Thus far we have been considering the House as described in the Word of God and as His workmanship. In this sense it is ideal. It is needless to say that this does not mean it is not real also. The great facts are eternally grounded on Christ and His work; the power of realization, as well as the divine agency in the structure of the building, is the Holy Spirit.

So we must never excuse ourselves for failure in apprehension of or obedience to the truth. It is well to be reminded of this in a day of failure and of widespread departure on the part of the vast majority of the saints. God's truth and His purposes have not changed, and while shame and confusion of face become us, they will not allow us to rest in slothful indifference.

A striking passage in the latter part of Ezekiel illustrates this (chap. 43:10, 11). "Thou son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities:and let them measure the pattern. And if they be ashamed of all that they have done, show them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out thereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof:and write it in their sight, that they may keep the whole form thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and do them." For the contrite ones, God has the special message to arise and build the house. Similarly, after forty years, largely spent in wandering in the wilderness, this "good land and large" still lay before God's people to be possessed and enjoyed. How good it is to know that His love will not let us be robbed of that which He has given us.

True, we shall find fresh unfoldings of grace, and special provision for faith in a day of failure. In outward display, the house which faith rebuilds is mean compared with its original grandeur. So there were mingled weeping and shouting when the foundations of the house were laid in Ezra's day (chap. 3:12,13). But God's thoughts abide, and of that house the prophet says, "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts" (Haggai 2:9). There is much instruction for the present day in these "captivity books."

So we may sing while we work:

"Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed;
By schisms rent asunder
By heresies distressed;
Yet saints their watch are keeping,
The cry goes up, How long?
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song."

And while we wait and the cry of longing for the coining of the Lord goes up, we still go forward by His grace seeking to build up that which shall be a testimony to the grace of our blessed Lord.

Returning, however, to God's original provision for the practical order of His house, we find many details in the epistles to the Corinthians. Every thoughtful reader will notice the difference between the epistle to the Ephesians and 1 Corinthians. In the former we see the Church according to God's mind, as already said, and as revealed in His word, without the failures which have marred it on man's part. We might say, in the main, that Ephesians gives us the constitution of the Church, while 1 Corinthians dwells largely upon its order.

And is it not touching to remember that the provision and direction for the order of the assembly were unfolded, not in connection with the comparatively unfailed assembly at Ephesus, but where the enemy has done his utmost to defile and destroy God's workmanship, at Corinth? At the opening of the epistle, the apostle is confronted with a vast mass of rubbish which he must clear away. In these first chapters we see how the apostle sets aside the various ways in which the world-wisdom glories. The natural mind despises the things of the Spirit:it considers its wisdom, or human philosophy, as superior to what God has revealed; but as men's thoughts differ, discord and strife must be expected as the result. The finished product of all this exaltation of the mind of man is summed up in one word by the Spirit of God:"The world by wisdom knew not God." The apostle then goes on to show God's blessed remedy for all this folly and ignorance. It is, in one word, the cross of Christ, the preaching of which is to the world foolishness, whether it be the religious Jew or the philosophic Greek, but to those who believe it is Christ, the power and the wisdom of God.

How refreshing it is in days like these, when men are professing to seek after God apart from revelation, to remember that the key to all knowledge, and thus the only basis of true unity, is included in one word, christ, and Him crucified-Christ, in His person and His work.

Wherever this wisdom of the world comes to the front we will find it asserting itself even among professedly Christian schools of thought. Whatever these schools may be, they all alike end in real ignorance of God. As centers of human opinion, the various systems of philosophy gather around them. The Corinthians had been betrayed into the folly of having such teachers also in the assembly as leaders of thought. They naturally arrayed themselves under these rival leaders. The apostle applies this to the real leaders, given of God, though they may not have been actually there. "Who is Paul and who is Apollos?" It is as though he said, even if they were Paul, Apollos, or Cephas, it would not alter what he had said. (See chap. 4:6). Let no man therefore glory in men, for all things' were theirs, and they were Christ's and Christ was God's.

