Question:
Why do we believe in a closed [or guarded] table, instead of an open table for anyone who is a Christian to break bread?

Answer:

In regards to who we as Christians break bread with, we know that the Lord Jesus only desires those who are Christians to “come together” and fellowship in the breaking of bread.

Why we know this is because we are given the doctrine, teaching (the meaning) of the bread and cup in the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 10:15-17: “I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”

You will remember that when the Lord instituted His supper that He first broke the bread and then passed the cup. But when the Spirit of God through the apostle Paul presents the meaning of these emblems, He first mentions “the cup of blessing”! It represents that from which all blessing flows: “the blood of Christ.” Why is the cup mentioned first? Because a person must have “communion” or fellowship with the blood of Christ to partake of the Lord’s Supper.

Therefore this is one reason we know that the Lord Jesus only desires those who are Christians to “come together” and fellowship in the breaking of bread.

In order to keep this exclusive for Christians only, we have to guard the local table (usually where we are breaking bread) from those whom the assembly does not know.

The word “communion” in 1 Corinthians 10:16 & 17 means fellowship. We have to know a person to have fellowship with him. Also, not only must a person be saved but he must know he is saved. He must be able to say as the apostle without doubt: “I am not ashamed: for I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). Also, since the Lord has given the local assembly the responsibility to receive a person to fellowship in the breaking of bread (Matthew 18:17-20; Romans 15:7), the assembly is to know that the person is saved by their actions. The Lord says: “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

Also, there were those who were put out of their local fellowship and lost their privilege to break bread because of unrepented sin (see 1 Corinthians 5:9-13). We have to honor God’s discipline in other assemblies.

The reason for this is because Christ announced: “I will build My church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). After He died and rose again, God “put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,

which is His body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). So there is only “one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling” (Ephesians 4:4). Each assembly is linked with every other assembly that seeks to represent the one church, the one body of Christ.

So Paul wrote to the assembly at Corinth: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Distance is the only thing that should keep the assemblies apart. We have the same teaching, the same Head (Christ) and the same Holy Spirit. Though the Lord has given the responsibility to the local “two or three” who are gathered unto His name to judge those who are within the assembly or desire to come in (1 Corinthians 5:12-13; Matthew 18:17-20).

If a person was put out of a “church” in another area and showed up at a local assembly, we are bound to check this person out before they are allowed to break bread. This can’t be done 2 minutes before remembrance meeting.

We are also not to have any fellowship (that is what we are doing, by the way, in breaking bread) with those who hold doctrinal evils (see 2 John 7-11). We believe that a local assembly must be responsible for who it allows to break bread, not the person who wants to break bread. (See Matthew 18:17-20; 1 Corinthians 5:4-13).

Many misuse the verse: “Let a man examine himself and so let him eat” (1 Corinthians 11:28) to mean that it is up to the individual who shows up at the breaking of bread to decide for himself whether he has the right to break bread there. If you read that verse in context, it applies only to those who were already received in fellowship at that location.

First Corinthians was written to those already in fellowship: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:1-2).

“But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup” (1 Corinthians 11:28-32), is a test each person should do before we eat of the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20). We should examine (judge): (1) the company we keep, (2) the habits we have, (3) our affections; (4) our motives; (5) our thoughts.

If we allow anyone who shows up at the Lord’s Supper to partake on the basis he says he is a Christian, we could allow many cult members to remember the Lord. Ask any Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons if they are Christians, and they will say, “Yes.” However, their doctrine says they are not Christians for they do not believe that Jesus is God. This is why the assembly has the responsibility to ‘check out,’ “judge them that are within,” so as to not fellowship with evil in this most holy and sacred privilege we have as believers.

The Scriptures give as reason for a guarded table to be that evil, whether doctrinal or moral, defiles! “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners” (1 Corinthians 15:33; Haggai 2:12, 13 (JND); see Dan Kasper’s article on the guarded table). The reason why the man living with his father’s wife had to be removed from fellowship in the assembly was: “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:6-8).

Leaven or yeast is always used in the Scriptures to represent evil. The only thing that stops the yeast from being active is to put it in the fire. Likewise, the only thing that stops the working of unjudged sin is to judge it: “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged” (1 Corinthians 11:31). The judgment of the assembly is in view of the person who is sinning to judge the sin before the Lord and then to the person/s he has wronged which includes his brethren in the assembly.

