Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, by the
will of God, to the saints which are
at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ
Jesus.
Now, the Apostle here addresses the saints which
are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in
Christ Jesus, which in scope carries us clear
past Ephesus.
And then he says, Grace be to you
and peace from God our Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
According as he hath chosen us in him,
and before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before
him, in love, having predestinated us under 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, in whom we have redemption, through his
blood the forgiveness of sins, according to the
riches of his grace.
Paul, in writing to the Ephesians, shows them
that they are spiritual, they are a heavenly
people.
The church is heavenly in character, though she
is down on this earth performing a very,
very important function while she is here.
Now, the Apostle Paul was a specially chosen
vessel, and to him were given the great
revelations concerning the church of God in a
special way the Apostle Paul was entrusted with
these revelations.
Now, they are apparent even at the very
moment that the Apostle was saved.
And I want you to turn, please, with
me to Acts chapter 9.
Acts chapter 9.
You'll see two very, very important things in
connection with Paul's conversion.
And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter
against the disciples of the Lord, went unto
the high priest, and desired of him letters
to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he
found any of this way, whether they were
men or women, he might bring them bound
unto Jerusalem.
And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus,
and suddenly there shined round about him a
light from heaven, and he fell to the
earth, and heard a voice saying unto him,
Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
And he said, Who art thou, Lord?
And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecutest.
It is hard for thee to kick against
the priest.
And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do?
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and
go into the city, and it shall be
told thee what thou must do.
And the men which journeyed with him stood
speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.
And Saul arose from the earth, and when
his eyes were opened, he saw no man.
But they led him by the hand, and
brought him into Damascus.
Now, the Apostle Paul, or Saul of Tarsus
as he was known as at this time,
learned the great truth of the church at
the moment of his conversion.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said to Saul, and
I'm sure he would remember this in days
to come, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
When Saul of Tarsus touched the saints of
God, he touched their head in heaven, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the head, and he feels everything
that touches the body.
And here, right at the very conversion of
Saul of Tarsus, we see that Christ is
connected with the church in a vital union
of life.
And that, of course, is seen under the
figure of the body, the church as a
body, and Christ as the head.
And another thing, the Apostle Paul saw the
Lord Jesus Christ in glory.
He saw him there, and that fitted him
to be the Apostle to the church in
a special way.
The Apostle to the Gentiles, and the church
is largely composed of Gentiles.
Because you and I were never associated with
Christ in this world.
We've never seen him here.
We know him not after the flesh at
all.
We see him in the glory.
The church is heavenly in character, and our
experiences now are in the heavenly.
And our heart is in heaven.
He wants our affection there.
We were never connected with earth.
Now, Israel was always connected with earth, and
always will be connected with earth.
But we, since we are connected with our
Lord Jesus Christ, our risen head in heaven,
our blessings are spiritual.
We have spiritual blessings, and we're blessed with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in rhyme.
Now, the Apostle Paul so wonderfully gives us
the truth of the church.
I would rather be born in this dispensation
than in any other of all the dispensations
of God.
Because I am a part of that church,
and you are a part of that church.
That select company wherein God magnifies his grace.
The Epistles of the Ephesians is wonderfully replete
with expressions of God's grace.
His grace rises to its highest height in
the salvation of the Gentiles.
They are, he picks them up from the
Lord's depths, without hope or without any covenant
claim upon God.
Strangers from the covenants of promise, absolutely nothing
in themselves, going outside of the veil of
blessing.
And yet God reaches down, down past Israel,
down to the Gentiles, the outcasts, and he
takes out of them a people for his
name.
And God magnifies his grace in the church
in a wonderful way.
We have the most intimate place, so intimate
that one of the figures which we have
noticed last night is that of a bride
and a bridegroom.
Absolutely the most intimate relationship on earth, still
falls far short, I'm sure, of really showing
our blessed relationship to our Lord Jesus Christ.
We will always be associated with him in
glory.
We will share all that he shares.
We are his, and he is ours.
What a wonderful position in our Lord Jesus
Christ.
Now last night we were considering four figures
of the church, and they're all seen in
connection with the Ephesians.
Three of them are outlined in this epistle,
and one of them is spoken of as
the apostle talks to the elders at Ephesus
in Acts chapter 20.
