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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/william-skates/messengers-of-the-churches/
2nd Corinthians 8 verse 23, whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you. Or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches. Notice the word and is supplied, the glory of Christ.
So I want to interest you on the last little phrase of that verse, the messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. The word messengers is apostolos but here it's used in the in the general sense.
Paul is commanding to Corinth these men, these messengers that were actually carrying a gift that had been collected in various assemblies and it's going to be transported to the poor saints in Judea.
So that's the sense in which they were messengers, Titus is included and the gift is from the churches. But the lovely expression that we have concerning the churches is the glory of Christ. The churches, the glory of Christ.
That is indicating to us that the churches were replicating the character of Christ and in this particular context, because they are representing Christ, they're glorifying him, they're replicating him and they're glorifying him in doing so.
The gift that they are carrying, these men are carrying actually, you'll notice in verse 19 is called the grace, this grace which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord. So these churches had given up their substance, the individual believers had given up their substance and as Christ himself had given himself, in that way they're replicating something of the character of Christ.
And it's in this very chapter that we have verse 9, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, but though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich.
And the Lord Jesus is the supreme example of the giver and the one who has displayed the very grace of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And now these churches are replicating the grace of Christ and in that way they're glorifying him.
And so we have the lovely little expression, the church is the glory of Christ. Now unfortunately there is some confusion about the word church. The English word church, I understand, is derived from some Greek words that literally mean a lordly house or a lordly place.
But it's interesting that when you come to the New Testament, the scriptures representing the assembly never use that combination of words. That's something that we need to know. The King James translators have given to us a beautiful translation that is accurate and that has obviously stood the test of time.
But unfortunately there are a few words in the King James that are a little bit confusing and that reflects the background of the translators. For example, they use the word bishop instead of overseer, the office of a bishop instead of overseer ship.
They use words like minister instead of servant. And this word church falls into that same category. They use that word, that English word church, to translate a Greek word called ecclesia, as most will know.
And that is a compound word made up from a preposition, out of, and then you have the word klesos, which means to call. So the literal meaning of the word translated church means a calling out of saints for a specific purpose.
All right? Now we're familiar with that kind of concept in life. I remember as a boy at school, every so often I liked these because it got you out of the desk and out of the classroom. They had a fire drill and the fire alarm would go off and the procedure was you were to quickly leave everything behind, your school sack and everything, leave everything behind and make your way quickly and orderly to a designated place in the playground.
And there you would assemble and the teacher would call the roll. So the list of names, you go over the names, Robert Crooks here, William Skates here, Edmund Johnson here, and so on and so forth. And so that was an assembly.
You see, we were called out for the purpose of gathering together and then the check would be made to see that nobody had been missed and everyone was safe. And so we had the fire drill. Now the ecclesia, that word has a very similar meaning.
The word assembly is found in our King James once in Acts chapter 19, but there it's in the context of a riotous mob that has gathered together in the theater at Ephesus. And we read that some therefore cried one thing and some another for the assembly, the ecclesia, the assembly was confused.
And the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. Now we're very glad to see many of the young folks with us this morning, and not just the young, but I've a sort of suspicion in my heart that maybe there are some amongst us, and when it comes to assembly gathering, they also know not wherefore they are come together.
So I thought a little simple word on the assembly might be helpful. Look, we were once in our sins, far from God, but we heard the gospel of the grace of God and the power of Christ who died on the cross to deliver us from our sins, from this present evil world, and ultimately to take us home to heaven.
And we heard the call of God in the gospel, and out from our sins he called us to trust Christ for salvation. And then coming to the Word of God, we discovered from the Word of God that God would have us gather with his people in the locality in which we're found.
And so we learned the truth of gathering to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in the assembly, the glory of Christ. Now I want to address that question just now. Should every believer be in God's assembly?
Is it God's mind that we should be in the assembly? There's a number of reasons that we can answer that in the affirmative. Absolutely. The first one, and maybe the most important, is because of the authority of the Scriptures.
The authority of the Scriptures. They teach that believers should be gathered together. When we come to the book of Acts, we find that God instructs us not always by direct command, but we'll find that we learn from the practice of those early Christians.
And there is in Scripture the rule of first mention, where God, for the first time something is mentioned in our Bibles, he will instruct us about principles that will carry on. So Acts chapter 2, when the church is formed, you remember verse 41, then they that received his word.
