paul wanted to speak to the elders and warn them about grievous wolves. Verse 28 says this: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock.” Now, if the Christians in the church at Ephesus were like sheep, they were a flock, then these elders must also have been shepherds. So you’ve got the idea of these men being elders and being shepherds: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers.”

These are three different ways of describing these men. They are elders, they are overseers, and they are shepherds. As such, they feed the church of God. Remember, that’s a way of describing a local assembly. Their responsibility was to feed the church of God, which He hath purchased with the blood of His own. “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.” These shepherds have a very important role to play.

Now there’s more to say about them. In 1 Timothy 3, remember, 1 Timothy is an epistle that deals in particular with the local assembly. It describes it as the household of God. One of the things that Paul wants to emphasize to that local church is the importance of shepherds, elders, overseers. Look at 1 Timothy 3. Verse 1: “This is a true saying: If a man desire the office of a bishop…” Now there’s the good old authorized version (KJV 1611). We don’t use those words that are in common use. It will be off with our heads. So this is not really the word bishop. That was a word that was in use in the Church of England in 1611. The word that you have here is simply the word for an overseer. So if any man desires the office of an overseer, any man aspires to exercise oversight, then that individual desires a good work.

There’s no thought of some sort of official office here at all. The term office is not in the Greek. It’s somebody who desires to exercise oversight in God’s assembly. Paul says that’s a work, and if he desires that, well, he desires a good work.

So, verse 2: “An overseer then must be blameless.” If he’s married, he must be the husband of one wife. He must be vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt or able to teach. He doesn’t necessarily have to be public or platform teaching; it might be one-to-one teaching, but he’s able to teach the Word of God. Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre, and so on.

Just look at verse number 5. He talks about having his own house and his own children in subjection so he can oversee his own household well. For if a man knows not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? This individual can’t be a novice, so not a recently saved individual, lest being lifted up with pride, he falls into the condemnation of the devil.

Now, I have one more scripture I want to read: 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. I’ll give a moment for all of you to find it. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. What Paul is doing just towards the end of this chapter is describing for us a good, spiritual, and healthy local church. This is very helpful to us tonight as we’re thinking about the maintenance of the assembly.

So, verse 12: “We beseech you, brethren, know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.” So here are those elders. He says, “Esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake, and be at peace among yourselves.” Now we exhort you, brethren. I think that the overseers of verses 12 and 13 will be primarily in this work of verse 14, but really, Paul is speaking to all of the saints. He says, “We exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, disorderly; they’re out of step with the other saints.” There’d be a variety of reasons why. Comfort the feeble-minded; support the weak; be patient toward all. Note that.

These are the saints that you would find in the assembly. “See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and to all.” He describes a spiritual Christian: “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks.” This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Young people who want to know what is His highest life, there it is in a nutshell: “Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks.”

That’s an aspect, or three aspects, of the light of the will of God. Now, verse 19 says importantly, “Quench not the Spirit.” “Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings.”

1 Thessalonians was a very early epistle. Christians were standing on their feet, those who had been given the gift of New Testament prophecy, and they were speaking directly from the Lord. Scripture was not complete. The canon hadn’t been closed. They needed direction from the Lord. A New Testament prophet would have stood and said to the assembly, “This is what the Lord says,” and they would have given a word by revelation.

Now, sadly, there were false prophets abroad, not just true prophets. The Thessalonians were worried about this, so they were treating prophecy with some disdain. But Paul says, “Don’t do that.” He says, “Despise not prophesyings.” How else will the Spirit of God speak to you?

“Despise not prophesyings, but rather,” and all those verses tie together, “prove all things, and that which is good, hold it fast.” That has to do with prophecy and the word of God being spoken. But if it doesn’t prove to be good, if it gives you the “appearance of evil,” he says, “abstain. Abstain from that.”

Now leave the reading there, and God will add blessing to the reading of His word.

So tonight, I know that a lot of reasons I know that, but that means I can just refer to them in due course, right? You know exactly what’s going on because we’ve read all these scriptures together. What we’re thinking about tonight in this meeting involves three things, but overall, it’s about the maintenance of a local assembly.

And what we’re thinking about is this: How does a local assembly achieve and remain in good spiritual health? That’s what we’re interested in. I’m going to suggest to you tonight, just for the purposes of this meeting, that there are three things that will maintain an assembly in good spiritual health.

These are the three things: the activity of the Spirit of God. We’re going to think about that, especially in relation to spiritual gifts. I’m sure it’s clear tonight from the scriptures that we’ve read. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you have been given spiritual gifts. It is your responsibility to use them. It is your responsibility to exercise them for the benefit and edification of this assembly. So I hope you know what you’re gifted in, and I hope you use it. That will lead to a very healthy local assembly.

So we’re going to speak about the Spirit of God and His gifting ministry. Then we’re going to talk about these men. Love them all, honorably. But Scripture says you should love them, and Scripture says you should esteem them very highly. We’re going to speak about these men that the Holy Spirit has appointed— a plurality of men. Scripture knows nothing about a one-man pastor system in a local church, but rather the Holy Spirit appoints a plurality of men who have the spiritual oversight of an assembly.

So we’re going to talk about the Spirit of God and His gifting ministry. We’re going to talk about shepherds, because that begins with an “S,” but they’re also elders and overseers, right? We’re going to talk about shepherds and their government in the local assembly. If they are doing their work effectively, then the assembly will be in good spiritual health.

If you’ve got my points on the Spirit of God and His gifting ministry, shepherds, and their government of the assembly—one more thing: Scripture. Don’t forget that if the assembly is going to be in good spiritual health, it must be founded upon, must love, and must be obedient to the Word of God. So we’re going to talk about Scripture, and we’ll talk about the fact that Scripture guides us as to our behavior and how the assembly should operate.

So, that’s what we’re discussing when we talk about the maintenance of an assembly. Now, don’t forget this, will we? Don’t forget this. An assembly is only as strong as the sum of its parts. What do I mean? The assembly, corporately, collectively, as a whole, is only as strong as every individual believer that makes it up.

So if you say to me tonight, “Well, the assembly to which I belong, I’m not so sure it’s in good spiritual health,” just stop. Are you in good spiritual health as an individual? You see, don’t go talking about the spiritual health of the whole—the corporate assembly—if you yourself are not in good spiritual health.

Also, I’d say that’s something for individuals to consider. And to be quite plain tonight and blunt, if you think that the assembly is not quite up to scratch and the assembly is just not spiritually healthy as you would like, before you start pointing fingers at other people, point the finger at yourself. Because if you want the assembly to be spiritually healthy, it has to be made up of spiritually healthy individuals. That’s an important thing to do.

So here is one of the absolute foundations of a good spiritual assembly. Now, this is why I turned you to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. What Paul is doing in these latter verses, and we love these verses definitely because they’re very short, right? They’re punchy. You almost think at the end that Paul is just punching out exhortations, commandments to the assembly, and he’s running out of papyrus on which to write.

He wants to exhort them about so much; he better just put these down. In actual fact, they all run into one another. What Paul is doing at the end of 1 Thessalonians 5 is describing a good, healthy, spiritual assembly.

You’ll notice that he does speak in verse 12 about shepherds. We’re going to come to those in a moment, but he mentions them. He says you should know, you should recognize those that labor among you, that insert themselves among you, and have the spiritual oversight of things in the Lord. Sometimes they admonish you. Sometimes they warn you. They are there for your spiritual benefit and blessing.

Verse 13: “You make sure that you hold them in the highest possible regard and respect.” While they keep watch over your souls, I don’t think you appreciate the elders in the assemblies to which you belong. I think you ought to take time to thank them for what they do, for they often endure “thankless” sleepless nights, exerting themselves hour after hour, day after day, just to look after the assembly, and you may know nothing about it.

Paul says, “I want you to hold them in the highest regard and respect.” The next point is this: he starts to talk about the saints. Aren’t saints awkward? Look at what he says about them in verse 14. “Now we exhort you, brethren.” This isn’t just those overseers that we’ve been speaking about, but actually this is all of the saints. We all have a responsibility in this.

He says some of them are unruly and undisciplined. You’ll need to warn them. He says some of these saints are feeble; you will need to comfort them. He says some of the saints are spiritually weak, and you’ll need to support them or hold them tight. He says some of them really try your patience; so be long-suffering toward all.

Let me put it another way: don’t be irritable and upset when they act foolishly. Instead, be patient with them. We are a funny bunch, aren’t we? A saint that belongs to one saint. But Paul isn’t removed from reality, is he? This is what the assembly of Thessalonica was like 2,000 years ago. These are the kinds of saints that were in that assembly.

Paul says we need to be kind and compassionate. But what’s the key to strengthening? This is my point. We’re thinking about the guidance of Scripture in a local assembly. That will maintain us in a healthy state. Look at what he said in verse 19: “Quench not the Spirit.” He’s spoken about shepherds; he’s spoken about the saints; now he’s speaking about the Spirit and the Spirit in regard to Scripture.

He says, “Do not quench the Spirit.” This is essential. You know that Ephesians 4 speaks about the Spirit of God, and we are not to grieve Him. The Spirit of God is a person. He’s a divine person. He’s an individual. He indwells every single one of us. As a person, you can hurt His feelings. Ephesians 4 says, “Don’t grieve the Spirit.”

Now that’s individual. And we can grieve Him when sin enters our lives. Here, Paul says, corporately as an assembly, you must not quench Him. What’s the idea? The idea is that the Spirit of God is in our midst as the assembly gathers, and Paul is presenting the Spirit of God now under the figure of a flame.

He says the assembly, by the way it behaves, can extinguish that flame or can stifle the activity or the manifestation of the presence of the Spirit of God. You can affect that adversely. This is a serious matter.

I’m sure as a believer, you have been in meetings where you have felt a real sense of the Spirit of God present. Whether that’s in a preaching of the gospel, a prayer meeting, or a teaching meeting, you have felt a real sense of the Spirit of God moving and speaking. Sadly, it doesn’t happen as often as it should. Why not? Because we can quench it.

We can stifle His activity among the saints. We say, “Well, we wouldn’t want to do that. How can we avoid doing that?” That’s what Paul goes on to say. He says, “Now listen, do not despise these prophets.” So these Christians in Thessalonica, they were treating New Testament prophets with low appreciation or even suspicion.

You understand, because I’ve said this already, the word of God was not complete. Very, very little of the New Testament had been written. Some of it had been passed on, the teaching of the Lord Jesus, for example, in the Apostles’ Doctrine. That had been passed on by word of mouth, by tradition, but much more was needed to build up and establish these assemblies in the truth of God.

God, as part of the gifts that He gave, gave prophets and evangelists. These were men who would stand on their feet in the assembly gathering and, as moved by the Spirit of God, would say, “I have received a word from the Lord,” and they would give that word to the saints.

Sadly, false prophets were coming in too, and they were saying the same kind of thing: “I have received a word from the Lord, and this is the word.” The Thessalonians were distressed; they were worried. Was this a true word from the Lord, or was this a false word pretending to be from the Lord?

Instead of listening to what the Spirit of God had to say through the true prophets, do you know what they did? They despised prophesyings. They were saying, “Don’t hear us. Just sit down and be quiet. We would rather not hear anything at all.” They were treating the word of God and the activity of the Holy Spirit with suspicion.

Paul says, “Don’t do that with the prophets.” He says, “This is what you should do instead.” Verse 21: “You should listen to what the prophet has to say.” He says, “And you should seek to prove it.” What the prophet actually gives as a word from the Lord, test it among yourselves. Test it by what Scripture has already been given. He says, “Prove all things; and that which proves to be good, hold it fast.” Stick to that like glue. It’s genuine. Embrace it wholeheartedly. Possess it. Keep it.

But he says, “And everything that appears to be evil, that which fails the test of the revealed word of God, abstain from that.” But you see the emphasis? If we want the Spirit of God to be active among us, then the words of God must have a good place in our assembly. The Spirit of God, who has given us spiritual gifts, must be encouraged. Those gifts must be used.

It must never be despised. If those things are done, the Spirit of God will show us the strength and power of His presence. Amen.

You say, “We don’t have prophets today.” I’m impressed. We don’t have prophets today. New Testament prophets was a gift that was given for the foundation of the church. Once the word of God was complete, there was no need for New Testament prophets. There was no additional revelation to be given. The revelation was complete.

So you say, “How today do we test all things? How today do we hold fast to what is good?” Well, today you don’t get prophets, but you get teachers. Here’s one.

Now, I’m not here, of course, to teach you what’s right and what’s wrong. But by the way, that’s exactly what a false teacher would say too. So what do you do? You don’t just accept whatever a teacher says without reservation. You test what I’m preaching and teaching to you tonight. You take it to your own home and submit it to the test of the Word of God. What proves to be good, hold fast; what proves to be evil, you reject. That is why the shepherds are here: to protect the flock and to ensure that individuals on the platform teach what is good. Anything that’s found to be evil, you should turn away from.

If you want to experience the power of the Spirit of God among us, then elevate the word of God in your assembly. The obedience to the word of God will ensure that the assembly is in good spiritual health.

Let’s go back to these shepherds. This is point number two. Remember we read it in Acts chapter 20. We read it in 1 Timothy chapter 3. We’re speaking now about the government that God has put in every local assembly. Not only does He guide local assemblies by Scripture, but there is a government, a Holy Spirit-established government in every local assembly, and they are comprised of what Scripture calls “shepherds.”

Now, if you’re not in 1 Timothy 3, I recommend you turn to 1 Timothy 3 because I want to draw your attention to just a verse or two. Paul says, “This is a true saying: If a man desires the office of a bishop, if he aspires to exercise oversight, he desires a good work.” So what we’re being taught from Acts chapter 20 and 1 Timothy 3, and a number of other passages, too, is that the affairs of a local church are guided by a plurality of Spirit-identified and Spirit-equipped overseers.

Paul says if there is an individual who aspires to exercise that oversight, he desires a good thing. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? By the way, the only result of a person desiring that is not some kind of official position. There are no badges given out for those individuals.

Rather, it is a labor. You see what Paul says in that verse? He desires a good work. The word for work has the idea of laboring and toiling to the point of exhaustion. Do you still aspire to it? Paul says if there are individuals who aspire to do the labor and toil of spiritual oversight of the assembly, he is aspiring to something honorable.

You say, “What do these individuals do?” Well, primarily in verse number 5, “They take care of the church of God.” Isn’t that a lovely description? That they are taking care of the local assembly. By the way, that’s the same word used in the account of the Good Samaritan.

Remember the Good Samaritan? The Good Samaritan traveled right to where that man was who had fallen among thieves. What did he do to him? He was helping him. He poured in the oil and the wine, and he put him upon his own beast, and he carried him to the inn, and he took care of him.

That’s what overseers do: they take care of the church of God. You say, “So hang on. Is it possible to work your way into this position?” No, it’s not a position. But is it possible to have a desire in your heart to do that work? Paul does say in verse 1, “If a man desires an office in a very strong way, if a man strives after this work…” Let me tell you—this desire is not self-centered ambition.

It’s not like, “I want to do this work because then I will have a say in the affairs of the assembly and will be able to tell the saints what to do.” That’s self-centered ambition. It’s not that at all. You see, this strong desire—this striving after the work—is not a self-centered ambition.

It is a Spirit-implanted compulsion. It is the Spirit of God that raises up overseers and gives the gift of shepherding. It is not the man seeking the opportunity; it is rather the office that seeks them.

If you’ve got a brother who just nudges the overseer and says, “Have you thought about me joining the overseers?”—I think I’d be pretty good at it; has it crossed your mind that maybe you should be invited? As soon as you’ve got an individual like that, they disqualify themselves immediately from the oversight of the assembly.

It’s not the man seeking the office; the office seeks the man. That is only what we need to remember. We need young men who have such an exercise and care for God’s people and their souls. We need young men who would strive to walk by the help of the Spirit of God and shepherd God’s people. That’s what we are lacking to a certain extent—evangelists, and we’re lacking teachers. But more than all of these, we are lacking godly spiritual elders.

Some of you young men, perhaps you would have spoken to taking care of the church of God. Is there anything that has more dignity attached to it? I’m not sure—

Let me describe these men very briefly. You all know there are two principal terms that describe them. They are overseers and they are elders. And there are two primary responsibilities that they have: they are shepherds towards the saints, and they are stewards of God’s people.

So let’s think about these two principal terms very briefly. They are called overseers; that’s a word we have here in verse 2: “An overseer then must be blameless.” I keep referring to them as overseers. You say, “What exactly does that mean?”

Well, that describes the spiritual ministry or the duty of these individuals. In fact, that word for overseer is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to describe an individual who was overseeing a building project. It’s like the foreman who casts his eye over everything going on in the building project. He has an eye set on fitting quality and behavior to ensure that everything that is going on is to a fitting and correct standard.

An overseer is just watching over the activity of the assembly. They’re not looking for faults necessarily, but they are looking to see that the saints are displaying fitting behavior and that what is going on is of a fitting standard.

But the assembly that is being built—1 Corinthians 3—says, “If any man build on this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones”—not wood, hay, or stubble. So the local assembly is a building project. These overseers are just watching over the assembly that everything going on is of a fitting quality.

They are also called elders. Now, that doesn’t describe their spiritual ministry or duty so much. The word elder describes their spiritual maturity and dignity. The word elder has the idea of fatherly oversight.

In fact, it’s a word that goes all the way back to the Old Testament. When God’s people had come out of Egypt through the Exodus, Moses appointed certain elders over the people of God. These individuals had a fatherly oversight of the tribes and of the nations.

So here are individuals who, as far as their duty is concerned, they oversee, but as far as their dignity is concerned, they are older. They don’t have to be old in terms of age, but certainly, their spirituality is of such maturity that they can do that. That’s why they’re called elders.

Now, if that’s how they’re described, you ask, “What about their responsibility?” I’ll just mention this, and then we’ll get into spiritual gifts. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for. Their shepherds. That’s part of their responsibility. As shepherds, they’re standing before the flock. As shepherds, they are leading the flock as examples to them.

As shepherds, they must know the flock. As shepherds, they must feed the flock. As shepherds, they must protect the flock. That includes preserving the unity of the assembly. Remember the Lord Jesus in Matthew 9? By the way, Christ is the great shepherd of His sheep. He is the good shepherd. Shepherds in our local assembly are under-shepherds, under Him who is the great shepherd.

Remember the Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter 9, when He saw the multitude, He looked on them with compassion, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd, and He sought to bring them back together as one flock and unite them again. That’s what shepherds do—they’re interested in the spiritual unity of the flock.

If you take it to John 10, “I am the good shepherd.” The good shepherd gives His life for the flock. Here are individuals that don’t just know the sheep; they will protect the sheep, and they will be willing to sacrifice for them, even to the point of death.

And they’re not just shepherds towards the saints. Here’s one that’s often forgotten: Titus chapter 1. They are stewards of the Lord. You say, “What is that?” Paul says in Titus 1, “An overseer must be blameless as the steward of what?” They are administrators. They are overseers of what belongs to God. They have a responsibility to watch over it. Isn’t it a dignifying thing?

Now before I get to the gifts, let me show you Hebrews chapter 13. So those of you here tonight who are saints—who are part of the flock and not overseers—remember you are responsible. “Obey them that have the rule over you.” You say, “I knew it. They want to keep a big stick over me and just beat me.” It’s nothing like that at all.

Hebrews chapter 13: “Obey them that have the rule over you.” Literally, “Obey those that stand before you.” They must be the best spiritual example, and you are so persuaded by their manner of life and Christian living that you willingly yield to their kindness. It’s spiritual; it’s wise.

Obey them that have the rule over you. Now, I spent a lot of time going through that because, without those leaders and without the reciprocal and right response from the flock, we will not have a strong local assembly.

Now, those are these. What about the gifts of the Spirit of God? We thought about the guidance of Scripture. We thought about the government of shepherds. I want to talk to you about the gifts of the Spirit.

Now again, in the time that I have left, here comes a whole load of information. You take away as much as you can, and if you want more, I’ve got plenty of writings on this, including good quality paper, which everybody loves, a good diary to write things down. I have this material you just ask me for.

Now, let’s talk about the gifts of the Spirit. I’ve said already, and I’ll say it again, every single believer in the Lord Jesus has a spiritual gift. You say, “Define it for me. What exactly is a spiritual gift?” Well, the word in Greek is “charisma,” right? I’ve got bags of charisma, yes?

You’ve heard before of the charismatic movement. They should never have used that word. The word “charisma” comes from “charis,” which means grace. That’s just the Greek word used for a spiritual gift. When you talk about the charismatic movement, what it means is here is a group of Christians or a movement of Christians emphasizing—and may I say overemphasizing—spiritual gifts.

It is the word “charisma.” You say, “What does it mean?” Well, grace is its very center. So it’s a spiritual gift. Charisma denotes gifts given by the grace of God. You cannot earn spiritual gifts. If you long in your heart to be a teacher, you cannot earn that gift. You cannot merit that gift. If the Spirit of God hasn’t given you the gift, you haven’t got it.

It is something that is freely given by grace. If you read those various passages, you will find the Father gives gifts, the Son gives gifts (that’s Ephesians 4), and the Spirit of God gives gifts. Spiritual gifts come from the Godhead.

So if you don’t like the gift you’ve been given, don’t complain about it elsewhere. These gifts come from God Himself. We call them spiritual gifts because, and this comes from 1 Corinthians 12:7, they are manifestations of the Spirit. So gifts are Spirit-endowed, Spirit-enabled abilities. That is how you can see the evidence of the Spirit of God in a believer.

Not only does He produce fruit, but the gift given to that believer is a manifestation of the Spirit of God within them. So you do understand this, don’t you? Spiritual gift is not a natural gift, which has just been set apart for the work of the Lord. You say, “Naturally, I’m a brilliant football player. Can I devote that natural gift to the work of the Lord?” Well, it’s very difficult to find out! The Spirit shall give, and the Spirit will give.

When did you receive the Spirit? When did you sign? At that moment, when you believed, you were given gifts. You didn’t know what it was, but He gave you gifts. As you exercise them, they are manifestations of the presence of the Spirit of the Lord. Isn’t that wonderful?

Here’s what I think: we’re going to have to open one thing: it’s a big one. If you go to Ephesians 4, and you go to 1 Corinthians 12, and you go to Romans 12, and you look at the various lists of gifts, I am not sure that they are exhaustive. There are probably others.

But if you look at the lists of gifts that are given, I think that Paul gives us 20 different spiritual gifts. Now, Peter in 1 Peter 4 divides all the gifts into two categories. He says some of them are speaking gifts, like the evangelist—who will emphasize public speaking, the preaching of the gospel, and discussing the gospel with individuals. What about the teacher? That’s a speaking gift, too.

Here is an individual that communicates to God’s people the Word of God. What about an exhorter? Oftentimes, an exhorter is someone who stirs up the spirit. He encourages the saints through the communication of words. Peter says, of all those gifts, some of them are speaking, while all the other types of gifts are serving gifts; you don’t necessarily have to say anything to them.

He says, “It’s what you do.” You take action, ministering to others. Peter divides those gifts, and he says, “Look, you just divide them into those that are speaking and those that are serving.”

You can also divide— forgive me for saying this—gifts not into two, but into three groups. Some of those 20 gifts were revelatory gifts. We’ve already spoken about them. Especially in the early days of the church, when the Word of God was not complete, and God was doing such a new work through the church, and God’s people needed establishing in truth. There were certain gifts that revealed the Word of God.

We do not find these in the church today. God’s revelation is complete. Thank you! If anyone ever says to you, “I’ve received a word from the Lord; God has given me new revelation,” they are telling lies. The revelation is complete, but that was the case then.

So those revelatory gifts, like apostles and prophets, are not in operation today. There were also confirmatory gifts; you can call them, if you like, sign gifts. These were gifts God gave to confirm He was doing something new.

The preaching of the gospel and calling out the Gentiles from the nations to build the church offered a clear message that God had put Judaism to one side and finished with it. That means He was doing something new.

Whenever God does something new in Scripture, whether it’s Moses, Elijah, Elisha, the Lord Jesus, or the apostles, it is always marked by miraculous signatures. Healing, for example. Think about speaking in tongues, speaking languages not learned before by the individual. Those were confirmatory gifts God gave to show He was doing something new.

But today, we’re almost at the end of a project. There’s no need for revelatory gifts or confirmation. So, those are two categories. You say, “What are we left with?” We’re left with what I call contemporary gifts. I think there are some gifts that are contemporary today.

In fact, I suggest to you that there are 10 spiritual gifts that are contemporary to today—three of them are speaking gifts, and seven of them are serving gifts. I would expect, therefore, that the majority of believers have serving gifts rather than speaking gifts.

You say, “I’d love to know what they are.” Your wish is my command. Those speaking gifts—of course, there’s the evangelist; the evangelist deals in the salvation of souls. So do we all, but he is particularly gifted by the Spirit of God to communicate the gospel.

He speaks to individuals and makes inroads where the rest of us would just flounder. The evangelist is somebody who deals in the salvation of souls. Literally, he or she is a good news person.

You don’t have to stand on a platform like this to be an evangelist; you can be doing it with next-door neighbors. You can be a person who is tremendous at speaking to individuals you meet on a daily basis.

What about the teacher? The teacher is somebody who gives sustenance from the Word of God. The evangelist deals with the salvation of souls; the teacher gives sustenance from the Word of God.

Then there is the exhorter. The exhorter is an individual who stirs up the spirit; literally, he is a consoler. He kindles the fire within the saint. I’ve got to say he “winds” them up, but that might sound negative.

He really stirs them up to action as they exalt. Three contemporary—those are speaking gifts. Let me just tell you three contemporary serving gifts.

I love these! Everyone’s favorite gift— I want you just to shout out some gifts. Most of you would have said evangelist and most of you would have said teacher. Everybody’s favorite gift from those two was this: the gift of helps! That was it, wasn’t it? That’s what you were thinking about! I mean, not all blank faces!

The gift of helps! That’s a great gift, isn’t it? If you don’t fall into any other category, well, maybe I’m a helper. Do you know, I think the gift of helps is true and real!

You read about that in 1 Corinthians 12. Here’s an individual who supports the struggling. The gift of helps is a person who is particularly enabled by the Spirit to help others in times of need. The word literally means to lay your hand upon. Now, you’re not slapping them or anything; you’re laying your hand upon them in order to remove a burden from them.

“I come in just a little bit to help you with that difficulty that you have. I’m going to bear that burden for you.” That’s the gift of helps! Isn’t that lovely? There are saints who are particularly sensitive to needs, like my wife, for example. She can see the burdens that others are bearing. I, on the other hand, might miss them altogether.

But there are some who can see the burdens and possess that gift to be able to come alongside and bear that burden for someone else. Isn’t that lovely?

Romans 12:1 speaks about the gift of helps. Romans 12 also speaks about the gift of ministry. This is now not so much supporting the struggling; this is now serving the saints.

That’s what ministry means. Maybe you have got the gift of serving the saints. I’m thinking now of a believer in the assembly where I come from who certainly has the gift of ministry. He is constantly serving the saints. In fact, he’s more concerned about serving others than thinking about himself, whether it’s material needs, hospitality, lodging, or food; he’s constantly serving others.

We should all be serving, but there are some who are particularly enabled by the Spirit to do so. Showing mercy is also mentioned in Romans 12. Why all these gifts to God?

Helps, beautiful. Ministry, so meaningful. Showing mercy—individuals, who comfort the sorrowful, characterized by their kindness. I feel very fond of that one! Maybe that is where they want to be a teacher! The children will cry and say, “Just don’t cry for someone else. Just take care of me!”

But my kids are moaning and groaning, “Don’t moan and groan to anybody else!” I don’t seem to have much energy. What do these individuals do? If someone is sorrowful, they have particular compassion for them.