In the case of the man in 1 Corinthians 5, the apostle wrote for the assembly at Corinth to restore him. “Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.  . . . To whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for if I forgave anything, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:6, 10-11).

Also, the assembly at Corinth had been wrong in not judging the man before Paul wrote his first letter to them: “And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:2). In 2 Corinthians 7 the apostle tells of their sorrow to repentance: “Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (verses 9-11).

If you are saved, not practicing sinning and you agree with the doctrines of those who are in fellowship, you should be breaking bread. All you have to do is ask for your place to begin experiencing this great blessing and honor to worship the Lord and break bread.

In our assemblies, those who are allowed to break bread also receive the liberty to teach, use their gifts, and preach. Surely an assembly would be in trouble if someone who could not pass the scriptural requirements of fellowship in the breaking of bread, were then allowed the privileges in the classroom and pulpit. These things do work together. (See 1 Corinthians 12:13-31; Ephesians 4:7, 11-16; Romans 12:3-8.)

(Italic is by the—Editor.)

Question:
Why do we believe in a closed [or guarded] table, instead of an open table for anyone who is a Christian to break bread?

Answer:
There is a portion in Haggai that seems to have some application to why we have a guarded table. The portion is Haggai 2:12, 13 (JND): “If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any food — shall it become holy? And the priests answered and said, No. And Haggai said, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, is it become unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.”

This portion in Haggai seems to go along with what is said in 1 Corinthians 5:6, 7, JND translation: “Your boasting is not good. Do ye not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Purge out the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, according as ye are unleavened. For also our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed.”
Both of these passages are saying that when there is sin (or leaven), in our midst, it defiles us and causes us to become ‘unclean’ or it `leavens’ us. The sin not only affects the person doing the sin, but it affects EVERYONE who has fellowship with that person.

Therefore, as we are told in 1 Corinthians 5:12, we are to judge those that are “within”—which includes those who wish to come into fellowship. We are to sanctify ourselves—to set ourselves apart from sin. This is why we believe that the Lord has given His people when gathered as an assembly to guard as to who partakes of His—“the Lord’s Supper” (1 Corinthians 11:20).

Question:
How do you know if your boyfriend/girlfriend is the right one for you?

Answer:
God brought the woman to the man in the first marriage (Genesis 2:22), and He brings men and women together today by His Word.

(1) He tells us that the believer is not to marry an unsaved person. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for…what part hath he that believeth with an infidel [unbeliever]?” (2 Corinthians 6:14, 15). The Lord asks: “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” (Amos 3:3), especially if not agreed about Christ!
(2) The believer is “at liberty to be married to whom she [he] will; only in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 7:39). The expression “in the Lord” is more than being “in Christ,” which is true of every believer (2 Corinthians 5:17). To be “in the Lord” means that both the man and the woman seek to please the Lord. Thus there will be one Boss in the marriage, even Christ Himself.
So the Lord may give you the assurance that your boyfriend/girlfriend is the right one for you if:
(1) He/she shows he/she is saved, by living like Christ (Matthew 7:20).
(2) He/she puts Christ and His things first in his/her life (Colossians 3:1-3).
(3) Your boyfriend/girlfriend is a close friend that you can share everything with (Amos 3:3).
(4) You delight in the Lord, and He has given you the desire to spend your life with that person (Psalm 37:4, 5).(5) “The nurture and admonition of the Lord” from the Scriptures has been your guidance to make this most important decision (Ephesians 6:4).

Question:
What is hades? Is it where unsaved people go when they die?

Answer:
Hades is a Greek word that means “unseen,” or “all receiving.” It is the condition of the whole unseen world, of the saved and unsaved dead (Luke 16:23) as well as of our Lord when He was dead (Acts 2:27).

Hades is a condition, not a place. Just as death is the condition of the body without the soul, so hades is the condition of the soul without the body. The Greek word “hades” corresponds to the Hebrew word “sheol,” which is found in the Old Testament (Psalm 16:10).Unfortunately, the words “hades” and “sheol” have both been translated “hell” in the KJV, which is normally associated with the eternal abode of the unsaved. But there is another Greek word, “gehenna,” which the Lord used for the eternal place of the unsaved dead, “where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:42-48). Gehenna is identical in meaning with the expression “the lake of fire” (Revelation 19:20; 20:10, 14, 15).

