Address—C. Hendricks
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Turn with me, please, to Matthew.
16 Matthew 1613.
When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say?
That I, the Son of Man, AM. And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias and others Jeremiah's.
Or one of the prophets, he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.
And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Then charged to his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
Why does he charge them that that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ?
And why does he, when he asked the question in verse 13, ask Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Why doesn't he say that I, the Christ AM?
This Gospel of Matthew presents him as the son of Abraham and the son of David and.
It's especially that gospel which is for the Jews, and it's striking that it's only in this gospel.
That we have the church mentioned. We've read of the first mention of it in the 16th chapter and the second mention of it is in the 18th chapter, which will come to.
Well, I think the answer to that question lies in the fact that the testimony at this point in the Gospel of Matthew had been fully rendered, that he was the Christ.
That he was the Messiah of Israel.
And they had in their hearts, not actually physically yet, but in their hearts, they had rejected him as the Christ, the Mass of the nation. And so he takes the broader title, the Son of Man, which implies that he had been rejected as the Christ. And he asks, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, AM?
As the Son of Man, He is in relationship to all people, Jews and Gentiles. As the Christ, he is the King of Israel.
But they had in their hearts rejected Him, and it's not too much later in the gospel that they nail him to the cross and cry out away with him.
So he is in the very northernmost part of the land, as far removed from Jerusalem as the divine center as he could get.
Caesarea Philippi.
And he asks his disciples, verse 13 saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am He been rejected as a Messiah to Israel? He came unto his own, His own received Him not.
And so he takes this title of rejection as Israel's king.
A title which according to Daniel.
Seven, the Son of Man will be given the universal reign over the millennial earth. Son of Man.
And if this Kingdom, there shall be no end.
So he asked them, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, AM?
Said some say that thou art John the Baptist, and some Elias and others Jeremiah, so one of the prophets.
These were the great ones, John the Baptist. The Lord's own testimony to him was that he was the greatest prophet born of women, and Elijah and Jeremiah, wonderful prophets of the Old Testament, men of God used of him, but that fell short of the truth of his person. So then he says to them, Whom say ye that I am? He asked his disciples.
And Peter ever forward.
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Gives a beautiful answer.
Peter answered and said Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Mark's gospel the question is asked and he just says Thou art the Christ of God, which was the the Jewish confession.
But here he adds what would become the foundation of Christianity, the Son of the living God, and he is that in resurrection declared to be Romans 1/4, declared to be the Son of God, with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead.
He raised himself, and He is the resurrection and the life, and in this position as Son of the living God, for he lives now in resurrection life, He becomes the head of a new order of things altogether.
And Peters confession involved this.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah. That was his natural name. He calls him by that Simon, the son of Jonah.
Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. A revelation to Peter from the Father as to who Jesus really is, the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And then he changes Simon's name and gives him a new name. I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter.
A stone.
And upon this rock I will build my church. Peter in Greek is petros and rock is Petra, and a Petrus is just a part of a Petra. The word for Peter doesn't mean rock, it means stone. And Christ is the rock. Peter had just confessed the truth of Christ's person, the Christ, the Son of the living God, and he says.
I'm going to make you of the same substance as the rock itself.
Gives him that name.
As much as saying to Peter, in order to build you into this new thing, my church, my assembly.
In order to build you into my assembly, you have to be born of God. You need a new, a new nature, a new name which which speaks of me, of me. So we're called Christians, we belong to Christ. And Peter was a stone. He belonged to the rock. He belonged to the rock.
And he learned that truth in his first epistle he says, To whom coming is unto a living stone, ye also as living stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood there he calls Christ the living stone, and we the believers in him living stones.
But here he uses the full expression of himself, of the Upon this rock, Christ himself I will build my church.
And the gates of hell are hades shall not prevail against it all the power of Satan could not stop what the Lord was building. Notice he speaks of it as future I will build my church. And it's something altogether different than existed up to this time. And it's based upon the truth of His person, which Peter had just confessed by a revelation from the Father.
