The Christian's responsibilities

… They are all important and we'll begin in Acts chapter 17, the Acts of the Apostles chapter 17 and we'll read from verse 22. Acts 17 verse 22. Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men, but to dwell on all the face of the earth, and have determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord. If happily they might feel after him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being, as certain also your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device, the times of this ignorance God winked at. But now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. Now 1st Timothy chapter 2. 1st Timothy chapter 2 and verse 3, the end of the verse, God our Savior, God our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Now just one verse in Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6 and verse 22. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's a verse extra from what I intended to read. Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Now chapter 5 and verse 1. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. What a tremendous subject to occupy our hearts and our minds, to consider our relationships with God and responsibilities that flow from those relationships. The very first thing for our hearts to consider, what a tremendous honor and dignity and privilege that we can even consider ourselves to be in relationship with God. He's so infinite, so glorious, so unspeakable in his greatness, and yet we poor creatures as we are, privileged to be in relationship with him. Very, very difficult to know where to begin in a subject of this kind, but it has been impressed upon me that we might consider a little at the very outset, God as creator. I feel we must begin there. Whether people acknowledge God as creator, the fact is that scripture represents this. Scripture reveals it to us, that the great and wonderful God whom we adore as father was also the creator, and the beginning of the relationship that the creature had with him was in the garden, when God created Adam and then Eve, and they were there in relationship with him in a very close bond indeed, the creator and the creature in happy communion. It pleased God to come down in the cool of the evening and commune with Adam in the garden that he had created for the blessing of man. What a tremendous thing for our hearts to consider, and all through the Bible, from the beginning to the end, we find God presented as the creator. Man cannot go any further back in his relationship with God, except when we come to the divine revelation of God's purpose in Christ before other worlds were created. That's a different matter, but in his actual dealings with man, we must go back to the garden, the creator God. It's impossible for me to speak adequately of God as creator, but there are many portions of the Word of God that will bring this home to our hearts in a very powerful way, and if we read the last chapters of the book of Job, then we'll see the greatness and majesty of the creator. It resulted in the conversion of Job. Job was humbled as God presented himself to Job in his glory, his greatness, his skill, his understanding. A unique God, there is only one creator. Men at large, they refuse to bow to this God. They refuse to acknowledge that there is such a God. The schools, the media, every conceivable avenue of thought that is presented to man is to present man as God, that there is no creator, but we as Christians believe the inspired revelation of the Word of God, that all that we see around us began from the hands of the creator, and has subsisted and continued because of the one who created it and upholds it. And so, dear friends, I feel we must begin here, and this is where Paul began with those philosophers in Athens. They had no Old Testament scriptures. They were steeped in their intellect, steeped in their philosophies. God was an unknown God. The gods that they did worship were gods of man's creation, and Paul indicated this in a very clear way. Gold and silver, the art of man's imagination. No, says Paul, there is a God, the unknown God that you've reared an altar to. I will make him known to you, and that God, he said, is the creator, the Lord of the heavens and the earth. My, what a God! What power, what skill, what understanding, what knowledge, what glory, all this we find in creation. Never let us as Christians forget that this is one of the unique glories of God, the creator. And again, I say from the beginning to the end of the Bible, we find references to this. Indeed, the fourth chapter of Revelation reminds us that all things were created for his pleasure, and we find, too, in many, many instances that God comes to the aid of his people and exerts his creatorial power, as he did at the Red Sea, for instance, an evidence of his power over the elements. And the Lord Jesus Christ, when here upon earth, demonstrated that he was the creator, manifest in flesh, changes water into wine, walks upon the waves, raises the dead, curses the fig tree, many, many ways in which the Lord Jesus exhibited that he was the creator. But there was a relationship that the creature had with the creator, and it was a very wonderful one. But what were the responsibilities? Obedience. And you remember when Adam and Eve were enjoined not to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? They were responsible to the God who had created them to obey their God and to do what pleased him, not to be marked by any self-will. You know the answer. You know the result. They disobeyed. And sad to say, from that moment onwards, there was one continual disobedient life in men and women, a disobedient principle that expressed itself again and again in individuals, in families, in nations, a continual refusal of the claims of God upon them. Very, very sad indeed. And this is what Paul presents in Acts chapter 17. Previously, he had spoken to those people about the death and resurrection of Christ, and they had mocked him. Now, he says, I'll present a God who has a claim upon you as creator. You are the work of his hands, and you ought to listen to him when he commands you. He commands every man everywhere to repent. And they ought to have bowed and accepted that, and instead of that, some of them mocked. There is an outstanding example of this in Belshazzar, the king of Babylon. And you remember that Daniel said to him, the God in whose hands thy breath is, thou hast not glorified. And I believe with all my heart that God has the breath of every creature in his hands. And if we live, we live because God allows us to live. If we die, it's because our time has come, and the Creator has indicated that it is time to come, and the time has come. And of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, because of who he has exercised his right in that, he has the keys of death and of Hades. And so it's a very solemn thing when people refuse to bow to the creatorial claims of God. Well then, these people mocked. But praise God, there were some who believed, and they accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, and they came into a greater and higher relationship with God, a Savior God. And we want to speak about that. But again, before we leave it, never let us minimize the infinite greatness of God as Creator. I want to say this again and again. It's one of the unique glories that belong to him. And I believe if we understood it rightly, not only in our responsibilities would we obey him, we would be moved to a spirit of worship, a spirit of reverence, as we take account of the greatness of God. We do have one outstanding example of this, where worship was produced in the heart of a saint, because he considered the creator. And we read of this in Romans chapter 1, where Paul, occupied with a great deal of the departure of man from God, he says, and they worshiped the creature more than the creator. And immediately he mentioned the creator's name. He says, who is blessed forever, amen. A note of worship immediately from the heart of the Apostle. And I believe these three things should mark us as Christians. Reverence, worship, and obedience, because of the unique glory that belongs to God as Creator. But then, no need for me to tell you the way how man departed from God and got worse and worse and worse. Something had to be done. As we read in the early chapters of Romans, because of their disobedience, God gave them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. Three times it says that. And if he had given them up forever, there would have been no blessing. They would have been lost forever. But he says, I'm going to change them. They've changed many things in relation to my claims upon them. Now he says, I'll change them. And he did, through our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the wonder of 1st Timothy chapter 2, that God is a Savior God. What a wonderful glory belonging to him, a Savior God. Oh, how entitled he was to sweep the scene in judgment. He did that once in the flood and promised he would never do it again, not by water. Time will come when he'll sweep with judgment in a different form, but never again by water. And oh, how entitled he is to deal with mankind in judgment. One of his glories too. And yet, at the present moment, he's a Savior God. For nearly 2,000 years, a Savior God. And the means he employed to be a Savior God was by sending his son into this world. Oh, how willing the son was to come. Praise God for that. Came into this world, lived a blameless life, not a sin, not a thought of a sin, nothing of disobedience in him. Wonderful life, marvelous life, a demonstration of the greatness of God in a man in this world. Then that glorious man gave his life, a ransom for all. Paul says, there is one God. That one God is the Creator God. There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. I want to say a word, dear brethren, dear friends, about tendencies that have been with us for a long time, but unfortunately are growing in momentum and are growing in emphasis. And that is that there are many ways to God. That the exclusive Christ, as we know the word presents him, is not the exclusive way to God. Mohammed and Moses and Buddha and Confucius and any great man will also lead us to God. So it doesn't matter what kind of religion we believe, as long as we believe in some kind of religion, that's all right. We're all together in this one matter of understanding God. We're all in this one matter of getting to some kind of heaven. It doesn't matter if there are different opinions about what heaven is. We're all in the matter. Well, that's not what Paul says. Paul says there is one God and there is one mediator, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, ready to be revealed in due time. Well, then, this cuts the feet away from this prevailing notion that is gathering strength. There is only one way to God, and that's through Christ. And if he's a Savior God, there is no other God. There is no other form of salvation. There is only one way of salvation, and that way is through our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear friends, don't be beguiled by the imaginations of men today. Don't be beguiled by this false form of charity that would in love, a misplaced kind of love, that would embrace every form of thought. Not at all. There is an exclusive gospel, an exclusive Savior that excludes all else and leaves us one glorious man, the one who can lead us to God, a Savior God. Oh, how wonderful that God should be a Savior God. What resources of love, what resources of patience, what resources of grace and mercy and holiness and truth are found in this Savior God. Not standing aloof and asking man to find his way to himself in the best way they can. Oh, no. A Savior God who provides the way to himself, in the giving of his own son to a death and sorrow that was past our understanding. Oh, what a wonderful Savior God. All right, there is the relationship that we have today. Because of the salvation that he has given to us, we stand in a wonderful relationship to him, and that is a relationship of righteousness. By, that's wonderful. I think I've said this, perhaps you've heard me saying it often, that when I was a young believer, the thought of righteousness repelled me. It was something that made me afraid, something that seemed to put God at a great distance in an austere kind of presentation. But since I've learned what it means, it's far from being austere. It's far from being far off as far as God is concerned. It's something that's most wonderful, that because of the salvation that God has brought about through Christ, I now stand in his presence and he hasn't a single thing to say to me. I'm there in his presence just as he wants me to be in righteousness, according to his blessing, according to what he has made me in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why so often we find in the Bible the term justified, made righteous, to stand in the presence of God without a single sin, a single stain, a single fault attaching to me, all gone in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now isn't that wonderful? I don't suppose there is one person here that feels regret at things they have said and done and thought in their past lives. I know I regret many, many things, but I realize that the death of the Lord Jesus was so wonderful, so great, the power of his blood was so efficacious, that now I stand in the presence of God in him and there's not a single thing that God has to say to me about those things that I regret. They're all gone, every one of them. Cleanse the way in his precious blood and I stand before God in all the righteousness that he has clothed me in. He looks at me, if I can say so, through his own beloved Son and sees me in all the perfection of his work and his person. That's the relationship. What a tremendous relationship. We don't worry, am I a real Christian? We don't worry, am I sufficiently honest before God to merit his favor? We don't think like that when we understand the relationship that we have as a result of salvation. We accept fully and clearly what God has done for us and rest upon that with faith and with assurance. What a relationship. The responsibilities, ah yes, very, very great responsibilities. If we have a positional place before God in righteousness, there should be a practical response in righteousness in our lives and that's very, very important. Not only to claim a position, which we can do on the authority of the word of God, but to answer to it in consistency of life so that we are righteous before God in practice. We just need to quote one verse to prove that and in the second epistle of Timothy, Paul says that we are to pursue righteousness and in that context it may mean turning aside from things that have a religious flavor but have no warrant from the word of God. And then in other portions, we find practical righteousness in everyday living, in morals, in home life. Now these things we hope to touch on another night, but righteousness in every feature of our lives, honesty, integrity, uprightness before God and doing the things that are right in his sight. I like to quote this statement because I feel it's a most comprehensive statement and a true statement, one by an aged teacher, Mr. Darby, and he said, righteousness is being consistent with every relationship into which God has brought us. Now that's a simple statement in terms, but I believe it is profound in its meaning. Righteousness is consistency with every relationship into which God has brought us, whether it be in relationship with himself or with Christians or in the world, employers, employees, every form of relationship that exists, the Christian is to be practically righteous in them. Well then, that's a very great responsibility indeed. If we are governed as creatures by the greatness of God as creator, we are governed as saved people by the greatness of the salvation that God has brought to us in Christ. And the more we enjoy that salvation and the more we appreciate it, the more we will desire to be faithful to this wonderful relationship into which he has brought us. Marvelous to stand in the presence of God, righteous. Oh, how wonderful. We find in the last verse of first Corinthians chapter one, that Christ is made unto us righteousness. That tells us the position that we have before God and him. But as we proceed in the epistle, we find that the Corinthian believers were far below their position in actual practice, evil lives, dissension and unhappiness amongst them as believers, parties, striving for position, even wrong notions about the truth, many things that the Corinthian believers were wrong in practice. It didn't affect their position that was in Christ, that was inviolate. Nothing could destroy that. But how sad it was that they were not acting in consistency with the position into which God had brought