Phoenix Conference: 1989, Behaviour in the House of God (2:15)
Address—G.H. Hayhoe
Last night we were looking at the Second Timothy 2. We didn't finish it, so I'd like to look at that and perhaps a few verses in Corinthians after Second Timothy chapter 2. You'll begin at the 15th verse. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto. Ungodliness and their word will eat as doth the canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is passed already, and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold. Of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Plea also youthful us, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do gender strifes, and the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men apartment to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him. At his will. Fellow quite a few here tonight who weren't here last night. So I just like to mention briefly a little of what we had before us in two epistles of Timothy. We have in the first one, the House of God in order. When we speak of the House of God, it's not this building, it's not a place where we assemble, but it's looked at in Scripture as those who profess the name of Christ. And so when it was begun, we might say, on the day of Pentecost. All those who entered that house, so to speak, were living stones because the house is looked at in two ways, with God as the builder, with man as the builder, and God never builds in anything but what's good. And so the Lord Jesus said on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He also tells us in Peter he also has living stones are built up a spiritual. House and holy priesthood to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. And so when the Lord is the builder, everything is real. But we find in First Corinthians 3 that man is spoken of and it says here we then as workers together with him. And when man is the builder, then it tells us there in first Corinthians 3. That there's gold, there is gold and. Silver and precious stones, but there's also wood, hay and stubble. Now when God is the builder, as I say, all is real and everyone who is truly saved in this room tonight knows the Lord Jesus as Savior and is indwelled by the Spirit of God, is part of the true church. You don't have to join it. There's no such thing in Scripture as a person joining the church, the Lord. Added to the church daily such as should be saved. When a person is received at the Lord's table, we don't make them part of the church. We receive them because we believe they're already part of the church and receive to give expression to that wonderful truth that there is one body. So in First Timothy we see the order that God intended. In other words, God set up something in this world to be a testimony. And we find in First Timothy chapter 3, it says that the Church of the living God is the pillar and ground of the truth. That is, the assembly is responsible before God to stand for and maintain the whole truth of God. The truth is never spoken of in the plural. In Scripture, people talk that way. But the Bible always speaks of it in the singular because we have no right. It's not our truth, it's God's truth. And we have no right to say, I accept that truth, but I reject that it's the truth of God. It's the faith once delivered to the Saints. And so that has been given to us. And a church is responsible to be the depositary and hold the truth. Then also in the next verse, it brings before us the pattern. It says the secret of godliness.
What is the secret of godliness? The pathway of the Lord Jesus here in this world. If you read it, we haven't time tonight, but if you read those verses in the end of one Timothy 3, you'll see it mentions the church being the pillar and ground of the truth and then the secret of godliness. And to be an Assembly of God, it ought to stand for the whole truth of God. And you and I ought to be those who are examples of Christ like life. A Christ like life. That's what God has said in this world. We spoke of it last night. Like a model house in a community. They often set up a community and then there's a model house and you know what the idea was that the builder had in his mind if you go in and look at that model house. So it is interesting in First Timothy that he takes that up and shows what God planned. There was to be something in this world to show what his plan was, and that is the Church of. The living God and the testimony to it in the assembly. Well, when we come to the second epistle, we see that man is brought in, and so we find that wood, hay, and stubble have come in. There are those who profess the name of Christ, and he has to say. In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Christendom has become a great house, So everything that professes the name. A Christian is not standing for the truth of God, nor are all who profess the name of Christ walking as they should. And so in this second epistle he's showing us what the condition of things is in that which is called Christianity in the earth, and what we are to do in the midst of this. What is to be our conduct? We can't step out of the house, because that would be to forsake Christianity. But there is a path that God has for us. And in the great profession of Christianity, let's say in America, there are all kinds of things that bear the name of Christ. But there is a path for faith. It's marked out for us in the Word of God. Amid all the confusion that we see about us, we're not left to our own choice. The whole thought of choosing the Church of your choice is absolutely unscriptural. There's no such thing. It's the Lord adding to the church and then the testimony. To the truth of God, He and those who follow the divine pattern as God has given up to us in His Word. Now we haven't time to go over all in detail, but I just want to mention what we mentioned last night that in this 2nd chapter, it is very interesting that the Christian is viewed in seven different ways. And I just mentioned them again, the first one. Thou therefore, my Son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. That is, we've been brought into the family of God. And if you have received the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you're in the family of God. And it says because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying ABBA father. And you know a son is expected to show the character of the family. And so the Lord Jesus is full of grace and truth. And so you and I are to be strong in the grace that is. Christ Jesus, then the next one is a soldier. And a soldier has to learn to endure hardness. He's not to expect an easy path. And if when you receive the Lord as your savior, you thought that somehow it was going to turn out to be a very easy path, well, I'm sure you have learned otherwise if you've been saved very long. Because a soldier has to first of all, learn that being a soldier, he has to go through what they call boot training. He has to learn that there are hardships connected with that kind of a calling. And so. If you and I know the Lord Jesus is our Savior, we are to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ. We're to endure hardness. We're not to entangle ourselves with the affairs of this life. That is, we're not to allow ourselves to get tied down to this earth as though we belong to it. And then he talks about the husband, the runner. And what does the runner got to do? Well, you know, if you're going to run in a race, you better acquaint yourself with the rules because you might win. But if you've broken one of the rules, you're not going to be the winner.