And he says to Peter, I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. Kingdom of heaven is the form that the Kingdom would take during the absence and rejection of the king. When he's in heaven. The king is now in heaven. He's been there for 2000 years. And the the the Kingdom of heaven is the form that the Kingdom takes, not a king reigning in righteousness over this world that's still future, but.
Sowing seed in this world and then the result of that sowing producing.
Wonderful results, some of them very good, some of them not so good.
So he uses an expression the Kingdom of heaven. It's only found in Matthew's gospel. It's really a dispensational term and it refers to the form that the Kingdom takes during the absence and rejection of the king. And he gives to Peter the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. Note not to not the church, he doesn't have the keys to the church to admit into the assembly, but.
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He was the one that was given to preach the gospel.
To the Jews on the day of Pentecost and to open the door for them to come in conditioned on repentance. And then later to the Gentiles in Acts 10, the Samaritans in Acts 8, and the Gentiles in Acts 10. The House of Cornelius opening the door for the Gentiles to come into this new sphere, something altogether different than Judaism. Gentiles were excluded.
Judaism excluded them unless they became proselytes.
But here we have a new thing, the door being opened by Peter as an apostle.
Then charge to his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ, because that testimony had been fully rendered and they had rejected it.
Now that the church has been mentioned, I'd like to go through these chapters, not in great detail because time won't permit it, but just touching upon some of the basic truths that are here that will characterize those that are built into Christs assembly.
From that time forth, verse 21, Jesus began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
This would form the foundation for the assembly, the death and resurrection of Christ. That was absolutely necessary. He was going to build his church. He speaks of it, his future, but he had to die first and be raised again in order for that to come to pass.
But Peter not understanding the mind of God, he took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee. And here the Lord administers to Peter the very one whom he had just said, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood is not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven, He now has to administer to Peter the severest rebuke that he ever gave to anyone.
Notice what he says to him. He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan.
Thou art an offense unto me, for thou savoured not the things that be of God.
And those that be of men. What this points out is how quickly we can have the mind of God, and how quickly we cannot have the mind of God.
Confessing to the truth of his person, He confessed it beautifully, but he didn't want the Lord to go to the cross. He says virtually pity yourself, Lord, spare yourself from this. This shall not be unto thee. And he did that out of love for the Lord. Sometimes we we call, what is we call something love, which is merely a human emotion. And it's not, it's not divine love at all. It's not entering into the mind of God.
Had the Lord hearkened to what Peter said and pitted himself and spared himself from the cross, there would be no church and we wouldn't be here tonight. We wouldn't be safe tonight. That's why the Lord uses such a severe term for Peter, Satan, because it was Satan that was prompting him to try to hinder the Lord from going to the cross.
Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me, for thou savers not the things that be of God.
Those that be of men, Satan will always try to hinder the purposes of God.
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me now here we have those that would be following him after his death and resurrection, after he's gone to the cross and been raised again, those that were his now identified with him by faith. What would be the character of their path? If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.
And take up his cross and follow me. Not only did he have the cross.
As the foundation for Christianity. But we have one too. And if we follow Him faithfully, he tells us to take up the cross, deny self, take up the cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give?
For His soul, for the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward every man according to His works. Notice the title Son of Man again coming to establish his rights down here in this world. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom. So in this chapter we have him introducing the subject of the Church. I'm going to build it. It's based upon the truth of my.
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And those that I'm going to bring into the church will not be Simon's, but Peter's little little pieces of the of the rock stones, living stones that will be brought into the church, I'll build them in. And it's going to be based upon my death and resurrection. And those that follow me in this coming day will deny myself, take up their cross and follow me.
The end result, the ending view, is the coming Kingdom when the Lord will return.
And rain down here in his glory.
Now chapter 17, after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James and John his brother, and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and He was transfigured before them. There they saw His official glory, the glory which He will have as the King of Kings, Lord of Lords.
Reigning in the Millennium. And his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him, Moses a picture of Saints who have gone through death and been raised. And Elias those that were never went through death, but will be there, the living Saints that will be changed. And here we have the.
Peter, James and John, the earthly Saints with the Lord.
And then those heavenly Saints.