In this kind of spirit. Now, those are just three examples of certain gifts, and I’ve given you three examples of speaking gifts. I will close with this. I really want you to take this in. How has God gifted you? Stick to your gifting! Get engaged in the life of the assembly, and it will become obvious.

Peter says, “Since you’ve received it, you’ve received it to serve one another as good stewards of the glorious, multi-colored grace of God.” Use that gift to serve so that, in all things, says Peter, God might be glorified. That’s the point of gifts, isn’t it? Not so that I might look good or you look good, but the point of gifts is to build us up and ultimately to glorify God.

Meetings of the assembly

I appreciate that introduction. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. I want to do more introductions like that. Excellent style from the preacher. Well, as you said, you heard that was informative and excellent. And I know you’ve done that. Alright, well, these are the things the assembly is going to consider together tonight. There are a number of points that I want to bring before you, and we certainly will mention and develop all of the assembly gatherings that Scripture teaches us about. But there’s a principle here in the literature that I want to show and develop just a little later on. So we’re going to speak about the principle of our gathering, which will be just towards the end of the meeting. We’re looking for a principle in this particular verse: Deuteronomy 12, verse number five. Now, I know that this is under the law, and I know that God is speaking about the people of Israel and just exactly where they would meet and gather when they came into the land. But the principle stands good, and you’ll see why in a moment.

So, verse 5 of Deuteronomy 12: “But unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there. Even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come.” The Lord was going to choose a place, and in that place, He would establish His name. It was to that place that God’s people would gather. Later, in verse 6, “Hither you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your eve offerings of your hand, your lambs.” And all of those things—they couldn’t just offer them wherever they wanted to; they had to bring them to the place where God had established His name. That place, right at the beginning when they came into the land, was a place called Shiloh. But later on, of course, it became Jerusalem. And so, where the temple was built in Jerusalem, that was the place of the name. It was the place where God’s people used to go in order to worship Him.

Now, of course, in Matthew’s Gospel—and you know, I’m sure, where I’m going to read—Matthew chapter 18 has the same kind of principle, but now in the New Testament and in relation to our Christian traditions. Not the Old Testament, not Judaism, not Israel, but the church now. Matthew 18 and verse 20: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” That, using similarity to these times, is gathering unto the name—not this time the name of God as such, or the name of Jehovah, but now it is the name of the Lord Jesus. And now this gathering to His name is not just in one single place, as it was in the Old Testament from Jerusalem. But now, actually, says the Lord Jesus, wherever two or three have been gathered together. He says, “There am I in the midst of them.”

So this is not just a New Testament principle; it has its foundation in the Old Testament, and we do want to talk about that principle of our gathering later on. Now let’s just turn to Acts chapter 4.

First of all tonight, I want to talk to you about the purpose of our gatherings. For what purpose and what reason do Christians gather together on an open Sunday? Now, you know I’m sure that the Book of Acts tells us of seven different local church gatherings. There’s also an eighth one, which is in First Corinthians, so I’ll mention all of them, and we’ll turn to them just as we get to them. But in Acts chapter 4 and verse 31, it says, “And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together.” That’s the key word. If you follow that word through, which is the Greek word sunago. And sorry for all these Greek lessons; I’ve been throwing Greek words at you all of these nights. But that word sunago, which is translated here as “assembled together”, has the idea of people collecting together for a particular purpose.

On this occasion, in Acts chapter 4, Christians have been assembling together for prayer. So, here is our mandate for the local assembly prayer meeting, and it says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. Now we will look forward to this, but let’s cover it with chapter 11, verse 25: “Then he parted Barnabas to Tarsus for to seek Saul. And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch.” And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church. Now there’s the word again: to gather together. A company of Christians, a company of believers is gathering together for a specific purpose. You say, “What’s their purpose this time?” Well, prayer is not mentioned this time. They assembled themselves with the church, and they taught much people. So there’s your mandate now—not for the prayer meeting, but for the Bible teaching meeting. That’s what we’re doing tonight: Christians gathering together for the teaching of the word of God.

So, we expect a local assembly to have prayer meetings, and we expect a local assembly to have Bible teaching meetings. Those are two of the seven gatherings in the Book of Acts. And it says the disciples were called Christians in Antioch. Now, one more verse I think we’ll read is in the epistle to the Hebrews—Hebrews chapter 10. I said I was going to reduce the number of points that I’m going to speak on tonight. Well, tough luck—I’ve increased it. Sorry about that. I’m not sorry at all.

We’ll talk about the purpose of our gatherings. We’ll speak about the principle of our gathering, and then right at the end of the meeting I want to talk to you about the priority of gathering together. If you go there, I’m reading verse 24. The apostle says—I’m not sure if the apostle was, but it certainly wasn’t Paul—he says, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but rather exhorting one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.”

So that must be, wasn’t it, the priority of gathering together. We must not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. That’s all we’re going to read, but I would like to please just turn back to the Book of Acts, and I want you to keep that open because I am going to take you to various references in the Book of Acts. If not, just to keep me awake, but at least it keeps you turning the pages, and you can see these various gatherings and reasons for which Christians were gathering together.

So, very simply this evening, what I want to do as I talk to you about the meetings of the assembly is I’m going to talk to you first of all—and this will take the vast majority of our meeting—I want to talk to you about the purpose of our gatherings. I hope you know, and I hope in your minds you’re not writing them down, you can think of the various reasons for which Christians gather together that are given to us in the Book of Acts. And there is one in First Corinthians. I hope in your mind you can think about the various reasons, the purposes of the gathering. Why do Christians gather together? We know they gather together to pray. We know they gather together for the teaching of the Word of God. But there are a number of other assembly gatherings that we need to see and know. So, we’re going to emphasize the purpose of these gatherings, and that will take us the vast majority of our time.

Then just towards the end of the meeting—so you’ll know when we’re getting towards the end—I want to talk to you about the great principle of our gathering. Now, that just brings great dignity and honor to our gathering. You say, “What’s the point in gathering together to pray? What’s the point in gathering together that we are tonight to teach the Word of God?” I can see some relevance, some importance, but listen: the importance of the dignity and the variety of gathering together as a local assembly is because of that wonderful principle in that verse. “Where two or three are gathered together.” You say, “Well, it makes it worthwhile, doesn’t it?” That’s why you say, “Well, yes, it’s good to pray as a company.” You say, “Yes, I need to know more about the Word of God. I like to be taught.” Let me tell you, the Lord Jesus is here. That makes every assembly ever worthwhile.

So I do want to spend a bit of time just looking at that statement in Matthew 18 and speaking about the principle of our gathering. And then finally, right at the end of the meeting—and this will just be a very light touch. It will be a little pat on the back as you are making, well, it might not be, it might be a bit more firmly. But anyway, a little pat on the back as you’re making your way out of the building. And the Hebrews says it’s about the priority of gathering ourselves together.

So first of all then, what about the purpose of our gatherings? Now, Acts 1:4, looking at verse 31: “When they had prayed,” it says, “the place was shaken where they were assembled together.” Now, I recommend that you do this. You’ve got no excuse not to do this. With all of the resources that we have at our fingertips, with all of the Bible study resources that are easily available online, or even those really old dusty things that are called books, it is possible to find a Greek word and to trace it all the way through the New Testament. And when we read in Acts chapter 4, verse 31, of the saints assembling themselves together, that is using a Greek word, sunago—S-U-N-A-G-O. I’ve got no excuse now.

Sunago, this word which describes the assembling and the gathering of Christians. It doesn’t have to be Christians, but the assembling and the gathering of people together for a specific purpose and a particular reason. And these Christians are gathering together in Acts chapter 4 for the purpose of prayer. Now, I suppose—and I know that this was before the church was formed in Acts chapter 2—but really, this goes right back to the day in which the Lord Jesus was raised in the world. You read about that in John 20. And do you remember that in John chapter 20, the disciples were tucked away in an upper room? That’s a great study, my friends. That room was a remarkable room. That is a room, actually, that bridges dispensations. I invite you to go home. I tell you that room work is building up already. I invite you to go home and have a little study of the upper room. All that took place in that room. And what all of you just taught in that room. It’s a room that literally bridges the dispensations. You’ll find it at the end of the Gospels. You’ll find it in the Book of Acts and when the church has been formed.

But in John chapter 20, on resurrection day, the disciples find themselves tucked away in the upper room. The door is locked for fear of the Jews. What happened? It says when they were assembled together on the first day of the week. That’s why Sunday—the first day of the week—became so significant to Christians—because it was the day in which the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. The first day of the week. And there were those disciples tucked away in that upper room for fear of the Jews. And as they were sunago, assembled together, He appeared right in their very midst and said, “Peace be unto you.” Isn’t that a wonderful day? Constantly slow, physically, mid-jump, on resurrection ground, right in the middle of His disciples as they were gathered.

I don’t think this is any different in the 70s. I know that Christ physically, literally, is in heaven and in the moment. Isn’t that wonderful that 2,000 years later—and maybe this isn’t an upper room, but it’s like an upper room—here are Christians gathered together. A wonderful thing is Christ is here in this assembly. Everything that you do, everything that you say as Christians now. So as you follow that word through, you’ll find seven times in the Book of Acts, seven times Christians are gathering together for different reasons, and we want to talk about these meetings of the assembly and the purpose for which they gathered together.

Let me make one broad general statement, and I hope it doesn’t upset anyone. Every time we read of a Christians gathering, every single one of those gatherings was for all of the assembly. Now, the one gathering I’m speaking about is the elders’ meeting. I suppose you wouldn’t so much call that an assembly gathering because not the whole assembly is invited. But the Book of Acts tells us of occasions when the elders and overseers, the shepherds—they’re the same people—gather together for the specific and particular purpose of shepherding each other and discussing matters that have arisen in relation to the flock and the assembly. And that was a meeting gathering specifically for the elders. But on every other page, the assembly gathering was for the whole assembly. Everyone was invited. No one was excused. And in fact, everyone was expected to be there.

So that really puts an end to gathering specifically for women, and it puts an end to gathering specifically for men, because the Bible doesn’t teach that. Every assembly gathering was for the whole assembly. Now, how about Acts chapter 4, verse 32? Here is the first gathering: “When they were assembled together, they assembled together for the purpose of prayer.” Now, I said to you tonight, of all of these assembly gatherings—and we’ve mentioned a few—which of them is the most important? You would all say to me, “Brother, Daniel, you’re trying to catch me out. I know that all of these gatherings are important. I know we love the breaking of bread. I know that’s the first meeting we have on the first day of the week to remember the Lord Jesus, and that must have some significance.”

But I know every assembly gathering we have, on the basis of what you’ve just said, Christ is there. Every assembly gathering must be of equal importance. Not according to Paul. The apostle Paul says, “There is one gathering which should…” Now, by the way, that was wrong. Every assembly happens in Paul. Well, what was that? It’s interesting that Paul will emphasize, and Paul will say, “First of all,” which means first in order, first in priority. It means prayer. You know the priority. That’s what I agree with what I’m talking about.

Just turn across to First Timothy. In First Timothy, Paul describes the local assemblies as a household of God. It’s a household belonging to God. And this is what he says in First Timothy 2. Paul has a great deal to say about the local assemblies in this epistle. After he’s made his greetings in chapter 1, he comes to chapter 2, and this is the first thing that he says. Chapter 2, verse 1: “I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.” Verse 2: “For kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” Verse 8: “I will therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.”

Now, this means that the males—not just human beings, the males—they pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands. Which doesn’t mean to say that when you lead the company in prayer, you don’t need to wave your hands around; it’s metaphorical. These males that are leading the saints in prayer, they are able to, as far as themselves are concerned, lead the company in holiness and glory. And there’s a holy character that pertains to the individual. They’re living a holy life. Without those who are—that is, they don’t have difficulties or troubles or problems with other saints.

And without doubting—do not doubt that God is who asks for the prayer they’re offering. Paul is speaking about the local assembly, friends. That is the first gathering—the Christians in that local assembly gather to pray. Paul says it is of the utmost importance. And in fact, the house of God, as the context is, cannot function properly, and it cannot function effectively unless the saints have gathered. Now you go to the audience—the priority of the assembly is absolutely massive. If we don’t do anything to do, as Virginia used to say, “It’s the heart and soul of any assembly.” It’s the priority.

You say, “What are we praying for?” Oh, Paul says, “Pray for all men.” He says, “Pray for everyone. Pray for all men.” You know, the context in which he gives that is verse 4: “Because God will have all men to be saved.” That’s why we pray for them there. And because Christ is the mediator between God and men, that’s why you pray for all men. Is you what Paul’s saying? Christ has died for all. Therefore, we have a responsibility. And I know locally we have contacts in the surrounding areas; we’re not praying for everyone in the world, that’s absurd. But we’re able to pray for everyone around about us and those that we know who aren’t saved because Christ died for them. He says, “I want you to pray for all men.” He says, “I want you to pray for kings. I want you to pray for those who are in authority.” He says, “I’m not really into politics. I don’t mind praying for political parties.”

Why do you pray for them? These individuals that have authority in the lands and countries to which we belong—why do we pray for them? Well, says Paul, “So you can have a quiet and peaceable life.” No, he doesn’t say that. He says you pray for them that they might be quiet and peaceable. Why do we want a quiet and peaceable life? So that we might be able to continue to spread the gospel and preach it without interference from the government. That’s what you’re speaking about in that context. I tell you, it brings tremendous dignity, doesn’t it? Good friends! I want to say what all that occurred to you behind my son. President, remember me when you pray.

And it’s your responsibility to lead the assembly publicly and audibly in prayer. When you pray, as a public leader, you are leading the congregation. Do not pray, “Father.” You can pray “Father” when you’re at home and while you’re still. That’s “Father.” But when they’re in the assembly, you pray in the whole company. You pray, “Lord, we pray,” because this is collective and this is corporate. And after you’ve made that sin for me, the Lord speaks about that, by the way. He says, “If two or three of you shall agree on earth as concerning anything that you shall ask,” he says, “it shall be done for my Father which is in heaven.”

But he says, “You must agree on earth.” Make a symphony together. So the brother prays on behalf of all. So we must be sure that what he’s praying is going to be acceptable and commended by all. And at the end of the prayer, he will say, “Amen.” And the company will join in saying, “Amen,” won’t we? Because we’re all making a sin before God. Tremendous dignity, tremendous opportunity to see the face of the Lord in Christ.

Watch out for the information well. Don’t forget the ministry. Some saints want all the other saints to know that there’s a particular matter weighing on their hearts. They don’t know what it is, but let me tell you, during their prayer, they’re going to find out what it is. And you find out. So there’s ten-five minutes in prayer informing your saint what the issue is. Don’t forget when you’re saying that. The Father knows it all and wants to hear it from you. But you don’t inform the saints. You inform them before the prayer begins so they can all join with you in prayer.

Watch out for the innuendo prayer. Oh, the innuendo prayer is a terrible thing. That’s when you’re really digging at someone else in the meeting. If you’re not thinking about who you’re praying to, you must be careful there. “Lord, we know how important unity is. We wish we knew—or we wish our brother so-and-so knew how important unity was.” If knowing this is just to sit there and end up praying. So what do lies in? That’s mocking. Remember when you’re speaking to Him?

All kinds of prayers like that, aren’t there? We’re at the international prayer meeting. This is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Some say, well, they start in the US, of course, and maybe they start in the US. Not right, Uncle, but they start in the US. Maybe all the way around the world, two or three times before they sit down. They’re not just sitting there. That’s the international prayer meeting. Now listen, there’s nothing wrong with specific prayers, and missions specifically, and issues specifically around the world. But don’t forget the person who lives next door to you; the door next door—you know, the people that live around this door? Maybe no one is praying for them. You say the war in Israel, the war in Gaza, the war in Ukraine? We should pray for those situations, so we should. Or there will be millions praying for those issues. Who is praying for your next door neighbor?

Let you know—it’s our responsibility in this local meeting to pray for those around. Throughout the whole life. When in First James, we preached in a synagogue to the Jews about Christ Jesus, the Messiah, and his resurrection. And the next Sabbath, they all gathered together to hear this message in more detail.

Look at verse 44 in Acts 13. The next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together. They came together—sunago—they assembled to hear the word of God. This is a meeting for the purpose of preaching the gospel. And I understand that there’s not a specific assembly in view here, and it doesn’t say that Christians met together. But Paul, as was his custom, had been in the synagogue. He had preached to them Jesus as the Christ. They said, “We want to hear more of this next Sabbath.” And next Sabbath, he’s not even in the synagogue; there are too many meetings. But this doesn’t tell us exactly where he was. Maybe he was outside of the synagogue, maybe he was in a public place, but the whole city, including Christians, are gathering for the purpose of preaching the gospel. And many accepted the offer of eternal life, and many believed.

Do you remember Acts chapter 2? They gladly received His word, Peter preached, they were saved, the assembly was added to. My friend, gospel preaching and gathering together for the preaching of the gospel, whether in the hall or outside of the hall, is vital and should be prioritised. You know, I’ll never forsake the preaching of the gospel. Sometimes in England, we have a very small assembly, a very small gospel meeting, and on some occasions, there are no unsaved people in the meeting. You say, “Well, do something else.” Preaching the gospel is our mandate. It’s scriptural—it honors God and glorifies His Son. If there’s no one saved in the gathering, what is the purpose of it? It encourages the saints; it builds up the saints. There may be individuals there that you think are saved and are not saved at all.

We must honour the gospel; reach the impossible; see these gatherings? We’re gathering in prayer. We’re gathering for preaching the gospel.

Look at Acts chapter 11. We’re moving a bit quicker; I know I’m going backwards. This is my personal flavour. Acts chapter 11, verse 26—we read it together. Barnabas is looking for Saul. When he found Saul, he brought him to Antioch—not now Antioch in Pisidia, the first Antioch from where they went out as missionaries. And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, gathering for the purpose of teaching the Word of God that Christians gather together to teach the Word of God.

Please, can I just throw out the word to those of you who are shepherds? Shepherds have a responsibility to the flock to make sure that the flock is fed. How will they be fed? They’ll be fed by the teaching of the Word. You say, “Which bit?” Just the best we want. Just the bits we understand—mostly the New Testament, because the New Testament wrote the language? No, the whole counsel of the blood of God. Now shepherds and sheep—if you start complaining that they’re not being fed, shepherds teach the people of God the whole counsel of the Word of God.

They should be getting a diet of Old Testament; they should be getting a diet of New Testament; they should be getting a diet of good brethren, gifted brethren to teach who are taking up specific subjects. They should be getting a diet of consecutive Bible teaching—verse by verse, chapter by chapter. There should be opportunities for brethren to speak what is on their minds and hearts. No subject. There should be opportunities for handfuls of purpose—that’s what Ruth was given. The shepherds say, “There’s something that needs to be addressed here. There’s a problem that we need to address there. Let us have a ministry meeting on it.” The whole counsel of the Word of God.

When was the last time the saints were taught from the Song of Solomon? When was the last time they were taught from the servant’s song of Isaiah? When was the last time you went through Romans? Fundamental truth? Hebrews? Fundamental truth? I dare say you should have a question. Let me book in the Bible on it, and you should know that when you last visited that particular section of the Word of God, it is essential that the people of God are well-fed, well-taught, grounded and founded in all that Martha said to him, “I want him.” You know what Paul said to Timothy? He said, “Timothy, everything that you’ve heard from me,” he says, “I want you to commit that to faithful men.”

We have an outstanding heritage of truth. It’s our responsibility to see to it that the saints are well grounded in that truth, and that truth is passed on to the generations of the enemy. So they were gathering for a Bible teaching.

How long did it take? 15? Of that, verse 30. Here’s another gathering: “So when they were dismissed.” Now I’ll fill that in just a little later, but individuals are being sent away from an elders meeting and apostles meeting in Jerusalem. And when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch. And when they had gathered the multitude together, here is another assembly gathering in the assembly at Antioch. And this assembly was for the deliverance of the letter. There was a letter that was written by the apostles in Jerusalem. And that letter was read in the hearing of the saints of Antioch.

Verse 31: “Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation or the exhortation of that letter.” You say, “What was this gathering for?” This gathering was for the reading of the Word. Do you know what I mean? There was a letter which is recorded for us in Acts 15. It’s Scripture. There was a letter that was sent from Jerusalem, and the whole assembly was gathered together to listen to the reading of the Word. Now we have a downer of when that word was read.

The individual who was reading it was probably giving the sense or making comments about that which he had read. We’re gathering together to read the Word. Well, of course, there’s a tune—he writes a tune—he says, “Timothy, I want you to give yourself to reading.” He wasn’t saying to Timothy, “Tuck yourself away in the study, get a whole load of books down from the shelf, and just read all that.” He wasn’t saying it. He was saying in the assembly to him, “It’s essential that you read the Word of God to the people of God.” Why? What do you think about that? You can’t all read.

And I dare say to them, “I’m not going to read.” There are some saints who aren’t reading the Word. Interesting, but there was a gathering for the reading of the Word of God. I want to get it back in the Old Testament. You think about Ezra. Think about what Nehemiah 8 says of Ezra: so they read the book of the law. They read the Word of God distinctly, and they gave the sense, and they caused those who were listening to understand the reading.

Now that’s really what our Bible reading meeting should be like. It is one of those teaching meetings. But brethren who are gifted should be reading the Word of God, speaking plainly and giving the sense of what the verses and the chapters are teaching. And it’s part of the teaching of this meeting. And there should be gifted men who are able to make comments and to give the sense of what is contained therein, or at least they will lead the reading.

And so, what’s our favourite? Well, turn to Acts chapter 20, and if you’re counting, this is number 5. Acts 20 and verse 6. Luke says, “We sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread and came to Troas in five days, where we abode for seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples sunago gathered together.” Why? They gathered together to break bread.

I suspect that this meeting was probably in the evening of the first day of the week. I say that because a lot of them would have been working during the day. I also say that because Paul was preaching after the meeting until nighttime. But why will they gather together? They gather together, not like that one again. On the first day of the week, when Christians gather together in worship. Every meeting has an element of worship too.

But that meeting in particular—we gather together for the remembrance of the first week. Whether it’s the breaking of the bread or the drinking of the cup, we are bound together; those who have the privilege of taking those, we are bound together in fellowship. And we continue to do that on the first day of the week, every week. We continue to do it in remembrance of the Lord Jesus.

So that would be true; it’s not given any prescriptions by the running block. Even when the Lord Jesus established it in the upper room, and Paul recounts some of that detail in First Corinthians 11, he’s talking about the importance of those emblems and the fellowship that we’re displaying by taking part in those emblems. Now that meeting is characterized by many aspects of worship. We are there to remember the Lord Jesus. Worship is the adoration of a person. It’s not even so much what the person has done; it’s who the person is. The character of that person. Worship basically is what we give to God by reason of what He is in His person.

And that meeting should really be characterized by brethren or sisters singing, who are just offering up their appreciation of the charity of the Lord Jesus—the One who died here. What must the saints have to say about? Here’s what worries me about some of those gatherings—they’re so packed with anything. The Father doesn’t get much of truth about what the saints think of His Son.

I’m not decrying the sin, and those songs can help us in our appreciation of the Lord Jesus. The Father wants to hear what we love our eyes to say, and I can’t. Those meetings sometimes, they’re so full of Him, and if they’re not full of Him, they’ll bore a slate of course as they seek to see. The hearts of the saints then have much to say in that way. Stand up, it doesn’t have to be ten minutes; it doesn’t have to be eloquently briefed; it could be a word spoken—a world who just stands to his feet, stands for two sentences, and just verbally gives worship, as long as he’s appreciating the Father!

You understand the difference? We will often fall into thanking God for what He’s done, and thanking the Lord Jesus for what He did, and the blessings that we receive as a result of Calvary, but don’t make the meeting about you. And don’t fall into that habit of thanksgiving on that occasion. Thanksgiving is so true. From that meeting, I just want to remember.

I don’t know what a meeting is like here; I haven’t been at one. I do. So look out! I go to a number of those meetings and I can often have a feeling of a real burden in my soul—a real burden that the saints didn’t really want to understand. The help of the very hard progress—what must the Father of the old meeting? That’s what the meeting’s for.

Now, there are three that hold; two that are left in the Book of Acts, and there is one in First Corinthians 3. The two that are left in the Book of Acts are—and you can write down a reference, and we’ll do it later—Acts chapter 14 and verse 27 is the missionary report meeting. You’ll find that Paul and Barnabas went away on their first missionary journey. And when they completed that missionary journey, they came back to the assembly that had commended them to that service. And when they came back to the assembly in Antioch, they rehearsed. They gave a report when the saints were gathered. They reported what the Lord had been doing through them on that journey.

Well, for occasions, the missionary report meeting—it’s good for the saints to gather together when the occasion calls for it. Perhaps you have a missionary in town. It’s good for the saints to gather together to hear a missionary report. And the seventh gathering in the Book of Acts—Acts 15 and verse 6—the elders and the apostles and the elders in the assembly of Jerusalem, they called together a meeting to discuss a particular doctrinal matter. And that was whether or not the Gentiles should be circumcised—those who had believed the gospel.

And the fact that Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, and was going out preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, Gentiles were being saved. Should they be circumcised? Should they be obeying the law? To see how important that conference was—a serious, doctrinal matter that those elders needed to address. And then, of course, the outcome of that discussion was sent by letter to the assembly all around there—it was the elders meeting!

Now, we want all of those gatherings. We love all of those gatherings. There’s one more gathering in First Corinthians 5, and it’s the 18th. And that is a meeting for assembly discipline. An individual there who has taken them in fornication. The assembly has received that individual, because the assembly receives to the fellowship of itself. And if the assembly receives, the assembly also puts out of their fellowship. The elders will give guidance, wisdom, and direction—the assembly receives and the assembly puts out. Paul says, “I’m sorry that you’re going to have to gather.” In order that this man might be disciplined, in order that he might have power-shipping in the assembly. We don’t know what that means—well, it is one who assemblies dead.

That was most of the meeting—the purpose of our gathering. Now finally, I want to talk to you about the great principle of our gathering. This is what brings such dignity and such warmth to all of our hearts. You remember Matthew 18:20. I hope we recycle it almost on a daily basis. There’s a wonderful principle in it: remember what the Lord Jesus said. He said, “Where two or three are gathered together.” Now let me just delve you into some of the grammar of the verse. Where two or three are is the smallest possible company of believers, isn’t it? Two. That’s all it is; you couldn’t call it a company or assembly if there was one or two. So where there are two or three, He says, where two or three are having been and still being gathered together. You know that’s in the passive, which means that someone or something has operated upon these individuals to gather them together.

You say, “Do gather food.” It’s just the very principle—the root principle of all of our gathering. As a local assembly, you say, “Do you want to walk out of them?” The Spirit of God won’t. I’m sorry, you just can’t go out there and create the breaking of bread. You can’t go out there on a cruise and just create a local assembly. Because the Spirit of God established a local assembly. And in the history of this place, there will have been a movement of the Spirit of God that saw souls saved through the preaching of the gospel, and the Spirit gathered them together.

We can’t create assembly. We can’t create breaking of bread meetings; they are always associated with an established assembly. Where two or three are having been and continuing to be gathered. And they were gathered by the Spirit of God. Listen to what the Lord said; they’re gathering unto my name. You say, “Why does it say they’re gathering unto my name? Why doesn’t it just say they’re gathering unto me?” Because this was going to characterize a theory of when the Lord Jesus was multi-physically present. We gather in His name because physically He is in heaven. Physically, He’s not here. Therefore, we gather unto His name. That has tremendous significance. If we’re gathering unto His name, it speaks of His authority. He is the sole authority for our gathering; He is the sole authority in our gathering. All that we do is done with His consent, and one day it is authority; we gather for the Word of it.

