The Divine Ground of Gathering

The subject we have before us is that which is often referred to as “The Ground of Gathering.” We find, when we look at this wonderful subject, that in order to begin any consideration of it, we must go back to the Old Testament. This is because the concept of the Lord’s gathering a people to His name where He might enjoy their company around Himself — where worship, prayer, godly order and discipline might be exercised — is found in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament.

I believe when we consider a subject like “The Ground of Gathering” and how the Lord would have us to meet together collectively, there is always a danger of its becoming an intellectual exercise and not that which engages the heart’s affections. I believe in my own soul that God has very wisely and in a most lovely way guarded against this possibility by introducing the subject in the Old Testament in the midst of an account that very largely touches our hearts.

Let us look at Genesis 22:119:

“And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
“Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
“And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And He said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from Me.
“And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.”

In the book of Ecclesiastes reference is made to the threefold cord that is not easily broken, and I believe we find in this chapter, in a most remarkable way, how God has woven a threefold cord. If we keep in mind three aspects, or the three strands of the cord, as we consider the subject of “The Ground of Gathering,” we will find that it is not simply a matter of knowledge. It is not simply a matter of knowing the place, but there must be faith to walk in the path that God has marked out, and there must be the response of the heart that flows out to the One who gave His Son and to the Son who offered Himself without spot to God. Now I would like to go through this chapter three times to follow each one of the cords as the Lord gives us to see them.

The first and most precious cord we have brought before us in this chapter is that of the father and the son. We find in the first verse God did try, or tempt, Abraham, and in the second verse He said, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering.”

Beloved brethren, God the Father was revealing, in this account of Abraham and Isaac, that wondrous revelation of grace that was to be made known so many centuries later when, here in this world, a Father and His Son would go to an altar of sacrifice together, and there the Father would see His Son offered up as a sacrifice for sin. And so He speaks of “thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest.”

God knew the love that Abraham had for his son, but it was just a pale reflection of the love that God the Father had for His Son. That love had existed from a past eternity. When the Word of God speaks of the Lord Jesus as the Son, it isn’t with any thought of inferiority to the Father. It isn’t that His stature is any less or His power any less, but it brings before our hearts a relationship in affection that exists between the Father and His Son. When we read, “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world,” how much more, beloved brethren, that means than simply saying the Father sent Jesus. It was His Son, and here Isaac, the type of the Son, is to be offered up as a sacrifice.

The third verse says, “Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering.” Clave the wood! I believe the thought in the “wood” is the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you remember how that in the tabernacle the ark was made of wood, but then it was covered with gold? We have that spotless humanity pictured to us in the wood. It was the Father who clave the wood, so the Word of God says, “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” A body was prepared so that the Son could come and here He could die for you and for me!

In verse 6, “Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.” He laid the wood upon Isaac his son. That took place in Bethlehem’s manger, when the wood was laid upon God’s eternal Son and He came forth, born of a woman, a babe here who had been given the body prepared for Him. The wood was laid upon Him in order that He might be the sacrifice for sin.

He took the fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both of them together. So it is, beloved brethren, when we look at Calvary, we see there that the Father and the Son went together. The Lord Jesus could say of His disciples that they would forsake Him and He would be left alone, but then He says in John’s gospel, “Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.” “The Father is with Me.” “They went both of them together.”

But there was also the fire and the knife. The fire speaks to us of the judgment — God’s judgment against sin — that was to fall upon the sacrifice. It was to be a burnt offering. The knife reminds us that the Son was to be offered up in sacrifice.

We find in verse 7 that “Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Isaac, the type of the Lord Jesus, makes no mention of the knife, just the fire and the wood. Why is that? As we have said, the wood is His humanity, the body that was prepared for Him in order that He might die. The fire tells of God’s judgment that was to fall upon the Son. The knife is not mentioned here because Isaac is a type of the Lord Jesus, who in John’s Gospel told His disciples He was going to lay down His life (John 10:17-18). He, as the Son, was not going to need anyone to take His life from Him. He had power to lay it down and He was to offer Himself without spot to God.

We find a question is then asked: “Where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” That precious answer is given, “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” I believe it is particularly lovely to notice how, over and over again here, reference is made to the “burnt offering.” That offering speaks particularly of the fragrance of the sacrifice to God. It tells how the sacrifice was offered wholly to God — consumed entirely upon the altar. It says here that “God will provide Himself.” I suggest, brethren, that perhaps at times we read this verse as if it said that God will Himself provide, but I believe that the emphasis is that God provides for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering. The burnt offering is for God, and God provides the sacrifice that is for Himself.

“God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.” The time had come for the son to be offered up in sacrifice. That time came nearly two thousand years ago when God’s own Son, together with His Father, came to Calvary. They came to that moment when the Lord Jesus Himself could say, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” The hour is come!

But in the account that is given to us here, there is a substitute provided for Isaac. This is particularly lovely in connection with a different type that we will look at in a few minutes, but we do find there is a substitute provided for Isaac, and the substitute is a ram. The ram in the Word of God is used in connection with consecration. It is a picture of devotedness. When we look at verse 13, we read, “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”

Abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw a substitute! What a wonderful intervention of God for Abraham, but there was no one to take the place of God’s Son. He is not only pictured to us in Isaac, as to the relationship in affection between the father and the son, but God’s Son is pictured to us in the ram that was caught in a thicket by his horns. He was the ram of consecration. He was the One who was held to Calvary’s cross by the very devotedness of His consecration to the will and purpose of God. The ram was caught in a thicket by his horns, the very symbol of his power, and so it was with the Lord Jesus at Calvary’s cross. It was the very strength of His love that held Him there.

But there was also a thicket — “caught in a thicket by his horns.” I don’t have to look any further than my own heart to find that thicket. It was my sins, in all their awfulness upon the blessed Saviour at Calvary. This One was held there by the very strength of His love. But your sins and mine were upon Him in the three hours of darkness at Calvary, if we belong to Christ.

We find that the ram was offered up in the stead of Isaac. So it is that Calvary’s work is finished and we look back now and see that finished work. Our hearts go out to the One who died for us at Calvary. As we follow through the Word of God, the thought or thread of being gathered by the Spirit of God, according to the Word of God, I trust will always be before us, that the One who speaks to our hearts is the One who was “caught in a thicket by his horns” and who was offered up in your place and mine.

There is a remarkable thing in verse 19 of our chapter. We read, “So Abraham returned unto his young men.” No mention is made of Isaac. Now, we know from the account that Isaac was not offered up. I believe that Isaac returned with Abraham, but God is bringing a type before your heart and mine. Thus, in the type, Abraham returns alone. The son has been offered up in type in the ram that died on the altar as the sacrifice.

I would like you to turn back now to Genesis 21:12: “And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Note these words: “For in Isaac shall thy seed be called”!

Now turn to Hebrews 11:17-19: “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.”

The second cord that we find through this lovely chapter is the outline, in type, of the man of faith. Abraham was a man of faith. In Hebrews 11 we have a number of individuals mentioned, and what characterized those who are mentioned there is that they lived by faith. The faith that is mentioned in Hebrews 11 and is brought before us here in the case of Abraham is not so much the faith that saves, but it is the faith by which we live. It is faith that trusts God and relies on His promises and acts upon them. So we find in Genesis 21 that Abraham was given a promise. The promise was that “in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Abraham was to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren through Isaac. He was going to see a nation raised up that God had promised to him. It would be through Isaac.

Now we come to Genesis 22:2. God says to Abraham, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” “In Isaac shall thy seed be called”! Now God tells Abraham to go and offer up Isaac as a sacrifice — as a burnt offering. Did Abraham believe God’s promise?

The answer is not found directly in Genesis 22. It is found in what he did, but in Hebrews 11 it is found in what he thought. In Genesis 22 the man of faith shows that he believed God. He rises up early in the morning and takes Isaac his son, and they proceed to that mountain that God showed him, and there he binds his son to put him upon the altar. Then we find that faith is answered, and, as we have already noticed, there is a substitute for Isaac. The result is that Isaac is delivered; he doesn’t have to die. The man of faith believed the promise and acted upon it, and acting in faith took him to the place where he saw the “ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” He believed God and he took his direction from God. The difficulties were overcome by faith, and he ends up by calling the name of the place Jehovah-jireh — the Lord will provide.

Beloved brethren, if we are going to be in the place of the Lord’s choosing — if we are going to be where the Lord would have us to be according to His Word — there must, first of all, be the answer of the heart that responds to that love told out at Calvary. There must then be faith to act upon God’s promises, because to be in the place of the Lord’s choosing will not be easy, but it will indeed be blessed.