We notice that the church is seen under
the figure of a building, it's seen under
the figure of a body, it's seen under
the figure of a bride, and it's seen
under the figure of a flock.
We mentioned last night that when we talk
about the church we exalt Christ, for it's
impossible to disassociate the church from Christ.
Absolutely impossible.
If we talk of the church as a
building, then Christ is the foundation.
If we talk of the church as a
body, then Christ is the head.
If we talk of the church as a
bride, then Christ is the groom.
If we talk of the church as a
flock, then Christ is the shepherd.
He has a preeminent place, ever and always.
Now last night we thought to show how
we wanted to be sure that we have
that vital link with our Lord Jesus Christ.
Are we resting upon that wonderful foundation?
Are all our hopes for eternity settled upon
our Lord Jesus, that rock of ages that
was left for me?
And then the body would show us the
vital link of life.
Are we connected with our Lord Jesus through
that vital link of life?
And then the bride would bring before us
the love of the bride to the bridegroom.
Do we love the Lord Jesus?
Is he the object that fills our hearts?
Then lastly, if the church is the flock,
then Christ is the shepherd.
Have we realized that we, as individuals, were
lost sheep going astray?
And have we been found by our Lord
Jesus Christ?
If he is our shepherd, can we say,
the Lord is my shepherd and I shall
not want?
Now these exercises concerning the gospel, but tonight
I want to take up these four figures
that God gives us of the church and
see what they have, what they may hold
for us in our relationship to him.
Now first of all, in the building we
have noticed already that Christ is the foundation
and then we are the stone in the
foundation.
Let's notice again 1 Peter chapter 2.
1 Peter chapter 2, verse 4, To whom
coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed
of men, but chosen of God and precious,
ye also as lively or living stones are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God
by Jesus Christ.
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture,
Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded.
Unto you therefore which believe he is precious,
but unto them which be disobedient, the stone
which the builders disallowed, the same as made
the head of the corner.
Now you and I are stones in that
building.
We are stones, living stones, placed in the
building.
Now the foundation was the apostles and the
prophets.
As we read in Ephesians, Christ himself being
the chief cornerstone.
Well now obviously you and I are up
near the very top of the building because
these stones are added as the building rises.
Now of course we're looking at the church
universal when we're thinking of the church in
this respect, under this figure as the building.
Now the local church is just but a
replica of the church universal.
Now in the church universal you and I
are added as stones.
Someday the last stone is going to be
added to this building, this wonderful building, and
we are going to be raptured into the
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A saint of God, strangely enough, had the
assurance of eternal security through studying the church.
He was acquainted with the fact, as he
read the scriptures, the Spirit of God acquainted
him with the fact that he was a
stone in that wonderful building that God is
building.
And then he thought to himself, well now
if I'm a stone in that building and
other stones are added beyond me, if that's
the figure, and above me and beside me,
and I am put into that building, wouldn't
the church of God look strange with a
stone out here and a stone out there?
The church of God all shut through, whole.
Now wouldn't that be fine?
And he saw the doctrine of eternal security
through the truth of the church.
We are living souls in that building built
upon the foundation of Christ.
Now the truth, I think that we, or
the chief phase of the truth to be
emphasized in connection with the building, two things.
A building is built for a purpose, and
we read in Ephesians chapter 2 one of
these purposes.
As a matter of fact they're both in
the Ephesian epistle.
We might as well turn to Ephesians chapter
2.
He says in verse 19, Now therefore ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with the phantom of the household of
God, and are built upon the foundation of
the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief cornerstone, in whom all the buildings
fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple
in the Lord, in whom ye also are
builted together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit.
Now this temple, as the temple of old,
is the dwelling place of the glory of
God.
The glory of God fills Solomon's temple.
It filled that temple to the extent that
on the day of its dedication they couldn't
even perform their services because the Shekinah glory
was filling that temple.
In Ezekiel's day he saw that glory depart.
It departed reluctantly.
It raised up over the temple, and all
the court in his vision was lighted by
the glory as it left the temple.
Then it stood over the threshold east of
the courtyard, and the glory there lighted the
courtyard.
Then it stood on the mountain east of
Jerusalem, and then it departed.
The glory, it would seem, just was reluctant
to depart.
Oh, how the glory of God once hated
to leave that temple!
