TEN POINTS AS TO PERSONS GATHERED ON THE GROUND OF GOD’S ASSEMBLY …
1. Consist of believers only (1 Cor. 1:2);
2. Permit the free action of the Holy Spirit when gathered as an assembly (1 Cor. 14). This would certainly be impossible if an individual or any number of individuals presided there;
3. Are gathered on the Lord’s day to break bread, thus showing the “Lord’s death till He come”; remembering Him and manifesting the ONENESS of the body in the one unbroken loaf (1 Cor. 11:23-26; 10:16, 17; Acts 20:7; John 20:19; Luke 24);
4. Are guided by the Word of God only;
5. Are gathered to the Name of the Lord Jesus, as they would be to His person if He were in the world (Matt. 18:20); refusing every other name as sectarian;
6. Carefully exclude moral evils (as 1 Cor. 5), and doctrinal evils (1 Tim. 6:3-5; 2 John 1:9-11), and those in association with them, knowing that “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9), and “evil communications [or, associations] corrupt good manners” (1 Cor. 15:33);
7. Mourn over the present ruinous condition of the Church testimony with large-heartedness towards all Christians, but stand apart in separation from what the Word condemns, and seek to “follow righteousness, faith, [love], peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (2 Tim. 2:19-22); own God’s “within and without” (1 Cor. 5:12), but they never imagine themselves to be THE body to the exclusion of other believers;
8. Own the unity of the gatherings of God’s saints, and recognize the discipline of each other, believing that, apart from the necessary separation from what the Word condemns, only distance should separate the people of God (1 Cor. 1:2; 7:17; 11:16; 14:33);
9. Own God’s ministry in evangelists, pastors, and teachers raised up by GOD, and approving themselves as such (Eph. 4; 1 Timothy 4:14-16);
10. Own the God-given guides in the local assemblies who seek to bear oversight (1 Thess. 5:12, 13; Hebrews 13:7,17,24; 1 Peter 5:1-3).
THE BODY OF CHRIST AND MEMBERS EACH IN HIS PART
How blessed is the communion of saints! Redeemed from judgment by the precious blood of Christ, and separated from the course of the world, theirs is the joy of a common salvation. They are brethren of the same family, for they are children and sons of the same Father. They are “members one of another,” for, being “baptized by one Spirit into one body,” they are alike members of the body of Christ. Hewn out of the quarry of the old and ruined creation, and quickened by the voice of the Son of God, they are living stones of the same “holy temple,” which is “builded together for AN HABITATION OF GOD through the Spirit.”
Sealed by the Holy Ghost they are brought by the same Spirit into fellowship with the Father and the Son, and also into fellowship one with another. Receiving grace upon grace out of “the fulness” which is in Christ, their hearts are filled with joy; they overflow with love, and break forth in united praise. Thus the communion of saints on earth is a real anticipation of the blessedness of heaven.
Their joys are doubled by being shared; their sorrows lessened by being divided. According to the divine standard, whatever each has, he has for all; and whatever all are possessed of, is possessed for each. Each has a part in the enjoyment of all. One with each other, and joint-heirs with Christ in His inheritance, it is truly said of them “all things are yours.” Incorporated into the “one body,” and animated by “one Spirit,” they are bound together by the sympathies of that one living Spirit. One, therefore, prays for all, and all for one. The whole body is nourished by that which each member, each joint, supplieth “for the edifying of itself in love.” There is no place for haughtiness or personal strife among saints; for why should I envy that which is my own? Why should I despise that which serves for my necessary assistance? And why should I strive against and harm him whose hurt is my own hurt? Is there any strife between the members of the natural body? By no means; they all serve and assist one another. If one be injured and suffer, all the rest sympathize with it, and lend relief, and are neither tried nor angry if the healing doesn’t immediately follow. So should it be with members of Christ’s spiritual body; each seeking to be the servant of all, and like his Master, to take the lowest place.
O Lord, unite thus Thy saints in hearty fellowship, and in tender sympathy for each other. Remove dissensions, and, by Thy Spirit, knit our hearts together in love. Suffer not the spirit of the world or party spirit to influence the members of Thy body; but grant us to be clothed with humility. Let the joy of each be in the prosperity of all. Make us more like Thyself, and so happy in Thyself, that we may love each other unfeignedly for Thy sake. Then, indeed, shall it be manifested that we are thine.
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