The word gladly is omitted by Mr. Darby and by others, because there was nothing glad about the depth of their repentance and their panic-stricken question, what will we do? They were convicted by Peter's preaching.
They were in deep repentance. They received his word and they were baptized, and the same day they were added to the company there in Jerusalem, and the assembly was formed that day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem.
Later on in the book of Acts, we find that Paul delayed his departure to us until the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread. The word disciple is a Christian who is disciplined in his mind and his heart to obey God.
He is a learner, he's learning to follow, and he's following to learn. And so those disciples came together on the first day of the week to break bread, and breaking bread to remember the Lord is a function of God's assembly.
So any that are interested in walking with the Lord will be found gathered amongst his people. The Scriptures teach it. Then again, there is the attraction, the attraction of the Lord's presence. The Lord is there.
In the Old Testament, we find this principle clearly taught throughout, in fact, the Scriptures. God's desire to dwell amongst his people, and his people's desire to dwell with him. And you'll trace that throughout the Scripture right through to eternity itself.
You remember when Israel was redeemed and brought out of Egypt, God instructed Moses there in the closing chapters of the book of Exodus, he said, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I show thee after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. And I tell you, there was a tremendous amount of detail that God gave to Moses about that structure that would be built, that tent of meeting that would go with them in all their journeys, and the presence of God with them in all their journeys, because they constructed it according to God's pattern.
And the glory of the Lord, the end of the book, the glory of the Lord filled that sanctuary. God was well pleased with it. So that when you would come through the wilderness and come to the camp of Israel, you would find that there was there the cloud, the Shekinah cloud of glory that dwelt over the tabernacle.
And when it was God's mind for them to move, the cloud would move, they would follow. God had his approbation, his approval upon the tabernacle. And in the vastness of that wilderness, I tell you, there was only one place where God had placed his name.
There was only one place where the presence of God was found, and that was inside the Holy of Holies, above upon the mercy seat between the two golden cherubim. The Shekinah glory, the glory of his presence, was found there and nowhere else.
That's why it was so important that Moses would do it according to the pattern. You know, when we come to the New Testament, we find that that very word, Holy of Holies, is used in description of the New Testament assembly.
Isn't that interesting? The word naos, the Holy of Holies, suggesting to us the unique character of a New Testament assembly. There's nothing else has the claim of his presence but a New Testament naos, the assembly, the glory of Christ.
Now, that may come as a shock to some, it may be scornfully dismissed by others, but the authority of the Bible backs it up. The New Testament continues that principle from the Old Testament and right through to eternity, as we've mentioned.
Listen to what Paul said to the Corinthians, chapter 3. He said, "'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, the naos of God?'. Corinth, with all its problems, the Holy of Holies of God.". Isn't that something?
"'And that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God defile or destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.'". Come to the second epistle, chapter 3, verse 17, he says, "'Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.'".
There is liberty to function according to God's mind. For brethren to rise on a Lord's Day morning and give thanks to God freely for his son. For sisters, in a particular way, to give expression and acknowledgement to the headship of Christ, because his presence is preeminent in that company, that assembly, the glory of Christ.
I want to camp out here for a little bit on the uniqueness of the assembly. You know, in the New Testament there are a number of expressions that are used regarding God's assembly. It is called the Church of God.
Twelve times over in the New Testament you get that expression, the Church of God, it is always local. Then you have the churches of the saints. If the churches of God is speaking about its calling, God has called them out.
The churches of the saints speaks about its constitution. It's made up of saints. We'll think of that in a moment. And then there are the the churches of Christ, and that's its character, and that's going to bring us full circle again back to what we have mentioned earlier.
Now the Church of God. You never get that expression in our Bible regarding the universal church. Not once. It is always local. It is an assembly of God. It is an out-calling by God. So that, when Paul went to Corinth, you can imagine him walking into the Agora and meeting a gentleman, let's call him Artemis, for example.
We maybe say Art today. So, Art, tell me now, is this a religious place? Oh yes, oh yes, he says. We got we got two kinds of places here in Corinth that you can go to. Down that way, he said, there's a place called a synagogue, and when you go into that place, and you'll be welcome to go, you can sit and there's a place where you can sit, and you'll find in that synagogue those Jews, they take out the Old Testament scriptures, and they're reading from the scriptures, and there might be some exposition upon the scriptures that are read.
