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We continue our consideration of the implications

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of those few words from the book of

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Ezra from which we have read this evening

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in chapter six and verse three.

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The answer which came back from Darius to

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that letter, let the house be built.

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We last night occupied our time with a

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consideration of the eternal conception and decision of

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God regarding a house.

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We sought to show that although the Bible

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deals with many particular and clearly defined matters

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there is one object which is inclusive of

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them all and that is the divine purpose

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and intention to have a habitation on this

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earth.

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That habitation has many symbolic titles

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or names in the Bible.

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We do not stay now to call them

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all to mind.

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But perhaps the most common of those symbolic

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titles of this habitation is the house of

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God.

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It is but a symbolic title.

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To our mentality the very word conjures up

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certain ideas.

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But our time last night was occupied in

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seeking to arrive at the divine idea.

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Now there is a progressiveness of revelation of

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this matter in the Bible and as we

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proceed with that, with the development of that

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revelation we are led to see that this

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is not a thing at all.

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It is not a building as we understand

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it.

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It is not a place but it is

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a people.

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And a people in vital organic union with

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God's Son, Jesus Christ.

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That is where we arrive as we pursue

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this matter of God's habitation.

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Now at this time we are going to

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consider the continuous controversy and conflict in relation

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to this habitation of God.

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It is a matter of very simple evidence

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that we are not through the first three

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chapters of the Bible before we meet all

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the elements of conflict and controversy.

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And from then onward, right the way through

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the Bible, those elements of conflict and controversy

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are rarely absent.

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The book is just full of them until

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we reach the last two chapters and the

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conflict ceases.

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The controversy is settled.

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And that forever.

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But as we pointed out last night, the

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center of the consummation and the final issue

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is the tabernacle of God is with men

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and he will dwell with them.

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And be their God.

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And they shall be his people.

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The end which has been the occasion of

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this tremendous conflict from the beginning.

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But if we look closer

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into this matter, we shall find that it

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is invariably related to just one thing.

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It is most impressive.

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It is always focused upon this one thing.

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That is God's place in this world.

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And that in a people for his habitation.

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That's as we say the bone of contention.

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The focal point of all the trouble.

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That is the issue there at the beginning

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in the garden with the first pair.

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It's far too beautiful and happy a scene

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to behold God walking with men and talking

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with men and having very blessed fellowship with

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men in a scene of peace and rest

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and order.

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It is far too beautiful a thing to

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go unassailed.

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Somehow, a situation must be set up which

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would drive God out and break in upon

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that fellowship and if possible, end it.

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At least suspend it.

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That was the issue there.

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Many things may circle round that.

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But it is just this God here in

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conditions of fellowship with men.

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It's the point of the trouble in the

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first family.

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A family in a holy and sacred fellowship

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with God is something that will not go

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unassailed.

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And so we find the family thrown into

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this state of conflict and one brother murders

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the other.

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It's the whole point in the history of

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a chosen nation.

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In all it's varied phases and stages of

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life and history.

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It's the point when that chosen nation was

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in Egypt.

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What was it that God intended?

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Well, it's found in his challenge to Pharaoh,

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king of Egypt, let my people go that

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they may serve me.

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And we know from the later history what

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that meant.

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God in the midst of a people.

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And the great controversy and conflict in Egypt

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was born of this sinister realization that if

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that happens, God will have what he has

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ever set his heart on.

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And that must be frustrated.

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That's the point.

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They get into the wilderness.

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That is, God gets them out to be

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his people for his dwelling.

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But as they are in the wilderness, congregated

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at the foot of the mountain, and Moses

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goes up into the mountain, note, he is

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going to receive the pattern of the tabernacle

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in which God will take up residence in

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the midst of his people.

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For that tabernacle, there will be the need

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at least of some gold in the great

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symbolism of the divine nature.

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That has been brought out of Egypt.

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And while Moses tarries in the mountain, what

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happens?

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Again, there enters in this challenge to the

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divine purpose.

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And the gold is stolen from God and

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made into a calf to be worshipped in

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the place of God.

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All apart of the one long story.

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And it goes on in their history.

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When they are through the wilderness and in

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the land, Solomon builds the temple.

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God takes up his residence.

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But before, just before that temple was going

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to be brought in and built, another terrible

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thing happened.