But in Ezekiel's temple, or rather Ezekiel described
it, in the millennial temple, it's interesting to
note that when the glory comes back, and
it's not said to be in the, the
glory is never said to be in the
the temple that was constructed upon the return
from the Babylonian captivity.
It was a day of small things, but
certainly that Shekinah glory shall inhabit the temple
in the millennial reign of our Lord Jesus.
And Ezekiel describes the return of the glory,
and it doesn't, the glory doesn't return by
step.
It comes right straight back to the temple.
There's no rising over the temple.
There's no rising over the threshold.
There's no tearing over the mountain.
It comes right back to the temple.
Now the glory of God inhabits His church.
The Spirit of God inhabits this living temple.
This temple has a purpose.
And you and I are the temple of
the Holy Spirit as individuals in this world,
and we are the temple of the Spirit
collectively, that is the entire church.
And the glory of God inhabits this temple.
It's wonderful to think of that.
Now, someday this church is going to be
taken out of the world.
And according to the second chapter of, of
2 Thessalonians, when the church goes, the Holy
Spirit will go with it.
And there will be no hindrance to evil
in this world.
You and I, as we are in this
world tonight, are deterrents to evil.
The Spirit of God is in the world,
in the church.
That's the only safe place of His abode.
I know you've omniscient, that He has chosen
to take up abode in you and in
me.
Now isn't that, as in that temple in
Solomon's day, the stones were quarried separately.
They were quarried in Solomon's quarry and cut
out there, and all the shaping was done
in the quarry.
And then the stones were brought together and
assembled in the temple, and there was no
sound of hammer or iron or anything when
the temple went together.
The stones fit together.
Now the Spirit of God fit you and
me to be a part of this temple.
We were fitted as individuals, but the Spirit
of God fitted into that temple.
And there was no, there's no noise.
You don't know that God is doing His
greatest work today.
God is building a masterpiece today in this
world.
This is the time, this is the time
when men are saying that God is dead.
Did you hear about the sign on the
church building in Michigan?
Our God is not dead.
Sorry about yours.
God isn't dead.
He's doing His greatest work in the world
today.
He's building the greatest edifice that all the
universe can possibly appreciate.
God is doing it.
Now we are on display to a wandering
universe.
Ephesians chapter 3 now, if you please.
He says, For this cause I, Paul, the
prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if
you have heard of the dispensation of the
grace of God which is given me to
you, learn how that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery, as I wrote
afore in few words, whereby when you read,
ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery
of Christ, which in other ages was not
made known unto the sons of men, as
it is now revealed unto his holy apostles
and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles
should be fellow-heirs unto the same body,
and partakers of his promise in Christ by
the gospel.
Whereof I was made a minister according to
the gift of the grace of God given
unto me by the effectual working of his
power unto me whom less than the least
of all saints is this grace given, that
I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable
riches of Christ, and to make all men
see what is the fellowship of the mystery
which from the beginning of the world hath
been hid in God, who created all things
by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now,
under the principalities and powers in heavenly places,
might be known by the church the manifold
wisdom of God.
God is teaching all the created intelligences, his
wisdom, his power and his might.
The manifold wisdom of God is seen in
the building of this church.
This, I say without hesitation, is God's masterpiece."
And you're a part of it.
And I am a part of it.
We're a part of that magnificent edifice.
And all the temples of God, in all
their glory, even the Millennial Temple, will never
compare with the church of God, this magnificent
building that has been put together by the
Spirit of God in this day of grace
in which men are saying that God is
dead.
God is dead.
He is performing his greatest work, the building
of the church.
Then, in the case of the body, we
have a truth to be emphasized in the
body.
Christ is the head and we are the
body.
Now, I think the body would bring before
us that we are to obey our Lord
implicitly as the members of the body.
That's the first truth I'm going to touch
on.
I want to mention three things.
The key phase of truth to be emphasized
in connection with this figure is our implicit
obedience to Christ as the members of the
body obeys the head.
Then I want to see that we are
nourished by that head.
Then I want to show one has to
look together at the care that the members
have one for another.
This is all a part of the truth
of the church seen as a body.
Well, think of that one first of all.
The members of the body obey the head
implicitly.
Now, as a sad state of affairs, when
I appear, my head, tell my foot to
move, and it doesn't move.
