SOUTHAMPTON - READING (1)
SOUTHAMPTON — READING (1)
JT This epistle has been before some of us considerably during recent weeks, and it is thought that we might finish it at this time, especially as there is a certain conclusion reached in the truth. Severe judgment, too, is announced, or threatened — severer perhaps than we might have expected or anticipated, but it seems as if God evidently intended to be severe in what He says in this epistle about what was happening, especially as to the Jewish element in christianity turning aside. We have the idea of the severity of God in the epistle to the Romans, and this particularly applies to the epistle to the Hebrews, because the Hebrew christians were turning aside, as we have said. It corresponds with what is so prevalent now in nominal christianity, the turning aside and giving up of the truth on every hand. At the same time, there is great encouragement to those who are seeking to walk in it. It is therefore thought that we might be encouraged to look into the remaining part of the book and to think on what is evidently open to us. There are certain things we shall see in the later chapters, but at this time it is in mind to think about entering into the holiest, which is the greatest privilege open to us. It is not intended to enlarge on the judgment, but to see just what is said in this chapter in the sense of entering the holiest. That is a Jewish phrase, we may say, because the allusion is to what happened in the Old Testament times when the priest entered. But what happened then, as seen here, was just a shadow of good things to come, and we are in the midst of the good things. The Lord is encouraging us too, I believe, as many of us here would testify, in going in for the truth as to the service of God.
Ques Is the “full assurance of faith” in verse 22 in contrast to the fearful expectation of judgment to which you referred?
JT Yes. “Let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith”. That is what is in mind; that is to say, from verse 19 the bright side of things is dealt with, so that we have, “Having [p. 333] therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of holies” — that is what is specially in mind — “by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach”. That is the point — “let us approach” — let us draw near to God.
AJG Would you say that entering the holy of holies has a great effect upon us in relation to the service of God, and also a great effect upon us as in the testimony?
JT Just so. These chapters have been much on the minds of the brethren, as you will know, since Mr. Raven’s time, and they have been enlarged, and I believe perhaps the brethren are more conversant with them even now than they were in his time. The matter first of drawing near, having liberty, is for the enjoyment of ourselves and for the satisfaction of God, the Father. I mean, it is what is for the satisfaction of God, and then, as you have said, for the testimony too, because all this would affect our testimony in our everyday walk. The first day of the week was intended evidently, in the mind of God, for His service, that we might be free for it — old and young — and then that we might enter in, the way being opened to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus. It is “the new and living way” — not what is current all round us. What is current is just a return to old ways, judaism or heathenism, but what we have is “the new and living way”, not that it is begun recently, but it is the new and [p. 331] living way. It was there at the beginning and it is now here. God has greatly revived the truth for us, and it is for us now to lay hold of it and not to give way nor turn back. That is what is greatly stressed, we might say, in this chapter.
AST Would you say a word as to what is involved in “the holy of holies” for us.
JT It is just the presence of God. It is the holiest of all, rightly said, “the holy of holies”. It is a comparative thought. There are, of course, outward things, such as the gospel and such as Bible readings and the like, but “the holy of holies” is opened up to us, especially on the first day of the week, for our own enjoyment and for the Father’s pleasure. And it will appear in the way we take up things on the Monday, and all the other days of the week.
Ques Is the greatness of the work of Christ and the greatness of His position on high to induce this boldness with us?
JT Very good. The greatness of the work of Christ.
Rem I was thinking of the emphasis on the blood, the efficacy of His work, and the glory of His place on high, all resulting in a boldness to draw near.
JT Just so. Boldness is a peculiar thought to apply to the relations between God and His people, but it says that we have boldness.
Rem John tells us that “as he is, we also are in this world”, and says, “That we may have boldness in the day of judgment”.
JT Just so — “as he is, we also are”. It is marvellous, “as he is, we also are in this world” — not in heaven, but in this world, showing the provision made to keep us, for we are in a world of evil.
Ques Is entrance into the holiest to be enjoyed individually or collectively, or [p. 332] both?