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It is said, then Satan stood up against

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Israel and provoked David to number the people.

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Many of you know the story.

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The numbering, of course, was just a bit

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of vanity.

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Vanity.

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The vanity of the human heart.

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Counting heads.

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Being able to say, what a great people

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I have got.

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And what a great king I am.

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And even a man of the world who

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had very little, if any, spiritual perception.

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Joab saw through it and urged the king

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not to do it.

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But he insisted.

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And then he had to meet God.

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Result, the devastation of the nation.

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Till, as the plague swept over the people,

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mowing them down, David at last met the

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angel of the Lord, and the angel of

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the Lord met him in the threshing floor

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of Ornan, the Jebusite.

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And that became the site of the temple.

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But, what a contesting, what a controversy over

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this habitation of God, all the time.

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Well, the temple is built, and when the

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nation has come to the very peak of

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its development, along this line of God's habitation,

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the very builder of the temple itself defaulted.

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And made an alliance with that which was

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another God, outside of Israel.

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So it is not long before the nation

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is split in two, and the swift movement

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downward takes place, and the Lord leaves the

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temple.

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The end of that movement is a way

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into Babylon.

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Temple, Jerusalem, forsaken of God, people in captivity.

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After 70 years, a remnant returned and restarted

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to build a temple.

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And the story is told in these twin

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books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and what books

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of conflict they are.

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Here it is again, it is as though

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something said, no, never, if we can stop

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it.

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If you look at the last verses of

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the fourth chapter of the book of Ezra,

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you will see, so the work ceased.

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Well, that is how the Old Testament closes.

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The New Testament opens.

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As we saw last night, God comes to

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his consummate realization along two lines.

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Firstly, becoming incarnate in his Son, Emmanuel, God

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with us.

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But, his very presence raises the bitterish controversy.

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On this very point of the temple, it

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all centers in and circles around this temple.

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And you know, the charge which brought him

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to his death was, he spoke about the

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destruction of the temple.

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He said, destroy this temple and in three

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days I will raise it again.

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In their blindness to his true spiritual meaning,

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they interpreted it as meaning that this great

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temple was to be destroyed.

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Of course it was.

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But that brought him to his death.

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Stephen took up that matter a little later

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on and quoted these words about the temple.

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God dwelleth not in temples made with hands.

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And from that point the rage and storm

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broke upon him.

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See the focal point of it all?

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Most significant.

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And when the personal Christ, sown like corn

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of wheat in the ground, died has risen

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in the corporate form of the nucleus of

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his church.

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This is the habitation of God in reality.

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But what a storm breaks upon it.

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Oh, it's the signal for new outbreaks of

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this terrible antagonism.

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Dear friends, that is the root of all

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the sad tragic history through the centuries of

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divisions and controversies and conflicts and schisms and

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contentions amongst Christians.

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One, one object and focal point is, God

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is not going to have this dwelling if

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it can be prevented by any means whatsoever.

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This must be stopped.

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There is no greater menace to the kingdom

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of darkness than a people after this kind

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to which God commits himself because they provide

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him with the ground for being there, just

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being there in blessed fellowship.

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We believe that we are living in the

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end time.

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And as the end draws near, in spite

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of all the talk and the efforts for

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unions and affiliations and so on, the spirit

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of suspicion, fear and misunderstanding intensifies.

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It intensifies.

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The atmosphere of Christianity is impregnated with this

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kind of thing.

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That the last little thing will suffer division

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if possible.

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The differences are multiplying all the time.

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As we get near the end, the end,

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what is it?

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Well, we have mentioned it this evening.

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Why are there so many differences and controversies

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in the realm of interpretations of Christian relationships?

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Well, it is just this one thing.

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You may say it's because of this or

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that or some other thing.

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You may put it down to one of

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the many hundreds of things that make for

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division.

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But let us get right to the root

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of the thing and the heart of the

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thing.

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Every one of these things which may be

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the pretext is related to this one all

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-inclusive and all-governing thing.

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It is related to a spiritual relatedness of

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the people of God to provide him with

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that which has been in his heart from

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all eternity.

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A habitation, a presencing of himself with men.

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That is the heart of it.

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00:22:19,710 --> 00:22:25,670
All this sad and terrible history and story

278
00:22:25,670 --> 00:22:29,090
is related to the corporate.

