Address—N. Berry
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Tonight we go on with the other side of the scripture, the thought that.
In the Old Testament, there was one Center for authority that was the same center that was given for worship. Worship. No difference between the two. There wasn't one place that they went to worship God and then another place where they where they learned how to cope with their neighbors and so on. No, it was all one center, one center. Now we're going to see tonight.
When they had problems in the Old Testament days, they had to go to that center. 1 Secondly, they must bow to what they heard in that center on pain of death. Now you might say, well, surely you're not saying that the Christian, if he doesn't obey, is going to die. No, but we are certainly going to lose a lot in our Christian life.
So we will look now first.
At the authority that was vested in that center. Individual responsibility.
Individual, the individuals in Israel, a whole lot of them, they had individual responsibility to do something and that is to go to that center. Secondly, I want to look at the Old Testament script, another Old Testament scripture that shows the responsibility of those to whom the individuals win and that were those were the priests and the Levites.
And the judges? Now there's a word for them as well. We'll stop.
When we complete that and we have a 5 or a little more, maybe interval urge you to walk around.
For to get some air in our lungs. And then we'll go ahead with the spiritual side of what God had in mind when He gave those illustrations. I'm not going to repeat what I said last night about the authority for the Scriptures showing us that this is indeed why those Old Testament stories were given for our learning, but we'll then see.
What God had as the purpose of it all, it wasn't this and then this, but this side was earthly. We have it here, terrestrial and celestial, green, earthly, blue, heaven. So we'll look now first of all, after the individual responsibility that a person had.
In those days, Deuteronomy chapter 17.
Bear in mind this is the first this side the individual responsibility.
That those people in those days had.
Deuteronomy 17, verse 8.
Wherever you get an if in scripture, it's always the responsibility side. No ifs in Ephesians or those scriptures that tell us the position. This is responsibility. Ifs are always connected with the wilderness or responsible. All right now it says in that 7th, 8th verse if there arise a matter.
Too hard for thee in judgment.
That was in the head to make a decision between blood and blood relatives, between plea and plea some cause, and between stroke and stroke, a physical fight.
Being matters of controversy within thy gates, this was God's Holy Land now, and there had to be holy practices connected with it. Then shalt thou arise and get thee up into the place same as last night, place of worship which the Lord thy God shall choose. Identical words.
The one place.
Arise and get up to that place, not down to it. Jerusalem was down at the bottom of the land.
Up to it.
It was 1200 feet above sea level, but it was God's center, His habitation, as we heard last night.
And then it says.
Verse 9. And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites.
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And unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire now. Let's pause there for a moment. Inquire now. The last thing that people want to do when there's an argument involved is to do any inquiring. I want to do the talking, and they want to do the.
Hammering on the table and shouting loudly. But here is the first thing the attitude that was necessary. God said so it wasn't a question of what they were, whether they were.
To accept it or not, inquire, and had to inquire. 1 center God's choosing, and they were to come there with a mind, with no presuppositions, nothing presumed beforehand.
They had to come and inquire, now what does it say? And they shall show thee the sentence of judgment. Very remarkable statement, because it isn't a question of waiting, as the courts do so often. They hear a case and then they render a judgement a couple of weeks later. Here it is so beautifully stated that immediately.
Immediately there's the answer given, not a question of how difficult it would be.
We're going to look at the judges side and the priests side in a few moments. That's the other collective responsibility. This is the the the attitude that the man has to adopt. He inquires and he hears the judgment right away. Verse 10 and thou shalt do according to the sentence or the tenor which they of that place which the Lord shall choose emphasis.
Time. Double responsibility, double testimony. Twice it says. It shall show thee they'll do it. That'll do it.
Not a question of thinking it over. Had to do it. And thou shalt observe to do according to all that they informed thee or instructed do it, do it. Nobody likes to be told what to do. Do it. Young people here, that's the last thing everybody is just saying they don't do pay any attention to that. That's just some authority, but you just do what you want.
This is the word of God and I hope you dear young people here get this message tonight because this can be the difference between a happy Christian fulfilled life.
Or an unhappy, rebellious spirit that is going to lead you down the road to unhappiness.
And all kinds of troubles. Now here is God's Old Testament illustration of what we will see in the New Testament. Verse 11. 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, the word which they shall show thee.
To the right hand nor to the left, there was number bending of this judgment. It was absolute and truth is absolute and the Scriptures are absolute and we can't bend the Scriptures. Paul says in first Timothy chapter one, verse three. See that they teach no other doctrine.