In Hebrews we are told that Abraham accounted that God was able to raise him from the dead. Let me put it this way: Abraham thought in his heart, God has given me a promise. Now if God wants me to kill my own son, I’ll do it, because I have a promise from God, and, if necessary, God can raise him up from the dead. You and I have been given promises too, beloved brethren. We have been given promises, and faith lays hold of God’s promises and acts accordingly. So we see in this chapter a lovely picture of the man of faith who believes God, acts accordingly, and lives to say, “The Lord will provide.”

I would like now to look at the third cord that is brought before us in this chapter. It is the most lovely way in which Abraham is led to the one mountaintop where there was a “ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” You notice it says in the first verse, “God did tempt [or try] Abraham.” He was testing Abraham and said to him, “Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.”

We see Abraham’s response to the first test; the Lord wants to speak to him. Does Abraham want to listen? You meet, from time to time, dear children of God who love the Lord Jesus earnestly and sincerely. But when you seek to bring before them the truth of the one body of Christ and of being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to His name alone and acting on the truth of the one body, they very quickly give you to understand that they really don’t want to hear.

Well, the man of faith says, “Here I am. And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” How many mountains were there in the land of Moriah? I have no idea, but I do know that God had one mountain in mind where Abraham was to go. It has been very precious to me in meditating upon this chapter to realize that if Abraham had gone to any other mountain, he would not have found a “ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” There was one to which the Lord wanted to take him, but there was a cost involved! Was Abraham prepared to pay the cost? It meant offering up that which was very dear and precious to himself, his son whom he loved.

This happens with God’s dear children as He seeks to lead them to that mountaintop where they can view the ram and, in worship, offer him up. Very often it means a sacrifice that can be very hard. Sometimes it can mean being separated from loved ones, separated from parents, separated from brothers and sisters, sometimes from children who don’t see it the way you do.

The question that was put to Abraham here, in type, was: There is a place, but will you pay the cost? Abraham’s answer was that he “rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.” He wanted to be there. He was willing to go. He was willing to pay the cost, and so he goes to the place, but he hasn’t seen it yet.

Then we find in verse 4 that “on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.” “Lifted up his eyes”! How precious that is! We will find it mentioned again later on in this chapter. In order to see the place, and it was a mountaintop, Abraham had to lift up his eyes! If he looked around, all he would see was the plain, but there was a mountain, a place, where the Lord would have him to be!

Also, this verse tells us it was on the third day. We will notice, as we look at this subject further, how often this subject of the “third day” comes up in connection with the Lord’s leading to the place where He would have us to be. The “third day” would bring before us the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, because it is only as we know that precious truth that Jesus died for us and rose from the dead, that Calvary’s work is finished, that we are seen as dead and risen with Him, that we are going to be able to view the place where the Lord would lead us.

“Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” The young men had no more acceptance at that place where the Lord was leading Abraham than had the dumb ass, the unclean animal. The young men would bring before us the energy of the flesh. In going to this place to which the Lord was leading Abraham, separation from unbelievers and self-judgment on the flesh in the believer are both required.

The young men are left behind. There is another thought to exercise our hearts, particularly the young people, in connection with the young men. You know, dear young people, you are going to have to leave many things behind too, if you are going to enjoy the precious privilege of being at the place of the Lord’s choosing for you. Sometimes dear young people come to the point where they feel they really do see the place where the Lord would have them to be, but they don’t want to leave the “young men.” They don’t want to leave their youthful companions and those things that appeal to the flesh. They don’t want to leave those things behind and to put them in the place of the unclean ass. They decide to hold onto those things. They don’t go any further, and, beloved brethren, that is a tragedy.

Abraham, the man of faith, leaves the young men behind, and then we find in verse 9, “They came to the place which God had told him of.” What a privilege! Abraham had been willing to pay the cost by God’s grace, and he had been brought, finally, to the mountaintop. With the young men left behind and the ass left behind, he had come to the place of which God had told him.

Now I submit to you that this chapter has not been written simply as an outline of the history of Abraham. The Word of God says, “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). Here we have a most precious lesson. The young men are left behind; the ass is left behind, and the man of faith comes, led step by step, to the place of which God had told him.

In verse 13, “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” How many mountains do you think had a ram caught in a thicket by his horns that day? Do you think all the mountains of Moriah were thus equipped? I don’t believe so. God had led the man of faith to the place where the ram was caught in a thicket by his horns. But to see the ram, Abraham had to lift up his eyes. He looked, and behold, behind him!

Brethren, I believe that we can actually be in the very place where God would have us to be and yet fail to see the ram caught in a thicket by his horns, because we don’t lift up our eyes. We find that our eyes and our hearts and our minds are taken up with the things around us. We find that we, at times, perhaps, are more taken up with the failures of our brethren or more taken up with something that was said or not said, something that was done or not done. We are more taken up with numbers, with weakness or with failure. You will never see the ram if your eyes are looking around. But when our eyes are lifted up in the place to which the Lord would lead us, there we can see the ram. There we can see the One who was the sacrifice for sin; we can see that very lovely Person, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the very midst, in that very place where God would lead His people and where He led Abraham in type. Now, he also had to look behind him. He had to look away from the things with which the heart and mind are normally taken up, but there was the ram!

My beloved brethren, I believe that God is still, by His Holy Spirit, leading His people to that place where, with eyes of faith lifted up, they can see the Lord Jesus Christ, the ram — the One who, out of the very devotedness of His heart to God, went to Calvary and endured all that Calvary meant to His holy soul.

In this third type, being led of God to the place, the ram is brought before us again “caught in a thicket by his horns.” Wherever God has His people gathered together by His Holy Spirit to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus is there according to His promise, but what holds Him there is the strength of His love, His horns. It is the very strength of His love for His people that holds Him there, because you know and I know that if the presence of the Lord Jesus among the two or three gathered to His name depended upon their faithfulness, He would not be there today. If it depended upon the faithfulness of the creature, there would be no such testimony in this world today. But I believe there is such a testimony among the two or three gathered where the Lord Jesus would have them to be, and there He is found, held by the very strength of His own love. If we lift up our eyes, we will see Him, and we will have the privilege, by God’s grace, of presenting Him in worship before the heart of God.

Calvary’s work will never be repeated. The Lord Jesus is never going to die again for sins, but each Lord’s Day morning, until He comes, God preserves a testimony where His own can enjoy the privilege of presenting to God afresh that wonderful burnt offering — the merits, the work and the value of His own beloved Son — in the place where the ram is “caught in a thicket by his horns.”

Before turning to the Old Testament once again to follow the outline of the truth concerning meeting together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to turn to a verse in Romans 15:4: “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

We find here the God-given authority to turn to that which was written aforetime — to that which was written before the Book of Romans was written — indeed to go back to the earliest parts of the Word of God, because we are told that they have been “written for our learning.” When we minimize or turn away from the truth contained in pictures and principles found in the Old Testament, we are turning away from that which was written for our learning.

Turn to Deuteronomy 12:814:

“Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you. But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when He giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord: and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates; forasmuch as he hath no part nor inheritance with you. Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.”

We notice that in Genesis 22 God introduced us to the concept that there would be a place, chosen by Himself, to which He would lead the man of faith, and there, in response to the love shown out in the gift of the Son by the Father, the man of faith could be led of God to the place where he would find “the ram caught in a thicket by his horns” and where he could enjoy the privilege of worship in the very presence of the Lord Jesus.

Now, when we come to the Book of Deuteronomy, we find the direction that God gives concerning that place. In Genesis 22 we are simply told that Abraham, the man of faith, was led by God to the place. Now we are given instructions concerning the place. We find, first of all, that there is a distinct warning given against every man doing that which is right in his own eyes. We are told specifically at the end of verse 8, “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.” In other words, the concept of every man deciding for himself, without reference to the instruction that God gives, is condemned at the start. We are not left to our own devices. There is direction.

The next thing we notice here is that it is the Lord who will choose. So we are told in verse 11, “Then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there.” We are not told here where that place was to be, but we are told there was to be “a place,” and it would be characterized by the name of the Lord being there, and the children of Israel were told that that was where they were to come.

Now, you know the history of the children of Israel. There were twelve tribes. When the land of Israel was divided, it was divided into twelve portions and each one of the tribes was given a portion of the land. I have no doubt that each one of those twelve tribes would have very much liked to have had the place be in their area of the country, but they had nothing to do with the choosing of the place. When we come down to verse 13, we read, “Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes.” There would be one place, chosen of God, in one of the tribes, and they were all, as one nation, to acknowledge that one place that the Lord had chosen to put His name there.