That is a sad state of affairs.
My head directs my body.
And you know what happens when the head
has no control over the body.
You have a very sad state of affairs.
But our head is in heaven and we
are his body and that means that you
and I should obey our Lord as implicitly
as the members of my body obey me.
We should no more ever think of disobeying
our risen head in heaven as we would
expect the members of the body to disobey
the head.
Then we are nourished by the head.
Colossians chapter two.
Colossians chapter two, verse 19.
Well, verse 18, for sake of connection, let
no man beguile you of your reward in
a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding
into those things which he hath not seen,
vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and
not holding the head, from which all the
body, by joints and bands, having nourishment ministered
and knit together, increases with the increase of
God.
Now the head feeds the body.
That's true in more senses or in more
ways than one.
More than just one sense.
I take in food and I send it
to my body.
The food comes from the head and goes
to the body.
The central nervous system nourishes all the nervous
systems of the body.
Christ the head nourishes the body.
But then the body is interdependent too.
Dependent upon one another.
Having bands, bands having nourishment ministered and knit
together increases with the increase of God.
Now notice please too Ephesians chapter four in
this connection.
Verse 15, seeking the truth in love, we
may grow up unto him in all things
which is the head, even Christ, from whom
the whole body fitly joined together and compacted
by that which every joint supplyeth, according to
the effectual working in the measure of every
part, maketh increase of the body unto the
edifying of itself in love.
Now this shows us the inner dependence of
the body.
Each part of the body supplies nourishment for
other parts of the body, and it's compacted
together by that which every joint supplyeth.
Now we need each other.
The truth of the church certainly tells us
that you and I need each other in
the Lord.
You have something to supply to me.
I have something to supply to you.
The same truth is bought out in 1
Corinthians chapter 12, when we look at the
church as a body.
Verse 12 of the 12th chapter of 1
Corinthians, 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.
It is more properly, so also is the
Christ, because the body and the head are
thought of as one here.
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.
Now it's interesting to notice here that Jews
and Gentiles are seen to be in the
same body.
That was the mystery that was hid from
the ages, that the Jews and the Gentiles,
so different in their backgrounds, so different in
their philosophies and their national makeup, should be
members of the same body.
But that's truth, and that's the truth of
the church.
And it's also mentioned in connection with the
body in the second chapter of Ephesians.
But let's read on here.
For the body is not one member, but
many.
If the foot shall say, 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 a 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.
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 are 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
lacks.
That there should be no fizzle 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 him.
For one member be honored, all the members
rejoice with him.
Now, ye are the body of Christ, and
members in particular.
Now, this shows us the absolute inner dependence
of the body.
The mature Christians can't say to the young
Christians, I have no need of you.
Nor can the young Christians say to the
mature Christians, well, I'm not of the body
because I'm not the I.
Those that are in the body are dependent
upon the whole body.
We have no members of the body that
are independent of other members of the body,
and we need each other.
Now, God hath fit us in that body
in his infinite wisdom.
Now, I may be only the little finger,
but that little finger may be very, very
important.
I may be one of these little glands,
these little insignificant glands.
But the body needs that nourishment.
We need each other.
We cannot go on in independence of each
other, because each part of the body is
dependent upon other parts of the body.
We should remember that, because I think that
we are inclined in the church of God
to seek our own level spiritually.
I'm going to talk about cliques within the
church now.
We'll talk about schisms later.
We'll talk about divisions.
But I'm talking about cliques that develop in
any normal assembly.
All right, I'm going to be practical now.
One of them is the family clique.
I've seen it.
I've seen it in actions.
One of them is the family clique.
The little, the members of the one family
get together, and those that are related by
marriage, and they're talking just as fast as
they can.
And here is another little clique over here,
other members of another family.
Now, it's nice for families to feel their
oneness, but let us remember that we are
members of a body of which every saint
is a part of that body.
Now, we're so inclined to seek our own
level mentally, and so we, and spiritually.
I'm thinking of spiritual maturity.
Actually, I think a young person can be
just as spiritual as an older person, absolutely.
But I'm speaking of spiritual maturity.
All right.
Is it right for me to just be
talking to the elders all the time?
No, it isn't.