Question:
If women are only to be silent during prayer, open meetings, remembrance, and assembly meetings for discipline, why don’t we let women participate in Bible studies at this Conference (Iowa)?

Answer:

Over the years my attention has often been directed to 1 Corinthians 14 and to what the Lord is saying in this portion. The following is what I have gleaned from these Scriptures over the years of detailed study of them. I’m not saying that this is the last word on this subject. I still try to be open to the Lord about these verses. Here is what I find in 1 Corinthians 14. I will confine my remarks mostly to verses 23-35.

What kind of meeting is described for us in these verses? We need to prayerfully consider what it says.

1. The whole assembly must be gathered together. “If therefore the whole assembly be come together into one place” etc. (v. 23).

2. It is a meeting where the whole assembly waits upon the Lord to see what He may say to us through two or three prophets (vs. 24, 25, 26, 29).

3. Waiting upon the Lord in this way is a recognition of His presence in our midst. We look to Him to lead and guide by the Holy Spirit and give us just the word that is needed. When this is the case the effect produced upon any who are unlearned or who do not believe will be “that God is in you of a truth” (v. 25).

4. The limit of those who prophesy is two or three. Prophesying, as you know, is being God’s mouthpiece — speaking what He would say for that particular time. Prophesying is not asking questions or giving comments on certain verses from a prearranged portion of study.

5. This meeting is one in which the sisters are not to speak (vs. 34, 35). The word “speak” would even preclude them from reading a verse of Scripture.

The above kind of meetings have been called “open meetings.” I believe that is a good

name for them. They are meetings that are “open” for the Lord by His Spirit to use whomsoever He would as His mouthpiece to speak to us or for us. These meetings would include the breaking of bread meeting, the open ministry meeting, and the prayer meeting. Some would include the business meeting and that surely could be so depending upon the character of the business. When we come to these meetings we do not know in advance who the Lord will use nor what Scriptures may be used in the meeting.

It is true that there are some verses in this section that apply to all meetings. There are three of them as follows: “Let all things be done unto edifying”; God is not the author of confusion”; and “Let all things be done decently and in order” (vs. 26, 33, and 40). Although these should be true in every meeting, it is especially true for “open ministry meeting.” Why is that? I believe the answer is because in that type of meeting, (the open meeting); there is a greater danger for a brother to be controlled by the flesh rather than by the Holy Spirit. The portion under our consideration shows that this is what had been happening. Some were speaking in tongues without interpretation and some were speaking at the same time as others. What was the result? The lack of edification and confusion in their open meetings. Things were not done decently and in order. Though order and edification should surely be true of all the gatherings of the Lord’s people, it needs to be especially remembered in a meeting where two or three brothers are to bring something from the Word. What a responsibility there is then for those two or three to make sure that they each speak for edification and that there is order.

Now let’s look at the Bible study meeting: Although we really have no Scripture that I know of as a guide for Bible studies, there are general rules that would apply to all meetings. The Bible study meeting is a meeting where the gift of the teacher is needed. We study a particular subject which has usually been previously agreed upon. As you probably know, Bible studies in the early part of the 19th century were conducted by two or more teachers discussing the Scriptures in question. The best Bible studies today are those led by able teachers of God’s Word. Teachers are a gift from our ascended Lord. God is able, however, to bless any Bible study even where there may not be one brother with a gift of teaching. Often the study of God’s Word together has been the opportunity for one to develop a God-given gift of teaching. Let’s sum up the Bible studies as contrasted with “open meetings.”

1. It is a meeting for the whole assembly but not one where we wait upon the Lord to see what He would say to us through two or three brothers. (Note: The Sunday school Bible study is unique in that it is usually a designated group and not the whole assembly together.)

2. A specific portion has usually been agreed upon.

3. One or two persons usually lead the study. This person generally gives a review of the last study. (I feel that there needs to be one or two brothers who are responsible to see that the Bible study stays on the subject and that the truth from that particular subject is clearly presented.)

4. Any questions raised should be answered, if possible.

5. Each brother who participates should have studied the portion and should seek the Lord’s leading and guiding in what he may bring out from the portion under consideration.