The Word says, “Take heed to thyself.” How much we need that instruction today! It seems that we live in a day like never before, when the popular thing is for every man to do that which is right in his own eyes. Freedom of choice! We have it actually included in the Constitution. Every man has freedom of religion, and he is free to choose how he is going to worship. Well, beloved brethren, it is true, and we thank God for it, that that freedom is extended in this land as far as not being repressed, but you and I are not given by God the freedom or the right to make our own choice. He has given us, as He gave the children of Israel, the most explicit directions. As we read these directions given to the children of Israel, let us remember what we read in Romans 15, that what was written aforetime was written for our learning!

The Old Testament is not a Jewish history book. It is the Word of God that has been written for your learning and for mine, and here we are told, “Take heed.” A place — a place for Israel, and, in establishing this place, God was speaking to you and He was speaking to me. So He says, “Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest; but in the place that the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes.”

Now turn on to Deuteronomy 15:811:

“But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.”

One of the characteristics of those who were going to enter into the land was a care one for another.

Now, if you would go on to chapter 16:16:

“Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty.”

Now turn to chapter 17:513:

“Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So thou shalt put the evil away from among you. If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose; and thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment: and thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.”

You will perhaps recall the comment that was made as to how often in the Word of God the number three comes up in connection with the truth that God gives us concerning how His people should meet together collectively to worship Him. We noticed that it was on the third day that Abraham came to the place to which the Lord was leading him, and now we find that when God gave Israel instructions concerning the place that He would choose, three specific things are given in connection with that place. They are worship, binding decisions and prayer.

In Deuteronomy 16 we have the first, and that is worship. We find that Israel was told that three times in a year they were to go up to the place that the Lord would choose. Notice the language used in verse 16: “Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose.” “Three times”: the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of weeks and the feast of tabernacles.

Now the Israelite was given no choice. He was specifically forbidden to make his own selection as to where he was to go. He was not to do what was right in his own eyes, but he was told that when he had these feasts to keep, that particularly expressed the offering up of worship to God, he was to go to the place that the Lord would choose. Remember, brethren, it was “written for our learning”!

The second specific thing in chapter 17 is binding decisions rendered in the name of the Lord. First of all, we are shown how that holiness becomes those who would be identified with that place and name, and so they are told of how they are to act concerning evil. It is to be judged and to be put away. Then we are told in the same chapter what Israel was to do when matters arose that were too hard for them. What were they to do? It was forbidden for every man to do what was right in his own eyes; but the Lord makes provision for an orderly settlement of difficulties. It says in verse 9, “Thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment.” Where were they to go for the sentence of judgment? The end of verse 8 says, “Get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.”

There was to be a place chosen of God — this same place where His name would be, where binding decisions could be rendered. I say “binding” because we are told specifically in verse 11, “According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do.” Now, beloved brethren, God did not (He never has and He never will, apart from the man Christ Jesus) give to man infallibility. Men make mistakes, but what He has conferred upon man is authority, and we see it very graphically pictured to us here for Israel. They were to go to the place where the Lord had chosen to put His name. There they were to present the problem, and the decision that was rendered was binding upon them. Now the instruction was given that it should be “according to the law,” that is, according to what is revealed in the Word, but the decision was binding upon all those who recognized that the center where the Lord had placed His name was the place where binding decisions were rendered. Brethren, this was written for our learning!

We still have one characteristic of the place to consider. Remember how we mentioned that there are three. The first is worship. The second is binding decisions rendered in the name of the Lord. The third, prayer, is found in 1 Kings 8:29: “That Thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which Thou hast said, My name shall be there: that Thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.”

Here at the dedication of the temple at Jerusalem, Solomon specifically asked that prayer, which acknowledged that the Lord’s name had been placed at Jerusalem, might be answered. Daniel acted upon this principle; see Daniel 6:10.

Now I would like to read 1 Kings 12:25-33 and 13:1:

“Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: if this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made a house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense. And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.”

Solomon had died. The kingdom of Israel had become divided. Ten tribes had followed this man called Jeroboam, and two tribes had remained faithful to the house of David. These two tribes continued to recognize that God’s center was at Jerusalem. The Lord had not moved His name. The Lord had not established other centers even though Israel was in a divided state.

Jeroboam reasoned in his heart, and this was how he reasoned: If the ten tribes that had followed him were to continue to go up to Jerusalem, the effect would be that before long they would all be back together again and he would have lost his position as king over the ten tribes. This is what he specifically says in verse 27: “If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

Simply put, the principle is this: The recognition of one center results in the public manifestation that the twelve tribes were one people. It wasn’t that they were not all the children of Israel, but the act of Jeroboam in establishing two more centers of his own devising, at Bethel and at Dan, was to perpetuate the division of the people of God. Instead of having one center which would bring them together again, Jeroboam says that now there are three, and he even establishes a form of worship.

You know, it has been most striking to my soul, in meditating upon this, as to why Jeroboam chose two golden calves. What has impressed me is simply this: Jeroboam already had a precedent to follow. He could look back and say, “Israel did this once before, when they were in the wilderness on the way to the promised land, and with such an important man as Aaron they had worshipped the golden calf.” And so Jeroboam has a precedent that he can follow, but it is not according to the will of God, as revealed in the Word.

Jeroboam gives the people of Israel, the ten tribes that had followed him, two more centers, but they were not given of God. There is no suggestion that the Lord’s name was there — no suggestion that God had ordained them. Instead, we are told what Jeroboam, not God, did: In verse 29, he set up the one in Bethel; in verse 31, he made a house of high places; in verse 32, Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month; at the end of verse 32, “Sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month.”

There was already a feast of Jehovah identified with God’s center at Jerusalem on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. All Jeroboam did was to copy it. He says, “We’ll have ours on the fifteenth day of the eighth month,” but it was all man-made and man-established. It was man’s center and not God’s.

Now, beloved brethren, God sent a prophet. The first verse of chapter 13 says God sent a prophet from Judah and he came up to Bethel. Verse 2 tells us that at Bethel “he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord.” Chapter 13 tells us very specifically that God would deal in His own time with this center that Jeroboam had made. The truth of the matter is that it lasted for three hundred years. Three hundred years elapsed before that which God said would happen to that center actually came to pass. The point for you and me to profit by is that it was a man-made center, and the effect was to perpetuate the division that had come in among the people of God.

Now, turn to 2 Kings 10. Almost a hundred years had gone by since Jeroboam’s day. The centers had gone on, even though God showed very clearly that they did not have His sanction. Now we come, almost one hundred years later, to 2 Kings 10:29. Speaking of a king of Israel by the name of Jehu, we read:

“Howbeit, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan. And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.”

Jehu did much that met with God’s approval. He carried out a program concerning God’s enemies — the house of Ahab. He carried out a program that God had instituted, and God commended him for it, but we are given to see that one hundred years had not in any way diminished in the eyes of God the sin of establishing those centers at Bethel and Dan, with their golden calves, that simply kept the people of God apart. After telling us that Jehu had not turned away from the sins of Jeroboam and specifically identifying the sin as those golden calves at Bethel and at Dan, God then tells us of the good works that Jehu had done and of the reward that Jehu was going to have for the good work he had done. He then reminds us that Jehu still went on with those centers at Bethel and Dan and that he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. Oh, beloved brethren, these things are written for our learning!

I would like you now to turn to the book of Ezra. By this time, approximately three hundred years had gone by. The ten tribes that had followed Jeroboam had gone into captivity in Assyria, and, as far as man’s records are concerned, they have disappeared. We sometimes speak of them as the lost tribes of Israel. The two tribes that had remained true to the house of David and that had continued to acknowledge God’s center at Jerusalem had also gone into captivity in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar. Seventy years had passed since then, and God had determined that His people should now return to the land of promise, to the land of Canaan.

Jeremiah had said that they would be captive in that far-off land for seventy years, and now that the seventy years were over, God had raised up a man by the name of Cyrus. This man, I might say, was named by God 150 years before he was born. Cyrus was raised up of God to grant deliverance to the two tribes and to enable them to return to the land of promise.

But where were they going to go? They were forbidden, according to Deuteronomy 12, from doing what was right in their own eyes, so what did they do? Look at Ezra 3:1: “And when the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.” Jerusalem — God’s center—the place that God had chosen to put His name there! They went to Jerusalem!

