The assembly: God's land under cultivation

First Corinthians chapter 3, please. It's certainly a delight to be with the assembly here in Hankeny and to see the new addition. A lot of work has gone into not only the planting of the assembly but into this building and we trust that the Lord will add many souls to the company and practice plays up even in the upcoming series.

Now first Corinthians chapter 3 and we'll read at verse 9. For we are laborers together with God. Ye are God's husbandry. Ye are God's tilled field.

Ye are God's cultivation. Now let's go back in our Bible to the first book, Genesis and chapter 2, please. Genesis chapter 2. Genesis 2, verse number 8. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden.

And there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden and from thence it was parted and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison that is it which composeth the whole land of Havilah where there is gold and the gold of that land is good. There is Bedellium and the onyx stone.

And the name of the second river is Gihon the same as that which composeth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hittikal or the Tigris. That is it which composeth which goeth toward the east of Assyria.

And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.

And of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said it is not good for the man to be alone I will make him a help suitable for him.

And we have Eve formed. Verse 23 and Adam said this is now the bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Chapter 3 verse 1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

Now that is all we read. We have commenced our reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 where God has given to us in that chapter three metaphors describing the assembly. In our New Testament there are perhaps eight in total metaphors that would describe for us God's assembly.

And in our chapter we have the assembly described as a temple. Actually the Holy of Holies. And the thought there is the sanctity of the assembly.

It is a holy place. It is a place where God's holiness should be seen. Then we have the assembly described as a building right at the end of the verse we didn't read it but you're God's building and he goes on to describe some of the things that are to be built in the gold the silver the precious stones and so on and when you think of a building like this commodious building you think of foundations you think of superstructure you think of the stability of the building.

So when you think of the assembly as a building it's something that should stand firm stable for God. The stability of the assembly. But when we come to this lovely picture that we have our metaphor and at the beginning of verse nine we read that you are God's land under cultivation.

That's Mr. Wu's translation. You are God's land under cultivation. And the assembly here in Ankeny is God's land under cultivation.

Now when you think of cultivation some of you men are farmers and you know all about it but there's work involved there's labor involved we have that right in the context there's activity involved and that's the thought I take it when we think of the assembly as God's land under cultivation it's the activity of the assembly an activity that is necessary for the assembly to function and so on. So the activity of the assembly then is before us. Now when we go back to the Garden of Eden we find here a little picture I want to take it as a picture of God cultivating.

God planted a garden eastward in Eden and here we have a picture I take it of what God would look for in his garden or in his cultivated field which is the assembly. Now when we go back to Eden and we look for activity in Eden what do we find? We find that God was at work number one. We find that man was at work or he had to work he was to guard it and keep it and then we find it was satanic satanic activity as well.

The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and we find that is true as well of God's assembly a place where God works a place where man has responsibility and a place that garners the interest of the enemy himself. So let's take a look at these things in greater detail. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put the man whom he had formed.

So God took that man whom he had formed and put him in the place where God wanted him to be. God's cultivation that was the place that man was put. It was planted by God and so we would we would understand immediately that because God made it it's God's by ownership it's God's by ownership.

You men that have farms you go out and you plant your field it's your field and you can do whatever you like with that field you have authority over it. And so it was in this garden that God planted and put a man into it it had God's authority over it but we will find that God's authority was challenged. Now wherever there is a man in responsibility God's authority will be challenged.

It was so in Corinth wasn't it? There was division that had come in among the saints and God's ownership God's authority was being challenged. They had lost sight of God's ownership. They'd lost sight of God's authority.

They were saying I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas and so on. So we learn right away that because it is God's assembly we cannot do with it just as we like. It was further challenged God's authority was further challenged in Corinth by immorality and the purity of the assembly was under threat and Paul gives instructions in chapter 5 here in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ when you are gathered together and my spirit with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ go ahead and carry out that discipline.

So God's assembly is a place where his authority is stamped and there's no earthly authority that should supersede that. God planted the garden it is no earthly authority that gathers the saints it is God's work to gather the saints and so there is the work of God that is carried out as we've been hearing under the word of God as it is proclaimed the gospel is preached the spirit of God is at work there are souls that are saved like Acts chapter 2 they gladly received his word they were baptized they were added and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and only then do we get and in the fellowship. So the apostles doctrine formed shaped that which would be the fellowship it was the word of God being taught that forms and shapes the fellowship that it might be a gathering of God.