It also has the idea of association, not just authority, but association. We’re not gathering in the name of Daniel Walsh; we’re not gathering in the name of Mr. Biden; we’re gathering in the name of the Lord, which means we represent Him. It means we are associated with Him, which means that we gather in consistency with who He is, His character, and His virtues and His attributes. You’re gathered in the authority and into the association of theology—to something else in you.

It also has the idea of attraction, because Christ is there. In spirit, He is like a magnet; He’s drawing us all together. He is the one that—I don’t know if I used the word—we’re all being sucked together like a magnet, but we’re all being drawn together with one another. Why? Gathering mountains in the sun!

I know you want to see; I know you want to talk to the sun; I know you want to see the sun. But they’re here because you love power! Absolutely. Where two or three are—in a particular place, they’ve been gathered there by the Spirit of God. Where two or three are, having been gathered together in the past, and they’re still gathering together under the name of Christ and all that means—He says, “I’m there. I’m there in the midst of you!”

The old thought of our presence of God. In Hebrews chapter 13 it says, “I will never, no never, no never leave you.” In that honourable problem—the presence of God—well, that’s a different one. Our presence in Hebrews chapter 13 is His comforting presence with us in the midst of trial, tribulation and suffering. He says, “I will never leave you.” He’s saying if you’re going through troubles, He’s there to comfort you. Well, that’s not the Matthew 18 presence of God. Remember, at the end of Matthew’s Gospel—the Great Commission—the Lord says, “I want you to go and make disciples.” And lo, I am with you always.

Now that’s not the comforting presence of Christ in suffering; that’s His empowering presence in service. “Go and preach, and I am with you.” You say, “What about Matthew 18?” This is the gathering of goodness. We know that comforting presence in our suffering as individuals; we know that empowering presence in our service as we go out. But the gathering presence with His Son is the promise of Matthew 18. How did you have shot him already chasing that with the doing?

If Christ is really good, I think He is. I believe He is. If Christ is really here, I want to take my say that. It should bring real dignity in my domain. Even if the preacher is horrible, I don’t want to do this. I’ll study; I’ll try and give interest. My lovely attitude, my language—dare I say, mindless.

There isn’t a beautiful government; there isn’t a dress code, but there should be dignity to the way we dress. Christ is here. Dare I say, my timekeeping? Only Christ get here when we started at Did this gathering of presence get here when the second person came into the hall? Because where two or three are? You say, “Well, after grace, we’ll speak to get here first or second so that we can enjoy the presence of Christ.” Or did He get here? I’m not trying to read it. Did His presence amongst us begin the moment that our brother stood up formally, and started that?

And will we be here until the moment the brother formally closes the meeting? It’s a gathering presence, and how shameful if we’re not here to honour that presence of your love.

And His great dignity to everything you need. So, I close with this statement: the purpose of our gathering, the principle of our hill, the priority of you! If Christ is you, I want to be. Those saints that the apostle was writing to—the Jews—they would lose. They were Christians, but they came out of Judaism, and they were being persecuted because they had left Judaism. And they were gathering together unto a rejected, despised Christ to sign with Him.

Maybe, a suffering good. Some of them were just starting to look back to an easier life. “Perhaps we should go back to a bit of Judaism; things will be much simpler for.” He says, “Listen.” He says, “Whatever you do.” You can imagine that some of those individuals would not want to gather with the Christians in a public way because of all the persecution that was associated with it. “Oh, we saw so-and-so going to that Christian gathering again?”

The apostle says, “Whatever you do, he says, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner and the habit of some is.” And I hope that this hits some of you right between the eyes. What the apostle really said—he was saying, if you deliberately and persistently abandon the assembling of yourself with the Christians, you are in danger of abandoning the Lord of the sea.

But the same is, “You should make it your priority; you should build your life and your timetable around this assembly.” And it’s gathering that we forsake—not we. Priority. It’s a very global decision, wouldn’t it?

Members of the assembly

John chapter 1, verse 1, John chapter 1. Now, it is very good to see everyone here again tonight. Thank you for coming. I think our numbers have grown a little since yesterday evening. If the week goes on like this, we shall need another hall or open up another floor or something like that. It really is good to see folks. I know that some assemblies have made a good effort to be here tonight. We do appreciate that, and we trust that the Lord will bless us and help us as we consider His Word together.

We are thinking these nights on the subject of the local assembly. Last night, we made a distinction between the church, which is the body of Christ, and I called that the great assembly, if you will. Then we made a distinction between that and the local assembly. Now, we’re going to concentrate tonight and in the days that lie ahead on the lovely truth in relation to the local assembly. Yesterday evening, we were thinking about the meaning of the assembly, just what the word Ecclesia means, and making those distinctions. Tonight, we’re going to think about the members of the assembly, and our focus will be on local assembly fellowship. Today, we will talk about those who belong to the company of a local church.

So that’s where we have been, and that’s where we’re going tonight, and we look, as always, to the Lord to bless us and help us. So good to see you, and thank you for being here. Now, let’s turn to 1 John chapter 1. The reason for reading these verses will become evident in just a moment, but John opens up his epistle like this: he says, “…that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled.” John, of course, is speaking about the Lord Jesus, and he’s speaking about the privilege that was his as an apostle to see Christ, to look upon Him, even to handle Him with his hands.

John says he was from the beginning and that which is the Word of life. He says that the life was manifested. Christ is the life, and He was manifested. And John says, “We’ve seen Him, and we bear witness and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested unto us.” So John is communicating, as an apostle, the great privilege of being with the Lord Jesus, the one who is the very manifestation of God’s life, the manifestation of eternal life. John says, “We saw Him, we handled Him, we heard Him.” He says, “What we learned of Him, we’re now communicating that to you.”

So, in verse 3, “That which we have seen and heard, we declare unto you.” These Christians, to whom he was writing, had not had the privilege of seeing Him and handling Him as John had. John says, “I’m telling you all about this. We, as apostles, are declaring Him unto you.” Why, John? “That ye also may have fellowship with us.” Tonight, I’m going to speak to you about fellowship, particularly about local assembly fellowship. But John here is speaking about a different kind of fellowship. This is what we are going to call family fellowship.

John says to these believers, “You Christians, you believers in the Lord Jesus, you share something in common with us.” That’s the apostles. The word fellowship means to share something with someone else, whether that be responsibilities or privileges. You share something in common with another. So, John says to these believers, “You have fellowship with us, the apostles.” Right? And truly, our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Now, let me tell you, those are remarkable statements. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus tonight, you share something in common with the apostles of old. You share something in common with John and with Peter and with Andrew, and they, in turn, share something in common with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

You might wonder, what could we possibly share in common with these apostles of old? And what can we possibly share in common with God the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ? I’ll tell you—eternal life. That’s what you share in common with those apostles of old. That’s what you share in common with the Father. And it’s all through faith in the Lord Jesus. We have been brought into the good of eternal life; it’s the life of God. Isn’t that remarkable? It’s something we share in common with those apostles of old, even something we share in common with the Father.

So here is a fellowship of sorts, and it’s the fellowship of eternal life. It’s a family fellowship, and every believer in the Lord Jesus enjoys that fellowship. Now, we will come back to that and mention it just in a moment. Let’s turn to the Book of Acts. Please turn back to the Book of Acts because we’re not talking about that family fellowship tonight; we’re talking about local church fellowship, assembly fellowship, and that is a different kind of fellowship. But still, the word means the same—something that is shared in common with others.

So, Acts chapter 2 is where we are. This is the day of Pentecost. We spoke about this yesterday evening. This was the day in which the church began; the church was formed. Peter, of course, was preaching on this day of Pentecost. In verse 37 of Acts chapter 2, now when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts, and they said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Peter said unto them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For this promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Peter continued preaching. Now look at these two verses; they are vital. And again, we’ve got the mention of this word fellowship, but this is not the fellowship of eternal life. This is now a local assembly fellowship.

Look at verse 41. “Then they that gladly received his word…” So they believed the gospel; they became Christians. Their faith was in the Lord Jesus. “They that gladly received his word, they were baptized, and the same day, there were added about 3,000 souls.” Now, you understand that the souls that have been mentioned so far in the Book of Acts were 120 individuals who were meeting in the upper room in Jerusalem. Now that these 3,000 have been saved on this day of Pentecost, they are being added to the number of souls that were already gathering in Jerusalem.

Now, there were more Christians than that because, remember when the Lord Jesus appeared in resurrection? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that He appeared to 500 brethren on one single occasion. So there were more than 120 Christians at this time, but it was to the 120 who were meeting in Jerusalem that these 3,000 were added. Now, you say, that’s a huge local assembly. What did they do when they met together—for the teaching of the Word of God and the preaching of the gospel? You might say, that’s a huge local assembly, 3,120 saints. But just remember that there were a lot of people visiting Jerusalem at this time; it was festival time. It was the day of Pentecost.

So, I suspect that the vast majority of that number, in just a few days, would have been going home, and they would have been taking the gospel that they had heard preached by Peter into various other cities and regions. It’s not necessarily that they all joined the local assembly in Jerusalem. But nevertheless, listen to what the scripture says: there were added unto them after their salvation and baptism about 3,000 souls.

Now, verse 42 is very important: “They continued steadfastly.” That means they stuck like glue; they kept on. They were devoted steadfastly to the apostles’ doctrine. That is the teaching of these apostles. What they taught, they believed; they learned; they practiced. In the day and age in which we live, the apostles’ doctrine is contained within the New Testament. That is the apostles’ doctrine. It’s written down for us in black and white.

So, they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and in the fellowship; they shared something in common. Now, this time, it’s not so much eternal life that’s in view. That’s in 1 John. This time, it’s doctrine—it’s teaching that’s in view. Because these individuals shared and believed the same doctrine, they had fellowship together. So, it’s important to see the distinctions: in family fellowship—that’s in 1 John—and local assembly fellowship—that’s here in Acts chapter 2—and it’s founded on doctrine, on teaching.

You say, “Any old teaching?” No, no. The apostles’ teaching, and that’s what we have contained in the New Testament. Now, something else: that doctrinal fellowship they had was expressed when they gathered. You say, “How was it expressed?” Well, read the rest of the verse. “In the breaking of bread.” That’s not just sharing a meal around somebody’s house; in Greek, it’s the breaking of the bread. That’s the Lord’s Supper. That’s what we do on the first of every week, Acts chapter 20. And that’s what these disciples are doing now—gathering together, and as an expression of the doctrinal fellowship they have, they believe the same truth. They are going to break bread together. That’s a wonderful thing.

There might be some believers here tonight who have never had the privilege of breaking bread. You should come and observe a gathering like that—the bread, which simply represents the body of Christ given for us, and the cup that represents the precious shed blood of the Lord Jesus on our behalf. All of the Christians—in addition to giving thanks for the person of Christ—are breaking that bread and sharing it with one another. They are passing the cup to one another, drinking of the cup, and saying, “We’re all in a fellowship. We are all sharing together the wonderful truth that Christ died for us.” We’re in fellowship with one another, those who are taking part of the bread. We’re sharing in fellowship; we’re all drinking out of the same cup. We have fellowship with God and with one another, and that fellowship is not just built on salvation; it’s built on doctrine and teaching. And that’s what this verse is telling you.

So, they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and in the fellowship, enriched by that doctrine—in the breaking of bread and in prayers. The prayer meetings of the local assembly are vital and a vital expression of the fellowship they enjoy together. I haven’t started the meeting yet; we haven’t finished the reading. But you see how important that is? Acts chapter 2, verses 41 and 42.

Now, listen, we have other verses to read, but for now, we will pause there and trust that God will add a blessing to the reading of His Word. Now, I understand, especially when I’m speaking to a large audience like this and such a varied audience, some of the things I’m saying will be very basic and simple to some, but some of the things will be completely new and different to others. Well, I ask all of you just to bear with me in some of the things I’m going to say tonight.

We’ve come to this great subject of the members of the assembly. I’m not going to go over the truth that I spoke about last night, but let me just say this: if I were speaking to you about the members of the great assembly, you remember we made that distinction. There is the church, which is the body of Christ, the great assembly. Every believer from the day of Pentecost until the rapture belongs to that great assembly. If we were speaking tonight about the members of the great assembly, it would include every single genuine believer.

They have a fellowship; every Christian here tonight has a fellowship. You say, “What is that fellowship? What do we share in common with one another?” Well, that’s what we read in 1 John 1. It is a family fellowship. We all belong to the same Christian family. Isn’t that a wonderful thing? We all share eternal life, and we share that in Christ. So, every member of the church, which is the body of Christ, is in fellowship with one another. It’s the fellowship of eternal life, and I tell you, it’s a wonderful thing.

I have the privilege of traveling around the world and meeting various Christians in various cities and countries from different ethnic origins. Most of these Christians I have never met before. But I tell you, this is something that binds us together. I might never have seen them or spoken to them, but the instant we’re together, there’s a bond between us, and that bond is in Christ. If they’ve trusted Him, they have the same Savior that I have, the same eternal life that I have. Isn’t it wonderful to be in that family fellowship?

But we’re not talking about that tonight. What we are talking about tonight is local assembly fellowship. We made the difference between the great assembly and the local assembly. Now, you say, who belongs to a local assembly fellowship? From Acts chapter 2, this is obvious. Not just those who have been saved. If you are saved, you do not have an automatic right or membership to the fellowship of a local assembly. The great assembly, yes; the local assembly, no. Because Acts chapter 2 says it was those who received the gospel, those who received the Word of God, and then they were baptized, and then they were received into the fellowship of a local assembly. And indeed, it was the same day.

Now, you say, “What was that fellowship based on?” Well, not just eternal life. That fellowship was based on doctrine; it was a doctrinal fellowship. Because they received the Word of God, then they were baptized, then they were added, and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. The fellowship they enjoyed was based upon the teaching of the apostles.

So, remember, please, and we said this last night. I’m re-emphasizing it for the purpose of this meeting. The great assembly and the local assembly are two distinct entities. Being in one does not automatically make you a part of the other. A local assembly has a clearly defined membership.

When you come to 1 Corinthians 5, Paul is speaking there about a man who has been taking part in fornication. He says this man, who professes to be a believer, is called a believer, is called a brother. But that man has been taken in immorality. Paul says he must be put outside the fellowship of the local church. There is a within and there is a without. When you come to 1 Corinthians chapter 14, Paul there speaks about the fellowship of the local assembly in Corinth. He speaks about people coming in to observe their gatherings, whom he calls unlearned. That is, they may well be believers, but they are not part of the company; they are not part of the local assembly. They are non-members; they’re just observers.

Paul calls them unlearned in 1 Corinthians 14. So you understand, there is a local assembly fellowship to which believers may not yet belong. Because local assembly fellowship has a defined membership. I want to ask you a question. Don’t answer this question out loud, but just in your mind: I wonder if you have the privilege of belonging to a local assembly fellowship.

I trust everyone here tonight is saved by the grace of God. And if you’re not, friend, you must be saved. I trust that everyone here tonight, if you are saved, has been baptized by immersion. That is the teaching and commandment of the Word of God. And friend, if you are saved and you’re baptized, I wonder if you have ever joined the fellowship of the local assembly. Friend, why would you not want to do that?

You see, the local church and the local assembly is the only thing today in this world that is owned by God, and it’s His direction and commandment that Christians should not only be baptized but should be joined to a local assembly, a local church gathering, and enjoy that doctrinal fellowship, the privilege of breaking bread, remembering the Lord Jesus, and collectively praying with the saints. And friend, this isn’t just any old church. You say, “Will any old church do? Will any old gathering of Christians do?”

I come from… Here’s one of those questions I said, “Don’t ask me because I’m bored of answering them.” Okay? Sorry. I come from a little town in Berkshire. You might call it Berkshire, but in England, we call it Berkshire. It’s a county in England, a royal county, by the way, because in our county, there is Windsor Castle, where not the queen, because she’s passed away, but the king, King Charles, lives at Windsor Castle. Where I live in Bracknell is just a few miles away from Windsor Castle, and we’re about 30 miles out of London. In Bracknell, which is a town of about 80,000 people, there are many, many churches—many.

But I belong to one of them. I belong to the Gospel Hall in Bracknell. Let me tell you this: I would not be happy belonging to any other church in Bracknell at all. You say, “Well, you come here, Mr. Preacher from England. Aren’t you a bigoted Christian? I bet you just look down your nose at all those other Christians in Bracknell and all those other churches in which I’m sure there are many genuinely saved good Christian people. And here you are saying, there are many churches in Bracknell, and you would only go to the one that you go to. How dare you look down your nose at these other Christians?” Not at all, friend.

If that’s what you think, you misunderstand me and what I believe. I believe this: the only thing that is owned of God today is the Church of God. And because that local assembly, the assembly of God, belongs to Him, it is only Him—God—that dictates what happens in that local assembly gathering. You say, “How does God dictate it? How does He tell me what the character and order of that church should be?” Well, He tells me in here.

So, friend, this is what I’m doing. From the teaching of the New Testament, I am looking for a local assembly that conforms as closely as possible to the divine pattern laid down in the Word of God. That’s why I go to the local assembly I do. Because I believe it’s not perfect, and neither is the local assembly here at Midland Park perfect either. You wouldn’t say you are. But I believe it is the local church that conforms most closely to the pattern of the Word of God than any other.

I want to be in a local church that pleases, honors, and glorifies God and His Son. That’s why I go where I go. Friend, don’t ever join or attend a local church out of convenience—because it’s close to where I live, because the people that go there I like, or because there’s a great brass band and I love the music. You should attend a local church because you have a conviction that it’s as close as possible to what God expects—the teaching of the Word of God. That’s pretty simple, isn’t it? I’m not bigoted, I trust; I just want to be somewhere as close as possible to the patterns.

So we’re talking tonight about the members of a local assembly. Now two things I want to say just in the time that we have left. We’re going to talk more as the nights go by. We will discuss more about the divine pattern that God has set out for New Testament assembly gathering. We’re laying these foundations, the groundwork. We’re going to talk more and more about it. But tonight we’re going to talk about who are they that have the privilege of belonging? Who are the members of a local assembly?

And there are two things I want to talk about just in the half an hour that I have left. Doesn’t time fly when you’re enjoying yourself listening to an Englishman? Just two things that I want to say. Yesterday, it was three things; I realized I couldn’t squeeze it in. Tonight, two things. Tomorrow night, probably one thing. I don’t know what will happen on Thursday night. But anyway, two things—not three things, two things tonight.

Here’s what I’m going to talk about. I’m going to talk to you about fellowship, and the fact that fellowship is based on doctrine. Then, just at the end of the meeting, I want to talk to you about headship, and the fact that the members of a local assembly display headship. So, members in a local assembly are in fellowship, and it’s a doctrinal fellowship. Members in a local assembly are also bound together by the truth of headship, and they display that headship.

So, if we have time tonight, we’ll talk about those two things. Now, what about this fellowship, the doctrine that binds together Christians in a local assembly? We’ve already spoken about this, but I want you to see it again. Look at Acts 2, verse 41. If you ever showed an interest in joining yourself to the local assembly, the local church that meets here at Midland Park, and you say, “Well, I’ve read through the New Testament and I’ve seen what God says about the pattern of local assembly gathering, and I believe I’m convicted that Midland Park is as close to that pattern as you could get. I would like to join the fellowship of that local church,” or maybe you have joined the fellowship of the local church here.

What you will find is there are certain requirements that scripture lays down for joining that fellowship. Now, here’s a handy list: it’s not a list that I’ve created; it’s a list that’s here in Acts chapter 2. Look at verse 41. First of all, there was conversion. You cannot join a local church without first being converted. Acts 2:41 says that when Peter was preaching the gospel, there were some that gladly received his word. That’s the first requirement of belonging to a local church, a local assembly. These individuals were converted.

After they were converted, they made a confession of that faith. So, there’s conversion, and then there is confession. Because the Word of God says they received the Word, and then they were baptized. Without going into detail tonight, baptism by immersion—being put right down underneath the water and brought back out again—these individuals were identifying as an outward witness. They were identifying with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how it cost them, by the way.

Baptism today in our society is relatively straightforward and simple. Baptism in some societies today cost you everything; baptism in this day almost cost you your life—to disassociate yourself from Judaism, to disassociate yourself from what was once owned by God, and now to associate yourself with a person who died on a cross, shameful, made a curse. And even though Peter’s been preaching, “He’s alive from the dead and God has made him Lord and Christ,” we don’t believe he was the Messiah; he was crucified. What a shame!

Here are individuals now who are disassociating themselves from Judaism and associating themselves with a risen Christ. It cost them everything; it must have been genuine, must have been real if they were willing to go through baptism to publicly confess they belong to Christ. These individuals were converted, and these individuals confessed that they belong to Him by being baptized. So, friend, if you wanted to join the fellowship of a local assembly, then you would need to clearly and plainly tell the brethren—the shepherds who are guarding that fellowship—they don’t want grievous wolves to come in.

You would be able to tell them clearly how and when you were saved. You would be able to tell them about the occasion of your baptism. But that’s not all. There is also a creed, a doctrine, and a body of doctrine that you would need to confess. We’ve already proved that from Acts 2:42. Not only were they saved and baptized, but they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, and that doctrine was the basis of their fellowship.

You say, “Why is truth so important?” Because, friend—and this is important—the local assembly is the pillar and the ground of the truth. The company of Christians that meets here at Midland Park is a beacon for the truth of God, and therefore that doctrine must be pure. You say, “I don’t know much of the doctrine; I haven’t been taught in much of the doctrine.” That’s all right. You don’t necessarily need to know it inside out, but you have to be willing to learn it, to be taught it, and to believe it.

Now, you say, “What kind of doctrine must be believed and held?” There are other scriptures that help us. For example, what John says in his first epistle. John will tell you that if you’re going to be in a local church fellowship, you cannot deny that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. That’s one of the basics of Christian doctrine. You must be willing to confess and believe the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, that He is God manifest in the flesh (1 John 4). You would have to be willing to confess and believe that not only did the Lord Jesus come in the flesh, but He was a real man. You need to be willing to believe and confess that He’s God; His deity is found in 1 John chapter 2.

You must believe and confess that Jesus is Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified on the cross and is the Christ; He’s the Messiah. That’s John; this is the apostles’ doctrine, and everyone in that local assembly confessed and believed Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. There are other basic tenets of the Christian faith. Salvation is not by works—not even a teeny tiny bit. Salvation is absolutely and wholly through faith in a risen Christ; it’s one of the basics of the apostles’ doctrine.

Now, interestingly, when you come to 1 Timothy 1, there were two men—Hymenaeus and Philetus—who believed and taught that the resurrection was already passed, and because of that, Paul had to deal with them and put them out of the fellowship of the local assembly. So, that must be a doctrinal tenet that must be believed by all those in fellowship. And by the way, they weren’t denying the resurrection of Christ. They were saying the resurrection is, past already. What they were saying is Christians have been spiritually raised when they trusted Christ, and there’s no such thing as any other resurrection. They did not believe in the physical resurrection of believers who had died in Christ. Paul says their teaching is cancerous; it’s like gangrene; it spreads. It shakes the faith of many. He says they can’t enjoy the doctrinal fellowship of the assembly because they’re wrong in the matter of resurrection.

So, you see, friend, there are certain doctrinal matters which cannot be negotiated if you’re going to enjoy the doctrinal fellowship of a local assembly. There’s something else now; you’ve lost my list. It includes conversion, confession through baptism, a creed—certain doctrinal things which cannot be negotiated. They must be believed if you’re to enjoy in common that apostles’ doctrine. One more thing: the character of the individual is very important too.

You see, the local assembly is not just the pillar and ground of the truth; it is also a holy temple. Holy temple; God dwells there, and the Christians that belong to that local assembly fellowship have a moral standard that characterizes them. You understand that that man in 1 Corinthians 5 fell short of the moral standard. Paul says you must put him outside of the assembly for a time. It’s temporary; in order that that man may learn, may learn what’s gone wrong and put it right, and ultimately restore him to fellowship.

But in that immoral state, he could not be a part of a local assembly fellowship. You’ll need to look at this for yourself, but also in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul says this: “Anyone who is called a brother, and yet he’s characterized by covetousness, things like fraud, gambling, anyone who’s called a brother and is characterized by idolatry, drunkenness, or extortion—fraud, or by railing that is someone who constantly uses abusive, insulting, violent language—he says he’s no different from the immoral brother.” That moral state of things cannot be allowed in the assembly. He says they are put out of the fellowship of that assembly for a time until the matter’s put right, and there’s repentance, and they are brought back in.

So, friend, don’t be upset, will you? Sometimes we call it an interview; forgive us for using that sort of language. It’s not really an interview. But you say, “I’d like to join the fellowship of an assembly and have the privileges of joining them in prayer, and the privilege of breaking bread with them, sharing that fellowship.” Well, the elders will want to have a chat with you, and they’re going to be talking to you about—you understand that? They’re protecting the sanctity of this company. They don’t want grievous wolves coming in; they don’t want doctrinal leaven or moral leaven. Paul uses the word leaven in relation to doctrine and morality because it can spread. They don’t want that spreading in the assembly.

So they’ll ask you about your conversion. They’ll ask you about your confession. They’ll ask you about a creed—do you believe these truths? We believe them. They will ask you about your character of life. They’re not prying; they’re seeking to protect the morality of that assembly. I tell you, it’s a wonderful thing to belong to a local church fellowship. But just before I move on to headship and we close the meeting with headship, I want to say this: belonging to a local church fellowship means certain things. Thank you. There are unnumbered privileges associated with it. But friend, are you ready for this? There are responsibilities too—great responsibilities.

I haven’t given you a Greek lesson tonight; I gave you a Greek lesson, yes, partly. I was talking to you about ecclesia. This word fellowship in Greek is the word koinonia. Koinonia; that’s the word for fellowship. It’s very interesting that when you turn back to the gospel records, Luke chapter 5 speaks about the miracle when the Lord Jesus gave a draught of fishes to the disciples. You remember Peter; he’d been fishing all night, caught nothing. Yet in the morning, the Lord says, “Well, listen, push out into the deep, let down your nets for a draught of fishes.” That’s exactly what they did, and that’s exactly what they got. Peter sank down before the Lord and said, “Depart from me, Lord; I’m a sinful man.”

Do you know what Luke 5 says? It uses the word fellowship, and this is what it says. It says that Simon Peter was partners—he was partners in the fishing business with Andrew and John. Do you know that word partner is the word fellowship? Now, that’s not a local church fellowship, is it? That’s not a doctrinal fellowship; that’s a commercial fellowship. Peter was a partner in fishing with some of those other individuals that were called to be disciples.

Fellowship. Now, it’s a lovely illustration of what assembly fellowship is like; it requires, friend, commitment. It requires contribution. Tell me, if you shared a fishing business and a fishing boat with Peter, and every time it came to the morning or the night when you were going out fishing, and every time Peter said, “Well, you just push off, boys, and work well, won’t you? Enjoy the night, and come and bring me the proceeds of the fishing at the end of the day.”

Or Peter said, “All right, I’ll come out with you today, but listen, I’ve got my deck chair with me. I’m just going to set the deck chair up on deck; you do the hard work. You do the hard labor. I’ll just sit here and enjoy it, and perhaps I’ll point one or two things out that you should be doing.” You say we’d soon get him off the team. Fellowship is all about commitment. Fellowship is all about contribution. If you belong to a local assembly, I throw this out as a challenge to you: Sadly, about 10 or 20% of the members of a local assembly are normally found doing all the work. Shame on the other 90%. Shame on the other 80%.

Listen, local church fellowship is a commitment—hard work. No spectators, no deck chairs, no silent partners. My friend, if you belong to the fellowship of an assembly, get to work. Be committed to what they are doing. If they are having a week of ministry meetings with a strange man from England, be there, even if you don’t like him. If the assembly is going out with tracts, invitations, gospel meetings, open-air meetings, whatever they’re doing, be there. Commit yourself to the activity. There’s a responsibility to belonging to a local church, and contribute, won’t you?

