3 Individuals who may be in a local assembly — Eric McCullough

Paul's Calling and the Spiritual Nature of the Assembly

I'm going to try and be as short as possible. I know I am short, but I learned long ago that all that really matters is your height from your shoulders up. So just keep that in mind. First Corinthians chapter 1, I want to try and pick up where my brother Skates left off.

Verse 1 of First Corinthians chapter 1, Paul called to be an apostle. You notice those two little words to be are italicized, indicating originally they were not in the translation. They were added. It's Paul called an apostle, that is divinely called 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.

And again, it's called saints with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Now look over please to chapter 2, verse 9, as it is written, I have not seen or ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.

For God has revealed them unto us by his spirit, for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. Now look down to verse 13, which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things.

Now chapter 3, and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able for your carnal.

For whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believe?

Verse 6, I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth anything, but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one.

And every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor, for we are laborers together with God. Your God's husbandry, your God's building, according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth their upon.

But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it.

Because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try or prove every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss.

But he himself shall be saved, yet so is by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

The Exposition of Scripture as the Assembly's Preservation

And we know God will bless what we have read from his precious word. I'm convinced, and more so as I get older, in a day that's marked by drifting, turning away from the truth of God, if we're going to be preserved as assemblies, it's the exposition of the scriptures that will enable us to survive.

We have to acknowledge there's changes all around. We have a segment, sad to say, even among some of our preaching brethren that are directing us right back to Christendom that some of our parents and grandparents turned away from.

You say, how are they doing it? They're propagating casual living in the assemblies, come just as you are, head coverings are optional, and there's a big move toward young people's conferences. Now I thoroughly endorse what Mr. McCandless reminded us of, it's doubt that the word of God teaches that there is no distinction when it comes to the ministry of the scriptures between the young and the old.

Go back to the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, and you read about the elders and their children all sitting reverently listening to the word of God. Well, I heard Mr. Jack Hunter say 25 or more years ago that there is no justification in the scriptures for separating believers in a ministry meeting.

All you have to do is look at Scotland or Australia, where that movement went on about 20 years ago, and the result is most of the young believers have turned away from what they once believed. And so we need to get back to what the word of God says.

The Local Assembly as God's Possession

Now this letter of Paul to the Corinthians is a pattern for the local assembly, the local church. You notice how he addresses it, the only assembly in the New Testament that's addressed, the church of God, which is at Corinth.

Now, that implies ownership, it's God's assembly. The assembly in Waukesha is God's assembly. Just for the sake of some young believers, if somebody asks you, where do you go to church? Don't say, I belong to the gospel hall.

The gospel hall belongs to you. Tell them you belong to Christ. Tell them you gather with Christians simply to the name of the Lord Jesus, and you owe no other name. I remember years ago when I was in practice, a medical doctor, a good friend of mine from the Baptist said to me, Eric, how do you differ there at the gospel hall than where I go?

And he knew his Bible. I said to him, well, Dr. Erickson, you know Paul teaches in his letter to the Corinthians that gift is given to the church. Yes, he says that's chapter 12, and they function in chapter 14.

I said, you're right. And I said, suppose then God has given you a little ability to minister the truth of God, and you stand up before the congregation, and you say, I have a message from God for you this morning.

Oh, he says, that's what our pastor does. Well, I said, you don't find that in the New Testament. And I said, you gather for what you call communion once on a Sunday, once a month on a Sunday. But if you go through the book of the Acts, you'll find at least three times over that it's mentioned they gathered on the first day of the week, and a few other things.

And he finally said, well, I think you may be more accurate at the gospel hall than we are. He was honest. And it's the truth of God that teaches. Now, that's what Paul is alliterating in this epistle, the order of the house of God, the church of God in Corinth.

I could show you later in the epistle, for example, in chapter 11, he talks about the churches of God. They're composed of believers. Again in chapter 14, he talks about the churches of the saints. That's who comprise a New Testament gathering, believers, saints.

You know, in the Roman system, if you've done some exploit in your life, after you're dead about a hundred years, you may be constituted a saint. The present pope is going to be made a saint after he dies.

He supposedly has healed someone of some disease. But you know, when you come to this book, saints are not dead, they're living. And if you're saved, you're a saint, belong to God. And every born-again believer is a saint.

The Corinthian Assembly and Its Separation from Idolatry

And so Paul is writing here to this local company, it's a new assembly, perhaps in existence three or four years. He had gone in there on one of his missionary journeys, and he spent about 18 months there.

And when he left, he left a company of believers that were gathered out from idolatrous worship. They had turned their back on all of it, and now they're worshiping the true God. They turn to God from idols to worship the living and the true God.