279
00:22:30,290 --> 00:22:33,850
The beginning, a man and his wife.

280
00:22:36,150 --> 00:22:36,710
Corporate.

281
00:22:38,450 --> 00:22:39,410
Two brothers.

282
00:22:40,690 --> 00:22:41,350
The race.

283
00:22:42,870 --> 00:22:43,910
Twelve brothers.

284
00:22:45,710 --> 00:22:47,150
Twelve sons of Jacob.

285
00:22:47,930 --> 00:22:49,410
Twelve tribes.

286
00:22:52,030 --> 00:22:53,430
The pattern of the tabernacle.

287
00:22:54,470 --> 00:22:55,230
And so on.

288
00:22:55,230 --> 00:23:03,340
It's always centered in this corporate idea to

289
00:23:03,340 --> 00:23:08,600
either prevent it or to wreck it if

290
00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:12,840
it has any semblance of being present.

291
00:23:16,580 --> 00:23:21,980
Ever and always the point of attack has

292
00:23:21,980 --> 00:23:27,650
been the people of God in heavenly fellowship

293
00:23:27,650 --> 00:23:30,910
with God in their midst.

294
00:23:33,290 --> 00:23:36,890
Well, we have to look at the significance

295
00:23:36,890 --> 00:23:37,730
of this.

296
00:23:38,710 --> 00:23:42,090
What does it signify in the first place?

297
00:23:43,890 --> 00:23:47,130
Well, surely it signifies so clearly the existence

298
00:23:47,130 --> 00:23:52,070
in this universe of a force and system

299
00:23:52,070 --> 00:23:56,570
that is hostile to this idea.

300
00:23:57,710 --> 00:24:03,330
That is antagonistic to the realization of this

301
00:24:03,330 --> 00:24:04,390
divine purpose.

302
00:24:05,210 --> 00:24:07,310
This is not a natural thing.

303
00:24:08,610 --> 00:24:11,850
You may, if you like, say well it

304
00:24:11,850 --> 00:24:14,430
was because of this or that or something

305
00:24:14,430 --> 00:24:14,930
else.

306
00:24:14,930 --> 00:24:18,210
And often there seem to be and do

307
00:24:18,210 --> 00:24:21,690
seem to be good human and natural reasons

308
00:24:21,690 --> 00:24:22,370
for it.

309
00:24:22,510 --> 00:24:24,370
But get behind all that.

310
00:24:26,470 --> 00:24:30,830
You find that it is all issuing from

311
00:24:30,830 --> 00:24:37,670
this sinister realm hierarchy which is antagonistic to

312
00:24:37,670 --> 00:24:39,030
one thing.

313
00:24:39,850 --> 00:24:41,850
And it is this one thing.

314
00:24:41,850 --> 00:24:46,110
We speak about the church militant.

315
00:24:48,820 --> 00:24:51,900
What do we mean by the church militant?

316
00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,540
Well, our ideas are usually objective when we

317
00:24:57,540 --> 00:24:58,640
speak like that.

318
00:24:59,940 --> 00:25:05,000
We think of the church making assault upon

319
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:14,160
heathenism, upon paganism, upon worldliness, upon vice,

320
00:25:14,940 --> 00:25:21,980
upon bad social conditions, upon suffering and its

321
00:25:21,980 --> 00:25:22,580
causes.

322
00:25:23,740 --> 00:25:26,240
That is perhaps what we mean by the

323
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:28,100
church militant.

324
00:25:30,300 --> 00:25:35,360
But however true that may be and right,

325
00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:42,600
the fact is that the church militant finds

326
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:46,400
its campaign sabotaged from the inside.

327
00:25:49,690 --> 00:25:53,470
Defeated before it starts to fight.

328
00:25:54,110 --> 00:25:57,170
Indeed it cannot fight as a corporate whole

329
00:25:57,170 --> 00:26:01,230
because it is already crippled on the inside.

330
00:26:03,540 --> 00:26:06,280
Crippled by its divisions.

331
00:26:08,740 --> 00:26:15,200
Crippled by the absence of this one related

332
00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:17,140
corporate life.

333
00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:18,440
Inexpression.

334
00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:20,500
Yes.

