Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Ezra as we continue through this precious book. will be dealing, as the Lord
permits, through verses 6 to 12. Before we read, just as a note
of reminder, having seen in verse 5, the last time of the church,
and I say this as a reminder every time Because we all need
to be reminded, the building of this physical temple in Jerusalem
is a setting forth as a type of the Lord God of heaven building
up, calling out of every people, nation and tongue His elect. those that He has before the
foundation of the world chosen in the Person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, having set His affection upon them, not because of anything
that He saw that they would do, because there is none good. No, not one. There is none that
in and of themselves Seek after God. Leave a man to himself,
leave a man to his own will, and that man will perish. He will resist Almighty God. The carnal mind is enmity, is
an enemy of God. Almighty God must, by His eternal
effectual power, by His grace, call all out of darkness because
it pleased Him to do so. He has set His affection upon
those that He has chosen to set His affection on. So this building
of this temple, this physical temple, sets forth the purpose
and will and power of Almighty God and what He is pleased to
do. And He is doing that. And what
happened back in the book of Ezra is a picture of what the
Lord is doing in time up until this moment right here. There
is by God's grace, I truly believe, some of God's elect in this place
today. And it is by His grace that they
be so. Let us consider the glory of
Almighty God in the person of His Son as He makes known to
His people Himself, calling out of the Bride of Christ. Ephesians
chapter 5 and verse 25-27. The Scripture says, Husbands,
love your wives even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself
for it that He might sanctify and cleanse." I read over that
verse this morning again as I was just reading over my notes and
I thought, boy, I could just stop right there. That He might
sanctify and cleanse. That He might make them perfectly
holy and righteous in the person of His Son by imputing to them. the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, sanctify them, set them apart in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then daily cleanse them, Carl,
daily. He put away the guilt of His
people at Calvary. He redeemed them. But every day
we are being washed as the Lord Jesus Christ washed the feet
of the disciples. Peter said, You will never wash
my feet. And the Lord says, if I wash not your feet, you don't
have any part in Me. He washes us, cleanses that he
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by
the Word that he might present it to himself, a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. That's a glorious thought. We come together this morning.
And the Scripture sets forth without debate, without hesitation,
that the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty in the person of His
Son, He sanctified, cleanses her, washes her, why? That He might present her to
Himself wholly and without blemish. Can that be? Yes, it is. There are five things that I
would like to consider today concerning the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the matured and fostered bride. And even as I
say that, five things concerning the body, but it is the body
of Christ. We speak not of the church without
it being the church of Christ, the body of Christ, The emphasis
is upon Him. In Ephesians chapter 5 also,
continuing in verse 29, it says, For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. Now, you hear again, you just
stop. I don't want to just stop too long because I've got pages
of notes here, and Brother Scott will try to make it through them.
But even again, as I read that, no man ever yet hated his own
flesh. But he cherishes it and nourishes
it, even as the Lord, the church. For we are members of His body,
the Scripture says, of His flesh. No man ever hated his flesh.
The Scriptures reveal that we are of His flesh and of His bones. And for this cause shall a man
leave his father, and mothered shall be joined unto his wife,
and they too shall be one flesh." And then Paul says in the letter
to the church at Ephesus, this is a great mystery, but he said,
I speak concerning Christ and His church. No man ever yet hated
His flesh. Christ loved His church, gave
Himself. Oh, the great mystery in the
union of the Lord Jesus Christ and His body. Hebrews 10, verse
5, the Scripture says concerning Him, a body, hast thou prepared
me, furnished me. Now, I know I'm absolutely convinced. He walked around in a body. There was a flesh. He had a human
body. He was made in the form of sinful
flesh. There was a body. He touched
him. He had an arm, legs. He was a
man. There was a body prepared for
him, but there is a spiritual body that has been prepared for
him furnished completely, is what that furnished means, a
body hath thou furnished, prepared, flesh and blood, foreordained,
created by Almighty God, a human body, but a spiritual body, and
in his body being prepared eternally. A body hast thou prepared Me. We behold also His body, the
church prepared eternally, the vessels of mercy which He had
aforeprepared unto glory." That's what the Scripture says. A body,
you've prepared Me, chose Me. In Luke 1.35, the Scripture says,
that holy thing, that is, that holy Lord Jesus, the Lord Himself,
born of a virgin, that holy thing shall be called the Son of God.