And if I spend all my time with
the elders and don't pay any attention to
the faith in Christ, there's going to be
a neglect.
There's going to be a repercussion.
The members of the body are dependent upon
one another, and if God places those members
in there, believe me, no member is more
important than the other.
Now, I say that advisedly.
God in his wisdom has fitted the body
together to function, and I say that no
member is more important than the other.
That which we think to be less important,
upon that part, God bestows a more abundant
honor.
He's trying to straighten the thing out.
He is trying to compensate in his own
way.
Now, we need to remember this, that the
church is a body, and that no part
of that body is to be neglected by
us in our thinking or in our actions.
Even the children that know our Lord Jesus
Christ as our Savior, and ours too, should
not be neglected by the old, most mature,
and most learned person in the assembly.
We are absolutely interdependent upon each other in
these respects.
Now, in the matter of the bride, seeing
the body under the figure of a bride,
the chief phase of the truth I believe
to be emphasized is our obedience to him
as based on love.
Now, in the body, we see our obedience
to Christ as absolutely implicit.
That's what the figure, I believe, would bring
before us.
But now, here's another phase of our obedience
to the Lord that is seen under the
figure of a bride.
Why does she obey her husband?
Because she loves him.
That's why she obeys him.
And even in the relationship of man and
wife, which is a picture of Christ and
his bride, obedience is insisted upon from the
wife to the husband.
And love is insisted upon from the husband
to the wife.
Now, let's notice that in the fifth chapter
of Ephesians, because I think in looking at
the counterpart or the type here on earth,
we can gain something of the great anti
-type Christ and his church.
This is approaching us from the reverse direction,
but I'm sure that we can profit by
it.
Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22, Why submit yourselves
unto your own husbands 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, that is, he's the preserver 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.
That he might sanctify and cleanse it by
the washing of water by the word, that
he might present it to himself a glorious
church.
Verse 32, This is a great mystery that
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.
Now, it's amazing that such a relationship as
husband and wife, and as intimate as it
is, is not regulated more in the Bible.
Very little is said about their relationship together.
Some is mentioned in the 7th chapter of
1 Corinthians.
We may have occasion to look at that.
There are other references, but actually these all
told together would hardly fill a good long
chapter.
And here is a relationship that exists maybe
perhaps through 50 years of our lives, and
covers, I suppose, perhaps the greatest portion, greatest
fraction of our lives.
A relationship wherein you would think you'd have
the most detailed instruction.
And there are very few.
And one is wives obey your husband.
The other is husbands love your wife.
And that's all there is.
Is this enough?
I think it is.
I think love takes care of a lot
of these things.
I think that a bride will want to
obey her husband.
She respects him, and she should respect him.
She doesn't respect him, she shouldn't marry him.
She should respect him when she marries him,
and then obey him.
And a husband should love his wife, love
her dearly.
And he is given the hardest part.
I know it's in these days of independence,
when women have found their independence in the
highest degree, it is hard for them to
find themselves obeying their husbands, because of the
unreasonableness sometimes of the husband.
But I think that these things are illustrated
in a little quarrel that a man and
his wife are having.
And he was complaining to her, and he
said, you don't obey me like you should.
The Bible says that you should obey me.
And she said, well, you don't love me
as you should.
The Bible says that you should love me.
Well, he said, if you would obey me
more, I would love you more.
She said, if you would love me more,
I would obey you more.
So they added up.
Well, now wouldn't that have been better, if
they would have both obeyed the word of
God, and eliminated all the trouble?
I say that 95% of marital trouble
would be eliminated by the simple observation of
one verse in the Bible, that every one
of you in particular so love his wife,
he is as even as himself.
And the wife sees that she reverence her
husband.
That's all you need.
The word of God is so, so very,
very inclusive.
So all inclusive.
But I'll tell you, brethren, we've got the
hardest job of all.
We're to love that wife.
We're to love her.
There isn't anything said here about her loving
him.
Of course, the older women teach the younger
women to love their wives, and Titus.
But not here, it's not mentioned.
But it's certainly mentioned that the husband should
love the wife, even as Christ also loved
the church, and gave himself forth.
There's your standard.
You know, it's wonderful how these dear sisters
respond to love.
Well, it's wonderful how anybody responds to love.
But especially a wife.
Brethren, let's take a word of admonition.