Without a with the Lord a beautiful picture of the Kingdom. Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here so far up to this point, Peter scoring 50% he he was pronounced blessed of the Lord and then he was rebuked as Satan because he tried to prevent the Lord from the cross. We don't like suffering those we love. We don't like to see them suffer. We don't like suffering for ourselves, but that's a pathway.
But now Peter makes another tremendous blunder. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make here 3 tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. He falls into the very snare, the very error of the the men of the world. When they were asked whom the men say that I am, they compared the Lord to the great ones of this earth.
And so here Peter is saying, let me make a Tabernacle, one for the Lord, and one for Moses, and one for Lias.
And now he is rebuked by the Father.
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Hold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only.
This is the next great principle that we learned for those who are in the assembly, in the assembly, never, never, never.
Exalt a man, even if he's a Moses or an Elijah, to a place equal with the Lord Jesus. The Father won't tolerate that. He's jealous for his Son and the glory of his Son. And the assembly is the place that ought to uphold the honor, the glory of the person of Christ above everything else. So they saw no man save Jesus only, and when we come together around himself.
If we're looking at gifted man.
Or any prominent persons, whoever they may be, and lose sight of the Lord Jesus where we've missed the the true object and the one who's in the midst and the one who's the center, the one that the Father would draw our attention to. They saw no man save Jesus, only what a lesson they had to learn.
And how often we fail in that. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying television to no man until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead.
Now I'm going to pass over some verses, but I want to call your attention again. In verse 12, He says to them that Elias has come already and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. He tells them that repeatedly, because this was this was a truth they did not want to hear. They did not want to hear about it. Their Messiah suffering, their thoughts were earthly.
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They were, they were looking for the establishment of the Kingdom on earth, and they couldn't put together how that could be if he had to suffer, if he had to die and to rise again. They didn't understand that. And when we don't like certain truth that is presented to us, it's very easy for us to reject it, to put it aside, not to think about it.
Maybe we don't actually reject it, but we just forget it. And because we don't like it, we don't like the thought of suffering, we don't like to be rejected. But here's a testimony. We are identified with the rejected Lord and we're going to be rejected too in that testimony. And we have to, we have to accept that.
Because that's our path.
Verse 14 now and when they were come to the multitude. I'm looking at the moral principles that are found in these chapters between the 1St and 2nd mentioning of the church, because these are moral principles that ought to guide and govern us as we go through this scene. We who are his own in this time of the Lord's rejection here.
Verse 14 when they were come to the when they were come.
To the multitude there came to him a certain man kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son.
For he is lunatic and sore vexed. For OFT times he falleth into the fire, and OFT into the water.
And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation.
How long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer? You bring him hit her to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour.
Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said why could not we cast him out? And the answer is very interesting. We've been confronted with problems of light that seem to be so beyond us. The evil spirit that has plagued us now for some time that has come in the evil spirit that's out there in the world once said to me recently, and I think he was very right. That's the same evil spirit that that.
Riot in Los Angeles recently. The same evil spirit that has come in and seeking to divide and scatter the Saints of God. It's the work of the enemy. It's rebellion against authority and rebellion against the one who is there. Well, why couldn't we not cast out this evil spirit, the son who was lunatic?
Verse 20 Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief.
Very simple statement. Because of your unbelief, we think that we have to do it and we we don't have the power for it, but he has the power for it and we can look to him and cry to him that he will come in.
And it's good when we feel our powerlessness sometimes in fact, we're in, we're in a sorry state when we think that we're able to handle these situations because we're not in ourselves. The Lord has the power, and faith is what draws upon that infinite resource of power which is his. And so he says, you couldn't do it because of your unbelief. For verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, remove hence.
Place and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. A tremendous statement. And we've seen mountains before us in our lives, in our assembly life. How can we possibly.
Deal with that mountain well, he says. If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, it will remove, nothing will be impossible to you. Now, we don't usually believe that we read the words, but we go away not believing it.
And so we don't have the power that the faith, if we really believed it, would give us tremendous power in faith. And then there's another two reasons. Verse 21. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. I wonder how many of us have fasted, prayed and fasted connection with some of the difficulties and problems that have confronted us of late.