Everybody might clap for you, but it doesn't mean that you're going to be rewarded. No, you must follow the rules. And you and I are in the Christian race. And if we're going to have the Lord's approval in that day of manifestation, when he gives rewards for faithfulness, he's going to reward faithfulness in the path of obedience. Yet as a man not crowned, except he strive lawfully. And it's very important, brethren, if we're going to run in the. Race that we read our Bibles and find out what is pleasing to the Lord so that we strive lawfully. We're saying last night many no doubt were appointed. There was a man, a Canadian and he ran in a race. He came in first, but he was disqualified because he had broken the rules and he didn't get the reward. And so how important for us that was only. A corruptible thing, corruptible things like silver and gold, but. A crown incorruptible that fadeth not away. I think the wonder of all wonders for a Christian is that my precious Savior and your precious Savior should actually reward you for something you did for Him. Oh, how wonderful. And it says that he is going to give a crown of life, a crown of glory, different crowns for faithfulness to Him. Is it worth it? When we think of what He did for us, it is a man not. Accept his Dr. lawfully. Then next we have the husbandman and the husbandman is to learn that he has to labor and not expect to see results right away. You know, that's a danger with us. We get discouraged because we try to do something and we don't see any results. And we say, well, I tried it for a few months and nothing happened. But you know. The whole lifetime is like sewing and it's very, very important. That we continue on. When is the harvest for the Christian? It may not be down here at all. The Lord Jesus, as we remarked last night, He lived a perfect life of obedience and service to His Father, and at the end all his disciples forsook him. None of the people that were healed were there at the cross to acclaim him. It seemed that there were no results. Where are the results? It's all in resurrection. That's why it says remember. Jesus Christ, and you'll have understanding that is the Lord Jesus, The results of that blessed, perfect pathway of love that led to Calvary, they're all manifested in resurrection. And there's going to be a vast throng of redeemed people as a result of his glorious work that will surround the throne and praise him. But the results will be displayed in a coming day. So the husband has to labor and wait for the results. Keep on, don't get discouraged. Keep on in the path of obedience. And leave the results with the Lord. And then we were noticing about the workmen. That's the fifth one, the workmen. And the Workman has to be very careful that he is paying attention. He has to read up instructions about how the work is to be done. And I know you could spend, you could hire a Workman and he could spend hours and he might be a good Workman, but if he doesn't follow the if he doesn't follow the instructions. By all his work may have to be torn out and he has to do it all over again. And so, you know, it's quite possible for us to labor. And that follow the instructions of God's word. And so it says about rightly, thank you, rightly dividing the word of truth. He has to be very careful. You might say he's wasting time sitting there pouring over those blueprints or what He's not wasting time. He doesn't want to have to tear out his work and find out that it was done the wrong way. And so you and I need to acquaint ourselves. We're going to work for the Lord. He has. Way and we're going to be ashamed if we spend hours and hours and then have to tear out all the work because we didn't carefully read the instructions. We do that very often ourselves in little things, don't we? We've worked away and then my wife says, why didn't you read the instructions, dear? Why you spend a lot of time now you've got to pull it out. And so we don't always do that and we're a shame we wasted a lot of time. And we can put a lot of energy in the wrong direction. When time was in a place and I, I came to the door, you know, and I was, I was pushing the door to try and get out. And my brother said, look, it says pull, not push. He says you can put a lot of energy in the wrong direction. But we do that, don't we? Rightly dividing the word of truth.