The very righteousness of all that believe in Him. That's their
salvation. We realize, the Scripture says,
that as He is, so are we in this world. That's a great and glorious
mystery. that the Scripture says, casteth
out fever. I don't perceive the depth of
that which He's done, that which He's prepared. I'm just a frail
creature, a dust, but knowing that which He said concerning
His body. And again, even as I say those
words, I think to myself, I hear You know, men on television,
they talk about the church and the church this, but never separate
it. It's His body, the church of
the Lord Jesus Christ, having chosen us in Him. The emphasis is on Him. Well, considering that, let's
consider these five truths out of the book of Ezra, chapter
6, concerning His body, the church, the temple. of the living God. First of all, the church is a
protected body. Ezra chapter 6 in verse 6, and
here we are continuing on in the decree. Remember there was
a decree that was written, and it was written by this King Cyrus. And in the beginning of chapter
6, Darius the king It was a search made, you know, where is this
decree? A building was going on and some
fellows came and they said, you know, we want to help you. And
Zerubbabel says, no, we don't need your help. And then they
turned against them and made accusations against them. And
then the Jews that were building the temple came back and said,
wait a minute, there was a decree made. And we're doing what we're
doing according to the king's decree. You know the spiritual
significance of that. And so the decree was found out. And so they were reading this
decree that gave these Jews the right to do what they were doing. And so picking up in verse 6,
we behold here the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, that temple,
as being protected. Now therefore, Tatnai, governor
beyond the river, sheetharboznai, and your companions, the apharsakites,
which are beyond the river, be ye far from thence. Let the work
of this house of God alone." That's what that decree was saying.
You leave them alone. Let the governor of the Jews
and of the elders of the Jews build this house of God in His
place. The church of the Lord Jesus
Christ by the decree of Almighty God. A picture. That's what Cyrus is a picture
of. He's a picture, a type of the
king of kings. This king, King Cyrus, made a
decree. Almighty God has decreed. The Lord Jesus is the guardian
of his body. Psalm 34 7 says, The angel of
the Lord. That is, the uncreated angel.
of Almighty God, encampeth round about them that fear Him, and
delivereth them." The covenant angel, Christ Himself, even as
the Lord, I know, the Scripture refers to these ministering spirits,
angels, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of
salvation, it is He who is their guardian. They move at His command. I don't understand all that there
is to know I know about angels. I know the Scripture speaks of
them. They're ministering spirits.
I know this. But they're God's spirits created.
I know a third of them. I understand that fell from heaven. But there were some elect angels
the Scripture refers to. And these are ministering spirits. But I'll tell you this. It is
the Lord who guards the angel the angel of the Lord. That is, the covenant angel.
In 1 Chronicles 16.22, the Scripture says, Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm. The seriousness of touching the
anointing of the Lord reveals the love that Almighty God has
for His own. I hear of slanderous remarks,
and I know that they are so. I realize that. I hear things
that are said against men that faithfully preach the gospel. I know, I understand that they
are but dust. I understand that. No doubt about
it. But that position that they hold
that Almighty God has placed them in. They see in themselves,
I know they see in themselves nothing that demands honor. I understand that. But that Almighty
God would set a man apart and give that man a heart to preach
the gospel. Things that are said against
that man. Things that are said against
both God or any of these men that have faithfully preached
the gospel. for years and years and years.
