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therefore have power as standing on that foundation. You
separate from iniquity, and are found here as a vessel to
honour. These are great foundations to have.
I wanted to speak about the foundation in Corinthians, the
local foundation. Paul says here that the foundation has been
laid. Jesus Christ. Beloved brethren, the assembly belongs to
Christ. Our local gatherings belong to Him. The foundation of
every local gathering is Jesus Christ. And Paul laid that
foundation. The ordering of the local assembly is according to
that which was laid. It is laid here in Newport, and in other
places too. We build upon that. He says, ‘Let each see how he
builds’. We need to be in keeping with the foundation, in
keeping with Jesus Christ. It speaks earlier in the chapter of
some who were not in keeping with the foundation, who said,
“I am of Paul, and another, I of Apollos”. A desire for
prominence will lead the saints astray, for there is no affinity in
that with the foundation. The foundation is Jesus Christ. Go on
in humility, building on the foundation in your local gathering,
building what relates to Christ, the gold, the silver, and the
precious stones. These are valuable things, you get them out
of the earth, they are out of the depths. They have to do with
our links with the Holy Spirit in relation to our local gatherings.
We are to be building in what is coming from the Spirit, who
“searches even the depths of God”. Build up your local
assembly in that way. There are other things, there is wood,
straw, and so on. We have known about that. We suffer loss
because of that. How profitable it is then to bring into our local
gatherings what speaks of Christ. This priceless gold speaks
about this blessed Man in all His glory, His divine
righteousness. Bring that into the meeting. Bring impressions
of Christ into the meeting.
Bring in an appreciation of the silver—the love of Christ, and
the sacrifice of Christ, the glory of redemption. Come into the
meeting with some sense of that, some sense of being a