And then he said there's another place, and if you go down here, you'll see a large edifice, and there's a big idol in there, and you can go in there and worship that idol. In fact, there's a number of those around, and he says you can go to the idol of your choice and worship there, collectively, the idol's temple.
I see. All right. Well, he said, I'm here with another message, and Paul would begin to preach the gospel. Christ crucified according to the scriptures, how that he died, how that God raised him again from the dead, according to the scriptures.
And you know, there were those in Corinth that embraced that message. God had told Paul up front, he said, I have many people in this city. God had purposes for individuals in that city, and he knew who they were.
Yeah. And Paul had to go in and preach, and there was a response in their heart, begotten by the Spirit of God, and those individuals were saved. They were called out of the idol's temple. They were called out from Judaism.
And now where are they going to go? There's one thing clear from the scriptures as we read it, and you don't have to read very far, but Paul did not send them back to the synagogue, and he didn't send them back to the idol's temple of their choice.
But a new thing was formed in Corinth that hadn't been there before, and those dear saints, those believers, they were baptized. And then they began to meet together. Now think of that. Think of that.
Those once proud, arrogant Jews that would cross the street. I've actually seen this in Jerusalem. They'd cross the street rather than pass you, a Gentile, on the same footpath. Right? And those Gentiles, those obnoxious idol worshipers with all the vice that was going on in Corinth, and they were delving into it, such were some of you.
And now they were meeting together in the same building, shaking hands, and on the first day of the week, drinking from the same cup and eating from the same bread. Now that was a miracle. That was a miracle of God's grace right there.
And it had never been seen before, the like of it had never been seen before in Corinth. And now Paul writes to those dear believers, and he calls them Church of God, which is at Corinth. An outcalling of God from the world, from their dark past, and they're brought together into one company, an assembly of believers.
The glory of Christ. The glory of Christ. Now, not only do I have the expression, the Church of God, but we have churches of the saints. You get that in 1st Corinthians chapter 14, for example, verse 33.
And that speaks to us of its constitution. Saints. What is a saint? Well, when Paul wrote to the saints at Corinth, they were still living, every one of them, and the word itself simply means sanctuary ones.
Sanctuary ones. Oh, we're back to that idea again, you see. The sanctuary. Sanctuary ones. They have been sanctified. It's the same word that is translated holy. We get the two words in English, but it's the same word group from which it comes.
Holy and holiness and holies. That holy of holies, that's the same idea. These saints, these sanctuary ones, responsible in their lives to live holy unto the Lord every day of their life. That's to characterize them.
They are holy people. You're life holy, brother? Sister? Saints? Christians? Disciples? Believers? The word disciples evidently is superseded in the epistles, but as we mentioned, it was one who learns to follow and follows to learn.
And another word that's used is brethren, with a small B. Never, never, never use that word in a sectarian way. Resist that resolutely in your heart. Never use the word brethren with a big B. There was a brother once in the old country and had to go in a hospital for some surgery, and the lady came along with her notepad and her pen and she was asking a number of questions, and one of the questions she wanted to ask was, so what religion are you?
Well, he said, I'm a Christian. She said, yeah, but I know that, she said, but what kind of Christian? I'm just a Christian. She said, yeah, but there's different kinds of Christian. Look, the purpose I'm asking the question is we want to know who's going to come to visit you.
So the brother who was well-known, he said, you just put down Christian, and in a day or two you're going to have another problem. There'd be far too many coming to visit, so just put down Christian.
That's a good answer. You know, we need to use Bible language to avoid confusion, and then it may give even openings in a conversation like that to explain what it means to be a Christian and what it means to gather to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in God's assembly, the glory of Christ.
Now we have churches of Christ as well. That would speak to us of its character. You'll remember that the word Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Old Testament concept of Messiah, the one who is anointed, the one who brought a new era, one who has totally replaced Judaism.
Judaism is gone. It was given by God in the Old Testament, that touchable, tangible, seeable, smellable system that appealed to the five senses, but it was a shadowy dispensation, and now we have the reality in Christ.
Now think of it. In the Old Testament, those five senses, sight, sight. That tabernacle was a magnificent tent. There's never been a tent like it since. I would take it. With all that gold, all the silver, and the copper, and the burnished copper, and the fine twined linen, and the blue, and the purple, and the scarlet, and the whole arrangement of things in a beautiful symmetry.