I'm telling you, that's a dangerous thing to say anything against
these men. I realize that men are men. But these men that preach the
gospel, the Lord says, don't touch Mine anointed. Ultimately,
that law was against the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. For their sakes, Almighty God
reproved kings. That's what He said in 1 Chronicles
16, verse 21. He preferred them to kings. Don't touch! Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm. Cyrus had made a decree and he
said, You let the work of this house of God alone. Leave it
alone. The evil of touching, that is,
that word It's striking. The Lord's anointed. The Scripture
says, as ye have done it, the Lord Jesus Christ, God Almighty
says, if you've done it unto the least of one of these, my
brethren, you've done it unto Me. I don't realize the depth
of striking or touching or doing something against. What did the
Lord say to Paul, the apostle on the road to Damascus? bright
light shone around him and knocked him down. And this voice, Saul
of Tarsus, said this. He heard this voice and he said,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? What was Saul going to do? Well,
he was going to Damascus to take those of the way. That's what
they called them. Put them in chains and bring
them to jail. That is, make no disturbance. But while men may try to excuse
themselves and say, well, I'm innocent of the guilt of touching
the anointed of God, I've never said anything. I've never said
anything against Brother Scott. I'm innocent. I've never said
anything to him. I'm innocent. You're not. You're not innocent. Matthew
12.30 says, He that is not with me, that is, he that is cold
in the cause, is what that means. He's not with me. Cold in the
cause is against me. That is, looked upon as an enemy. He that's not with me is against
me. What is it to rebel against or
to strike out? against God's anointed is to
not be with Him. There's no neutrality, no ground
of neutrality. He, the Lord said, that gathereth
not with Me, scattereth abroad. Man's not going to stand before
Almighty God and say, Lord, I never did that. I never did that. If
you weren't with Me, you were against Me. No neutrality. So first of all, the bride of
the Lord Jesus Christ is a protected bride. Cyrus said in his decree,
you leave this work alone. Leave it alone. Secondly, the
bride of the Lord Jesus Christ lives by faith. Verse 8 and 9 says of Ezra chapter
6, moreover I make a decree what ye shall do to the elders of
these Jews, for the building of this house of God, that of
the king's goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith
expenses be given unto these men, that they be not hindered,
and that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams
and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat,
salt, wine, oil, according to the appointment of the priest
which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without
fail. Four times in the Word of God,
Scripture, this truth is set forth. The just shall live by
faith. That is to say, he that has been
justified by the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ lives
spiritually and that by faith. That is to say, he trusts Christ
as His life. He trusts God Almighty. Faith
is not our salvation. Christ is our salvation. The
Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved by grace through faith, the means
of faith. God Almighty has granted the
grace of faith. And faith is not of human invention. It is the gift of Almighty God. But the faith by which he lives
is not according to his own ability. Galatians 2.20 says, Paul speaking,
the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith
of the Son of God. That is, by the persuasion, the
conviction, the gift of Almighty God. It amazes me when I hear
the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the woman that had the issue
of blood. I know without a doubt that it
is given unto you to believe. I know, the Scripture says, for
that all men have not faith. I know that. I know that. Faith is the gift of God. But
it being given, Almighty God speaking to the woman that had
the issue of blood. She said within her heart, if
I get to Him, if I touch but the hem of His garments, I'll
be made whole. And she came, and the Scripture
says, in the press. He was touching Him. He was walking
through and people were touching Him. And she touched Him. And
the Lord stopped and said, Who touched Me? And His disciple
says, Lord, what do You mean, Who touched You? Everybody's
touching you. And he said, no. He said, virtue
has gone out of me. There was in that passage of
Scripture right there a beautiful picture of this woman in her
issue of blood, in her helplessness, touching him. There's a picture,
a type of the imputation of her guilt to him, her need of him. He said, virtue. has gone out
of me, there is a picture of the imputed righteousness of
Christ to her." And Scripture reveals that this woman was made