them. So wonderful Savior God, and he deserves the best from our lives. He deserves that we give a practical expression to this salvation day by day. Our lives, salvation from everything that's contrary to God and eventually complete emancipation from this world and free to be in the presence of God with bodies of glory. That's final salvation, wonderful salvation, wonderful Savior God. Oh, that we knew him better and served him better. Now we come to Romans chapter six and verse 22. But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. One time I thought we might take up some of the verses in the epistle to the Romans when dealing with this matter of relationship, because this treatise of the gospel deals with so many relationships, the believer with God, many wonderful relationships indeed. However, we've gone so far and now we just have a little touch on this chapter. But you know that from the very beginning, Paul shows the utter depravity of man and his inability to get right with God by any means of his own. And as we mentioned already, God changes the man now through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And after chapter three, he indicates many wonderful blessings that come to the believer through faith. And step by step, he takes them on to that final moment, the highest point of man's recovery to God, when he joys in God through the reconciliation that had been effected, the highest point in man's recovery to God. Then he deals with a very solemn matter indeed. And from the middle of chapter five and onwards, we find Paul describing how those believers can get free from the power of sin, not sins, the power of sin, this root principle that's in everybody's life, a wicked venom that runs through our veins, if you like, that produces sins. This awful principle that came into the world in Adam and has continued ever since and is in your life and mine. And the end of chapter seven shows how the man unravels in his mind that there is a principle of sin in him that he doesn't want to obey, but finds himself unable to combat. And then comes to the glorious realization that there is a deliverance for him. And that is through the Lord Jesus Christ. And in chapter six that we have read, it says, now we've got our freedom from sin. I don't know, or you must have, every Christian has this struggle against sin. And I remember vividly in my life when this verse came before me, having got your freedom from sin, now being made free from sin. And I take account of my life and I say, no, I'm not free from sin. Sin can come so easy into my life and I so easily succumb to it. Is Paul wrong? Is he misleading us? Why no, Paul's stating the truth. He says, you've got your freedom from sin. How have we got our freedom from sin? Through this great salvation. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, that we have the wherewithal to conquer sin in our lives. We were born slaves to sin. We were servants to sin. I'm sure we've all known that in one shape or another. But now Paul says, you've got your freedom from that. God has delivered you from that. He's given you the power to get away from that. And thank God when we take advantage of what he has provided and we get the power over sin. We're not talking about temptation that can come upon any Christian at any moment and can succumb to it. We're talking about the practicing of sin. Day by day, doing evil things deliberately, wickedly. This is what Paul's talking about. Being born slaves to sin, born men to sin. Now he says, you've got your freedom from that. Paul succumbed to failure. So did Peter. So did John. All Christians have to face this, that sudden temptation can come and they fail. Sad if they do. Good for us if we're powerful enough to refuse it. But we can't state this most emphatically that every Christian has been set free from the power of sin. And they're in a relationship to God. He is the master and we are his servants. This is what it says. Being now made free from sin and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness and the end everlasting life. What I want to emphasize is that those relationships are succeeding each other, the creator, the savior. Now we have him as master. We are his born slaves. This is the real meaning of servants, a born slave. My, that would seem to be a very solemn consideration that we are his born slaves. A tyranny? No, not for a minute. An austere kind of God? Not for a minute. I want you to consider, dear friends, what a dignity is conferred upon us by being the servants of God. Oh, what a wonderful privilege it is that our lives are spent in some form in serving him. We're not talking about being preachers, expositors, or missionaries, or any of the great things that so often reach the public eye. Not that kind of thing. A day by day, what? Doing the will of God. Because that's what it means to be a born slave. But I first want to emphasize the privilege. And it is a privilege to have such a master. Is he austere? He is holy. Is he unkind? Unthinkable. Not a tyrant, a despot? Yes. A despot in our ordinary language means someone very harsh and austere. That's not what the Bible means. The Bible means when it speaks about a despot, one who has complete control over us. Now we've spoken about his creatorial claim. We've spoken about his salvation claim, or redemptive claim. And because of that, we are his servants. He has this claim, this despotic claim upon us that we belong to him. We are bought with a price, and such a price. And every Christian is responsible to live to God, to do his will. The relationship, a wonderful one. Such a unique, glorious master, infinitely beyond our understanding and glory and greatness. And yet he deigns to use you, and me, and every other Christian in his service. And his service is very, very wide and inclusive. And we thank God for every Christian that exists in the world today, who in some measure seeks to do his will. And that individual Christian is responsible directly to his God, his master, the bondman. In those days, Paul was writing, when a person was a bond slave, he belonged to his master, just like any other piece of furniture or anything else he possessed. And he was there to do his master's will. If his master wanted to kill him, he could kill him. And nobody could say anything about it. He just belonged to his master in every shape and form. No such thing as trade union hours. No such thing as rights. There was one predominant will, and that was the master. And if the master said, do this, the servant did it. If he said, go, he went. If he said, come, he went to his master. That's the kind of thing that the centurion spoke about, and it illustrates in a very wonderful way what it is to be under the will of God. Oh, what a tremendous honor that any of us, in any shape and form, can serve this wonderful, marvelous God. And then the responsibility every day to consider, what can I do for God's will? What can I do to please him? Oh, I think it's a most important thing for every Christian to bow the knee before the day begins and to commit oneself to God that one might do what God wants one to do. That's a tremendous privilege to avoid evil and to do good. Not only to be negative in avoiding evil, that's important, but to be avoiding evil in order to do good, to be positive in order to do the will of God. And it's a marvelous thing. In the first chapter of Romans, we find Paul being prospered by the will of God. And it is a most prosperous thing to do the will of God. The men who stand out in the pages of scripture, there is one, of course, who stands out unique, the Lord Jesus Christ, in perfection. But the others, men and women like ourselves, are men who did the will of God, and they pleased God, and God honored them, and their names are included for us in the inspired word for our encouragement and as examples for us. Wonderful responsibility because of a wonderful relationship that we have. In the past, not so much now, when Jack's as good as his master, that's the prevailing sentiment, but when I was a boy, and long before that too, many people serve the great houses of the land, the elite of the land, and consider it a privilege to be honored to serve the nobles, and the dukes, and the elite, then it was a very wonderful thing to be allowed to serve in such an establishment. That's all gone, of course, well to some extent anyway. But if we apply this to God, ah then, it has its true character. Tremendous thing to be a servant of God, a bond slave of God, such a master, and such a service. Now we turn to Ephesians chapter one. A creator, a savior, a master, well there might be a sense of responsibility attaching to these designations of God that might cause us to have some measure of fear, although we shouldn't, some measure of reluctance to be in such relationships. Again, I say it ought not to be. When we come to these two portions that we have read from the epistle to the Ephesians, we find relationships that are infinitely beyond our understanding or our ability to express. Listen to Paul's language. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who had blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now then, whose tongue is able to expound such a passage? Every spiritual blessing, and this wonderful God whom we should extol, whom we should make much of, because he has blessed us in a wonderful way in Christ, according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Marvelous thing. Before ever the worlds were created, before ever angels were in existence, before ever any creature existed, there was the Godhead. In all their counsel of love and glory and blessing, considering you and me, unbelievable, but it's true, he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Individually, by name, this is what it means, he knew you, he knew me, long before the worlds were created and purposed us for blessing in his well beloved son. Incredible, but this is what the word of God teaches us and we believe it with all our hearts, although we have to confess that we find it very, very difficult to understand, except we believe in a God with illimitable knowledge and power and blessing and love and because of that we can understand it in that light, but to think that he thought about us, so insignificant and yet before ever time began, he thought about us and he blessed us in Christ and what a place, holy and without blame before him in love, what an environment. Then he goes on to say, having predestinated us or marked us out unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. We might pause here and say, well yes, this is a marvelous place, marvelous blessing that we should be adopted as God's sons. Yes, wonderful, but we would miss the point of this statement if we didn't take account of the pleasure that God derived from giving us this blessing. This is the whole thrust of what Paul is saying, according to the good pleasure of his will. This pleased God, this gave God a great deal of delight and joy to bring you and me into a position of sons before him. Now the term adoption reminds us that we had no right to this place, it was a blessing that God gave us, we were not entitled to it, neither by race nor by moral fitness or any other reason whatsoever. We get this position of a son before God the Father on the basis of his wonderful love. It's not so much a sphere of responsibility. You don't talk, you fathers, you don't talk about the responsibility of your son saying to you, father, that's a responsibility he has. It's not, it's a joy he has, it's a response he has, it's a right that he has belongs to the position. It's not a responsibility, it's the logical outcome of being a son. And this is what God the Father has done for us, for you, for me, and of course the sisters have to accustom themselves to this masculine idea that they're sons just as brothers are, we're all sons in this place of sonship. And it's a wonderful thing and I don't find anywhere in the Bible, in the New Testament teaching, I don't find anywhere that responsibility belongs to this place of sonship. It's rather the response of love, the worship, the great and glorious privilege to be in the presence of the Father and say to him, father, in the spirit of the Son that fills our hearts and enables us to respond to him in a way that gives the Father pleasure. It's not only that he gives, it gives him pleasure to bring us into this place of sons, it's the pleasure he derives from hearing people address him as father. I think this is the outcome of this wonderful position. Now you fathers, I'm sure it gives you a great deal of joy when your little boy says daddy and as your son grows up, when he addresses you as father, there's a joy in it, a happy joy that's in your heart when the son addresses you in this way. And I believe it's the same in this wonderful relationship that God has brought us into, the sovereignty of his love that chose us for it and gave it to us, accepted in the beloved. Who is the beloved? Well, there cannot be anyone else except the Son of God. This is my beloved son in the banks of the Jordan. This is my beloved son on the Mount of Transfiguration, the beloved. Having one son, his only son, his beloved son, he sent him. The Father sent the son, the son of his love. That's the beloved and we are accepted in him. My, that's wonderful. That's really the height of the Christian blessing because it will go on and on and on throughout all eternity. No diminishing of this position of sonship that each believer has. It's the greatest blessing that the Christian can consider. You might say it's wonderful to serve him, to be a successful preacher, a profound expositor, and many other things of that nature. Yes, indeed, very important in their place, but to be a son, to be in the position before the father of his own beloved, unique son, is something beyond our understanding, but true for faith. Ah, that's it. Faith accepts the broken because we are accepted in the beloved. We're there in association with that glorious, unique son that ever was with the father before time began, was manifested here in manhood, is now at the right hand of God, and every true believer is accepted in him and brings the father such wonderful delight. Sonship, marvelous place, referred to in our translation as adoption, a place that we have no right to, but we have it on the sovereignty of the love of God, and we only have it in association with God's unique son. Now lastly, for a few minutes, chapter five. Be ye therefore followers of God, or as it could be translated, imitators of God. Be ye therefore imitators of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also had loved us and had given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. Imitators of God as dear children. We should say here that when we get the term adoption, it's a place that we have no right to. We said this already, but we're there on the basis of the sovereignty of God's love towards us. When we are his children, we are children by new birth. We are born again. We become his children, and we are capacitated to be his imitators. We can be like God. Now in natural things, it's quite a usual thing for a son to imitate his father, imitate his characteristics, imitate his way of speech, imitate his principles and ways of life. That's quite a common thing. Want to be like my father? Well then, in connection with this relationship, we are capacitated through having the nature of God, and I use that expression, or should I say the life of God, we have this because we can imitate him, or we're capacitated to be like him, and we're capacitated to imitate him in all his ways. My, that's a tremendous statement to make, but the Bible says it, be ye imitators of God, and because we have this new nature, because we're born again, because we possess the Holy Spirit, yes, we can be like God. Now, if we say, how does this work out? Well, we turn to the Old Testament, and David said, is there any of the house of Saul left that I may show unto them the kindness of God? That is, that David was imitating God. God had been so kind to him, and God had been so kind to so many. Now he says, I want to be kind to the house of Saul. Really, they don't deserve kindness, neither did David. Oh, he says, I want to be like God. I want to show the kindness of God, and so we can be imitators of God. Wonderful relationship that we are the children of God. Solemn responsibility to be like him in our ways, to forgive, to be kind, to be holy, to be true, to be upright, to be righteous, all the different ways in which God is expressed, and we cannot stress one at the expense of another. We have to think of the great way that God is presented to us in Christ and imitate that. Now, we live in the plastic age where plastic can be made to look like anything at all. Well, it's not that kind of imitation. It's not a spurious, valueless imitation, not for a minute. It's a true imitation, the true features of God that can come out in your life and mine because we are his children. That's the position that we have through new birth, and it's not in any way something to be despised. It's something to rejoice in. It's a wonderful place. God has given it to us, and we have it in virtue of the death and resurrection and ascension of Christ and the descent of the Holy Spirit. That's what makes these things workable and true and vital. I have a little piece of poetry at home. I don't think I can quote it correctly here, but I'll quote the gist of it, and this is a man saying, My little boy confessed some childish wrong, and kneeling at my knee, he said, O God, make me like Daddy, big and strong. I know you can. And when he went to bed, I kneeled beside his bed and confessed my sin and said, O God, make me like this little boy, true, trusting, so innocent, so full of faith. The father was imitating, in some measure, the little boy, even going beyond him. But, O dear brethren, when we think of such a God to imitate, what a challenge, and we might feel it's something we cannot aspire to, impossible. Praise God, it's a glorious reality, and thank God it's in operation. Thank God there are many evidences of the imitating of God. Many, many evidences in the lives of men and women and boys and girls, the features that are so pleasing to God, that were expressed in Christ in perfection, now being produced in the lives of Christians in the power of the Holy Spirit. A glorious answer to the relationship in which they are. Well then, that's for you, and that's for me. Well then, this is only the tip of the iceberg, if we can so speak. The many relationships that we have in relation to God are numerous, and they present problems, the problems of response and responsibility, but we trust that what has been said tonight may be sufficient to indicate to us what a wonderful God we have, and what wonderful blessings he has bestowed upon us, and if we enjoy them and appropriate them, then they will give us a desire to be true to the God who has blessed us. May we be encouraged for his namesake. …