This kind?
Not out, but by prayer and fasting. If we don't meet the moral conditions, there's a reason for our powerlessness. Power is not ours. The power is His, and He will come in for us. And I believe in a measure, praise his name, He has.
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Verse 22 While they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.
They did not want that truth. And yet that was how, how often that's true of us, of me, that the very thing that is absolutely essentially needed is the very thing that we tried to avoid from try to keep from happening.
They wanted a reigning Messiah on earth. They didn't look forward to this this.
Age of the Spirit coming and that the assembly on earth, they knew nothing about that.
And the Lord is establishing in their minds, trying to that it's necessary that He suffer. They were exceedingly sorry when He told them that. Now we have a very interesting principle at the end of the chapter. And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, Dust, not your master paid tribute.
He said yes, and when he was coming to the house Jesus prevented him saying, What thinkest thou, Simon?
Of whom to the kings of the earth take custom or tribute of their own children or strangers? Peter saith unto him, A strangers.
Kings of the earth don't pay, don't take taxes from their own children in their family, their Princess and princesses.
So that Peter answered right, Jesus saith unto him, then are the children free? So the children of the king are free. They don't have to pay taxes. There are a lot of preachers today that pick up on this line and they teach erroneously. They say, well, we, we ought to be driving around in Rolls Royces where children of the king, we should never be sick. We should never have any problems and we don't have to even pay taxes because.
We're children of the King. Well, the Lord established that as a principle here He says yes, the children are free.
But notice the next verse.
Notwithstanding lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast and hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money that take and give unto them. For me and thee. This piece of money was equal to twice the amount that each one had to pay for the taxes, so it was just enough for Peter and the Lord.
And what is the Lord saying here? He says we're we're really free.
Because the king is free and the children of the king are free, but it's not the time to exercise that freedom yet. I'm in rejection. And so those who are identified with me, the kings in rejection, and those who are identified with the king are also in rejection. And he proved that he was the king. He proved that he was God.
Sovereign because he, the very way he got the tax money was just hook in the sea and the first fish that comes up, you'll find the dogma there and that's that's enough for tax for both of us and we'll pay that. So for the Christian to be pressing his title as a child of the King, not to be subject to earthly governments and authorities.
It's wrong because the Lord.
In rejection and we have to walk, that is, we don't have rights here.
Our positional rights are we don't have to pay, but actually since we're identified with the king in rejection, we do pay. And it's a bad sign when Christians are moaning and groaning about paying taxes. I always enjoyed Eric Smiths statement. He lived in a country, Bolivia, where the change of government was on an average more than once a year.
They never knew what the new regime would be like, whether it would be favorable or hostile to the gospel.
And he says I just delight to live in a country now.
Where I can pay taxes, where there's a stable government, what a privilege that is. And that's at least we can be thankful that still exists in this land. So what we have at the end of Chapter 17 is not standing for our rights down here during the time of the rejection and absence of the king, Matthew 18.
Came to pass, and the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying.
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Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? Notice how he answers the question. The very question betrays our hearts, doesn't it? We want to be great, we want to be thought highly of. We want to be esteemed well by our peers. Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
He doesn't answer the question immediately. Who's the greatest? He says in answering, he said you can't even be in the Kingdom until you're converted and become like a little child. So don't talk about being great in it. The first thing is how do you get in it? And it's by becoming as a little child. That is, one is born again and he has to take the place of nothingness and enter in through the new birth.
Then he answers directly the question. Verse 4 Whosoever, therefore.
Shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Little child is set before us in this chapter as a picture of nothingness, one that has not established any influence by doing anything down here in this world, and one who has virtually little importance in the eyes of.
The prominent ones in this world.
Little child, but all how he uses the little child to teach us these lessons that we really need to know. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same as greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. This is the sphere where Christ is owned during the absence of the King, and we're down here to represent him. And how important then, that these principles be carried out.
In our midst.
Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.
To humble oneself as a little child and then to receive a little child is to receive one simply because he is Christ and not because he he is some prominent person in the community.