JT Both, surely; but the principal point is the saints as together. So we have that touched on later in the chapter, where it says, for instance, in verse 32, “But call to mind the earlier days in which, having been enlightened, ye endured much conflict of sufferings; on the one hand, when ye were made a spectacle both in reproaches and afflictions; and on the other, when ye became partakers with those who were passing through them. For ye both sympathised with prisoners and accepted with joy the plunder of your goods, knowing that ye have for yourselves a better substance, and an abiding one. Cast not away therefore your confidence”, so that I think it would just be well to keep the end of the chapter in mind as bearing on the positive side at the beginning of the chapter.
AH Reference has been made to the blood. There is a remarkable expression in verse 13 of chapter 9. I wondered if you would say a word as to it: “For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a heifer’s ashes sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies for the purity of the flesh, how much rather shall the blood of the Christ, who by the eternal Spirit offered himself spotless to God, purify your conscience from dead works to worship the living God?”
JT “To worship the living God”. That is a wonderful expression, and that, as I was saying, comes in particularly on the first day of the week. I think the days of the week have not been fully taken into account, especially the first day, and how it opens up the way for the saints, for the services, morning, afternoon and evening, to be practical; but the first of the week implies the morning; and then what comes in later for the instruction of saints, and then for the gospel. I am referring just to the practical way it is being done at the present time, which I believe God approves. Chapter 9 helps greatly, and then chapter 10 continues, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness for entering into the holy of holies by the blood of Jesus, the new and living way”. What a glorious thought is there in comparison with what is current about us — where you have either judaism or heathendom practised, or the gross worldliness that is now current in the world, even on the first day of the week. The Lord’s day is ignored, really, whereas we, as loving the Lord, think of the Lord’s day, and that He has a day that He has set apart for Himself. God began with the idea of day, He began with light, and so we have it in the New Testament, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all”.
Rem So that each day works out from the results of our entering into the presence of God in His service on the first day.
JT Just so. It is a glorious day, and the saints, I believe, are enjoying the reality of it, and what is available to us, because surely God has some meaning in it to use the word, ‘first day of the week’. We get it in John and in Mark.
ETS Should we make time for entering into the holiest daily?
JT That is another matter, our making time, but the first day of the week is a thing to ponder over now, because evidently the Spirit of God intends us to stress it. It says in Acts 20, “the first day of the week, we being assembled to break bread”; that is a thing, I think, which should be specially stressed at this time.
AM Are the references to His doing the will of God according to Psalm 40 and the offering of the body of Jesus Christ to be in our minds in connection with the Supper?
JT We may well now consider the first paragraph of the chapter, “For the law, having a shadow of the coming good things, not the image itself of the things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they [p. 334] offer continually yearly, perfect those who approach. Since, would they not indeed have ceased being offered, on account of the worshippers once purged having no longer any conscience of sins?” “Once purged” — notice that. “But in these there is a calling to mind of sins yearly. For blood of bulls and goats is incapable of taking away sins. Wherefore coming into the world he says, Sacrifice and offering thou willedst not; but thou hast prepared me a body”. That is, the Lord takes this ground, that God had prepared Him a body — marvellous thing to think of, His precious body! Here the point is, not that He was a babe simply (He was born a babe), but He has got a body capable of service. His body is capable of service, of doing the will of God. So it says. “Thou tookest no pleasure in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin. Then I said” — this is the Lord Jesus speaking to God — “Lo, I come (in the roll of the book it is written of me) to do, O God, thy will”. So that the first day of the week, is, I think, the thing that ought to be particularly stressed.
AJG So that in Christianity the calling to mind is not of sins, but of the Lord Jesus.
JT Just so. Very good. If there be sin in a meeting, of course that has to be remembered, and attended to, but a calling to mind is what is positive and what is for God. It is remarkable how God has graciously taken account of what is to be done when sin occurs in any company. He has provided for that, and we must not ignore it, because it has to be attended to, and it is, too. The brethren, as a rule, have learnt to take account of things that are happening that are displeasing to God, for the first day of the week is marred and all the services of it if such things are not attended to. But, thank God, this is being attended to, so the service is to continue week by week, and then following on that, the Bible reading and the gospel, as we have said, and the [p. 335] prayer meetings on the Monday, and the Bible readings on the Wednesday or Thursday. So that God has indicated to us, and we follow the indication, as to these days that are being used in His service. Days are to be taken account of, because God has made days and made light and darkness, as Genesis 1 plainly shows.
