SIMPLE PAPERS FOR YOUNG CHRISTIANS BY H. A. IRONSIDE

" Fear not, Paul; . . . lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee."-Acts 27:24.

THE ASSEMBLY AS THE BODY OF CHRIST

At the time of his conversion on the Damascus turnpike, the germ of a great truth was revealed to Paul, which later became the chiefest in the galaxy of doctrines which it was his mission, as an apostle, to make known "for the obedience of faith." It was involved in the challenge of the Lord
of glory, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" For the first time it was then declared that Christ and His saints of this age of grace are one. To touch the feeblest of them is to touch Him; for they are all members of one body of which He is the glorified Head in heaven.

But this doctrine of the one body is never referred to by any other apostle than Paul. He calls it "the dispensation of the mystery" which he had especially been entrusted with. Indeed it was the characteristic truth of his large and varied ministry.

It is this that he is speaking of in Rom. 16:25-27:" Now to Him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world", began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets (or, by prophetic writings, 1:e., his own), according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith :to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen." The nature of this mystery is unfolded in Eph. 3:1-12. There he writes of the dispensation of the grace of God given him toward the Gentiles, and he adds:" How that by revelation (not through studying the Bible) He made known unto me the mystery . . . 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 and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel:… 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 unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God."

It is a passage of wondrous scope and blessedness, and I cannot attempt to expound it here, but what I would have the young believer note is that the truth of Jew and Gentile being formed by the Spirit into one body, upon being born of God, and by that same Spirit linked up to Christ as Head in heaven, was a truth never before made known. The Old Testament will be searched in vain for it. It is not there, because it was "hid in God." It was the secret purpose of His heart, only to be revealed after the rejection of His Son. It actually became a fact when the Holy Spirit was given on Pentecost. To this Paul refers when he writes:" 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 [the] 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."

To this one body every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ belongs. The gift of the Holy Spirit, who indwells all saved people, makes us one with every other Christian on the face of the earth. This is the only true " Catholic and Apostolic Church." At the beginning there was none other. "The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved " (Acts 2:47). There was no thought of any other membership, though until the special revelation given to Paul, it was not seen that this involved membership in the body of Christ.

The fact existed prior to the knowledge of it. Now, every saint should have clear light as to it, because it is everywhere declared, or taken for granted, in Paul's epistles.

Ephesians is largely occupied with it; setting forth the purpose of God to head up all things in Christ, and, preparatory to this, the formation of the one body. Then Colossians gives us the other side, magnifying Christ as Head, and pressing upon Christians their responsibility to own no other head, but to be in all things subject to Him. r Corinthians takes all this up in a practical way, showing what the outcome should be in our daily walk as members one of another and members of Christ.

Now, in what sense is this great truth "made known for the obedience of faith ? " Manifestly it can only mean that it is a truth each believer is expected to hold in. a practical way. And this surely involves the recognition of but one body and one Head, which necessarily leaves one outside of all human systems, and apart from all recognition of human heads. "The Church must have ahead!" was the Romanist's challenge to Luther, as he began to set forth the claims of the Papacy. "Yes," replied the mighty champion of the reformation, "and that Head is Christ!"

Never allow yourself in any association, dear young saint, where you will have to give this up. Hold the Head at all costs. And if you hold the Head, you can consistently own but one body; for one head with many bodies is unthinkable.

"To which of the various bodies of Christ do you belong ? " I was once asked by a clergyman. I could only reply," There is one body and I know no other."

Nor does this result in unkind feelings or hard, critical thoughts concerning others, equally dear to Christ, who may not be enlightened upon this great mystery. The very fact that we are all members one of another should hinder this. All may not see alike, and will not till the Lord Jesus comes; but that need not prevent fervent love going out to every member of Christ's body on earth.

" What church do you belong to ?" an evangelist was once asked by a well-meaning lady.

"I am a Christian," was the reply, "I belong to the body of Christ."

"Oh, of course," was the retort, "I know that. So am I, and I am also a member of the –church."

"Ah, my sister," he answered, "that is just the difference between us. You are a Christian and. I am only a Christian. Once I too was a Christian and; but when I learned that 'there is one body and one Spirit' I ceased to be a Christian and. I have ever since been simply a Christian."

"But," she exclaimed in evident astonishment, " in that case I do not see how you distinguish yourself from other Christians."
" Why, you see," was the quiet reply, " I have no desire to distinguish myself from fellow-Christians. I am one with them all; and I desire them all to see in me a fellow-member of Christ's body."

This is what I would commend to you. When God saved you He put you in the body of Christ. What other membership do you need or desire ? You are a member of the Church of God, the Church of the First-born, whose names are written in heaven. What more would you have ?

Before the confusion of sectarianism came in, "all that believed were together," and it was said of them on an ever-memorable occasion that "those who received his word were baptized:and the same day there were added unto them-[that is, unto those already baptized by the Spirit into the one body]- about three thousand souls. Aid they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:41, 42).

Nothing else is needed for faith to-day. God's word remains, and it is for each believer to act upon it, regardless of the ever-increasing apostasy. If only two or three do so, there is fellowship, and Christ will be enjoyed as He cannot be when His place as Head is forgotten and the truth is ignored that " there is one body."

THE ASSEMBLY IN ITS LOCAL ASPECT.