Christianity is truth and it is absolute, and if you and I are going to bow to this authority, we are going to be blessed because God has given us this recipe and this beautiful but serious warning not to turn to the right hand or to the left.
Verse 12 warning and the man that will do presumptuously, there's the mind coming in there presuming presume means to beforehand pre and zoom is to to think to have a preconceived idea. Anybody who has a preconceived idea of what should be done or what shouldn't be done or how much he's going to accept of this judgment, what happens.
And will not. There's the will working mind and the will.
Disaster for the Christians when we let these things operate in our lives.
The will and the and our thoughts and our presuming.
Will and will not hearken listen.
Listen, these are the days when nobody wants to listen, even in the assembly. We'll come to that later on. But here is the warning that will not listen unto the priest will notice this. Here is the key of it all that standeth to minister there.
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Before the Lord thy God. Oh, isn't that beautiful? How does this priest, what's he know about these problems way up in the north or some?
Quarrel between some relatives or a fight that somebody has had, What's he know about it? He doesn't know anything.
And he's not called upon to know anything, but he's standing before the Lord.
And that's how he knows. That's how he knows he has the answer instantly, because he is standing before the Lord.
That's the key of it.
Or under the judge, even that man shall die. He's dead.
Never gets back to his home if he challenges, even in his heart, No he doesn't. Even if he presumes he's dead, he dies.
That's how strict.
The law is but God is telling you and me by these precepts, by these examples, I should say.
That He is the one who has the key to blessing in our life, if we're willing to follow this in principle, in spiritual application in your life and mine. If not, we're not going to lose our salvation, but we're going to surely going to lose happiness and fulfillment in our life. And here's the man, He's dead.
Even that man shall die and notice this, and thou shalt put away evil from Israel.
And all the people shall hear and fear and do more, no more presumptuously. Well, now this is a it's not a question of the things that the man was doing that was the was the evil. It was a question of the presumption in receiving the judgment. You see what I mean? It was the presumption was connected.
Bowing or not bowing not the evil thing that they were doing. It was to put the evil of.
Lack or or despising obedience to God's prescribed methods, and it was, and it was to be really understood that anyone who was going to presume to act presumptuously, that was evil.
Now that's the one side that is the.
Individual responsibility that the man in Israel had.
Now what about the priests?
These are the collective. This is the collective side. Now, the responsibility that the priests have. Let's go 1St to the 1St chapter of Deuteronomy, one or two verses.
Deuteronomy One, verse 16.
And I charged your judges at that time saying.
Now this is the other side, as I said here, the causes between your brethren and judge righteously, judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him, the poor fellow that is an outcast and he's a stranger, they're a gentile.
No difference. Now this is the charge to the judges.
Like we'll see applying it to the assembly. Verse 17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment.
No bias. No, no bias.
But ye shall hear the small as well as the great. No difference.
Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man.
No Fear in the judge, in the judges heart now and he sees a powerful man coming up with lots of influence and money, or a poor beggar that has no money at all and there he is in his rags. No difference. The judges to have no difference.
For the judgment is.
Gods see that again it comes back, the priesthood before the Lord. Here it is even higher, if I could use the term God himself. The judgment is God's.
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And the 'cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.
There is what Moses was saying, anything that was beyond the ability. This was a beautiful clause that was put in because.
You see, Moses was the go between between He was the king really of Israel, not a priest, but a king. And he was the one who had access at all times into God's presence to inquire. And so he said, now if there is anything that is too hard for you, you come to me. I think that's wonderful, isn't it? Let me say this, beloved ones, I don't believe that there is.
Anything in an assembly problem that brethren would have to say, we can't solve this because we don't have anything in the Scripture to give us guidance, we will have to leave that to the judgment seat of Christ. I don't believe that that is correct. I believe that this principle is taught that there is provision for the solving of every problem.
And there Moses said.
Come to me if there is anything too hard, we can always go to the Lord, no matter how difficult the problem is.
Let's look at one more in Second Second Chronicles Chapter 19. Second Chronicles, Chapter 19.
Now the day has gone way along far past Moses day, way into the day of failure. Way on into the last days of the kings of Judah. 10 tribes gone, 2 tribes left. Here they are in an utter day and a day of decline and failure. Priests have failed. You'll notice here that the Levites are mentioned 1St and.
It it was a decline, but what does it say now?
