Address—Chuck Hendricks
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Vestal, NY, March 2, 1990 Address to Christians by Brother Chuck Hendricks.
We'll start tonight.
By Umm reading some verses from Matthew 16.
Matthew 16.
Verse 13.
When Jesus came into the coast, the 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 gone, the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, they're one of the prophets, he saith unto them, But whom say he 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 Barcona.
For flesh and blood has 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.
From that time forth 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 3rd day then took Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an offense unto me, for thou Savior is not the things that thee of God.
But those that be of men then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his 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. For what is the man profited? If he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give an exchange for his soul?
So 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. 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.
Well, I want to read considerably more than this, but we'll stop here for the time being.
I've noticed that in this point in the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord Jesus has been fully proclaimed as Messiah to the Jews, The Gospel of Matthew striking that it's the Gospel that speaks of him as the son of David, the son of Abraham. It's a very Jewish.
Flavor to the gospel. And yet you find in this gospel only here the church mentioned twice. Here in this chapter, verse 18, the Lord speaks of building his church, the future event. He wasn't building it then it it required his death, burial and resurrection and attention. And more than that, the coming of the Holy Spirit before the church could be formed in this world.
So it was future. But here he's up in Caesarea Philippi, the farthest northernmost point in the land, as far as from Jerusalem as one could get and still be in the land. And he asked his disciples a question. Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, had? Notice? He doesn't say. Whom do men say that eyes are? Christ, them, but I the Son of Man, He says in verse 20, after this discussion with the disciples and Peter.
Then charged to his disciples that they could tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. Why? Because that testimony had been fully rendered, and the Jews had rejected him in that character as the Christ. So then he takes the larger expression, the Son of man, not the Christ now, but the Son of man. And that brings before us that he's been rejected as the Christ. And so he takes the title which identifies him not just with the nation of Israel, but with all mankind, the Son of Man.
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And as the Son of Man, according to Daniel 7, he's going to receive a Kingdom that will never be destroyed. One, like unto the Son of Man, comes to the ancient of days, and he receives a Kingdom that is forever. A beautiful title that the Lord Jesus takes often, but it brings before us his rejection by his people Israel and then, uh, a term, a title that embraces far more than just the Jew, but the Gentiles as well all mankind.
And so he asks, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, have and that they give their answers? We could do the same today. We could go out into the streets and ask who do you think the Lord Jesus is? Who do you think Jesus is? And you get various answers. Well, some said that he was John the Baptist.
Some Elias, Elijah, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. So their thoughts of who he was were lofty thoughts. They compared him with the greatest men of the Old Testament dispensation, and uh, the greatest, according to the Lord's own words, uh, born of women, the greatest prophet born of women, John the Baptist. But the Lord, as it were, says I can't build my search on that. Uh, he was about to. He was about to unfold an altogether new truth.
And that is the truth of his church, his assembly, that he was going to build at some future point in time. And uh, he then says, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered verse 16 and said, Thou art the Christ.
The Son of the living God. Now this is the only gospel where the confession of Peter is that full. In the other two golf course where we find it that a market Luke, uh, he Peter says thou art the Christ or the Christ of God, is his answer. But here he says more. He says thou art the Christ and that's what the Jews should have come to instead of received him as the Christ.
And they hadn't done so. But then he goes on, the Son of a living God, the living God brings before us. Uh, resurrection. Uh. He was declared Romans 1/4 to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead. So the resurrection, uh, was the declaration that he was indeed the Son of God, and we know him as that We know him as the Son of God, not just as the Christ, not just as the anointed. 1.
Which brings him before us as the Prophet who was anointed into his office, as the priest who was anointed into his office, as the king who was anointed into his office, The Christ, or the Messiah means the anointed one, the Prophet, the priest, and the king. But we know him in a in a fuller way than that. We know him in a more precious way than that. And Peter confesses him Now all that the Christ, the Prophet, the priest, the King. But he was the Son.
Of the living God, and that Christian, that that brings in Christian truth. And what does the Lord say to that? Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou Simon Barkilna, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto the Simon Barghulis son of Jonah, that was his natural name, called him Simon, that was his name by by birth. And he says, Flesh and blood is not revealed unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven.
You got this wonderful truth, and you know you'll never really know who Jesus is unless the Father reveals him to you, says in Galatians 1 The Apostle Paul says, when God, when it pleased God to reveal his Son in me immediately I conferred not with Flack and blood, nor when I got to Jerusalem to them that were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and so on. It pleased God to reveal His Son in me.