We’ll come to this on Friday. A local church is used; it’s pictured under the figure of a body. A body is a strange thing; it has lots of different parts. There are fingers and hands and legs and kneecaps and hearts and bones and eyes and ears. A body has a huge number of different members, but they’re all one body—a part of one body. You need all of those members to be functioning in the right place, at the right time, doing the right job, so that the body might be effective.

Friend, if you belong to a local assembly fellowship, be committed, but contribute, because you are vital. You are vital. I don’t care how old you are—male or female, very old, middle-aged, very young. If you belong to that fellowship, you’re vital to its being effective as it works and labors in the local area.

So, fellowship—and this is a doctrinal fellowship. Now, I did want to say this, and I’ve only got about five minutes left, but in English time, 10 minutes. I want to talk to you about headship. Now, I’m bringing this in at this point because the members of a local assembly are bound together in a fellowship; they share something in common. What do they share in common? Eternal life, yes, but doctrine. That’s what we’ve seen from Acts 2. So here is a fellowship that’s displayed through the doctrine that they hold.

But this local assembly is also associated with the great principle of headship, and that principle of headship is displayed when those individuals gather together. Now, you know where we should read for this. I don’t have time, but if I had the time, I would read in 1 Corinthians 11 and also primarily in 1 Timothy 2. I want to talk to you about headship.

Christ is head, and Christ is Lord. You say, “What’s the difference?” Christ is head, and Christ is Lord. What’s the difference? Well, lordship has to do with ownership. Lordship has to do with rule. Lordship is a forced subjection, an absolute sovereignty because of the greatness of the person. Christ is Lord; He’s Lord because He’s God, He’s Lord because He’s Creator, He’s Lord because He’s Redeemer, and every knee will ultimately bow to Him. Thank God we own Him as Lord, don’t we?

We’re not forced to subjugate ourselves to Christ; we love Him. We willingly bow the knee to Him. We know what a wonderful Lord He is; but many in the world do not acknowledge His lordship. In a day to come, every knee shall bow, and that’s lordship. Headship is different, and I want us to understand this: if lordship is about ownership and rule and forced subjugation where necessary, headship is about order—not ownership, order.

Headship is not about rule; headship is about different roles that God has given—different roles to males and females, different roles even within the Godhead. You understand that it’s part of the nature and character of God, this idea of headship. So, lordship is a forced subjection if necessary, but headship is a willing submission to the different kinds of orders, roles, and responsibilities that God has given to male and female.

That’s why 1 Corinthians 11 says this: the head of Christ is God. No, no, no, it doesn’t say that; it says the head of the woman is the man, the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God. Headship never implies inferiority and never implies inequality; it can’t because the head of Christ is God, and Christ is God.

So, you say, “What is headship?” It’s just the fact that God has given different roles and different responsibilities to males and females, and they are glorious in those roles. God has given different responsibilities and roles to His Son and to the Spirit, and that He Himself performs. But in those roles and responsibilities, there is a willing submission to authority.

It’s not inferiority; it’s not inequality; it’s a willing submission to a role that God has given. So when it comes to the local assembly, this principle of headship must be displayed, and it must be in evidence. Because God has given different functions and different roles to males and females. Now, Christ is the head of every man, but the world doesn’t own that truth, and it doesn’t recognize that truth—

The assembly does. And in the assembly, we want to display not just the lordship but the headship of the Lord Jesus. Now, I know I’m just slightly over time, but please, please, listen to this. The things that I am about to say are not calculated to cause anyone here tonight to feel uncomfortable. I just want to tell you what the Word of God teaches. It says this: that in the matter of headship, God has given different roles and responsibilities to the males in the local assembly than to the females in the local assembly.

Paul speaks about this in 1 Timothy 2, and he speaks about this in 1 Corinthians 11. In 1 Timothy 2, you’ll have to read it when you go home; it’s homework. I used to be a teacher; I can do that. But I won’t put you in detention—I’d never dare. Paul says this: males in the local assembly are to take responsibility for the leadership and the public participation of the assembly. Paul says in 1 Timothy 2, “I will that the males pray everywhere.” That’s not the general word for human beings; it’s the word for males.

So Paul is saying, “Here’s a way that you can demonstrate that the man is head of the woman, that she is in willing submission to the man, because God has given to the man a different role and responsibility. He is to lead, and that sister is to willingly submit to that leadership.” He has the right of public participation and leading the company in public audible prayer. The males must pray; that’s part of his responsibility and leadership. You say, “What do the sisters do?”

Well, they willingly submit to that leadership, but they submit as helpers. In 1 Timothy 2, it will tell you they remain audibly silent in the gathering. By their godly dress, deportment, and good works, sisters show that they are willingly submissive and contributing to the godliness of the house (1 Timothy 2). Paul says the woman is not to teach or to exercise authority over the man.

Why not? Do you know where Paul takes it to explain it? He goes right back to creation. He says, “At the beginning, at the creation, God made Adam first, and then He made Eve. The woman was deceived in the transgression, the man was not. He went into it with his eyes open,” says Paul. That was God demonstrating at the very beginning that by making the man first, He was putting him into a position of leadership and authority and that the woman was to be a helper and submissive to that authority.

You say, “She’s inferior.” She’s not at all. God made them both male and female; He called them both together—Adam. They became one; not inferior, but God—by making Adam before Eve—put the man in a position of authority. Now, that is to be seen in the assembly. How? The man takes the lead—the male prays audibly; the male teaches. But the female, she is silently submissive and does not usurp the authority of the male by teaching or by leading audibly.

Now, that’s Paul’s argument in 1 Timothy 2. It’s not sexism; it’s not misogyny. It goes back to creation. I’ve said all that, and I haven’t mentioned 1 Corinthians 11. Paul says, not only is headship displayed literally—by the way, you males in assembly fellowship, it is your responsibility to pray audibly. Did you hear that? It’s your responsibility to lead the company—it’s your responsibility to contribute audibly. In fact, if you don’t contribute audibly, it’s as serious as a sister standing up and not being silent.

You say, “If a sister stood up and started to pray, we’d be up in arms.” And yet how many brethren do not take part audibly? That’s headship; it must be displayed literally. 1 Corinthians 11 shows how it’s displayed symbolically. You say, “How symbolically?” That headship and submission to authority is displayed in the local assembly symbolically because the males do not cover their heads; they do not. They’re giving glory to their head, who is Christ.

But the sisters, on the other hand, read 1 Corinthians 11, cover their heads; they wear a symbol on their heads of being under authority. It’s a beautiful display of God’s order—not inferiority, God’s design—God’s local assembly. What a privilege to be members of that assembly. I’ve said enough. God will bless His Word. Let’s just pray.

Spanish

Juan capítulo 1, versículo 1, Juan capítulo 1. Ahora, es muy bueno ver a todos aquí de nuevo esta noche. Gracias por venir. Creo que nuestro número ha crecido un poco desde ayer por la tarde. Si la semana sigue así, necesitaremos otro salón o abrir otro piso o algo así. Realmente es bueno ver a la gente. Sé que algunas asambleas han hecho un buen esfuerzo para estar aquí esta noche. Lo agradecemos, y confiamos en que el Señor nos bendecirá y nos ayudará mientras consideramos Su Palabra juntos.

Estamos pensando estas noches en el tema de la asamblea local. Anoche, hicimos una distinción entre la iglesia, que es el cuerpo de Cristo, y la llamé la gran asamblea, por así decirlo. Luego hicimos una distinción entre eso y la asamblea local. Ahora, vamos a concentrarnos esta noche y en los días venideros en la hermosa verdad en relación con la asamblea local. Ayer por la tarde, estuvimos pensando en el significado de la asamblea, en lo que significa la palabra Ecclesia, y haciendo esas distinciones. Esta noche, vamos a pensar en los miembros de la asamblea, y nos centraremos en la comunión de la asamblea local. Hoy hablaremos de los que pertenecen a la compañía de una iglesia local.

Así que ahí es donde hemos estado, y ahí es donde vamos esta noche, y esperamos, como siempre, que el Señor nos bendiga y nos ayude. Me alegro de verles, y gracias por estar aquí. Ahora, vayamos al capítulo 1 de 1 Juan. La razón para leer estos versículos se hará evidente dentro de un momento, pero Juan abre su epístola así: dice: “…lo que era desde el principio, lo que hemos oído, lo que hemos visto con nuestros ojos, lo que hemos contemplado y han palpado nuestras manos”. Juan, por supuesto, está hablando del Señor Jesús, y está hablando del privilegio que tuvo como apóstol de ver a Cristo, de mirarlo, incluso de tocarlo con sus manos.

Juan dice que era desde el principio y que es la Palabra de vida. Dice que la vida se manifestó. Cristo es la vida, y El fue manifestado. Y Juan dice: “Nosotros le hemos visto, y damos testimonio y os mostramos esa vida eterna, que estaba con el Padre y se nos manifestó”. Así que Juan está comunicando, como apóstol, el gran privilegio de estar con el Señor Jesús, el que es la manifestación misma de la vida de Dios, la manifestación de la vida eterna. Juan dice: “Le vimos, le palpamos, le oímos”. Dice: “Lo que aprendimos de Él, ahora os lo comunicamos”.

Así que, en el versículo 3, “Lo que hemos visto y oído, eso os anunciamos”. Estos cristianos, a quienes él estaba escribiendo, no habían tenido el privilegio de verlo y manejarlo como Juan lo había hecho. Juan les dice: “Os lo declaramos. Nosotros, como apóstoles, os lo declaramos”. ¿Por qué, Juan? “Para que vosotros también tengáis comunión con nosotros”. Esta noche voy a hablarles acerca de la comunión, particularmente acerca de la comunión en la asamblea local. Pero Juan aquí está hablando de una clase diferente de compañerismo. Esto es lo que vamos a llamar compañerismo familiar.

Juan les dice a estos creyentes: “Ustedes cristianos, ustedes creyentes en el Señor Jesús, tienen algo en común con nosotros”. Esos son los apóstoles. La palabra compañerismo significa compartir algo con otra persona, ya sean responsabilidades o privilegios. Compartes algo en común con otro. Entonces, Juan les dice a estos creyentes, “Ustedes tienen comunión con nosotros, los apóstoles”. ¿Verdad? Y verdaderamente, nuestra comunión es con el Padre y Su Hijo, Jesucristo. Ahora, déjenme decirles, esas son declaraciones notables. Si usted es un creyente en el Señor Jesús esta noche, usted comparte algo en común con los apóstoles de antaño. Usted comparte algo en común con Juan y con Pedro y con Andrés, y ellos, a su vez, comparten algo en común con Dios el Padre y Su Hijo, Jesucristo.

Tal vez te preguntes: ¿qué podríamos tener en común con estos apóstoles de antaño? ¿Y qué podemos tener nosotros en común con Dios Padre y con Su Hijo Jesucristo? Les diré: la vida eterna. Eso es lo que tienen en común con esos apóstoles de antaño. Eso es lo que tienen en común con el Padre. Y todo es a través de la fe en el Señor Jesús. Hemos sido traídos al bien de la vida eterna; es la vida de Dios. ¿No es extraordinario? Es algo que compartimos en común con aquellos apóstoles de antaño, incluso algo que compartimos en común con el Padre.

Así que aquí hay una especie de comunión, y es la comunión de la vida eterna. Es un compañerismo familiar, y cada creyente en el Señor Jesús disfruta de ese compañerismo. Ahora, regresaremos a eso y lo mencionaremos en un momento. Volvamos al Libro de los Hechos. Por favor regresemos al Libro de los Hechos porque no estamos hablando de esa comunión familiar esta noche; estamos hablando de la comunión de la iglesia local, la comunión de la asamblea, y esa es una clase diferente de comunión. Pero aún así, la palabra significa lo mismo: algo que se comparte en común con otros.

Así que, Hechos capítulo 2 es donde estamos. Es el día de Pentecostés. Hablamos de esto ayer por la tarde. Este fue el día en que comenzó la iglesia; se formó la iglesia. Pedro, por supuesto, estaba predicando en este día de Pentecostés. En el verso 37 de Hechos capítulo 2, ahora cuando ellos oyeron esto, se compungieron de corazón, y dijeron a Pedro y al resto de los apóstoles, “Varones hermanos, ¿qué haremos?”

Pedro les dijo: “Arrepentíos y bautícese cada uno de vosotros en el nombre de Jesucristo para perdón de los pecados. Y recibiréis el don del Espíritu Santo. Porque esta promesa es para vosotros y para vuestros hijos y para todos los que están lejos, para cuantos el Señor nuestro Dios llamare.” Pedro continuó predicando. Ahora mira estos dos versos; son vitales. Y otra vez, tenemos la mención de esta palabra compañerismo, pero este no es el compañerismo de la vida eterna. Esta es ahora una confraternidad de asamblea local.

Miren el verso 41. “Entonces los que recibieron su palabra de buena gana…” Así que creyeron el evangelio; se hicieron cristianos. Su fe estaba en el Señor Jesús. “Y los que recibieron su palabra fueron bautizados; y se añadieron aquel día como tres mil almas”. Ahora, usted entiende que las almas que han sido mencionadas hasta ahora en el Libro de los Hechos eran 120 individuos que se reunían en el aposento alto en Jerusalén. Ahora que estas 3,000 han sido salvas en este día de Pentecostés, están siendo añadidas al número de almas que ya se estaban reuniendo en Jerusalén.

Ahora, había más cristianos que eso porque, ¿recuerdan cuando el Señor Jesús apareció en resurrección? Pablo dice en 1 Corintios 15 que El apareció a 500 hermanos en una sola ocasión. Así que había más de 120 cristianos en este tiempo, pero fue a los 120 que se reunían en Jerusalén que estos 3,000 fueron añadidos. Ahora, usted dice, eso es una asamblea local enorme. ¿Qué hacían cuando se reunían-para la enseñanza de la Palabra de Dios y la predicación del evangelio? Usted podría decir, eso es una asamblea local enorme, 3,120 santos. Pero recuerden que había mucha gente visitando Jerusalén en ese tiempo; era tiempo de festival. Era el día de Pentecostés.

Por lo tanto, sospecho que la gran mayoría de ese número, en sólo unos pocos días, se habrían ido a casa, y habrían llevado el evangelio que habían escuchado predicado por Pedro a varias otras ciudades y regiones. No es necesariamente que todos ellos se unieran a la asamblea local en Jerusalén. Pero sin embargo, escuchen lo que dice la escritura: se les añadieron después de su salvación y bautismo como 3.000 almas.

Ahora, el versículo 42 es muy importante: “Perseveraban”. Eso quiere decir que se pegaron como pegamento; se mantuvieron. Estaban dedicados firmemente a la doctrina de los apóstoles. Esa es la enseñanza de estos apóstoles. Lo que enseñaban, lo creían; lo aprendían; lo practicaban. En los tiempos en que vivimos, la doctrina de los apóstoles está contenida en el Nuevo Testamento. Esa es la doctrina de los apóstoles. Está escrita para nosotros en blanco y negro.

Así que, ellos continuaron firmemente en la doctrina de los apóstoles y en la comunión; ellos compartieron algo en común. Ahora, esta vez, no es tanto la vida eterna que está a la vista. Eso está en 1 Juan. Esta vez, es la doctrina-es la enseñanza que está en vista. Porque estos individuos compartieron y creyeron la misma doctrina, ellos tuvieron compañerismo juntos. Entonces, es importante ver las distinciones: en compañerismo familiar-eso está en 1 Juan-y compañerismo de asamblea local-eso está aquí en Hechos capítulo 2-y está fundado en doctrina, en enseñanza.

Tú dices: “¿Cualquier enseñanza antigua?” No, no. La enseñanza de los apóstoles, y eso es lo que tenemos contenido en el Nuevo Testamento. Ahora, algo más: esa comunión doctrinal que tenían se expresaba cuando se reunían. Tú dices: “¿Cómo se expresaba?”. Bueno, lee el resto del versículo. “En el partimiento del pan”. Eso no es simplemente compartir una comida en la casa de alguien; en griego, es el partimiento del pan. Eso es la Cena del Señor. Eso es lo que hacemos el primero de cada semana, Hechos capítulo 20. Y eso es lo que estos discípulos están haciendo ahora: reunirse, y como expresión de la comunión doctrinal que tienen, creen la misma verdad. Van a partir el pan juntos. Eso es algo maravilloso.

Puede haber algunos creyentes aquí esta noche que nunca han tenido el privilegio de partir el pan. Deberían venir y observar una reunión como esa-el pan, que simplemente representa el cuerpo de Cristo dado por nosotros, y la copa que representa la preciosa sangre derramada del Señor Jesús a nuestro favor. Todos los cristianos -además de dar gracias por la persona de Cristo- parten ese pan y lo comparten unos con otros. Se pasan la copa unos a otros, beben de la copa y dicen: “Todos estamos en comunión. Todos estamos compartiendo juntos la maravillosa verdad de que Cristo murió por nosotros”. Estamos en comunión unos con otros, los que están tomando parte del pan. Estamos compartiendo en comunión; todos estamos bebiendo de la misma copa. Tenemos comunión con Dios y unos con otros, y esa comunión no se construye solamente sobre la salvación; se construye sobre la doctrina y la enseñanza. Y eso es lo que este verso te esta diciendo.

Así que perseveraban en la doctrina de los apóstoles y en la comunión, enriquecidos por esa doctrina, en el partimiento del pan y en las oraciones. Las reuniones de oración de la asamblea local son vitales y una expresión vital de la comunión que disfrutan juntos. Aún no he comenzado la reunión; no hemos terminado la lectura. Pero, ¿ven lo importante que es? Hechos capítulo 2, versículos 41 y 42.

Ahora, escuchen, tenemos otros versículos para leer, pero por ahora, haremos una pausa allí y confiaremos en que Dios añadirá una bendición a la lectura de Su Palabra. Ahora, entiendo, especialmente cuando estoy hablando a una gran audiencia como esta y a una audiencia tan variada, algunas de las cosas que estoy diciendo serán muy básicas y simples para algunos, pero algunas de las cosas serán completamente nuevas y diferentes para otros. Bueno, les pido a todos que me tengan paciencia con algunas de las cosas que voy a decir esta noche.

Hemos llegado a este gran tema de los miembros de la asamblea. No voy a repasar la verdad de la que hablé anoche, pero permítanme decir esto: si les estuviera hablando de los miembros de la gran asamblea, recuerdan que hicimos esa distinción. Está la iglesia, que es el cuerpo de Cristo, la gran asamblea. Cada creyente desde el día de Pentecostés hasta el rapto pertenece a esa gran asamblea. Si estuviéramos hablando esta noche acerca de los miembros de la gran asamblea, incluiría a cada creyente genuino.

Ellos tienen una confraternidad; cada cristiano aquí esta noche tiene una confraternidad. Ustedes dicen: “¿Cuál es esa comunión? ¿Qué tenemos en común unos con otros?” Bueno, eso es lo que leemos en 1 Juan 1. Es una comunión familiar. Todos pertenecemos a la misma familia cristiana. ¿No es algo maravilloso? Todos compartimos la vida eterna, y la compartimos en Cristo. Así que, cada miembro de la iglesia, que es el cuerpo de Cristo, está en comunión unos con otros. Es la comunión de la vida eterna, y les digo, es algo maravilloso.

Tengo el privilegio de viajar alrededor del mundo y conocer a varios cristianos en varias ciudades y países de diferentes orígenes étnicos. A la mayoría de estos cristianos nunca los había visto antes. Pero les digo que es algo que nos une. Puede que nunca los haya visto o hablado con ellos, pero en el instante en que estamos juntos, hay un vínculo entre nosotros, y ese vínculo está en Cristo. Si ellos han confiado en El, tienen el mismo Salvador que yo tengo, la misma vida eterna que yo tengo. ¿No es maravilloso estar en esa comunión familiar?

Pero no estamos hablando de eso esta noche. De lo que estamos hablando esta noche es de la comunión de la asamblea local. Hicimos la diferencia entre la gran asamblea y la asamblea local. Ahora, ustedes dicen, ¿quién pertenece a una comunión de asamblea local? En Hechos capítulo 2, esto es obvio. No sólo los que han sido salvos. Si eres salvo, no tienes un derecho automático o membresía a la comunión de una asamblea local. La gran asamblea, sí; la asamblea local, no. Porque Hechos capítulo 2 dice que fueron los que recibieron el evangelio, los que recibieron la Palabra de Dios, y luego fueron bautizados, y luego fueron recibidos en la comunión de una asamblea local. Y en efecto, fue el mismo día.

Ahora, ustedes dicen: “¿En qué se basaba esa comunión?”. Bueno, no solo en la vida eterna. Ese compañerismo estaba basado en doctrina; era un compañerismo doctrinal. Porque ellos recibieron la Palabra de Dios, entonces ellos fueron bautizados, entonces ellos fueron añadidos, y ellos continuaron firmemente en la doctrina de los apóstoles. El compañerismo que disfrutaban estaba basado en la enseñanza de los apóstoles.

Entonces, recuerden, por favor, y dijimos esto anoche. Lo estoy re-enfatizando para el propósito de esta reunión. La gran asamblea y la asamblea local son dos entidades distintas. Estar en una no te hace automáticamente parte de la otra. Una asamblea local tiene una membresía claramente definida.

Cuando llegas a 1 Corintios 5, Pablo habla de un hombre que ha estado participando en fornicación. El dice que este hombre, quien profesa ser un creyente, es llamado creyente, es llamado hermano. Pero ese hombre ha sido tomado en inmoralidad. Pablo dice que debe ser puesto fuera del compañerismo de la iglesia local. Hay un adentro y hay un afuera. Cuando usted viene a 1 Corintios capitulo 14, Pablo habla acerca de la comunión de la asamblea local en Corinto. Habla de personas que vienen a observar sus reuniones, a quienes llama indoctos. Es decir, ellos bien pueden ser creyentes, pero ellos no son parte de la compañía; ellos no son parte de la asamblea local. No son miembros; son simples observadores.

Pablo los llama indoctos en 1 Corintios 14. Para que entiendas, hay una comunión de asamblea local a la que los creyentes pueden no pertenecer todavía. Porque la comunión de la asamblea local tiene una membresía definida. Quiero hacerles una pregunta. No contestes esta pregunta en voz alta, sino sólo en tu mente: Me pregunto si usted tiene el privilegio de pertenecer a una confraternidad de asamblea local.

Confío en que todos los aquí presentes esta noche son salvos por la gracia de Dios. Y si no lo eres, amigo, debes ser salvo. Confío en que todos los que están aquí esta noche, si son salvos, han sido bautizados por inmersión. Esa es la enseñanza y el mandamiento de la Palabra de Dios. Y amigo, si eres salvo y estás bautizado, me pregunto si alguna vez te has unido a la comunión de la asamblea local. Amigo, ¿por qué no querrías hacer eso?

Verás, la iglesia local y la asamblea local es la única cosa hoy en este mundo que es propiedad de Dios, y es Su dirección y mandamiento que los cristianos no sólo deben ser bautizados sino que deben unirse a una asamblea local, una reunión de la iglesia local, y disfrutar de ese compañerismo doctrinal, el privilegio de partir el pan, recordar al Señor Jesús, y orar colectivamente con los santos. Y amigo, esta no es una iglesia cualquiera. Tú dices: “¿Servirá cualquier iglesia vieja? ¿Servirá cualquier vieja reunión de cristianos?”

Yo vengo de… Esta es una de esas preguntas que dije: “No me preguntes porque me aburro de responderlas”. ¿De acuerdo? Perdón. Vengo de un pequeño pueblo en Berkshire. Puede que tú lo llames Berkshire, pero en Inglaterra lo llamamos Berkshire. Es un condado de Inglaterra, un condado real, por cierto, porque en nuestro condado está el castillo de Windsor, donde no vive la reina, porque ya falleció, sino el rey, el rey Carlos, en el castillo de Windsor. Donde yo vivo, en Bracknell, está a pocos kilómetros del castillo de Windsor, y estamos a unos 50 kilómetros de Londres. En Bracknell, que es una ciudad de unos 80.000 habitantes, hay muchísimas iglesias.

Pero yo pertenezco a una de ellas. Pertenezco al Gospel Hall de Bracknell. Permítanme que les diga una cosa: No sería feliz perteneciendo a ninguna otra iglesia de Bracknell en absoluto. Usted dice: “Bueno, usted viene aquí, señor predicador de Inglaterra. ¿No es usted un cristiano intolerante? Apuesto a que mira por encima del hombro a todos esos otros cristianos de Bracknell y a todas esas otras iglesias en las que estoy seguro que hay muchos buenos cristianos genuinamente salvados. Y aquí está usted diciendo, hay muchas iglesias en Bracknell, y sólo iría a la que usted va. ¿Cómo te atreves a mirar por encima del hombro a esos otros cristianos?”. En absoluto, amigo.

Si eso es lo que piensas, me malinterpretas a mí y a lo que creo. Yo creo lo siguiente: lo único que hoy es propiedad de Dios es la Iglesia de Dios. Y porque esa asamblea local, la asamblea de Dios, le pertenece a Él, es sólo Él-Dios-quien dicta lo que sucede en esa reunión de la asamblea local. Tú dices: “¿Cómo lo dicta Dios? ¿Cómo me dice Él cuál debe ser el carácter y el orden de esa iglesia?”. Bueno, Él me lo dice aquí.

Así que, amigo, esto es lo que estoy haciendo. A partir de la enseñanza del Nuevo Testamento, busco una asamblea local que se ajuste lo más posible al patrón divino establecido en la Palabra de Dios. Por eso voy a la asamblea local que voy. Porque creo que no es perfecta, y la asamblea local aquí en Midland Park tampoco lo es. No diría que lo es. Pero creo que es la iglesia local que más se ajusta al patrón de la Palabra de Dios que cualquier otra.

Quiero estar en una iglesia local que agrade, honre y glorifique a Dios y a Su Hijo. Por eso voy a donde voy. Amigo, nunca se una o asista a una iglesia local por conveniencia-porque está cerca de donde vivo, porque la gente que va allí me gusta, o porque hay una gran banda de música y me encanta la música. Usted debe asistir a una iglesia local porque tiene la convicción de que está lo más cerca posible de lo que Dios espera: la enseñanza de la Palabra de Dios. Eso es muy sencillo, ¿no? No soy intolerante, confío; sólo quiero estar en un lugar lo más cercano posible a los patrones.

Así que estamos hablando esta noche acerca de los miembros de una asamblea local. Ahora dos cosas que quiero decir sólo en el tiempo que nos queda. Hablaremos más a medida que pasen las noches. Hablaremos más acerca del patrón divino que Dios ha establecido para la reunión de la asamblea del Nuevo Testamento. Estamos sentando estas bases, el trabajo preliminar. Vamos a hablar más y más sobre esto. Pero esta noche vamos a hablar de ¿quiénes son los que tienen el privilegio de pertenecer? ¿Quiénes son los miembros de una asamblea local?

Y hay dos cosas de las que quiero hablar en la media hora que me queda. ¿No vuela el tiempo cuando te diviertes escuchando a un inglés? Sólo dos cosas que quiero decir. Ayer, eran tres cosas; me di cuenta de que no podía meterlas. Esta noche, dos cosas. Mañana por la noche, probablemente una cosa. No sé qué pasará el jueves por la noche. Pero de todos modos, dos cosas, no tres cosas, dos cosas esta noche.

Esto es de lo que voy a hablar. Voy a hablarles acerca del compañerismo, y el hecho de que el compañerismo se basa en la doctrina. Luego, justo al final de la reunión, quiero hablarles acerca de la jefatura, y el hecho de que los miembros de una asamblea local muestran la jefatura. Entonces, los miembros en una asamblea local están en comunión, y es una comunión doctrinal. Los miembros de una asamblea local también están unidos por la verdad de la jefatura, y muestran esa jefatura.