Now we come to the what we didn't speak of last night, and that is a vessel unto honor. There were those who were beginning in the early church to bring in evil doctrine. He said the resurrection was passed already, and you know that's a very serious thing, the truth of the resurrection. Paul said if Christ be not raised, you are yet in your sins. And he said that if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Resurrection is a cardinal truth of Christianity. Very important. Now, we'll never find a group of people that we always see eye to eye in everything. But there are certain things that are fundamental. There are certain things that are, shall I say, foundation, truth. And we must stand for those. The foundation of God standeth sure. And so we have to stand for the deity of Christ, the blood of Christ. The all sufficiency of the work of Christ. The sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus. Because these are cardinal truths, we can't afford to deny any of those things, and we don't want to be associated with those who deny them. Because if we are associated with those who deny some of these truths, then we're associated with a system of things in Christendom that actually is undermining the truth of God. And this is what he is saying here. You say, well, you're saying that those people are not Christians. He said the Lord knoweth them that are his. Some Christians are misled and they get into wrong things without realizing it. But we may say, well, I think that man is a Christian, but I certainly couldn't go along with him. He denies the eternal security of the believer. He doesn't believe that the work of Christ was enough. Well, maybe he's misled, maybe he's a Christian, but he's denying a very fundamental truth. And so we find here that Paul says here in this 19th verse. Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knows them that are his, but don't forget the next and. Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. I say that because I've heard people say, well, we're never told to be in separation from Christians. No, but we're told to be in separation from iniquity. And if a Christian chooses to remain an association with iniquity, then we have to leave that. Even if he didn't. Let me illustrate it like this. We had three children. And perhaps there are some children on the street that have. And getting into trouble and doing some things that might inflict contact with the law. So we say to our children, we don't want you to play with those children because if you're associated with them, you may be blamed for some trouble. You better not play with them. Well, if we look out the door one time and we find, we find that they're out there and they're playing with these children that we told them not to play with. And so I go to the door and I say, Nancy, Harry and Eunice, I want you to come. I want you to come in. It's an individual call to each one of them. Only one of them comes. Only one of them comes. Do I say to the one who came, You shouldn't have left your brother and sister there? I say I'm glad you came. I'm sorry that your brother and sister didn't respond to the call too. We can't, we can't force other people to leave things that are unscriptural. But it says if a man, therefore the call is always individual. When the Lord Jesus called his disciples, he called them individually. You got saved as an individual. You're responsible as an individual, the Bible says everyone shall have given account of. Himself to God, I'm not going to have to give an account for somebody else, but for myself and each one of us are individually responsible. So he says if a man in the 21St verse can therefore purge himself from these. I want you to notice that because sometimes people like to come in groups, but you know it's an individual call and I say again. Even salvation is individual. That's why it says, If thou thou is a personal word, it's the personal pronoun. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus shall believe in God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. So he says. In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
So I say again that Christendom that was professed. The name of Christ. It now is it contains vessels to honor, and best man brought them in. And sometimes in scripture, I repeat. That house is viewed with God as the builder. It's all real. It's all living stones. But when man is the builder, he brings in vessels to dishonor. He brings in, under the profession of Christianity, that which attacks the very foundation. Of the Christian faith and so must we walk along with all these things we love every child of God. I love those two children that didn't respond to the call. I love them just as much as the one that came but I'm very pleased that one was obedient and we can't help but love all the children of God. The Bible says we're taught of God to love one another. We often meet another Christian. I met a Christian today who's not gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus but this Christian. Really love the Lord Jesus, and we had some nice little talk about him, but I don't know whether I could walk with her in the position where she is. Because if she doesn't come out from what is contrary to the Word of God, then I am responsible to walk in the truth. But I ought to, and I can't help but love all the children of God. And so it says, He shall be a vessel unto honor. Sanctified and meet for the Master. Use and prepared unto every good work. And that is, we know very well if you have, if you have a dish or something at home that's dirty, you don't mind setting something on it. That doesn't matter whether it's dirty or not. You'd put some other dirty spoons on it, or you might put a plant on top of it, even if it was a little bit dirty, because that doesn't matter. But it's not ready for every good work. Might do some, and I know there's a great many Christians who are doing. Good works, and I rejoice that they are in the Lord's taking full knowledge of it. But you won't be prepared unto every good work unless you walk in the path of obedience. And so here it says, If a man therefore purged himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified, that means, set apart and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. I say again, if you have a clean dish, you can use it for anything. If you have a dirty 1, you might use it for some things, but its use is limited because it's not clean. And what's more, if you have a clean dish and you set it down with The Dirty ones, often when we're clearing the table, we'll set off two or three that haven't been used and they're clean, but somebody not watching comes along and stacks some dirty dishes on top of them, and they all have. To go into the wash, they're all dirty because they got mixed up. And So what he is telling us here is purge means to separate. From these, that is, from the vessels to dishonor and fit for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. Well, the Lord has a work that we can do in the path of obedience, because what he values, brethren, is obedience. He says, if he loved me, keep my commandments. I say again, with our children, what did we value? We valued obedience. We valued obedience and how the Lord values that in love from our hearts, but now having separated as an individual. Now there are instructions who were to walk with 22nd verse, flee also youthful lusts, and follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them. Now notice it says for man purges, and now with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. It's the same principle as we find in that verse, cease to do evil, learn to do well. That is, if you see something that you know is not according to the mind and truth of God, then we need to purge ourselves and the vessels to dishonor. And the happy part is to find that God has wrought in the hearts of other people too, who want to walk in that path. And so he says.