And if you know him as the sent one of the Father, the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world, the eternal.
Son of the Father, you know him in in the fullest way because that's what he was from all eternity, you see, as the anointed one. That's what he became. He became the prophet, he became the priest. He became the king. But he was ever and always the eternal Son of God. And so that brings in an eternal relationship in the persons of the Trinity. And the Lord says to Peter, blessed ourselves. Simon Barjoni, this is where I can build my church on that.
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That's true that I can build upon and it's really himself that he's building his church upon. Peter just confessed the truth of his person. All the opinions of men had fallen far short of the truth of the glory of his person. Oh yes, he was uh he was a prophet and he was the all that they said. You know there are peop people that say you ask them what do you think of Jesus? But he was a good man, but it wasn't God.
Well, no.
And uh, you see that that's a that's a position that if they would only realize it is impossible to hold that because he claimed to be, He claimed to be God, and uh, the Jews said, uh, thou blasphemous, Thou, being a man, maketh thyself God. I make it thyself equal with God. They understood his words, they understood what he was saying when he talked about my Father worked at hitherto and I work, and they took up stones to cast at him, because not only had he broken the Sabbath, as they thought, but that he made himself.
Equal with God. They understood what he was saying, and so to say, he's a good man.
And not all that he claimed to be. If he wasn't all that he claimed to be, he wasn't a good man. He was the greatest impostor that ever lived. He's either that or he's already claimed to be. He's all that he claimed to be. And so we know him. Not only is the Christ, but as the Son of the living God. And he says, 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, gives him a new name.
Start Peter. He had just confessed the truth of Christ person, and now he gets a new name. Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church in the original language Greek that this is translated from. Peter is PETROS and Rock is Petra and so a a Petra. Peter is just a part of a Petra Iraq. And Peter had just confessed Jesus, uh, the truth of this person.
And the Lord says, I'm going to build my church on that rock, which is myself, that Peter had confessed. And he says, you have a new name, Peter, and you are going to be of the same substance as the rock itself. And so when we're born again, brings before us the new birth, uh, it brings before us that he became a new creature. We're not added to Christ's church as Simon's. We're added as Peter's. We're added as stones or parts of the rock. Uh, Peter learned that truth well, as he says in First Peter chapter 2.
He calls the Lord's visas, to whom coming is unto a living stone. Ye also, as living stones are built up a spiritual House of holy priesthood to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. He had learned that he was a living stone in this spiritual house that the Lord was speaking about here, that he was going to build at some future time.
So he gives Peter a new name and uh.
He says upon this rock, and the name is derived from the very word rock itself. And so we are uh we partake of his life. He Christ is our life. Paul says Christ who is my life. And when you're born again, you receive a new nature, the very nature of Christ himself. And so you are of the same substance in nature as the rock.
A stone. And he says, I will build my church. It was not him building. It couldn't be while the Lord was on earth. Uh, because he hadn't died yet. He hadn't shed his blood yet. He hadn't laid the basis for the direction of this beautiful assembly, his church. He hadn't written from the dead yet. He hadn't descended. He hadn't sent the Holy Spirit yet. These are all truths developed in the Epistles and in the rest of the New Testament. But I wanna continue on, because I have much to cover tonight.
And he says the gates of hell shall not prevail against. It's not really hell there it's 80s. The unseen world, all the power of Satan, cannot prevail against what Christ is building.
He's the builder here, and of course it's still future. And then he says to Peter, 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. That's what we call Apostolic authority. In Matthew 18 we get assembly authority. Where you have whatsoever thou shall find on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. There you have assembly authority because the Lord is in the midst. We don't have apostles today, so this Apostolic authority has passed away.
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But what did he give to Peter? He gave him the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, not of heaven as some erroneously teach. He doesn't have the key to admit anyone to heaven, but he admits to the Kingdom of heaven. And what is that? That's the sphere that professes allegiance to Christ while the King is in heaven, while he's been rejected here on earth. That's the sphere. We call it Christendom. Christ Kingdom is the meaning of Christendom, and that's the fear that owns his authority and everyone that owns the authority of the Lord.
And submit to him as Lord is in is in his is in the Kingdom of heaven. It's the form that the Kingdom takes during the time when the king is rejected and absent here and in heaven. Uh. Peter opened the door to the Jew in Acts 2 And uh, how did he do it? He presented how that God has made that same Jesus whom he have crucified both Lord and Christ. And they were they were pricked in their hearts and they said, what should we do?
