GOD'S FOUNDATION

2 Timothy 2: 7-8, 15-21; Numbers 34: 102, 12; 35: 9-15, 22-28

A.C.C. I thought we might get some help in this meeting as to the legality of the ground we have taken in relation to Christendom. Whatever current teachings or opinions might be, the firm foundation of God stands, and everything is to come into alignment with that. No one has any ground for meeting unless the legality of the position can be established. In days of break-up, and other fellowships having been set up, it is of particular importance to establish that we are acting in alignment with God's foundation. I read in Numbers about the borders of the land because, as we are able to establish the legality of the ground we have taken, we shall experience the assembly as a sphere of practical salvation, as suggested in the cities of refuge. Everything for God has been established on the basis of Jesus Christ raised from among the dead, and the firm foundation of God relates to the resurrection of Christ. All believers - ourselves too - should look into the foundation on which they are, as to the legality of it, for we should take nothing for granted.

J.W. A right moral foundation must underlie the legality of the ground we take.

A.C.C. Certainly. Without assumption or pretension, we should be able to fix our position in relation to the great ecclesiastical system of which we form part outwardly, as taking a place outside the camp.

J.R.W. To establish the legality of our position, what criterion applies?

A.C.C. Following the moral principles set out here is the criterion. Righteousness is the first, and, if you follow that, you are on the way to establishing the legality of the position, or, perhaps we should say, the ground, which we are on.

B.E.S. The question is whether we are on this right ground currently. It is not enough to claim that we were on this ground in the past, nor is there any successional idea connected with it.

A.C.C. Absolutely! Everyone should examine for themselves the ground they have taken up and the principles they are following.

D.E.R. This is an individual matter. As you follow these principles, and I do, we shall be together, with others also, and therefore we can reach what is collective.

A.C.C. We must begin with what is individual and the collective will follow.

K.J.S. Please say more about the foundation being linked with Christ risen. If a foundation is not right, the building will not stand.

A.C.C. No matter what has happened in the break-up of Christendom, God's foundation stands because it is founded on the resurrection of Christ and hence cannot fail.

J.W. Christ's resurrection was a selective one because of the moral worth that marked him.

D.J.H. Why does it not go on to His ascension and glorification?

A.C.C. His resurrection was on earth, where the breakdown is, but despite that, there is that which remains unshakable, but we must be in line with it for there is no right ground apart from it.

L.W.B. If I am to be morally in accord with it, separation from what is iniquitous - such as saying that the resurrection had taken place already - must take place. We need help to judge what is iniquitous.

A.C.C. We may assume to have done that, but it is not a question of having done so in the past, but of where we are today.

D.E.R. As established in the fact that God's foundation remains, despite the breakdown, the question is whether each one of us is practically in accordance with it.

A.C.C. Christendom proceeds without exercise as to that, but my concern is to be that what I am associated with should be in alignment with the foundation.

J.S.G. Are Paul's glad tidings one of the ways to keep us in line with the divine thought?

A.C.C. Paul's glad tidings involve authority. There must be authority with God's foundation, yet some have gone away, disagreeing with certain ministry or a certain action, and set up another company. What authority have they for doing that?

D.E.B. It would be dangerous to suggest that we are the only ones that are right.

A.C.C. We are not suggesting that, but there is an obligation on us to depart from what is iniquitous and to identify ourselves with others taking the same moral route. We can be restful that the Lord knows all that are His. There may be others meeting on Lord's day morning to break bread, but we leave them with the Lord and we are not in competition with them.

D,E.R. There cannot be two minds in heaven about any matter, but we need to be assured in our own souls that we are found in relation to the divine mind for all.

A.C.C. There is only one foundation and only one right moral way.

Q.P. The presentation here of the Lord as Master, or Despot, requires subjection on our part.

A.C.C. Every one who sits down to break bread should accept that, but we may be too casual and may merely go on as we have always done. We need conviction as to our position.