Flee also. Youthful. Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them. Notice first of all, and flee. Also youthful lusts. Perhaps that comes in there because often the hindrance to us walking in the truth is because there are certain things in our lives that we don't want to give up. And perhaps this is more so when we're young. You know, I'm a little older now, but I was young once and I know there are a lot of things and young people sometimes. Them say, well, you don't know how hard it is to break away and not just go along with everything that's going on with other activities and so on. So he says flee also youthful lusts, in other words, those things that are a hindrance to walking and the truth of God. We have to flee. And don't you find you really do have to flee? What does flee mean? Well, you almost have to run from them sometimes because the pull is pretty strong. The pull to. Along with the crown, they call it today peer pressure. And the pressure to go along with things that are going on often hinders us from walking in the full path of obedience to the truth of God. Then it says, follow righteousness. Well, righteousness is important too. That is the very character of God's throne, it says. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness. Is the scepter of thy Kingdom. And so righteousness is to walk in what is right and truth. And that's important for us, brethren, individually and collectively, that there should be a testimony of righteousness. A man in First Corinthians 5, he might have been standing for the truth of God, but he fell into sin. And even although he might have been standing for the whole truth of God, maybe he believed in the deity of Christ and the blood of Christ, and if you'd asked him, he was perfectly. But his personal life wasn't very acceptable. And so the Lord has to tell them, put away from among yourselves that wicked person, even though he was a believer, because in the second epistle he was restored. Thank God He restoreth my soul. There is a way back when we've got away. Thank God. Where would any of us be if he didn't restore our souls? So there's righteousness and then there's faith. Well, there's a path for faith. Faith. What is faith? I was just confidence in God. It's just confidence in God. Don't you often get disappointed? You put confidence in some friend and they let you down, but the Lord never will. My father used to have a little saying. He said the Lord may try your faith, but he'll never disappoint your faith. If you trust Him, He'll always stand with you. He may leave you in a trial, but he'll always stand with you, even in the trial. And so we need to walk that path of faith. There's a whole chapter about that in the in the 11TH of Hebrews. A very interesting thing in the 11TH of Hebrews. A lot of names are mentioned there. And toward the end of the chapter we find 2 distinct groups. And this is very instructive, I think. It says there were those who wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire out of weakness, were made strong, waxed valiant in flight, all these wonderful victories that they got in the path of faith. And then there's a change. And it says others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. They wandered about in sheepskins and goats skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Of whom the world was not worthy. You know, there's two classes. There are those who have miraculous deliverances in their lives, and there are those whom God seems to leave in trouble and he stands with them in the trouble, sustains and strengthens their faith. And it's very lovely to me that it says after recording these two groups, the ones who had all the miraculous deliverances and the ones who didn't get any deliverance at all, but trusted God, it says these all. Obtain a good report through faith. Isn't that lovely, you say? I wish I was in the first group when I prayed. I just wished everything would work. It seems to work for some people and they get miracles in their lives, but I don't experience that. What if God's pleased to put you in the second group? He's still able to sustain your faith, and He's going to take just as much notice of you going through those things and not getting those great deliverances and those miracles that happen.