What is this Second Chronicles chapter 19 and verse 8?
Moreover, in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat faithful king?
Set of the Levites and of the priests not as the order and of the chief of the fathers of Israel for the judgment of the Lord and that wonderfully 3 Times Now the judgment of the Lord wasn't their judgment the judgment of the Lord and for controversies difference of opinion.
When they returned to Jerusalem, oh, this was a provision. Now when they come back to Jerusalem in ruins and everything is gone to pieces still.
Now here's the beautiful verse, verse nine. And he charged them.
Saying, Thus, shall ye do notice this in the fear of the Lord?
Problems in your life?
Oh, have we access to one who knows every detail? Absolutely.
In the fear of the Lord, this is the judge's side now.
And then where does it say, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord faithfully?
Faith. Not intelligently, not according to jurisprudence, not because of your Father told you no faith.
Act faithfully cast what may popular or unpopular. I used to tell my children I was bringing them up. I'm not running a popularity contest with you.
I'm teaching you obedience to me and your mother because I've got a father that I must obey. I must obey, and I ought to teach you to obey me, and you will learn them to obey God your father.
Grow older now. This is what he's saying here. The judges were to judge faith in the fear of the Lord 1St and faithfully toward others. Fear of the Lord godward, fear faithfully toward others and with a perfect heart.
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Three things. Perfect heart. They were to do this now with a good conscience. Good conscience.
That's enough. Well, I think we need to. I see our time is gone. We'll stop now.
And this senior brother Coleman that two things I've enjoyed. One is that the old creation started with light.
Let there be light. First words that God spoke ends in darkness. Eternal hell.
New creation started with darkness, the three hours of darkness, and it goes on into eternal light.
The Old Testament, the old creation, I should say, started with life.
Like God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. It ended in death. Everything failed. Everyone failed. The new creation it starts.
With.
The death of Christ on the cross.
And it can't say ends. It goes on into eternal life. The difference between the two? Utter failure.
Whole thing set aside.
And what happens?
The believer dies with Christ on the cross.
We're dead, it's a secret isn't of understanding our life. Now we are crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, Paul could say Galatians 220 yet not I. But Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Here is the end.
John's Gospel chapter 12 Says now is the judgment of this world. How many people realize that the judgment that the world ended at the cross?
Man's trial ended 4000 years of trial.
Ends and utter failure.
What happens? God's eternal Son, ever in the bosom of the Father. There from that past eternity He would come down and be flesh and bones. He would take upon Himself a human form to fulfill all the promises of Israel. Yes.
Only to find when he comes here on earth that is rejected. Of course, known beforehand, God's predetermined counsel was the whole story. It wasn't something that just broke down. It was God's purpose that He would send his son that son willingly and obediently. How we love to tell him He was the only perfect man that ever lived on this earth.
What did he come for? Didn't come to die for sins.
He came to die for God's glory. That was what he came for. No one else had ever lived for God's glory before. God had given all kinds of tests, and Israel was his showpiece, as it were, utter failure. God's beloved Son lays himself at the end of that perfect life of 33 years upon the altar, giving himself as the perfect sacrifice to God.
God is not only satisfied, God is glorified.
The Lord Jesus said in the 17th of John when he prayed, I finished the work which thou gave us me to do. I have glorified thy name on the earth. Oh, a man has glorified God's name on earth. Just think of that. And what has happened? God has taken that man and he's taken him back to heaven. And now what has God done? He's glorified a man in heaven.
The man glorified God on earth.
His name and hear God glorifies him in heaven. Oh what a wonderful story. The cross of Jesus Christ we looked at last night at that verse in Colossians. Christ is everything.
That was the whole purpose of all these things. As we learned from 1 Corinthians 10 and 11, All things happened written for our instruction upon whom the ends of the world are come. The ends of the world. End of the world took place at the cross. Judgment fell on this world at the end of the cross. God said, I'm finished, but before I destroy it, I'm going to open the floodgates of grace and mercy for whosoever.
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Will anyone who will come?
To to God the Father through Christ.
What happened? Nobody would respond.
Not going to be one invited guest in heaven.
Nobody would respond.
Heaven would be emptier. Just think of it. Just think of it.
After all the blessed Lord Jesus has done his blood able to save.
Four billion, 750, seven, 100 million people on the earth.
The blood able to save the one who shed it. What little response?
No response. No response. So what has happened? God and his sovereignty he has chosen.