evident to him. And he looked at her and he said,
Woman, here's amazing words. He said, Thy faith hath made
thee whole. I think, Oh, you mean to tell
me that the Lord of glory would grant unto a sinner faith to
believe. He gave it to them. He granted
it to them. It was not their own. It was
not her own free will that caused her. He gave her faith to believe
and then counted it as it was hers. That is a mystery that
is too great for me. People speak of faith as if it
is just something that people just have. Just anybody, just
exercise your faith. I'm telling you, it is the miracle
of God's grace that a man or a woman would be able to believe
Him. He gave them that ability, that
persuasion. The Jews were stirred by the
Spirit of God to rebuild the temple, and the Lord Himself
stirred the heart of King Cyrus to provide for their need. That's
what He said. He said, what you'll do for these elders. This is what you're going to
do for them. I make a decree. This is what
we're going to give to these people. 1 Thessalonians 5, verse
24 says, Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do
it. Almighty God has not left and
shall not leave His own. We don't travel through this
world doing the best that we can do. he has provided. If the Lord sends an Elijah to
a brook, Cherith, he shall surely send the ravens to bring him
bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening. If he is pleased to show mercy
to a Gomer, an adulterous rebel such as we are, he shall Surely,
provide Hosea a picture, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ to bring
corn and wine and oil. You know that story. Here was
Gomer, a harlot. Almighty God told Hosea, He said,
You take her. He took her. And here she was
even in her rebellion And here was Hosea bringing and providing
for her. And she was attributing all of
this to her lovers. Oh, the mercy and grace of Almighty
God. All that was needful for the
burnt offerings was to be provided. That's what chapter 9 says. That which they have need of,
young bullocks, rams, and lambs of the burnt offerings of the
God of heaven, He said, you take care of that. You make sure.
It reminds me of the daily provisions of manna. Six days the Jews gathered
for that day only. And then one day they were to
gather for two days. They were to rest. It was a picture
of Christ. Their Sabbath. Their day of rest. That was Him. If they gathered
more than they needed, tried to hoard the food, worms were
found to be in it. As the need was provided to these
Jews daily, the Lord God has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. This church, this
bride, they are a protected bride and they are a bride that lives
by faith. He said you give it to them and
they will Wait. They'll trust Him. Thirdly, the
bride has one object of worship. One object. She has one object. The Lord Jesus Christ. The decree says in verse 10 that
they may offer sacrifices of sweet savors unto the God of
heaven and pray for the life of the King and of His sons. Turn with me back to Genesis
chapter 8, verse 20 and 21. Genesis 8, 20 and 21. It says
in Noah, that is after the flood, Noah built an altar unto the
Lord. And they took of every clean
beast, every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the
altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet
savor. And the Lord said in his heart,
I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for
the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Neither
will I again smite any more everything living as I have done." Noah
came out. You know, we've been going through
Leviticus, and we were talking about those clean animals and
clean fowl and unclean. Scripture says that Noah built
an altar and he made his sacrifice, offered a sacrifice, and it was
a sweet savor unto the Lord. The offerings that were sweet
savor offerings, there were three of them. There was the burnt
offering, that is, that offering that set forth the delight that
Almighty God finds in the person of His blessed Son, the devoted,
the submissive Lamb of God. This offering is not the offering
whereby Almighty God veils His face and forsakes the substitute,
but sets forth the seeing Him as the justifier of many and
the satisfaction of Almighty God as a sweet savor offering. Remember, I told you that these
offerings, five main offerings, the burnt offering, peace offering,
need offering, trespass offering, sin offering, when the Lord Jesus
Christ laid down His life, the Scripture says, and by one offering
He hath perfected forever. The Lord Jesus Christ, by one
offering, manifested all that was demanded by Almighty God. In our little finite mind, we
have not the capability. I cannot describe a person. I can't set forth a person in
one encompassing statement. I just don't have the ability
to be able to do that. Brother Scott Richardson, there's
his name. Here's the man wearing a blue
suit. I've already said two things
now. There's a variety of more things I can tell you about him.