And Peter says, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, and you should receive uh for the remission of sins, and you should receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then they that gladly received his words were baptized, and they were added that day about 3000 souls. Well how did they get? How did they get into the Kingdom of heaven? The sphere that acknowledges Christ is through baptism. But Peter used the key to open the door for them to come in.
And in Acts 10 you have the other key used when the household of Cornelius, when Cornelius sent the men to Peter, and he uh uh, he came and he preached the gospel to these Gentiles, and uh he testified to the remission of sins, and they believed and they received the Holy Spirit. And then Peter says, can any man forbid water, That these which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we do should not be baptized. And he commanded them to be baptized. He commanded that they be baptized.
And so they're admitted into the sphere that acknowledges Christ, uh, Christ's authority, And that's the Kingdom of heaven. Well, I've dwelt upon that for a moment because I I think it's important to see the difference between the Kingdom of heaven, which is the sphere on earth entered by baptism by those that acknowledge the authority of the rejected and risen and glorified king in heaven, the head in heaven, the Lord in heaven. And everyone that has, uh, been baptized has done that. Whether he understands what his baptism is or not, he's been brought into the sphere.
That acknowledges Christ's authority, and that's the Kingdom of heaven. But it's a sphere on earth. It's not any. It has nothing to do with heaven. It's not heaven, but it's the sphere on earth where Uh, which were brought into uh when we profess now in the early, in the early days, all those who were in that sphere were real. Today there are many that are in the sphere that are not real.
Ventar CS disciples that they should tell no man that he was the Christ Jesus, the Christ. Why? Because as we said before, that testimony had been rendered and he was rejected as such. And that's when he opens up. Now the new thing that he was about to introduce the church, the assembly that he was going to build after he had died and gone to heaven. Now we have principles. Now that the church has been mentioned, we have principles that are developed. And that's what I want to look at.
In these chapters the rest of 1617 and 18, the principles that flow from the uh the assembly being mentioned here, and what should characterize those that are uh true to the Lord Jesus? Verse 21 From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go on to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised again the 3rd day. Uh, you're going to find as we go through these chapters that this.
Seeing this reminder on the part of the Lord to His disciples that He would suffer, that he would be rejected, that he would be cast out, he repeats it over and over and over again, because that was, that was the basis for the Church. So it couldn't exist. We couldn't, we couldn't even be here tonight if the Lord hadn't gone into death, hadn't suffered for us. Peter, who had just been pronounced blessed because he had proclaimed the truth of his person, now gets a very, very.
Severe rebuke. Peter takes him and begins, begins to rebuke the Lord, and says, Be it far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee. Pity yourself, Lord, that you're not. You don't have to suffer like that. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me without savor. It's not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. And how this points up that so quickly we who were no different than Peter, Peter, who was pronounced blessed in one moment, is rebuked as faith in the neck, because he would have prevented the Lord.
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I'm going to the cross had his, uh, rebuke than he did by the Lord. We'd all be lost, wouldn't we? There wouldn't be any salvation if the Lord Jesus hadn't gone to the cross. And so then he says in verse 24. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, those that were identified with him in this new path that he was going to take, you see, to the Jewish mind for him, for him, the Messiah they had, they had embraced him as the Messiah. The masses hadn't, but they had. And Peter had confessed him though, like the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God, And they all believe that who were truly his disciples.
Oh how can you be talking about suffering and being rejected and being cast out and and all these awful things? I couldn't understand that because in in their view of things the Messiah was going to come and in great power and glory subdue the enemies of Israel and establish the uh, the nation of Israel as the head. And he was going to rule and he still is. But uh, they didn't realize that the nation had rejected him. And so having been rejected now as the one that would introduce the Kingdom on earth, he now.
Six of the sphere of a new He speaks of a new thing, the Kingdom of heaven, which is the sphere. That the king, which is the character that the Kingdom would take during the absence of the king and the rejection of the king, and that he would suffer and introduce something altogether, knew he was going to build his assembly, whatever that was. I don't know that they understood very much about it at the time, but he was about to build something new all together apart from Israel, and it was going to be composed of youth and Gentiles. That's the mystery that Paul unfolds to us. You never get that truth.
In the gospels that that was a secret that only the apostle Paul was given to unfold. But here uh he tells what the disciples should expect. First he tells what would happen to him. He must go on to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders. And she free subscribes and be killed and be raised again the 3rd day. Obviously the way they react to this, the way Peter reacted. He didn't even hear the last part. He raised again the 3rd day, the mighty victor. He's going to be raised from the dead.