Some to come in, many called, few chosen. This is the sovereignty side of God. This is what we have been seeing here, God's side all the time. You and I are willing to bow to this and to enjoy this. So it takes all the fever out of life. It makes us calm and makes us deep. Realize our dependence now in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The whole thing turns around. Now God makes that cross the very means whereby He can bless.
Sinners. And here we are tonight, trophies of that love and grace now, and we are in a new circle. We are in a circle of grace, the very body of Christ.
We saw last night that Christ is the Center for our worship. Now we're going to see that he is also the Center for our authority. As you and I, who as I look into your faces, who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. You have one master and I have one Master, not only a Savior, but a Lord. Is he the Lord of your life? You young people here tonight.
Is the Lord the Master of your life?
If I asked you.
Are you saved all right? And you might say yes. I asked your mother is he saved? Well, she says.
He doesn't act as if he is.
Well, that's.
It might be that you're saved, or might be that you're not saved, but if you are the Lord's ah, then He's the master of your life. And if you're going to bow to that authority, you're going to be blessed in your life. Your life is going to be fulfilled.
You want to have happiness on your side, but living for God's glory on His now.
In God's wonderful wisdom, He has established a circle inside that one body. Every believer is in the one body, we learned last night.
Not only for the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, but for authority. Now let's turn to Matthew 1818.
Where is the.
Assembly now in action, the Lord's words, the very words of the Lord.
We look at this general statement first, then we will take up the two sides that we have been speaking about before, individual responsibility, collective responsibility.
Matthew 1818 Verily I say unto you, These were the words of the Lord Jesus, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. There is the authority that is vested in the assembly.
Gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not speaking. I hope I don't tread on somebody's tone.
That I am not speaking about every group of Christians because I believe that corporately.
According to John's Gospel chapter 4, that God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth corporately. I believe it must be according to the Word of God. Therefore, I do not believe that there can be two bodies of Christians not in fellowship with each other that are not in that are that are both gathered to the Lord's name, and they are not in fellowship.
I don't believe that that is possible. 14th the 1St Corinthians and they gets around verse 32 Says God is not the author of confusion, but of peace as in all the assemblies of the Saints. Now I think speak plainly. I don't believe I I hope I don't say this ungraciously. I don't believe that I grow in my soul or you grow in your soul until you can see this now you can't.
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Intellectually that's certainly not possible. But if you have your eye on the Lord, oh, it becomes very simple that the Lord Jesus is the center of the authority for my life individually, and it is equally so collectively in the assembly.
Now the family is the physical circle, a little picture of it, and the assembly is the spiritual circle, the father that asserts himself and sees that his children and his wife too, because I believe that the wife is in like the the one of his children as far as responsibility is concerned, not being influenced by women's Lib nonsense, but according to the word of God, the.
Represents God in the home, and His word must be obeyed, right or wrong, right or wrong, unless it is contrary to the Word of God. Now, that's individually. That's the physical circle. A home where the father is living consistently and showing love to his children and his wife, or his wife and his children, I should say.
That family is going to be a happy home.
Where the wife recognizes her place as well as the head of the home, the little texts that we have sometimes seen on some of the homes. Christ is the head of this home. That is not scriptural at all. The Father is the head of the home. He is the authorities. that Channel and authority always comes down. Democracy is not God's principle.
Abraham Lincoln said government of the people, for the people, by the people sounds nice, but it's not. According to the word of God, authority comes down and it is in the family and it is in the Assembly.
Now here we see that in the assembly when the assembly makes the decision.
It's bound in heaven, right or wrong, right around.
There it is, right or wrong.
I'm not to decide whether an assembly makes the right decision or not and then determine whether I'm going to obey it or not, just as we saw in the Old Testament, or if it's made in the fear of the Lord. If the assembly is going on in happy communion with the Lord, they can count upon it to be the right decision. But suppose an assembly makes a decision that is contrary, that is wrong.
Well, then there is access. There is, as we saw in the Old Testament, there is.
The freedom of another brother or brothers or brother, preferably to come from another assembly and point out to that assembly that makes that decision. You made a decision that is contrary to this scripture and show a scripture.
That assembly says that's right, we've made a mistake, correct? That is to be corrected. If on the other hand, that assembly continues on and says you mind your business, you stay out of this, this is assembly. We make our own decisions here. Independence. That's open, brethrenism. That's just the same as my saying I'm responsible to God for my own life and you just keep out of my life and not you don't.