The next part of the epistle is taken up with setting aside all that is of the flesh. As to the allowance among them of gross immorality, the authoritative word of the' apostle, as the spokesman for the Lord Jesus Christ, was, "Put away from among yourselves that wicked person." Such things were not for a moment to be tolerated. The leaven must be banished from that which was practically to be the house of God, where the feasts were to be kept in truth.

The apostle next reminds them of their high dignity as one day going to judge the world, and even angels. Were they then now unworthy or incompetent to judge in the affairs of this life? If so, the fault was theirs, and their shame. What a denial of the house of God as the abode of righteousness this was, when brother would bring his complaint against brother in the court of the world? So all unrighteousness is excluded from the temple of God, individually or collectively (comp. chap. 6:19 with chap. 3:16,17).

Chapter 7 goes into the relationships of this life in the family; and here, as everywhere, the thought of the natural man in the disregard of the sanctity of the marriage tie is set aside by the pure and holy provision and authority of God's Word. All that He has established in the order of creation has its rightful place under His government. No relationship is so close and private but the eye of God searches it, to judge that which is not suited to His presence. Alas, men professing to be children of God seem utterly to ignore this, with the resulting confusion which has so largely made the "great house" of Christendom what it is today.

Chapters 8 to 10 dwell upon a further feature of that evil which cannot abide in God's house. Apparently a thing "indifferent," the eating of things offered to idols, is seen in its true character as a recognition of the idol claim.

In itself, the idol was nothing, but it was Satan's instrument which had utterly defiled Israel, and would now defile God's temple. Similarly, to eat what had been offered to idols was in itself harmless, but because it had been thus connected with the unholy belief of the world it was a stumbling-block to many. No doubt the Corinthians themselves were defiled with this unholy alliance with the world, and this corruption is Satan's work. Here was no room for "liberty" falsely so-called; even an apostle used his liberty only to deny himself for others. So the apostle cleared away all the enemy had obtruded into the assembly of God; he would purge the sanctuary, to use an Old Testament illustration (1 Chron. 29:5, etc.). He then sets before the reverent gaze of the saints the table of the Lord and the holy supper thereon.

This brings us to the heart, or we may say, the sanctuary of the whole epistle, where we find the centre around which is grouped all the order and the government of the house of God. "Where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them." It is at this table that the full sense of our being gathered to His name is realized. How impossible it is to enter that holy presence and enjoy that holy feast of love with anything that savors of this world's pride, or corruption of the flesh, or the subtle snares of Satan.

Even the order of creation is here reaffirmed, and the woman is seen in her true place as the help-meet of, and in love's subjection to her husband. What presumption it is for any company of Christians to assume as their own private prerogative the privileges and responsibilities of the table of the Lord! When once we remember that it is the Lord's table, and that everything is under His authority and control, we are delivered from that assumption which would make it the table of some special school of thought, the badge of some party. Here "everlasting love displays the choicest of her stores." Surely in the presence of love like this all human will must vanish. If any dare to approach this feast in an unjudged state, they have the Lord of the table to reckon with. "Whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord." Therefore there are safeguards set about the holy feast which are for our guidance in its administration. This government and godly care belong to the house of God. It is the witness of a holiness that excludes the flesh and the devil; it holds all those that gather there responsible to see that this is carried out. Where it is neglected, the Lord must judge for His own glory, even among His own. "When we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world." Thus we see the table as the centre of the house.

Chapters 12 to 14 give us the presence and power of the Spirit in the assembly as forming the house of God. His sovereignty is complete and vital. Naturally, the truth as to the Body is seen here to be the guiding and controlling principle. There is room, and necessity, for every member of the body in the testimony and ministry of the House.