Three Individuals Who May Be in a Local Assembly

Now, I want to suggest very simply two or three triplets that I have read here. We read of three individuals who can be in a local company. In chapter two, we read about the natural man. That's the unregenerate, the unbeliever.

We read about the spiritual man. That's the one that is truly saved. And then we read about the carnal man. And all three of those can be in a local testimony. Natural man, you know, Paul struggles with that in chapter seven of the Romans when he says, the good that I would not, that I, the good that I would I do not, and the evil that I would not, that I do.

And he finally says, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? And then he says, I thank God through Christ Jesus. And in chapter eight, he tells us of the work of the Spirit of God, how the believer walks according to the Spirit, not after the flesh.

And he's honoring God. And so, it's possible for an unbeliever to be an assembly fellowship. I remember hearing years ago about a man who was atheistic, at least an agnostic, in his thinking, and he started to come to listen to the gospel.

And, of course, all the Christians were elated, here's an agnostic coming to hear the gospel. And after some time, he professed to be saved, and he continued to come. And then he asked to be baptized.

And rightly so, the brother interviewed him. They listened to his story. And it was an older brother, a blind man. He said to his brethren something about his story, I don't feel it. I think we should just wait a while before we baptize him.

And then the truth came out. He wasn't saved at all. He had just made a bet with another man that he could be received in that assembly testimony. Wasn't it good that that old blind brother had a bit of discernment, and he could recognize that there was something missing?

And so, brethren, when you interview someone for a reception, you make sure that they've got to Christ, that they know him as Savior. The natural man, he can be in an assembly. The carnal man, that's the man that's walking after the flesh.

Paul says, I have fed you with milk and not with meat, you're not able to bear it. And there was strife and division. They were marked by carnality. One was saying, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, and perhaps worst of all, some were saying, I am of Christ.

They were taken up with the messages. You know, Apollos was an orator. I remember a sister telling me one time about somebody that she heard ministering at a conference, and I says, what did he speak about?

And she thought a while, and she couldn't tell me. Well, I said, there must be something that you remember. You thought he was so wonderful. He was a Scotchman. She says, I liked his accent. Well, I hope you get more from our ministering, brethren, than an accent.

You get something from God for your soul. And so, there's the three that can be in an assembly, the natural man, the carnal man, the spiritual man. Then I want you to think of three metaphors that he uses here about the local testimony.

The Assembly as God's Field and Fellow Laborers

He says, every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. Now, he's telling us in the next verse that we're laborers together with God. He's using the figure of a tilled field, an agricultural scene, and our farming brethren know that at this time of the year, there's lots of labor, lots of work.

They're out there in their big John Deere. My son would tell you, and others here would tell you, if it's not green, it's the wrong color. Well, they're out there sometimes all night long. Why are they doing that?

Because it's all so sophisticated. There's only so many days for that seed to germinate, and then it will grow and mature in so many weeks, and they're limited in their time frame. And so, they're putting heart and soul into it, laboring.

But you know, in the fall of the year, when those big corn bins are filling up with grain, they're not occupied with all the labor in the spring of the year. They're rejoicing in the harvest. God says that.

In all labor, there's profit. So in anything you do for God, it will be rewarded. He promised that. Deeds of merit, as we thought them, he will tell us were but sin. But little things that we've forgotten, he will say were done for him.

Something that I thought amounted to some great thing. At the judgment seat of Christ, the Lord will say, Eric, too much of the flesh in there, no reward for that. But some little thing, and it will be rewarded.

That's what he promises. And he says, we're laborers together with God. We're linked with him. If you ever went down eastern Canada, where I was born in Nova Scotia, there's some brethren there that I know that have oxen, and they're symmetrical, perfectly measured in height and in weight.

And they love to put the brass on them over their face and put the yoke over their shoulder and tie some implement to it and show you the tremendous strength of those animals. And when they put their yoke, their shoulders to that yoke, whatever they're linked with, it moves.

Tremendous power. Well, we're linked with our Heavenly Father. He bears the heavy end of the yoke. He says that. My yoke is easy. My burden is light. So that we're laborers together with God. God's husbandry.

The Assembly as God's Building and Temple

Then he says, you're God's building. There's an architectural setting, a building. Most important part of the building is the foundation. I was telling one of the brethren today that 60 years ago now, I got my spurs here in Wisconsin, up in Ontario, where I spent a number of summers.

And then one summer, we built that gospel hall. Beautiful building. You could run a bulldozer over the roof. Most commercial buildings require 36 inches between the rafters, but the code called for 24.

And it was all home sod oak lumber. And every two by four that went in that building, you had to drill a hole before you put a nail in it. It would stand an earthquake. And when the hall was being built, believers would come up from Blue River and bring all kinds of food and pies and set up tables.