And be introduced into a new thing as the head of a new creation. He didn't hear that all he heard was about his rejection. And he says, this should be far from thee. Lord, pity yourself, save yourself, this won't happen to you. And uh, he gets rebuked. Then the Lord says in verse 24 Jesus said unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. So now he gives what we who follow him.
We who are identified with him, the rejected one should expect and the kind of uh pathway that is ours, it's the same pathway as his one. His was one of rejection. And so he says whosoever will save his life should lose it. If you're living for self, you're gonna lose it. You're gonna lose it all. You may not lose your soul, you may still be saved, but you're going to lose your life in the sense that the Lord is speaking here.
And whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. But what does a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? There's there's a case here that he goes to the very final degree. If one just lives for time and sense, and doesn't have reality, doesn't really have life in himself, he's gonna lose his soul and be lost and perish in hell forever. Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
For the Son of Man shall come Notice the title again, 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 work. So what has he said here? He says, I'm going to build my assembly.
Uh, I'm going to be rejected.
Peter says no, the Lord says, you don't understand, You don't know, You don't understand the mind of God. Peter, you save us, not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. And then he says, you disciples, you who are following me, you can expect the same kind of treatment from this world, But I'm coming back in my glory. And when I come, you'll be with me. And you're going to scare in that Kingdom in that day, but not now. It's going to be put in advance. This was a message that they were very slow to learn.
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Uh, the the putting off of the establishment of the Kingdom under the, uh, the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that's what he's telling them here. Then he says in verse 28. Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom. Again, the title, The Son of Man coming in his Kingdom. Well, what did he mean? They all died. That's not one of them that's living yet, but the very next chapter.
Says after six days, you know, we're almost at the end of those six days. If you take each day as 1000 years, uh man has had his day in this last for approximately pretty close 6000 years. We're almost at the end of that now. And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James and John his brother and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart and was transfigured before them. Now that's his official glory. He was.
Transfigured before the They saw his glory, Peter says. We saw his glory on the Holy Mountain.
They actually saw a little, uh preview of coming attractions preview of coming attractions. They they saw a preview of the coming Kingdom. They saw the Lord glorify. His face did shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light. And behold there appear unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Moses was uh an Old Testament faith that went into death. And uh here he he appears in glory with the Lord.
Uh, a picture of the glorified Saints that had died and been raised, and Elias, a picture of the Saints that never went through death because he was translated without going through death. So you have a picture of the heavenly Saints risen or changed and and caught up to be with the Lord in the Kingdom. Uh, Moses and Elias, the picture of the heavenly Saints. And Peter, James and John, a picture of the earthly Saints, the Jews, that would enter into the Kingdom.
And now Peter makes another big mistake. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. It's our will to let us make here 3 tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for life. Now he makes the same mistake here that the opinions of men made in the 16th chapter. They compared the Lord Jesus to great men on the earth. And Peter makes the same mistake. He says, Let let me make three tabernacles, one for you, one for Moses, one for life.
And it says in another gospel, not knowing what he said. And while they yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Now he doesn't get rebuked by the Lord, as he did in chapter 16, but he gets rebuked by the Father. And a voice said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hearing him, the Father is at work, says to Peter, Don't, ever, don't ever do that, Peter. Don't ever put the Lord, Jesus, my son, on the same level as the greatest men that have ever lived. Don't ever do that.
And that's a lesson that we have to learn in the assembly, these principles that are brought out after he introduces the subject of the church. The 1St, is that we're going to be rejected. We're going to have suffering down here, and we're going to be rejected like He was. And we could deny ourselves and not live for self, not live for time, but live for eternity. And the one that loses his life gains it. The one that saves his life loses it. Those are principles. And here we have the principal never in the assembly, never put the Lord Jesus on the same level as the greatest gifted bread brother who, whoever it may be, whether it's the Apostle Paul.
Are are Mr. Darby or anyone else? These are wonderful gifts that the Lord has given for our health and blessing, and we should esteem the most highly, but never make the mistake of putting them on the same level as the Lord himself. Well, Peter made that mistake, and so their Father says this is my beloved Son. Here him hear him and Jesus. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were sore afraid. Jesus came and touched them and said, arise, be not afraid.
And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus. Only brethren. We profess to be gathered to the name of the Lord visa. And uh, there's no other center. There's no other person. God will never have another center. He can't. He, he, he his purpose is to exalt and magnify his son, and he would have us to do the same. And so we have to learn, and we have to be very careful. Last week, make the mistake that Peter made, You might say, well, I would never do that. Don't ever say you would never do that because.