To worry about me, you worry about yourself. That's independency. That's the finger saying to the the foot, I don't need you. That is a very serious error. The assembly has the authority. I use the simple illustration driving along my car and a cop puts up his hand, pulls me to the side as you went through a traffic.
Sign there said stuck.
Or starts to write the the ticket and I recognize him he's Tony that lived down the street and he was a near do well in the village where I live and he was just a dropout and he was a mess of everything and here he is standing there. So I said Tony is that you? Yes, he said I'm Tony. So I say to you giving me a ticket because I'm going to give you 2 Tickets.
One for breaking the law and the other for insulting the uniform.
He has the right to do that because he has the law behind him. That is the authority that is vested in him. I must bow to that. I have access to the courts to go and prove that maybe the sign was knocked down and he didn't know it, but I have to take that ticket now. This is the authority that is vested in the assembly.
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Now that's a general statement. I want to show you now from the scriptures, the individual responsibility of everyone in the assembly.
And then on the other side, the assembly's responsibility as priests, as it were illustrated by the Old Testament of the responsibility that the assembly had. So we first turn now to 1St Corinthians 11.
Verse 27.
Where?
Whosoever individual shall eat this bread.
And drink this cup of the Lord.
Unworthily, or in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
But let a man examine or prove himself.
And so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup, for he that eateth and drinketh on in an unworthy way, as I believe is translated.
In the new translation, eateth and drinketh not damnation but condemnation.
There is going to he's going to bring on his head condemnation to himself, not to anyone else, but to himself. The assembly may not know about it. And he's going on with a bad conscience or something that he's allowing in his life. And he comes to the Lord's Table with a bad conscience, unconfessed sins on him. Nobody knows about it. The Lord knows he's going to bring condemnation on his own head.
To himself, not discerning the Lord's body, just like to point out this little thought that I have enjoyed for a long time, and that is that if I get in a bad state of soul, I come in the Lords Day morning, I see that a bread on the table and I said, say to myself, loaf of bread.
I just don't discern that that represents the body of the Lord.
I lose that discernment. I'm going to lose my discernment, but a lot of things. But here is the first thing. I'm going to be careless. I'm going to come into the presence of the Lord with unconfessed sins on me, and I'm not going to see that the Lord is in the midst and His authority is there. Now let's go on for this cause. Many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
All that is a serious verse now that takes us right back in our thoughts.
To the Old Testament, people would say, well, now you're not saying that we die.
I'm saying that the Scripture says, yes, they did die when they flaunted the word of God. And this says for this cause many are sickly among you and many sleep. That is that the Lord might take us away, take us away, we die. Now there's no trifling with that Scripture. We can't bend it and say, well, it doesn't really mean that it says it there.
For this cause many are weekly among you, and many sleep. The Lord took them away.
Holy privilege that it is to be gathered to the Lord's name.
And I want to make this plain. I don't say that a Christians responsibility is increased when they're at the Lords table in this way. That if I am a believer and I'm not at the Lord's table, I'm really, as we learned last night, in a very bad place. I'm outside of the circle. I'm in a place where God judges. I'm in a place of.
Disobedience to that gentle and sweet request that the Lord Jesus made.
On the night of his betrayal, when he said this, do in remembrance of me. What kind of a heart have I got if I belong to the Lord? You dear young ones that are here tonight, do you say you're the Lords? You're going on well with the Lord. Oh, he invites you and me to that table that's going to keep you back. Nothing but sinal that you allow in your life.
That's individual responsibility, and so here they are told one way.
To cope with this, get into the presence of the Lord before you come to the Lords Day morning meeting often tell the story down in the Dominican Republic. One time I was there for a month or so, I saw a sister.
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Didn't take the emblems and I said to one of the brothers is and so on. So isn't his sister at the Lord's table? And she said yes. I said she didn't take the emblems. Well, he said probably some something on our conscience. So I watched her for two weeks and she didn't take the emblems. And then the Lord's day came and she did. I went to the brother and I said to her, to him, she took the emblems.
This morning, well, he said. Probably restore now in one way.
It was a very good thing for that sister to have a tender conscience about not coming to take the bread and the wine with a bad conscience. On the other hand, she was not instructed.
As to the truth of the Scriptures, for she should have done what that verse says, but let a man examine himself. Verse 28. She should have got this matter cleared before on Saturday, before she came to the Lord's table.
That's the time to get that clear, but.