JSE Do our minds become expanded as we think of the first day of the week in the light of the statement, “From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, let Jehovah’s name be praised”, Psalm 113: 3.
JT Very good. The sun runs its course.
JSE I was thinking of this matter of the holy of holies, and the first day of the week. The whole course of the day is linked up with it amongst the saints in all parts of the earth.
JT Just so. You say in all parts of the earth, but, of course, Asia is pretty well dark, we have to admit that, but there may be a little light, even in Asia, in China and India. Generally speaking, however, Asia is dark, although that is where Christianity began.
Ques Does that show the full result of turning away from Paul at the outset? There is practically nothing left in that district where he laboured, because all have turned away from him.
JT Just so. The truth is seen as coming into Europe, at Philippi. So that the light began to shine and it still continues to shine, and especially in these countries in which we are, and the outgoings of them. We can thank God for what He has done in these countries. He has undoubtedly raised them up so as outwardly to protect His testimony.
Ques Is the privilege of entrance into the holiest distinctive to Christianity?
JT Quite so. It will not be in evidence in the beginning of the millennium. That will be on lower [p. 336] ground. We are now on the very highest ground, in the testimony of God.
AJG So that the living way particularly involves the Spirit, does it not?
JT Quite so.
Ques And would “the full assurance of faith” being mentioned suggest that it is peculiarly applicable to the present time?
JT Just so. This is the period of faith.
JSE A remark was made on Lord’s day as to the word ‘eternal’ and I think it was to the effect that there was nothing beyond it. Is this suggestion of a “holy of holies” to remind us that there is nothing greater than the presence of God, either in time or eternity, and that it is open to us now, the way being established by the blood of Jesus but being shown to us by the Spirit? Is that right?
JT That is right. There is nothing beyond eternity; what is called eternal, and the idea of what is eternal is stressed in this epistle. There is nothing beyond it.
JSE I was thinking of the two expressions — the one in this chapter, “He takes away the first that he may establish the second”, and in the previous chapter, “the Holy Spirit shewing this, that the way of the holy of holies has not yet been made manifest while as yet the first tabernacle has its standing”. But now that it is taken away and the second established, does not the Spirit have a right-of-way in showing the way into the holiest and helping us into it?
JT Quite so. The Spirit will do both. The first is light, and then the support of the Spirit which would imply life.
LHR How would this compare with access to the Father, in Ephesians?
JT It is the same principle. Ephesians really is the clearest of all for christianity. It says, “For through him” — that is, through Christ — “we have both access by one Spirit to the Father”, Ephesians 2: 18. Three divine Persons are engaged in that.
Ques And is not the blood mentioned in the earlier part of that chapter in the same way as it is mentioned earlier in the chapter we are considering? “But now in Christ Jesus ye who once were afar off are become nigh by the blood of the Christ”.
JT Just so. So that we might as well refer to the actual service, the actual function on the first day of the week, so as to see how things are done, because we have been shown how to do things. The epistles to the Corinthians, of course, are intended for that, and in chapter 11 of the first epistle we have, therefore, the breaking of bread. “It is not to eat the Lord’s supper”, it says, because they were not doing it properly. That is to say, time was when it was not being done properly; but, thank God, we have light as to this, so that we know what to do, and God is helping us to do it. In the actual setting of the Lord’s supper we begin with taking account of each other. We meet each other, and we take account of each other, and if there is anything at all that has to be adjusted, then it ought to be adjusted, so that the way would be clear for the Lord to come. He comes in after us. We make the way for Him, and the Spirit supports us in that, so that we know what to do, and then we are able to do it. We are clear of any hindering elements, and we may be occupied with one another, according to what grace has made us, and redemption has made us, so that the way is clear now for the Lord to come too. He comes in, and then all the great things are opened up in the Supper itself and in the things that follow, a word of ministry, as we might say, to affect or remind us of what is needed, and then the Minister of the sanctuary is to be there. We must have a minister of the sanctuary, and that is the Lord Himself. He [p. 338] is now arranging things for God, as we are too, but He is arranging things peculiarly for God. He is said to be “minister of the holy places and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord has pitched” — that is to say, which God has pitched — “and not man”. So that, I think, in looking at the thing that way, we get what is concrete and what is to be understood among the brethren, the concrete way of the Lord’s supper and the ministry, and all that enters into the first day of the week.