Verse 3: “And they set the altar upon his bases; for fear was upon them because of the people of those countries: and they offered burnt offerings thereon unto the Lord, even burnt offerings morning and evening.”

Verse 6: “From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid.”

Verses 11-13: “And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good, for His mercy endureth forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.”

The foundation of the temple is laid. Where? At Jerusalem! Solomon’s temple had been destroyed and the ancient men, who had been brought back to Jerusalem, saw the foundation of the new temple laid, and they wept because they compared it with Solomon’s temple and it seemed such a poor, feeble reflection of the temple that they had known.

But the young ones shouted for joy because there was to be a temple. It was a feeble company, but they had come back to where the Lord had placed His name and there they built the temple again. Nothing was left to their imagination; God’s center was at Jerusalem. Daniel had acknowledged it from Babylon when he opened his windows and prayed as Solomon had directed in 1 Kings 8 towards Jerusalem. Now they had come back to Jerusalem!

We’ll go on now to chapter 6:15-19:

“And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy, and offered at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem; as it is written in the book of Moses. And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first month.”

The house was finished! There was joy! Where were they? At Jerusalem! They were now to offer their sacrifices. But there were really only two tribes there. It’s true, there were some from others, as we will notice later on, but the fact remains, basically there were only two. It was a poor, feeble company compared to the children of Israel that had entered that land of promise so many years before, but they were at God’s center. They were where He had chosen to place His name, the temple was built, and now it comes time to offer the sin offering. Were they going to offer the sin offering for their two tribes? No. They offered it for all Israel.

Beloved brethren, what was offered there that day was presented to God for all Israel! “Twelve he goats according to the number of the tribes of Israel.” Is that important? Yes, beloved brethren, it is very important. What that little company represented and acted upon and what they presented before God was that they were there on behalf of Israel at God’s center, and they acknowledged it in the sacrifice they offered.

If we go on to chapter 7:8, we read about Ezra: “And he [that is, Ezra] came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king.” In chapter 8:31: “Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way. And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.”

You remember how it says in the sixth chapter that the temple “was finished on the third day.” Here we find that Ezra has come. This was, perhaps, sixty or seventy years after the children of Israel had come back. Now Ezra came up. Where did he go? He went to where God’s center was —at Jerusalem. It was not left to him to choose where to go, nor was it left to him to choose where he thought things would be better. Should he feel that if he went to some other place he might be able to start something that would be more godly? God’s center was at Jerusalem and that’s where he went. It tells us again, “We came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.” I believe that God uses this third day — three days, three things — over and over again —to remind our hearts that the foundation of all that we have before us is the death and resurrection of Christ.

Please turn with me to the book of Nehemiah for one verse: chapter 2:11. Nehemiah came along, another godly man, perhaps not a man of faith to the extent that Ezra was, for there is a decline in going from Ezra to Nehemiah, but the fact remains that Nehemiah had an exercise to go back to the land. He got permission from the king, and where did he go? We read here in Nehemiah 2:11: “So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.” Three days again! If you read the book of Nehemiah, you will find that things weren’t orderly at all at Jerusalem. There were all sorts of failures, but God’s center was at Jerusalem. That was where Israel was meeting together, acknowledging in their sacrifices that they were one nation before God, and Nehemiah could do nothing less than to go to God’s center at Jerusalem.

Now turn to Luke 2. Approximately five hundred years have gone by, and where was God’s center still? It was at Jerusalem — five hundred years later! It has been an immense comfort to my own soul to realize that God maintained a testimony at Jerusalem. It had become very feeble, as we find here, but God maintained the testimony at Jerusalem until the Lord Jesus presented Himself there.

Luke 2:21-22: “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, His name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before He was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord.” Couldn’t they have presented Him to the Lord back in Bethlehem? Why not in Nazareth? God’s center was at Jerusalem. That was where the Lord had placed His name, and Joseph and Mary came to Jerusalem and presented Jesus before the Lord there.

Verses 25-26: “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple.” Was Simeon where he should be? He was at Jerusalem! The Holy Spirit told him that he would see the Lord’s Christ, and the Spirit brought him into the temple to see Jesus.

Oh, beloved brethren, what a wonderful picture this is! We see just a few that were looking for redemption in Israel. They were looking for the Messiah to come, but they were there, and they were acknowledging God’s center at JERUSALEM!

Verses 36-38:

“And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of Him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.”

Verse 37 says of Anna, “Which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.” She was from the tribe of Aser, or Asher, which was one of the ten tribes. Where did she remain? Here was a woman of faith. She remained true to God’s center at Jerusalem, and she departed not from it night or day.

Now, let us read verses 41-46:

“Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day’s journey; and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found Him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass, that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.”

There we have three days again. What had happened? Joseph and Mary left Jerusalem, but Jesus remained there. He remained there and they didn’t realize it. How tragic to think that they didn’t realize that in the path on which they started out, they left the Lord behind. They went without Jesus! They sought Him among their acquaintance and their kinsfolk. How often this can be so with us. We can start off in a path, doing that which seems right in our own eyes, and we don’t realize that the Lord has been left out. He remained at Jerusalem. How could they find Him again? Not among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. They had to go back to Jerusalem and there, at Jerusalem, they found him after three days.

Oh, beloved brethren, God has written these things for our learning! As we follow this truth in the New Testament, the principles that we have found in the Old Testament will be found unchanged, and we will see that God still has a place, and He seeks, by His Spirit, to lead us there.

I would like to turn to John 4. We have followed over a period of approximately one thousand years through the Old Testament that testimony which God established at Jerusalem, which was characterized by the Lord’s name being there. It was a place for worship, a place where binding decisions could be rendered for God’s people, and where prayer could be made collectively in connection with what God had raised up at Jerusalem.

We found that this testimony was maintained in spite of weakness and failure, and how those who were there at Jerusalem in Ezra’s time offered a sacrifice on behalf of all Israel, showing before God that they still recognized that they were one nation, made up of twelve tribes. Then we found that some five hundred years later, at Jerusalem, there was still a feeble company who recognized that God’s center was there. We see Mary and Joseph going up to Jerusalem to present Jesus before the Lord. We find Simeon, Anna, Zacharias and Elizabeth, and we find, lastly, in that little picture that is given to us in connection with the Lord Jesus at twelve years of age, that in departing from Jerusalem, God’s center, they left the Lord behind. Only by returning to Jerusalem could they once again be found where the Lord was in the midst.

But that Old Testament history, given to us of God for our learning, finds a conclusion in one sense here in John 4:20-23:

“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; 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 worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him.”

We find here that God has not given up His desire for worshippers. It specifically tells us, “For the Father seeketh such to worship Him,” but it was no longer to be at Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus says, “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth,” and, “The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.” So we find that having gone through the many passages referred to in the Old Testament and in having gathered many principles that will be of vital importance in instructing us — in directing our search in the New Testament, the fact remains that Jerusalem as the center, where the Lord’s name was placed, is set aside. The place where the people were to go as worshippers, where prayer was to be directed to and where binding decisions were to be sought was no longer to be at Jerusalem. Jerusalem was to be set aside. “But the hour cometh, and now is” when it was not to be at Jerusalem. God was going to introduce that which would supersede Jerusalem, where many of the very same principles that we have already noticed would apply, where God would still have a people that He would gather around Himself in the Person of the Son, and where the Lord Jesus would have those who would be the joy of His heart gathered around Himself, but not at a geographical place like Jerusalem.

Please turn now to Matthew 16:13-18:

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Cæsarea 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, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 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-jona: 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 I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Before we consider this passage, I would like to comment on the expression “the church.” The word “church” simply means “assembly.” It never refers to a building. It never refers to some peculiar denomination of professing believers. It is the assembly. In some instances in the Word of God it is the assembly made up of every believer on the face of the earth — the body of Christ — the assembly. In other instances it refers to the local expression of that company, that is, the local assembly. We read about the churches or assemblies in Galatia, for instance. This refers to those local gatherings of the children of God, gathered scripturally according to the mind of God, who act in their local gatherings on behalf of the one body of Christ.

Not so very long ago a servant of Christ met an ordained minister whom he knew was a child of God, and this man asked our brother, “What church do you belong to?” The answer he gave, I thought, was an exceedingly wise one. He said, “Brother, I belong to the same church that you do.” After the man got over his initial surprise, he suddenly said, “Oh, I see what you mean. You’re talking about the church in the broad sense.” Our brother’s answer to that was, “No, I’m talking about the church in the only sense in which the Word of God talks of the church.”