… Now will you turn please to 1st Corinthians chapter 1, the first epistle to the Corinthians chapter 1. And we'll read from verse 1. Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes our brother unto the church of God which is at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord both theirs and ours. And verse 9. God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now chapter 3 and verse 16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy which temple ye are. Now chapter 12 and verse 12. Chapter 12 and verse 12. 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. For the body is not one member but many. If the foot shall because I am not the hand I am not of the body is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say because I am not the eye I am not of the body is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member where were the body? But now are they many members yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand I have no need of thee nor again the head to the feet I have no need of you. Nay much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble and necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable upon these we bestow more abundant honor. And our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need but God hath tempered the body together having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked. 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. I don't think we can do better than have a good long look at an actual church in the early days of the Christian Church's testimony upon earth to understand something of the blessing of such a position and also the responsibilities that belong to it. And as we said last night if we understand a little of the privileges that belong to the Christian company then the responsibilities will flow from them in a much easier way. Or should I say there will be more desire on our part to fulfill the responsibilities if we appreciate the privileges. To go back a little into the acts of the Apostles we remember how Paul and his companions went to the city of Corinth and there they preached the gospel. It wasn't an easy task for them they met with opposition but they had tremendous help from the Lord Jesus. He said to Paul now Paul you keep on preaching I have much people in this place that seems to indicate to me the purpose of the Lord Jesus the purpose of God taking account of those who are going to be saved and form the church in Corinth. And so Paul preached the gospel and people were converted. All those people who were converted before their conversion had a common relationship they were all sinners. But after they got converted they became a church, an assembly in the city of Corinth. Now this is one thing that we want to state at the outset that for any church to represent itself as belonging to God and for God and to have a mixed communion of saved persons and unsaved is a denial of the truth of the Word of God. Those who formed a church at Corinth were people who were saved their sins were forgiven and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And sad to say and we must say it plainly that today there are companies of professing believers mixed with them some true ones but unfortunately many unsaved people and who partake the Lord's Supper partake of the privileges and this is a denial of the truth of God. We could not possibly countenance such a company claiming to be a church representing God. The New Testament churches in the main were composed of people who profess Christ in a living vital way and possessed the Holy Spirit. There was the possibility of professors without life but in those days it was very very abnormal indeed. And so the church at Corinth was composed of people who had confessed Christ and you remember in chapter 6 of this epistle Paul describes a catalogue of sins depravities wickedness he says such were some of you and that indicates clearly that those who composed the Corinthian assembly were once sinners but were cleansed they were they were washed they were sanctified they were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Now we want to state this very definitely at the outset that a New Testament church is composed of true believers this is the ideal normal situation for any company of believers professing to be an assembly a gathered out company for the Lord. So we begin with this in chapter 1 unto the church of God in Corinth. What a dignified appellation for any company of believers the church of God in Corinth. Now if a letter were addressed to the church of God in Carlisle where would it go? Well that's a good question. Where would it go? The church of God in Corinth? The church of God in Carlisle? Very very difficult to find out where it would go today. There would be many claimants many people might claim to be the church of God in Carlisle. We believe that the Bible teaches us that in any given locality in any given area every true believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit forms the church in that area. They may not be gathered on the ground of that church they may not understand the teaching connected with the church but in the eye of God every true believer forms the church in that given area. In Corinth it was simple there were no divisions not in an outward way unfortunately there were divisions in the company but there were no outward divisions Christians meeting in different halls under different names none of that in the city of Corinth there was the church of God in Corinth and that's a wonderful appellation I say it again. Let's think for a moment of the city of Corinth. It was a wicked city given up to depraved practices as we find in our modern world. To Corinthianize was a term used for people who were wicked and depraved and oh how wonderful that in the midst of that city there was a little company I don't know how many but it was large or small I'm saying a little company I suppose relatively speaking it was but there was that company and God looked upon it with the greatest of favor they were the very apple of his eye. Here was one company where the interests of God was centered. God was concerned about this company he had blessed it through Christ they were formed according to his mind and will and now his interests centered above all else in that little company. There might have been intellectual people I suppose they would have them in that day, entertainers, professional people, rich people, poor people, all kinds of people just the same as we have today but in the midst of them all there was the church of God. Now we have to say a little about this. The term church assembly simply means people who are called out. Now what were they called out from and what were they called out to are good questions to ask. First of all they were called out from Judaism which was a form of belief in God and approach to God that had now been set aside because of the incoming of Christ and the revelation that came through him and of course his death and resurrection and ascension to God's right hand. And then there were the pagans those who worshipped idols and people who were Jews and people who were pagans who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ separated themselves from those things. They became Christians, they were baptized to the name of the Lord and by virtue of that they were saying we have no more to do with Judaism, we have no more to do with paganism, we are baptized to the name of the Lord, we are really concerned now about his interests and so this gathered out company was separated to the interest of the Lord in Corinth. Now if this were in practice today it would be very wonderful, the impact upon the world would be powerful indeed in Carlisle, in all the cities and towns that we have in England and Scotland and throughout the whole world. Wonderful to find this thing in practice but praise God it is being practiced that there are believers who feel that the call of God is so powerful to them that it gives them the desire to separate from things that are wrong, things that don't add up to scripture, separate from these things to gather simply to the name of the Lord owning no headship but Christ's, owning no power but the Holy Spirit and no authority but the Word of God. Oh you say that's too idealistic, it doesn't work, praise God it does. When Christians are prepared in humility to answer to the truth of God, yes praise God it works. If it didn't, if we found that we attempted to do these things, to meet together simply as believers relying upon the Christ and the Holy Spirit and all the resource that God gives and the authority of the Word, if we attempted to do these things and they didn't work it would be an indication to us that it was all rubbish but it's not because we've proved by experience that these things do operate, that these things are real, living and vital and those people in Corinth experienced it in a very wonderful way. So when you read in the Bible about the Church of God in any place and there are quite a few of them mentioned and there are seven addresses to seven different churches in the first three chapters the book of Revelation then we can think of this, a company gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus representing the interests of God and the interests of Christ and separate from everything that's contrary to the claims of the claims of God. That's what it was in Corinth, that's what it should be today and what pertained in Corinth and in Ephesus and Colossae and Philadelphia all the same, no variation. There might be a variation in expression but in practice and in truth they would all be the same and they would be united to each other in faith and in support as we hope we shall see later on. No idea that the Lord would impose certain directions for one church in one area and then another set of directions for another church in another area and both at variance with each other, unthinkable. The Lord the head in glory supplies all that is necessary for every church wherever it is for his glory and for their blessing. So the Church of God in Corinth was a called-out company but then Paul says they were sanctified in Christ Jesus. Before we touch that we ought to say that this church that was gathered out now had a relationship to God and a relationship to each other. They were no longer Jews, they were no longer pagans, they were blessed in exactly the same way, owned the same Lord, indwelt by the same Spirit and so were capacitated to represent God and here was a wonderful relationship that they had that wasn't formed by human organization. This was a divine arrangement. It was God who gave the directions, it was God who gave the blessing and it's God who maintains such a position. It's not a man and it's very very important to see that. They didn't gather to the name of Paul, great man that Paul was. They didn't gather to the gospel that he preached, great gospel as it was. They gathered to a divine person, the Lord Jesus Christ and when empowered by a divine person, the Holy Spirit according to the purpose of a divine person, God our Father. Very very important to keep this in mind and so we find that this relationship that they had to God was expressed in their dealings with each other. They were all blessed the same way and knowing these things had a desire to express what was true for God and true for Christ. Now this sanctified company, the root meaning of the word is set apart, not called apart but set apart and this again is a divine arrangement and all those who were set apart were called saints. If they belong to the sanctified company they were saints. Now today the idea in one large company of professing Christians is that a person becomes a saint after many many years of inquiry and it's finally established that miracles have been done by this person or something remarkable has been done in their lives and they're entitled to have before their name the little words ST, the little letters ST. They're a saint. This is as far removed from the Bible as it's possible to be. If you belong to the sanctified company you're a saint. This is a divine appellation that we find and it simply means that you too are positionally holy in being set aside in this place. You're holy because God has made you holy. I was nearly going to say intrinsically holy, that would be wrong. They were made positionally holy through the death of Christ and through the call of God and they're set apart in holiness to represent God. Now then that does raise very very great responsibilities. If we have a position of holiness before God we are called upon to be true to that and we need holy lives. My that's something in a depraved world. You cannot listen to a radio or pick up a newspaper but be impressed with the amount of filth that's in this wretched world. The violence, the filth, the corruption is getting worse and worse and worse becoming a pit, a sink of iniquity. In the midst of such conditions and they did exist in Corinth as they exist today perhaps in a far greater way because it's more cultured filth today than it was paganized filth in that day and dear friends you are called upon and I am called upon to be holy in accord with our position. It's an honored place to be set apart by God in holiness, a very honored place indeed, a tremendous honor but also a tremendous responsibility to be true to that in our everyday lives because there's no such thing as going to church on Sunday and feel that we've fulfilled all our responsibilities. I know the Church of God at Corinth consisted of persons, not a building like this or any other building, it consisted of persons and those persons every day of their lives represented God not just when they came together, every day of their lives they were looked upon as representing God in their work and wherever they went they were representing God and as sanctified set apart for God they were to live lives of holiness. That's a big challenge, it is to me and I'm sure it is to you in our words, in our ways and in our thoughts to be in practice in consistency with the position that God gives to us. Raises many questions as to what we do with our lives and then we find as we move down to chapter 9, verse 9 rather, God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Here is something else that marked that little company, they were looked upon as a fellowship. Now what does this word mean? Very very simply it means equal partaking, there isn't someone who has a greater part in the fellowship than another, they are all called into the fellowship of God's Son. Now let me explain this very simply, when the Lord Jesus was here on earth he called to himself 12 disciples, he had many disciples, there were many many disciples followed the Lord. We read about him sending out 