AH Would what you are just referring to help us in the matter of taking on change?
JT Just so. I am glad you mentioned that, because we must take on change. John says, “I became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”. That is change.
ECM Would it be right to say that God bringing many sons to glory is involved in the Lord Jesus saying, “Lo, I come to do thy will”?
JT Just so. So that the two things are found in chapter 2 of this epistle, the brethren and the sons of God.
JSE You made a remark in London as to the glory of the Supper laying hold of the brethren in these last days, and then I think you intimated that it was the secret of the unfolding of the truth as we go on with the Supper in its own glorious setting in simplicity. The Spirit has freedom to unfold the truth of the service of God to us.
JT I think the Lord has opened up things for us in Corinthians, so that taking the Supper at the very outset of the service of God ought to be specially in our minds at this time, so that we may be ready for this great matter, and the great pains that divine Persons have taken to establish the second. That is, what the service of God is; not what will be opened up presently in the millennium, but what belongs to christianity, where the Father, and the Son and the [p. 339] Spirit are all active. Then there are the great servants that have been used to bring the truth to light to us, especially the epistles to the Corinthians, the first epistle now particularly. It is wonderful that God has so wrought, I might say, in our own times, to bring about all this, and all the pains that divine Persons have taken in detail even. Such matters as marriage and all other things like that we are to have right, in view of the assembly, and we should come together on the first day of the week, as the disciples came together on the first day of the week. Acts 20 is of great importance as showing what happened, and how Paul entered into it, and how the breaking of bread was deferred so that things should be done aright.
HFN Would you say a word on the thought of the great priest over the house of God? You have spoken of the Minister of the sanctuary, how does that bear upon what you are saying?
JT The Minister of the sanctuary is not Paul or any of the apostles; it is the Lord Jesus who is the Minister of the sanctuary. Things are, therefore, done under His guidance. It is remarkable how Paul is taken up after the twelve, and particularly fitted for the truth of the service of God in the assembly. The ministry of the assembly was committed to him.
AJG Does the Minister of the sanctuary specially consider for God, and is the great Priest on our side?
JT Just so. It is in order that things might be properly done. The whole thing in christendom so-called is just a travesty of the truth, and it is the divine thought that the brethren have been helped to get the truth, and especially through the Collected Writings. Then there is what has come in through Mr. Raven and later, so that things should be done rightly, because it is due to God that everything [p. 340] should be done properly as He intended it to be done. The Lord Jesus is appointed the Minister of the sanctuary; He has, of course, died for us, but then He is the Minister of the sanctuary and that is another matter. It is a great office that He fills.
JA Could you give a word on why God loves to be approached? We can understand the conditions that He requires, but why does He love to be approached?
JT Because of what He is. God is love and He loves to have us approach Him. He delights in us, I believe He watches every one of us, and the Lord Jesus too. We are known in heaven, every one of us, and we are seen as we approach God, for we know how to do it.
RT Would you mind saying a word, please, regarding the latter part of verse 20, “the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh”.
JT Well, you get first of all what is called the shadow of things to come, not the very image; we have to do with the shadow. Then you have to learn to see that the shadow is the shadow of something. You have to learn to get that something — what it is and how it is visible in your eyes — and to learn to think of the glory of it, the grandeur of it, and be ready for it, because the saints are made fit to have part, and to have part properly.
ACSP Do the three exhortations run together? First, “Let us approach”; then, “Let us hold fast the confession”; and then, “Let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works”.
JT Very good. We are put now to do the work and do it properly. The Lord has shown us the way, and the apostle Paul is a great minister, in that he is used for that purpose. Well now, the next thing is, are we learning to do things properly?
[p. 341] Ques Does going through the veil imply priesthood on the part of the saints?
JT I would think so, I would think the priesthood is the technical name for doing things right, and the idea of setting things right too.
Ques And does the veil have the effect of excluding all else?
