Open—C. Hendricks, D. So
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151.
All their spread whereby.
Yeah.
Gracie.
Our souls.
Unchanged, resting like.
Our severity.
Are followed.
Let's turn to Philippians Chapter 2.
Philippians chapter 2 and verse one.
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit.
If any bowels and mercies fulfill you, my joy that she be like minded.
Having the same love being of 1 accord of one mind.
Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other better than themselves.
Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also.
On the things of others.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God?
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
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When being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus.
Every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess.
That Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Wherefore, my beloved, as He have always obeyed, not as in My presence only, but now much more in My absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
To all things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless and harmless, The sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. That I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain neither.
Labored in vain, yeah. And if I be offered up upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. Will the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me.
But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send to Matthias shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ, but you know the proof of him.
That has a son with a father. He hath served with me in the Gospel, and therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as it as I shall see how it will go with me.
But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.
That I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion, and labor, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick, For indeed he was sick nigh unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
I sent him, therefore the more carefully that when you see Him again you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such in reputation, because for the work of Christ He was nigh unto death, not regarding His life, to supply your lack of servant service.
Toward me. Not going to comment on this entire chapter.
But I thought I'd read it all.
Very precious. The word sin is not found in this epistle.
It's that which is a normal Christianity. That's what we have in this wonderful epistle.
And I was thinking.
Of that fifth verse.
The blessed Lord, I don't want to set this before you. Let this mind.
Be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
If you don't remember anything that's been said here today, let me exhort you to let the.
This mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, the mind of Christ.
His mind was disposed to relinquish all the glory that he had with the Father and with the Holy Spirit in the Blessed Trinity, and he laid that all aside.
And became a man.
God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit.
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Scene of angels preached unto the gentiles believed on in the world and.
Received up into glory, that verse has God coming down in the person of a man, and that man going up in the very presence of God. When we think of what puny failures we are as we pass through the scene, we think highly of ourselves. That's just the opposite of Him. That's just the opposite of His mind. Let this mind be in you.
Which was also in Christ Jesus.
He was pleased to take the place of nothing.
That he might, that he might be able to reach us who are nothing.
And bring us home with himself to the glory.
Who being in the form of God.
That's what he was. That was the form that was his from all eternity.
Thought it not robbery to be equal with God. That's a hard verse to understand the way it reads in our King James Bible. I'm going to change it a little bit.
Who being in the form of God, thought it not something to be tenaciously grasped unto, and held unto, and said, Do you know who I am? I'm in the form of God. I am God Himself. I will not consider being anything less.
That wasn't his mind.
His mind was to relinquish all the glory that he had, just for a while, to come down to reach the likes of you and me.
That was the mind when you think, when I think.
High thoughts of myself or yourself, That's not the mind of Christ. He was willing to take the place of nothingness that he might accomplish God's eternal purpose of blessing for you and me.
He was in the form of God, and he did not think it's something to be held on to tenaciously. Mr. Garbage translation says he esteemed it not an object of rapping. I think of a of a, of an army coming into a city and capturing it. And a soldier goes into an into a home and he looks at this wall and he sees a, he sees a vase there that he's always wanted.
And he grasped spit, he holds onto it and he said, I'll never let this go. We've always wanted it. Well, that's what's that's the thought here thought isn't that something to be grasped and held on to tenaciously. But he.
Emptied himself. He made himself of no reputation.
Didn't go through this world as a king.
A mighty, mighty king.
How thou knowest this man letters, having never learned who is he?
We know what they did to him, how they despised him and he with just a word, he could have destroyed the mall.
But no, he wasn't going to hold on to that being in the form of God. He relinquished it, and he assumed instead of the form of God, the form of a servant.
Are you willing to do that? Am I willing to do that? Are we willing to become nothing? A servant that's always doing the will of the one that's over us? And he always did the will of his father.
Therefore dost my father love me because I lay down my life and I might take it again.
Took upon him the form of a servant. Always remember that when you have high thoughts of yourself or I do.
He took the form of a servant. He was in the form of God.
But he emptied himself of that.
Took upon himself the form of a servant.
And then he was made in the likeness of men.
Like one of us.
Poor sinners such as we were, God saw the wickedness of man, that it was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil. Continually I will destroy man from the face of the earth. And he took away the whole human population, except for eight souls, Noah's wife, his three sons, their three wives.
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But he came to rescue those that were in such a case.