G.C.B. What is iniquity?

A.C.C. Aiming at the mark and missing it and not being in alignment with the foundation arrived at by following righteousness, faith, love and peace.

G.C.B. The mark is the divine standard in doctrine and practice.

A.C.C. Some may miss it, but, as was said just now, God has not two minds about anything. He has one mind. Why do all believers not have one mind? Because they are not on the scriptural ground and the moral path to it.

R.H.B. There would be general assent to the need to withdraw from iniquity, but where does the line fall between vessels to honour and vessels to dishonour?

A.C.C. Vessels - persons - are not to govern us, for we may go astray through following persons, but principles are to govern us. If persons do not observe the principles, you have to separate from them. A restatement of these well known truths should revive our appreciation of the fact that there can be no controversy as to the rightness of the ground we have taken as regards Christendom.

J.R.W. Is there any link between the seal here and the sealing of the Spirit?

A.C.C. It is the divine seal and God will allow no one to break it. The Spirit would ratify our conviction that the ground we are on is divinely established.

J.R.W. Please open up what you said about not being in competition with other believers as we gather.

D.E.B. As to that, we should be thankful to see other believers meeting together and preaching the Gospel.

A.C.C. You might be thankful for that, but you would be sorry that they are not with you, if you have the realisation that you are on divinely accredited ground and that you would not go anywhere else except where you do go. You would not go anywhere else, would you?

D.E.B. That is correct.

A.C.C. So that while you do not condemn other believers, the fact that you would not go anywhere else means that you have a judgment of their position and that you know you are on divinely accredited ground.

V.E.W. Does God's sovereignty enter into this matter?

A.C.C. Sovereignty enters into the Lord knowing those that are His. The other side of the seal is practical and should be taken up by every one. The Lord has only one mind for all his people, so that if one is converted and receives the Spirit, His mind for them is that they should be livingly in the assembly.

J.W. The point of this chapter is that, in a day of breakdown, there is only one right course for every believer.

A.C.C. That is a fact. I believe that to be so as to the ground I am on, not, of course, that you would broadcast your convictions.

L.W.B. What you are saying is set out in the book by Mr Biggs, titled "A Christian's Path in Days of Difficulty".

A.C.C. It is a good book, but I trust that the Spirit will give us some impetus today to follow the unchallengeable ground of following righteousness, faith, love and peace.

V.E.W. It was the sovereignty of God that gave some of us light and brought us out of religious systems.

A.C.C. I came from one such system over 60 years ago, but I want to be on the right moral ground today. Divine sovereignty gives light as to the assembly, but that light is for all His people everywhere.

D.H. Aligning ourselves would be like the Egyptians regulating themselves by Joseph's commandments.

A.C.C. Our responsibility is to align ourselves with God's word.

C.J.B. The name of the Lord is a strong tower and in crises, as we align ourselves with that Name, we prove the power that is in it.

A.C.C. As naming that Name we are obligated to depart from iniquity.

B.E.S. We claim to be on this ground, but practical difficulty sometimes arises among us in dealing with iniquity when it occurs.

A.C.C. There cannot be two right sides in any matter, so we need to come back to principles. Above all, righteousness must be our leader.

B.E.S. The word of God needs to be brought to bear on every issue in order to enlighten us as to right and wrong.

A.C.C. If two parties arise, will must be at work instead of bowing to God's word. Now at the last encampment, when they were not yet in the land, God describes to them what their external border with the world around would be when they reached the land. That is our position. We are not yet actually in the land, but we are to be governed by divine light as to others.

J.W. The way into what is collective and the enjoyment of it, which the land would suggest, is the route of 2 Timothy 2.

A.C.C. God delineated the border with a view to there being no mixture between themselves and the worldly nations around.

J.S.G. The same border should apply to all believers.

A.C.C. God has only one mind for all believers, but many do not recognise the border.

D.J.H. As being "not of the world", there should be a clear distinction between us and it.