Let's love our wives.
Let them know it.
Tell them once in a while.
Even if it might shock them.
I'm not going to talk too much about
the other, because you sisters think sometimes that
we brethren have it in for you, and
it's a matter of obedience.
But I'll tell you really, if we would
just listen to the word of God and
obey it, instead of expecting the other to
obey it.
We have our work cut out for us,
brethren.
Let's love our wives and show it.
I know this to be true.
I've been reminded of this before, in my
own life.
It works that way.
Now, in this lovely relationship, we see the
relationship of Christ with the church.
Now, is there any question about his love
for us?
Is there any question about our obedience to
him?
I'm afraid so.
He isn't falling down on the job, is
he?
Are you falling down on the job?
Are you obeying him?
Oh now, come on.
Are you obeying your Lord to your divine
bridegroom?
We can talk about that, can't we?
Shouldn't we, as much as he loves us,
shouldn't we obey him?
Out of love.
Not out of compulsion.
Out of love to the Lord Jesus.
How much do we love the Lord?
How much do you love the Lord?
I'll just ask you another question.
We'll just turn the coin over.
How many times do you say, I'm going
to have it this way?
When you know the Lord says differently.
May God help us to fulfill our bargain
in this matter of being the bride of
Christ and obey him.
Then there is the figure of the flock,
and I think that the chief truth to
be emphasized here is that Christ is the
center of that flock.
He's the shepherd.
Shall we turn to the 10th chapter of
John, please?
John chapter 10.
He says in verse 14 in the 10th
chapter of John, I am the good shepherd
and know my sheep and am known of
mine.
As the father knoweth me, even so know
I the father, and I lay down my
life for the sheep.
Another sheep I have, which are not of
this foal.
Them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one
foal and one shepherd.
Now the word foal is used twice in
this verse, but the second usage of it
near the end of the verse is incorrect.
Your margin of your Scofield Bible will tell
you that, that the word should be translated
flock.
Now the Lord Jesus says, other sheep I
have, which are not of this foal.
Them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one
flock and one shepherd.
Now before the 16th verse of this 10th
chapter of John, our Lord Jesus is talking
about the foal entirely.
He's talking about the foal when he talks
about the porter.
Now this porter is the person who keeps
the communal flock overnight.
The shepherds bring their sheep to this communal
foal, and that foal was composed of a
high row of stakes interwoven with thorns, and
that was so tightly woven and so secure
that no predatory animal could work its way
through that fence, through that foal.
Those sheep were safe inside the foal.
The shepherds would bring their sheep together at
night and put them in this foal, and
there was a porter that was hired to
stand by that door and keep the sheep
safely during the night.
Then in the morning, when the shepherd came
to take out his sheep, you would say,
how in the world is that shepherd going
to separate his sheep from all that community
flock?
Well, it was very simple.
The shepherd just called his sheep by name,
and you would see them moving out of
that communal flock.
You'd see a sheep moving here and a
sheep moving there.
And those sheep would follow that shepherd, and
he would take them out into the fields
to graze during the day.
They loved that shepherd.
They knew his voice.
And regardless of how large the flock was
in that community flock, those sheep would go
out following the shepherd, and he led them
out to the pastures for the day.
Now, they loved that shepherd.
That's why he was the center of that
flock.
They were attracted to him.
Now, our Lord Jesus says here, other sheep
I have which are not of this foal.
Now, the foal is Israel, and the flock
is the church.
Now, what is the difference between a foal
and a flock?
Well, some of you have heard this before,
but I'm going to stir up your pure
minds by way of remembrance.
A foal is a circumference without a center.
A flock is a center without a circumference.
The foal holds the sheep together from the
outside.
The flock holds the sheep together from the
inside, and the Lord Jesus is that attraction
that holds the sheep together.
Now, that foal, or that fence, was represented
by the law which separated every Jew from
every Gentile in all the world.
The Gentiles were outside of that foal, and
that law kept the Jews an entity.
That law kept the Jews a distinct people,
and the only Gentiles that ever got inside
of that foal were proselytes who became Jews.
That foal, that fence, was the answer, and
that fence, that middle wall of partition of
which Paul speaks in Ephesians which has been
broken down, kept the Jewish people intact.
Strangely enough, in the case of the flock,
there's no high wall.