6. No limit to two or three speaking.

I think that all will agree that in a Bible study led by a brother or brothers it is much easier to keep order and edification than in an open meeting. In our Bible studies in Minneapolis and elsewhere (the Bible conferences) we probably have heard a brother say to another brother, “We need to get back to our subject” or, “I do not agree with you.” Sometimes there may need to be immediate correction in a Bible study by the ones who are leading it. In an open meeting all are to judge what is said. Each one is responsible before the Lord to judge whether this message came from the Lord. In a Bible study we should see the gift of a teacher in presenting the Word and in answering and asking questions. In a Bible study each one who participates should individually seek the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit in what he says regarding the portion of scripture being studied. This is different than prophesying.

As to the women speaking in a Bible study, do verses 34 and 35 also apply to a Bible study or a Sunday school class? Does it apply to all gatherings of the Lord’s people? Or is it to only the type of meetings described in that chapter? Regarding this meeting, Mr. JND’s translation of verse 35 is very helpful here. It reads, “Let your women be silent in the assemblies, for it is not permitted to them to speak; but to be in subjection, as the law also says. But if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in assembly.” I believe that the King James translation of “in the church” is misleading.

“In assembly” takes us back to the type of meeting that is given us in that chapter. What kind of meeting is that? It is what we often call “an open meeting.” There the whole assembly is gathered together with the Lord in the midst to hear what He might say to us through two or three brothers. “Let the prophets speak two or three” (v. 29). Before the apostle Paul closes this subject he reminds them in verse 39 and 40, “Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.” These verses, coming at the end of the chapter, show that the subject of all the verses in this portion we have been considering is the open meeting. If you want to apply verses 34 and 35 to a Bible study or every gathering of the Lord’s people, then you must also, I believe, apply verse 29 to a Bible study or other gathering of the Lord’s people. I believe that insisting that these verses apply to every gathering of the Lord’s people is not rightly dividing the Word of Truth.

Can sisters then take part in a Bible reading meeting? I believe 1 Timothy 2:11, 12 give us general directions for sisters everywhere, including a Bible reading meeting. I cannot say it better than the comments given below by Mr. Darby and Mr. Kelly.

(Let us remember that they are not our authority for what we believe but we do need to acknowledge the gift of teaching that the Lord gave them (Ephesians 4:11, 12). We, therefore, need to weigh carefully what they say and search the Scriptures to see if they are calling our attention to what the Word says.)

“When Christians come together (i.e. as an assembly), there is an entire openness for such action as the Spirit may direct in prayer and singing, blessing and thanksgiving, reading, speaking (subject of course to the regulations of the Lord in 1 Corinthians 14). This is not at all the character of a Scripture-reading, whether stated or occasional, at a public meeting-room or in a private house. One point of value in it is to afford an opportunity for questions and explanations which would be out of place in the assembly. The nature of a meeting depends not on the fact of who are present, but on its aim and character. Thus, a lecture or a preaching of the gospel, like a reading-meeting, might have all the saints of a place present; but its own character is quite unaffected by such a circumstance. Nevertheless, a social character is, I think, desirable for a Scripture-reading, so as to make it expedient, as well as lawful for a woman to ask a question, if she wished. There are cases as when many men are present, where nature itself would teach her to prefer silence. 1 Timothy forbids not this, but teaching and the exercise of authority. Prophesying (according to 1 Corinthians 11, compared with 1 Corinthians 14) was lawful for women, not in the assemblies but at home; where, as I suppose, Philip’s four daughters exercised their gift unobtrusively and with decorum. So too, Priscilla, who with her husband helped Apollos in private.” —Bible Treasury – W. Kelly 1868