A.C.C. Let us maintain that clear distinction without compromise.

R.C. Separation is attractive as we have before us what we are separated to, not only from.

A.C.C. We are separated to have part in great privileges, but it is God Himself who has determined our external borders.

J.H. Why was this instruction given to Israel before they went into the land?

A.C.C. We have nothing literal now - apart from the loaf and the cup - but we are to hold in faith and principle the ground which we are about to come into actually.

B.E.S. The western border was very straightforward - everyone could see where the great sea was - but the detail of the other borders had to be worked out in exercise. They were not to choose where the border went, but they had to work it out and make it evident where it went.

A.C.C. We may be slow at drawing the line between us and the world. Let us not be afraid to declare where our border is and not be marked by Laodicean compromise and lukewarmness.

J.R.W. A brother locally prays every Monday evening that we might keep the enemy out.

A.C.C. I would say "amen" to that prayer. Let us keep the enemy out and stay within our own border, for in our land are cities of refuge, places of safety.

J.W. We have obligations both to the Lord and to our fellow believers. As the principles set out in 2 Timothy 2 are maintained by us, there will be a place of refuge for others to come into.

A.C.C. When Christianity was set up early in Acts, a city of refuge was there for persons to run into, and God would have such a sphere now. He has only one mind for all his people and He would have them come into the sphere of refuge now.

D.E.R. To be in the sphere of present practical salvation and to stay there, is the way to be preserved ourselves in the testimony through to the end.

A.C.C. Outside the city, you are in danger from the avenger of blood. But a man might run in who had no right to be there. Such a case had to come before the assembly, as in Matthew 18. Matthew 16 is the structural side of the assembly, but Matthew 18 is the judicial side. The assembly had to judge whether the man-slayer had a right to be there, but rescue of the man was primarily in mind. The assembly is a great sympathetic body in which present salvation is real. For the matter to be settled, the assembly has to judge, and to judge righteously in accordance with the foundation, but with a view to salvation of the offender.

B.E.S. The assembly is to judge, not by what it likes or chooses, but according to the word of God.

A.C.C. Judgment is to be based on established principles.

A.McS. Would the mind of Christ help us to do that?

A.C.C. It is not exactly that the assembly knows His mind about any current matter, but the assembly has His thinking faculty, can think as He thinks. As we do, we can judge with a view to rescue from the hands of the avenger of blood.

R.H.B. It is in view of securing a place where God can dwell complacently among his people.

V.E.W. As based on the firm foundation of God, the assembly is the greatest court of appeal.

A.C.C. Someone will say that we cannot find the assembly today, but we should hold to the light proper to it and act accordingly. But unless we are in alignment with God's foundation, on moral ground, we shall not arrive at the truth of the assembly. If not, we shall be governed by preferences and prejudices and end up setting up another company and mistakenly thinking that the Lord will join us.

J.R.W. We should encourage one another then not to get into danger by going outside the limits of the city of refuge.

A.C.C. All parents should instruct their children as to the danger outside but that there is safety in the assembly, and in the homes too, as divine principles are followed.

 

 

Key to initials

C.J.Brodie, Ealing; D.E.Burr, Redbridge; G.C.Bywater, Buckhurst Hill; L.W.Burton, Merton; R.H.Brown, Barnet; A.C.Craig, Chippenham; A.Cumming, Spaldwick; J.S.Gray, London; W.Grosse, Edinburgh; D.Hawgood, Bexley; D.J.Hutson, London; J.Harvey, Barnet, T.J.Harvey, Barnet; A.McSeveney, Cumnock; Q.Poore, Portsmouth; D.E.Remmington, St.Albans; D.J.Roberts, Gillingham; B.E.Surtees, Felixstowe; K.J.Samways, Buckhurst Hill; E.F.Woodford, Dorking; J.Wright, Redbridge; J.R.Walkinshaw, Bexley; V.E.Wraighte, Gillingham