335
00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:25,900
The enemy has subtly got on the inside

336
00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:30,500
of things and weakened and paralyzed the church

337
00:26:30,500 --> 00:26:31,720
militant.

338
00:26:33,100 --> 00:26:37,420
Some of you are perhaps familiar with a

339
00:26:37,420 --> 00:26:41,940
story in the life of Spurgeon.

340
00:26:45,530 --> 00:26:48,890
The students of his college were preaching their

341
00:26:48,890 --> 00:26:50,930
trial sermons before him.

342
00:26:53,800 --> 00:27:00,420
One young man chose Ephesians 6 for his

343
00:27:00,420 --> 00:27:00,900
subject.

344
00:27:02,580 --> 00:27:06,200
And in a great attempt at eloquence and

345
00:27:06,200 --> 00:27:11,500
impressiveness he pictured the warrior and the armor.

346
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,440
And himself was taking it up.

347
00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:23,840
At last fully clad in great boldness he

348
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,180
stepped forward and said, Now where is the

349
00:27:27,180 --> 00:27:27,540
enemy?

350
00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:33,460
Mr. Spurgeon cupped his hands and said, Inside

351
00:27:33,460 --> 00:27:34,340
the armor!

352
00:27:37,140 --> 00:27:39,100
Well, that's an old story.

353
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,260
But it's very much to the point.

354
00:27:42,380 --> 00:27:44,120
Very much to the point.

355
00:27:49,730 --> 00:27:54,930
The church is not moving like a mighty

356
00:27:54,930 --> 00:27:55,270
army.

357
00:27:55,450 --> 00:27:58,470
It is not true that like a mighty

358
00:27:58,470 --> 00:28:00,590
army moves the church of God.

359
00:28:02,150 --> 00:28:06,370
It is not true that it is terrible

360
00:28:06,370 --> 00:28:08,610
as an army with banners.

361
00:28:08,610 --> 00:28:11,670
Satan has seen to that and given the

362
00:28:11,670 --> 00:28:12,650
denial to that.

363
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:15,200
The lie.

364
00:28:20,010 --> 00:28:20,890
What is the point?

365
00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:25,350
We've got to take account of something more

366
00:28:25,350 --> 00:28:30,750
than the human factors and the natural elements.

367
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:35,540
I'm not wanting to open the door for

368
00:28:35,540 --> 00:28:40,260
an inrush of demonism or demonology.

369
00:28:42,060 --> 00:28:45,620
But perhaps we've swung too much the other

370
00:28:45,620 --> 00:28:46,660
way in our fears.

371
00:28:51,930 --> 00:28:54,490
We have either got to accept the Bible

372
00:28:54,490 --> 00:28:55,770
or reject it.

373
00:28:56,590 --> 00:28:57,790
We've got to settle that.

374
00:28:58,390 --> 00:29:01,690
And if we accept the Bible, if we

375
00:29:01,690 --> 00:29:04,970
take it as it stands, we have got

376
00:29:04,970 --> 00:29:10,530
to accept this act of a great evil

377
00:29:10,530 --> 00:29:19,730
spiritual hierarchy surrounding this world, unresting,

378
00:29:20,990 --> 00:29:27,330
ceaseless invigilance and activity, watching for any opportunity

379
00:29:27,330 --> 00:29:32,870
and any ground that it can use against

380
00:29:32,870 --> 00:29:38,790
this one thing, the absolute oneness of God's

381
00:29:38,790 --> 00:29:43,890
people to provide him with a habitation suitable

382
00:29:43,890 --> 00:29:44,850
to himself.

383
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:54,430
We've got to recognize that great system and

384
00:29:54,430 --> 00:29:57,590
take account of it and really take it

385
00:29:57,590 --> 00:29:58,370
into account.

386
00:29:59,570 --> 00:30:00,610
There it is.

387
00:30:02,740 --> 00:30:10,930
There seems to be some strange dullness, numbness

388
00:30:11,590 --> 00:30:16,270
over the church in this matter which itself

389
00:30:16,270 --> 00:30:17,350
may be significant.

390
00:30:18,670 --> 00:30:24,390
Who does not amongst Christians know, for instance,

391
00:30:24,730 --> 00:30:26,450
Ephesians chapter 6?

392
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,240
Probably most of us could quote it.