And bring them with himself into the glory above, where he is now.
Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself.
And became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
He humbled himself. First of all. He humbled himself in that he's expressed his willingness to become nothing, to assume the form of a servant.
And then he becomes obedient unto death, and such a death.
The death of the Cross, the most igno nini ignominious, shameful death that man ever invented for one of his fellow men.
They subjected the blessed Son of God to such a death, and he was willing to accept that that he might save you.
And me.
Even the death of the cross, wherefore God hath highly.
Exalted him and given him a name which is above every name.
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
Things in heaven or beings in heaven, beings on earth and beings under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that.
That Jesus Christ is Lord.
To the glory of.
God the Father.
Do you know that person, that person whose mind was to give up that glory for a time in order to come here and to rescue and to save the likes of us, subjecting him to the most ignominious death possible?
Do you know that man?
Do you love him? How can you possibly know him and not love him?
Let this mind.
Be in you, which was also in.
Christ Jesus.
It's a mind that's willing to be nothing.
That others might be blessed. That was his mind.
And now God has given him the highest place.
And soon he's coming, and when he comes, one of the greatest blessings that we will receive is the old nature will be left behind.
There won't be any old sinful nature.
That can cause us to sin or to have high thoughts of ourselves, such as we often do.
When we're down here.
But when we get to home.
We won't be able to sin anymore.
We won't be able to have any high thoughts anymore of ourselves, all our thoughts.
Will be centered in.
Him who has done it all. We had a wonderful time this morning.
Referring back to the journey that the children of Israel had, we had quite a bit of time spent in the book of Deuteronomy to encourage us, to give us examples of how we as individuals ought to walk, and we were encouraged by what we have learned. I'd like to, with the Lord's help, perhaps go back to that book of Deuteronomy.
And see if the Lord have a few more lessons in there for us.
Deuteronomy chapter one.
We commented briefly in previous meeting how?
The stage that they were in.
They were ready to enter into the Promised Land, whether they realized it or not.
It was right in the brink as they sit, and Moses himself was able to go up to the mount and look across, and there he sees the land that they would promise. And I enjoy that very much because I feel this is a lot like us today. We know deep down that we're standing on that brink, knowing that the Lord's coming is so ever near. But yet at the meantime, with a little bit of time they have here, we look back and we know they have only that one month or so.
But yet.
They were given instructions on how they ought to walk with that little bit of time.
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And how much more so with a little bit of time that is left in this world, we too have instructions.
What we ought to do, the encouragement we should have, the care we should have for one toward another. And we find that this book of Deuteronomy is so full of that. We commented on the first couple of verses. I'd like to look at another verse in chapter one there here, verse 22.
Perhaps we started reading.
Verse 21 Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee, go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee, Fear not, neither be discouraged. What's simple and profound statement? They were told that that they're not to fear, but to go on and possess that land. But what do we see in the next verse? Next verse we find Moses saying to his people in verse 22 And he came near unto me, everyone of you, and said, We will send man before us.
And they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again, by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. And the saying, please me well. And I took 12 men of you, one of a tribe.
This verse been puzzling me for a while. We all know this incident well that 12 spies were sent out. We know that that Caleb and Joshua were the two of us said we know we can possess the land. We know that the other ten came back and gave the report of how they see giants in the land. But that wasn't my thought here as I was reading through this verse I thought is are we like the children of Israel of old here Moses look at them and says and ye came near unto me, everyone of you.
Isn't that interesting to think that?
Rather than depended on the direction from our God, rather than taking on the step of faith were there to go in and possess the land. Are we not like them? We want to have to send a spy mission out to see what it's like for ourselves. And Moses here even said he agreed with it. How sad that they have to test. Do we have that faith as we walk in this world?
Their instructions given.
There are there's faith, there's steps of faith that we are to follow the footstep of our Lord. Now turn with me to the we commented briefly on the 8th chapter. So we will just not read that, but comment that very I'm sorry. Let's go to the fifth chapter of this book, Deuteronomy chapter 5. We just read the first verse and Moses called all Israel and said unto them.
Here, O Israel, the statues and judgments, which I speak unto you, unto your ears this day, that ye may learn them and keep them and do them. We notice here there are four very distinct words that we can identify it.
The first word here is in the beginning of this verse. Here, here, O Israel.
Are we hearing what God has for us here? We know that when it comes to the gospel, we often proclaim that here and your soul shall live. But here they are reminded they are to hear what there is from God.