When the Lord Jesus speaks here and says, “Upon this rock I will build My church,” that refers to the assembly, made up of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ on the face of this earth. He was about to build something new that had never existed in the world before — the assembly. Now we find here in Matthew 16 that which corresponds in the New Testament to what we found in Genesis 22 in the Old Testament. We find brought before us here, in the most lovely way, the Father and the Son. We find Peter confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. We find the Lord Jesus confessing the Father. He says, “Flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven.” As in Genesis 22, we had the Father and the Son, so here we have the Father and the Son. In Genesis 22 we had the man of faith, in the person of Abraham, who acted on that which had been revealed to him. He acted on the revelation, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Here we have the man of faith in Peter, who acts upon the revelation that was made to him, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Lastly, in Genesis 22 we found that God had a place. God was about to establish upon that Mount Moriah that which would bear His name and where He would have His people to go. Here we find that the Lord Jesus speaks of that which He is soon to establish — “I will build My church.”

When we go back into the principles of the Old Testament, we find that God has written for our learning that which we see confirmed in the New Testament, that God still presents to us the Father and the Son and the wondrous relationship between them as they both went to Calvary for the Son to be offered up in sacrifice. We see in the New Testament it is still a matter of faith, acting on the revelation that God has given, but that there is to be, raised up of God, built by the Lord Jesus Christ, His church here in this world, which would replace Judaism and Jerusalem.

Now He tells us in Matthew 18 something further concerning this church or assembly. Matthew 18:15-20:

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy 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. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.”

You will recall that in Deuteronomy 16 we were told that in the event of sin being introduced among God’s people, at the mouth of two or three witnesses it was to be dealt with, and the one who was guilty was to be expelled. He was, in the case of Israel, to be stoned. We find here in Matthew 18 that again the principle applies: “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”

We found back in Deuteronomy 17 that in the event of difficulties that they could not answer, they were to go to the place where the Lord had set His name, and there they would be given that decision which was to be binding upon them and they were to act accordingly.

Here we find that the Word of God says, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The same principle, the same direction, the same order, but now it was to be the assembly that was to render that government which was then to be binding because it was ratified in heaven.

Also, we noticed in 1 Kings 8 how that prayer was connected with the temple which was built at Jerusalem. When prayer was directed towards God’s center at Jerusalem, they were to recognize collectively, even in prayer, that God’s center was there. Now we find, again, prayer connected with the assembly, for it says, “That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.”

Lastly, we noticed that in connection with the place, established of God, the name of the Lord was there. He chose to place His name there. Now we find the Word of God again picks up this account in the New Testament and it says, “Where two or three are gathered together in [or a better rendering is ‘unto’] My name.” Nothing has changed — “unto My name.” Prayer is still connected, binding decisions are still connected, and, above all, worship, where His own are brought together, but no temple. There is nothing that the eye can see physically, but a promise given by the Lord Jesus Himself that “where two or three are gathered together [unto] My name, there am I in the midst of them.” No temple, no choir, no ordained priesthood, no fancy services, but the promised presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst!

Now let’s go back for a moment in our thoughts to what we had in the Old Testament. We found there that God had chosen the place, and Israel was expressly forbidden to do that which was right in their own eyes. Instead, they were given specific instructions that they were to recognize where He chose to put His name. Now He tells us that His name is again to be identified with that place where two or three are to be gathered together. We notice, too, that it doesn’t make any reference here simply to gathering themselves together. Abraham, in Genesis 22, was given specific direction, and he was led as God directed him to that place of God’s choice. Here we are told, “Are gathered together [unto] My name.”

Now, let us go back again to Israel’s history for a moment. Jeroboam didn’t like the idea of the one center at Jerusalem, so he established his own, and he invited the children of Israel to go to the centers that he had established. God gives us to see over and over again that those centers Jeroboam established not only did not have His approval when they were established, but one hundred years later they still didn’t have His approval. The passage of time has changed nothing. God’s center was at Jerusalem, and now we are told that God again has a center. It is not a geographical place, but, nevertheless, a center where “two or three are gathered together [unto] My name, there am I in the midst of them.”

What does it mean to be gathered to His name? Well, obviously, the first thing is that it sets aside every other name so that we are to refuse to come together in any other name or to be identified by any other name but the precious name of Jesus. We are to come together, gathered by the Spirit of God, to the name of the Lord Jesus, laying hold of His promise by faith, “There am I in the midst of them.” When Abraham followed the directions, led along step by step by the leading of God in Genesis 22, he was led to the place where he found the “ram caught in a thicket by his horns.” Here we are told that we, too, led by the Spirit of God, gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, will find that He is there in the midst of the two or three thus gathered.

Now I would like you to turn to Acts 2:14,41-42:

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
“Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

We find now that that which the Lord Jesus had spoken of in Matthew 16 is now an accomplished fact. Again, the parallel in the Old Testament to my own soul is marvelous. That which the Lord had presented in principle in Genesis 22 found its fulfillment when Solomon had built his temple and there was a place where the Lord had set His name. Matthew 16 told us that He was going to build His church. Matthew 18 told us those things which would characterize it, and now Acts 2 reveals to us that it has now taken place. The Spirit of God has come. That rushing, mighty wind was the symbol of the Spirit of God, which had come into the world to live as a divine Person upon the earth. The result was that on that day something was created that had never existed on the earth before — the body of Christ, made up of all of the believers indwelt by the Spirit of God. These believers went out and preached the gospel that day and three thousand souls were saved.

It is remarkable how God again brings before us this number “three.” Three thousand souls were saved. It says, “The same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

What were these three thousand souls going to do? The Word of God brings before us the three things in which they continued: (1) the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, that is, the truth they had received from the apostles, (2) the breaking of bread, that precious remembrance supper that the Lord had instituted while He was here on earth, and (3) prayer. “They continued steadfastly”!

Brethren, what did they join? What organization did they join? If you look at verses 46-47 for a moment, it says, “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

Who added them to the church or the assembly? The Lord did. That day there were three thousand added. They had nothing to join; they had already been joined by the Lord. They didn’t have to inscribe their names on some register. They had already been added to that which God had raised up.

We see the most simple, precious outline of the truth here at the very beginning. Those who were saved, who were added to the church (the assembly), simply went on together in those three things that were to be the characteristics of where the Lord had placed His name — godly order, worship and prayer.

Turn now to 1 Corinthians 12:12-13:

“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

We have the explanation here of what took place on the day of Pentecost. I have no doubt that if you had asked Peter that day the significance of what had happened, all he would have been able to say was, “It was the promise of the Father — the Holy Spirit is come that He might be with us and in us.” The Lord had told him that.

But now the Apostle Paul is used to reveal the significance of what happened on that day of Pentecost. “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” It was not that they were not believers before. It is not that they were not saved, but they had not been put together into one body. For that to happen, the Spirit of God had to come, and that had to wait for the day of Pentecost. But now we are told that on that day, one body was formed, and by God’s wondrous grace, the Spirit of God not only joined all believers together into one body, but He also joined us to the Head, which is in heaven — the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why it says here in 1 Corinthians 12, “As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” This means that the body has a name and that name is Christ. Isn’t that a marvelous thing?

You remember how it says of Adam and Eve that God looked upon them and “called their name Adam.” Eve was so closely identified with Adam that she took his name. Here we find the body is identified with the Head. The Head is in heaven and the body here on earth. So closely are you and I identified with our Head in heaven, so much is the body one with the Head, that the Word of God gives the Head and the body one name. That name is Christ. “So also is Christ.” “By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.”

Do you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you believed the gospel of your salvation? If you have, then the Word of God says you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. That moment that you accepted Christ as your Saviour and believed the gospel of your salvation, the Spirit of God came to dwell in you. You were sealed by the indwelling of the Spirit of God, and at the same moment you were made part of the body of Christ. By the indwelling of the Spirit of God, you were brought into that which was formed on the day of Pentecost, and if you belong to Christ, the Spirit dwells in you and forms a divine link, which links you, not only with every other believer on the face of the earth, but with your Head who is in heaven.

Let us go on to 1 Corinthians 12:25-27:

“That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”

Do you recall that we read back in Deuteronomy 16 how Israel was instructed that they were to have a care one for another? God’s eye was upon them, and they were to see to it that they provided for one another, and this care was to characterize them as one nation. Here we find that the Lord speaks of the same thing. It is not one nation now but one body, and as members one of another we are called upon to have that care one for another.

Ephesians 4:14:

“I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.”