But I can't tell you in one statement everything there is. In these
offerings, there were setting forth of the truth so that we
could perceive it. The burnt offering set forth
a sweet savor. What that offering said was,
Almighty God is satisfied with the submissiveness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The burnt offering. It was a
sweet savor. The second sweet savor offering
was the meat offering. That was the setting forth of
the perfect humanity. The burnt offering, God was satisfied
with His death. The meat offering says God is
satisfied with His life. It was made of fine flour, perfect
humanity, mingled with oil, that is, deity, frankincense, the
sweet savor of obedience. Oil was poured upon that offering,
that is, He was anointed with the Holy Spirit without measure. It was seasoned with salt. That
means there was no corruption within Him. Here we see the glorious
satisfaction of God with the Lord Jesus Christ in His life. He did always only those things
that pleased the Father. His meat was to do the will of
Him that sent Him and to finish the work. And then thirdly, the
other sweet savor offering was the peace offering. Here was
the offering that set forth the reconciliation between God and
the sinner. God, the Scripture says, was
in Christ. reconciling the world unto Himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them. In this offering,
the priest and the one bringing the offering each got a portion
of it. Each ate a portion of it. It
was eaten before the Lord and thereby symbolizes communing
with one another. Peace. Reconciliation. That was the sweet savor offerings
then. But let me show you something. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
2. That was the setting forth then. But what about now? 2 Corinthians 2, verse 14. 2
Corinthians 2, 14 through 16. Now, thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph
in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by
us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor
of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the one we are the savor of
death unto death, to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these
things? The Scripture says that it is
God, back in verse 14, which always causes us to triumph in
Christ. That is to say, God Himself triumphs. Actually, that word means triumphs
over us, and this is what I'm saying. It means that we do not
get or deserve or have any of the glory in the heat of the
battle. We are not the ones that are
participating with God in the triumph that is wrought. It is
not us and the Lord that triumph. we share in the victory in our
Lord. That's what is being said. Thanks
be unto God which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. It is God Himself. It is the Lord Himself that maketh
manifest the savor of His knowledge. That is to say, God's knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's God's knowledge. Paul says
in verse 15, we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ. That is, we are the means by
which Christ is preached and set forth. In them that are saved
and in them that are perished, the gospel of Christ is precious. It's precious. He's precious.
whether a man receives Him, believes Him by God's grace, by faith
imparted, or whether Almighty God leaves a man to himself.
Hath the potter not right to make one vessel under honor and
another vessel under dishonor? The gospel of Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ is precious. He is precious. Precious. And fourthly, the bride of Christ
is an atoned for bride. Back in Ezra chapter 6 verse
11, also I made a decree that whosoever shall alter this word,
let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up,
let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made a dunghill
for this. There was a severe penalty for
disobedience to the king's command. Cyrus made a decree. He said,
this is the decree. Anybody that disobeys this decree,
there's going to be a severe penalty that's going to be wrought
on that man. Knowing the penalty for disobedience
in this state right here, remember I told you this is a picture.
This is a type. This is the decree. This is what
God has said. Knowing the penalty for disobedience,
we behold the state of all men in Adam and the mercy of God
toward his elect in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, their
substitute." Cyrus had made a decree. He said, I made a decree. Whoever
shall alter this word, timber, shall be pulled down from his
house. Wood going to be taken. going
to be set up some gallows, and whoever disobeys me, he going
to be hanged there on. His house going to be made a
dunghill. As Cyrus made a decree, God has
made a decree. Almighty God told Adam, Thou
shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
for in the day thou eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. That is, dying thou shalt die. Spiritually dead, you're going
to die physically eventually. The penalty for disobedience
in Cyrus's decree was hanging, impalement, pierced through,
smitten. And let his house be made a dunghill,
let it stink. By our disobedience in Adam we
incurred, that is, we brought upon ourselves the sentence of
death. Our house in our own disobedience
is a dunghill. From the sole of the foot even
to the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. Isaiah 64, 6 says we are all
as an unclean thing and all of our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. Paul summed up in Philippians
3, 7 what the worth of all things that are considered gain to the
self-righteous rebel is the worth of them. Paul says, I count them
done. That's what they're worth. All
these things, he said, that were gain to me, would deserve the
penalty for disobedience before Almighty God. Cyrus said, if
anybody alters this word, He said gallows, that's what's
being said. Timber going to be taken down
from his house. Out of his rebellion, his house
of rebellion, he's going to be hung on that. And that timber
that's going to be set up, he said he's going to be pierced
through, hanged on it. His house is going to be a dunghill.