70, he appeared unto 500 brethren at once, not necessarily called disciples but many people followed the Lord Jesus. Out of them all he chose 12 and they were with him and he was central to them. They weren't gathered together because of any natural desires on their part, oh I like him and I like her and so on, not that kind of thing, they were drawn together by a common power, the call of the Lord and the attraction that was in the Lord and his ability to hold them together. Oh there was envy amongst them, some were wanting the chief place, there were many faults amongst them but he kept them together while I was with you, lacked ye anything? He provided for them, cared for them, he was central to this little company. Well when he left them, went on high, they had a commission and that was to occupy the place that he had occupied, that now they were responsible to administer the truths that he had taught them. He was still the center of the fellowship but on that wonderful day of Pentecost, 120 gathered in that upper room and the Holy Spirit came down and the house of God and the body of Christ were formed by the descent of the Holy Spirit and then the preaching on Pentecost and 3,000 souls were saved and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles fellowship and teaching, breaking of bread and prayers. In other words they were joined to that little company of which Christ was the center and all the teaching that the Lord had given to them was passed on to those who were brought into this fellowship. That's how I understand that in Corinth these new believers were added to this fellowship, Christ was central to it, the Son of God in all his dignity, in all his greatness, they were brought into that and they had a common partaking in that, a common partaking in the privileges and also a common partaking in the responsibilities. I've often said this dear brethren, what kind of partner would you have in business if you had one that said I want to share all the profits but I'm not going to do any work? You would say well I don't want that kind of person to be a partner. Unfortunately that can often pertain in the Christian company, wanting to partake of the privileges, the remembrance of the Lord and other privileges that pertain to the Christian company but not prepared to do anything in a practical way in connection with the responsibilities, that's not fellowship. Fellowship is a common partaking. Now the first thing is the dignity of this fellowship, it's the fellowship of God's Son. Today we have many fellowships, many names are connected with fellowships, we have nothing to say about them in a disparaging way, their object is good, a desire to teach the young perhaps, desire to reach the unconverted, many ways are employed and sometimes the name fellowship is attached to them. In the Bible as far as I can understand this is the only fellowship that it countenances, a fellowship where Christ is central, where it takes character from him, his glory, his person, that's the glory of it, his teaching is the substance of it and his direction is the control of it and so this is a very wonderful fellowship indeed. And then to think of the responsibilities that belong to it as we've already said, the partaking in the responsibilities that belong to it, that is if there's work to be done you don't say well it's Joe Boggs, he's the man for that job. No, we, every one of us, the onus is definitely upon us, each individual to see the work that's to be done and to partake of all the responsibilities belonging to it. For instance, in the building of the wall in the days of Nehemiah there were many, if I can use the term fellowship in that day, there were many who were banded together with one object, they wanted to see the wall built and the interests of the Lord protected and there were some who built a piece opposite their house, very good thing to do. There were others who weren't content with building one piece, they built two pieces and unfortunately there were some who did nothing. The nobles, they never put their shoulder to the work, very very sad indeed. Now that to me is not a perfect picture of fellowship but I'll tell you what it is. When God gave instructions for the building of a tabernacle, all the people were involved, the women, the men, and they all brought something and they were all willing-hearted and it was such a wonderful response that Moses said, enough, there's plenty here to deal with the matter. Well, that was a wonderful expression of fellowship. All were involved in this and that's what fellowship means in any Christian company that gathers to the name of the Lord. A wonderful appreciation of the privileges and the dignity and greatness of Christ and then the answer to it in seeking to do that which belongs to the fellowship for the interests of the Lord. Fellowship is a very wonderful thing, it always means fellow partaking or common partaking, not one standing out above another but all contributing to this matter. Now we move on to chapter 3. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are? In architecture, not that I know anything about it but I do know this, in architecture today you'll still find the statement Corinthian columns and it's obtained from those wonderful temples that were in existence in Paul's day and were scattered throughout the city of Corinth and these temples were employed in heathen worship, the worshipping of idols, idols that men had made and that was an insult to God and affront to God. Oh, read the Bible carefully and see how often idolatry is referred to and see how often God condemns it, wicked thing, idolatry. I believe it's one of the reasons of the decline of the Christian testimony in our land where so many heathen idols are being worshipped, so many heathen temples are being raised in so-called Christian Britain but in Corinth these temples existed. Now Paul uses the same figure, I don't think the figure here is the temple that Solomon built, I think it's in direct contrast to those idol temples where idols were worshipped. Now says Paul, look at them, beautiful edifices, marvelous buildings, tremendous ornamentation, very attractive to the eye, everything sensual, the music, the incense and the wonderful decorations connected with the idol, everything to attract the senses. Now he says ye are the temple of God and he doesn't say you should be, he says ye are, ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. Now here's another wonderful way in which Christians in Corinth were in relationship with God, they formed a dwelling place for himself that by his spirit he dwelt in that company in Corinth. He couldn't possibly dwell in those idol temples, they were an affront to him. When the Jews or the Israelites raised a temple in the temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, God couldn't stay there, the glory of God left the scene, it departed never to return until the future when the glory will will come into the temple built and as we find in the book of Ezekiel. But God could never dwell in those idol temples but he could dwell in this company in Corinth. Here was a place where he was welcome, where he could dwell, sin was put away, the Holy Spirit was active, his interests were held, Christ was honored, here was one company where he could dwell and he says God, Paul says ye are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you and he says this temple is holy. It's good if you don't read it because it's not nice to read, it's defiling to read but if you read church history and read about the practices that were connected with idol temples or even read pagan authors, the licentious, depraved, wicked, evil things that went on in those idol temples, it was just absolute filth. Now says Paul you're a direct contrast to that, you're holy, ye are holy, this temple that is reared for God is a holy temple, it's not a temple of stones and pillars and gold and silver, it's living persons, persons forming a dwelling place for God where he is known. Now it seems to me that this is a tremendous thing for any of us to take account of as Christians, that when we meet together here is a place where God can dwell by his Spirit. Isn't that tremendous? Isn't that marvelous that the eternal God, the living God could make his presence known to us today by his Spirit as we gather together simply in this character as the temple of God? It's wonderful, it is indeed marvelous that such a great and wonderful God should deign to dwell amongst us by his Spirit, make his presence known so that we might be reverential towards him, that we might worship him and that too our holy lives are in keeping with the position that we have, oh how wonderful. Those priests who operated in the idol temples were given over to every form of wickedness. Can those who form the temple allow themselves to be governed by any form of wickedness in a practiced way, in a deliberate way, day by day as those heathen worshipers did? No. The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are in your life by an abhorrence of evil. Sometimes you're not so much concerned about God seeing us, we're very concerned about the brethren seeing us or our neighbors seeing us, very, very concerned and might be very, very free and easy when we think that nobody sees us and forget that God sees us whatever we do or wherever we are. And so holiness in the sight of God is an abhorrence of evil. Doesn't matter what form that evil takes, you can have refined evil, you can have depraved evil, but they're all evil, all forms of evil in opposition to God. The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are. And so I think it's a wonderful thing to take account of that in the city of Corinth there were believers who formed the temple of God, God dwelt there, God was worshipped and there was a corresponding condition in the lives of those who formed his temple. Now we move over to chapter 12. It's impossible to speak about all the details of the relationships that Christians had with each other in this epistle, time's nearly gone, but we want to say a few words about this figure that Paul employs, the body. Now we ought to say here that we do not find a presentation of Christ as head of the body. There is a reference to head, but it's not Christ as head of the body, it's just the figure of a body. And from that Paul says now ye are the body of Christ, that is in Corinth this company was the body of Christ, that is they were there to represent him, they were there to express him and also to express in their relations with each other that which was pleasing to God and pleasing to Christ. Now if we think of the church of Corinth as a house, it's quite possible that people could come and say yes, we are true believers, I said at the beginning it would be very abnormal because there was power to detect that in that day as we see in the case of Peter, how he detected somebody who was counterfeit. But anyone could profess in an outward way, they would be breaking bread, they would be partaking of the privileges, but they wouldn't be real, they would be professors. Now that can never take place in connection with the body, the reason is we can look at verse 18 of chapter 12 where it says and now have God set the members, every one of them in the body as it has pleased him. Now that verse clearly indicates to us that no member can be in the body who is an unbeliever, impossible. God would never set an unbeliever in the body, God only sets in the body members that are real and true and vital and that's a very important distinction to remember that in the house, yes, there could be members, there could be people professing to be real Christians, accepted as real Christians on their own testimony and yet unfortunately be unreal. But this is impossible in connection with the body for two reasons, in the work of the spirit in verse 13, 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. There is the activity of the Holy Spirit, he baptizes all the members into one body and God sets the members in the body as it pleases him. So the body is a divine arrangement and shuts out and excludes anything that's extraneous or erroneous. So it's very very important to keep in mind this distinction. In chapter 5 of this epistle we find that there was a man who was behaving in an outrageous way and he was excommunicated from the company. He was not put out of the body, that's impossible, but he was deprived of the privileges that belong to the house of God in its testimony here upon earth. Doesn't matter, suppose I did something that was wrong and I was excommunicated from the company of believers, I would be deprived of opportunities to serve the Lord or to do things to remember the Lord and other things. I would be deprived of that privilege but I wouldn't be excluded from the body if I'm a true believer, that's impossible. Oh how wonderful then the presentation of this truth because it indicates believers united together and they are all interdependent upon each other. One member cannot say because I'm not that member, well I'm not of the body. That's a very low understanding of the truth of the body. And another one says I'm the I, so I'm the body. That's one member claiming all the greatness to himself, absolutely wrong. And the truth of the body indicates there's no such thing in the Bible as a one-man ministry. The body is looked upon as one company of Christians just as the human body is absolutely dependent upon each of its members. The hands, the feet, and all the members of the body, all related to each other, all working together, and all for the common end of expressing what comes from the head. Although we don't find here the head presented as Christ, the head of the body, but simply the head in its normal setting as part of the body, controlling and directing. Oh dear brethren, if this truth were known and practiced there wouldn't be the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, Baptist, Methodist, Brethren, all kinds of different Christians under different labels. There wouldn't be such a thing. It says in verse 25 that there should be no schism in the body or no division in the body. What we say today in the testimony of Christianity is a public disgrace to the name of Christ and to the name of God. It's a denial of the truth of God, and I often feel that we are not sufficiently humiliated by the disgrace to the name of the Lord Jesus, that which is so precious to him, so real to him, so vital to him, should be divided and broken as it is. Certainly a denial of the body of Christ. And no matter how much we endeavor, those who understand the truth of the body, those who understand something of its principles and its workings, no matter how much we endeavor to do this, if there are many, many other Christians in the area, real members of the body of Christ, and they're not working together with us in this matter, the expression of the truth must be impaired. It must be. And so, oh dear friends, how much we should pray for a revival of interest of this wonderful truth that Christians, all Christians, are interdependent upon each other and should be working together under the control and direction of the head and the authority of the Word of God, no one-man ministry, no independence, guided and controlled by the Word of God. Can it be realized? Yes, it can in every measure where you and I and other believers put it into practice in our lives. The Bible says clearly that there should be no schism in the body. I don't believe for one moment that we could possibly acquiesce in all the divisions that take place or have taken place and are in function in the Christian testament today. But what we can do, we can pray zealously for every true believer in Christ. We can pray for their formation in the truth and ourselves, of course, not assuming that we are a cut above the rest because we have a knowledge of this truth, not for one moment. That would be false pride indeed. But to pray earnestly that there might be no division, no schism in the body, but a true working out in any locality for the pleasure of the Lord. It's often been said and rightly said that in the epistle to the Romans, the truth of the body is brought forward as a guard against independency. You see, the chapter opens with each person is to devote his body to God for God's will. And there might be the easy tendency to say, well, I'm giving my body to God, now I'll just do as he tells me. Of course, we might be very mistaken as to what God wants us to do. And so I'm not listening to what anybody else says. I'm going in this way, I'm doing this, and the next thing, this is God's will for me. I don't care what anybody else says. Well, that would be a very wrong attitude indeed. And so Paul brings in the balancing truth of we are members, one of another, many members, many members in Christ. So the truth of the body is brought in in Romans 12 as a balancing against