But you've trusted. You rest in His word and in His love, and so all obtained a good report through faith. That's what we need, brethren. Just because you walk in the truth doesn't mean you're going to all have wonderful things happen in your life and you're going to get out of all your problems. No, but follow righteousness, faith, and then love. Why our hearts go out in love to the Lord's people we love because. Because he first loved us. Did the Lord love us because we were such nice people? No. We ourselves are sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, and even since we've been saved. Did he love us because we're such good Christians? Oh, we haven't always been, but he says I've loved you with an everlasting love. Having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And the letters to the churches he's grieved because Ephesus had left their first love. And in the last one he says as many as I love our rebuke and chasten. The only church that he tells he loves is the one that was in the worst condition. How wonderful is the grace of God. So when we follow love. That's charity and peace and that's important too, It's important. Brethren, it says God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the Saints. And I'm just going to say something that my father used to say to me, and I think it's a very good remark. He said never introduce into the assembly anything that would disturb the peace of the assembly unless it's absolutely necessary for God's glory. We can sometimes bring in things that upset our brethren, and they're not important. And so how lovely it is to seek to walk together in peace among God's people. Blessed are the peacemakers. I'm not saying peace at the expense of truth and holiness. That's not God's peace. But there are a lot of little things. And dear Brother chapter Brown used to say, if my brethren can bear with me, I hope I can bear with them. We need to learn that because our brethren have things to bear within us as well as we have to bear with things in them. And so this is to, this is the path that we're called into. With them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. I believe a pure heart means that it's the same thought as when it says if thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. Now that is, we can be men pleasers, or we can seek to please the Lord. And I believe a pure heart means that there's a single desire to please the Lord. We often face situations in life where we have to make a decision. Whether we're going to grieve some friend or whether we're going to grieve the Lord. And I believe the thought of the pure heart is that we really want to please the Lord. If you're gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, I'm sure that you're not there just for the people. You're there because you believe the Lord is there and you have that desire to be there and to honor Him. And that, I believe, is what it means out of a pure heart sometimes. If you ask people why are you in that group, you'll get an answer something like this. Well, you know, they're an awfully nice, friendly group and they really have a good preacher and all kinds of things. They'll say they have a good gospel work and so on. But you ask one who is truly gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus, why are you there? I don't think you'll very likely get that kind of an answer. I never have from anybody who's truly gathered. I've never had one of them. Say, well, there's such a wonderful group and they're so active for the Lord and everything's so wonderful. No, they say, well, I believe that they're gathered according to the word of God and that the Lord is there and he wants me to be there. That's probably the answer that you'll get. And I believe, brethren, if I can say it humbly, that that's what a pure heart is, calling on the Lord out of a pure heart, seeking to be there just out of a single life for him, desiring his glory and to be in the. Of obedience to Him. Well, now there's something for the servant, but foolish and unlearned questions avoid knowing that they do. Gender strife. And the servant, this is the next one. The vessel was to be sanctified, and meet for the master's use of vessel unto honor. Now the servant must not strive Be gentle unto all men, apartment to teach, patient in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves to God for adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.
I believe that's very, very important. For the servant that is. The manner in which the truth is ministered, Scripture says speaking the truth in love. You know, brethren, we should never put out the truth to try and prove our point. We can get very, very upset in trying to prove our point, but the putting out of the truth should always be first for the glory of Christ and for the blessing of souls. And I can't make it personally receive the truth of God. That's not within my power. Nor am I called to do it. I am just called upon to present it in love and let the Spirit of God do the work in souls. Many of you know we had a little work with the young people for a good many years. And I used to say to the young people sometimes now I don't want you to go away from here and say Gordon Haywell said that. If you've learned something here, I hope you can go away and say I think the Lord showed me something while I was there. I think I learned it from him. Then I said I'll be thankful. And so I don't. I'm not standing here to try and prove something to you as my opinion. I have a responsibility to set the truth of God before you and the Spirit of God can make it good in your soul, the Bible says. The Bible says they shall be all taught of God. He says, if any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. And so I can only present it to you, and desire that the Spirit of God would make it good in your soul, and attract your heart and mine to the Lord Jesus Christ. And a servant of the Lord is to do that. There's a verse in Ecclesiastes that says if the acts be blunt and he do not wet the edge, then must he put to more strength. We all know what that means. If your axe is blunt, you have to swing an awful hard, you know. But if your axe is sharp, you don't need to put so much effort into it because it carries its own weight and it cuts the wood because it's sharp. And you know when you see a brother laboring to prove his point? Perhaps his axe is blunt, so he has to. It awful hard, you know, but if it's the truth of God presented in love, the servant of the Lord must not strive. It doesn't mean we don't contend for the faith, we stand for it, but it's the way that we do it that is important. And so in meekness, instructing those that oppose themselves. Because who is hindering me or anyone else from receiving the truth of God? The enemy is at work, that they may recover themselves from the snare of the devil. People who are taken captive by him at His will. You know the enemy doesn't want any one of us to be in the full enjoyment of the truth of God. He's going to do all he can to hinder it because the truth sets us free. The Lord Jesus said he shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Something was found in Mr. Darby's Bible after he died. It went like this. Free from myself, Lord Jesus, free from the thoughts of men, chains of thought that had bound me. Never shall bind again, only thyself, Lord Jesus conquered this wayward will, but for thy love constraining I had been wayward still. And we have to be set free from our own thoughts sometimes to get the the thoughts of God. So we see that in this chapter, the different ways in which the believer is to act when everything is in disorder. That's like in this day in which we live. And so you can look over them leisurely. For yourself when you go home. And we can each search our own hearts before the Lord as to whether these things characterize our walk here in this world and our desire to walk to please him. We can never, never straighten out all the confusion that's in Christendom. But we are told what to do when it's in confusion. Just as if I say again, here's this house. It's all. Set up so nicely, somebody comes in and throws it all around and. Messes it up. But there's one room in that house where it still has the plan that was set up by the by the man, the architect or whoever the builder. And so you say, well, there's one room here. I can see what he really planned. And it all God in his faithfulness, not because we're faithful brethren, but in his faithfulness, he's promised to preserve a path for faith. And he has told us that in that path we can.