We altered the Word of God. And in truth, we deserve death
in ourselves. Our house in ourselves is a dunghill. We have no alibi to excuse ourselves. Oh, but listen to this, but God
who is rich in mercy. Did we alter the Word of God?
Yes, we did. Did we disobey in our father
Adam? Yes, we did. God who is rich
in mercy, for His great love wherein He loved us, even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace. Are you saved and hath raised
us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus?" What was the penalty of breaking the decree? Timbers
going to be pulled down. His house is going to be set
up and that man is going to be hanged there on. That's what
we deserved. Let me tell you what happened.
What we deserved was taken by our substitute and he himself
was hanged on the gallows that we deserved. This is what we
deserved right here. To be crucified. But Paul says
that I was hanged. In my disobedience, I did get
what was coming to me, but in the person of a substitute. Paul says, I am. I was crucified
with Him. I was crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. But the
life that I live now, as we quoted a while ago, in the flesh, I
live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and what? Gave Himself for me. Died for
me. This church, this bride, she's
an atoned for. We deserve because we altered. And then in closing, this is
an established bride. Verse 12, and the God that hath
caused His name to dwell there, destroy all kings and people
that shall put their hand to alter and to destroy this house
of God which is at Jerusalem. Darius hath made a decree, let
it be done with speed." Turn with me back to 1 Kings, two
verses of Scripture, and we will end. 1 Kings 8, verse 27. But will God indeed dwell on
the earth, and behold the heaven and Heaven of heavens cannot
contain thee, how much less this house that I have built it. Will God dwell on the earth?
Has God Almighty set forth that He will dwell? The writer says
the heavens cannot contain Him. Will God dwell on this earth?
Yet, verse 28, have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant
to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry
and to the prayer which thy servant servant prayeth before thee today,
that thine eyes may be opened toward this house, night and
day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name
shall be there, that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which
thy servant shall make toward this place. And hearken thou
to the supplication by servant and of thy people Israel, when
they shall pray toward this place, and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling
place, and when thou hearest, forgive." Has God been pleased
to raise up, to establish a place? There is a mystical body, the
body of the Lord Jesus Christ, made by lively stones, being
built up to a holy temple. God Almighty has protected her.
atone for her." Watch is provided for her. Wherever there is found
a body of believers, they make up. Now, this is a mysterious
thing. Here's individuals making up. There's an individual wherein
the Spirit of God dwells in a temple. But these individual temples
make up a temple, a lively stone being built up. I don't understand
it. All of them by God's decree. Some He's called to this service,
some to this. The eye and the ear and the foot. Can the foot say to the hand,
because I'm not a hand, I'm not a part of the... He's established
them in that way which He's been pleased. He built them up together
to His own glory. The heaven of heavens can't contain
God, but He's pleased. But wherever, and I am convinced
of this, there are few places that Almighty God has been pleased
to establish a place, an individual place, individuals that meet
together collectively. But wherever there is found a
body of believers, they make up for that region the place
that God has been pleased to allow His Word to be proclaimed. That's a precious place. I know
that this is a building made of wood and stuff, but I'll tell
you this, it's a place where God's allowed His body, His church,
His spiritual church to assemble together. There was a church
established at Ephesus. There was a church at Thessalonica. And you know where those places
were? Wherever God Almighty allowed His Word to be preached there. Men don't get together and just
decide one day, well, let's just raise up a church. God establishes. He sent forth to Moses. He said,
I will allow My Word to be proclaimed there. Well, I hope the Lord
blesses that to your heart. Let's take our hem loose.