Así que, si tenemos tiempo esta noche, hablaremos de esas dos cosas. Ahora, ¿qué de esta comunión, la doctrina que une a los cristianos en una asamblea local? Ya hemos hablado de esto, pero quiero que lo vean otra vez. Mira Hechos 2, versículo 41. Si alguna vez mostraste interés en unirte a la asamblea local, la iglesia local que se reúne aquí en Midland Park, y dices: “Bueno, he leído el Nuevo Testamento y he visto lo que Dios dice acerca del patrón de reunión de la asamblea local, y creo que estoy convencido de que Midland Park es lo más cercano a ese patrón que se puede conseguir. Me gustaría unirme al compañerismo de esa iglesia local,” o tal vez usted se ha unido al compañerismo de la iglesia local aquí.

Lo que encontraras es que hay ciertos requisitos que las escrituras establecen para unirse a ese compañerismo. Ahora, aquí hay una lista útil: no es una lista que yo he creado; es una lista que está aquí en Hechos capítulo 2. Mire el versículo 41. Miren el versículo 41. En primer lugar, hubo conversión. No puedes unirte a una iglesia local sin haberte convertido primero. Hechos 2:41 dice que cuando Pedro estaba predicando el evangelio, hubo algunos que gustosamente recibieron su palabra. Ese es el primer requisito para pertenecer a una iglesia local, una asamblea local. Estos individuos fueron convertidos.

Después de que se convirtieron, hicieron una confesión de esa fe. Entonces, hay conversión, y luego hay confesión. Porque la Palabra de Dios dice que ellos recibieron la Palabra, y luego fueron bautizados. Sin entrar en detalles esta noche, el bautismo por inmersión -ser metidos debajo del agua y sacados de nuevo- estos individuos se identificaban como un testimonio externo. Se estaban identificando con la persona del Señor Jesucristo, y cómo les costó, por cierto.

El bautismo hoy en día en nuestra sociedad es relativamente sencillo y simple. El bautismo en algunas sociedades hoy en día te costaba todo; el bautismo en este día casi te costaba la vida: desvincularte del judaísmo, desvincularte de lo que una vez fue propiedad de Dios, y ahora asociarte con una persona que murió en una cruz, avergonzada, convertida en maldición. Y aunque Pedro ha estado predicando: “Está vivo de entre los muertos y Dios lo ha hecho Señor y Cristo”, no creemos que fuera el Mesías; fue crucificado. ¡Qué vergüenza!

He aquí ahora individuos que se desvinculan del judaísmo y se asocian a un Cristo resucitado. Les costó todo; debe haber sido genuino, debe haber sido real si estuvieron dispuestos a pasar por el bautismo para confesar públicamente que pertenecen a Cristo. Estos individuos se convirtieron, y estos individuos confesaron que le pertenecen a El al ser bautizados. Así que, amigo, si tú quisieras unirte a la confraternidad de una asamblea local, entonces necesitarías decirle clara y llanamente a los hermanos-los pastores que están guardando esa confraternidad-que ellos no quieren que entren lobos rapaces.

Podrías decirles claramente cómo y cuándo fuiste salvo. Podrías decirles acerca de la ocasión de tu bautismo. Pero eso no es todo. Hay también un credo, una doctrina, y un cuerpo de doctrina que usted necesitaría confesar. Ya lo hemos comprobado en Hechos 2:42. No solo fueron salvos y bautizados, sino que continuaron firmes en la doctrina de los apóstoles, y esa doctrina era la base de su comunión.

Usted dirá: “¿Por qué es tan importante la verdad?”. Porque, amigo-y esto es importante-la asamblea local es el pilar y el fundamento de la verdad. La compañía de cristianos que se reúne aquí en Midland Park es un faro para la verdad de Dios, y por lo tanto esa doctrina debe ser pura. Tú dices: “No sé mucho de la doctrina; no he sido enseñado en mucho de la doctrina”. Eso está bien. No necesariamente tienes que conocerla al dedillo, pero tienes que estar dispuesto a aprenderla, a que te la enseñen y a creerla.

Ahora, usted dice, “¿Qué clase de doctrina debe ser creída y sostenida?” Hay otras escrituras que nos ayudan. Por ejemplo, lo que Juan dice en su primera epístola. Juan te dice que si vas a estar en una comunidad de una iglesia local, no puedes negar que Jesucristo ha venido en carne. Ese es uno de los fundamentos de la doctrina cristiana. Tienes que estar dispuesto a confesar y creer la encarnación del Señor Jesús, que Él es Dios manifestado en carne (1 Juan 4). Usted tendría que estar dispuesto a confesar y creer que no sólo el Señor Jesús vino en la carne, sino que Él era un hombre real. Tienes que estar dispuesto a creer y confesar que Él es Dios; Su deidad se encuentra en 1 Juan capítulo 2.

Debes creer y confesar que Jesús es Jesús de Nazaret, quien fue crucificado en la cruz y es el Cristo; Él es el Mesías. Eso es Juan; esta es la doctrina de los apóstoles, y todos en esa asamblea local confesaron y creyeron que Jesucristo ha venido en carne, que Jesucristo es el Hijo de Dios, y que Jesucristo es el Mesías. Hay otros principios básicos de la fe cristiana. La salvación no es por obras, ni siquiera un poquito. La salvación es absoluta y totalmente por la fe en un Cristo resucitado; es uno de los fundamentos de la doctrina de los apóstoles.

Ahora, curiosamente, cuando se llega a 1 Timoteo 1, había dos hombres – Himeneo y Fileto – que creían y enseñaban que la resurrección ya había pasado, y debido a eso, Pablo tuvo que tratar con ellos y sacarlos de la comunión de la asamblea local. Así que, ese debe ser un principio doctrinal que debe ser creído por todos los que están en comunión. Y a propósito, ellos no estaban negando la resurrección de Cristo. Estaban diciendo que la resurrección ya ha pasado. Lo que estaban diciendo es que los cristianos han sido resucitados espiritualmente cuando confiaron en Cristo, y no existe ninguna otra resurrección. Ellos no creían en la resurrección física de los creyentes que habían muerto en Cristo. Pablo dice que su enseñanza es cancerosa; es como gangrena; se extiende. Sacude la fe de muchos. Dice que no pueden disfrutar de la comunión doctrinal de la asamblea porque están equivocados en el asunto de la resurrección.

Así que, ves, amigo, hay ciertos asuntos doctrinales que no se pueden negociar si vas a disfrutar de la comunión doctrinal de una asamblea local. Hay algo más ahora; has perdido mi lista. Incluye la conversión, la confesión por medio del bautismo, un credo; ciertas cosas doctrinales que no se pueden negociar. Deben ser creídas si se quiere disfrutar en común de esa doctrina de los apóstoles. Una cosa más: el carácter del individuo también es muy importante.

Verán, la asamblea local no es sólo columna y fundamento de la verdad; es también un templo santo. Templo santo; Dios mora allí, y los cristianos que pertenecen a esa asamblea local tienen una norma moral que los caracteriza. Ustedes entienden que ese hombre en 1 Corintios 5 no cumplió con la norma moral. Pablo dice que debes ponerlo fuera de la asamblea por un tiempo. Es temporal; para que ese hombre pueda aprender, pueda aprender lo que ha hecho mal y corregirlo, y finalmente restaurarlo a la comunión.

Pero en ese estado inmoral, no podía ser parte de la comunión de una asamblea local. Necesitaras ver esto por ti mismo, pero tambien en 1 Corintios 5, Pablo dice esto: “Cualquiera que es llamado hermano, y sin embargo se caracteriza por la codicia, cosas como el fraude, el juego, cualquiera que es llamado hermano y se caracteriza por la idolatría, la embriaguez, o la extorsión-fraude, o por la rabia que es alguien que constantemente usa lenguaje abusivo, insultante, violento-él dice que no es diferente del hermano inmoral.” Ese estado moral de las cosas no puede ser permitido en la asamblea. El dice que son expulsados de la comunión de esa asamblea por un tiempo hasta que el asunto se arregle, y haya arrepentimiento, y sean traídos de vuelta.

Así que, amigo, no te enojes, ¿quieres? A veces lo llamamos una entrevista; perdónanos por usar ese tipo de lenguaje. En realidad no es una entrevista. Pero tú dices: “Me gustaría unirme a la comunión de una asamblea y tener los privilegios de unirme a ellos en oración, y el privilegio de partir el pan con ellos, compartiendo esa comunión”. Bueno, los ancianos querrán tener una charla contigo, y te van a hablar de… ¿lo entiendes? Están protegiendo la santidad de esta compañía. No quieren que entren lobos rapaces; no quieren levadura doctrinal o levadura moral. Pablo usa la palabra levadura en relación a doctrina y moralidad porque puede esparcirse. No quieren que eso se propague en la asamblea.

Así que te preguntarán sobre tu conversión. Te preguntarán sobre tu confesión. Te preguntarán sobre un credo: ¿crees en estas verdades? Nosotros las creemos. Te preguntarán sobre tu carácter de vida. No son entrometidos; buscan proteger la moralidad de esa asamblea. Les digo, es una cosa maravillosa pertenecer a una confraternidad de una iglesia local. Pero antes de pasar a la jefatura y cerrar la reunión con la jefatura, quiero decir esto: pertenecer a una hermandad de la iglesia local significa ciertas cosas. Gracias. Hay innumerables privilegios asociados con ello. Pero amigo, ¿estás listo para esto? Hay responsabilidades también-grandes responsabilidades.

No te he dado una lección de griego esta noche; te di una lección de griego, sí, en parte. Les estaba hablando acerca de ecclesia. Esta palabra compañerismo en griego es la palabra koinonia. Koinonia; esa es la palabra para compañerismo. Es muy interesante que cuando regresas a los registros del evangelio, Lucas capitulo 5 habla acerca del milagro cuando el Señor Jesús dio una ración de peces a los discípulos. Te acuerdas de Pedro; había estado pescando toda la noche, no había pescado nada. Sin embargo, por la mañana, el Señor le dice: “Bien, escuchad, bogad mar adentro, echad vuestras redes para una redada de peces”. Eso es exactamente lo que hicieron, y eso es exactamente lo que obtuvieron. Pedro se hundió ante el Señor y dijo: “Apártate de mí, Señor; soy un hombre pecador”.

¿Sabes lo que dice Lucas 5? Usa la palabra compañerismo, y esto es lo que dice. Dice que Simón Pedro era socio-era socio en el negocio de la pesca con Andrés y Juan. ¿Sabes que la palabra socio es la palabra compañerismo? Ahora, eso no es un compañerismo de la iglesia local, ¿verdad? Eso no es un compañerismo doctrinal; eso es un compañerismo comercial. Pedro era un socio en la pesca con algunos de esos otros individuos que fueron llamados a ser discípulos.

Compañerismo. Ahora, es una ilustración encantadora de lo que es el compañerismo de asamblea; requiere, amigo, compromiso. Requiere contribución. Dime, si compartieras un negocio de pesca y un bote de pesca con Pedro, y cada vez que llegara la mañana o la noche cuando salieran a pescar, y cada vez que Pedro dijera: “Bueno, ustedes sólo empujen, muchachos, y trabajen bien, ¿no es así? Disfrutad de la noche, y venid a traerme el producto de la pesca al final del día”.

O Pedro decía: “Está bien, hoy saldré con vosotros, pero escuchad, tengo mi tumbona conmigo. Yo sólo voy a poner la tumbona en cubierta; tú haz el trabajo duro. Tú haz el trabajo duro. Yo me sentaré aquí y lo disfrutaré, y quizás te señale una o dos cosas que deberías estar haciendo”. Dices que pronto lo sacaríamos del equipo. El compañerismo tiene que ver con el compromiso. El compañerismo tiene que ver con la contribución. Si perteneces a una asamblea local, te lanzo esto como un reto: Tristemente, alrededor del 10 o 20% de los miembros de una asamblea local suelen hacer todo el trabajo. Qué vergüenza para el 90% restante. Vergüenza para el 80% restante.

Escucha, la comunión en la iglesia local es un compromiso: un trabajo duro. No hay espectadores, ni tumbonas, ni socios silenciosos. Amigo mío, si perteneces a la comunión de una asamblea, ponte a trabajar. Comprométase con lo que están haciendo. Si están teniendo una semana de reuniones ministeriales con un hombre extraño de Inglaterra, esté allí, aunque no le guste. Si la asamblea está saliendo con folletos, invitaciones, reuniones evangélicas, reuniones al aire libre, lo que sea que estén haciendo, esté allí. Comprométase con la actividad. Hay una responsabilidad en pertenecer a una iglesia local, y contribuir, ¿no lo harás?

Volveremos a esto el viernes. Se usa una iglesia local; se la representa bajo la figura de un cuerpo. Un cuerpo es algo extraño; tiene muchas partes diferentes. Tiene dedos, manos, piernas, rótulas, corazones, huesos, ojos y oídos. Un cuerpo tiene un gran número de miembros diferentes, pero todos son un solo cuerpo, una parte de un solo cuerpo. Para que el cuerpo sea eficaz, es necesario que todos esos miembros funcionen en el lugar adecuado, en el momento oportuno y haciendo el trabajo correcto.

Amigo, si perteneces a una hermandad de asamblea local, comprométete, pero contribuye, porque eres vital. Usted es vital. No me importa la edad que tengas: hombre o mujer, muy viejo, de mediana edad, muy joven. Si perteneces a esa hermandad, eres vital para que sea efectiva en su trabajo y labor en el área local.

Por lo tanto, la hermandad es una hermandad doctrinal. Ahora, queria decir esto, y solo me quedan unos cinco minutos, pero en tiempo de ingles, 10 minutos. Quiero hablarles sobre el liderazgo. Ahora, estoy trayendo esto en este punto porque los miembros de una asamblea local están unidos en una confraternidad; comparten algo en común. ¿Qué tienen en común? La vida eterna, sí, pero la doctrina. Eso es lo que hemos visto en Hechos 2. Así que aquí hay un compañerismo que se muestra a través de la doctrina que sostienen.

Pero esta asamblea local también está asociada con el gran principio de jefatura, y ese principio de jefatura se muestra cuando esos individuos se reúnen. Ahora, ustedes saben donde debemos leer para esto. No tengo tiempo, pero si lo tuviera, leería en 1 Corintios 11 y también principalmente en 1 Timoteo 2. Quiero hablarles acerca del liderazgo.

Cristo es cabeza, y Cristo es Señor. Ustedes dicen: “¿Cuál es la diferencia?”. Cristo es cabeza, y Cristo es Señor. ¿Cuál es la diferencia? Bueno, señorío tiene que ver con propiedad. El señorío tiene que ver con gobernar. El señorío es una sujeción forzosa, una soberanía absoluta debido a la grandeza de la persona. Cristo es Señor; es Señor porque es Dios, es Señor porque es Creador, es Señor porque es Redentor, y toda rodilla finalmente se doblará ante Él. Gracias a Dios que lo poseemos como Señor, ¿no es así?

No estamos obligados a someternos a Cristo; lo amamos. De buena gana doblamos la rodilla ante Él. Sabemos que Él es un Señor maravilloso; pero muchos en el mundo no reconocen Su señorío. En un día venidero, toda rodilla se doblará, y eso es señorío. El señorío es diferente, y quiero que entendamos esto: si el señorío se trata de propiedad y gobierno y subyugación forzada donde sea necesario, el señorío se trata de orden-no de propiedad, sino de orden.

El señorío no tiene que ver con gobernar; el señorío tiene que ver con los diferentes papeles que Dios ha dado: diferentes papeles a hombres y mujeres, diferentes papeles incluso dentro de la Divinidad. Entiendes que es parte de la naturaleza y carácter de Dios, esta idea de señorío. Entonces, el señorío es una sujeción forzada si es necesario, pero la jefatura es una sumisión voluntaria a los diferentes tipos de órdenes, roles y responsabilidades que Dios ha dado al hombre y a la mujer.

Por eso 1 Corintios 11 dice esto: la cabeza de Cristo es Dios. No, no, no, no dice eso; dice que la cabeza de la mujer es el hombre, la cabeza del hombre es Cristo, y la cabeza de Cristo es Dios. La jefatura nunca implica inferioridad y nunca implica desigualdad; no puede porque la cabeza de Cristo es Dios, y Cristo es Dios.

Entonces, dirás: “¿Qué es la jefatura?”. Es simplemente el hecho de que Dios ha dado diferentes roles y diferentes responsabilidades a hombres y mujeres, y ellos son gloriosos en esos roles. Dios ha dado diferentes responsabilidades y papeles a Su Hijo y al Espíritu, y que Él mismo desempeña. Pero en esos papeles y responsabilidades, hay una sumisión voluntaria a la autoridad.

No es inferioridad; no es desigualdad; es una sumisión voluntaria a un papel que Dios ha dado. Así que cuando se trata de la asamblea local, este principio de jefatura debe ser mostrado, y debe estar en evidencia. Porque Dios ha dado diferentes funciones y diferentes papeles a varones y mujeres. Ahora, Cristo es la cabeza de cada hombre, pero el mundo no posee esa verdad, y no reconoce esa verdad-.

La asamblea lo hace. Y en la asamblea, queremos mostrar no sólo el señorío, sino el liderazgo del Señor Jesús. Ahora, se que estoy un poco sobre el tiempo, pero por favor, por favor, escuchen esto. Las cosas que voy a decir no están calculadas para hacer que nadie aquí esta noche se sienta incómodo. Sólo quiero decirles lo que la Palabra de Dios enseña. Dice esto: que en el asunto de la jefatura, Dios ha dado diferentes papeles y responsabilidades a los varones en la asamblea local que a las mujeres en la asamblea local.

Pablo habla de esto en 1 Timoteo 2, y habla de esto en 1 Corintios 11. En 1 Timoteo 2, tendrás que leerlo cuando vayas a casa; es tarea. Solía ser maestro; puedo hacer eso. Pero no te pondré en detención; nunca me atrevería. Pablo dice esto: los varones en la asamblea local deben asumir la responsabilidad del liderazgo y la participación pública de la asamblea. Pablo dice en 1 Timoteo 2: “Quiero que los varones oren en todo lugar”. Esa no es la palabra general para los seres humanos; es la palabra para los varones.

Asi que Pablo esta diciendo, “Aqui hay una manera de demostrar que el hombre es la cabeza de la mujer, que ella esta en sumision voluntaria al hombre, porque Dios le ha dado al hombre un papel y una responsabilidad diferente. Él debe liderar, y esa hermana debe someterse voluntariamente a ese liderazgo”. El tiene el derecho de participar públicamente y dirigir la compañía en oración pública audible. El varón debe orar; eso es parte de su responsabilidad y liderazgo. Tú dices: “¿Qué hacen las hermanas?”.

Bueno, ellas se someten voluntariamente a ese liderazgo, pero se someten como ayudantes. En 1 Timoteo 2, te dirá que ellas permanecen audiblemente silenciosas en la reunión. Por su vestimenta piadosa, comportamiento y buenas obras, las hermanas muestran que están voluntariamente sumisas y contribuyen a la piedad de la casa (1 Timoteo 2). Pablo dice que la mujer no debe enseñar ni ejercer autoridad sobre el hombre.

¿Por qué no? ¿Saben a dónde recurre Pablo para explicarlo? Se remonta a la creación. Dice: “Al principio, en la creación, Dios hizo primero a Adán y luego a Eva. La mujer fue engañada en la transgresión, el hombre no. Él entró con los ojos abiertos”, dice Pablo. Eso fue Dios demostrando al principio que al hacer al hombre primero, lo estaba poniendo en una posición de liderazgo y autoridad y que la mujer debía ser una ayudante y sumisa a esa autoridad.

Tú dices: “Ella es inferior”. No lo es en absoluto. Dios los hizo varón y hembra; los llamó a ambos juntos: Adán. Llegaron a ser uno; no inferiores, pero Dios -al hacer a Adán antes que a Eva- puso al hombre en una posición de autoridad. Ahora, eso debe verse en la asamblea. ¿Cómo? El hombre toma la delantera; el hombre ora en voz alta; el hombre enseña. Pero la mujer, ella es silenciosamente sumisa y no usurpa la autoridad del hombre enseñando o dirigiendo audiblemente.

Este es el argumento de Pablo en 1 Timoteo 2. No es sexismo. No es sexismo; no es misoginia. Se remonta a la creación. He dicho todo eso, y no he mencionado 1 Corintios 11. Pablo dice, no sólo el liderazgo se muestra literalmente-por cierto, ustedes los varones en la comunión de la asamblea, es su responsabilidad orar audiblemente. ¿Escucharon eso? Es su responsabilidad dirigir la compañía-es su responsabilidad contribuir audiblemente. De hecho, si no contribuyen audiblemente, es tan serio como que una hermana se levante y no guarde silencio.

Dices: “Si una hermana se levantara y empezara a orar, nos levantaríamos en armas”. Y sin embargo, ¿cuántos hermanos no participan audiblemente? Eso es el liderazgo; debe mostrarse literalmente. 1 Corintios 11 muestra cómo se muestra simbólicamente. Tú dices: “¿Cómo simbólicamente?” Esa jefatura y sumisión a la autoridad es mostrada en la asamblea local simbólicamente porque los varones no cubren sus cabezas; no lo hacen. Están dando gloria a su cabeza, que es Cristo.

Pero las hermanas, por otro lado, lean 1 Corintios 11, cubren sus cabezas; llevan un símbolo en sus cabezas de estar bajo autoridad. Es una hermosa muestra del orden de Dios-no inferioridad, el diseño de Dios-la asamblea local de Dios. Qué privilegio ser miembros de esa asamblea. Ya he dicho suficiente. Dios bendecirá Su Palabra. Oremos.

Meaning of the assembly

I think we’ll read some verses from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians, to begin with, and chapter 1. It’s a great pleasure to be here. Your warm welcome is much appreciated. Thank you very much for that. Daniel, I should have known, shouldn’t I? My namesake, who produced this set of notes, is remarkable. I almost feel like sitting down in a chair and taking notes myself. But then I don’t know who would do the preaching if that were the case. But this is nice. Thank you very much. I think I need to take you with me over the next few months, whoever you might be. Take you with me to produce booklets like this. This is ideal, and I’m going to have to stick now, aren’t I, to the advertised meetings and titles of the meetings, which, of course, we will do.

What we’re looking to do over these five nights, from Monday through Friday, is think about truth in relation to the assembly, the local assembly. Then, God willing, on Saturday and Sunday, we’ll speak a little bit about the second coming of the Lord Jesus: the rapture and the revelation, two aspects of His second coming, and just how we should be living in the light of the soon return of the Lord Jesus. So there are great things before us in these few days; truth in relation to the local assembly, truth in relation to the second coming of our Lord Jesus, and I trust that will be of great blessing and benefit to us all. It’s lovely to meet you, and I look forward to meeting you in due course.

I almost feel at this point I need to explain a little bit about myself because you won’t know this if you’re a preacher or if you’re not a preacher, but what you end up doing is answering the same questions about ten times a day: Where do you live? Where is that? Where do you come from? How big is the assembly to which you belong? What hymn books do you use in your assembly? How many children do you have? How old are these children? Do they have any pets? All those sorts of questions you get asked five, six, seven, ten times a day. So I ought to answer all that. I’m not going to answer all the questions. Perhaps I should wear a big sign around my neck just so you know exactly what the answers are. But now you won’t ask me those questions, will you? Just ask Alistair over there; he knows all the answers.

And a word of thanks, not just for convening these meetings, but for taking him off our hands. We’ve been trying to get rid of him for years, and now he’s found a lovely young lady here. Right, enough of all that. Nice to be here. Let’s open the Word of God together and trust that it will be a blessing to us.

Now, we’re talking tonight about the meaning of the assembly, which is what I have called this particular meeting or session. What does the assembly mean? We’re thinking about this word, the word “church,” although I’m going to use the word “assembly,” and I will tell you why I am using the word “assembly” in due course. The Authorized Version uses the word “church,” and I do want to speak about that particular word and then tell you why it’s better to really use the word “assembly.” So tonight will be very foundational; it will be very basic, but I am trying to set the scene. I’m trying to set a strong and firm foundation for everything that’s going to follow over the next few nights.

So just listen to what Paul says to these Christians who are meeting in Corinth. He writes this letter to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 1, he says, “Paul, called an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother.” And then Paul says, that’s who I am. This is who I am writing to. He says, “unto the church of God.” Now, I won’t tell you much Greek because I don’t know much Greek, but you need to know this word. The word that’s being translated here, “church,” is the word “ekklesia.” That’s the Greek word, or “ekklesia,” if you want to pronounce it properly, but we normally call it “ekklesia.” That’s the word which the translators here have translated as “church.” We do need to talk about that word. Paul says, “I am writing to the ecclesia, the assembly, the church of God, which is at Corinth.” It belongs to God in a spiritual sense. Geographically, this assembly of Christians is located in Corinth.

He says to them that are sanctified—that’s not their geographical location; that’s their spiritual location. They are set apart, sanctified in Christ Jesus, and they are called saints. And he says, “with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours.” But it’s that little phrase in verse 2, “the church of God, which is at Corinth.” Right, reverse. The book of the Acts and chapter 19. The book of the Acts and chapter 19. Now, I’m reading these verses. These won’t be quite so familiar to you, but I’m reading these verses simply because I will make reference to them in due course.

Now, that word “ekklesia” is used 115 times in the New Testament. All except for three occasions, it’s translated “church.” So 112 times, the word “church” is used. On three occasions, that exact same word is translated in a different way, and they’re all found here in Acts chapter 19. I’ll explain why they’re translated in a different way in just a moment.

So Acts chapter 19, and this is an occasion in a place called Ephesus, when a great riot really has been stirred up in that city because Paul is undermining their trade in idols and idolatry. The Ephesians worshipped a goddess called Diana. A great assembly went into the amphitheater in Ephesus. You can see that today; it’s been excavated. They said, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Amen. In verse 29, the whole city was filled with confusion. Having caught Gaius or Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater. When Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. Certain of the chief of Asia, who were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theater. So a whole riot has been stirred up. They don’t really know why they’ve come into the amphitheater, and why it is that they’re crying out, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” But something has stirred them up.

In verse 32, “Some therefore cried one thing, some another.” The assembly—now that’s the word “ekklesia,” but on this occasion the translators do not translate it “church,” and they’re not translating it “church” because this is a gathering of civil individuals. It’s not a religious gathering; it’s not a church gathering. It is a civic gathering, and therefore, they translated the word not as “church” but as “assembly.”

The assembly was confused. This congregation of people in the amphitheater were confused, and they didn’t really know why they had come together. Then that word “assembly” is used on two other occasions just in this little section: verse 39, “It shall be determined in a lawful assembly.” Verse 41, “When he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.” We’ll make reference to that later on; just keep that in your minds.

Now, finally, the Gospel by Matthew. Let’s read in Matthew’s Gospel and chapter 16. Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 16. This now is the first reference to the word “ekklesia,” “church,” in the Bible. Matthew, chapter 16. The Lord Jesus is speaking. He says, Matthew 16, verse 13, “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, ‘Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?’ And they said, ‘Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some, Elias, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ And he saith unto them, ‘But whom say ye that I am?’ And Simon Peter answered and said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock…’ Now that’s probably not Peter himself. That would be rather an uncertain and unstable foundation. It’s probably rather Peter’s confession of the person of the Lord Jesus, the one who is the Christ, the Son of the living God. But upon this rock, says the Lord Jesus, ‘I will build.’ It hasn’t been built yet, but it will be. He says, ‘I will build my church,’ the first mention of the word, ‘and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ Now, of course, the church began to be built in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. But as the Lord Jesus was saying these words, the church had not yet come into formation or being, and that’s why He says, ‘I will build my church.’