What took place on the day of Pentecost was the formation of the body of Christ. Now we are told that it isn’t simply that there was one body, but there is one body. Today, it is just as true as it was on the day of Pentecost: “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.”

On the day of Pentecost, the believers were all together, with one accord, in one place, but their all being together did not make them into one body. The three thousand were not made members of the one body of Christ because they went on with the others. They were made part of the body of Christ by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and on the day of Pentecost when a soul was saved, he was indwelt with the Spirit of God, and when a soul is saved today, he is indwelt by the same Spirit of God. On the day of Pentecost the saved soul was added to the assembly and the soul that is saved today is immediately added to God’s assembly by the Spirit of God. Nothing has changed. As far as God is concerned and as far as that which is vital is concerned, there is still one body and one Spirit.

When you and I look around today, we see very little outward evidence that there is one body, but there is one body. The Spirit of God has maintained that which He formed on the day of Pentecost. The Spirit of God has not been fragmented. The Spirit of God has not had His work demolished by man’s frailty and man’s failure. What He formed still exists, but the Word of God says, “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Endeavoring to keep it. God has formed by His Spirit the unity of the body and it is unbreakable. But the unity of the Spirit —that which is to represent before this world that the one body of Christ is a reality — is sadly fragmented today.

The fact that the testimony to the truth of the one body of Christ that God intended to be seen in this world is so broken up does not in any way set aside your responsibility and mine to endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Please turn to 1 Corinthians 10:15-21:

“I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 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 ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils [or demons].”

God has formed this body by His Spirit. We are instructed to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit, that is, to act in such a way in our relationships one with another as to conform scripturally to the truth of that which God has formed by His Spirit. God has formed one body, and in endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit, we want to act in such a way as to show out that there is one body formed by the Spirit of God.

One of the ways, indeed the principal way, that God has given to His people to manifest that there is one body is in believers’ all partaking of the one loaf. We find in 1 Corinthians 10 that “the cup of blessing which we bless  .  .  .  the communion of the blood of Christ” is mentioned first because, before we can take the step that would bring us to the Lord’s table, we need to know the ground for our acceptance there, and that is the precious blood of Christ. By being saved through the precious blood of Christ, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. By being indwelt with the Holy Spirit, we are made members of the body of Christ, and by being members of the body of Christ, our place is at the Lord’s table.

We next read of the body: “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.” There in that loaf every member of the body of Christ is represented — one loaf, one body! We look at that loaf on Lord’s Day morning, and what we see there is the symbol that God has given to us to represent what God has formed by His Spirit: the one body of Christ.

We read further in verse 17, “We being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread” — one bread, one loaf! At Corinth they partook of one loaf! But what about today? How many places will there be next Lord’s Day in this city where there will be a loaf and a glass of wine on the table? And in many of these companies the claim will be made “that we are gathered unto the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” They will claim that it is the Lord’s table and that they are showing forth that there is one body. The Word of God, however, states in the strongest possible language that only by partaking of one loaf — not a dozen loaves or twenty or fifty, but one loaf — can we express that we are all members of one body.

Now, very obviously, it isn’t a question of everyone trying to get into one building. Someone might say, “How could you get every believer in the city together into one building?” Brethren, that’s not the difficulty. The difficulty is that so many partake of different loaves. It cannot be that two companies can partake of two loaves, independent one of the other, and both express the truth that there is one body.

One body, one loaf. If you are truly saved, you are indwelt by the Spirit of God, and you are a member of the body of Christ. You are represented in the one loaf. If, on Lord’s Day morning, you do not partake of the loaf, you are saying in practice that you are not a member of the body of Christ or represented in the loaf. Now you say, “I don’t mean to say that,” but the Word of God says here, “We being many are one bread [one loaf ], and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” The matter of separation from evil and discipline will be considered later.

In 1 Corinthians 10, we read of the Lord’s table — not tables — and at the Lord’s table, gathered scripturally, we partake there in fellowship with the Lord at His table. There we have fellowship with Him. Now we also read about the tables of demons. The reference here is to Deuteronomy 32. The suggestion that the tables men have established, where many dear children of God come together, are “tables of demons” is not only unscriptural — it is appalling. It is a terrible thing even to suggest such a thing. God never intended us even to think of the truth of God that way.

When He speaks of the table of demons, He was talking here specifically in Corinth of those who were partaking of that which was offered to idols, and He speaks of that which was offered to idols as coming from the table of demons. There may be, and undoubtedly is, many a table that is man’s table, but let us never even think in our hearts that where the Lord’s people meet, even in division, could be called tables of demons.

Turn to 1 Corinthians 11:23-32:

“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, eat; this is My body, which is broken for you: this do 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 ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come. Wherefore 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 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 with the world.”

You will recall how previously we have spoken of the very foundation of the truth we have been considering as being the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. What we saw as the first type in Genesis 22 was the father and the son going together to the place of sacrifice. We have found over and over again how God brings the number “three” before us. This is a most striking reminder that to enter into the truth or to walk in any measure in it without the heart’s affection being engaged and without faith being involved can only lead to tragedy.

We find, when we come to the New Testament, that God has by His Spirit extended the wonderful privilege, available to every child of God that will walk in separation from evil, of partaking of the Lord’s supper at the Lord’s table. The One who has invited us there is the Lord Himself. It is His table. Paul was not present on the night when this was instituted and so the Lord gives him a special revelation. He received it from the Lord, not from Peter. There was to be a memorial of the Lord Jesus made up of a loaf and a cup. These are the simplest of things and yet how precious to see that loaf and to recognize that God is saying to us in that loaf that our place is there because we are members of the one body of Christ. We see in the bread broken (given) the body of the Lord Jesus in His death at Calvary, that body that was prepared for Him — the wood that was laid upon Isaac. In partaking of that one loaf I remember the Lord Jesus in His death, and I express the truth that I am part of that one body portrayed in that one loaf.

We find at Corinth that there was much that grieved the heart of the Apostle. The Apostle Paul writes to them concerning this remembrance of the Lord and gives them to see that in acting in the scriptural order and partaking of the one loaf and of the cup, they showed the Lord’s death till He returned. They showed out in those emblems that which presented the picture of death: the blood separate from the body. The Spirit of God then brings before them the solemnity of their partaking of that which symbolized the death to put sin away and yet still going on in sin. So we read in verse 27, “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily” — that is, in a manner that was not worthy of the Lord — “shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” Such an one fails to act upon the fact that it took the body and blood of the Lord (His death) to put away those very sins in which they are still going on.

When we talk about the Lord’s table and the Lord’s supper, we are talking about that which is infinitely precious, and yet we must ever be conscious of the truth that “holiness becometh Thine house, O Lord, forever.” They are told in verse 28, “Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” They were to examine themselves and to put away that which was contrary to the Word of God, and then they were to partake of that bread and drink of that cup.

But, brethren, what has happened in Christendom today? Man examines himself or others and he says, “I don’t like it. I think those people are too strict. I’m going to start my own table and I’ll claim the Lord’s presence too. I’ll claim I’m meeting in the name of the Lord too.” Or perhaps discipline comes in and the result is that the man who is set aside forms his own table, as Jeroboam did. So we look around today and we see the saints of God divided into so many companies. The Word of God, in language that cannot be clearer, shows us that there can be only one testimony, owned of God, to the truth that there is one body. There can only be one loaf partaken of that expresses that there is one body. The Corinthians were to examine themselves and partake of that bread, not one of their own choosing.

There are problems and difficulties that beset the Lord’s people in acting on this principle, but the fact remains that God by His Spirit is still gathering to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That which is to characterize those who are thus gathered remains the same: an endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, a separation from evil, and a conscious sense of the name to which we are gathered and of His presence there. Such will be a house of prayer, a place where discipline is exercised to maintain holiness, and a place, above all else, where the Lord is worshipped.

If you and I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ was to be in a certain place in the city, where would we be today? I believe I can safely say that each and every one of us would be where He is, and we would be there because He is there. But let’s suppose for one moment the Lord Jesus were to say that today He was going to be in twenty places in the city. I believe we would be scattered in twenty different places — some in one, some in another; some closer to their homes, others where they like the people better. For a variety of reasons we would choose one or the other. Why would we be apart? Whose fault would it be that we are not together, if such were true? Is not the honest answer that the fault would be the Lord’s? He put Himself in twenty different places, and therefore He must expect His people to meet in twenty different places. But the Lord has already shown us that His desire is that they should be together. In John 17, the Lord Jesus prayed “that they all may be one  .  .  .  that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.” That was His desire — that they all might be one.