Remember him until and remember the Lord Jesus until he comes. Now I just like to look before we close at 1St Corinthians 10 and 11, just briefly. I just wanted to say a little bit about two things. In 1St Corinthians 10 we have the Lord's Table. In first Corinthians 11 we have the Lord's Supper. I read from the 10th chapter in the 16th verse, the cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of. That one bread behold Israel after the flesh. Are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then, that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything but? I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that she should have fellowship with devils. He cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils. He cannot be partaker of the Lord's table. Of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? Here, as you notice, he's talking about the Lord's Table. I want to say here that when it talks about the table of devils, it's not talking about Christian groups, it's talking about idolatry. But there's a principle that is being brought out. That is, there were three things that existed in Corinth. There was the Lord's Table spread there. There was the Jewish worship, and there was the heathen worship. And what he is bringing out. I just want to say this before I start. To deal a little bit. With a detail that the act of partaking is the act of association. So the man partook of the sacrifices in Judaism, he became identified with the Jewish altar, and we're called upon to take our place outside the camp and leave the Jewish worship all behind and be gathered to a rejected Christ. And then here was a man who was an idolater. He is to forsake now that old place where he was, because he has found. That which which he can be identified with, and that's the Lord's Table. But I believe we should understand what the Lord's Table really is. At this time, divisions hadn't taken place, but I believe it's set before us to show that the act of partaking is the act of identifying oneself. And so if we have learned what the Lord's Table is, as from the Word of God, we want to be identified. With that testimony that God has in this world. To the truth that is expressed at the Lord's Table, that is the truth of the one body. Now I just want to notice briefly here, and perhaps you've noticed it before. That in this chapter the cup comes first. In the next chapter, the loaf comes first. Now you can be sure that the Word of God is perfect and that there's a reason why everything is given the way it is in the Scripture. Why does the cup come first? Well, as I said in the 10th chapter, it's the Lord's Table. In the 11TH chapter it's the Lord's Supper. And supposing I were invited to the I were invited to the White House to have dinner with. The president wouldn't. I have a little thought in my mind as well? How can I be suited to be in the White House? At the very table of the president of the United States, I would be very concerned. I would look over my clothes and think of under if they'd be acceptable. But supposing he said, well, I'm going to give you a suit of clothes. And then when you come, you'll know you're accepted because you'll be able to say I'm worrying the very suit he gave me. Now, brethren, when I come to the Lord's table, what fitness, What right do I have? Could I dare to look over my own fitness and say I think it's OK? Oh, you say no, that would never do. But if I have been cleansed in the precious blood of Christ, this could I have. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. We sing a little hymn sometimes. Thy precious blood is always shown our only passport, Lord. And so we have then a fitness. Another verse says, having therefore, brethren, boldness to come into the holiest, enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. I walk up to the White House and a person at the door greets me. I don't have any doubts that I'm accepted. I'm wearing the very, very clothes that he gave me. Isn't it wonderful when it talks about the Lord's table? It sets our minds thoroughly at ease. It's not anything in ourselves.