Or he has attained to certain honors.
Down here in this world, the Christian community is one which receives one that the world doesn't think much of. The little child in my name, he receiveth me.
And then a solemn word, that whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, if we're better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
To offend them What does it mean to offend here it means to cause to stumble it means to turn one from the path of faith It means to lead a little child to distrust this book and to raise questions in their minds which.
Caused them to doubt the truthfulness of God's Word. It means to turn them from the path of faith and truth and holiness and righteousness to another path.
Doesn't mean speaking faithfully to one that might cause them some offense. You know, the Lord offended the Pharisees and the doctors of the law over and over again. That's not what it's meant here. It's talking about turning 1 from God and from his word and from the truth and from the path of righteousness. Woe to the world, He says in verse seven, because of offenses. For it must needs be that offenses come.
But woe to that man by whom the offence cometh.
Wherefore if I hand or thy foot offend thee, what you do your hand, or where you walk your foot, If they offend thee, if they cause to stumble, cut them off and cast them from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life, halt or Maine, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee?
Pluck it out, cast it from thee.
It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. He's not talking about the literal things so much as he uses the expression cut your hand. If this hand stole something, if I cut it off, he could never steal again. And that's really what he's saying.
Deal with it so severely that you'll never do it again.
And then he says, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. We have moral principles governing those who are in the Kingdom of heaven and in the assembly too. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones just because they are of little account. James talks about that in his epistle, that you don't despise the one that is of low degree in the assembly.
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And the one that's in the gay clothing and rich and prosperous down here, you say, sit down here.
And you put the other in the low place.
Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you, that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father.
Which is in heaven. They have a representative in heaven. They may not have one down here, they may be despised down here.
But up there the Father has those angels that do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven on their behalf.
For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. It says save here, not seek, because children don't need to be sought, they actually are. They haven't reached the age of accountability. And so they're not guilty of rejecting the Lord. His death, His atoning death avails for them. He came to save them.
They were lost.
But he came to save them.
Think ye, if a man have 100 sheep, and one of them begone astray, doth he not leave the 90 and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which has gone astray? In Luke 15 he goes into the wilderness. I believe there it's a picture of lost Sinner, the sheep, a straying sheep. Here it seems to be more a straying St. and he goes into the mountains.
And here we have the energy of the grace of God.
Of seeking the lost sheep, the straying sheep, the straying sheep.
Does he not leave the night, he and nine and goeth into the mountains, and seekethat which has gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, He rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the 99 which went not astray.
Even so, it is not the will of your Father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. What's going to happen to one of those little ones if they get away from the flock? If they've strayed from the flock and they're left out there, they're going to perish. They're not going to find their way back. Now we have the Lord Speaking of the energy of grace, which seeks them and brings them back into the fold in the place where they can be cared for.
Into the assembly.
So it is not the will of your Father, that one which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
I just noticed that, that it doesn't say lost, It says the seeking the sheep that's lost but just gone astray, gone astray, it says.
And sometimes we leave those that have gone astray and turned away and become discouraged for whatever reason, we leave them out there. We don't seek them out, seek to bring them back.
Now we come to that portion that has to do with the assembly proper. This is the second time the church is mentioned in Matthews Gospel. He's talked, he says, who's the greatest in the Kingdom of the heavens? They did. And he answers that question and the new order of things that would be ushered in.
To form the Kingdom would take while the king was in heaven, and now he talks about.
Something that has to do with discipline. Verse 15. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.
If he shall hear thee, thou hast gain thy brother. That is, the one who goes, who has been trespassed against, goes in the same spirit as the shepherd previously mentioned, goes after the straying sheep.
And he goes to be reconciled to his brother, to gain him, if he shall hear thee, Thou has gained thy brother the purpose of going.
Is to gain hip and it says go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone not not get on the phone or go to someone else and tell the story. You know what so and so did to me No, but to go to the one that committed the offense and the trespass seek to win them.
That's what Grace does.