And that’s all against the background of Matthew chapter 13, the parables of the kingdom and the fact that the Lord Jesus had been rejected by His own people. Now He introduces in this Gospel the fact that He is going to do a new work, and this new work, not Israel, not Judaism, this new work is the church. Now, we must just read some verses too in chapter 18 of Matthew. This is the second mention of the word “church” in the Bible. In fact, the word “church” is only mentioned twice in all of the Gospels, and we’ve read—or are about to read—both of those references.

So Matthew chapter 18 says, “Now this is a very interesting passage because it has to do with, well, church discipline to a certain extent and one brother who has sinned or trespassed against another brother.” So verse 15 of Matthew 18: “Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he shall neglect to hear them, then tell this brother who has trespassed against you, you can’t solve it man to man. You’ve taken witnesses with you, and he won’t listen to them either. Now what you do is tell it unto the church, but if he neglect to hear the church, then let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.”

There are some very important statements here, but we can’t just read them all or discuss them all. But verse 20, and this is very, very precious to many of us, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name,” says the Lord Jesus, “there am I in the midst of them.” That’s our great principle of gathering. We won’t be talking about that principle tonight, but we will be talking about it in due course.

Right, that’s all we’re going to read for now, and we do look to the Lord, as always, to bless the reading of His Word. There are three things—in fact, there are a lot more than three things—that I’m going to say to you tonight. But principally, there are three things that I want to bring before you this evening as we think about this subject of the meaning of the church, or the meaning of the assembly.

Now, first of all—and this is important—I do want to give you a very simple definition of what the word “ekklesia” or the word “church” actually means. First of all, we’ll try and describe the word; we’ll define the word: a definition of the church. Then you will notice—and I hope this is very familiar to you—that we’ve been reading of the church in Matthew 16 and we’ve also been reading of the church in Matthew 18. When the Lord speaks about the church in Matthew 16, He’s speaking about what you might call the great assembly: the church which is the body of Christ.

But when you come to Matthew 18, the subject is different. I know the word is the same. I know the Lord Jesus is still speaking about the church, but He’s not speaking about the great assembly, the church which is the body of Christ. In fact, in Matthew 18, He’s speaking about a local assembly, a local company of individuals. I mean, that’s obvious, isn’t it? Because there is a brother who’s got a problem with another brother. If he doesn’t listen to his brother and neither does he listen to two or three witnesses that are brought, then he must tell it to the whole church, and quite obviously, that cannot encompass every Christian and every believer on the whole planet; it must be a much more local thing. So I want to talk to you not just about the definition of the church; I want to speak to you about distinctions that you must make between the great assembly, that’s in Matthew 16, and the local assembly, that’s in Matthew 18. Very important.

We’ll give a definition of the church, but we’ll also speak about distinctions of the church. And lest you might think—just before I get to the end of the meeting—now there is no excuse for anyone falling asleep tonight. If anyone has an excuse for sleeping, it’s me. It is me, and only me, right? It’s well past midnight where I come from. I have an excuse; you do not have an excuse. Now, lest you think that is a little dry—and I will try my best not to make it dry because it’s so important—just at the end of the meeting I want to talk to you about the dignity of the church, not just a definition of it and the distinctions that are to be made. I want to talk to you about the great dignity of that which tonight we’re calling the church. There is nothing, almost nothing, that is as precious to the Father and to His Son than that of the church. So we will talk just at the end of the meeting about the dignity of the church.

Right, a little definition: I have presented to you the Greek word which is in our minds tonight. We want to think about this word, “ekklesia.” Remember what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 16. He said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock, Peter, I will build,” the very first mention of this word in the whole of the Bible, in the Greek New Testament. He says, “Peter, upon this rock, I will build my ecclesia. I will build,” in the Authorized Version, “my church.” You say, “What does the word mean?” Well, very simply and very basically, the word “ekklesia” means an assembly, a congregation, a gathering of people for a particular purpose. That’s the meaning of the word “ekklesia.” Now you’ve got that. Essential. So whether it’s “ekklesia,” or whether it’s the King James Version as it interprets or translates that word as “church,” or whether I use the better word “assembly,” because that’s what the word means, we are referring to a gathering, a congregation, a company of people.

Here’s an ecclesia tonight: an assembly of people who are gathering together for a particular reason. Not bricks and mortar. Not a church building. When the Bible uses the word “church,” it’s referring to a company of people. Now, we ought to be careful, didn’t we, in the way in which we use our language? I understand, I do understand that in the English language, the word “church” basically refers to a building. And generally speaking, a very ornate building with crosses on the outside and so on. That’s how we use the word “church” in the English language. But the Bible never uses the word “church” like that. Whenever you read the word “church” in the New Testament, it never has reference to a building. It always has a reference to people. Now, you remember that, won’t you? So when you’re speaking to somebody in the home tomorrow night and you say, “Good night, love; I’m just on my way out to church,” you chastise yourself because you are the church. If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus, you’re part of the church. You are the church. You’re not going to church; you are the church. I suppose that technically you’re right as far as the English language is concerned, but we should try and use language that’s biblical.

Far better for you to say, “I’m going out to the gospel hall,” or “I’m going to the hall,” or “I’m going to the meeting.” You’re not going to the church; you are the church. So don’t forget that. It becomes very obvious. When you’re reading through the book of the Acts, for example, the book of Acts will say things like this: “Fear came upon all the church.” That’s Acts chapter 5. Now, as far as I know, buildings do not have emotions, and buildings can’t be fearful. But in Acts chapter 5, fear came upon all the church. Why? Because the word “church” really means a company of gathered people. Those people were fearful. In other places in the book of Acts, the churches, plural, walked in the fear of the Lord. I’ve never yet met a building that’s got legs. If you could design a building with legs, I think you could make a lot of money. The churches were walking in the fear of the Lord, which means that these companies of gathered Christians were living their lives in such a way that they were displaying reverence towards the Lord.

In Acts chapter 11, if emotions and legs aren’t enough to prove the point, in Acts chapter 11, the church has ears. “The tidings of these things reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem.” Buildings don’t have ears; people do. You see the point? So this word “ekklesia,” this word “church,” this word “assembly”—it’s the same word. It has the idea of a gathered company of individuals, gathering together for a particular purpose. Now, I don’t really want to go into this, and I wasn’t a history teacher; I was a geography teacher, which, in my humble opinion, is a far better subject than… but you say these translators of the King James Version now, they translated this in the year 1611. And remember that it’s called the King James Bible because the king who commissioned the translation and the king who had a lot to say about the translators and how they translated it, he was King James I.

You say, “Why did these translators, when they had that word ‘ekklesia’ 115 times all the way through the New Testament—on 112 occasions did they say ‘church’ and on just three occasions did they use the translation ‘assembly’ for exactly the same Greek word?” For this reason: that King James I insisted that when a translation was made, if an ecclesiastical term was already in common use back in the year 1611, that term should be used by the translator. That’s why you get the word “bishop” in 1 Timothy 3. The word means nothing of the sort, but there were bishops in the churches in those days, and King James was keen to make sure that all that was “churchy” and ecclesiastical in those days was encouraged by this new translation of the Bible into English.

Those translators very well knew that the best way to explain this word “ekklesia” was through the word “assembly.” But because of what King James had said, they retained the word “church.” Why did they use the word “assembly” three times in Acts chapter 19? Simply because it wasn’t a religious gathering of individuals. Here was a whole load of individuals that had been stirred up from the city of Ephesus. They’d gone into the amphitheater; they were crying out about the greatness of their goddess Diana. It was a civic gathering of individuals, so they called it an assembly. But on every other occasion, they used the word “church.”

All you need to be aware of is this: When we define the word “ekklesia,” church, we are thinking about an assembly or a congregation of gathered people, and that for a particular reason. Now that’s important.

Point number two: let’s talk about the distinctions of the church. This gathered company of individuals. You will notice that we were reading in Matthew 16 and Matthew chapter 18. Remember that in Matthew chapter 16, the Lord Jesus says this, Peter, upon your confession, this firm foundation, I am going to build. Now just notice this: the Lord Jesus is the builder. He says, “Upon this rock, Peter, upon this solid foundation, I will build.” Matthew 16 is speaking about the great assembly.

Now, you need to note this down. This is the kind of truth that you will find in Ephesians and you will find in Colossians. In Ephesians and Colossians, this great assembly that the Lord Jesus was speaking of in Matthew 16 is called the church, which is the body of Christ. In Matthew 16 it was still future. The Lord Jesus says, “I will build this church. I haven’t started building it yet, but I will.” He was looking forward to Acts chapter 2, the day of Pentecost. What a remarkable day! Do you know that was the day, 40 days after the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead? Then He ascended back to heaven. Ten days—well, let me rephrase that: the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead. Forty days later, He ascended back to heaven. Ten days after His ascension was the day of Pentecost—Pentecost, 50 days since the resurrection of Christ. When the Lord Jesus ascended up to heaven, there was a divine person, the Son of God, who left earth and went up to heaven—the movement of a divine person.

Ten days later, on the day of Pentecost, a divine person moved again; you say, “Who was that?” Not the Lord Jesus; He was in heaven and He’d been there for 10 days and He’s still there ten days later. The Spirit of God moved from heaven and came down to earth on the day of Pentecost. The movement of the Spirit of God, the movement again of a divine person. He formed the church, the great assembly, which is the body of Christ. He formed that church on the day of Pentecost. He linked spiritually together the head, Christ, which is in heaven, with His body that was on the earth. Every single believer on the day of Pentecost was bound together into one unique entity—the great assembly, the church, which is the body of Christ.

Let me tell you something remarkable. If that church had its foundation, beginning, origin on the day of Pentecost, you say, “When will it be finished?” Well, it’s not finished yet. Christ is still building His church. You say, “When will it be finished?” It could be finished in five minutes. This preacher won’t be finished in five minutes, by the way, but the church could be. Because when Christ descends from heaven into the air—that’s the rapture—when all of God’s people are snatched away to meet Him in the air, that will be the close of the great assembly. So we’re speaking here about—sometimes preachers call it this; forgive me for saying this, but you need to be aware of the differences—sometimes preachers call it the universal church. That’s all right, but it’s not very accurate.

Sometimes preachers call it the church of the dispensation; that’s better. Every single believer in the Lord Jesus—every believer from the day of Pentecost until the rapture—is part… You say, “Millions of them have died; their bodies are buried; they were saved hundreds of years ago, and they’re in heaven unclothed, but they’re in heaven.” That’s right, but they’re still part of that great assembly from the day of Pentecost until the rapture—that complete body, the body of Christ, the church of the dispensation, the great assembly. What a church that is! That’s what the Lord Jesus was speaking about in Matthew 16: “I will build,” and He began to build in Acts 2, “I will build my church.” So every single genuine believer in Christ—and He knows them that are His—is part of that great assembly. If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus tonight, you belong to that church, the church which is His body.

Now hold the headlines. You ready for this? Though you belong to that church if you’re a believer, you may not belong to a local church, and that’s something different, and that’s what the Lord Jesus was speaking about in Matthew chapter 18. He wasn’t speaking about the great assembly there, the church which is His body (Ephesians, Colossians truth). No, no. In Matthew 18, He was speaking about a local assembly—a local company and gathering of believers. Listen to what the Lord says. He says, “Go and tell this problem.” We haven’t been able to settle this problem. “Go and tell this problem to the church.” A local assembly. Something which is identifiable. Something which is in a locality. Believers which are meeting in a particular area.

Do you remember we read those verses in 1 Corinthians 1? Do you remember Paul was writing there to a local assembly in Corinth? He says, “I’m writing to the church of God”—a local assembly of God in Corinth. He says, “You’re sanctified in Christ Jesus.” Now, that is a local assembly—an identifiable local company of Christians gathering together for a particular purpose, like the one in Corinth, like the one at Midland Park. But you must make a difference between the large assembly, which is the body of Christ (Ephesians and Colossians), and the local assembly, the church of God. You’ll find that 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy especially are speaking about that local company of Christians.

So listen to this: two distinct entities—they are actually completely different. And though the local church, to a certain extent, is comparable to the great assembly, they are distinct, and they are different. There are similarities, but the contrasts outweigh the similarities. Now let me throw this at you. We’re getting there. Let me throw this at you just to prove the point. When it comes to the large assembly—don’t answer these questions out loud, will you? When it comes to the large assembly, Matthew 16, the church which is His body, how many? One—just one, comprised of every single believer. It will be together for the first time ever when the rapture takes place. What a tremendous thing! Millions of believers raised from the dead; we which are alive and remain, we’re all caught up together to meet Christ in the air. That one great assembly, we’ll be together forever and together for the first time. So the great assembly: one.

How many local assemblies? Well, I belong to one—Bracknell Gospel Hall. You belong to one, I trust—Midland Park. You say, “How many local assemblies are there today around the world?” Thousands upon thousands of local companies of Christians. Do you see the contrast? One versus many. Here’s something else: that great assembly is entered at conversion. As soon as you are saved, and you probably didn’t know it, I didn’t. When I was saved at seven years of age, immediately I belonged to the great assembly. I didn’t know it, but I was part of it. So you enter that great assembly by conversion.

You do not enter a local assembly by conversion: you enter a local assembly by reception. We’re going to talk about that tomorrow. Believers who have been baptized and who adhere to a doctrinal belief can become part of a local assembly. But again, there’s a contrast. Here’s something else. That great assembly only ever eternally has in it true believers. Thank you. Sad to say, it is possible that those who are not saved can work their way into the assembly, which is local. That’s possible. You say, “How is that possible?” Because Christ is building the great assembly, and He knows them that are His. He knows those that are genuine. Every genuine believer is part of that great assembly. But the local assembly is governed by a plurality of elders and overseers, and they will make judgments as to the profession of faith of these individuals and whether they’ve been baptized and adhere to the doctrine—and you can deceive mere men. It’s sad, and we never want it to happen, but it’s possible that those who are not saved can be in a local assembly. Jude verse 4: “Certain men crept in unawares.” It’s possible.

Here’s something else. It is utterly impossible, thank God, to be removed from the great assembly. Once you’re saved, you’re in the church, which is His body, and you can never be removed. Eternal security! Oh, but you can be removed from a local assembly. You say, “Are you sure?” What about 1 Corinthians 5? There is a man who’s been taken in fornication. There is a man who is living an immoral life. And Paul says, “Put him outside of the local assembly.” It is possible to be put out of the fellowship of a local church, but never the great assembly. I may say two more things and then we’ll move on, but these are so essential.

When it comes to that great assembly, there is neither Jew nor Gentile. There is neither bond nor free. There is neither male nor female. There are no racial or national distinctions in the Great Assembly. None! But there are in the Local Assembly. In the local assembly, it’s essential that we demonstrate the difference between male and female. That’s part of God’s order; that’s to be seen in the local assembly. National distinctions pertain in the local assembly. Sexual distinctions pertain—male and female—in the local assembly. But when it comes to the great assembly, says Paul in Galatians 3, neither male nor female. I’ll give you just one more.

That great assembly is eternal. It’s eternal! It will never pass, it will never fail, it will never fall, it will never fold. That great assembly will be alongside Christ for all eternity. Not this local church; you see, if the rapture were to happen tonight, this local church is gone, kaput, and it’s not coming back. We’re thankful it’s not coming back. Local churches are temporal; local churches can begin and come to an end. The Lord can remove a lampstand and close a local testimony, but the greater sin can never be closed. Thank God it is eternal.

Now, I’ve labored that, but I’ve labored that because whenever you are reading through the New Testament, and whenever you come across this word “church,” you must distinguish in your mind: Is this a reference to the great assembly, or is this a reference to the local assembly? Make that difference; it’s so important. So if you’re in Ephesians or Colossians, it’s likely the great assembly. If you’re in 1 Corinthians or 1 Timothy, it is likely the local assembly. But read the context—make the difference.

Now, finally, if that’s a definition of the church, and we’ve mentioned the distinctions of the church, I’ve got to throw this one in. Do you know in Acts chapter 7— forgive me, this is a little by-path—do you know in Acts chapter 7, the word “ekklesia,” I think it’s verse 38, the word “ekklesia,” the word “church,” is used? Are you ready? Just hold on to a chair. The word “ekklesia” is used of Israel. Israel! See, I thought you were talking about the church. Now you’ve started talking about Israel! In Acts chapter 7, when Stephen is speaking—when Stephen is giving his great apology, and Stephen is speaking about Moses, and he says, “Moses was associated with the church in the wilderness.” What was that church in the wilderness? Well, you know what the word “church” means now, don’t you? It’s an assembly, a congregation of people. So Stephen is speaking about a congregation of people in the wilderness. You say, “Yes, I know about them; that’s the nation of Israel. They were rescued out of Egypt; they were redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and by power through the Red Sea. That congregation of people, Israel, was taken into the wilderness, and Moses was head over that congregation.”

Does that mean that the church is Israel, and Israel is the church? Because the word “church” is used of Israel in Acts 7. Never conflate the two, will you? The word “ekklesia” is just an assembly of people. Now this is misleading many Christians today. God has an earthly people, the nation of Israel. That nation of Israel is separate and distinct from the church, which is the body of Christ. The church has not replaced Israel. The church is not found in the Old Testament; it’s a new work of God that began in Acts chapter 2. These two things are different and distinct. This is what people are teaching today; they are teaching that all of the promises God made to Israel in the Old Testament have failed because Israel as a nation crucified their Messiah. So God has finished with Israel; He’s cast them aside never to take them up again. This has led to the rise of anti-Semitism amongst a lot of Christians today.

But they say, “Don’t worry, those promises that God made to Israel in the Old Testament, He’s finished with them. He will make those promises good to the church in the New Testament because the church is the replacement of Israel.” Wrong, wrong, wrong! That comes from the devil. There is a difference and a distinction to be made. Yes, God has set aside the nation of Israel; He’s put them temporarily to one side because of their rejection of Christ. God now is doing a new work. Ephesians chapter 2: one new man—that’s Jew and Gentile together in one body. That’s the great assembly! God is doing a new work in the church. When that church is finished at the rapture and the church is gone, a heavenly people, a spiritual people, the bride of Christ, then God will move Israel back in, center stage, and every promise He ever made to Israel in the old will still be fulfilled to Israel. But in a day to come, God is true to His word; God can be trusted.

He hasn’t finished with them; they’re going to be refined through the tribulation. They are going to be made the head of the nations in the kingdom. God has a plan, God has a purpose for the nation of Israel. Now you see, please, there is a difference. Judaism and that which was associated with the nation: an earthly national religion characterized by ceremonial worship—the temple, the sacrifices, the incense, the garments. God has set that to one side, and now in dealing with the church, He is dealing with something that’s heavenly—something that’s universal, not national—and a people that now worship not ceremonially, but in spirit and in truth. That characterizes our worship today—not the ceremony of Judaism and that ceremony which has been carried over into Christendom.

No, no, we worship in spirit and in truth. Please make a distinction, won’t you, between the Great Assembly and the Local Assembly and Israel and the church. Now, finally, let’s talk about the dignity. Let’s talk about the dignity of the church. You just turn over. We didn’t read these verses; we’ll read them now. I’ve still got an hour and five minutes left, so no problem. Just have a look at Ephesians chapter 1. Now, you’ve been listening well. You know because I’ve turned to Ephesians, you know which aspect of the church I’m speaking of. You know now that I’m going to be speaking about the great assembly, the church which is the body of Christ, every true believer. I want to show you something of the dignity of that great assembly.

Look at Ephesians 1 and look at the end of it: verse 22. “God hath put all things under his feet.” This is God putting everything under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and has given Him—who is the head over all things—has given Him to the assembly, the assembly which is His body. And that assembly, this is the great assembly, is the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. You know, don’t you, that the church is an eternal thought? I’ll show you that in a moment. You know that at the beginning of time, God created a paradise, and into the paradise He put a king, Adam. And alongside Adam, He put his wife Eve, who was a helper, that was his perfect complement. Eve was perfect for Adam.

God had been bringing all of the animals before Adam and Adam had said, “Oh, it’s a wonderful animal, Lord, but giraffe! It’s a wonderful elephant! It’s a wonderful…” And every animal that was brought before Adam, he was thinking to himself, “These are amazing creations, but they don’t suit me. I’m a human being. I have a particular intelligence. I’ve been made in the image and the likeness of God, and all of these animals are wonderful, but they’re not fitting complements for me,” until God made him a wife out from his side. You know what Adam said? He said, “At last! Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.” At last, Adam had someone—it was just his complement.

Adam and Eve reigned over the world as God intended: husband, wife, man, woman, until sin came in, and Adam bowed the knee to the devil, cast his crown at his feet. Do you think God’s purposes are thwarted? I tell you, what God has first designed, He will bring to ultimate fruition. You say, “Is He going to put a man, is He going to put a king and a queen, a man and his bride, his perfect complement? Is He going to put them together and reign over the world?” Yes, He is! In a day to come, the second man is coming out of heaven. He’s the last Adam; He’s the fulfillment of all that God desired at the very beginning.

Christ will come out of heaven, His bride alongside Him. Listen to what Ephesians 1 says: “The one who is head over all things.” He’s been given to the church, and the assembly which is His body is the complement of Him, the one who fills all things. What dignity that brings to the great assembly! Don’t you know that you’re going to reign over the earth? Don’t you? You’re going to reign with Him over all the earth! That is the mighty dignity of the great assembly.

Now, Paul hasn’t finished, and I haven’t finished either. Just look at chapter 3 and look at what Paul says here. He’s speaking about the mystery. He speaks in verse 4 of the mystery of the Christ. You say, “What is this revelation of truth about Christ?” That Christ would be the head, that the church would be His body. Paul is speaking about this great revelation of truth in the New Testament that was given to him. He says, “In other ages, this was not made known unto the sons of men, but now it has been revealed.”

What’s this truth about the Christ? Christ the head, the church which is His body? Verse 6: “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body, and partakers of His promise.” That’s the promise of the Spirit in Christ. He says Gentiles are going to be brought in with the Jews—Gentile and Jew together, sharing the same promises, the same blessings, on the same basis, all brought together in the great assembly, the mystery of the Christ. He says, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all the saints, is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” You know what he’s speaking about? He’s speaking about the dignity of the great assembly.

He says, “You cannot fathom the endless treasures that we have in Christ! What we have in Him and what God has done in his wisdom to bring Jew and Gentile together in one body.” He says, “It’s far too big for our little grasp—the unsearchable riches of Christ! You cannot tread out the wonder of all of this.” He speaks about the wisdom of God—the wonderful wisdom of God.

Look at verse 10. God is doing all this so that in the heavenly places there might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God. And this is all according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus. That’s the dignity of the great assembly! An eternal purpose to display the multifaceted wisdom of God in binding together Jew and Gentile in one place—the great assembly.

Now that’s the dignity of the church. Isn’t it wonderful? Pause. I’m finished now. What are we going to do Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday? We’re not going to speak about the Great Assembly at all. We’re going to focus in on the local assembly. But don’t think that the local assembly is any less dignified. Do you remember what Paul called it when he wrote to the Corinthians? He said, “I know in Corinth there is the synagogue that used to belong to God no longer. He says, I know that in Corinth there is the idol temple that never belonged to God. He said, but now, There is the Church of God in Corinth!” That’s the local assembly. He says, “It belongs to God! It’s His!” And that local assembly demonstrates and manifests the character, the order, and the dignity of God.

I tell you, it’s a great thing to belong to the great assembly. It’s a great thing to belong to a local assembly and to seek to display something of God’s grace and God’s love in the area in which we live. What remarkable truth, isn’t it?

So there you are: a definition of the church, distinctions of the church, the dignity of the church, and we’ll pick up tomorrow. We’re concentrating on the local church. We’ll pick up tomorrow by speaking about the members that belong to that church.

Spanish

Creo que leeremos algunos versículos de la primera carta de Pablo a los Corintios. 1 Corintios, para empezar, y el capítulo 1. Es un gran placer estar aquí. Su cálida bienvenida es muy apreciada. Muchas gracias. Daniel, debería haberlo sabido, ¿no? Mi tocayo, que produjo este conjunto de notas, es notable. Casi me dan ganas de sentarme en una silla y tomar notas yo mismo. Pero entonces no sé quién haría la predicación si ese fuera el caso. Pero esto es bonito. Muchas gracias. Creo que tengo que llevarte conmigo en los próximos meses, quienquiera que seas. Llevarte conmigo para producir folletos como este. Esto es ideal, y ahora voy a tener que ceñirme, ¿no?, a las reuniones anunciadas y a los títulos de las reuniones, lo que, por supuesto, haremos.

Lo que pretendemos hacer durante estas cinco noches, de lunes a viernes, es pensar en la verdad en relación con la asamblea, la asamblea local. Luego, si Dios quiere, el sábado y el domingo, hablaremos un poco sobre la segunda venida del Señor Jesús: el rapto y la revelación, dos aspectos de Su segunda venida, y cómo debemos vivir a la luz del pronto regreso del Señor Jesús. Así que hay grandes cosas ante nosotros en estos pocos días; la verdad en relación con la asamblea local, la verdad en relación con la segunda venida de nuestro Señor Jesús, y confío en que será de gran bendición y beneficio para todos nosotros. Es un placer conocerte, y espero encontrarme contigo a su debido tiempo.

Casi siento que en este punto necesito explicar un poco sobre mí, porque no sabrán esto si son predicadores o si no son predicadores, pero lo que uno termina haciendo es responder las mismas preguntas unas diez veces al día: ¿Dónde vives? ¿Dónde vives? ¿De dónde vienes? ¿Qué tamaño tiene la asamblea a la que perteneces? ¿Qué himnarios utilizáis en vuestra asamblea? ¿Cuántos niños tiene? ¿Qué edad tienen? ¿Tienen mascotas? Todo ese tipo de preguntas te las hacen cinco, seis, siete, diez veces al día. Así que debería responder a todo eso. No voy a responder a todas las preguntas. Quizá debería llevar un gran cartel colgado del cuello para que sepas exactamente cuáles son las respuestas. Pero ahora no me harás esas preguntas, ¿verdad? Pregúntale a Alistair, él sabe todas las respuestas.

Y unas palabras de agradecimiento, no sólo por convocar estas reuniones, sino por quitárnoslo de encima. Hemos estado tratando de deshacernos de él durante años, y ahora ha encontrado una joven encantadora aquí. Bien, suficiente de todo eso. Es bueno estar aquí. Abramos juntos la Palabra de Dios y confiemos en que será una bendición para nosotros.

Ahora, estamos hablando esta noche sobre el significado de la asamblea, que es como he llamado a esta reunión o sesión en particular. ¿Qué significa la asamblea? Estamos pensando en esta palabra, la palabra “iglesia”, aunque yo voy a usar la palabra “asamblea”, y les diré por qué estoy usando la palabra “asamblea” a su debido tiempo. La Versión Autorizada usa la palabra “iglesia”, y sí quiero hablar de esa palabra en particular y luego decirles por qué es mejor realmente usar la palabra “asamblea”. Así que esta noche será muy fundamental; será muy básica, pero estoy tratando de establecer el escenario. Estoy tratando de establecer una base fuerte y firme para todo lo que va a seguir en las próximas noches.

Escuchen lo que Pablo les dice a estos cristianos que se reúnen en Corinto. El escribe esta carta a los Corintios. 1 Corintios 1, versículo 1, dice: “Pablo, llamado apóstol de Jesucristo por la voluntad de Dios, y Sóstenes, nuestro hermano”. Y entonces Pablo dice, este es quien soy. Esto es lo que estoy escribiendo a. Él dice, “a la iglesia de Dios”. Ahora, no les dire mucho griego porque no se mucho griego, pero necesitan saber esta palabra. La palabra que se traduce aquí, “iglesia”, es la palabra “ekklesia”. Esa es la palabra griega, o “ekklesia”, si quieres pronunciarla correctamente, pero normalmente la llamamos “ekklesia”. Esa es la palabra que los traductores aquí han traducido como “iglesia”. Tenemos que hablar de esa palabra. Pablo dice: “Escribo a la ecclesia, la asamblea, la iglesia de Dios, que está en Corinto”. Pertenece a Dios en un sentido espiritual. Geográficamente, esta asamblea de cristianos se encuentra en Corinto.