Now we do live in a day where the thought of a pattern my brother John mentioned that at the assembly is according to the pattern but there are those that challenge the idea that there is a pattern for God's assembly. So let's ask the question is there a pattern for God's assembly? Acts chapter 2 would indicate the apostles doctrine formed that fellowship the apostles teaching. When you come over to 2nd Timothy chapter 1 Paul's final letter Paul's final words to Timothy knowing that the word of God and the work of God will be challenged he gave Timothy this charge he said hold fast that form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

You know what that word form is? The pattern. Hold fast the pattern of sound words the apostles teaching the apostles doctrine. That's the pattern for God's assembly right from the get-go in Acts chapter 2 right through until Paul was departing from the scene and it's still the pattern today the apostles teaching the apostles doctrine gives the shape and the form to God's assembly.

Now not only is God's by ownership but his order was found in it. You see the garden in Eden was for God's pleasure he built it or he planted it according to his own pleasure there was nobody else to tell him where to put that tree or that shrub or that fruit tree or those vegetables. God planted it according to his own good pleasure it was his order it was his arrangement where that river run and where that pool was formed was all according to his plan and for God's pleasure it was pleasant to him and there he put the man.

A place that was pleasant to God and would be pleasant to the man. So Adam had the privilege of enjoying God's mind in it all as he entered into that garden and he enjoyed that garden in the presence of God. It was a happy place it was a pleasant place.