But then if he will not hear thee, verse 16, then take with thee one or two more. Where? Where do these come from? Well, from the local assembly. He's about to talk about it and I'm just going to anticipate by saying that these are those that are in the local assembly. In Matthew 16, it's the assembly universal. It's what he builds, the church universal. But here it's the church in a place.
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And he says, He will not hear thee, Take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And you go to the brother that's offended, and seek to gain him in the presence of these witnesses. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church. Now this is the second mention of church in Scripture, in the in the New Testament.
Let him be unto thee, as in heathen man and a public end.
She neglect to hear the church.
Let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Now that's still a word to the individual. Notice nothing collective has happened yet. The church has come and listened and given its advice, and this one will not listen.
So all entreaties have failed. The one went individually to him, tried to gain him. He wouldn't hear, took one or two more. He wouldn't hear, told it to the assembly. The assembly comes, he will not listen. Now what's next? There is nothing next. There is no other Court of Appeal, if you will, but the assembly. And so he says, if he will not hear, the church.
Let him be unto thee as an heathen man in the publican.
So what started in verse 15 as being, Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, now the word is, let that one who you called a brother be to thee as a heathen man and republican.
That means you treat him just as though he's not saved. He's a heathen man and a publican.
Then the next verse.
Goes from the singular let him be to thee to the plural.
And it's a verse similar to what the Lord said to Peter in Acts 16, but there it was to Peter as an apostle.
And we don't have apostles any longer, so we don't have that Apostolic authority to bind into loose as they did in the earth in the early Church. But we do have assembly authority, and that's what we have here. Verse 18 Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye plural shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
It's the same statement that the Lord said to Peter.
Except now it has to do with the local assembly, the church.
And he confers upon them authority to bind.
And to lose, to fix one sin upon one, or to remove one sin from 1, governmentally or administratively.
Now this is altogether different than the Old Testament.
Let's just turn back to Deuteronomy 17, where we have the the Old Testament situation and what they were to do in cases similar to what we're looking at here.
In Deuteronomy 17.
Verse eight. If there arise a matter.
Too hard for thee in judgment between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke being matters of controversy within thy gates.
Then shalt thou arise and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. And that was Jerusalem.
And thou shalt come under the priests and the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire.
And they shall show thee the sentence of judgment.
Now what the Lord is is showing in Matthew 18 is that.
This church that he's talking about takes the place.
Of the Divine Center, Jerusalem for the Jew.
And this whole passage here from verses 15 through 20 has to do with the local church gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is where problems of controversy within the assembly are settled and handled. Let's let's continue in Deuteronomy 17, verse 9. Thou shall come under the priest, the Levites, and the judge under the judge.
Be in those days and inquire, and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment.
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And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee. And thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee, according to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee. And according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do. Thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee to the right hand, nor to the left.
And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God. Who is the priest when it comes to the assembly? What's Christ? He's in the midst, and he's the he's the one whose judgment is given when the assembly judgment comes down.
It looked upon as his judgment. And so it was here the priest is here representing the God himself, and the one that will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
And all the people shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously. But we don't have in Christianity a Judaism, We don't have in Christianity a Jerusalem.
There was a geographical place that they went down to, and there the problems that happened within their gates were settled. What is our Jerusalem today?
Where two or three are gathered together in my name or unto my name, there am I in the midst of them. That's Jerusalem.
That's what answers to Jerusalem of the Old Testament. The divine center is where the twos and threes are gathered to the name of Christ.
He's there in the midst, and His presence there constitutes the authority for the assembly to act for him. And by His authority, it's not Jerusalem any longer. It's not one geographical location, but it's wherever two or three are gathered together into My name. Jeremiah in the midst of them. But I don't want to. Passover, verse 19.
Verse 18 says again, Verily I say unto you.
The fact that it follows this man neglecting rejecting the the overtures of the church and rejecting the not hearing the church indicates that there's probably a an assembly action against the man. Verse 17 says let him be unto thee as an heathen man and republican, but that's just a word to the individuals that has been sinned against.
But verse 18 implies the fact that it follows on verse 17 after the man is rejected the word of the assembly itself.