Brethren, it's that blessed, glorious, finished work, the blood, that has fitted us to be there. But now the next one, and this is interesting. The loaf is given to us here as a symbol of the one body of Christ. Now in the next chapter, the loaf is the symbol of Christ's physical body. He died on the cross and bore our sins and His own body on the tree. But this chapter sets before us another very blessed and wonderful fact, and that is. We, being many, are one bread or one loaf, one body. For we're all partakers of that one bread. And so when I come there, I don't just come as a forgiven Sinner, although that's true. I come there as a member of the body of Christ, because the Lord's table is where this truth is expressed. And so as we set that one loaf on the table, that one loaf represents every member of the body of Christ, not just the little company that are gathered in the room. Because the one body includes all believers and they're all represented there, and you can't scripturally call it the Lord's table unless the testimony to the truth of the one body is maintained. This is the only place in the New Testament where we read about the Lord's Table, and the Lord's Table is given as the expression of the truth of the one body of Christ. I don't break bread as a member of brethren. People say what church he a member of. The Lord's Table expresses the fact that there is only one church, and that by one Spirit we're all baptized into one body, and that one body, Christ, is the head of the body, the Church, and so we break bread as members of the body of Christ. Supposing there was a family with 100. Well, perhaps I was thinking of a large family of in laws and everything, but let's think of a family where there's only. Ten children. And we want to express the fact that there is just ten children in this one family. So we come together and we say, well, there's ten children in our family. If only 8 are there, that doesn't change the fact that there is 10 in the family. And we bread brethren as members of the one body of Christ, even if there are only two members of the family there if they gathered. To represent the fact that there's a family. 10 Then their thoughts have to take in the others as well. And that one loaf represents that on the table we being many, are one bread, one body for all partakers of that one bread. I also like to say another thing, and that is that it's more than being a forgiven Sinner. Suppose when I sat down at the table of the President, he said, There's nobody else that I'd like to have here any more than you. You're the dearest person on the whole earth to me. Wouldn't that set me at ease to think that I didn't only have a suit that was fitted to His presence, but that that is what He thought of me? Now, brethren, there are some people who break bread and their thoughts don't go further than being forgiven sinners. But the Lord wants you to break bread in the nearest possible relationship, in the enjoyment, I say, of that in your soul. I've often used the illustration about. Rahab the harlot. Perhaps you remember the story about Rahab the Harlot in the Bible. And when the city of Jericho fell, her home was safe because she had the scarlet line in the window. And the judgment didn't fall on her because that scarlet line, a picture of the blood of Christ, sheltered her. And those who were under the shelter of that scarlet line, I'm sheltered by the blood of Christ. But the story doesn't stop there, brethren. That woman, Rahab the harlot. Married into the royal line of Israel. She married into the royal line of Israel. You can read about it in the Gospel of Matthew and you'll find her name mentioned there. She was in the royal line. Now let us suppose that after she's married to her husband, whose name was Solomon, and she sat down at the table and looked across the table to him and said, oh, it's wonderful to be a forgiven harlot. Do you think he would say? I think he'd look back and say, oh, I don't think it'd be that way at all. It's true. You're forgiven. But I love you, and isn't it wonderful, brethren, you'll never really enjoy the Lord's table until you realize that you're there, not only cleansed in the blood, but as a member of his body. What a privilege, what a marvelous thing the Lord's table is. And let us suppose that afterwards one of her old friends were to say, Rahab wouldn't have liked to come back with me for a while.
She'd say not after all the love and forgiveness that I've experienced. Now, why? Because because she's under law. No, she's under the constraint of love. And brethren, that's the wonderful privilege that we have, and that's why it's a place of separation. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we going to provoke Him to jealousy when He did so much not only to put away our sins in the blood? But to bring us into this near and wonderful place. Now, when we come over to the. 11TH chapter Why we find the Lord Supper. I'll read from the 23rd verse. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread. And when He had given thanks, he brake it and said, Take it. This is my body which is broken for you. This too in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup when He had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as OFT as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, eat who shell the Lord's death till he come. For whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation, or the margin says judgment to himself. Not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned of the world. For my brethren, when he come together to eat. Carry one for another. If any man hunger, let him eat at home. That you come not together unto condemnation, and the rest will I set in order when I come. Now there's a few things that come between the 10th and 11TH and how we see someone has expressed it like this. We have separation, we have submission in the woman wearing a covering. And then we have we have order brought in here because they were to come together, as it says here, you might say soberly, because they were there to remember the Lord in his death. And I believe we should always remember that. Can become there is a sobriety being in the presence of the one who died for us and we're there to remember him and his death. So I believe we could say separation, submission and sobriety as we come into his presence. But now we have the Lord's Supper and here you find that the. You find that the loaf is first and then the cup, and that the loaf is given not as a symbol of the one body, but is given as a symbol of the body of Christ. That is, he bore our sins and his own body on the tree, shall I say his physical body. And we're there remembering how he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. And so it says this is my body, which is broken for you, you can see. That's different from the 10th chapter. We being many, are one bread, one body. So the loaf has two symbols as we come and sit there in His presence. We sit there as those who have the liberty and right to approach through the blood, and we sit in a conscious nearness as members of His body. And then we meditate on what it cost him. Let's say the president has prepared a beautiful meal. And he's gone to a lot of trouble and expense. Because he thinks so much of me. Well, brethren, the Lord thought enough of you and I to go to Calvary, and that's what we remember. So we break the bread and drink the cup. As we remember him bearing all our sins in his own body on the tree, we think of how. And it was all finished. He cried. It is finished. And then that soldier with a spear pierced his side. And I might just say this, that it is important. That the coppice is last. That's the way the Lord. Set it up when he, when he established the feast. And we never passed the cup first. We always passed the little 1St and then the cup. We're there and the knowledge of our possession. But the remembrance of his death is the low 1St and then the cup. And I just want to say this so you'll understand why in all the sacrifices of Judaism, the blood was shed before the animal was put on the altar. No animal.