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We're apartment to fall into any one of these snares that others before us have fallen into. We're no better, Not one bit. We can fall into the same kind of error that Peter fell into. We can, uh, we can be brought to confess the glorious truth that Peter confessed. And if you're a Christian, you've done that. But at the same time, we can shun the cross. That's what Peter did. He wanted the Lord to spare himself. And we don't like the thought of the cross. We'd like to get the Kingdom without the suffering, but that's not God's way, you know?
When you hear about someone getting sick among the same, usually the first question that's asked is or they've they've died, they've they've had to go on. Their sickness was unto death and we said, well, did they suffer?
As though the very worst thing that could ever happen to us is to suffer. But that's not the worst thing. That's part of our training. That's part of the what God spends. He sends trials, He sends difficulties, He sends pain and suffering.
The Lord Jesus suffered.
He suffered as none has ever suffered or ever will suffer. So what we suffer, uh, is just a small fragment and partial uh bit of what he suffered. It's part of our training. So this is what he says before the disciples. A path of rejection and a path of self denial and a path of suffering. There's a glory ahead.
The glory is as clear as this vision.
When Chrysler transfigured before them, you just talked about the crop denying itself and that they would be, uh, go through a similar treatment and he but the end is the glory. It's always that way in God's things. The end is the glory and that's coming very shortly, very soon. But they made Peter made the mistake of comparing the Lord with Moses and Elias the greatest man of the Old Testament and that was had to be rebuked and if we ever make that mistake.
We won't have the approval of God with us in it.
When they opened their eyes they saw no man say Jesus only. I believe that most of our assembly problems is because we get occupied with men instead of with visas. Only Jesus only, let's go on. 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. And his disciples asked him saying notice he talked about the resurrection. They didn't understand that somehow they they they were blinded to understand this truth.
His disciples asked him, saying, Why? Then say, describes that alliance must first come. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come and restore all things. But I say unto you, 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 over and over again, very hard for them to, uh, to take that in.
Then the disciples understood that he's taken to them of John the Baptist.
Now we have another interesting incident.
And 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 vex. For of times he falleth into the fire and off into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not hear him. And Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long should 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 and then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, why could not be cast enough.
And Jesus said unto them, 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 beyond their place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you, albeit this kind goeth not output by prayer and fasting. How many Times Now the assembly has been introduced in chapter 16, and we have principles that flow from that first of all his suffering, that would be that would form the basis for the assembly.
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Our following Him in the pathway of rejection as disciples.
The Kingdom is ahead and we're going to enter into it, but not not now, not for a while, but they they were given this glimpse of it to strengthen their their faith. Peter says we have the prophetic word made more sure because they saw his glory. He was right there and he saw his glory. So not only did he know the Kingdom was a reality and was going to be established because of Old Testament prophetic scriptures, but they thought it.
They saw it as a preview of the coming Kingdom, and they saw him transfigured.
But now we come to.
And then Peter, making the mistake of comparing the Lord with the uh greatest of men of the Old Testament, the Father, in his jealousy, for the glory of his Son, will not allow that. He won't allow it in our assembly. He won't allow it in our assembly. And if we do that we make that mistake, we will have to be reduced by him, by God himself.
And then the case of this lunatic.
Sun, the disciples couldn't. They couldn't handle this problem, he says. I brought him to thy disciples. They could not hear him. Now here was the case where the enemy, the power of the enemy was manifest. The boy was under the power of Satan, and they couldn't tap that demon out. They couldn't, they couldn't deal with the problem.
And the Lord cures him, He heals him. But then the disciples come to the Lord and they say, why couldn't we cast him out? He gives us instruction why we're so feeble and so weak when problems come to us in the assembly and every assembly has them. Wherever I go, I find problems in the assembly. And uh, some of them are very deep and very difficult. And the president don't know what to do. And they it's like the disciples coming to the Lord Lord, we don't know how to handle this. We don't know how to cast out this demon. We don't know how to meet the enemy here.
And he said, because of your unbelief, because of your unbelief. And then he says in verse 21, Howbeit this kind goeth not forth, but by prayer and fasting, By prayer and fasting. Prayer is the greatest weapon that we have against the enemy, and probably the one that we used to lead, because it's the attitude in prayer on our faces before God of our confessed weakness.