That there is going to be an assembly action. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
There's a letter in the Bible treasury goes way back. I don't know if it was the last century or the beginning of this one, but.
It's a long time ago, way before all any of the problems we have now, and the brother wrote to the editor of the Bible Treasury, who was William Kelly. He was probably the the most foremost Greek scholar that has ever been.
Certainly right at the top.
Is it possible for this to be rendered? Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be what has already been bound in heaven, and that's that's taught today in some circles.
And has even been taught in some papers amongst us. And he answered the question.
I'm not qualified to answer that question. I am not a Greek scholar. I know a little of it, but no scholar. But Mr. Kelly was qualified.
And he concludes by saying.
Only proper way to render the Greek.
Is the way it's rendered in the King James Bible shall be found in heaven and the thought is the Lord is conferring authority on those who are gathered to his name himself in the midst being that authority to ask for him. Otherwise, if the If the assembly doesn't have that the assembly doesn't have administrative and judicial authority. It is the IT is a place that.
Any kind of iniquity can exist in that they can't deal with it.
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Be a horrible thing if the nation of Israel, the Society of the Israelites didn't have the authority somewhere to deal with problems of controversy and to judge evil and to put it away, It would have been where the Lord was dwelling, the Lord's presence compatible with all kinds of unjust evil. And that's that's a wicked, wicked principle.
So the assembly has authority to deal with its own problems.
And every local assembly gathered to the Lord's name is a little Jerusalem where there is authority to act for his glory.
Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, as Mr. Kelly puts it, shall be a thing bound in heaven.
So that is.
A loose translation of that verse.
And whatsoever thou shalt, ye shall loose on earth shall be loose.
In heaven.
That is, what is done here is recognized and ratified by heaven.
By heaven itself.
Again I say unto you, Notice he has said.
Verse 18 says, Where? Verily I say unto you. Now in verse 19 he says again, I say unto you, He has more to say in connection with assembly discipline, that if two of you doesn't even say two or three here, he just uses the smallest number, Speaking of competent testimony.
If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask.
It shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together unto my name, more correctly, they are Mine in the midst of them, two or three gathered to His name, He's there in the midst.
And in connection with the prayer of agreement, it's to agree even if there's two. If the assembly only had two, that would be 100%. If it has three, that would be.
67% but that's not the way to look at it.
I think these numbers that he's talking about look down through the day of grace to the time of the greatest weakness, where the numbers could be reduced to this small amount.
But I think the thought of agreement here is that the Spirit of God leads a competent testimony in the assembly to an agreement as to what should be done in the case before them. That is outlined in these preceding verses.
And it says if they agree, if there's no agreement, then we don't have this promise. But if there is an agreement, doesn't mean that all are in agreement. But if the Spirit of God produces agreement, it should be would be nice if all were. But say for instance, if you're dealing with a heretical man, you can never have all all agreeing because an heretical man is an heretical man because he has followers.
If he didn't have followers, he wouldn't be arrogant.
And so if everyone agreed that he wasn't a heretic or that he was a heretic, that would prove that he wasn't, because if he had no followers, he couldn't be. So heretic always has followers. He has those that he's the leader of a party. And that makes it quite difficult. But even with that situation existing in an assembly, if two of you shall agree, the Lord says.
On earth shall symphonize.
Shall harmonize, shall agree. That's the word.
As touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my father which is in heaven. Last year when I was on the West Coast, my brother came to me and said, we're having trouble with our daughter, and would it be right for my wife and I for my wife and me to pray.
Claiming Matthew 1819 If two of you shall agree on earth is touching, anything that they shall ask shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven.
And I said, well, it's certainly proper for you and your wife to pray for your daughter, but don't claim that verse because that applies to the local assembly gathered to my name. Don't lift that verse out of context. There are many other verses that and we we suggested some that would say very proper to pray for your daughter as you're saying, but don't use Matthew 1819 because that refers to a local assembly.
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Seeking the Lord's mind in connection with a disciplinary problem.
I was having breakfast with an older brother and another brother about my age, and his view of Matthew 1820 was that wherever Christians meet together?