The world ignores the feeble and exalts the strong. The Spirit of God cares for and gives free scope for the most "uncomely" part, and uses it for the building up of the body in love. To that love chapter 13 is devoted, coming between the chapter which speaks of the organism and that which dwells upon the activities and public worship and service. Without this God-given love, all gifts are worthless; all displays of eloquence or knowledge are but sounding brass and tinkling cymbal. Devotedness itself, of wealth or earthly life, is worthless.

Love is described in its fruits, both negatively and positively, rather than in its source and the power of its maintenance. Its source, as we know, must be in Him who is Love; its channel and essence is Him who has made the Father known; and its power is the blessed Spirit of God, shedding it abroad in the heart. How desolate is the house without the life, the cheer, the purity of love-a love which is not human, and therefore knows no favorites and seeks no will but God's, which is the foretaste of that place in the Father's house-love's blest abode. "Follow after love."

When love is thus in exercise, we enter into the true enjoyment of the gifts of ministry, where all is for edification and nothing for the display of human pride. "Edification, exhortation and comfort" are the keynote here, where the exuberance of even God-given abilities is subject to the controlling sway of Divine love and truth. Here each has his place, but no more. Here the order from the beginning is seen.

When our Lord declared He Himself was the Rock upon which He would build His Church (Matt. 16), He used the symbol of a building and its foundation. Therefore it is eminently fitting that in the epistle of Church order we should have the great classic of the Resurrection. In Ephesians we are seen as already raised up together with Christ, and in Him in the heavenlies. In Corinthians the building is seen upon earth, exposed to the shock and stress of storm. But the "gates of Hades," of death, shall not prevail against it. Its place is with its risen and glorified Lord.

The closing chapter of the epistle, though supplementary in character, is in accord with the general theme of the epistle. It has to do with the order of the house relative to ministering to the need of saints, and details as to the care for all that concerns God's honor. Nothing is too lowly to put in its proper place, even with the celestial glories of eternity shedding their luster upon it. May the simplest service of our lives be thus spent in the purity and joy of those "bright and blessed scenes."

Pausing before we take a glance at the second Epistle, let us place the present condition of things among the people of God, professed or not, alongside this picture of this spiritual House and Body. As we have repeatedly seen, these two views of the Church blend. The House is guided by the principles and activities of the Body; the Body has its home and activities of love, service, and testimony in the House.

As we take up each feature, how utterly unlike the truth of our Epistle are the thoughts and practice of today. Again we have human leaders, with human thoughts and principles. Again we have the discord and the strife they entail. Again the preaching of the Cross is largely regarded as foolishness, and again are men in restless energy seeking to build "wood, hay and stubble" of worthless profession into the House of God. Again, too, men who still call themselves by the name of Christian are defiling the temple of God with their false and blasphemous denials of the truth of God.

As to the allowance of the flesh-alas, we need not point out how well-nigh universal is laxity and indifference regarding the holiness that becometh God's house. The subtle wiles of Satan are producing a blend between profession and the world which are resulting in a masterpiece of Christless apostacy, where the god and the gold of this age are lulling into a Laodicean content which marks the nearness of the end.

And what shall we say of the table of the Lord, and His holy supper as the centre of the House of God, the foretaste of heaven? At best, with most, they are but an appendage to the more prominent and apparently more important activities of the "morning worship." Priestly worship? a Spirit-taught and Spirit-led and varied ministry? All is under human control. We all know the form this control takes.

Need we wonder that the great foundation facts, even of the resurrection, are being trifled with or denied?

If it is said we must not be bitter, nor paint too dark a picture, God forbid that we should. But, in all love and soberness, we must consider the prevailing state of things. Even where individuals and companies may be largely clear, is there not a feebleness and a carelessness as to fellowship with what is not of God? How else can we explain the presence of infidels in Christian pulpits and colleges? If we had the faith and zeal of a Phineas, would we not either purge out or separate from iniquity?

May the Lord awaken in us a spirit of lowly confession, and prayer, and mourning, and of faithful action.

"Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from among the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." S. R.