And our inability, James says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who give us to all liberally and upbraideth not. But let him ask you faith. Because of your unbelief, he says you're so weak you couldn't cast him out. Let him ask in faith nothing doubting for he that doubted is like a wave of the seacoast and carried about by every wind. And uh, so how important that when we ask, we ask your faith. This kind time cometh not forth, but by prayer.
And fasting. Self denial. And if there isn't that, if there isn't that, that state that uh can draw upon the power that there is in Christ. And we have all the power available to it that we could ever need to meet every situation that comes to any to an assembly, to us individually or to an assembly collectively. For the Lord is there, He is there. The Spirit of God is there. And we can draw upon that power. But we are such unbelieving believers.
Because of our unbelief, I'm talking to myself. I'm not talking down to anyone. I'm talking to myself because I am guilty of this very thing. But this is, this is right here in this portion of scripture for a reason. And they couldn't deal with this particular case. The power of Satan with withdraw. Only the Lord could cast him out. He says because of your unbelief this kind cometh not forth, goeth not forth, but by prayer and fasting. Let us meet those conditions.
Let us deny ourselves. Let us be before the Lord in confessed weakness, in acknowledged inability to handle the situation and the problem. And he will come in. He will come in. Now there's another case in the next passage, verse 22. And 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 rise again, and they were exceeding sorry. Well, that's not the next case. But there again he's repeating.
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As I said over and over and over, he's repeating what they needed to learn, so, so vitally that the blessing of what was about to come when he built his assembly and established it was founded upon his death and resurrection. Founded upon his death and resurrection, did he not die and rise again? There would be no assembly, there would be no blessing. And so he had to tell them over and over again. And now we have a very interesting case at the end of the chapter.
24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, doth not your master pay tribute.
He says yes, And when he was coming to the house, Jesus prevented him saying, What thinketh thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children, or of strangers?
Peter saith unto him of strangers. Jesus saith unto them, Then are the children free? Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, Go down to the sea, and cast and hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up, and run. Now it opened his mouth, Thou shalt find a piece of money that take and give unto them for me and thee. Why is this here? Oh I think it is a tremendous lesson.
He he asked Peter the question. Uh, he knew what was on Peter's mind. Of course, uh, they that received the tribute money came to Peter and says, does not your master pay tribute? And he said yes. And the Lord uh anticipates Peter and he says, uh of whom Peter do the kings of the earth take customer tribute from? Their own children or strangers? He says some strangers, children free. Well, this was the king himself, the king. He was there. He didn't have to pay customer treatment. He was the king and they were children of the king. They didn't have to pay customer tribute but.
Did he insist on that? Uh, are we to stand up for our rights? Are we to say, as I've heard preachers say, you're a child of the king, you're not supposed to be poor, you're supposed to reign of the king, and so on. Oh no, Oh no. Notice what he says, verse 27 notwithstanding, lest we should offend them. It's not time to reign. This isn't a raining time, lest we should offend them. Go bow to the sea and cast and hook and take up the fish that first cometh up. And when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shall find a piece of money.
That take and give unto them for me. And the the amount that was in the fish was just twice what each one had to pay. So it was enough for the two of them. Well, the very means that the Lord got to you to get the money to pay the tribute proved that he was the sovereign of the universe, that he was the king of kings, and Lord of Lords, that he did not have to pay tribute by the principle that he establishes. And Peter was one of his subjects, one of his sons, so that they can the Kingdom. He didn't have to pay tribute either, but he does not insist on that.
Here. And so for Christian to be standing up for his rights in this world when the king is rejected, it's totally out of keeping with the character of the dispensation in which our lot is kept. We are, we are following, let's never forget it, a rejected Christ. We're following a rejected Savior. And so though we, by virtue of being identified with Him, don't have to pay, we do pay because.
Uh, he's rejected here. He has not established his rights in reigning yet over this thing. When he does, then we will be alongside of him as his bride reigning with him. That will be the time to reign. This is the time to suffer. This is the time to pay the tribute. This is the time to pay the taxes. I think it's a very bad sign when we Christians grumble about paying taxes, the Lord said render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God. And I'm guilty of that. But it doesn't make it right.
It's wrong. And if you're guilty of it, it's wrong because we should be thankful that we can render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and not assume that because we are sons of God that we don't have to pay. Technically that's true, but the Lord didn't didn't take that position here and we're following him and His rejection and our path is a similar path. So what we learned of those that belong to the assembly is that, umm, they're going to suffer with the Lord Jesus.