Side by side with the truth of the Assembly as the body of Christ, is the counter truth of the local assembly, the company of believers in any given locality, acting on the ground of the one body.

Perhaps it might be said that, strictly speaking, there is no declared doctrine of the local assembly, but both the Acts and the Epistles give us many illustrative incidents and historical notices which enable us clearly to see the divine method of ordering these companies of believers gathered to the peerless name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For His own words:"Where two or three are gathered together in (or, unto) My Name, there am I in the midst" (Matt. 18:20), clearly apply to all scriptural assemblings of His people. He will ever be the Center and recognized Head, who will lead the praises and worship of His saints, as it is also written, "In the midst of the Church (Assembly) will I sing praise unto Thee" (Heb. 2:12).

In the beginning the local assembly at Jerusalem and the Assembly the body of Christ were one. Every member of that body was, for a brief season at least, a part of the local assembly in that city. Then as these believers were scattered abroad, as Pentecostal visitors returned to their homes, or others were driven from Jerusalem by persecution-as the gospel also was carried to Samaria, and then to the Gentiles-wherever a company of members of Christ's body was found there was another local assembly. This was the only way in which separate gatherings were formed. "Two or three" in any given locality, were drawn together by the Spirit to the Name of the Lord Jesus, and thus a local assembly sprang into existence. To this little company others were added, as grace revealed Christ to their souls, and they in turn became partakers of the blessings of the Spirit's baptism, owning the rejected Jesus as Lord.

Thus all was simple. There was no human organization, no cumbrous ecclesiastical machinery, no sectional membership. He who was recognized as a member of Christ's body in Jerusalem, traveling or going elsewhere, upon making himself known there as one subject to Christ the Head, was at once accounted as one of them. He had found his own company. From an early period letters of commendation were given to such brethren, that they might be, at once, accredited in places where they were personally unknown (Rom. 16:i, 2; 2 Cor. 3:1; Acts 18:27). But this was all. There was no dismissing a " member " from the church in Ephesus that might "join" the church in Philippi. If a known member of Christ's body in Ephesus, he was gladly acknowledged as such in Philippi when his claim was properly attested.

As one goes over all this, how the conviction is forced upon the soul that Christendom has got far indeed from the simplicity of early days! And that very fact leads us to inquire:Is it possible now to act just as they did then?-when love was warm, and ere evil and pernicious doctrines had honeycombed what should have ever been in an outward way " The Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (i Tim. 3:15). The answer is that all this declension and failure was foreseen by the Holy Spirit, and directions clearly given how to proceed when such unhappy ruin should have come in. In Acts 20, where Paul delivered his farewell address to the elder brethren of the Ephesian assembly, he warned them of the very things we have been considering; but at the close he simply says, '' I commend you to God and the -word of His grace." God's word therefore is all-sufficient, whatever the cold-heartedness and backsliding that may be prevalent.

What course, then, are we directed to take when such evil days have come ? Build sects and systems, walled about with iron-clad creeds and buttressed by human regulations ? Not at all. What then ? Go back to " that which was from the beginning." Find out how things were at the first, and act on what the word of God makes known.

But shall we not then be literally swamped by unholy errorists of every description? This does not necessarily follow; for the same Word clearly tells us who are to be accepted to communion, and who refused Christian fellowship. We are called to receive all whose doctrines and ways give evidence that they are members of Christ, and subject to Him as Lord and Head. If a man is not sound in his teaching, he may be a member of Christ but he is not subject to Him, and is not to be received till the evil is judged. And the same applies to moral questions. One who has fallen into unholy ways, may, after all, be a believer whose failure is but temporary; still, we dare not receive him in that state. We must wait till we see the evidence of his subjection to Christ in the judgment of his sin.

This is largely ignored in Christendom generally, which has become like a great house in which valuable and common vessels are all mixed up together. If a man would be a " vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the Master's use," he is called to purge himself out from this mixture, by separating himself from it. He is then to find fellowship among similar separated ones, and to " follow righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart" (2 Tim. 2 :19-22) ; and so walking together the ground of the one body is maintained. If companies in different places are similarly gathered, they occupy the same position, and thus, in principle, go back to '' that which was from the beginning."

To do so involves no pretension. It is not "rebuilding the Church." It is owning the ruin of the Church and, in simplicity, "endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace " (Eph.
4:3). Difficulties may and will arise. Troubles will come up. Sorrows will have to be faced. But if there be a cleaving to Christ and His truth, the word of God will be found all-sufficient to meet every case that appears.

Owing to the broken and defiled conditions in Christendom, more care will need to be exercised as to whom fellowship is to be extended. But the heart should ever be open to all whose ways and doctrine give good evidence that they are of the one body and subject to the one Lord. Special discernment will be needed, lest by association with the unholy, such become partakers of other men's sins; for to go on with one who is in an evil course, even to the extent of greeting him in a brotherly way, is to make oneself "partaker of his evil deeds." (See 2 John.)

But if the Scriptures are allowed to be judge, every difficulty will vanish. In the beginning what applied to one assembly applied to all, as all were one; and if the same principle is recognized by believers gathering in the simple way indicated above, it will solve many perplexities and keep from isolation and independency, the twin enemies of practical fellowship between local companies of believers.