any inclination or tendency towards independency. But in Corinthians 12, the truth of the body is brought forward very definitely as a guard against any one member setting himself up as the body. Listen to what it says. Yes, there it is. Verse 19. If they were all one member, where were the body? One member, in some way or other, trying to rule, control, and express what he believes is the right thing for the body. One member. In other words, if you like one man ministry, if you like a plain statement clericalism, one man may be ordained by unconverted men to occupy a place amongst believers to direct and control, that's foreign to the truth of the body, absolutely. A young man staying just a few doors from where I live studied for the ministry in the Church of Scotland. And in the process of his studying, he had to have an examination by a certain board. And they were there to ascertain if he was a fit candidate for the ministry. And they had the power to refuse him any further instruction or any further education in this particular matter. So I asked him, I said, George, were these true believers? No, he says, they weren't. He says, as far as I could understand, he says, I don't think they were true believers in the sense that we speak of true believers. What an awful thing that even the Apostle Paul would have been denied the privilege of preaching for Christ if they didn't, if he hadn't added up to what that board wanted. That kind of thing is absolutely foreign to the Word of God. Each member is under the direction of Christ, guided by the authority of the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit, and takes his place in part in the gathered company, owning his interdependence with other members, not lording it over, not seeking a precedence or a place of prominence, but simply as a member of the body of Christ, doing what the Lord directs him to do. And we should say this, that as far as we can see in Scripture, this is the only membership that the Bible recognizes, not a member of a house, but the member of a body. Not the member of a company, the member of the brethren, or a member of the Church of Scotland or the Church of England, the member written on a church roll. That kind of thing is foreign to the Word of God. Membership of a body, that's the only membership that the Word of God countenances. And this ought to be said plainly because this is what the Word of God teaches. Now the dignity, just as I close. What a wonderful thing to realize that we're set in a position by God. God has set us there, that is, if we're true believers. We've been baptized in virtue of what took place at Pentecost. That was the one initial baptism, never to be repeated, and every believer, when he trusts the Lord, comes into that body in virtue of what took place at Pentecost. Only done once, never repeated. And there, they're set by God, there they're set by the Holy Spirit, and they're there for the interest of Christ, for the interest of God. What a dignity. And then the relationships and responsibilities, we are interdependent upon one another. We need each other. That's why I say it's bound to be seriously impaired if all believers in any given area are not together. I can't throw away this hand and say I don't need it anymore. I need my fingers, I need my hand. We need other believers. We need all to be working together according to the truth that we find in this chapter. They're members of the body. We didn't arrange that. God arranged it. It's a divine arrangement. It will last for all eternity. The fact that this is a an organism, not an organization, living life connected with Christ in glory, and this is something that God has done, no man could do it. And for that reason, we need each other. And we cannot despise other Christians in any way whatsoever. We might not agree with things that they believe and do. That's another matter altogether. And we have to have a correct scriptural judgment in relation to that. But if they're true members of the body of Christ, they deserve to be recognized at that level, not at any lower level. Because this is what God has done. This is what Christ has made them. This is what the Spirit has done. And we have to recognize that. Oh, how wonderful then when Paul says, ye are the body of Christ and members in particular. That's true of any given area, and will be true until the Lord comes. We'll never be destroyed. It might not be in the best possible expression, but it's divine. And because it's divine, it can never be destroyed. Now, these are only a few things, dear brethren. And there are many, many other things. Time doesn't permit us to see any more. Well, may the Lord help us to appreciate these things. If I've said anything wrong, then please correct me. …

… Now will you turn please to the Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 5. Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 5, and verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Verse 31. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you, in particular, so love his wife even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We will look at other scriptures as we go along, very important scriptures too. The exercise for tonight is natural relationships and how they have to be viewed as belonging to God and centered in God or in Christ. And this is extremely important that at the very outset we establish that relationships are of God and should be maintained according to the standard that God gives to us in his precious word. So we're going back again to the Garden of Eden to see God the creator and the relationships that he established. And again I say it's most important to view things in that light. First of all, the man coming direct from the hands of God, created in his image and likeness. Marvelous creation. A creation that was able to respond to God intelligently, able to directly appreciate God in a way that the animals never could. And you young people at school, when they tell you that man is just an animal, like other animals, don't believe it because it's not true. The man came directly from the hands of God. God breathed into him the breath of life. He became a living soul, intelligent to respond to God in a way that the other creation, the other preachers, could never do. Man was made to look up and appreciate God and respond to him. Indeed, the old catechism told us that man's chief end was to glorify God and enjoy him forever. That's the man. Then God created a helpmate for Adam. He saw that there was no satisfaction for Adam in all the creatures that were around. And so he made a woman, taking a rib from Adam, and created the woman that she might be for him. And so at the very beginning, we find God established a natural relationship, and that principle still holds good today. One man, one woman. And that relationship is God-made, not man-made, and this is what God delights in when this is maintained according to his mind and will. The man, unfortunately, after the fall, was to rule over the woman, something that wasn't stated at the beginning. The woman was to be a helpmate for him, a complement of him, one who could be with him and satisfy his heart. Unfortunately, sin came in, and we find this added thing that he is to rule over her, and she is to be subservient to him. Not in a tyrannical way. That's never in scripture. Not in a tyrannical way. But in the order of creation that God has given, this is the woman's place in relation to the man. And if that's put out of that order, if it's destroyed, if it's rejected, if it's disobeyed, it can only produce sorrow. Well then, there is the man and the woman, a human relationship, but God-given, and can find its true satisfaction when both live in relation to God. Both were directly responsible to God, and then as husband and wife collectively were responsible to God. And then the children came along, Cain and Abel. Given by God, this was God's way to continue the human life upon earth, and he made the man and the woman that this could be so. And so those two sons were born, and the parents were directly responsible to God in the upbringing of their offspring. A divinely given relationship, and so again I say, responsible to God to bring their children up for God in the way he made himself known to them at that time. And then Cain and Abel, in their responsibility, were directly responsible to God to answer to their parents. So here is another divine relationship, a natural relationship rather, divinely given. And that's something that we take account of. And then lastly, there was the responsibility of Cain to Abel, and Abel to Cain. A brotherly relationship, a natural relationship, and both were responsible to God in their attitude to each other. Now it seems to me it's extremely important to go right back to the beginning and see the natural relationships that God established. And not only were they established for the benefit of those upon earth, but were established that they might respond to God in those relationships. And that is true right through the Bible to the very end. Now we come to New Testament teaching, and there is a tremendous amount of teaching in relation to this matter of husband and wife. As we said in prayer, it was a joy to the Lord Jesus to go to certain homes. The home Bethany was one particular home where he was welcome. They made him a supper. A united effort, not husband and wife, two sisters and a brother, but nevertheless a home where the Lord was welcome. But we'll see in a moment that there are families in the Bible, husbands and wives, who really do please the Lord. Anyway, it's important to see what the scripture says in New Testament teaching regarding this important matter of a home. A home regulated for God, and regulated too for their own natural enjoyment. Let me say this at the very outset. That the homes of the saints are the real barriers in the opposing of worldly principles and worldly ideas. That what pertains to the gathered company of the church should pertain in relation to the home. That there isn't a standard for the home that you can make yourself. There should be a standard maintained in the home that will find its outlet when we gather together in the assembly. And of course that applies to individuals who haven't homes. But all that we are naturally should provide or should provide substance so that it finds an outlet when we come together. The two things are not separate in the sense that they're not connected. What pertains to the home affects the assembly. We'll see that later on. And so these homes are to be governed so that they contribute to the upkeeping of that which is pleasurable to the Lord. And that's why we find so much instruction in the epistles to this great matter. Well then first of all I want to draw your attention to 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 15. It's important that we read these because you'll remember them better than anything I say. I'm particularly concerned about the end of verse 15. There's a lot in the portion that could be read as to the adornment and to women learning in silence. And not to use up authority over the man. That's all important. And we're told that Adam was first formed then Eve and Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in transgression. And then there's a reference, very encouraging indeed, notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing. Then it goes on to say if they continue in faith and love and holiness with sobriety. Now this was impressed upon my heart that here are four things that can mark a home. Notice it says if they continue, that is husband and wife together, continue marked by faith, marked by love, marked by sobriety. I've just forgotten the other one. It shows how my poor mind slips so easy. Let me read it correctly. Chapter 2, verse 15. If they continue in faith, love and holiness with sobriety. I don't need to tell you that you can look in vain in the homes of unconverted people for features like that. Yes, you might find natural love, thank God that that still exists and owned by God. Unnatural affection is one of the marks of the last days. Disobedient to children and disobedient to parents, another mark of the last days. And so we can see that what pertains in the home is very, very important in the sight of God. Here we find these four things, faith, love, holiness and sobriety. I don't think any Christian home can be successfully ordered for God unless these four features are in attendance. These four features are being practiced. Faith. There are many trials in the Christian home. I don't need to tell a company like this. We are not very long married before there are trials of one kind and another of material character. And in other ways too, pressures come upon the company, the husband and wife. And so the exercise of faith is so important that there might be faith in God. He established the relationship and he is the one who can maintain it. And I believe that's absolutely necessary in the days in which we find ourselves. Unfortunately, what is prevailing in the world is spilling over into the Christian profession and the marriage bond is being given up. And oh, how important it is that the exercise of faith, faith in God by husband and wife is practiced so that there might be power to withstand the encroachments of the enemy in the world and its influences into the home and to maintain what is right and proper before God. And then we find this matter of holiness. Holiness. Oh, what a tremendous matter that is. Holiness. Holiness practiced in the home. To use a human expression, it's so easy to let the hair down in the home. Pardon the expression. So easy to let the defenses down in the home. So easy to say, well, I'm in my home, it doesn't really matter how I conduct myself. Oh, no. God says holiness should mark the home. Holiness of conduct, holiness of conversation, holiness of thought. What's proper to the church should be in the home, holiness. And so what we say and what we do and our actions and our transactions mark by holiness. As we've said already in these meetings, an abhorrence of evil. And then it speaks about love. Now, I believe principally this is love towards each other. It certainly cannot omit love towards God or love towards Christ or love towards Christians or love towards unconverted people. But a marriage bond in its natural way is cemented together by love for each other. Where there is true love, God-given love. This is the great matter. It's God who has given this kind of love in the human heart to be active towards each other. And that's a great barrier indeed against the wiles of the enemy. And if they continue in that, then there will be something for God. No doubt at all that it involves much more what I've mentioned. Love to God, to Christ, to the saints and also to the unconverted. But if there isn't love towards each other, there's going to be a great deal of niggling and suspicion and distance and all that kind of thing. Which will eventually bring a complete breakdown and eventually separation. Now, God doesn't want that kind of thing. He wants the man and the woman to be together in love. Love for each other. And that's what Paul says in Ephesians that we read together. Husbands, love your wives. And the direct responsibility of every home rests very squarely upon the shoulders of the husband. If he is the head, and the Bible says that he is the head, then the onus in the running of his house rests upon him. And of course, if the wife is true to what God created at the beginning, she's a helpmate. Then she'll be behind her husband and will help him and support him. And to fall in with what's God given and obviously what is pleasing to God. It's one of the saddest things that we find in the Christian testimony. That a godless sister will be held up by an unspiritual husband. Or a spiritual husband will be held up by an unspiritual wife. But wonderful when we find both working together. Both desiring to do the will of the Lord. Continuing in faith, in love, in holiness, and in sobriety. Now that doesn't mean that we don't drink alcoholic beverages. I hope that we don't. Better if we continually refuse such things because there is great danger in them. Many an alcoholic arrived there through beginning with social drinking. And then getting a taste for this kind of thing. And developing more and more and more until the person is an alcoholic. Now Paul says, if this eating meat offends my brother, then I won't eat meat. And he says there are many things that are lawful to me, but many things that are not expedient. And I would class alcoholic drink in the line of that which is not expedient. And better if we keep clear of it. But that's not the meaning of sobriety. The meaning of sobriety is doing what is reasonable, doing what is proper in the sight of God. A sober mind, able to think rightly in relation to the things of God. Well now, isn't that