How often have we heard many of these passages? And many of you here probably can proclaim that better than most of the speakers who have stood up in this podium. But here, here, why do we want to hear? Oh, I think it's wonderful that we can come under the sound of the word of God to hear what He has for us. But then hearing is just the beginning of this. In fact, in this book, I believe you'll find hearing mentioned at least 35 times.
Here and then he said that ye may learn them.
Have you learned what you have heard?
How do we learn them?
Oh, we hear, and we have to learn by spending time over His word. Do we nod here?
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Learned. And then there's another word after that. These are all actions, words. After you hear the word, after you learn them, then they're told to keep.
To keep there are his statues and commandments that we awed to walk in, do we not? And then hearing it, learning it, keeping it and then one more little word. This word only have two letters is to do how often when we hear we say we know that.
But then when it comes to doing, we fail. And I use the word we do. We not that we fail to do what we ought to do, but here's an encouragement for us. In fact, if you go through this book, I believe you'll find the word do mentioned at least 100 times over because the Lord knows that we don't do what we know that we should do.
So with this little time, they were encouraged to do so in the 8th chapter. Let's go to chapter 8 in the book of Deuteronomy. They were reminded, we commented on earlier on, that man shall not live by bread alone. They were reminded that the Lord brought them through all this time, that He preserved them so that they would know what is in their hearts. And they were given these promises of the land, that land flowing with milk and honey, that good land that they're going to go in and possess of that land.
Now my thought is let's go to chapter 15.
Some of that, as we mentioned, I mentioned earlier, is about what we ought to do.
Chapter 15, I believe now, is talking to us collectively of what we ought to do.
And by the way, as a sycom, and we'll find that in these few chapters from chapter 12 on, you'll find the Word, the place which the Lord your God shall choose, is mentioned over and over again. We won't have time to go into that in any detail, but it's important to realize that for the children of Israel there was a place.
That the Lord has chose for them to be at chapter 15. Let's read just a few verses together. Verse seven. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gate, in thy hand in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shall not harden thine hand, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother, but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and thou shalt surely lend him sufficient for his needs.
For sufficient for his need in that which he wanted.
Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart saying, The 10th year, the year of release, is at hand, and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give us him not. And he cried unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
Verse 11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land. Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy in thy land.
We find here that they were told that in the land that they will be in, they will be poor, they will be needy.
And from the passage in verse 11 That we read, it says, For the poor shall never cease.
Out of the land, I believe we find that today there are always, always going to be a need. There are always the poor, perhaps not financially in this land, perhaps the poor and needy in spirit perhaps.
Special care is needed to help others and I believe the thought, and perhaps we can take that as an application here, is that.
We are to take care one of another, are we not? We're to help those that are poor. We're to help those that are needy. We're help to help those who are in difficulties. In James, it tells us that we shouldn't withhold if we have something, if it's within our power to help. We can't send our brother away empty when it is within our means to to them. That is practical Christianity, isn't it?
So we as an assembly do have an obligation to help one another.
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Especially those that need help. As we look around us in a conference like this, we see many smiley faces.
But do we know deep down behind those miles, whether our brother or our sister?
Have a special need.
Do you know how sad it is as you reflect back throughout the years that many smiley faces that you have met or talk with from previous years are no longer with us?
And yet we fail to see. We fail to help.
Because of our insensitivities. Do not get me wrong, I am not pointing my fingers at anyone.
I'm just simply stating that as a comment of how insensitive we are to our brothers needs.
Yes, the one that needs help do not raise the hand and wave this big flag saying that I need help. But we are to help, aren't we? To encourage, to care one for another. Let's go to chapter 16.
Chapter 16 Let's read this one verse here in verse 16/16/16 three times in a year shall all thy mails appear be.
The Lord of thy God, in the place which he shall choose.
In the Feast of Unleavened Bread. In the Feast of Weeks.
And in the feast of Tabernacles, and they shall not appear before God, before the Lord.
Empty every man shall give as he is able.
According to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which hath given thee.
Here in this chapter.
They are reminded that as they spend time in that land.
There is a place and a time specified for worship.
Three times a year for the children of Israel, that they're to go to a very specific place, a place which he shall choose.
If you remember the division of the land, each tribe have their own place when they go into the land. Wouldn't it be nice for each one of them to say let's stay within our land instead of traveling a long distance to another land?