“Two things are forbidden to women, speaking in the assembly and teaching anywhere. This makes the matter to me very simple: silence in the assembly and never teaching. If a reading meeting be in a private house, and practically a private meeting, sisters are free. I believe that comeliness will restrain them where brethren are, but as in a private house they have the freedom of speech. The moment brethren assemble as such in the Lord’s Name, then their place is silence; also asking a question, may be, as you say, covert teaching. A meeting in the meeting room of the assembly takes more or less necessarily the character of a meeting of the assembly, if it is open for all to come. There are, if there be liberty, many things connected with comeliness which must guide us. `Doth not even nature itself teach you,’ says the apostle, and everything is beautiful in its place: the women had a lovely one in the gospels, and even in the epistles. They are found clinging around Jesus when the disciples were not, but it is their own place — devoted attachment to Him, not any public teaching. God’s order brings more progress than any superiority of intelligence. As to having faith to keep silent, I believe that trusting the Lord could make them to be silent when they fancied they must speak, but it is really a matter of decorum, not of faith. ‘I suffer not a woman to teach,’ etc. I believe I have answered all your inquiry as far as I am aware, and I trust the Lord may guide you in spirit and in heart.”—JND 1874

The emphasis on the statements from JND and W. Kelly are mine. I agree with the remarks above and trust that this may be helpful to others. A Sunday school class is limited to a smaller group, usually, and, I believe, would give more freedom to a sister to ask questions than in an assembly Bible study. Teaching anywhere is forbidden to sisters. I do not believe that this means that a sister cannot share with someone privately what the Lord has taught her through the Word.

These remarks, I trust, give what I believe is the true application of 1 Corinthians 14. The statements above leave somewhat open the question of when and where a sister may ask a question. Certainly not in an open meeting. But how about some of our smaller Bible studies that do not include the whole assembly? I believe that the comments above about comeliness would make a sister to be prayerfully before the Lord before asking a question in a Bible reading. She should ask herself the question: “Can I ask my husband or a brother the question after the meeting?” Sometimes praying for the ones who are speaking may lead them to answer that very question in the meeting. May God graciously give us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:1, 2).—John D. McNeil

[As you indicate in your question, the Bible study is not one of the four “assembly meetings” which are designated by the Lord with His use of the Greek word translated: “are gathered together” in Matthew 18:20. “Assembly meetings” are special gatherings of the Lord’s people as a local assembly. In these meetings the women are to be “silent,” that is, not to address publicly (1 Corinthians 14:23, 34).

But the reason women do not participate in the Bible studies at the Iowa Conference is because the Bible study is one of many other public gatherings of the Lord’s people which the first epistle of Timothy instructs us about (1 Timothy 3:14,15). Of these public gatherings of the whole assembly, the “men [are to] pray everywhere.” Man is to be the mouthpiece for prayer in “the house of God,” and “the women” are to “learn in silence.” She is not “to teach” in these gatherings of the whole assembly. Literally she is not “to be a teacher.” Nor is she “to usurp authority over the man” (1 Timothy 2:8, 11, 12).

It is not that women are not “let,” or allowed, to take part, as you say in your question, but that they desire to please the Lord by not doing so. They are fulfilling their place that God has given them in creation as “the glory of the man.” The woman also covers her head to hide her glory when “prayer or prophecy” is made in the assembly of God’s people. Thus she owns that man is “the image [or representative] and glory of God” when prayer and prophecy is made publicly (1 Corinthians 11:7). Man is God’s mouthpiece when prophecy is given, and man is the people’s mouthpiece when prayer is made to God publicly.

For further information regarding “assembly meetings” or women speaking please contact In Touch.—Ed.]

Question:
If two people are married under any other law besides God’s, are they married in His eyes? That is, if you are a Buddist and are married under those laws, are you truly married?

Answer:
The wedding ceremony can be a most beautiful time for the couple to celebrate with friends and relatives how God has brought them together through their mutual bonds in Christ as Saviour and Lord. It can also be used to present the Scriptures which show that the marriage of one man and one woman is a picture of Christ’s wonderful union, in the soon coming day, with His bride, the church (Revelation 19:7).

As you indicate, the marriage laws in some cultures do not allow for the presentation of God’s Word regarding marriage, but we are thankful for the lands that have laws designed to preserve the sanctity of marriage, and we are to be “subject to the authorities that are above” us (Romans 13:1, JND trans.) no matter what land we may live in.
Marriage is God’s creation (Genesis 1:27) by making the woman from man’s rib, and He instituted marriage by bringing her “unto the man” (Genesis 2:22). The first recorded words by man utter the acknowledgment that the woman is “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman” [i.e. lady]. The man is also to take the initiative to “leave father and mother and cleave to his wife” (Genesis 2:23,24). This relationship between man and woman was constituted before sin came into the world, and is in no way the result of the fall, but God will judge those who violate it. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Hebrews 13:4).With this in mind, in answer to your question, the important thing to God is what is vowed between the man and the wife. If they vow to “cherish and nourish” one another until parted by death, they are married, even though they make this vow in a Buddist ceremony. However, there is nothing wrong with the couple also celebrating their vows, and God’s goodness, in another ceremony with Christians.