You know there is a place still on this earth that brings pleasure to God on the first day of the week. There are saints that gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ at the Lord's supper to break the bread to drink from the cup to remember him and from their hearts their pores out worship as a response and God finds delight in that. That brings pleasure to God and when the saints meet together on a Wednesday night or whatever night it might be and they have come together to pray and the whole body is there there's no fingers missing there's no hands missing there's no ears missing there's no nose missing and God's mind the body is present everyone is functioning according and what are they doing even as they gather to pray the very statement that they make as they gather is this we are dependent upon God that brings God pleasure and then the the bible will be opened and read the brother might give a little opening as to give the sense of the passage and then there's a there's discussion that follows as the brethren take part having done their homework at home because they find the light in the word of God and collectively that assembly is expressing this we love to hear God's voice through his word that brings pleasure to God God finds delight in that and so the assembly is for God's pleasure and it is for our enjoyment as well as we engage in according to the mind of God now another thing is this that the garden was a place of blessing for Adam and the assembly is a place of blessing for believers you notice that Adam and Eve had everything in that garden that would fully meet their needs God said to him of every tree of the garden you can freely eat and every tree that was pleasant to the eyes and good for food God put in that garden and God looked upon it and he says it's very good very good you know God's assembly functioning according to God's way has every supply to meet the spiritual needs of his people well I repeat that God's assembly functioning according to God's way that is according to his word will have every supply to meet the spiritual needs of God's people we don't need to go outside of God's assembly for spiritual nourishment and spiritual refreshment when that assembly is functioning according to the word so it was a place of blessing to Adam I noticed now that there was a river that went out from Eden it flowed out from the garden and it branched into four rivers and so I'm learning now that the garden was a source of nourishment and refreshment to the outside you see there was boundaries to the garden but the river went out beyond the boundary and it went out into the community around and I would liken this then to gospel outreach from the assembly Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and he said from you the assembly sounded out the word of the Lord not only in your local area but in the regions round about now by the way brethren I take it that when he says from you the assembly sounded out that is that gospel exercise for the character and the stamp of that assembly as a testimony for God in the world so what that assembly stood for when it met together an assembly capacity was then projected to the area around from you sounded out the testimony was extended beyond the fellowship to reach out to others bearing the character of that fellowship so in gospel readings for example even if it's not in the hall sisters I take it should wear head coverings why because it's the character of what God has put into God's assembly and from you sounded out from the assembly now you could link these four rivers I'm not going to take the time to do it but I'll just make a few suggestions you can link them with the four gospels the character of the four gospels can be reflected in these four rivers maybe Mr. Lavery could expound on that sometime I've heard him work on that but we have in our bibles we have a record a fourfold record of the life of Christ the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that is that is the material which will bless others and regions around as we reach out with the gospel it is the gospel of the grace of God it centers in the person and in the the the the testimony of Jesus Christ as we reach out it is the gospel of God and it is the power of God still onto salvation to everyone that believe it not only to the Jew but to the as well so I'm not going to spend further time on that but let's come to the thought of not only God's activity but human responsibility the Lord God took the man put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it now Mr. Darby renders that to till it and to guard it so I would learn then that Adam was responsible to maintain conditions in that garden he was responsible to do that he had to till it he had to till it any of you ladies that keep a garden or or you men folk will know that vegetables and plants they grow good in soil and it's been managed well is kept soft and tillable and it's moldable and it's able to to let the roots spread and so on there's a softness about it there's a pliable about it and it's just like God's assembly were the people of God soft in heart pliable movable according to the word of God and the will of God willing to be directed according to his word that will produce fruitfulness in God's cultivation when the people of God are moldable and responsive obedient to his word their interest is what does God desire what does God desire you know the carnal attitude is well what's in what's in it for me and my family and my young people what's in it for them for the spiritual in heart will be looking into the word of God to find out what does God desire what brings him pleasure and so he was to till it now I take it that each member in God's assembly is responsible for the condition of that assembly you say but but I thought that was the that was the elder's job and I'm not an elder I just come and sit I'm a spectator a passive observer aren't you responsible at least to keep your own heart right and when you come to gather with the other saints and to enjoy the presence of God doesn't the meeting seem to be far more meaningful and far more far more in it for yourself when you come prepared in heart to receive from God and before you even come in through the doors there's a sense of the Lord's presence in your heart I want to tell you that contributes to the presence of the Lord amongst his people so that it is a concentration of sanctified life the assembly of God not only that but he had to keep it guard it and keep it that is guarded from outside influences made it gone and so there is the assembly of God's people needs to be guarded when you think of Eden evil got into the garden of Eden how it happened as soon as the word of God was disregarded still the case when the word of God and the will of God as outlined in his word is disregarded then evil comes in and does its nefarious work so behavior in God's assembly is controlled by obedience to the word of God and when it is disobeyed then evil comes in and it doesn't end good now my time's running out but I want to get to this you'll notice that in the garden headship was displayed God did not form the woman first he formed the man first and then Eve we've been reminded how that Eve stepped out of her place she assumed the role of the head and sin occurred but you'll notice that it was Adam that was charged with the responsibility of it so there was headship in the garden Adam was responsible as the head when we come to first Corinthians chapter 11 we find teaching regarding headship in God's assembly now please if you happen to have an ESV I want you to notice that the teaching in first Corinthians 11 is not between a husband and wife it is between man and woman and the context is goes right back to creation and this very point that Adam was first formed and then the woman man was first formed then the woman the ESV confuses that so keep that in mind if you happen to be reading it or referring to it in your study we find in first Corinthians chapter 11 the two head coverings are required for the woman and two coverings are absent from the man and both are making the same statement as they practice this teaching regarding headship that is that Christ is preeminent the man is head the woman he covers it he uncovers his head symbolically putting Christ on display who is his head spiritual the woman on the other hand man is head of the woman in God's order of creation so she covers her head as it were veiling her immediate head man so that Christ is preeminent and seen symbolically so that both are in communion together and both are are in harmony in their respective roles of showing that Christ is the head our two head coverings required well all makes that point abundantly clear in verses five and six the sister's hair her long hair is a 24 7 365 day statement to the male and female order of things and similarly the man without long hair makes that same statement in harmony when we come into assembly gatherings when ye are come together says Paul there's a secondary covering required because when the company gathers corporately it is a deliberate statement in testimony that Christ is in the midst and he is the head so there's another layer needed and the sister has the artificial covering and any artificial covering on the man is removed so that again Christ is given the place of preeminence now angels are looking on verse 10 and angels are learning something of the mind of God and of the purpose of God in relation to Christ from what is witnessed in the local assembly what's that that Christ is head what we look around us in the world today and there's chaos and there's ungodliness and unrighteousness and all the upheaval and mess that's in the world today is Christ seen to be the head no he's not yet manifested in that way but I'm a local company there is a testimony to the fact that Christ is the head and God will in his own purpose and in that coming day he will be manifestly the head over all things the assembly verse testimony to that so that's looking to the future you see it's based on what happened back there in eden man was first formed and then the woman and it is even looking to the future and the purpose of God regarding Christ and we bear testimony to all of that the work and the way of God what a privilege it is to maintain that in this world satanic activity I'll say a word and then sit down because God had an interest in that garden Satan had an interest in it too and it became the special object of satanic attack the serpent is more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and so it is today in God's assembly that which brings delight to God Satan the enemy will continue to try to upset anything that is of God and how will he do it brethren we need not be ignorant of his devices he will do it by disregarding the word of God the plain statements in the word of God the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ the teaching of the apostles it's under attack today comes in so subtly the family test is a big one disregarding God's word is tantamount to disobedience disobedience does not end well we remember Eden disobedience does not end well departure from God's order from respecting God's authority will always end in a worse condition than had God been given his rightful place that's an abiding principle throughout the scriptures that applies still to God's assembly my time has gone we trust the Lord bless his word joy