393
00:30:34,280 --> 00:30:41,210
Our wrestling is not with flesh but with

394
00:30:41,210 --> 00:30:46,630
principalities and powers and world rulers of this

395
00:30:46,630 --> 00:30:51,610
darkness and hosts of wicked spirits in the

396
00:30:51,610 --> 00:30:51,990
heavens.

397
00:30:52,870 --> 00:30:57,170
Who does not know that in words, in

398
00:30:57,170 --> 00:30:57,670
language?

399
00:30:59,750 --> 00:31:04,210
But dear friends, who has really been stung

400
00:31:04,950 --> 00:31:08,250
into the realization of what that means for

401
00:31:08,250 --> 00:31:08,870
the church?

402
00:31:09,870 --> 00:31:13,450
Into the recognition of the fact that that

403
00:31:13,450 --> 00:31:18,110
word is the summing up of the greatest

404
00:31:18,110 --> 00:31:20,850
revelation of the church that has ever been

405
00:31:20,850 --> 00:31:22,190
given to mankind.

406
00:31:25,060 --> 00:31:29,620
Up to that the apostle moves with his

407
00:31:29,620 --> 00:31:34,000
great unveiling of the church in its past

408
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:41,880
eternal election, in its heavenly vocation, in its

409
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:47,780
walk here with God and in its coming

410
00:31:47,780 --> 00:31:50,120
eternity purpose.

411
00:31:51,490 --> 00:31:54,670
Through all that he moves up to this.

412
00:31:56,690 --> 00:32:00,970
Yes, yes, but, but while that is true,

413
00:32:01,750 --> 00:32:06,050
while that is God's masterpiece, the greatest thing

414
00:32:06,050 --> 00:32:13,550
ever conceived, it is the one object of

415
00:32:13,550 --> 00:32:19,930
countless hosts of evil spirits in their inimical,

416
00:32:19,930 --> 00:32:23,370
their antagonistic interest and attention.

417
00:32:25,780 --> 00:32:28,500
You see, fanaties and powers, world rulers of

418
00:32:28,500 --> 00:32:32,460
this darkness, hosts of wicked spirits have one

419
00:32:32,460 --> 00:32:35,820
thing that thereafter, and it's the destruction of

420
00:32:35,820 --> 00:32:39,640
that church, the dividing of that church.

421
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,420
We, I say, are strangely numb in the

422
00:32:45,420 --> 00:32:48,860
presence of such a revelation.

423
00:32:51,590 --> 00:32:55,750
We are not stung alive to the recognition

424
00:32:55,750 --> 00:32:58,070
of what that means.

425
00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,940
If all this is true, you're going to

426
00:33:07,940 --> 00:33:14,100
have very great difficulty in arguing your way

427
00:33:14,100 --> 00:33:18,360
out of this if you're so disposed.

428
00:33:18,780 --> 00:33:21,780
I say the Bible from the first chapters

429
00:33:21,780 --> 00:33:26,240
to the last is full of this very

430
00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:33,600
thing, this continuous controversy and conflict centered in

431
00:33:33,600 --> 00:33:39,420
this one thing, God having a habitation for

432
00:33:39,420 --> 00:33:42,180
himself in a people.

433
00:33:45,260 --> 00:33:52,560
If this is true, dear friends, we've got

434
00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:58,500
to adjust ourselves, take a new attitude over

435
00:33:58,500 --> 00:34:06,060
this matter and face the fact that these

436
00:34:06,060 --> 00:34:13,120
evil forces are not just concerned with the

437
00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:16,900
whole sum total of the church to split

438
00:34:16,900 --> 00:34:19,920
it into so many sections.

439
00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:30,560
They, these evil forces, are not

440
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:35,800
just concerned with the whole sum total of

441
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,239
the church to split it into so many

442
00:34:38,239 --> 00:34:39,940
sections.

443
00:34:40,739 --> 00:34:44,179
They will not stop at the last two.

444
00:34:45,860 --> 00:34:49,440
They began with the first two and they

445
00:34:49,440 --> 00:34:52,520
will pursue their evil purpose to the last

446
00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:54,400
two believers to get in between.