We must never expect the Lord Jesus to do that which would frustrate His own purpose and His own prayer. He will, and still does, make Himself the center to which He would gather all His people around Himself, where they can partake of one loaf and express that they are one body.

We have already seen from God’s precious Word that God’s purpose was that all those who belong to Christ —who have been made members of the body of Christ and members one of another by the indwelling of the Spirit of God — should manifest this oneness in a very practical way by being gathered together by the Spirit of God to the name and around the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus gathered, we are to partake of one loaf together as we remember Him in death and, in thus partaking of that one loaf, to express that we are indeed one body. We are also to express the oneness of the body of Christ in a care one for another because each one is precious to Christ.

Now we find that God had the same plan in the Old Testament in that Israel was given their center at Jerusalem. There they manifested their oneness as a nation by going up to Jerusalem and there worshipping together where the Lord had placed His name. They, too, were called upon to have a care one for another to provide for the poor. In the New Testament, however, there is one marked difference. The presence of the Spirit of God as a divine Person, dwelling on the earth, not only forms that link that joins every believer to one another in the body of Christ and to their Head in heaven, but the Spirit of God is also the One who leads and directs in all the functions of the body of Christ.

Let us read first of all in 1 Corinthians 12:49,11:

“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit.  .  .  .  But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will.”

Turn over to chapter 14:26-34:

“How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.”

We see here that not only has God by His Spirit gathered to the name and the Person of Christ, but the Spirit of God is there to direct. The Spirit of God divides severally as He will. To one He gives the word of wisdom; to another He gives the word of knowledge. At Corinth a great deal of confusion had come in. They were all speaking together. One was jumping up while another was speaking and saying he couldn’t refrain from speaking, and the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit of God, writes to say that this is not of God, because “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.”

Where the Spirit of God is given the liberty to lead, you will have peace. You will have order, but it will not be man-made order. You can have a form of order by appointing one man to perform all the functions that have been mentioned here. You can appoint one man and set him as the head over all, and you can say, “Now we have order,” but it is man-made order, not the order that comes from the leading and direction of the Spirit of God. Where the Spirit of God is given liberty, He will lead and He will occupy hearts with Christ. He will unfold the truth. But the Spirit of God very jealously, very earnestly brings before us here that He is to be given that place of liberty.

Thus, we find that God gives the outline of how His people should gather together. It is as members of the body of Christ, gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and taking no other name, having no humanly-appointed leader, but simply waiting upon the Spirit of God to lead, and having the Word of God as the guide for all decisions. How lovely! How precious it would have been if such a state of affairs had continued. This was what God wanted. This is what He established in the beginning. This is what the Lord Jesus prayed for in John 17, but we find that it did not continue. Problems and difficulties arose, and I would like to look now at some of those problems and difficulties.

Turn first of all to 1 Corinthians 5:1113:

“But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one, no, not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”

Before commenting on this chapter, I would like you to turn back to Leviticus 20:10: “And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” Verse 26: “And ye shall be holy unto Me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be Mine.”

The reason I read this verse in the Old Testament is for us to see that that which is morally suited to God does not change when dispensations change. God was gathering by His Spirit a people around Himself in the Old Testament, and He reminded them that He was holy. In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus is gathering a people around Himself by the Spirit of God, and He reminds us afresh that we are being gathered by the Spirit of God around the Person of One who is holy. At Corinth, the consciences of the saints of God had become so dulled and they were so insensitive to what was suited to the Person of Christ that wickedness was being allowed there of such a nature that the Spirit of God has to tell us that even the heathen had not practiced it.

Now we are told that when evil which is contrary to the holiness of the Person of Christ comes in among the people of God, it must be put outside. In 1 Corinthians 5:46, we read, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?”

Now, we cannot deliver unto Satan. That is an apostolic function, and we don’t have apostles today. The fact remains, however, that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” You put leaven into baking and it spreads through the whole baking. Evil in an assembly contaminates the whole assembly. It isn’t isolated. It isn’t kept to one person. That which is true of one contaminates all, and, consequently, it must be put outside. So the Spirit of God has to address these words to the Corinthian saints, and in doing so refers to one who is “called a brother.” Why does it say that? When someone is put away, for the glory of Christ, he is not disciplined or set aside as a brother; he is set aside as a wicked person. This is something that is largely ignored in Christendom today. Evil is allowed. It is tolerated under the excuse, “There’s nothing we can do about it.” It is tolerated under the excuse of love for all the people of God. It is tolerated under the excuse of, “Who am I to judge someone else?” But subjection to the Word of God leaves no choice. The name of Christ is identified with that testimony gathered to His precious name, and faithfulness to Christ demands that the wickedness be put out.

We further learn here that there is a “within” and there is a “without.” “What have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth.” Now, brethren, back in the days of Acts 2, the “within” and the “without” were very obvious. Here in the city of Jerusalem were three thousand believers who met together. To be put outside was a very obvious thing. But the truth of God has not changed. The fact that Christendom has been divided up into a multiplicity of pockets has not invalidated in any way the truth of God. There is a “within” and there is a “without.” But to be able to practice the truth contained in the word “within” and the word “without,” there must be, first of all, a recognition that there can be only one testimony, raised up and maintained of God, to the truth that there is one body.

Let me illustrate what I mean. Suppose, for a moment, a brother is guilty of one of these particular things listed here. (I might say in passing that this is not an exhaustive list; it is intended as an indication of the nature of the things that call for discipline by exclusion from the Lord’s table.) Suppose, for a moment, there is a brother in this city that is guilty of one of the offenses listed here. In faithfulness to Christ, those gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ must put him away from the Lord’s table as a wicked person. Now, is he within or is he without? I have no doubt you would say immediately that, obviously, he is without. If there were another company gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ here in this city, and he immediately were to go and be received there, would he be within or would he be without? Would you be prepared to say, “Well, obviously he is without here, but he is within there”? Brethren, if that is true, then God is the author of confusion — and He is not! The Spirit of God would never introduce such a thought to our hearts that there can be someone within and without at the same time. Here, in faithfulness to Christ, they are told to put him without.

To be an assembly gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must act upon the instruction given to us here and, in acting upon it, recognize that the one put away is now without, and he is without wherever there are those gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the same holy Spirit of God. If the person is without in Corinth, he is without in Ephesus, he is without in Philippi, and he is without wherever there are those gathered to the same name by the same Spirit of God and who are endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Perhaps I should add, before I leave this epistle, that the person put away from the Lord’s table in 1 Corinthians 5 was put away, not as a brother, but as a wicked person. But when you come to 2 Corinthians 2, you find there that he was indeed a brother, a true brother in the Lord. What manifested that he was a true brother in the Lord was his repentance — his acknowledgment before God of what he had done. Thus, the Apostle Paul can write and say, “Confirm your love toward him.” Welcome him back. It has been manifested that he truly was a child of God, but at the time he was put away he was dealt with as a wicked person. The Word of God makes it explicitly clear — it could not be clearer — that one who has been put away from the Lord’s table is to receive no fellowship, no encouragement from those who are endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit, until the assembly has judged that there has been repentance and has extended assembly forgiveness.

There may be some who say, “That is not showing love.” Brethren, it is faithfulness to the Word of God, and we are never wiser than the Word of God. “No, not to eat”! No fellowship!

Would you turn now with me to 2 John 911:

“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed: For he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

Turn also to Haggai 2:11-13:

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying, If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No. Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.”

We have here in Haggai a simple illustration of how association with evil defiles. As it says, “If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment,” if he touch the bread or the pottage or the wine, will it become holy? The answer is, “No.” But “if one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean?” The answer is, “Yes.”

In 1 Corinthians 5 the principle is given in the words, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” In 2 John, the principle is given by the words, “He that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds.” Association with evil defiles. In 1 Corinthians 5, the evil is moral in nature. Not only the practice of it, but association with those who do practice it defiles in the assembly. In 2 John the subject is doctrine —the doctrine of Christ. The evil is the result of those who come and bring something other than the doctrine of Christ. Brethren, what is the doctrine of Christ? I suggest to you that it is anything that concerns the Person or the work of Christ. There may be differences of opinion as to some fine points of prophecy, though if all were led of the Spirit entirely, we would be of one mind on every subject. Where that which is contrary to the doctrine of Christ is maintained or where association with such as hold this false teaching is maintained, the result is defilement.

To go on in fellowship with those who hold false doctrine concerning the Person or the work of Christ is defiling. Not only is the one who holds the doctrine defiled, but so are those who bid him Godspeed. Those who express fellowship with him in any way are defiled by that same evil doctrine.