wonderful to have a house governed by those four principles? Faith, love, holiness, sobriety. On for one or two evenings and then put them off for a conveniency. I know, they continue, they govern the household. Wonderful, wonderful place to be in such a home. And it's not only a beautiful picture hanging on the wall. Thank God it is being realized in many, many homes. And thank God they are a barrier against the encroachment of evil. There's one other scripture I want to draw your attention to. 1 Peter chapter 3. It's important that we look them up and see what the word of God says. 1 Peter chapter 3. Verse 5. No, I will read from verse 4. But let it be the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. Then it goes on to say, for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God, adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. That your prayers be not hindered. Here is an extremely important feature for the Christian home, prayer. Now Peter says, I want you to have certain features attaching to you, both husband and wife. And he says, I don't want your prayers hindered. Maybe that we wonder, why are our prayers not answered? We pray so often about so many things, why are these prayers not answered? It may be that we haven't answered to the things that are mentioned by Peter, that neither husband or wife add up to those qualifications or those features that should be with them, consequently their prayers are hindered. That would be the opposite of what Peter is saying. That your prayers be not hindered. My, that's wonderful. To see a Christian couple bowing their knees together in prayer. I know it's not always possible, and husband may rise very early in the morning, and there may be many other reasons why they can't kneel down together in the morning. But if they can't do it in the morning, they can do it at night. Or they can do it at any convenient time. But it's one of the essentials of the Christian home, is prayer. And my, it's a very, very powerful thing. To spend a little time in praying about the assembly that you're connected with. Praying about relatives, we're talking about natural relationships. Praying for relatives that are not converted. Praying for neighbors that they might be interested in relation to divine things. Praying for the Lord's servants. Praying for missionary work. Praying for all kinds of service connected with the Lord's name. Here is a tremendous field for prayer. And of course, the more knowledge that we have about the Lord's interests, the more effectual our prayers will be. And the more interesting they'll be to us too. So gather up every piece of knowledge that you can possibly find, and present that to the Lord in prayer. That your prayers together. Not the husband praying in his room, and the wife praying in her room, but praying together. Kneeling down together. Acknowledging the greatness of God, and the wonderful privilege of being together, and taking part in this great service of prayer. I think that's extremely important. So if we can just think of those five features. Faith. Love. Holiness. Sobriety. Prayers. And then ask ourselves, are these things in my home? Well if they aren't, it's high time they were. Because the word of God clearly indicates that that's what should be in our homes. And as we've seen in Ephesians 5, love the husband's responsibility to love the wife's responsibility to be subject to her husband. As head, he seeks to direct her into the things that are pleasing to the Lord. I said we would mention families that exhibited this kind of feature that's pleasing to the Lord. And my, we cannot do better than refer to Priscilla and Aquila. What a wonderful couple they were. Thoroughly devoted to the interests of the Lord. United together. Always together. As far as my memory is concerned, I don't think there was an occasion where they're mentioned without being together. It's always Priscilla and Aquila, or Aquila and Priscilla. They're together, and they're serving the Lord. They were a great help to Paul. They were a great help to Apollos. And they really worked for the Lord. They laid down their neck for the interests of the saints. They were together in it. Well, that's a wonderful feature. And thank God that is a living reality today. There are homes where husband and wife are united, thoroughly united, in the interests of the Lord. And, too, love and headship recognized. Recognized, yes, these things are in practice. They're not just nice pictures in the Bible. Well, then, we come now to parents. And to children. It's a very high standard that the Scripture puts upon the obedience of children. Very, very high standard indeed. You would notice it says in Ephesians chapter 6, Children, obey your parents in the Lord. In the Lord. Not simply be obedient to your parents. That's excellent. But to be obedient to your parents in the Lord. I believe believing children and believing parents. So that the obedience is rendered in that context. My, that's a marvelous standard. I listened to a little boy today. I don't think his parents are Christians. I may be wrong, of course. But I was very, very impressed by the mannerliness of that little boy. The way he spoke. His manners were impeccable. My, it's very wonderful to see a little boy being brought up with manners like that in this discourteous world. The way he spoke was just a tribute to the way he'd been brought up. He was mannerly. Now, in a greater way, to see children obedient to their parents. Because they know it's in the Lord. Their parents belong to the Lord. They belong to the Lord. And they do it for that reason. I remember hearing about a young sister in Germany. Who dressed in a certain way. Who had her hair in a certain way. And it impressed the young man to such an extent. That he asked her why she was dressed in this particular way. And why she wore her hair in this particular way. She wasn't like the other students. Or she said, I'm a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm a Christian. Oh, he says, you've got to do it. Oh, no. She says, I do it because I love the Lord. Now, that's true obedience. And so children, if they obey their parents. Not simply to do it in a technical kind of way. It's the right thing to do. But to do it because the Lord wants them to do it. Well, that's the best possible standard. That's what the Bible says. To obey in the Lord. And we can remember this. That we have the most wonderful example. In the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Think of any boy or any girl. Being obedient. In the same way as the Lord Jesus was obedient. It says he was obedient. He went down and was obedient to his parents. A dear brother well known to us all. Who had a very, very difficult time with his parents. When he was first converted. And they put him under all kinds of pressure. So bad that he decided to leave home. And so he went to an old brother in Port Seton. And he asked his advice. And the brother said, go and do as the Lord Jesus did. Be obedient subject to your parents. And he did. And he never regretted it. And so a very wonderful opportunity there is for young children. To obey their parents. And please God. Cain and Abel were directly responsible to Adam and Eve. Oh, what a sorrow Cain was to his parents. Dear children. Don't be a sorrow to your parents. Obey them. Follow their advice in the Lord. They're concerned about your spiritual welfare. Abel, I'm perfectly sure, was a joy to Adam and Eve. He offered up the right sacrifice. Obviously taught by Adam and perhaps by Eve too. And he did what was pleasing to God. And I'm sure it pleased his parents. Dear children. Think about the love that your parents have for you. And the desire that they have for you to follow in the way that's pleasing to God. Don't act in such a way that you bring disgrace upon your parents. And particularly upon the name of the Lord. There was a man who did this. Isaac, he was a pleasure to his parents. Esau deliberately did something that he knew would cause his parents sorrow. Did not consider for their feelings in one little bit. Deliberately married, as we would say today, an unconverted person. And did exactly the opposite of his parents' desires. Could almost say, I want to hurt them as much as I possibly can. What a hateful attitude. And so dear friends, it's a very, very wonderful thing. When children are obedient to their parents in the Lord. Hophni, Phinehas, they were a disgrace to their parents. A disgrace to Eli. A disgrace in divine things and a disgrace in moral things. Know what sorrow they brought to the heart of Eli. How sad it is to see children obeying in this way. But very, very delightful indeed. To see children acting in such a way as to be an encouragement to their parents. We ought to say this too in relation to husbands particularly. Because we said what pertains to the home certainly pertains to the assembly. And there's a scripture that we cannot bypass. And it's, if a man can't rule his own house, he can't rule in the church of God. Now, you can't bypass that. Plain statement from the word of God. If a man cannot rule his own home and direct it for the pleasure of God. Then he's disqualified from having any part in ruling the church. Now, that's the word of God that says that, not me. And we cannot bypass the word of God. And we find too that elders and deacons are given instructions. And the qualifications are extremely high. And they're to be right individually. And they're to be right in their home. And they're to be right in the assembly. And they're to be right in the world. My, my. Very, very great qualifications. But the home we're talking about tonight, right in the home. And then there is a good testimony. So that nobody speaks about those Christians. Look how they behave in the home. It says that the word of God might not be slandered. The word of God might not be despised. Because of the conduct in the home. And that's what happened in Eli's day. The behavior was so bad. Those two sons, the behavior was so bad. That the very offerings were despised. The testimony in approach to God was despised. Very, very sad thing indeed. And then too it says in connection with those people, the elders and the deacons. That their homes are to be right. That the ministry might not be blamed in any way. There might not be any disrespect shown to the things that belong to the Lord. And so dear friends, a very careful examination shows the importance of the home. In relation to the working out of the assembly. For a few minutes I want to speak about the responsibility of say brothers to brothers. And I don't know a better portion to consider than Joseph. Joseph was ill treated by his brethren. Badly treated. They showed no respect to him whatsoever. No respect for him whatsoever. And as you know he was sold as a slave. And became the head in Egypt. And then his brethren came to him. And oh what a wonderful opportunity Joseph had. Of dealing with them in a way that they deserved. But he didn't show any spirit of vengeance. He showed the spirit of forgiveness. And when they were very, very much concerned about what they had done. When they realized that this was Joseph. My, they were affrighted indeed. But he says it was God who did all this. Now he says I want to do the best for you. Oh what an attitude. In families it's so easy for envy and distance. To creep in and unhappiness caused in the family. Because of this kind of thing. Special favorites. Oh how sad it can be in a home. But here is Joseph who is governed by affection for his brothers. And he had no right to be affectionate in a natural way. But he was. And he was forgiving. He was kind, considerate. And he did all that he could to be a blessing to his brethren. I think that was a wonderful attitude. What a hateful attitude the brothers showed towards him. Because it was obvious he was a favorite. And had every right to be a favorite. Because he was making some progress in doing what was right to his father. And obviously to God. That of course didn't in any way make him on a pedestal above everybody else. But there was something special about Joseph that pleased his father. What a hateful spirit they showed towards him. Of anger and envy and jealousy. Now when he got the chance, he showed them love. And it's very, very fine to see this attitude between brothers and sisters in any family. Acting towards each other with that fineness of feeling that is so pleasing to God. This is what Cain failed in. Am I my brother's keeper, he said. And God would say to him, yes you are. You're the elder brother. You should be setting an example. You should be concerned about doing what's right towards your brother. And in some measure he was his brother's keeper. He should have been acting towards his brother in a brotherly way. But he didn't. And he was murderous and cruel. And he killed his brother. But we find in the Minor Prophets, there is a reference made to those who forgot the brotherly covenant. Forgot that there was a certain relationship in which they were. That demanded they should act towards their brethren in a right and proper way. And in a higher sense, in the assembly that's true for each of us. We're all brethren in Christ. And we are to act towards each other as brethren. But we're talking particularly about the family circle. Now one last reference. And it's a very important one. And that is widows. There are many widows amongst the saints. And they have to be cared for. And very special references are made in the New Testament as to their care. The different qualifications that mark them. And they are very precious to the heart of God. For true religion and undefiled before God and the Father is to be kind to the widows and the children. To visit them in their affliction. And so God puts a great stress indeed on the widows. And I think it's very, very important to remember that just before the Lord was born. It wasn't a company of young people that was waiting for him. It was elderly people. The young people weren't there. There was Anna. There was Zacharias and Elizabeth. The elderly people, old Simeon too. There they were and oh how they responded when the angels spoke to them. So we're deeply thankful for what the scripture says about widows. They should be cared for. They should be a matter for concern. And so these are natural relationships owned by God, given by God. And to be followed up as far as we are able in the power of the spirit in relation to the Christian company. Every Christian company is made up of individuals. Husband and wife, children. Now just let us think for a moment of a husband and wife who don't speak to each other because of some disagreeableness. And they go along to the breaking of bread. Is it a light matter that can be ignored simply because they're husband and wife? Oh it will sort itself out. Not for one moment. The regulations that are laid down for us in Matthew 5 would apply. Get these matters settled before you bring your gift to the altar. And so it's extremely important that husband and wife are right with each other and before the Lord in relation to the remembrance of the Lord. Then say there is continual strife in the home and there isn't that attitude of love. That will spill over into the assembly. It's bound to. And so how right it is that husband and wife are right before the Lord with each other and working together harmoniously. And two in relation to children in the family circle, exactly the same. There is no exemption because we belong to a family that we can please ourselves in what we say and what we do. No dear friends, husband and wife, children, if they're breaking bread and if they're Christians, then it's extremely important that what applies to them and applies to others, what applies to others applies to them. There should be that rectitude of life before the Lord in those natural relationships so that what pertains to the assembly is not affected in an adverse way. And so I think you will see that the homes of the saints are extremely important, extremely important. I was reading to a brother Robert Burns's poem, The Cotter's Saturday Night. And would to God that what the poet described were true today in the homes in Scotland and also in the homes in England. And then after the supper was finished, the father, the husband, gets the old family Bible and begins to read it and read it to his wife and to his children and to the young man who was there. And after they were finished reading the Bible and saying something about it, they began to sing the songs of Zion and then they all kneeled down and prayed. Wonderful portrayal of life at that time in many a Christian home. Sad to say, not so many now. But I believe that what the poet portrayed is what the scriptures represent. A home of love in natural things and a home given up to spiritual things and both of them in their own place before God. Natural and spiritual, both pleasing to God. Now it's easy to talk about these things and it's easy to lay out divine principles as they're found in the Bible. Not always so easy to work them out as in any divine thing. Oh, so easy to talk about them, but not so easy to put them into practice. But that responsibility rests on your shoulders and mine. If we have homes or even if we are individuals, the principles in the Bible are there to be obeyed. May we be encouraged for his namesake. …