Les dice a los que están santificados-no es su ubicación geográfica; es su ubicación espiritual. Son apartados, santificados en Cristo Jesús, y son llamados santos. Y dice: “con todos los que en todo lugar invocan el nombre de Jesucristo, Señor nuestro, así de ellos como de nosotros”. Pero es esa pequeña frase en el versículo 2, “la iglesia de Dios que está en Corinto”. Correcto, al revés. El libro de los Hechos y el capítulo 19. El libro de los Hechos y el capítulo 19. Ahora, estoy leyendo estos versículos. No les serán tan familiares, pero estoy leyendo estos versículos simplemente porque haré referencia a ellos a su debido tiempo.

Ahora, esa palabra “ekklesia” se usa 115 veces en el Nuevo Testamento. Excepto en tres ocasiones, se traduce “iglesia”. Así que 112 veces, la palabra “iglesia” es usada. En tres ocasiones, esa misma palabra se traduce de manera diferente, y todas se encuentran aquí en Hechos capítulo 19. Explicaré por qué se traducen de manera diferente. Explicaré por qué se traducen de manera diferente en un momento.

Así que Hechos capítulo 19, y esta es una ocasión en un lugar llamado Éfeso, cuando un gran disturbio realmente se ha suscitado en esa ciudad porque Pablo está socavando su comercio en ídolos e idolatría. Los efesios adoraban a una diosa llamada Diana. Una gran asamblea fue al anfiteatro en Efeso. Hoy se puede ver; ha sido excavado. Dijeron: “Grande es Diana de los efesios”. Amén. En el versículo 29, toda la ciudad se llenó de confusión. Habiendo prendido a Gayo o Gayo y Aristarco, varones de Macedonia, compañeros de viaje de Pablo, se precipitaron a una en el teatro. Cuando Pablo quiso entrar al pueblo, los discípulos no se lo permitieron. Algunos de los principales de Asia, que eran sus amigos, le enviaron a rogarle que no se aventurase a entrar en el teatro. Así que se ha armado todo un alboroto. No saben muy bien por qué han entrado en el anfiteatro, y por qué gritan: “Grande es Diana de los efesios”. Pero algo los ha agitado.

En el versículo 32, “Unos gritaban una cosa, otros otra”. La asamblea-ahora esa es la palabra “ekklesia,” pero en esta ocasión los traductores no la traducen “iglesia,” y no la están traduciendo “iglesia” porque esta es una reunión de individuos civiles. No es una reunión religiosa; no es una reunión eclesiástica. Es una reunión cívica, y por lo tanto, tradujeron la palabra no como “iglesia” sino como “asamblea”.

La asamblea estaba confundida. Esta congregación de gente en el anfiteatro estaba confundida, y no sabían realmente por qué se habían reunido. Luego esa palabra “asamblea” se usa en otras dos ocasiones sólo en esta pequeña sección: versículo 39, “Se determinará en asamblea legal”. Versículo 41, “Habiendo hablado así, despidió a la asamblea”. Haremos referencia a eso más adelante; sólo manténganlo en sus mentes.

Ahora, finalmente, el Evangelio de Mateo. Leamos en el Evangelio de Mateo y el capítulo 16. Evangelio de Mateo, capítulo 16. Esta es la primera referencia a la palabra “ekklesia”, “iglesia”, en la Biblia. Mateo, capítulo 16. El Señor Jesús está hablando. Dice, Mateo 16, versículo 13: “Viniendo Jesús a los alrededores de Cesarea de Filipo, preguntó a sus discípulos, diciendo: ‘¿Quién dicen los hombres que soy yo, el Hijo del Hombre?’ Y ellos dijeron: ‘Unos dicen que eres Juan el Bautista, otros, Elías, y otros, Jeremías, o alguno de los profetas’. Respondiendo Simón Pedro, dijo: Tú eres el Cristo, el Hijo de Dios vivo. Respondió Jesús y le dijo: ‘Bienaventurado eres, Simón Bar Jonás, porque no te lo reveló carne ni sangre, sino mi Padre que está en los cielos. Y yo también te digo que tú eres Pedro, y sobre esta piedra…’. Probablemente no sea el propio Pedro. Eso sería más bien un fundamento incierto e inestable. Probablemente es más bien la confesión de Pedro de la persona del Señor Jesús, el que es el Cristo, el Hijo del Dios viviente. Pero sobre esta roca, dice el Señor Jesús, ‘edificaré’. Aún no se ha construido, pero se construirá. El dice, ‘edificaré mi iglesia,’ la primera mención de la palabra, ‘y las puertas del infierno no prevalecerán contra ella.’ Ahora, por supuesto, la iglesia empezó a ser edificada en Hechos capítulo 2 en el día de Pentecostés. Pero cuando el Senor Jesus estaba diciendo estas palabras, la iglesia todavia no habia entrado en formacion o ser, y por eso El dice, ‘Yo edificare mi iglesia.’

Y todo esto con el trasfondo del capítulo 13 de Mateo, las parábolas del reino y el hecho de que el Señor Jesús había sido rechazado por su propio pueblo. Ahora Él introduce en este Evangelio el hecho de que Él va a hacer una nueva obra, y esta nueva obra, no Israel, no el judaísmo, esta nueva obra es la iglesia. Ahora, debemos leer algunos versículos también en el capítulo 18 de Mateo. Esta es la segunda mención de la palabra “iglesia” en la Biblia. De hecho, la palabra “iglesia” solo se menciona dos veces en todos los Evangelios, y hemos leído-o estamos a punto de leer-ambas referencias.

Asi que Mateo capitulo 18 dice: “Ahora este es un pasaje muy interesante porque tiene que ver con, bueno, la disciplina de la iglesia hasta cierto punto y un hermano que ha pecado o ofendido a otro hermano”. Así que el versículo 15 de Mateo 18: “Además, si tu hermano te ofende, ve y dile su falta entre tú y él solamente. Si te oye, habrás ganado a tu hermano. Pero si no te oyere, toma contigo a uno o dos más, para que en boca de dos o tres testigos conste toda palabra. Si no los oyere, dile a este hermano que te ha ofendido, que no puedes resolverlo de hombre a hombre. Has llevado testigos contigo, y él tampoco los escuchará. Ahora lo que haces es decírselo a la iglesia, pero si él descuida escuchar a la iglesia, entonces que sea para ti como un pagano y un publicano.”

Hay algunas declaraciones muy importantes aquí, pero no podemos leerlas todas o discutirlas todas. Pero el versículo 20, y esto es muy, muy precioso para muchos de nosotros, “Porque donde están dos o tres congregados en mi nombre,” dice el Señor Jesús, “allí estoy yo en medio de ellos.” Ese es nuestro gran principio de reunión. No hablaremos de ese principio esta noche, pero lo haremos a su debido tiempo.

Bien, eso es todo lo que vamos a leer por ahora, y esperamos que el Señor, como siempre, bendiga la lectura de Su Palabra. Hay tres cosas -de hecho, hay mucho más que tres cosas- que voy a decirles esta noche. Pero principalmente, hay tres cosas que quiero presentarles esta noche mientras pensamos en este tema del significado de la iglesia, o el significado de la asamblea.

Ahora, en primer lugar -y esto es importante- quiero darles una definición muy sencilla de lo que significa realmente la palabra “ekklesia” o la palabra “iglesia”. Antes que nada, trataremos de describir la palabra; definiremos la palabra: una definición de la iglesia. Luego notarán -y espero que esto les resulte muy familiar- que hemos estado leyendo acerca de la iglesia en Mateo 16 y también hemos estado leyendo acerca de la iglesia en Mateo 18. Cuando el Señor habla de la iglesia en Mateo 16, está hablando de lo que podríamos llamar la gran asamblea: la iglesia que es el cuerpo de Cristo.

Pero cuando llegamos a Mateo 18, el tema es diferente. Se que la palabra es la misma. Sé que el Señor Jesús todavía está hablando de la iglesia, pero no está hablando de la gran asamblea, la iglesia que es el cuerpo de Cristo. De hecho, en Mateo 18, El esta hablando de una asamblea local, una compañia local de individuos. Quiero decir, eso es obvio, ¿no? Porque hay un hermano que tiene un problema con otro hermano. Si no escucha a su hermano y tampoco escucha a dos o tres testigos que se traen, entonces debe contárselo a toda la iglesia, y obviamente, eso no puede abarcar a cada cristiano y a cada creyente en todo el planeta; debe ser una cosa mucho más local. Así que quiero hablarles no sólo de la definición de la iglesia; quiero hablarles de las distinciones que deben hacer entre la gran asamblea, que está en Mateo 16, y la asamblea local, que está en Mateo 18. Es muy importante. Es muy importante.

Daremos una definición de la iglesia, pero también hablaremos de las distinciones de la iglesia. Y para que no piensen-antes de que llegue al final de la reunión-ahora no hay excusa para que alguien se duerma esta noche. Si alguien tiene excusa para dormirse, soy yo. Soy yo, y sólo yo, ¿verdad? Es más de medianoche de donde vengo. Yo tengo excusa; tú no tienes excusa. Ahora, para que no piensen que es un poco árido -y haré todo lo posible para que no lo sea porque es muy importante-, al final de la reunión quiero hablarles de la dignidad de la Iglesia, no sólo de su definición y de las distinciones que hay que hacer. Quiero hablaros de la gran dignidad de eso que esta noche llamamos Iglesia. No hay nada, casi nada, que sea tan precioso para el Padre y para Su Hijo como la iglesia. Así que hablaremos justo al final de la reunión sobre la dignidad de la iglesia.

Bien, una pequeña definición: Les he presentado la palabra griega que está en nuestras mentes esta noche. Queremos pensar en esta palabra, “ekklesia”. Recuerden lo que el Señor Jesús dijo en Mateo 16. El dijo, “Tu eres Pedro, y sobre esta roca, Pedro, edificaré”, la primera mención de esta palabra en toda la Biblia, en el Nuevo Testamento Griego. Dice: “Pedro, sobre esta roca edificaré mi Iglesia. Edificaré”, en la versión autorizada, “mi iglesia”. Tú dices: “¿Qué significa esa palabra?”. Bueno, muy simple y muy básicamente, la palabra “ekklesia” significa una asamblea, una congregación, una reunión de personas para un propósito particular. Ese es el significado de la palabra “ekklesia”. Ahora tienen eso. Esencial. Así que ya sea “ekklesia”, o ya sea la versión King James como interpreta o traduce esa palabra como “iglesia”, o ya sea que yo use la mejor palabra “asamblea”, porque eso es lo que la palabra significa, nos estamos refiriendo a una reunión, una congregación, una compañía de personas.

He aquí una ecclesia esta noche: una asamblea de personas que se reúnen por un motivo concreto. No ladrillos y mortero. No un edificio eclesiástico. Cuando la Biblia usa la palabra “iglesia”, se refiere a una compañía de personas. Ahora, debemos tener cuidado, ¿no es así, en la forma en que usamos nuestro lenguaje? Entiendo, entiendo que en el idioma Inglés, la palabra “iglesia” básicamente se refiere a un edificio. Y en términos generales, un edificio muy ornamentado con cruces en el exterior y demás. Así es como usamos la palabra “iglesia” en el idioma inglés. Pero la Biblia nunca usa la palabra “iglesia” de esa manera. Siempre que leas la palabra “iglesia” en el Nuevo Testamento, nunca hace referencia a un edificio. Siempre se refiere a personas. Ahora, usted recuerda eso, ¿verdad? Asi que cuando tu estas hablando con alguien en la casa mañana en la noche y tu dices, “Buenas noches, amor; estoy saliendo para la iglesia,” tu te castigas a ti mismo porque tu eres la iglesia. Si eres un creyente en el Señor Jesús, eres parte de la iglesia. Tú eres la iglesia. No vas a la iglesia; tú eres la iglesia. Supongo que técnicamente tienes razón en lo que se refiere al idioma inglés, pero debemos tratar de usar un lenguaje que sea bíblico.

Es mucho mejor que digas: “Voy a la sala del evangelio”, o “Voy a la sala”, o “Voy a la reunión”. Tú no vas a la iglesia; tú eres la iglesia. Así que no lo olvides. Se hace muy evidente. Cuando leas el libro de los Hechos, por ejemplo, el libro de los Hechos dirá cosas como esta: “El temor se apoderó de toda la iglesia”. Eso es Hechos capítulo 5. Ahora, que yo sepa, los edificios no tienen emociones, y los edificios no pueden tener miedo. Pero en Hechos capitulo 5, el temor vino sobre toda la iglesia. ¿Por qué? Porque la palabra “iglesia” realmente significa una compañía de gente reunida. Esa gente tenia miedo. En otros lugares del libro de los Hechos, las iglesias, en plural, caminaban en el temor del Señor. Nunca he conocido un edificio que tenga piernas. Si pudieras diseñar un edificio con piernas, creo que podrías ganar mucho dinero. Las iglesias caminaban en el temor del Señor, lo que significa que estas compañías de cristianos reunidos vivían sus vidas de tal manera que mostraban reverencia hacia el Señor.

En Hechos capitulo 11, si las emociones y las piernas no son suficientes para probar el punto, en Hechos capitulo 11, la iglesia tiene oídos. “La noticia de estas cosas llegó a oídos de la iglesia en Jerusalén”. Los edificios no tienen oídos, la gente los tiene. ¿Ves el punto? Entonces esta palabra “ekklesia,” esta palabra “iglesia,” esta palabra “asamblea”-es la misma palabra. Tiene la idea de una compañía reunida de individuos, reuniéndose para un propósito particular. Ahora, realmente no quiero entrar en esto, y no fui maestro de historia; fui maestro de geografía, la cual, en mi humilde opinión, es una materia mucho mejor que… pero ustedes dicen que estos traductores de la Versión King James ahora, tradujeron esto en el año 1611. Y recuerden que se llama la Biblia del Rey Jaime porque el rey que encargó la traducción y el rey que tenía mucho que decir sobre los traductores y cómo la traducían, era el Rey Jaime I.

Usted dice: “¿Por qué estos traductores, cuando tenían esa palabra ‘ekklesia’ 115 veces en todo el Nuevo Testamento-en 112 ocasiones dijeron ‘iglesia’ y en sólo tres ocasiones usaron la traducción ‘asamblea’ para exactamente la misma palabra griega?”. Por esta razón: que el rey Jaime I insistió en que cuando se hacía una traducción, si un término eclesiástico ya era de uso común en el año 1611, ese término debía ser usado por el traductor. Por eso en 1 Timoteo 3 aparece la palabra “obispo”. La palabra no significa nada por el estilo, pero había obispos en las iglesias de aquella época, y el rey Jaime estaba muy interesado en asegurarse de que todo lo que era “eclesiástico” en aquellos días fuera fomentado por esta nueva traducción de la Biblia al inglés.

Aquellos traductores sabían muy bien que la mejor manera de explicar esta palabra “ekklesia” era a través de la palabra “asamblea”. Pero debido a lo que el Rey Santiago había dicho, retuvieron la palabra “iglesia”. ¿Por qué usaron la palabra “asamblea” tres veces en Hechos capítulo 19? Simplemente porque no era una reunión religiosa de individuos. Aquí había un montón de individuos que habían sido levantados de la ciudad de Éfeso. Habían ido al anfiteatro; estaban gritando sobre la grandeza de su diosa Diana. Era una reunión cívica de individuos, así que la llamaron asamblea. Pero en cualquier otra ocasión, usaban la palabra “iglesia”.

Todo lo que tienes que tener en cuenta es esto: Cuando definimos la palabra “ekklesia”, iglesia, estamos pensando en una asamblea o congregación de personas reunidas, y eso por una razón particular. Esto es importante.

Punto numero dos: hablemos de las distinciones de la iglesia. Esta compañía reunida de individuos. Notarán que estuvimos leyendo en Mateo 16 y Mateo capítulo 18. Recuerden que en Mateo capitulo 16, el Señor Jesús dice esto, Pedro, sobre tu confesión, este firme fundamento, voy a edificar. Ahora solo note esto: el Señor Jesús es el constructor. El dice, “Sobre esta roca, Pedro, sobre este fundamento firme, edificaré”. Mateo 16 está hablando de la gran asamblea.

Ahora, usted necesita anotar esto. Este es el tipo de verdad que encontraras en Efesios y encontraras en Colosenses. En Efesios y Colosenses, esta gran asamblea de la cual el Señor Jesús estaba hablando en Mateo 16 es llamada la iglesia, la cual es el cuerpo de Cristo. En Mateo 16 todavía era futuro. El Señor Jesús dice: “Yo edificaré esta iglesia. Todavía no he empezado a construirla, pero lo haré”. Él estaba esperando el capítulo 2 de Hechos, el día de Pentecostés. ¡Qué día tan extraordinario! ¿Sabes que ese fue el día, 40 días después de que el Señor Jesús había resucitado de entre los muertos? Luego Él ascendió de nuevo al cielo. Diez días… bueno, permítanme decirlo de otra manera: el Señor Jesús resucitó de entre los muertos. Cuarenta días después, ascendió de nuevo al cielo. Diez días después de Su ascensión fue el día de Pentecostés-Pentecostés, 50 días desde la resurrección de Cristo. Cuando el Señor Jesús ascendió al cielo, hubo una persona divina, el Hijo de Dios, que dejó la tierra y subió al cielo: el movimiento de una persona divina.

Diez días después, en el día de Pentecostés, una persona divina se movió de nuevo; ustedes dicen: “¿Quién era?”. No el Señor Jesús; Él estaba en el cielo y había estado allí durante 10 días y todavía está allí diez días después. El Espíritu de Dios se movió del cielo y bajó a la tierra en el día de Pentecostés. El movimiento del Espíritu de Dios, el movimiento otra vez de una persona divina. Él formó la iglesia, la gran asamblea, que es el cuerpo de Cristo. Él formó esa iglesia en el día de Pentecostés. Él unió espiritualmente la cabeza, Cristo, que está en el cielo, con Su cuerpo que estaba en la tierra. Cada creyente en el día de Pentecostés fue unido en una entidad única-la gran asamblea, la iglesia, que es el cuerpo de Cristo.

Permítanme decirles algo notable. Si esa iglesia tuvo su fundación, comienzo, origen en el día de Pentecostés, ustedes dicen: “¿Cuándo estará terminada?”. Bueno, todavía no está terminada. Cristo todavía está edificando Su iglesia. Tú dices, “¿Cuándo estará terminada?” Podría estar terminada en cinco minutos. Este predicador no estará terminado en cinco minutos, por cierto, pero la iglesia podría estarlo. Porque cuando Cristo desciende del cielo en el aire-eso es el rapto-cuando todo el pueblo de Dios es arrebatado para encontrarse con El en el aire, eso será el fin de la gran asamblea. Así que estamos hablando aquí acerca de-a veces los predicadores la llaman así; perdónenme por decir esto, pero necesitan estar conscientes de las diferencias-a veces los predicadores la llaman la iglesia universal. Eso está bien, pero no es muy exacto.

A veces los predicadores la llaman la iglesia de la dispensación; eso es mejor. Cada creyente en el Señor Jesús-cada creyente desde el día de Pentecostés hasta el rapto-es parte… Ud. dice, “Millones de ellos han muerto; sus cuerpos están enterrados; fueron salvos hace cientos de años, y están en el cielo sin ropa, pero están en el cielo.” Así es, pero todavía son parte de esa gran asamblea desde el día de Pentecostés hasta el rapto-ese cuerpo completo, el cuerpo de Cristo, la iglesia de la dispensación, la gran asamblea. ¡Qué iglesia es esa! De eso hablaba el Señor Jesús en Mateo 16: “Edificaré”, y comenzó a edificar en Hechos 2: “Edificaré mi iglesia”. Así que cada creyente genuino en Cristo-y El conoce a los que son Suyos-es parte de esa gran asamblea. Si tú eres un creyente en el Señor Jesús esta noche, tú perteneces a esa iglesia, la iglesia que es Su cuerpo.

Ahora sostengan los titulares. ¿Están listos para esto? Aunque perteneces a esa iglesia si eres un creyente, puede que no pertenezcas a una iglesia local, y eso es algo diferente, y eso es de lo que el Señor Jesús estaba hablando en Mateo capitulo 18. El no estaba hablando de la gran asamblea. El no estaba hablando de la gran asamblea allí, la iglesia que es Su cuerpo (Efesios, Colosenses verdad). No, no. En Mateo 18, Él estaba hablando de una asamblea local-una compañía local y reunión de creyentes. Escuche lo que el Señor dice. El dice, “Ve y cuenta este problema”. No hemos podido resolver este problema. “Ve y cuéntale este problema a la iglesia”. Una asamblea local. Algo que es identificable. Algo que está en una localidad. Creyentes que se reúnen en una zona determinada.

¿Recuerdas que leímos esos versículos en 1 Corintios 1? ¿Recuerdan que Pablo estaba escribiendo allí a una asamblea local en Corinto? El dice, “Estoy escribiendo a la iglesia de Dios”-una asamblea local de Dios en Corinto. Dice: “Ustedes son santificados en Cristo Jesús”. Ahora, eso es una asamblea local-una compañía local identificable de cristianos reuniéndose para un propósito particular, como la de Corinto, como la de Midland Park. Pero debes hacer una diferencia entre la gran asamblea, que es el cuerpo de Cristo (Efesios y Colosenses), y la asamblea local, la iglesia de Dios. Verás que 1 Corintios y 1 Timoteo hablan especialmente de esa compañía local de cristianos.

Así que escuchen esto: dos entidades distintas; en realidad son completamente diferentes. Y aunque la iglesia local, hasta cierto punto, es comparable a la gran asamblea, son distintas, y son diferentes. Hay similitudes, pero los contrastes superan las similitudes. Ahora permítanme lanzarles esto. Ya estamos llegando a eso. Permítanme arrojarles esto sólo para probar el punto. Cuando se trata de la gran asamblea, no respondas a estas preguntas en voz alta. Cuando se trata de la gran asamblea, Mateo 16, la iglesia que es Su cuerpo, ¿cuántos son? Uno-sólo uno, compuesto de cada creyente. Estará reunida por primera vez en la historia cuando tenga lugar el rapto. ¡Qué cosa tan tremenda! Millones de creyentes levantados de los muertos; nosotros que estamos vivos y permanecemos, todos somos arrebatados juntos para encontrarnos con Cristo en el aire. Esa gran asamblea, estaremos juntos para siempre y juntos por primera vez. Así que la gran asamblea: una.

¿Cuántas asambleas locales? Bueno, yo pertenezco a una, el Salón del Evangelio de Bracknell. Tú perteneces a una, confío-Midland Park. Tú dices: “¿Cuántas asambleas locales hay hoy en el mundo?”. Miles y miles de sociedades locales de cristianos. ¿Ve el contraste? Uno contra muchos. Aquí hay algo más: a esa gran asamblea se entra en la conversión. Tan pronto como eres salvo, y probablemente no lo sabías, yo no lo sabía. Cuando fui salvo a los siete años de edad, inmediatamente pertenecí a la gran asamblea. No lo sabía, pero era parte de ella. Así que entras a esa gran asamblea por conversión.

No se entra en una asamblea local por conversión: se entra en una asamblea local por recepción. De eso hablaremos mañana. Los creyentes que han sido bautizados y que se adhieren a una creencia doctrinal pueden llegar a ser parte de una asamblea local. Pero de nuevo, hay un contraste. Aquí hay algo más. Esa gran asamblea solo tiene eternamente en ella verdaderos creyentes. Gracias. Es triste decirlo, pero es posible que aquellos que no son salvos puedan abrirse camino en la asamblea, que es local. Eso es posible. Usted dice: “¿Cómo es eso posible?” Porque Cristo está construyendo la gran asamblea, y Él conoce a los que son Suyos. El conoce a los que son genuinos. Cada creyente genuino es parte de esa gran asamblea. Pero la asamblea local es gobernada por una pluralidad de ancianos y supervisores, y ellos harán juicios en cuanto a la profesión de fe de estos individuos y si han sido bautizados y se adhieren a la doctrina-y se puede engañar a meros hombres. Es triste, y nunca queremos que suceda, pero es posible que los que no son salvos puedan estar en una asamblea local. Judas versículo 4: “Algunos hombres entraron sin avisar”. Es posible.

Aquí hay algo más. Es completamente imposible, gracias a Dios, ser removido de la gran asamblea. Una vez que eres salvo, estás en la iglesia, que es Su cuerpo, y nunca puedes ser removido. ¡Seguridad eterna! Oh, pero puedes ser removido de una asamblea local. Usted dice, “¿Está seguro?” ¿Qué hay de 1 Corintios 5? Hay un hombre que ha sido tomado en fornicación. Hay un hombre que vive una vida inmoral. Y Pablo dice: “Pónganlo fuera de la asamblea local”. Es posible ser puesto fuera del compañerismo de una iglesia local, pero nunca de la gran asamblea. Puedo decir dos cosas mas y luego seguiremos, pero estas son tan esenciales.

Cuando se trata de esa gran asamblea, no hay judío ni gentil. No hay ni esclavo ni libre. No hay varón ni mujer. No hay distinciones raciales o nacionales en la Gran Asamblea. Ninguna. Pero las hay en la Asamblea Local. En la asamblea local, es esencial que demostremos la diferencia entre varón y hembra. Eso es parte del orden de Dios; eso debe verse en la asamblea local. Las distinciones nacionales pertenecen a la asamblea local. Las distinciones sexuales pertenecen-varón y hembra-en la asamblea local. Pero cuando se trata de la gran asamblea, dice Pablo en Gálatas 3, ni varón ni mujer. Les daré sólo una más.

Esa gran asamblea es eterna. Es eterna. Nunca pasará, nunca fallará, nunca caerá, nunca se doblará. Esa gran asamblea estará al lado de Cristo por toda la eternidad. No esta iglesia local; ves, si el rapto sucediera esta noche, esta iglesia local se ha ido, kaput, y no va a regresar. Estamos agradecidos de que no regrese. Las iglesias locales son temporales; las iglesias locales pueden comenzar y llegar a su fin. El Señor puede quitar un candelabro y cerrar un testimonio local, pero el pecado mayor nunca puede ser cerrado. Gracias a Dios es eterno.

Ahora, he trabajado en eso, pero he trabajado en eso porque cada vez que usted está leyendo a través del Nuevo Testamento, y cada vez que usted encuentra esta palabra “iglesia,” usted debe distinguir en su mente: ¿Es una referencia a la gran asamblea, o es una referencia a la asamblea local? Haz esa diferencia; es muy importante. Así que si estás en Efesios o Colosenses, es probable que sea la gran asamblea. Si estás en 1 Corintios o 1 Timoteo, es probable que sea la asamblea local. Pero lee el contexto, haz la diferencia.

Ahora, finalmente, si esa es una definición de la iglesia, y hemos mencionado las distinciones de la iglesia, tengo que añadir esta. ¿Saben ustedes que en el capítulo 7 de Hechos -perdónenme, esto es un poco rebuscado- saben ustedes que en el capítulo 7 de Hechos, se usa la palabra “ekklesia”, creo que es el versículo 38, la palabra “ekklesia”, la palabra “iglesia”? ¿Están preparados? Agárrate a una silla. La palabra “ekklesia” se usa de Israel. ¡Israel! Ves, pensé que estabas hablando de la iglesia. Ahora has empezado a hablar de Israel. En Hechos capítulo 7, cuando Esteban está hablando-cuando Esteban está dando su gran disculpa, y Esteban está hablando de Moisés, y dice: “Moisés estaba asociado con la iglesia en el desierto”. ¿Qué era esa iglesia en el desierto? Bueno, usted sabe lo que la palabra “iglesia” significa ahora, ¿no? Es una asamblea, una congregación de personas. Así que Esteban está hablando de una congregación de personas en el desierto. Usted dice: “Sí, sé de ellos; que es la nación de Israel. Ellos fueron rescatados de Egipto; fueron redimidos por la sangre del Cordero y por el poder a través del Mar Rojo. Esa congregación de gente, Israel, fue llevada al desierto, y Moisés estaba a la cabeza de esa congregación.”