447
00:34:56,740 --> 00:34:59,520
And if that is true, I say we

448
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:02,280
have got to adjust ourselves to this that

449
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:09,260
any division, any breaking up of fellowship is

450
00:35:09,260 --> 00:35:15,000
not to be put down finally to some

451
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,180
human or natural factors.

452
00:35:18,880 --> 00:35:22,920
They may only be the pretext or the

453
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,680
occasion but behind there's something very much more.

454
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:35,920
We're involved in a terrible warfare over this

455
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:44,710
matter of relatedness far, far beyond our power

456
00:35:46,330 --> 00:35:49,690
of overcoming or coping with it.

457
00:35:51,450 --> 00:35:54,710
There you see is where the words in

458
00:35:54,710 --> 00:35:59,010
this great letter come to our rescue as

459
00:35:59,010 --> 00:36:01,590
the apostle prays that he would grant him

460
00:36:01,590 --> 00:36:06,030
to be strengthened with might by his spirit

461
00:36:06,030 --> 00:36:07,930
in the inward man.

462
00:36:16,450 --> 00:36:18,550
Now unto him who is able to do

463
00:36:18,550 --> 00:36:23,570
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or

464
00:36:23,570 --> 00:36:27,190
think according to the power that worketh in

465
00:36:27,190 --> 00:36:32,130
us unto him be the glory in the

466
00:36:32,130 --> 00:36:37,890
church and in Christ Jesus unto all ages

467
00:36:37,890 --> 00:36:41,610
forever and ever.

468
00:36:43,930 --> 00:36:49,290
I say we've got to take account of

469
00:36:49,290 --> 00:36:54,230
these forces and adjust ourselves to the matter

470
00:36:54,230 --> 00:36:59,190
in a new way in the realization of

471
00:36:59,190 --> 00:37:03,330
what it is that is happening and not

472
00:37:03,330 --> 00:37:08,370
put everything down to second causes but to

473
00:37:08,370 --> 00:37:13,930
get behind them the primary cause in that

474
00:37:13,930 --> 00:37:17,530
other evil realm.

475
00:37:21,090 --> 00:37:25,700
God is holy the place of his dwelling

476
00:37:25,700 --> 00:37:29,760
must be holy if this is the work

477
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,960
of Satan it's unholy it's the touch of

478
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:42,140
evil therefore God cannot commit himself the work

479
00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:46,660
of the enemy must be cast out God

480
00:37:46,660 --> 00:37:51,600
is one God is one he will not

481
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:57,140
commit himself to that which divides him cried

482
00:37:57,140 --> 00:38:02,220
the apostle to the Corinthians is Christ divided?

483
00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:08,820
and I think there was a tone of

484
00:38:08,820 --> 00:38:19,020
shock in his interrogation unthinkable unthinkable Christ

485
00:38:19,020 --> 00:38:25,960
is not divided therefore he cannot commit himself

486
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:33,590
as one God to division we divide God

487
00:38:34,630 --> 00:38:39,330
the Holy Spirit is one spirit there is

488
00:38:39,330 --> 00:38:45,910
says the apostle one spirit there are not

489
00:38:45,910 --> 00:38:49,150
so as many Christs and as many Holy

490
00:38:49,150 --> 00:38:54,740
Spirits as there are believers we do not

491
00:38:54,740 --> 00:38:58,400
have a personal and private Jesus or Holy

492
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:05,260
Spirit we only have him and them in

493
00:39:05,260 --> 00:39:08,700
common and there is no other way of

494
00:39:10,780 --> 00:39:14,900
having the Lord now we've got to find

495
00:39:14,900 --> 00:39:18,080
the key we've got to find the key

496
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:25,920
to this oneness this unity and in this

497
00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:28,580
very letter to the Ephesians the apostle speaks

498
00:39:28,580 --> 00:39:32,720
about it as the unity of the spirit

499
00:39:34,860 --> 00:39:39,640
the unity of the spirit you see our

500
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:46,000
oneness our unity is not first an intellectual

501
00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:50,040
thing that is that we have threshed out

502
00:39:50,040 --> 00:39:55,880
truth and matters of procedure and after a

503
00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:59,200
great deal of discussion and argument we have

504
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:04,360
arrived at some measure of agreement and now

505
00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:12,030
we are one does not begin there that