… We turn please to Romans chapter 13, Romans 13, and we'll read from verse 1, Romans 13, verse 1. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all the Jews tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Now 1 Peter chapter 2. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 13. We read from verse 12. Verse 12. Having your conversation on it honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they shall behold glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. As free and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God, honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Now 1 Timothy chapter 2. And verse 1. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 1. I exhort therefore that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men. For kings and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. Now lastly Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. Sorry it's chapter 6. Sorry, chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 5. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling. In singleness of your heart as unto Christ. Not with eye service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. With good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men. Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free. And ye masters do the same things unto them. Forbearing threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is there respect of persons with him. We've seen that the Christian life is not simply attending meetings four, five, six, possibly seven times in a week. But the Christian life affects us everywhere in every walk of life. We've seen it in relation to God, our responsibilities to him flowing out from the blessings that we have received from him. And then too we've seen the relationships that we have with other believers, the blessings of them and the responsibilities too. And last night we were considering the homes of the believers and the responsibilities, husbands, wives and children. Tonight we want to speak about the Christian responsibility in the world, in secular matters. And that has a very, very large place indeed in scripture. We're beginning tonight with the references to obeying the powers that be. I think this is quite a problem at times when people think of powers that exist in the world that are so anti-God. Is it possible that such powers are ordained by God? And we say without question, yes, without question. And we want to prove this. First of all then, I think it would be wise to consider a little what is called the times of the Gentiles. This is in connection with rule upon earth. And it's necessary to understand this in order to understand why the apostle enjoins believers to obey the powers that be. You know that God ordained a nation, blessed it in a very wonderful way, that it should be his particular nation upon earth. A peculiar people, a people of possession for himself. And virtually they were to rule the world. That's what God had in mind. We'll read in Deuteronomy that the bounds were set for Israel and then the nations round about Israel. This was God's intention that Israel should be the center and all the nations of the Gentiles ruled through them. Well we know how that failed, failed miserably. Not because there was anything wrong with God's plan, but because there was a great deal wrong with men and women in the flesh who did not obey what God enjoined. There was the weakness, disobedience. Well the time came when God scattered the northern kingdom amongst the nations and eventually the southern kingdom Judah was carried into captivity. And then began the times of the Gentiles. That is the Gentiles were given the opportunity to rule upon earth to maintain some measure of peace and law so that anarchy, chaos, might not rule. Now the times of the Gentiles are still running on. They have not stopped. They have not finished. They won't finish until the Lord Jesus Christ comes in power and glory to set up his kingdom when he will reign over Israel and eventually the whole world. Now I believe it is absolutely necessary to see this in order to understand the injunctions of Paul and Peter. You say, why do you say that? Because it helps us to understand that God sets up powers that are certainly not favorable towards him. Idolatrous powers, but they are given the opportunity to rule correctly. Now Romans 13 gives us the clear indication of the responsibility of every government that rules no matter where it rules. Whether it is Britain, the Far East, or Africa, or anywhere, anywhere in this world, Romans 13 describes to us the responsibility of every government. And that is simply to encourage the good and to curb the evil. And they have a charge from God to do this. In the first king who was reigning in the times of the Gentiles, Nebuchadnezzar, the prophet Daniel said to him, King, break off your evil ways and show kindness to the poor. Now in that statement we have a simple assertion of what Romans 13 is saying. Don't do evil, do good. And that's the responsibility of every government. And when it falls down on those two things, it is failing to discharge its responsibility to God. Now we must make this clear, that although God ordains governments, he is not responsible for the evil that those governments do. Because we've said already, the responsibility of those governments is to do good and not to do evil and to curb evil. So if the government of Russia is ordained by God, and I believe it is, then it is directly responsible to God to curb evil in whatever way it arises and to promote good. Instead of that, it has adulterated its responsibility and is anti-God in all its ways. Yet there is still a measure of good rule maintained. Anarchy doesn't rule in Russia or in many other parts of the world. Unfortunately in some parts it does. I think we're seeing the breakdown of rule in society in Northern Ireland. And very, very sad it is to see. And also in many parts of the world. Now it's in that background that Paul and Peter give their injunctions to the Christians. And remember, we have direct scripture for what we've been saying. Because Nebuchadnezzar had to go through a very, very painful and trying experience to realize that God rules in the kingdoms of men. And he sets up whomsoever he will, even the basest of men. And that's still true today. Now then, Paul says, let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. You cannot get a plainer statement to prove what I've been saying. That whatever power exists in this world, it exists by the authority of God. And remember, God can use the nations to chastise whatever part of the world he chooses to chastise. He used the Assyrian nation to chastise Israel. And in its pride and arrogance, it thought that it was doing its own will instead of doing God's will. And God chastised it for its pride and arrogance. And so here we find those Christians under the Roman power. The last form of the times of the Gentiles. Still in existence in a very powerful way when Paul wrote to the Christians at Ephesus. And to the Christians at Rome and also his other epistles. Rome was certainly in the ascendancy at that time. Well then, Paul says, you have to be obedient to the powers that be. It's very, very striking that when Pilate spoke to the Lord Jesus and said to him, don't you know that I have power to release you or to crucify you? The Lord said, thou hast no power against me except to be given thee from above. There's a direct reference that Pilate was ruling in the will of God. God had set up the Roman power for his own purpose. Pilate had delegated power from the emperor. And the Lord Jesus told him plainly that that power that he exercised was from above. But the Lord Jesus submitted to it. That's a very, very striking thing. And as we were singing together and praying together, the Lord Jesus is our example in these things. Just as he was an example for children when he was obedient to his parents, here is an example for us in submitting ourselves to the government of the day, even though it involves suffering, as it did supremely in connection with the Lord Jesus. He could have called upon 12 legions of angels, more than 12 legions of angels, and they would have come to his help and all the power in Rome would have been nothing. But he chose to suffer under the hand of the power of the day, submitted to the evil judgment that was against him, never complained, never threatened, never rebelled, accepted it in humble submission to the will of God. And so Paul goes on to say that we mustn't resist the powers that be, because if you resist, in principle, you're resisting God. And, as I've said already, rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. He's on to say, he's the minister of God to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he beareth not the sword in vain, for he's the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. It's interesting in passing that the word here for minister is diaconess, that is, a deacon. So here we have an unconverted deacon. That would make someone's eyebrows rise. But this is a man who's a magistrate. He's secular ruler, and he has the sword in his hand, and he's to execute wrath against evildoers. Now, I believe the sword is the emblem of capital punishment. I know that this is a very vexed question in this country and in many parts of the world, but I believe that this scripture, and I want to draw your attention to another two, would indicate to us that the sword is the emblem, the symbol, of capital punishment. I want you to turn to Job chapter 19. Job chapter 19. It's better that you should turn up to the portion and read it for yourself. Verse 29. Job chapter 19 and verse 29. Be ye afraid of the sword, for wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that ye may know there is a judgment. Well, I think that's plain enough. No one's frightened for a sword that's in a scabbard. No one's frightened for a sword that's carried in a ceremonial way. No one's frightened for a sword that's just pointed towards them. The only fear that anyone can have of a sword is when it's leveled against them in a very, very positive way. So, I believe that this passage in Job would indicate to us that the sword is the symbol of judgment. Now, Ezekiel chapter 30. Ezekiel 30 and verse 25. But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt. Now, here is a king, and he's using the sword, and using it on behalf of God. Here, of course, it's a matter of chastisement upon this land of Egypt. I think these two scriptures are quite sufficient, along with the one in Romans 13, to emphasize what I've been saying, that the sword is the symbol of capital punishment. Well, we know there's a great deal of controversy about this, and one would certainly deplore any exercise of judgment upon innocent people, and certainly the Bible never countenances such a thing. But it does against guilty people, where there has been an endeavor, a deliberate premeditated endeavor, to do sinful things. And so it says in verse 5, Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience's sake. Now, this is very important. We walk along the street, and we see a policeman, and we say, Oh, I'm not going to break into a house. There's the policeman. I'm not going to steal anything. There's the policeman. That would be absolutely wrong. I don't steal, because in the sight of God, it's a sin. So when Paul is speaking about for conscience's sake, it means that you don't do anything wrong that would merit the judgment of the government. You do it because you don't want to sin against God. That's the great rule for the Christian. I know that's very, very important indeed. Not seeking to do things that are wrong, and hope we can cover it up well, so that no one will ever know, and the government won't know, and we'll be able to go free. No, no. It's the effect of the conscience working upon the heart and mind, so that we do the things that are pleasing to God. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, to have our consciences, not to give offense, rather, to Jew or Gentile, nor to the church of God. Elsewhere, he said, I exercise my conscience to have a conscience void of offense towards God and man. There's a man with a very tender conscience indeed. He's concerned about doing right before God, and he's concerned about doing right before men. Then, in verse 7, I'm going to watch this, I'm going to take this off. In verse 7, we are told, Render, therefore, to all their dues, Tribute to whom tribute is due, Custom to whom custom, Fear to whom fear, Honor to whom honor. I believe that when the apostle is speaking about tribute, he's speaking about taxes. The Roman government imposed its will upon captured nations, and then put them under tribute, that is, they exacted taxes from them. And, of course, those taxes had to be paid, just as it is today, that the taxes are imposed upon us for the running of the economy, and a very necessary thing too. So the apostle says here that what is due is to be paid. That's upright Christianity. It's upright for the ordinary citizens. It's upright for anyone. And a Christian should never be a tax dodger. A Christian should be able to pay his taxes in a way that's honorable before God. And then it says, Custom to whom custom. I believe that. Let me see what I've got there now. I had that written down somewhere. Yes, the laws, the laws of the particular nation, particular government, that laws are passed for the running of society. We might be very, very annoyed at some of those laws because they curtail our liberties in some way or another, but we obey the powers that be, and we see that the Lord Jesus, he came under this kind of thing when his parents were instructed to go to Bethlehem under the wise governing of God, of course. This was all in connection with prophecy, and his parents went down to Bethlehem, not because they had read this in the Bible, but because the Emperor Augustus had decreed that there should be a census, and so they obeyed the law of the land. They obeyed what was decreed. And that's true, too, for every Christian, that the laws are not there to be broken or to get round about. The laws are there to be obeyed. If only the governments of the world realized it, that the Bible is the best possible help for them to have citizens that will support the government in righteousness and in energy. If they would only say to all their citizens, read the Bible, follow the Bible, they would have citizens, they would have subjects in the kingdom that would support them to the hilt, that is, if they obeyed the Bible. That's another matter. And so we find that, yes, those customs have to be obeyed. Then it says, fear to whom fear. I think this is the authority of the government. We have to show its reverence, the reverence that's due to it. And that's true for every Christian, too, that there is an authority in the country. The Queen is the head, and she exercises some power through her ministers, the parliament, the government. And so there is the authority ordained of God, and we have to recognize it. And we remember that there was a person or persons referred to in the Epistle of Jude that they didn't think it was a light matter to speak evil of dignities, didn't think it was a small matter, rather, to speak evil of dignities. Now, the Apostle says that ought not to be. Christians should not speak evil of dignities. We might have some idea about the Prime Minister that she's doing a bad job, and some might think she's doing a good job. But we should never speak evil of dignities that are ordained of God. We find God speaking about His anointed servant, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus. We find Him speaking about them in a dignified way. And those who are under such powers were responsible to do this, too. And so when Peter speaks about the king, he says, Fear God, honor the king. Honor the king? Kneel a monster, a tyrant, a man whose hands were steeped in blood, murdered his mother, murdered his wife, did all sorts of evil things. Honor the king? That's what Peter said. He's the ordained man by God to rule at that particular time. Oh, how easy it is for our tongues to speak evil of dignities when we ought not. And so we have to give fear to whom the fear is due. And lastly, honor to whom honor. The Apostle Paul is a model of dignity in this respect. When he was speaking to the king, he said, King Agrippa. When he addressed Festus, most noble Festus. These people were entitled to the respect that Paul showed to them, and he did it freely because they were in a position where honor should be given to them, and he did. Now, I want to make this distinction, dear brethren. I'd be quite free to give any man his honor, whether it's in a local way or in a national way, connected with secular government, or in any way whatsoever. If a man has a post, say, at university that entitles him to a certain honor, then we are duty-bound to pay that honor. And any way where a man has an honor that is a legitimate honor, yes, but not in the ecclesiastical world. I wouldn't bow the knee to the Pope and call him Holy Father. I wouldn't call anyone Most Worshipful Master or anything of that kind. That's the Masons. Anything in that kind of thing where there is a so-called Christian flavor about it, but is in direct opposition to the will of God, no. That's not giving honor to whom honor is due. God never gave them that honor. That's something that man has taken to himself. So we must make a clear distinction between honors given by God and honors that men take to themselves. And certainly, in the ecclesiastical realm, these honors are out. We don't acknowledge them. They are only man-made, and they are not in character with the meek and lowly Savior who was here without any titles from man. And so we say a clear distinction between ecclesiastical honors and secular honors, yes, we must bow to those. Now we move over to 1 Peter. 