Christ is the center.
They're gathered together to him.
That's the picture in the flock.
That's the picture of the church.
Now, in Matthew chapter 18, we have a
lovely, lovely verse that I think illustrates this.
Then we're going to get practical.
The 18th chapter of Matthew says, verse 20,
for where two or three are gathered together
in my name, that's the attraction.
There am I in the midst of them.
We have here the figure of the flock.
There is an attraction to the Lord Jesus
Christ, and this church, this local church right
here, this assembly, should illustrate this at all
times, and I think we've lost track of
this truth.
Because we have lost track of this truth,
we have lost track of some of the
people of God.
They've strayed away.
Now, why do you come here to this
assembly?
Do you come here because your folks do?
Your relatives do?
Your friends do?
Now, there's nothing wrong with folks, and relatives,
and friends.
But why are you attracted?
Are you attracted because of what you see
of Christ in others, or what you share
with him in fellowship with Christ?
That should be our motive for coming together.
The scriptures say, for where two or three
are gathered together in my name, because of
their mutual love and respect for the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ, they come together,
and they form a church.
We have the image of the flock, the
forest, Christ, the gathering center.
Now, it's so easy, it's so easy to
seek our fellowship because of other reasons.
Perhaps we go to one place or another
because there is a professional element in this
place.
Because there's a nice building.
I hope that wouldn't be the reason.
Or because there are more young people.
I know of a case where a family
changed their assembly affiliation because there were a
lot of young people over at another assembly.
This happens a thousand miles away.
You never, you'll never know who it is
that I'm talking about.
But they did, they changed their fellowship because
there was a lot of young people over
there.
So they removed their own two young people
out of the assembly where there were so
few young people and took them over where
there were a lot of other young people.
Well now, young people like to be with
young people.
But how are you going to get the
young people over in this assembly when you
take them all out because there's none there?
Where do we start?
Well now, that's kind of like transplanting limbs,
isn't it?
Transplanting kidneys or something like that.
Taking one part out of the body and
putting it over here in this body.
Now, wouldn't it be better if perhaps we
would be absolutely unselfish, seeking the glory of
the Lord in these things and not our
own convenience?
No, I have nothing against young people being
pathetic.
I was young once myself.
I could tell you a story to prove
that I'm old, but I won't do it.
Why do we meet where we do?
Do we meet because of a mutual attraction
to the Lord Jesus?
Do we have fellowship with the people of
God where we meet?
If so, we're attracted to Christ and He's
the center.
I would like to have all of us
that meet here and remember the Lord in
this assembly and fellowship in this assembly to
be able to give a good reason why
you're here.
Of course, if you're not here by conviction,
it's easy for you to go elsewhere.
But if you're here by conviction, then that
won't happen.
Are we gathered to the people?
Certainly not gathered to the buildings.
Or are we gathered to the Lord Jesus?
He is the center of the flock.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could see
that?
Who did you think that you would see
tonight when you came to the assembly?
Did you think that you would see this
person or that person?
When you sit to remember the Lord, perhaps
you're sitting on this side or this side.
Now, I didn't notice this.
I'm not reminded of this by any particular
action that I noticed last Wednesday morning.
But are you interested in who's coming in
the door?
Or are you interested in whose divine presence
you're sitting at the time?
Christ says, for where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I
in the midst of them.
I wonder if you thought about the fact
the Lord was here last Lord's Day morning
in the midst of his people.
Did you think about that?
Say if the If
you'd had some celebrity, Christian celebrity here in
this assembly, you'd have talked about it to
all your friends.
Are we lacking in faith?
Have we lost this truth?
We should gather to Christ.
He should be the divine attraction.
He should be the center.
And if we have a mutual love together,
a mutual respect for him, we'll have a
mutual respect for each other because we see
something of Christ in each of our brethren.
Now, may the Lord take these few simple
thoughts and make them precious to our hearts.
Remember the Gathering Center.
I think we're just going to have to
talk a little more about this tomorrow night.
And then, by the will of the Lord,
we want to get into the practical aspects
of the Church as seen in the Corinthian
Apostles.
First Corinthians especially, we'll just make that as
a kind of an announcement in regard to
tomorrow night's meeting.
Brother Willard Rodgers, would you close with a
word of prayer?