506
00:40:12,030 --> 00:40:14,330
is not the basis of our oneness at

507
00:40:14,330 --> 00:40:19,690
all even in evangelical truth we don't arrive

508
00:40:19,690 --> 00:40:27,990
at oneness intellectually by argument we do not

509
00:40:27,990 --> 00:40:31,070
arrive at it by an enterprise a common

510
00:40:31,070 --> 00:40:36,170
undertaking or piece of work this needs to

511
00:40:36,170 --> 00:40:40,450
be done and we resolve to unite to

512
00:40:40,450 --> 00:40:44,770
do it the history of the work of

513
00:40:44,770 --> 00:40:50,970
God surely is the history of how that

514
00:40:50,970 --> 00:40:53,990
kind of thing can break down and does

515
00:40:53,990 --> 00:40:56,550
not go through when it meets the forces

516
00:40:56,550 --> 00:41:03,440
of evil no we are not one in

517
00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:10,390
that way we are not one by sentiment

518
00:41:12,710 --> 00:41:22,130
by, may I use the word smarmyness nice

519
00:41:22,130 --> 00:41:29,360
talk closing our eyes to wrong that is

520
00:41:29,360 --> 00:41:34,300
wrong being sentimental that is not the basis

521
00:41:34,300 --> 00:41:37,440
of oneness it is not a oneness by

522
00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:42,940
ideals and certainly not a oneness of pretense

523
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:46,680
what is it?

524
00:41:48,500 --> 00:41:51,660
it is as the word here says the

525
00:41:51,660 --> 00:41:56,340
unity of the spirit that is of the

526
00:41:56,340 --> 00:41:59,960
Holy Spirit I have just said that there

527
00:41:59,960 --> 00:42:03,620
are not as many Holy Spirits as there

528
00:42:03,620 --> 00:42:09,160
are believers we were all baptized in one

529
00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:15,660
spirit into one body says the apostle now

530
00:42:15,660 --> 00:42:20,960
then this oneness is twofold first of all

531
00:42:20,960 --> 00:42:25,640
it is basic and then it is progressive

532
00:42:26,620 --> 00:42:31,360
it is basic by our sharing of a

533
00:42:31,360 --> 00:42:37,320
common life oh that we made more of

534
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:43,160
that fundamental reality we know it is true

535
00:42:47,080 --> 00:42:48,880
we have only got to be scattered over

536
00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:53,680
the world where you meet one Christian in

537
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:57,600
a hundred thousand and the thing becomes very

538
00:42:57,600 --> 00:43:02,300
real very real oh what a thing it

539
00:43:02,300 --> 00:43:06,230
is to meet a Christian you don't raise

540
00:43:06,230 --> 00:43:10,870
ecclesiastical questions forthwith doctrinal questions and so on

541
00:43:10,870 --> 00:43:13,450
you just find that you've got something in

542
00:43:13,450 --> 00:43:17,430
common if you'd only keep on that ground

543
00:43:18,710 --> 00:43:23,000
what a long way you can go it

544
00:43:23,000 --> 00:43:27,540
is something in common you know it without

545
00:43:27,540 --> 00:43:30,000
being told we know a believer a true

546
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:35,760
believer anywhere in the world without introduction the

547
00:43:35,760 --> 00:43:43,030
introduction is inside it's fundamental we share one

548
00:43:43,030 --> 00:43:49,430
life we have one holy spirit dwelling in

549
00:43:49,430 --> 00:43:55,230
all that is the basic reality of oneness

550
00:43:55,310 --> 00:43:57,830
if only we would make more of it

551
00:43:57,830 --> 00:44:02,900
but then it is progressive it is progressive

552
00:44:03,900 --> 00:44:08,800
that is it grows, it develops, it proceeds

553
00:44:08,800 --> 00:44:13,940
and progresses by living in the spirit by

554
00:44:13,940 --> 00:44:16,640
a life in the spirit a life governed

555
00:44:16,640 --> 00:44:21,500
by the holy spirit within us dear friends

556
00:44:21,500 --> 00:44:25,980
though this has been said many times it's

557
00:44:25,980 --> 00:44:32,900
a point for very great emphasis if only

558
00:44:32,900 --> 00:44:39,840
you and I personally really lived the life

559
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:43,060
under the government of the holy spirit inside

560
00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:49,010
what a big difference it would make you