When she didn't do that and she really sat in judgment on the assembly and she didn't take the emblems, now she has put herself out of fellowship and the assembly responsibility now comes in as to her being received back into fellowship because the conscience of the assembly has been offended. Now there might be something serious in that sister's life that needs to be.
Into by the brothers and that is what we will come to in a minute as far as.
Collective responsibility is concerned, but I think that's sufficient. On the individual responsibility, we have clear access. If I am fit for glory, I'm fit for the Lord's table. The blood of Christ makes me fit for heaven, and it makes me fit for the Lord's table. I can't make myself unworthy to get to glory. I never can lose that, but I surely can.
If I am going on with unconfessed sins.
And coming into the presence of the Lord, holy blessed presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, Am I going to come in with in carelessness and I'm not going to come into the Lords day morning meeting late, unsuitably dressed, chewing gum as I sometimes see a pardon me for speaking bluntly, but I think it is very, very sad when we are not conscious of the Lord's presence.
Not the Holy Presence of the Lord often tell the story that when Queen Elizabeth was crowned.
They say that everyone was in their place one hour before the coronation took place and it took place.
A couple of hours. There wasn't even one cough heard in the whole time of the ceremony. Who is she? She's nobody. The Lord. The Lord.
Below we come into his holy presence. The closest that we ever get to glory to heaven is when we are in his holy presence. All that we might realize the seriousness, not only the the responsibility to not be there, but the responsibility to be there. Now that's the individual side. Now let's go back to the fifth chapter to see the collective side. There's a man that is living in open.
He's living with his father's second wife or another wife.
In the assembly, they know about it.
In the second verse and ye are puffed up and have not rather mourned.
Hi, Moore.
By Mark, that's his individual responsibility. No, it's not. It's the assembly's responsibility.
Yeah, the other side we saw. Don't confuse the two of them. Here is the assembly not mourning. Why? Why? There's being evil brought into the Lord's presence.
A group of Christians who here might be even in Vancouver and a Christian might go there and say, could I remember the Lord with you this morning? And somebody standing at the door says, are you a believer? Yes. Being baptized, Yes. Thumb break bread.
What is that a sign of? That's a sure sign that they're not conscious of the Lord's holy presence. They're not going to be so loose and careless. It is collective responsibility now to make sure that that man or that person that has come to ask to remember the Lord or break bread, as they say. He doesn't know what the evil might be in that assembly. He's a stranger.
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Nor does the Assembly know what he might be going on with. And the Assembly has a grave responsibility. Why? For our sakes. No, no, nothing to do with that. The Lords glory His holy presence. So here was the Assembly going on carelessly.
Now I hear that some Christians that claim to be gathered to the Lord's name, they say well.
Paul didn't put them out of fellowship. He went on with them. I hastened to say this, that that letter was written in order to correct the evil that was there. If that assembly didn't pay attention to its responsibilities, then it would be an entirely different thing. But the Spirit of God allowed this evil to surface, to be there.
That the Apostle Paul would write this letter of instruction for them and for us today.
Now let's go down a little bit farther. Here is how the assembly is to act, verse 4.
Notice two things there.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's the first thing in the name, there's the authority where two or three are gathered unto my name. It's not so much that we're gathered to the Lorde presence because He's he's absent, but we are gathered to his name. But two or three are gathered together unto my name. There am I, in the midst of them, the Lord's presence.
Is vouchsafed. It's given to that assembly.
Gathered to his blessed name and here now is how the assembly is to act. It's to act in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When ye are gathered together, there's the whole of the assembly. Brothers meeting can't make a decision. It has to be made by the assembly and my spirit that was the Apostolic.
Time we don't have the holy, at least we don't have the the Apostle Paul, but we have his writings here.
With the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Two things, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now the assembly has that responsibility to put that man out. He's a believer. He was gathered to the Lord's name and he had to be put out.
Why? Because of the Lord's glory. There was something going on in his life that would.
That would affect, in fact, the whole assembly a little. Leaven leaveneth. The whole lump at that assembly had allowed this to go on after they were warned by the whole assembly is turned into evil and into leaven.
So they had to put that brother, that man out. Notice what it says down farther, verse 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within, but them that are without? God judges. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
There was the assemblies full responsibility now just like to say this.
Suppose someone asks for their place at the Lords Table.
Every deliver in Vancouver has their place at the Lord's Table. It's not our table, it's the Lord's Table.
Everyone.
But the assembly has the responsibility to make sure that there is nothing.