JT Just so. All else must be put out, and that is why in christendom now, for the last one hundred and twenty years the brethren have constantly to keep on teaching others as they want to come into the fellowship, how to do things, and how to be subject. It is the learning to do things that is a great matter, especially with young people. Things are not done just any way you wish to do them; they are to be done according to God. God has ordained the order of things and He has ordained the minister too, and then the Spirit of God Himself carries on things. Paul and the apostles all have gone, but the Spirit of God remains. He remains here amongst us.
AJG And does the fact that the Lord is said to have dedicated this way imply the feelings on His part that have entered into it?
JT Just so. In a certain sense the Lord is not different, I think we can see, in the days of His flesh, how He acted with the disciples, and how He was set for getting them to do things aright.
FW I should like to know if we have a different thought here from what we have in Corinthians? It says there, “Let a man prove himself, and thus eat”. But I wondered here if it does not all depend upon the great Priest: “having a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith”. Is there a difference there?
JT There is a difference, because the epistle to the Hebrews is intended for Jews, whereas 1 Corinthians is intended for gentiles. We are gentiles, and,
[p. 342] as we were saying, the Lord has graciously opened up the truth for us and it is for us, having learnt, to know what to do when the time comes for the service on the first day of the week. Acts 20 is the great pattern for the gentiles.
AST Would you say that the experience we have in the holiest has a bearing on what follows? It says, “Let us hold fast the confession of the hope unwavering”, and then, “Let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works”. I was wondering whether the experience we have in the holiest would help us in relation to that.
JT We see what is within. For instance, if any one of us at the present time were to go to heaven, literally, as Enoch did, well, what would happen? We should see what is being done. Peter saw what was done; he was in ecstasy and he saw things being done. There is a terrible thing just now (I heard of it just today), a certain great system is assuming that the virgin Mary has gone into heaven bodily. It is a terrible thing to think of that. We do not go in bodily yet. Presently we go in bodily, according to 1 Thessalonians 4; but we shall be changed to go in. But if it were possible for any one of us to go in now, what would we see? We would see what goes on in heaven, and what goes on in heaven should be reflected in the assembly. That is really the great point, that what goes on in heaven is to be reflected in the assembly.
Ques In speaking of things being done rightly, have you in mind in the assembly particularly?
JT Particularly, because the assembly is the vessel in which God is operating, and I believe the idea began in Genesis 1, where God called the expanse heavens. The word ‘expanse’ would mean it was to be a sphere of operations for God, and then these operations are going on now. He called the expanse heavens. The idea is to give plenty of [p. 343] liberty for things to be done, but done according to God.
HFN You said some years ago that you could tell, by the part a brother took in the service of God, as to whether he had been in the holiest. You would say that today, would you not?
JT I would certainly say so, and really that would imply that you go into heaven itself. We get it in the previous chapter; verse 24 says, “For the Christ is not entered into holy places made with hand, figures of the true, but into heaven itself”. Well now, if any one of us were allowed to go into heaven itself now and had the ability to go in (which we shall have when we are changed), well then, we should see what is going on, there and the next thing is whether we could reflect that here in the assembly, because what is in heaven is to be reflected in the assembly. God has provided for that, and the elders and all that we have in the way of additional services are to provide for that, so that things are to be right, and that according to God. We shall see it all presently, when the Lord comes and changes us. The word is: “We shall all be changed”. The Spirit quickens us, but then the idea of change is to be kept in mind.
JRUB In Corinthians Paul says, “Let all things be done comelily and with order”.
JT Very good. It is a question of God, and God is said to be the God of order. And then, “If any one think to be contentious”, Paul says, “we have no such custom, nor the assemblies of God”.
Ques Is the fact that Jesus is said to be our forerunner a reminder that His place is ours? It is only a matter of time, and we shall all eventually be there. Would this help us to fill up the interim more spiritually?
JT Quite so. Think of what we have and what has been inaugurated for us through the great servants [p. 344] that God has raised up. They have gone, of course, but the Lord Himself is in heaven, and the Paraclete, the Spirit of God, has come down here, has been sent down, meaning that He is under orders. The blessed Spirit Himself graciously takes that attitude. He is under orders, to see that things are done.