561
00:44:49,010 --> 00:44:52,490
see he is the spirit of truth and

562
00:44:52,490 --> 00:44:55,830
if he is governing our spirit and our

563
00:44:55,830 --> 00:45:00,370
inner consciousness as born again children of God

564
00:45:00,370 --> 00:45:03,390
indwelt by the holy spirit if you and

565
00:45:03,390 --> 00:45:05,990
I got a false notion about another one

566
00:45:05,990 --> 00:45:08,030
it would not be long before we knew

567
00:45:08,030 --> 00:45:09,510
it in our own hearts that the holy

568
00:45:09,510 --> 00:45:13,810
spirit does not agree with that notion we

569
00:45:13,810 --> 00:45:16,790
take on a false report a false rumor

570
00:45:18,150 --> 00:45:22,090
we hear something about somebody and take it

571
00:45:22,090 --> 00:45:26,950
on and it may be though apparently true

572
00:45:26,950 --> 00:45:29,730
and might seem to come from the most

573
00:45:29,730 --> 00:45:34,170
authentic and trustworthy source it might still be

574
00:45:34,170 --> 00:45:40,280
false we can know it in our hearts

575
00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:49,620
by the holy spirit and that spirit governing

576
00:45:49,620 --> 00:45:54,820
will be a safeguard against some division, some

577
00:45:54,820 --> 00:45:58,340
strain, some broken fellowship which ought never to

578
00:45:58,340 --> 00:46:01,180
be because it is founded upon a lie

579
00:46:01,180 --> 00:46:06,320
a beautiful lie it might be you see

580
00:46:06,320 --> 00:46:08,960
what I mean you ought to spend much

581
00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:16,260
time with that but oneness, fellowship is progressive

582
00:46:16,260 --> 00:46:18,880
on the basis of a life in the

583
00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:22,140
spirit and you and I as God's people

584
00:46:22,140 --> 00:46:24,960
are called to live in the spirit and

585
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:28,000
to walk by the spirit to know the

586
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:32,080
inner instruction and teaching of the spirit to

587
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:35,700
know the voice of the spirit takes a

588
00:46:35,700 --> 00:46:40,020
long time to learn in fullness or any

589
00:46:40,020 --> 00:46:42,240
great measure but it's a great reality which

590
00:46:42,240 --> 00:46:44,420
ought to begin with our new birth that

591
00:46:44,420 --> 00:46:48,840
we have a new consciousness of values of

592
00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:51,940
things that differ of right and of wrong

593
00:46:51,940 --> 00:46:54,720
of what we ought to do and ought

594
00:46:54,720 --> 00:46:56,840
not to do how we ought to speak

595
00:46:56,840 --> 00:46:58,500
and how we ought not to speak all

596
00:46:58,500 --> 00:47:00,480
this ought to be born with us at

597
00:47:00,480 --> 00:47:03,080
our new birth and it ought to grow

598
00:47:03,080 --> 00:47:12,060
and grow and grow only so will this

599
00:47:12,060 --> 00:47:19,040
other evil kingdom be destroyed only so will

600
00:47:19,040 --> 00:47:25,920
its works be countered only so will the

601
00:47:25,920 --> 00:47:29,620
church be terrible as an army with banners

602
00:47:30,380 --> 00:47:34,340
only so will God find the place that

603
00:47:34,340 --> 00:47:37,580
he is seeking where he can commit himself

604
00:47:38,380 --> 00:47:43,740
and abide and make himself known time is

605
00:47:43,740 --> 00:47:47,320
gone for this evening though the ground is

606
00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,680
not by any means fully covered but it's

607
00:47:50,680 --> 00:47:56,700
enough it's enough there's a great battle on

608
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:01,420
and that battle is not just the battle

609
00:48:02,400 --> 00:48:10,560
of different conceptions and interpretations presentations of Christianity

610
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:18,180
behind all is a battle between a great

611
00:48:18,180 --> 00:48:24,180
intention of God and a counter-intention of

612
00:48:24,180 --> 00:48:28,300
a great faith may God help us to

613
00:48:28,300 --> 00:48:31,780
have our eyes open to this and to

614
00:48:31,780 --> 00:48:34,640
be very clear cut as to where we

615
00:48:34,640 --> 00:48:36,580
stand in this fight