That is, in that person's life, morally, doctrinally, or ecclesiastically, 3 evils that exist.
3 evils moral evil, doctrinal evil, wrong teachings on the scripture or disorderly methods of worshipping the Lord or conduct. Give you just a little example of it. A woman stands up and starts to preach. She might be preaching the absolute truth. It's not doctrinal evil, but it's it's ecclesiastical evil because that method is condemned in the scriptures. A sister.
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Is to remain in the Scripture. Well, it's not so much that it's border between the two of them, but ecclesiastical evil is the method of worshipping the Lord, and it must be, according to John, as I quoted in John chapter four, we must worship in spirit and in truth. And so the assembly, when a person asks to be received, what does the assembly say?
What are the brothers say? They say to the man come in, or the woman commence it, sit down at the back.
I don't know whether you have a separate section here, but in our larger assembly, we, we do a lot of people sit there back there, they observe, observe their spirit is going to be revealed. If they say no, I want to break bread today. Wrong spirit. We don't know them, they don't know us. So if they display that spirit, it's obvious that they're not fit for the Lord's presence. Their will is at work. Just they're presuming like.
On Deuteronomy chapter 17, can't presume anything. I can't join take my place at the Lord's table when I when I decide any more than I can get saved when I decide. It's the work of the Spirit of God. It's like being saved over again. And that is the Spirit of God would desire to gather every believer in Vancouver and the world to Christ.
Now when the assembly has this request, it comes before the brothers meeting, Brothers meeting, Brothers meeting is defined in Acts Chapter 15.
Where the problem problem came up and they sent to the brethren in Jerusalem. The brothers heard the matter first. Good thing to bring a matter before the brothers meeting. Act slowly, act slowly, don't act precipitously. Wait on the Lord. The Lord will manifest His mind. He is operating the assembly.
He is. It's not our assembly, it's the Lord's assembly, and He is the one.
Who desires that we act in obedience, collective responsibility to what He instructs us through the Word and so.
That everybody, the brothers might consider the name. I think it's so important for the brothers at a brothers meeting to tell everything that they know about that person. If they say, well, I don't know anything about, well, get to know.
You have a responsibility now in the Assembly not to say I'll leave it to Brother so and so, he decides.
That's all wrong. You have a responsibility, a collective responsibility. The conscience of the assembly is involved now, not only brothers and brothers, but the sisters. To get to know that person, invite them to your home.
And then when the brothers come to feel that they have the Lord's mind, let the name be announced not to receive that person right away. Let it be publicly announced in the assembly. Wait another week. I've often seen it manifested prior to that announcement, or even after the state of soul of that person. That might be wrong.
Wait on the Lord, don't act quickly. It's going to be bound in heaven. Not only bound in heaven, but bound on every other assembly gathered to the Lord's name on earth. Been speaking about this in other lands. They aren't nearly as instructed as we are in these lands. Favored lands that we are and it was in many cases new to them. Or how important it is for us to be established in a assembly authority.
Then as the week goes on and everyone is guided by the Lord.
As to that person's state of soul, because I always say this, that when a person gets before the Lord privately.
That state of soul is seen, allowed to be seen by the other brethren, by others, the other believers. That state of soul is revealed. If we are in a godly state and if we are in a good state of communion with the Lord, well, it's so precious, so tender, so important for us for His glory, well, that person is received.
Now suppose the reverse as in this 5th chapter One Corinthians. Here is something that comes to the surface.
Now we're not to be probing into the life of everyone, but everyone needs to have a tender concern about.
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The others in the assembly or how lovely it is. I've seen some of the boys that have been saved at the Gospel Tent and Nova Scotia early in their life. They had a father's, a shepherd's heart given of God. So important for you young brothers and sisters too, to be concerned about each other. Don't just say, well, that's their responsibility.
Or concern yourself, you younger sisters.
Do you want some advice? Go to the most godly sister in the assembly. You'll get the best advice. Not necessarily to go to somebody that if you want to be a nurse, go to a nurse. Go to the godly ones and they will give you good advice from the Lord. Well, if there is something that is seen, develops in the assembly, that has to be dealt with.
Here again, can't act too fast. Putting a person out of it, away from the Lord's table is not disciplined.
That's when the discipline is finished, when the assembly throws up its hands and can't do anything more because the assembly is responsible to judge. Those are that are within the assembly in Montreal has control over my life. And if they phone up and say, Norman Barry, we want to talk to you, I can't say I'll be back there in a month or so. I cannot say that.