And the town people were driving around wondering where all the people are coming from. First series I had when I was commended to the Lord's work in 1957, I was there 13 weeks with Mr. Elliott. We nearly froze to death.

Some of you know Lee Steenerson. We stayed upstairs in the old farmhouse, and it was 20 below zero, and the wood furnace would go out at night. Actually, we wore our overcoats to bed to try and keep warm.

And one night, Paul Elliott put his gloves on his feet. And after trying to get to sleep, it would be 6 o 'clock, time to go down for breakfast, and then to try to get the car to start. That was another story.

But I say that's where I got my spurs, some of my best days. And we thank God for blessing and souls that were saved in the assembly that is still going on. So that's God's building, the foundation. Mr. Yost, he was the head engineer at that time, and he didn't mind who carried those 16-inch blocks and mixed the cement.

But when it came to putting the doors on and hanging the trim, beautiful birch woodwork, he wanted to do it himself. He was a particular carpenter, and he knew that's what people would see. And it's still beautiful.

If you've never been to Ontario, if you want to see a nice gospel hall, make a trip up there. Well, God's building is going on. View the vast building. We sing, see it rise. The work how great, the plan how wise.

And souls are still being added to that building, a mystical building composed of all believers. No matter where they go on Sunday, they're part of that building. We thank God for the gospel wherever it's preached.

But there's a scriptural form of gathering that we endorse. And so it's God's tilled field, God's husbandry. It's God's building. And we read later in this chapter, it's God's temple. That suggests a place of worship.

That's what we have the privilege of doing. Tomorrow morning, there'll be a table here, loaf of bread, cup of wine. And according to the Lord's command, believers will gather to remember him once more.

And it could be the last time. We believe the stage is all set. The coming of the Lord is so very, very near. Who would have thought we would have lived to see the world in such a condition as it is? The stage is set.

The Temple of the Holy Spirit and the Hope of Christ's Return

The Lord is about to rise and call his waiting people home. The dead in Christ will rise first. They'll get precedence. And then in that self-same moment, you and I will be caught up together with them.

People often ask us, will we know one another in heaven? Well, why does God say we'll be with them if we're not going to know them? Certainly we will. We'll be with them. And we'll be like our blessed Lord.

And that will be forever. At any moment, he may come, and we won't need the bread and the wine any longer. But we're God's temple. Paul uses that word three times. Here in chapter 3, he uses it of the local church.

Over in Ephesians, he uses it regarding the universal church, the whole conglomerate of all believers, the temple of God. And in chapter 6 of this epistle, he says, Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost?

And so, dear young believer, you remember this. Whatever you do, wherever you go, you're taking a divine person, the Spirit of God that indwells. He is with us. How can we enjoy what the world enjoys?

I remember as a young Christian learning a little poem I've never forgotten. It cast me out, this world, when once it found that I, within my rebel heart, had crowned the man they'd crucified and slain.

There's something wrong with me if I enjoy what the world enjoys. We have turned away from all of that. And in our baptism, we profess to be dead with Christ, buried with Christ, risen with Christ, to walk in newness of life.

Gold, Silver, Precious Stones, Wood, Hay, and Stubble

Now, I want to finish three simple types of material to build into that local company. Every man's work shall be manifest, he says. Every man's work shall be tried. Not of how much it is, but of what sort it is.

You see, God is more interested in quality than in quantity. We get occupied with numbers. We learn from Luke's writing to the Acts that even he said, on the day of Pentecost, there weren't 3 ,000 souls saved.

He said about 3 ,000. Then over a chapter or two further, he says there are about 4 ,000. So the Lord is teaching us not to be occupied with numbers. It's quality that God appreciates. Every man's work shall be tried of what sort it is.

If, he says, if his work is not which is pleasing to him, it won't abide the fire. And Paul has in mind the judgment seat of Christ, that day when we must give account. Every man will give account. A true assessment from the moment that God saved us until we're home in heaven, we'll give account for all that we have done in our little Christian life.

So there's three types of materials. It can be gold. That would remind me of truth regarding the deity of Christ. That's what God appreciates. Silver, reminding us of redemption, that purchase price, his own precious blood that has bought us and taken us out of the slave market of sin.

And then the precious stones that may suggest something of the work of the Spirit of God or the excellency of the person of the Lord Jesus. We can build into the local company that which will stand the test of the fire.

Gold, silver, precious stones, they would survive. Wood, hay and stubble, it would all be consumed. So the Lord help us that what we build into this local company, wherever we form a part of, it may be in view of that day when we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

If there's anything brings me up short in Christian experience, it's when I think of that day when I'll stand in the presence of my blessed Lord and my life will be reviewed. Only one life will soon be passed and only what's done for Christ will last.

The Lord help us and bless you and bless what will follow for his name's sake.