Ever felt the flame? It was always killed and the blood was shed before because the blood of animals pointed on the sacrifice followed. In the Old Testament, the blood was shed and the sacrifice followed. But my precious Savior for all the judgment and the blood followed. Because the blood of Christ doesn't point on to something. It points back to that blessed fact that He bore all our sins and cried at His finished. That's why the order is so perfect in the Word of God. And so we have then. His body given and His blood shed for us, and then He has asked us to continue to do this until He comes. I always like this because when the Lord instituted the feast on the night of His betrayal, He said this do in remembrance of me. But He didn't ask them to do it for any prescribed length of time or anything. You just asked them to remember Him. But then He went back to glory. After when he was crucified Janelle his disciples. Suckerman fled and Peter denied him, but it didn't change the Lord and so I went back to glory and he said, I want you to continue to Remember Me until I come. So may we value this privilege if we only have it here until he comes, we won't need it above, but it's a blessed privilege here in the seed of his rejection. Now just a few little words about. Eating and drinking unworthily. Many Christians misunderstand this. It has nothing to do with any worthiness in ourselves. It has to do with an unworthy manner, a manner that shows that we haven't discerned the Lord's body. How could I come and sit down at his table to remember what it cost him to put away my sins and really know this and think of it if I'm going on with the very sins that caused him all that suffering? And that's why it says that a man examine himself and so let him eat. That is, if I really in my heart think of remembering what it costs the Lord Jesus to put away my sins, then I don't want to come with anything unjudged on my conscience. And you know, brethren, if I'm always glad that it's every Lord's Day, it says on the first day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread. Because if it was once every three months by a lot of things. Might creep in, but I don't think it's possible if we really come in the sense of a heart that wants to remember the Lord every week. Why? It keeps it fresh in our minds. I've sometimes illustrated it like this. Supposing you came to my house. And we have a garden out in the back and I said, well, I weed my garden every week. And so you come out and look at it and you see a couple of weeds about this. High in the garden and you say, well, Gordon, I guess you missed these. They they wouldn't have grown that big in a week. You know, in a week they'd be just tiny ones just coming up. Brethren, if we learn to judge the little things, we won't have to judge the big things. And perhaps sometimes even the assembly have to come in because we didn't judge the little things. I'm glad the Lord instituted the feast to call our hearts back to Calvary every Lord's Day. But how solemn, how serious to break bread in an unworthy manner? I I really enjoyed an illustration that a brother used and it sort of helped me a little bit to understand. He said, let's suppose now that you did get this invitation from the president, and he actually sends you a suit of clothes so that you can come there and sit at the table. So you respond and you're on the way to the White House where you're going to have lunch with or supper or whatever with the president, and you fall into the mud and you get your clothes all dirty. And you don't do anything about it. You just walk on and walk up to the door and you have a letter from the president. It has your name in it. And you appear there and you say, I'm wearing the very suit that he gave me to get to bring. And I have his letter. You can't refuse me. I think they would say that's not a fitting way to be in the present presence of the president. You don't have to get a new letter, he says. And you don't have to.
Get a different suit of clothes, but it would be it would be proper for you to get them cleaned up. Now you and I will never have a better title than the blood of Christ, but is it fit to come into His presence? Is it a worthy way to come into the presence of the Lord of glory with things that we are allowing in our lives that we know are dishonoring to Him? We're not going to be judged with the world. It's clear here. We're not going to be condemned with the world. But the Lord does have a government in His house. Sometimes He has to correct us and deal with us. Sometimes the assembly has to take things up. That's all according to God's Word. But He's given us this privilege, Brethren, may we value it. May we see grace to walk in it, and the good of it and the blessedness of it. We only have a little while. The Lord is going to come. And I believe if we're really sincere, we will see that the Spirit of God couldn't and isn't gathering to a great many centers. An expression of the one body of Christ to be in division. It must be if it's an expression of oneness. By then it must be according to His word, must be a place of separation. And so God has planned this, and he's worried. He gives us this wonderful privilege. He asks us to continue in it until he comes. May we value it. May we seek to walk in the good of it, because it's a great privilege. It's a great blessing, as the little hymn says, to let us come. We still would be, with grateful hearts, remember. Day.