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And it never took place another alongside of the Lord Jesus. Uh, the Father will not tolerate that. And if there are problems that come in to assembly life that we cannot solve, that we're they're beyond our wisdom to handle. We can pray and fast and believe and trust God to give us the wisdom for it. And are we to stand up for our own rights? No, no. So totally out of keeping with the Christianity.
Paul says to the Corinthians, and I'd like to be able to trace these principles that we're looking at for Matthew's Gospel in the epistle. They're all in the Epistles. And just to trace it, in this instance, First Corinthians 6, he says to the Corinthians who were going to law with one another. He says, why do you not rather suffer wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? May he do wrong to defraud, and that's your brethren. But they were that was totally out of keeping. Uh, I have the right to that. Well, you might, but.
Not the time for standing up for our rights. Instead we're identified with a rejected Christ, the rejected Savior. And so there's a, there's a conduct that becomes us in in uh, consistency with that truth. Now in the 18th chapter they asked him at that time came the disciples unto Jesus saying, who's the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven That's that's fear on earth where the king is acknowledged. We talked about that and we like to be great. We like to be something. And so they ask the question, who's the greatest do you remember on the way to the cross?
The disciples were arguing among themselves who should be the greatest. Uh, that's my heart. That's your heart. We want to be something. We want to be recognized. We want to be looked up to. We want to be esteemed and thought highly of. And so they asked the Lord who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And 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. When we're converted, we're born again and uh we receive a new life and uh we uh begin the path of faith then and uh, he says, except you're converted. Except you go through this experience. Uh you uh, you're you're you. You will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child.
The same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Now he answers the question.
You can't even enter the Kingdom, he says, without being converted or the new birth. And you want to be great? Then humble yourself as the little child. You get that in. Uh, First Corinthians. I'll just read the passage, can't quote it, so I'll read it. First Corinthians, chapter 3.
Verse 4 Verse 18 Excuse me. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain. Therefore let no man glory in men, for all things are yours, and so on.
He says if any man will be wise in this world, let him become a fool.
That he may be wise. Let him take the place of knowing nothing. Let him become as a little child that doesn't know anything yet. He hasn't been taught anything, and he might be despised on that account because he's not as intelligent as someone else. How often our knowledge becomes a means of thinking that we're superior to someone else because we know more.
This people, the Pharisees said with no, not the law, are cursed.
Well, the ones that were cursed were those that knew it and didn't keep it. They're the ones that were cursed. Cursed is everyone that, uh, continue with nothing. All things which are written in the book of the law to do them. The curse doesn't fall on those who are ignorant of the law, but those who are knowledgeable of it and yet failed to keep it well.
What a lesson. They wanted to know who was the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And he he says you can't even get in unless you're converted and become as a little child and then you want to know who's the greatest. Than he that humbles himself take the little place. You can never make a mistake if there are problems, assembly problems, family problems, whatever it is, you can never make a mistake if you take the low price.
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You can take the low price.
The Lord will support that God resisted the crowd, but gives grace to the humble. If we take a proud place, God resists us. We don't have Him supporting us in that. So how wonderful. There's the moral security of the low place.
That's the place he took.
I am meek and lowly in heart.
Take my yolk, honey, learn from me. Ride meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. My yoke is easy. What was that yoke? The yoke of submission. Submission. We're living in a day when the young won't be subject to the older, when wives aren't subject to their husbands. When children aren't subject to their parents. When citizens aren't subject to the government. When those in the assembly are not subject.
To the authority of the Lord in the midst, we're living in a day of in subjection. It's not a God.
His blessing rests upon those that take the low place you want to be great in the church, and take the place of a little child. Take the place of knowing nothing, he that will be wise in this world. Let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same as greatest in the Kingdom of heaven, and whoso shall receive one such little child, in my name, receiveth me.
To receive one that is of little account in the eyes of men.
Is to be Christ like.
And to receive him. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones. What does it mean to offend them? It's caused them to stumble. Turn them out of the path of faith. That's what it means.
It doesn't mean necessarily, umm what we often think about is giving an offense. But to offend them is to stumble them, to make them to have less confidence in the Bible. For instance, the statement that would discredit the word of God. A statement that would discredit the authority of the father and the mother in the family.
Uh. A statement that would encourage one to be a rebel and Uh uh.
Uh, one that opposes uh godly order and so on. Uh, that's uh that's really causing one to act contrary to Scripture. There's so much today that's like that. And he says, who shall offend one of these little ones. Think of the think of the the think of what the Lord says here in connection with those that are teaching our children in school evolution to to stumble a little child so that he doesn't believe in God. Not teaching them that you came from the hands of the Creator instead that you evolved up.