Marvelous. And then the temple, a more permanent expression of that same kind of system. With all its gold and everything in there, what a magnificent sight that temple that Solomon built must have been.
Now we find Christianity generally today hangs on to that kind of idea of that which is impressive to the sight. So you have grand cathedrals, you have mega church buildings, you have the the large screens and the special lighting effects, all designed to appeal to the sight.
Hearing. There were trumpets that were blown in that Old Testament system, and later on we find in connection with the temple there were the instruments of the Lord in the Old Testament system. Hearing was important.
And you find, of course, today in Christendom you have the music industry. But interesting, when you come to the New Testament regarding God's assembly, the instructions that were given about such an important ministry are absolutely not there.
And God teaches us through what God does not say, as well as through what he does say. Then smell, sweet incense burning. And in that Old Testament system, also the pungent smell of blood, gallons of it, and sacrifice and smoke.
Christendom brings that in too with its incense burning. Then taste. There was the peace offerings that the folk would eat from, and the meal offerings that would be bread for the priests. But when you come to the New Testament, Paul actually writes against the practice at Corinth.
They had gone overboard with the breaking of bread and they were making it a meal, and that is written against. The breaking of bread is symbolic. You see, the taste is not important. Then when you come to the thought of not only taste but touch.
When a sacrifice was brought, a man would come and he would put his head upon the head of that animal before it would be slain in his place, and there was actually touching involved. Now Christ, our Passover, has sacrificed for us.
We've never even seen him, and we certainly haven't touched him. You see, all of that has been absolutely replaced. And Christianity, generally, they still go after that to a greater or lesser degree, making shadows of the shadows, and they don't even have any shadows.
But the local assembly now is heavenly in character, and as the people of God, we worship in a spiritual sanctuary in the heavenlies. You see, so all of that has been replaced, and our worship now is in the heavenly sanctuary.
Now one more thought, and then we'll sit down. Not only do we have the authority of Scripture and we have the attraction of the Lord's presence, but I want you to notice that we have the acknowledgment that it's our responsibility to acknowledge these things in testimony.
We're responsible to do that, and that was evident even in Corinth. Paul wrote about a man that would come into that company of believers as they were gathered together. One man might be an unbeliever.
There was a place for him to sit, as well as a believer who was not yet instructed about this fact that the Lord was in the midst, and so there was a place for the unlearned. But you see, as that assembly would function, and God would be worshiped, thus would the secrets of his heart be made manifest, and so falling down on his face he will worship God and report that God is in you of a truth.
And such was the character of those dear believers and the expression of their worship that that man's believing heart was caused to resonate so that he acknowledged that God was in you of a truth. So acknowledging that, that will mean that I'll be deeply impressed with the infinite grace of our Lord to actually be present when his people gather.
He has an immeasurable desire to meet with his own, and the assembly is an oasis in this rebel world of love and loyalty to the person of Christ. In a world of Christ rejecters, in a world of God disrespecters, there are those places where his presence dwells amongst his people, and they give him priority in their lives.
His presence known amongst them bows their hearts in worship and in praise. It governs their behavior, that will flow out from that. Intuitively, his people will give God respect and dignity and honor, and that will be seen in their behavior.
It will even be seen in how we dress. I'm not going to major on this, but when the assembly is gathered together for the things of God, you know, our culture allows us to effortlessly express respect for the things of God.
And while we don't have a rule in the Bible for it, intuitively every believer, they should resonate to respect for God. And we can express that effortlessly in our culture so that others take knowledge of us, that we have been with Jesus, and we're experiencing the presence of the Lord in the assembly, the glory of Christ.
Also there will be love for brothers and sisters in Christ. That will be an acknowledgment that we are in the same family, the family of God, part of the household of God, under his authority, under his administration, under his fatherly care, as we meet together with fellow believers in that place called the assembly, where his authority is paramount and the glory of Christ is known.
His word will be our guide. Our aim will be Christlikeness in character, so that we may be seen in the world as a testimony. Not that we do it to be seen, but it will inevitably be a testimony that we belong to Christ.
And as we gather together in that capacity, in his name, we will then be replicating something of his character. And the assemblies of which we form a part might be expressed in this way, the assemblies, the glory of Christ.
May God help us to appreciate these things and to put them into practice in our experience.