Question:
Are there any Scripture references which speak against musical instruments other than the piano being used during singing in meeting?

Answer:

The musical instruments I believe you have in mind are other than the musical instrument God has made, which is the human voice.

I don’t know of any Scripture that speaks against musical instruments, with the possible exception of Jubal, who was “the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.” Jubal was a descendent of Cain and was with him after he “went out from the presence of the Lord” (Genesis 4:16, 21). However, on a more positive note, David used the harp to cause the evil spirit to depart from Saul (1 Samuel 16:23).

Such an exhortation as: “Praise Him with the psaltery and harp” (Psalm 150:3) is beautifully in place in the Psalms; but in the New Testament dispensation (which is today) the exhortation is: “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). Also, “I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also” (1 Corinthians 14:15).
Jesus said: “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth…and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23,24). Therefore the piano, nor other instruments, are used in the assembly meetings, such as the remembrance meeting, but some assemblies use it in the gospel and Sunday school meetings to help present the Word in song.

Question:
Why should we spend time studying prophecies and things that will not be happening to us?

Answer:
We need to rightly divide the Word of Truth and be able to explain what we believe and receive the discernment of the Spirit. Acts 17:31 refers to the appointed day when God will judge the world, so we need to know this in order to warn other people of what will happen. It is all a part of our credibility and testimony.

If we study the Bible first, it will prepare our hearts for prayer time alone with God. We looked at Revelation 3:20 and saw that we can listen to His voice through the Word and then talk with Him.We spent Sunday evening in prayer before God, which was a wonderful time. We enjoyed some singing and looked at Romans 8:26, 27 to prepare us for the prayer time.

Question:
Will the events in Isaiah 32 be like another Day of Pentecost by the outpouring of the Spirit?

Answer:
[Note: The Chart on the Course of Time From Eternity to Eternity by A.E. Booth is highly recommended to study with the use of the Key to the Chart regarding “rightly dividing the Word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).]

Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Acts 2:16-18 were pointed out. The New Covenant referred to in these prophecies has to do with Israel, and they will be fulfilled when Christ comes back to this earth to reign. Then Israel will be resurrected from other nations, born again by the Spirit of God and the whole nation will be saved in one day (Ezekiel 36:24-29).
At Pentecost, the whole group was saved and given the Holy Spirit; today, we are in the period of the Spirit of God and when we are saved, we receive the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). Revelation 21:2, 10 speaks of the heavenly city that will be the home of God’s children. There was discussion about two sets of God’s people: God’s heavenly people in the Holy City and God’s earthly people (Revelation 7:4-9).In Romans 11:25-36, the “fullness of the Gentiles” refers to the rapture and the verses also speak of the restoration of Israel. We are still in the time when the Gentiles are superior to Israel (Luke 21:24 and Jeremiah 27).

Question:
In Isaiah 32:15, what does the outpouring of the Spirit mean?

Answer:
Joel 2:28: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” This is telling of God pouring out His Spirit and the effects.

Applying this to today: He will use us when we are filled or controlled by the Spirit: “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:18-21).
Isaiah 32 tells us that what Joel prophesies will occur to the nation of Israel during the tribulation period (verses 9-14) and also during the following 1,000 year reign of Christ over the earth. Verses 16-20 refer to the reign of Christ over the earth during the millennium. (Other verses—Revelation 7:4, 9 and Ezekiel 37:11, 22).So, Isaiah 32:15 primarily refers to Israel during the dispensations that are yet future.

Question:
Who are the 24 elders mentioned in Revelation 4:10?

Answer:
All the heavenly company, the Old and New Testament saints, for “Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). See also: Revelation 5:8-10.
All the saints will be clothed in fine linen— “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife [the church] hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. . . . And the armies [the Old and New Testament saints] which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:8, 14).The church is “a kingdom of priests” to God (Revelation 5:10). “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9).