¿Significa eso que la iglesia es Israel, e Israel es la iglesia? Porque la palabra “iglesia” se usa de Israel en Hechos 7. Nunca confunda los dos, ¿verdad? La palabra “ekklesia” es simplemente una asamblea de personas. Ahora bien, esto engaña a muchos cristianos hoy en día. Dios tiene un pueblo terrenal, la nación de Israel. Esa nación de Israel está separada y es distinta de la iglesia, que es el cuerpo de Cristo. La iglesia no ha reemplazado a Israel. La iglesia no se encuentra en el Antiguo Testamento; es una nueva obra de Dios que comenzó en Hechos capítulo 2. Estas dos cosas son diferentes y distintas. Esto es lo que la gente está enseñando hoy; están enseñando que todas las promesas que Dios hizo a Israel en el Antiguo Testamento han fallado porque Israel como nación crucificó a su Mesías. Así que Dios ha terminado con Israel; los ha echado a un lado para nunca más volver a tomarlos. Esto ha llevado al aumento del antisemitismo entre muchos cristianos de hoy.

Pero ellos dicen, “No te preocupes, esas promesas que Dios le hizo a Israel en el Antiguo Testamento, El ha terminado con ellos. Él hará buenas esas promesas a la iglesia en el Nuevo Testamento porque la iglesia es el reemplazo de Israel”. ¡Mal, mal, mal! Eso viene del diablo. Hay una diferencia y una distinción que hacer. Sí, Dios ha hecho a un lado a la nación de Israel; los ha puesto temporalmente a un lado debido a su rechazo de Cristo. Ahora Dios esta haciendo una nueva obra. Efesios capítulo 2: un nuevo hombre-eso es Judío y Gentil juntos en un cuerpo. Esa es la gran asamblea. Dios esta haciendo una nueva obra en la iglesia. Cuando esa iglesia sea terminada en el rapto y la iglesia se haya ido, un pueblo celestial, un pueblo espiritual, la novia de Cristo, entonces Dios moverá a Israel de regreso, al centro del escenario, y cada promesa que El alguna vez le hizo a Israel en el antiguo todavía será cumplida a Israel. Pero en el día venidero, Dios es fiel a Su palabra; se puede confiar en Dios.

El no ha terminado con ellos; ellos van a ser refinados a través de la tribulación. Ellos van a ser hechos la cabeza de las naciones en el reino. Dios tiene un plan, Dios tiene un propósito para la nación de Israel. Ahora ves, por favor, hay una diferencia. El judaísmo y lo que estaba asociado con la nación: una religión nacional terrenal caracterizada por la adoración ceremonial-el templo, los sacrificios, el incienso, las vestiduras. Dios ha dejado eso a un lado, y ahora al tratar con la iglesia, está tratando con algo que es celestial-algo que es universal, no nacional-y un pueblo que ahora adora no ceremonialmente, sino en espíritu y en verdad. Eso caracteriza nuestra adoración hoy-no la ceremonia del judaísmo y esa ceremonia que ha sido llevada a la cristiandad.

No, no, adoramos en espíritu y en verdad. Por favor, hagan una distinción entre la Gran Asamblea y la Asamblea Local e Israel y la iglesia. Ahora, finalmente, hablemos de la dignidad. Hablemos de la dignidad de la iglesia. Denle la vuelta. No hemos leído estos versículos; los leeremos ahora. Aún me queda una hora y cinco minutos, así que no hay problema. Echen un vistazo al capítulo 1 de Efesios. Han estado escuchando bien. Ya saben de qué aspecto de la iglesia estoy hablando, porque he pasado a Efesios. Ahora saben que voy a hablar de la gran asamblea, la iglesia que es el cuerpo de Cristo, cada verdadero creyente. Quiero mostrarles algo de la dignidad de esa gran asamblea.

Miren Efesios 1 y miren al final: versículo 22. “Dios ha puesto todas las cosas bajo sus pies”. Esto es Dios poniendo todo bajo la autoridad del Señor Jesucristo y le ha dado a Él-quien es la cabeza sobre todas las cosas-le ha dado a la asamblea, la asamblea que es Su cuerpo. Y esa asamblea, esta es la gran asamblea, es la plenitud de Aquel que todo lo llena en todo. ¿Sabes, verdad, que la iglesia es un pensamiento eterno? Te mostraré eso en un momento. Saben que al principio de los tiempos, Dios creó un paraíso, y en el paraíso puso a un rey, Adán. Y junto a Adán, puso a su esposa Eva, que era una ayudante, que era su complemento perfecto. Eva era perfecta para Adán.

Dios había estado trayendo todos los animales antes que Adán y Adán había dicho: “¡Oh, es un animal maravilloso, Señor, pero jirafa! ¡Es un elefante maravilloso! Es un maravilloso…” Y cada animal que era presentado ante Adán, él pensaba para sí: “Son creaciones asombrosas, pero no me convienen. Soy un ser humano. Tengo una inteligencia particular. He sido hecho a imagen y semejanza de Dios, y todos estos animales son maravillosos, pero no son complementos adecuados para mí”, hasta que Dios le hizo una esposa de su lado. ¿Sabes lo que dijo Adán? Dijo: “¡Por fin! Hueso de mis huesos, carne de mi carne; se llamará mujer, porque del hombre fue tomada”. Por fin, Adán tenía a alguien: era su complemento.

Adán y Eva reinaron sobre el mundo como Dios quería: marido, mujer, hombre, mujer, hasta que llegó el pecado, y Adán dobló la rodilla ante el diablo, arrojó su corona a sus pies. ¿Crees que los propósitos de Dios se frustraron? Yo te digo, lo que Dios ha diseñado primero, Él lo llevará a su realización final. Tú dices, “¿Va El a poner un hombre, va El a poner un rey y una reina, un hombre y su novia, su complemento perfecto? ¿Va a ponerlos juntos y reinar sobre el mundo?” ¡Sí, lo hará! En un día venidero, el segundo hombre saldrá del cielo. Él es el último Adán; Él es el cumplimiento de todo lo que Dios deseó al principio.

Cristo saldrá del cielo, Su novia junto a Él. Escucha lo que dice Efesios 1: “El que es cabeza sobre todas las cosas”. Él ha sido dado a la iglesia, y la asamblea que es Su cuerpo es el complemento de Él, el que llena todas las cosas. ¡Qué dignidad trae eso a la gran asamblea! ¿No sabes que vas a reinar sobre la tierra? ¿No lo sabes? Vais a reinar con Él sobre toda la tierra. Esa es la poderosa dignidad de la gran asamblea.

Ahora, Pablo no ha terminado, y yo no he terminado tampoco. Sólo mira el capítulo 3 y mira lo que Pablo dice aquí. El habla del misterio. El habla en el verso 4 del misterio del Cristo. Tú dices: “¿Qué es esta revelación de la verdad sobre Cristo?”. Que Cristo sería la cabeza, que la iglesia sería Su cuerpo. Pablo está hablando de esta gran revelación de la verdad en el Nuevo Testamento que le fue dada. El dice, “En otras edades, esto no fue dado a conocer a los hijos de los hombres, pero ahora ha sido revelado.”

¿Cuál es esta verdad sobre el Cristo? ¿Cristo la cabeza, la iglesia que es Su cuerpo? Versículo 6: “Para que los gentiles sean coherederos y del mismo cuerpo, y partícipes de Su promesa”. Esa es la promesa del Espíritu en Cristo. El dice que los Gentiles van a ser traídos con los Judíos – Gentil y Judío juntos, compartiendo las mismas promesas, las mismas bendiciones, sobre la misma base, todos reunidos en la gran asamblea, el misterio de Cristo. Dice: “A mí, que soy menos que el más pequeño de todos los santos, me ha sido dada esta gracia de anunciar entre los gentiles las inescrutables riquezas de Cristo”. ¿Sabes de qué está hablando? Está hablando de la dignidad de la gran asamblea.

El dice, “¡Ustedes no pueden comprender los tesoros sin fin que tenemos en Cristo! Lo que tenemos en Él y lo que Dios ha hecho en su sabiduría para reunir a judíos y gentiles en un solo cuerpo.” Dice: “Es demasiado grande para nuestro pequeño alcance: ¡las inescrutables riquezas de Cristo! No se puede hollar la maravilla de todo esto”. Habla de la sabiduría de Dios, la maravillosa sabiduría de Dios.

Mira el versículo 10. Dios está haciendo todo esto para que en los lugares celestiales sea conocida por la iglesia la multiforme sabiduría de Dios. Y todo esto es conforme al propósito eterno que El se propuso en Cristo Jesús. ¡Esa es la dignidad de la gran asamblea! Un propósito eterno de mostrar la multiforme sabiduría de Dios al unir a judíos y gentiles en un solo lugar: la gran asamblea.

Esa es la dignidad de la iglesia. ¿No es maravilloso? Pausa. Ya he terminado. ¿Qué vamos a hacer el martes, miércoles, jueves y viernes? No vamos a hablar de la Gran Asamblea en absoluto. Vamos a enfocarnos en la asamblea local. Pero no crean que la asamblea local es menos digna. ¿Recuerdan cómo la llamó Pablo cuando escribió a los corintios? El dijo, “Yo se que en Corinto esta la sinagoga que antes ya no era de Dios. El dice, Yo se que en Corinto hay el templo de ídolos que nunca perteneció a Dios. El dijo, pero ahora, ¡Hay la Iglesia de Dios en Corinto!” Esa es la asamblea local. El dice, “¡Pertenece a Dios! Es de Él!” Y esa asamblea local demuestra y manifiesta el carácter, el orden y la dignidad de Dios.

Les digo, es una gran cosa pertenecer a la gran asamblea. Es algo grandioso pertenecer a una asamblea local y buscar mostrar algo de la gracia de Dios y del amor de Dios en el área en que vivimos. Qué notable verdad, ¿no es cierto?

Así que ahí tienen: una definición de la iglesia, distinciones de la iglesia, la dignidad de la iglesia, y seguiremos mañana. Nos concentraremos en la iglesia local. Continuaremos mañana hablando de los miembros que pertenecen a esa iglesia.

Gospel from David Gilliland.

[0:01] Now, I’d like to read from the Gospel according to John, in chapter 3.

[0:33] Verse 3, Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

[1:34] Verse of the chapter, verse 36, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

[1:50] Upon his good word. One of the questions that I’m often asked when traveling in other countries, people ask, where do you come from? Come from Northern Ireland. And whereabouts in Northern Ireland do you live? And I tell them I live in a town called Lurgan. They say, is it a large town?

[2:31] Because the town of Lurgan was commenced in the year 1610. There was a man by the name of Brownlow was given a piece of ground by King James, and he began to build the town of Lurgan with 42 houses in 1610. King James was the same man who gave authority for that noble translation of the Bible, which became available in 1611. So the town of Lurgan is approximately the same age as the King, James translation of the Bible. If you come to the town of Lurgan sometime, I’ll take you to a very old graveyard. It’s not used today, behind a great big wall, just in the oldest part, of the town. In that graveyard is a very, very unusual grave. And this is what it says.

[3:28] Lived once, buried twice. And when you see something like that on a grave, you begin to ask, what’s the story here? Lived once, buried twice. The name of the lady upon the headstone is a lady by the name of Marjorie McCall. What happened was this, and I hope you’re not squeamish just before tea time. Marjorie McCall took ill, she died, was buried. Some of the ruffians in the town knew that she had a very, very expensive ring on her finger. So when it became dark the night that she had been buried, these boys came to the graveyard and they dug up the grave because they wanted to take the ring. And they had a little bit of difficulty getting the ring off her finger. She had a problem with whatever it was and her hand had swollen and they couldn’t get the ring off, so they decided that they would try and cut the ring. She had been buried just earlier that day and they, proceeded to try and cut the ring but in the process of cutting the ring they She also cut her finger, and she sat up.

[4:44] And of course, they ran away, and they didn’t get the ring. And she clambered out of her coffin, and she walked up round to the top of the corner, up to the street, knocked the door.

[6:04] From this chapter very quickly. It’s been a long weekend for many who are here. We appreciate all who are here just now, and I not impose very much upon your time. I don’t want to speak just now about a double burial in one life. I want to speak about a double bear in one life, Because the Lord Jesus said, you must be born again.

[6:35] But I say to us all, from the lips of the Lord Jesus, for a place in God’s kingdom, you must have a second birth.

[7:58] The first time we were born, we were born as sinners. We were born into the family of Adam.

[9:19] Is there anyone here and you would have to put that down and say today is my 15th birthday, but I am not yet born again. Today is my 45th birthday but I am not yet born again.

[10:33] I was just born a sinner, and there had to be a time when I trusted the Lord Jesus, and I was born again.

[11:11] I can’t be born again myself. No, you cannot be born again yourself.

[11:58] And he’s also man. You say half man and half God? No.

[12:14] I can’t understand that. We’ve read in this very passage, He’s the Son of God, and He’s the Son of Man.

[12:24] The day came in the history of this world when God punctuated the flow of human history.

[13:51] And I was sitting in a Starbucks and I was reading through the Quran.

[14:57] Said there are seven prophets. He talked about Adam was a prophet, and Noah was a prophet, and Abraham was a prophet, and Jesus Christ was a prophet.

[15:22] So I thought, I’ll ask, I said, the Bible which I read tells me that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.

[15:32] And this boy, young man who’d been so helpful and so mannerly, he said to me, Oh, he said, he’s not the son of God. He said, God, Allah doesn’t have any son.

[15:45] Jesus is a prophet, but he’s not the son of God. Allah doesn’t have sons. I’ll tell you people, that’s what gives the message of the gospel that we preach. Special quality and special dignity.

[16:56] And in this one book are two parts, and there’s what is called the Old Testament, and there is what is called the New Testament.

[18:02] And there was a serpent lifted up upon a pole. And God made the provision and God told him a plan.

[19:20] It is finished was his cry. Now in heaven, exalted high. Hallelujah, what a Savior.

[19:41] And when he came, that’s exactly what happened. They pierced his hand and his feet.

[20:36] Well, you say, I know he died one day, but the Bible says more that he died for our sin.

[21:31] Sent them to die. I scarce can take it in. It’s amazing dear people, we talk about it so often, it’s amazing. I scarce can take it in that on that cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin. Is it any wonder we can tell you today, you can be born again. He died so that we, might be forgiven. He died to do us good, that we might go at last to heaven, saved by his precious blood.

[22:22] Do I really need to be born again? Does it really matter?

[22:52] You see, the message that we preach, it has eternal consequences.

[23:00] We have read in this very passage of the Bible about perishing, and we’ve read about everlastingly.

[24:29] It’s a pity that he was ever born at all.

[24:42] All the folks up there, did you catch that? If a person is never born again, it’s a pity that he or she was ever born at all. Lying out before us all tonight is a long measureless eternity without a boundary, without a brink, without a bank that will go on forever.

[25:29] Two natures in one person. Two parts in one great book.

[26:17] Those are the two categories. And as we bring our brief little message this evening to a close, and I appreciate your kind attention. I want to ask you, dear friend, are you a believer or are you a non-believer? He, that believeth hath. Have you trusted Jesus and his saving power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? I ask you, dear friend, has there been a time when you you rested your weary soul entirely upon Christ and trusted in him and his merit and his love, his grace, his power, his precious blood.

[27:22] But the wrath of God abideth on him.” That’s a predicament to be in. I speak very tenderly, and I speak briefly and plainly to you, dear friend. Pardon me, I’m not going to keep you long, but I want to tell you, if you’re an unbeliever and you leave this meeting still an unbeliever, the wrath of God hovers over your head. And it will just be a matter of a few more summers and a few more hours and a few more days until that wrath over your head as a Christ rejecter descends and sends your soul down to eternal doom. It’s a serious thing to be an unbeliever. Where do you stand as we draw the line? I couldn’t go through the audience. The two aisles split the building. I couldn’t go through the audience and say there’s the line, but you know.

[28:12] Which side are you on? An unbeliever and the wrath of God over your head, or a believer in the possessor of eternal life? The one good thing I have to tell you is this, if you’re on the wrong side of the line, thank God you could change just right now. You might, have come in through some of the doors there, an unbeliever. As you sit in that seat, you, could say just now as a sinner, I will trust Christ as my Savior. And the moment you do, dear friend, you’ll be born into God’s family. You’ll cross the line.

[29:12] You say, but I’ve thought about this. I bet you’re an unbeliever.

[30:22] Two natures in one person. What a Christ, what a saviour, two parts in one mighty book, Look, two destinies in one eternity and two categories just now within the walls of this one building.

Panel discussion, Leadership in the home.

[0:03] Very good, well, welcome to the Midland Park Podcast.

[0:57] 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, that it should be holy and without blemish.

[2:06] The word that keeps coming to my mind with respect to this topic is confusion.

[2:34] But what we must do is always return to the scriptures and see what precisely are the roles that we have in our families. How should we structure our families?

[3:47] There’s a few verses here that we won’t take the time to read, but we find in Philippians 4, 9 and in Acts 20, verse 35, you can look those up later, different verses that speak about the Apostle Paul and the imitation or the life that he led before others.

[4:04] 2035 we find the Apostle Paul, Matthew already talked about this, leading the Ephesian elders, calls him over down to Miletus and he reminds him about what he did, the kind of life that he lived.

[5:09] And you know, sometimes my kids have heard me talk to them and I’m ashamed of myself.

[5:54] Okay, well then I have some specific questions. Number one, I- Let me do the general one first.

[6:27] Right, so that’s actually a helpful clarification. We’re not, as my title says here, my apologies, but we’re not necessarily leading ourselves.

[7:35] I already heard about cell phones, so, mental note.

[9:01] Are you sure I said that? You didn’t say Tuesdays, but I’m pretty sure you said one night a week.

[10:16] He’s not too exercised to study the scripture. So we actually sat down with him and we talked to him about different ways that he can do that.

[11:31] I just do it. And people get this idea, if I can get a technique, it’ll kind of work miracles, work semi-magic, and I get the real technique and I’ll become a Bible expert, your method won’t suit me and mine won’t suit you.

[12:53] I’m not going to mention any books before you do. So is there anything you want to mention in specific about that? No, our brother’s already mentioned one book. A very good one.

[14:02] Bible study. But I want to get to the last point, which is… I’m sorry, just on that, brother. Maybe, our brother was speaking about development of character and leading your life with character. Maybe character will not be so much formed, by Bible study. I mean as in study to be ready for a Bible read. That will be helpful, but that will not be nearly as formative in character as Bible meditation. Just saturating your soul until your blood and your brain becomes Biblaine, that you actually think, you start thinking Bible, and you’re so impregnated with Bible truth, and that’s a way beyond that. Like there’s the wee daily reading, you read a passage, sometimes people ask me, do you read two chapters a day or one chapter? Sometimes I don’t read a chapter at all.

[15:01] You say, what sort of an unspiritual iceberg are you? You do read your Bible though, right? Oh, once in a while. I can say that I’m I’m turning it over day and night.

[15:52] Very good. Okay, so that’s the beginning. This is really just the foundation.

[17:16] Not like a Lord, a Lord doesn’t need to be linked as such. So there’s a relationship, there’s a connection, there must be a relationship.

[17:28] And in that role, there are responsibilities. So those three are, so I learn what is my role in a given relationship?

[18:08] Well, I think you’ve hinted at it already, Brother Jonathan. You take Genesis 2.

[18:47] So instead of speaking to Adam and asking his opinion first, he promoted Eve to be the prime mover and the first mover.

[20:11] I think part of that is understanding that headship isn’t about making all of these orders and commands.

[21:21] And furthermore, I am responsible for the spiritual well-being of my children.

[22:26] Start with you, Matthew. Mr. Gilliland’s writing something down, so you can go first.

[22:54] But you touched on something there at the end. There is a responsibility with the wife.

[23:56] That’s a really good question. Yeah, Jesus Christ. Yeah.

[25:26] Actually, it’s a question. why does she have to stay home with the children?

[26:35] The other, so my wife has a responsibility to submit to me as head of the home.

[28:03] Patient with our wives and consider, take responsibility for ourselves first.

[29:11] And well, I just, I think I just come back to this prime responsibility ultimately rest with me.

[30:33] It was great unity in that marriage, but it was a disaster. There could be unity in a marriage and what’s wrong.

[30:43] She said certain things and Job was able to take up responsibility and say, we’ll go no further.

[31:11] How you’re going to raise them. The different decisions that will come down the road, instead of in the moment, you know, you could have a situation where the child is acting up and you’re not home, or maybe you are home, you’re in a different room, and the wife disciplines the child, and is either too lenient, maybe you think, or maybe you think too severe, and you have a different opinion, and then you come in and you start to have an argument, in front of the child.

[32:21] There’s an underlying problem, but there’s no communication.

[32:32] So all of those things need to be watched. Yeah, very much. Yeah, we have conflict resolution, coming up here at the next point.

[33:52] So my wife and I, we have strong personalities. And that can cause problems sometimes.

[34:13] Okay. I disagree with that, but anyway. So my wife and I were kind of disagreeable.

[35:30] Just as a bridge from your previous point as well about soul care for your wife and knowing how she is doing. One thing I find helpful in knowing how she is doing is the act of praying together, which doesn’t happen every night, but most nights. And I think it’s a valuable thing.

[36:42] I’ll go ahead, you go ahead. So, I actually, if we’ve heard enough about conflict, I don’t want to have any conflict up here, conflict up here because we’ll need another session after this, but I do want to go down to the next section.

[37:13] How does that make you feel? I need more me time. But in our particular situation, my personality is I want to get this over with and right now and let’s deal with this and let’s move on and carry on.

[37:33] But my wife is a little different. She can’t deal with it right away.

[37:36] So I’ve had to learn, I’m learning, I’m learning, slowly learning, very slowly, that I can’t push her to deal with something if she’s not ready to deal with it.

[39:03] So I put this in the category of leadership in the home because I think, I do believe that we as men should take the lead.

[39:11] Not wait for our wife to always deal with it, waiting for our wife to always deal with the, different problems in the home, but take the lead, get ahead of these problems, go to our wives, and obviously the change in our character will help with this, but taking the lead, even in conflict resolution, to maintain a peaceful home. I think many of us have experience with, and maybe here in the assembly, more often children in the Sunday school and this sort of thing, they’re children that are growing up in chaotic homes, and the parents are fighting, like cats and dogs, and every day.

[40:41] How does that work? I have something to say about it. No, go ahead. I’ll come in later. Go ahead.

[42:05] No, so I’m just asking, are you, brethren, describing something a little bit like, Isaac-Rebecca relationship?

[42:31] Showed favoritism, all of those things that we know from the story, manipulated Jacob to the disadvantage of Isaac and Esau, and well, we know the end result of all that.

[43:52] We’re thinking about a situation which you’re already married.

[45:21] Maybe I should have mentioned earlier, you’ve already hinted at it.

[45:36] I’m going to assert my rights. My rights are being trampled on.

[46:50] There’s an absence of fatherhood. Again, brethren here, I’m sure you have experience with children in the Sunday school where we see this most of all. Thankfully, not so much in the assemblies that we know of. We see children, they don’t have a father, there’s only a single mother.

[48:18] If I talk about money all day, if I’m just talking about my work, my kid, what are my kids going to talk about? They’ll always be talking about sports, and they’ll always be talking about money, and they’ll always be talking whatever it is. They’re observing, and they’re imitating. The things that come out of my mouth, the things that they see me do, they’re going to imitate that. The second point I wanted to make just, and we can expand on these and give different examples. If the assembly, if that’s not a priority for me, it’s not going to be a priority for my children. If I don’t go to meeting, why would my children go to meeting? If when I’m raising my children, I don’t bring them to meeting and as they’re older, encourage them to come to meeting and encourage them in the scriptures and this sort of thing. Well, what’s going to happen when they’re older? No, they’re not going to have any encouragement to go. They’re not going to be in the habit of going. Why would they go? I didn’t I didn’t see my parents, I never saw my dad read his Bible.

[49:42] What kind of habits and disciplines can we form in the home when we’re teaching our children?

[50:49] And that’s not the only way to evangelize, but if you’re going to do door to door, you can knock on the door and Bobby hands you the tract and you give that to the person, they hear you speaking to them. Different ways that we evangelize, bring them to gospel meetings.

[52:10] At the time, I wasn’t thinking, oh, I’d like to be a preacher someday.

[52:42] If we read that, their soul salvation, of course, a priority, keeping that gospel and so on that you have mentioned.

[53:38] Oh, I gotta think for a couple hours, so you go ahead.

[54:51] Like in all the relationships of life, We have an ideal picture, get married, exercise, problems come in the marriage, difficulties, real she is the, oh, I’ll tell you what happened, I married the wrong person.

[55:59] And they rebelled. So I think he was a good parent. So if you have a marriage in difficulty, the automatic answer is not, I’ve married the wrong person.

[57:23] Well, finding ways to maintain or strengthen that relationship is key.

[57:51] Their respect and it facilitates more opportunity for discussion and encouragement of them.

[58:55] Thanks, Matthew, that was very helpful. Coming to the next point, we had a very specific question, or I had a very specific question about how to implement these different habits in the lives of our children.

[59:27] A specific schedule, a specific regimen? Do they have to memorize large chunks of scripture?

[59:46] So what are the different things that we can do? First, I just wanna highlight that the prime responsibility for the biblical education of my children is with the parents.

[1:00:58] I was gonna give a controversial opinion on that, but we’ll just keep going to the practical aspect of this.

[1:01:35] I’m inclined to think, train up a child according to his way.

[1:01:42] That is, don’t force the personality of a child. So I’m a farmer, I have a son, and he’s going to have to be a farmer, even though the bent of his life and his aptitude is to be an accountant. But because I’m a farmer, I will twist the bend of his life, or the inclination of his life, I will twist that to suit me.

[1:03:10] In the mornings, or maybe it’s in the evening, for our family, it works in the morning, might be different for you.

[1:03:17] Bring the children together, put them all in the same room, turn the cell phone off, all the things that are gonna interrupt.

[1:03:49] Some of the most precious times we have with our family, with our children.

[1:04:34] Yeah, but we actually try and mix it up on purpose at times.

[1:05:41] Thank you. Important to spend time with them. The soul, attend to their souls. Do we have time for one more point? Attend to their souls, attend to their minds, and attend to their heart. What I have in mind with this is the kind of vision that we want to set forth for, the children. I’ve noticed that a lot of families, and I’m not actually at the stage yet, so, I’m gonna ask the question, I’ll say a few things.

[1:06:03] But I notice in some families it’s difficult to find a balance, and maybe it’s not a balance, I don’t know what the ratio is, but it’s difficult when kids get to the point where they’re about to leave or they’re going to school.

[1:07:32] Simply because they need to go to school doesn’t mean that they have to abandon the assembly.

[1:08:35] Very good. Brother, I have a question about, you went to school, you studied.

[1:09:33] That’s point number one. Everything else fits around my commitment to the Lord and his people, in the assembly. Let all the other things fall into place around the assembly. If they don’t fit in, well then leave them out. I know that’s tough advice in a very simple, failing, flickering way. That’s the principle I try to follow and I have absolutely no regrets. Very good. Thank you, Thank you, that’s very helpful. That summarizes the panel today, Leadership in the Home.