1. God’s Order – 1 Corinthians 12:4-8, 11 and 1 Corinthians 14:26-33
2. “And ye shall be holy unto me; for I Jehovah am holy, and separated you from the peoples to be mine.” – 1 Corinthians 5 and Leviticus 20:10, 26
What is morally suitable to God does not change as dispensations change.
3. Association with Evil Defiles
1 Corinthians 5 (moral evil): “a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump”
2 John 9 (doctrinal evil): “For he that biddeth him Godspeed, is partaker of his evil deeds.”
4. “Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord, depart from iniquity” – 2 Timothy 2:19-22
- vessels of gold and silver = those who are real
- vessels of wood and of earth = those who are mere professors
Who are the vessels to honor? Vs. 21: “If a man, therefore, purge himself from these (from the vessels of wood and of earth), he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
5. “Follow … with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart” – 2 Timothy 2:22
“with a pure heart” = with unmixed motives
“I know of no truth, apart from the truth of the gospel…more important, more precious to the heart of Christ, than that there should be even today in the midst of all the ruin, a testimony raised up and maintained of God, to the truth that there is one body.”
6. Galatians 2:18
“For if the things I have thrown down, these I build again, I constitute myself a transgressor.”
7. Conclusion
“I have no doubt – I haven’t any doubt whatsoever – that God is going to preserve a testimony to the truth of the one body, for the glory of Christ.”