Brethren, how are we to avoid the contamination of evil doctrine? By the exercise of prayerful and diligent care to insure that those who hold, in any way, that which is contrary to the Word of God concerning the Person or the work of Christ are kept without or put away if found within. How are we to keep ourselves separated from the defilement of moral evil in the assembly? By ensuring that those who practice it are kept without or put away if found within.

I trust we all recognize that we stand only by grace and that there isn’t one of us that can read 1 Corinthians 5 and say, “I would never do that.” It is the grace of God, and only the grace of God, that preserves us in any measure, but don’t let us ever use the excuse of weakness or the excuse of our failures to justify indifference to that which is demanded by the presence of the holy Son of God in the midst of those gathered to His precious name.

Turn now to 2 Timothy 2:1922:

“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But 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. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

This was probably the Apostle Paul’s last epistle. He had seen things develop to a point where that which he had spoken of as “the house of God” in the first epistle had become a “great house” because there had been introduced into the profession of Christianity much that was not real, spoken of here as “vessels .  .  .  of wood and of earth.”

Now he begins by saying, “The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His.” So it is, beloved brethren, we cannot always tell, but the foundation of God remains, and while we cannot tell, God knows! He knows those who are His! “The foundation of God standeth sure . .  .  .  The Lord knoweth them that are His.” The obvious suggestion by the natural heart is that if this is the state of confusion that has arisen, if this great house of professing Christendom has become such a melting pot of those who are real and those who are false, of those who are truly children of God and those who have simply made a profession, of those whose names are written in heaven and those whose names are written on some church register, and there only, then there is nothing we can do and we must all simply go on together. The Word of God, however, very quickly shows us that this is not true. “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” The better reading here is, “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord,” because what is being brought before us is subjection to the lordship of Christ, and the instruction given to every one that names the name of the Lord is to depart from iniquity. It may mean separation from some who are true children of God, and that is sad. I trust our hearts will feel it, but we must depart from iniquity!

I had occasion a few months ago to talk with a young couple. This young couple was in one of the evangelical systems of men. They acknowledged that there was moral evil known and allowed in the company where they were, but there were many children of God there, and they didn’t feel they should leave. Now, brethren, were they right? The Word of God says, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump,” and, “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” “In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver” — true children of God, saved by the precious blood of Christ, indwelt by the Spirit of God and members of the body of Christ — “but also of wood and of earth” — those who profess, but do not possess eternal life. They will tell you, “I am a Christian,” but what they mean is, “My name is recorded on some church roll, somewhere.” The Word of God tells us here that in the great house of Christendom, where the Spirit of God works, there are those who are real children of God and those who are only putting on a profession.

We then read, “Some to honor, and some to dishonor.” Now, the gold and the silver are one class, and the wood and the earth are the other class. They represent those who are true children of God and those who are not, respectively. The vessels to honor and to dishonor represent a different division entirely. We are given an explanation as to who the vessels to honor are. “If a man therefore purge himself from these” — that is, from the vessels of wood and of earth — “he shall be a vessel unto honor.” Here is the way to be a vessel unto honor. It is by separation from those vessels of wood and of earth. What fellowship has light with darkness? “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” We are told that separation from those who are not real will enable us to be vessels unto honor, sanctified, set apart, meet for the Master’s use. It then adds these words: “Prepared unto every good work.” Why does it say that? It is only as we walk in separation, whether it be separation from unbelievers or from moral or doctrinal iniquity, that we are then going to be prepared “unto every good work.”

Let me give you two illustrations: There is a brother, known to me, who was a minister in a recognized system of men. He was reading the Word of God and, as he searched the Word for himself, the Spirit of God unfolded more and more truth to him. He began preaching it from the pulpit, and, as he told me himself, he preached himself right out of a job! As he brought the truth more and more before his congregation, two things happened. The first thing was that he began to realize he was in the wrong place. How could he, for example, one man, appointed by his congregation to lead and direct everything connected with that congregation, stand up and say the Spirit of God is to be the one that leads in everything? He realized that he was not “prepared unto every good work” and that if he were going to remain in that position, there was truth he must either ignore or deny.

On another occasion, I was invited to speak at a luncheon attended by a number of businessmen, most of whom were Christians. When I was asked, I said, “I assume it is clearly understood that I am free to stand up before all those men and speak according to the Word of God on whatever subject the Spirit of God gives me to speak on.” I was immediately told, “Oh, no! We will give you in advance a list of subjects on which we do not speak.” Brethren, we cannot compromise with the truth or refuse to separate from unbelievers or from iniquity and still be “prepared unto every good work.”

The Word of God makes it very clear that we stand only by God’s grace. If separation from evil is maintained, it is only because God gives the grace for it. The fact remains that the responsibility rests with those gathered to such a holy name as the Lord Jesus Christ to depart from iniquity, to separate from that moral evil, doctrinal evil, ecclesiastical association, or whatever it may be that dishonors the name of Christ or displaces the function that the Spirit of God jealously keeps for Himself.

There was a brother here in this city years ago that some of the older brethren will remember very well. I had occasion to visit this dear brother in his home on a number of occasions. One day he gave me an account of how he came to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He belonged to a certain denomination, and it was their regular practice to have a Bible reading every Wednesday night. They had some happy times together, but then it occurred to him one day that every once in a while the minister, who was a true child of God, was not able to be present at the Bible reading, and he noticed they had a far happier time. There seemed to be far more liberty; each one around the circle took part, and they found the Word of God was unfolded to them. He began to look to God for an explanation as to why it was so. He found the answer in 1 Corinthians 12 and in 1 Corinthians 14. The Spirit of God on those occasions was free to use whom He would, and He opened up the Word of God to them. Our dear brother started out then to seek where he could be gathered only to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, where the Spirit of God was given full liberty.

“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” What is the thought in “a pure heart”? It is not some kind of intrinsic purity, but it is the thought of unadulterated hearts, or, in other words, unmixed motives. One desire — Lord, where do You want me to be? One desire—to be gathered with those who alike seek only to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in separation from iniquity.

Now, it tells us specifically, “With them.” Am I entitled to decide, “Well, I am really not very happy with brother so-and-so. He doesn’t treat me very kindly. I think I’ll go and start my own meeting on the other side of town”? The Word of God says, “With them.” “Follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

I know of no truth more important — more precious — to the heart of Christ than that there should be, even today, in the midst of all the ruin, a testimony, raised up and maintained of God, to the truth that there is one body. Such a testimony requires that the truth be not only acknowledged but acted upon, discipline be exercised in recognition that there is a “within” and there is a “without,” and separation from evil maintained in recognition of the holiness of the Person to whom we are gathered.

I would like to close by turning to Galatians 2:18: “For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” The subject in Galatians is that of going back to law. It is going back to that which the Apostle Paul had already abandoned, and in abandoning it, as far as he was concerned, he destroyed it.

Now, brethren, God has, by His Spirit, raised up a testimony to the truth that there is one body. He has, by His infinite grace, gathered around the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, from the multiplicity of systems of men, many who, in leaving those systems, in the language used here, destroyed them. For me, the system that I left is destroyed —it is a dead thing. If I go back, if I in any way build up again that which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. There is nothing more sad than to see beloved saints of God who have, by the infinite grace of God, been gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, going back to that which is not the truth, which stands on what is false, which allows that which displaces the name of Christ, and that which sets aside the exclusive function of the Spirit of God. Oh, you say, “I only went to one of their meetings.” The effect is, however, to encourage that which is so contrary to the very expressed desire of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gathers by the Spirit of God around Himself, and any time I walk into any of the systems of men, regardless of how much truth is there, I build again that which has for my own soul been destroyed and, in doing so, make myself a transgressor.

May God keep us, beloved brethren, valuing this precious truth, walking in it, and rejoicing in it, while owning how dependent we are upon God by His grace to keep us and upon the Spirit of God to make the truth good to our hearts and consciences. I have no doubt that God is going to preserve a testimony to the truth of the one body for the glory of Christ until He comes. May we earnestly pray that we might be preserved and found gathered to that precious name when the Lord of glory comes for us. Even at Jerusalem there were a few who were waiting for the presentation of the Son of God from heaven.

Beloved brethren, we want largeness of heart to love all the saints of God, to seek the good and the blessing of all the saints of God, to pray for all the saints of God, to do good unto all men and especially unto the household of faith, but let us walk in the narrow path, marked out by the Word of God, for that is what constitutes faithfulness to Christ.