To billions of years of evolutionary processes. Rubbish nonsense is what is being preached today. But it is to it is to just destroy any faith that little child had in God himself. I think of what a teacher said to a Christian parent. That teacher said I will do everything in my power to destroy your child's faith. That Christian parents took the child out from under that teacher. Very wisely. But that's what we're up against today. And the Lord says whoso shall offend cause to stumble. One of these little ones which believe in me.
It worked better for him than a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of the fences, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe unto that man by whom the offense cometh. And then we have a very severe word to us from the Lord. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, The hand speaks of what we do, The foot speaks of how we walk, if what you're doing, or how you're walking, causes another to stumble.
Cut it off. If this hand offends me, cut it off. If I literally cut it off, I could never offend with that hand again. And the Lord is teaching us here. Let your judgment against the the what you're doing that is giving offense or what you're how you're walking this giving offense to be so final that you'll never do it again.
If you cut it off, you can't do it again. What can you not with this hand, You can do it with the other hand. So he's not talking about the literal thing, but he's talking about what is the figure of these so definite in your judgment, in your judgment of self.
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That you cut off and stop doing or uh, stop going where your feet have been going. Uh, that gives offense. Cut them off and cast them from the IT is better for thee to enter into life, Halt remained, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offends thee, pluck it out. If you're looking at things that are causing uh you to stumble and being a stumbling block to others.
Stop it.
Stop it just as thoroughly as you would if you took your eye out, could never look at that thing again and cast it from the IT is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into Hellfire. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones. You know we can do that in the assembly. James talks about that. He says if someone come into your assembly, uh, with a gold ring and costly apparel, and you say sit down here, and then another one comes in and uh, he comes from the lower class of society and you say sit here or stand there by yourself.
Have you not become judges having evil thoughts? He says.
So take heed that you despise not one of these little ones, one who is of no account. Uh, easily despised by men. You know, uh, if we go back into the history of brethren, uh, that actually took place in Plymouth, England, uh, around 1845.
They they came out with a doctrine there that the only ones that could minister were those that were like the Apostle Paul, those that were educated and highly trained.
And those that that were on the higher echelon of society, they're the ones. And when someone which was just a more of a commoner gave out of him, they wouldn't raise it. If someone tried to raise it, they shuffled their feet so as to drown it out. Can you imagine a situation and the condition of things like that? And that's what Mr. Darby stood against so faithfully.
He wouldn't sit up with the front, with all the chief ones that were seeking to put themselves forward as the leaders there, but he took his seat with the common UH.
Saints. That was 1200 in fellowship in that assembly one time.
The Lord blew upon it.
And our numbers have been reduced.
More and more and more, because we've fallen into the very things that the Lord is warning us against over and over again. We want to be great. Let's take the low place. Let's take the low place. Those men didn't want to take the low place. They wanted to be the chiefs. And so the disaster came in. They didn't follow this instruction. And May God give us grace to follow it. 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.
May I have a representative?
In heaven their Angel will always behold the face of my Father. Don't despise them on earth they have access there. They have a representative there to the Father. They're that important, for the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.
I think that verse clearly indicates that when a child dies before it reaches the age of accountability, age of accountability goes to heaven because the Lord Jesus came to save the lost.
And they were lost, but he died for them, Helsinki for man having 100 sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the 90 and 9, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which has gone astray. Here we have the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in restoring a an airing sheet.
You know when a sheep goes astray, can't find its way back. Very stupid animal. But if a cow goes astray, it knows where it lives. It can find its way home. But not a sheep. Not a sheep Has to be sought, has to be sought.
Aren't you glad that the Lord Jesus came down from glory to seek us, to find us where we were, and to save us?
If so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, He rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the 90 and 9 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.
Beautiful to see the teaching how he starts, he answers the question, who's who's the greatest?
The greatest is the one that takes the lowest place, just like a little child. Don't despise it. Don't despise that kind of a place. Don't ever belittle. If you just have something little to do. The Lord has He's exalted that he's exalted. Let the rich glory in that he has made low and the the low in that he has exalted. He takes the rich, the wealthy, the prominent and he he lowers them. He takes those that are in low station in life and he exalts them. I like the story of the.
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The rich man that was being taken to the meeting. He was a brother in the meeting by his uh servant and uh his servant. Uh drove the carriage, parked it helped his master down, and he went into the meeting room and the.