To the Lord's name, there he is, He's with them.
And.
That's the way he liked to view it.
And I said, all right, we're just three of us here in the coffee house. Let's claim Matthew 1820.
Where two or three are gathered to my name, there am I in the midst. Let's claim that. And then let's claim verse 19. If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. We can be in agreement to pray about something and we can claim that. Let's back up one more verse. I said, verily I say unto you, whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. I said to him, Do we have?
Authority. You're here in the coffee shop, just the two or three of us. We have that authority. That's the local assembly gathered in the name of Christ. We don't have that authority. And he looked at me and he says, yeah, that's right, we do. We don't have that authority. So what people are doing today, they're lifting these verses out of the context and not rightly dividing the word of truth. These verses apply to a case of discipline.
And of course, they're true wherever the assembly is gathered together.
To his name, he's there in the midst.
So here you have in connection with the assembly. This chapter starts with who's the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven and.
Now we have this case of administrative authority on the part of the local Assembly.
Replacing literally Jerusalem in the Old Testament, the place today is where two or three are gathered together to my name. There am I in the midst of them. Now quickly just touching on the last verses. For then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him? Till seven times. Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 * 7.
The assembly ought to be a place where forgiveness and grace.
Are prominent.
Are prominent.
The thought of having to put one away ought to be exceptional, not not normal. It's necessary to maintain the honor and glory of the Lord, who's there in the midst, but it's a place that ought to be manifesting His wondrous grace and forgiveness. And so Peter is told, until seven times no, but 70 * 7.
And then the last verses in the chapter speak of.
I'll read quickly. Therefore is the Kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. When he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which loved him, which owed him 10,000 talents, and for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
Servant fell down and worshiped him the Lord. Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the dead.
And then we know the servant didn't forgive one that owed him just 100 pence.
And verse 29 His fellow servants fell down at his feet. Oh, his fellow servant fell down and beside him. Have patience with me, I will pay thee all. He would not cast him into prison. We should pay the debt. Verse 31 When his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and they came and told unto their Lord all that was done.
The serious thing when we deal with another one who's called a brother?
Very serious thing and.
More serious, if we harbor in our hearts an unforgiving spirit, there's nothing more crippling.
Nothing more damaging.
To to the power of an assembly, or one individually if there's unforgiven sin.
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If we don't forgive from our heart, notice how the chapter ends. There's in verse 34. His Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. He's called a wicked servant.
Because He wouldn't forgive he who had been forgiven so much, so likewise shall my Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not everyone, His brother, their trespasses, ye from your hearts. That's the important thing that we do not harbor, that we do not entertain, that we do not nurture an unforgiving spirit that produces bitterness.
And that defiles many. So we are to forgive.
Now, it doesn't mean we go to someone that's offended against us and say I forgive you, but we have that feeling of forgiveness in our heart towards them. And then when they repent of their sin and confess it and we can extend that forgiveness to them, that's the way God extends it to us when we confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
But.
It's what we have in our hearts.
And if we don't have forgiveness in our hearts?
Then we are falsifying the very character God Himself who has forgiven us 10,000 talents.
So we have these wonderful principles in these chapters, The Cross.
For him first, and for us.
And then?
The seeing no man, but Jesus only.
Why could we not cast him out? Because of your unbelief. And this kind cometh not forth, but by prayer and fasting.
Then are the children free nevertheless that we offend them, not take and hook, cast it into the sea, and the first fish that cometh up, you'll find a stater. And that's enough to pay the tax for you and me not standing for our rights.
Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven while you can't even be in it until you become as a little child?
He that humbles himself as this little child, the same as grace in the Kingdom of heaven. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones.
Let's think, if a man have 100 sheep and one of them go astray on the mountains, will he not leave the 90 and nine and go after that which has gone astray, till he find it and bring it back?
If my brother sin against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he hear thee, thou hast gain thy brother the energy of grace, going out, going out to seek the game. If that's refused again and again, then discipline has to come in. But the heart should harbor not ill feelings, but forgiveness towards those that have offended towards us.
Principles relating to the assembly. If you know these things, happy are ye if you do them.