MK Is the holiest entered into by us together, as by the whole company, or by individuals? If it is by the whole company, how do we address God at that time? Is there something beyond access to the Father in addressing the Father?
JT If we are speaking about the assembly, you begin at the Lord’s supper, and it is a matter of the Lord Himself. He is over the services, and He comes in after we do. We have to come in as ready to recognise how we are to learn things. Then when He comes in, of course, He is in charge; He is the Minister of the sanctuary, and presently He will approach the Father. He knows how to do that, but the Spirit of God is the Spirit of adoption, and we can use that Spirit of adoption, or the Spirit of sonship. The Spirit of sonship is ready to take us on, and to show us how to do things.
FT Would you say a word as to why it is put like this, “the new and living way which he has dedicated for us through the veil, that is, his flesh”. It does not say ‘His body’ there. I wondered if you could give us a word as to the meaning of that.
JT The word ‘flesh’ would be human condition. It is not an angel, it is a Man, in human condition, I suppose the word ‘flesh’ is used to make it more real, or literal.
AJG Does it involve that the Lord took flesh and blood condition in order, by His death, to set aside that condition for us?
JT Just [p. 345] so.
FT Does not the greatness of the fact that He went into death for us, laying down that condition into which He came for us, appeal to us specially?
JT That is right. He went that far. So that He is still in flesh, although it is not flesh and blood now, but flesh. It is the condition of humanity, which applies to Him even now in heaven, He is in that condition. He does not die any more, but the idea of flesh continues.
JSE Have you in mind Luke 24, “a spirit has not flesh and bones as ye see me having” in saying that He is still in flesh, but not flesh and blood?
JT Just so, I mean, the Lord continues in human conditions; not that He cannot change; and retire into eternal conditions, because He is God. At the same time, when we come down to the actual facts, it is Christ in flesh that has effected everything.
Rem The great fact of the incarnation is involved in the expression, “in flesh”.
JT Just so. That is what I am thinking about, the word ‘flesh’ implies His incarnation.
Rem So it says, “The Word became flesh”. He took that condition.
JT Just so.
AST Is that why the name of Jesus is carried right through?
JT Very good. That is just it. Things are made very real for us. It is a question of what God intends to come to us, the youngest of us, so that we might lay hold of what is said.
Ques Is the expression in John’s epistle, “Jesus Christ come in flesh” in line with what you say?
JT Quite so. It is just the words.
Ques On our side, is there significance in the way verse 22 is put? It says, “Let us approach with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, sprinkled as to our hearts from a wicked conscience, and washed as to our body with pure water”.
JT [p. 346] All that applies to just what we are saying. The words are remarkable. They are brought down to the youngest of us, as well as to all of us. This chapter is wonderful, as opening up the truth of the service of God and making way for it. The actual details of the service however are to be looked for in 1 Corinthians, whereas here the doctrine is stressed. It is the doctrine of the facts involved.
JSE Could we come back to this matter of His flesh for a minute, please, and ask about Psalm 16, where the Lord prophetically says, “My flesh moreover shall dwell in hope”? Has that any bearing upon this?
JT Well, it is remarkable the idea of hope being brought in. That would be more for meditation, and feeding on the facts of the Person of Christ in the Psalms. It is a great book for experience. The Psalms are full of things of that kind, so as to instruct us and make us conversant with what is in heaven.
AH You used an expression at Maidstone that I think helped us very much, in referring to certain sections of this book, as being sequential. Do verse 19 and what follows come under that heading?
JT Quite so.
AH I was thinking that as that is apprehended, it lends enrichment to the service, which this section seems to deal with.
JT Just so. I would just remark again as to verse 23, “Let us hold fast the confession of the hope unwavering, (for he is faithful who has promised;) and let us consider one another for provoking to love and good works; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together” — I wanted just to stress that — “as the custom is with some; but encouraging one another, and by so much the more as ye see the day drawing near”. I thought we might just stress that, and then I would say another word, “For where we sin wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and heat of fire about to devour the adversaries”. So that the thing is most solemn, and I think it is just right that we all should be reminded of it. These chapters are intended to impress those of us who have been brought into the truth in these last days, that we should not neglect our privileges, or forsake the assembling of ourselves together, and should not allow disorder in the assembly itself.