1 Peter, chapter 2. Very, very important verse that, verse 12, that your manner of life is to be such that no one can say anything against it, and you are to submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well, for so is the will of God. Two things here. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake. Now, doesn't that put a very high honor upon this kind of service, this kind of obedience, that we do it for the Lord's sake? It's not something that we are compelled to do in an arbitrary way. It's part of our Christian service to do it for the Lord's sake. This is part of our Christian testimony that we are obedient, that we do the things that are pleasing to him in our submitting to the laws of the land. And then he speaks about the will of God, the will of God. Now, the will of God, in whatever context we find it, is very, very encouraging and helpful and soul-building. When we accept the will of God, then there is progress and there is blessing. When we reject the will of God, there is nothing but sorrow and breakdown. So Peter, and Peter was a very wise man, he knew what it was to walk with the Lord and see the way he did things. And you remember there was a time when the Lord caught the fish with the money, or rather Peter did, under the Lord's direction, and he got the money to pay the temple Jews. These were binding upon them, and so they paid the money, as the Lord said, for thee and for me. And there was the Lord showing to Peter that it was right to submit to certain things that were imposed upon them. It was honoring to God to do these things. And this is what Peter's saying when he's speaking about fearing God and honoring the king, and so on. It's all part of the will of God for us as Christians. Now, there's one thing we must say, that when a government passes laws that are in direct contradiction to the word of God, a Christian is not bound to obey them. For instance, the government has legalized homosexuality. The government has legalized gambling. The government has legalized abortion. The government has legalized many things that are contrary to the declared will of God. But because a law has been passed legalizing these things, that in no way encourages a Christian to do any of these things. And then apart from these things, if the government of this land said that we were to stop worshipping God, we would have to say, as the apostles said in their day, we ought to obey God rather than men. In secular matters, although it goes against the grain to obey the laws, we are bound to do them. But when those laws come in conflict with the declared will of God, then a Christian must not bow. The first six chapters of the book of Daniel, they are an indication of the refusal of Daniel and his companions to bow to the laws of the land because they were in direct conflict with the declared will of God. And God supported them against all the might of the king and his power, whatever king it was. And so there is a clear indication to us and in the acts of the apostles that Christians are not bound by laws that are manifestly against God and so the Christian is free to disobey. He has to take the consequences, of course. That's another matter. Now we turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2. I exhort, therefore, that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, all men. Most embracive statement by Paul. We can certainly pray for all men in many ways. We think of the wars that are going on in this world, many wars, and wars bring sorrow. Wars bring death. Wars bring devastation. And in a humanitarian way, we should pray to our God that these things should cease and that better conditions should prevail. We know full well that the world will never see stable peace, righteous peace, until the prince of peace reigns according to the will of God. Nevertheless, we can pray for a betterness of condition. And then we're exhorted to give thanks for all men. And this is a very important thing for us for the simple reason that men do not give thanks for the good things that God has given to them. And when you think of the rain and the sunshine and all that this means to crops and food, and when we think of health, and we think of many, many things that we enjoy in the civilized part of the world, then it's a wonderful thing that we can give thanks to God for all the people of Carlisle enjoy and never give God thanks for them. And what's true in Carlisle is true throughout Britain. Then he goes on to say, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. You see, pray for kings and for those that are in authority. Will that do any good? Well, I'm perfectly sure, and you are too, that the apostle inspired by the Holy Spirit to write these things to Timothy wouldn't have done so unless he was absolutely sure that what he was writing was valid, was real, was vital, and it is. And there's one very outstanding instance that I want to bring to your attention. In the book of Jeremiah, God decreed that the nation of Judah, or should I say the tribe of Judah, the southern part of the kingdom, was to go into captivity into Babylon. And through Jeremiah he says, now it doesn't matter what anybody says, this will come to pass, and you'll be there for 70 years. And there were various prophets who laughed at this and tried to upset the prophet's declaration by making other prophecies. Well, it wasn't very long before God's will became apparent and Judah was taken into captivity. And God said through the prophet, now pray, pray for the peace of Babylon. What? Pray for the peace of Babylon? Nebuchadnezzar's devastated Jerusalem? He's taken away all that part of the nation into Babylon as captives? Pray for the peace of Babylon? That's what God said. Because he said you're going to be there for 70 years and you may as well be there in peace. And so pray for it. Now there is a very striking instance of what the apostle is saying, pray for kings and for rulers that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. And my, didn't Daniel and his three companions live a life of honesty and godliness? Why, they went through Daniel's life with a tooth comb and they tried to find something against him and there wasn't a thing they could bring against him in the exercise of his secular duties. And the only thing that they could ensnare him with was his worship of God, which they did, but failed in their purpose. They digged a hole for themselves, or rather they digged a hole for Daniel, but they themselves fell into it. The scripture tells us that that's a principle. And so this praying for kings is a very powerful thing indeed. And Daniel himself, he prayed in relation to King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and then he prayed in relation to his illness and he was able to get from God the necessary direction for the king's blessing. And so we today, yes, thank God, we can pray for those who are in authority. And there's something missing in our prayer meetings or there's something missing in our home prayers if we forget to do this. This is a specific request by the apostle to Timothy and to us to pray for those that are in authority. We're very glad that at least in an outward way prayers are still said in Parliament. They haven't been dissolved yet, so we're thankful at least there's some outward acknowledgement of God in these prayers. We know that the same takes place in the American Senate. We're very thankful that it does, at least as an acknowledgement of God. But we in our part as Christians can pray for those who are in authority. Now we move to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart as unto Christ. I don't think it would do much good if we sent a letter to the T.U.C. and asked that all their members should have fear and trembling in serving their masters. That certainly would be cast out today. But I think the real meaning of the verse is that there's no casualness about this service. There's a sense of what is due to God in this service. And we find in the portion that we do it as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. We serve with singleness of heart as unto Christ, with good will doing service as to the Lord, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Now, what pertains to the employees is to pertain to the employers. All these things that are mentioned that the servant has to do is equally true for the master. That the master, as we know elsewhere, is to give to his servants that which is just and due, and the servant is to give to his master that which is honest and upright. Now, we are very thankful that there are examples of this in the Bible. And what better example could we have than Joseph? What an upright man of integrity he was. Whether in the house of Potiphar or in the prison or administering Egypt, he was absolutely reliable and a man of integrity. The Lord was with him. And he did his service as unto God, knowing that he was doing God's will. What an example he was of this kind of service. Boaz, I think, is the kind of employer that God would approve of. You remember when he came into the field, his servants addressed him in a very affectionate way and he addressed them in a very affectionate way. A clear indication that there was harmony between master and servant. But unfortunately, it's not always like that. And sometimes a Christian has to serve under a master that is far from righteous, a master that can be froward or awkward or even hostile and difficult. But he's still to serve as unto Christ. It's comparatively easy to serve under a good master. I know what it is to serve under a good master. I know what it is to serve under a bad master. But the great thing is to serve Christ in either of them. And it's a very, very real exercise indeed. We're not here governed by trade union regulations. Indeed, it's a very great question as to whether Christians should be in trade unions. And it's better if a Christian is entirely free from such organizations, that he's free to do the will of God as God directs him to do and not be bound by the directions of men. I know it's extremely difficult and trade unions are legalized, of course, and anyone who's in a trade union is not doing anything wrong as far as the secular government's concerned as to whether he's under powers that direct him to do the wrong thing. Well, that's another matter. And, of course, he would have to exercise his conscience towards God in the matter, which is the prime thing. And so the employee is very much responsible to God in his service to his master, although he certainly has to be obedient to him and the employer to make sure he did that which was right and just. Now, as we close, there is one other form of association that we have in this world, and it's our neighbors. Now, as Christians, we would be very much concerned about the salvation of our neighbors. After all, we meet them every day of our lives. We see them nearly every day of our lives. We become familiar with their ways. We become aware of certain difficulties that they are passing through, and all these means give us the opportunity to have contact with them and to be able to help them. In Luke chapter 10, the Lord Jesus gave the parable of the good Samaritan. Now, he wasn't giving us a parable so that we could spiritualize it for preaching the gospel. We do that, and it's very, very well suited to do that, but that's not what the Lord intended it to be. The Lord intended it to be a lesson as to how to show mercy. That was the whole object of the parable, that people might understand what it was to show mercy, to show kindness, and this all sprang from who is my neighbor. And so we can say clearly, if we as Christians have an opportunity to show mercy to our neighbors, we shouldn't be wanting, and be alert for any opportunity to show Christian kindness in this way. We're also exerted to love our neighbors and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Sometimes neighbors can be very trying. Maybe, too, we can be very trying to our neighbors. It can work both ways. But certainly, as Christians, we ought to be loving, ready to do any kindness and mercy, as I've said, ready to do something worthwhile. And if you love a person, you'll be ready to serve them. And then we're told to be at peace with our neighbors, to be at peace with all men, as much as lieth upon you. Now, that very definitely means the onus is upon you to be at peace with your neighbor, not to be out at elbows with your neighbor. And if there are irritations and things that come from our neighbors that's not very nice, as sometimes they can be, then the onus is upon us to be at peace, not to get angry, not to be frustrated, not to retaliate, but to show the spirit of Christ. Now, Paul exhorts the Galatians to do good unto all men. He goes on to say, especially to the household of faith. But I'm concentrating on the first part of the statement, do good unto all men. Now, this might raise the question about contributing to many of the requests for help that we find in connection with the underdeveloped nations. And I think we ought to be very, very aware of what happens to any financial help that we give. I don't think that we should close our minds or our hearts to the fact that there is need. Paul says, do good unto all men. Personally, I would rather see that whatever little money I can give towards help is through channels that can assure me that that money is going to the best possible use. And, of course, we have missionary objects, missionary projects, rather, where this kind of thing is being done. I remember once, many, many years ago, I gathered about 100 weight and a half of clothing, both children's clothing and adults' clothing, and parceled it up and sent it to a place called War on Want. And they assured me that they would send it to the particular destination that I desired it should be sent to. And in this case, it was to an island in the Far East. And it so happened that just before the clothing arrived, there was a terrific flood in the place, and there was a great deal of devastation and need. And eventually, I got a letter back saying, oh, how valuable that clothing was, that it met a need. The clothing of people had been destroyed. Children needed clothing. Adults needed clothing. And here was just one instance, because the channel was right, that whatever help was given was directed to the place where the need was greatest. And I think that's one of the most important things, that our money doesn't get lost in a great organization, but whatever help, whether it's clothing or materials or money, to make sure it's channeled for the need that you sent it. And this is what I believe in, doing good unto all men. And unfortunately, it may become more and more later on, but unfortunately, in this country in which we live, there is very little in the way of need. In the letters of Mr. Darby, in the letters of the history of the Brethren, you'll find that they did do a tremendous amount of helping the poor, visiting the poor, caring for them. The state, of course, has taken over that responsibility in this country, and it has become increasingly difficult to find real poverty and meet it. But there might be cases in which we can do this kind of thing. Well, these are only a few things that we stated tonight. There's much more in the Word of God as to our responsibility in the world in a secular sense and towards those who are in need. Well, may the Lord help us, for his name's sake. …