They're responsible to the Lord for me. They judge there. It is plain people say you can't judge each other.
The assembly can judge. It's plain there in that 12Th and 13th verses that the assembly does judge so that when there is something that is noticed, go to that person privately. Don't start to gossip, but don't get on the telephone and start to talk about the situation. Go right to that person. Matthew 5 and Matthew 18 is very plain.
That if I know of something about another brother, I have a responsibility to go there.
To go and talk to that brother and say to him and come and coming here in love, get down your knees before him. You can't just rush to a brother. I knew of one brother that was that prayed in the morning meeting for the gospel before giving before the remembrance of the Lord, an older brother. After the meeting he made a beeline for that young brother and he said that this is no place for you to be preaching.
At least praying about the gospel.
Her brother was offended. He withdrew from fellowship, thankful that he was restored. But that older brother was in error. He didn't take time to pray about it and get in a proper state of soul to do the foot washing. Why? He just acted in the flesh and stirred the flesh in that brother. Same with fathers. You can't act in the flesh with your dealing with your children. You must act in the Spirit and then the authority is going to be understood by.
Child, same thing applies in the assembly. So the first thing to do is to go individually, brother or sister. They don't accept that you have a responsibility then to take another brother or another sister. Go to them and make sure that that second person knows all the details and tell them what that you know and confront that person.
If they don't accept that, then tell it to the assembly 18th 1St of of Matthew.
Only then tell it to the assembly and then the assembly deals with it. And then if the assembly sends delegates, some brothers to go to see that person and they say you mind your business like they like, he said to the two previous visits. Serious statement. But you see the point is don't let it get to that bad state.
Act quickly, be sensitive, just like a father needs to be, and a mother needs to be very sensitive, where the children are all the time a good mother.
Knows where her children are all the time. Good fathers and mothers in the assembly. Those who have pastors hearts, they are very concerned about everyone. Somebody misses the Lord's Day meeting. After the meeting, phone them up, find out why they aren't there. This is what we need to be. Am I my brother's keeper? Kane said. Yes. We are our brothers keeper and so don't let matters get into a bad state.
Act quickly to try to win that person, to point out to them that drift that they may not be conscious of. And then if you've won that person or you've covered a multitude of sin because they may go on farther into sin, but you've covered that love, will cover that love and concern for each other. And so then if that person rejects everything now, then the assembly is confronted with one question.
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Have we got a scripture to put that person away? You must have a scripture or a principle can't just put a person away on opinions or just feeling it. No, you must have scripted First Corinthians 15 here it says plainly, verse nine. I wrote unto you in an epistle, not to keep company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world.
Or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters. For then must he needs go out of the world.
But now I have written unto you not to keep company. If any man that is called a brother, he's called a brother. Be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. With such an one, no not to eat.
There, it's plain, isn't It has to be a scripture for putting a person away equally so there needs to be a scripture to keep a person from being received. Always have. If they're kind of reversed, I'll say it again. You have to have a scripture to keep a person from being received at the table. And there must be a scripture in the that the assembly uses for putting a person away from the table.
As we saw repeatedly there in Deuteronomy, it is in the fear of the Lord. Well, other things, but we can just leave that just trust now, beloved ones, that I've spoken in love and to.
Tried to bring before each one of us and to encourage us that we have an unspeakably precious privilege of being gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the worship God through the channel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to lift him up to God. That's what true worship is. Communion with the Father is to be enjoying the Father's delights in what his Son has done for his.
Glory, precious privilege to go through life in this attitude. Christ is the channel. He's the one that we lift up in worship and praise. He also is the one now who is the center of the assembly. His authority is vested in his name and he vote saves. He gives that authority to the assembly. May the assembly here.
Realize their responsibility collectively and also individually.
Before the Lord, for his sake, one of these moments we're going to be in his presence.
One of these moments, maybe tonight, we're going to be there.
Well, may we have that desire in our heart now, individually and collectively.
To be sensitive to His tender heart and not to be allowing anything in my life individually that would be contrary to his mind as revealed in the Scriptures and equally so in the assembly. May we go on in love for each other, deep love, brotherly love, seeking the welfare and the good of each other and the for all for the sake of the Lord who is.
The gathering center, then we'll go on, and then we will be making those decisions.
That will be according to his mind for His glory. Blessed Lord Jesus, as I said the other night, He doesn't have much left for all His works speaking reverently.