I don't believe this is the thought here. 3 * a year there to go to the place is to the nicest place in the land of Israel. No, I didn't say that. Is it the friendliest place? Don't think I read up that here neither. But it's simply a place which he shall choose.
The decision here is by the Lord, is it not? Not of man. And what are they to do for the three times a year? Well, the very first time you said is that in the Feast of Unleavened Bread?
In the book of Leviticus chapter 23 we find the seven feasts of Jehovah mentioned. In there we found that the Feast of the Unleavened Bread is the second feast, the first feast being the Passover feast in the first month. On the 10th day of the month, we found that they were to choose that lamb.
They had to keep it until the 14th day between the evening and there they were to kill or slain that lamb. We know the story, right? And the blood was to be applied at the doorpost.
The next day, the 15th day, is the unleavened bread. For seven days they had to keep that feast.
So we find that the Feast of the Unleavened Bread and the feast the Passover runs together. In fact, when you get to Luke chapter 22, you'll find that it mentioned that as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. But the thought is this. There is the death. A lamb must be slain, blood must be shed.
And the Lord said, when I see the blood, I will Passover. Here we need to be reminded of the death. And then at the 11 bread, the other purge all leaven from the living quarters. For seven days they are to walk in that light. But then immediately after that, on the 17th day, three days later, they have another feast. You'll find the 1St 3 feasts bunched together. The third feast is called the Feast of the First Fruit.
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Picture of resurrection.
The feast of the first fruit. So we find death and resurrection together.
Before we can start any form of worship, we must recognize that there is death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. So there in that feast of Unleavened bread, there to come as the first time of that year. And then the second feast here mentioned is that in the Feast of Weak. If you go on to that book, you'll find that.
The day from the day that they wave that first fruit, they're to count 7 Sabbath and the moral after seven weeks, plus another day fifty days later. They had to have this feast called the Feast of Weeks.
We know that.
50 days from Resurrection Day was a wondrous day to us. Hear the Lord, have His people remember that so they can look forward to the result of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know that 50 days from resurrection we have in the book of Acts, the day of Pentecost. The Church was formed there. It speaks of a new era as Israel will be set aside for a short while.
The Church come into being for those who are part of the Church, there will be no more Jews nor Gentiles, but rather be the Church, the Bride of our Lord Jesus Christ. So they were to look forward to that day where there will be that one body, where that one body where all members who are believers being part of that body on earth, what our Lord Jesus Christ as the head of that body.
So these Old Testament sings of all were able to look forward to that day to come, even though they didn't understand fully what this feast of weeks meant to them. They were to have that meal offering, very different type of meal offering. They were to do it with leaven, but they were to bake it. Oh, what a wonderful picture of this church to come which is here today. And then the third feast.
Is the Feast of the Tabernacle. What a reminder that at the Feast of Tabernacle on the 7th month, 2 1/2 months later.
There is that feast on the 1St of that seventh month is the Feast of Trumpet. The Feast of Trumpet is a picture of Israel being reminded as the awakening, as the Lord bring them back to blessings. On the 10th day of that month we have the Day of Atonement. And now there's fees of Tabernacle on the 15 day, a picture as the Lord bring the blessings together in the future day three times a year.
That they are to worship oh blessed God, and they are to go to a place that is very specifically chosen by God Himself.
Let's go over to the next chapter, Chapter 17.
Chapter 17.
Verse eight, We find that as these people are gathering together to do what they ought to, the instruction seems to change a little bit. Verse eight. If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment between blood and blood, between flea and flea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise.
And get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. And thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire, and they shall show the the sentence of judgment. And thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall show thee.
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And thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee, according to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do. Thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee to the right hand, nor to the left.
We just finished prior to this speaking how we need to take care one of another.
We finished speaking about how there are there is a place that the Lord choose for His worshipper to come.
But then we flip over to this chapter.
The tone changed totally.
The Lord knows that when his feet were together.
Sometimes there are differences in opinions.
Sometimes those differences are so great that it could be between as the way scripture have it worded, between blood and blood.
Have we seen that today?
Between.
Plea and plea, stroke and stroke.
Matters of controversies.
I believe here, brethren, the principle for the Assembly has been established way before in this time.
Back in the day for the Israelites of old, they are told if you can't get together and resolve this, there is a process that the Lord set up for them. You'll find that at the end of Judges, people have lost sight of what the order of things God has set out to do. And then it went on and said that every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And we find how wrong that is and the problems and difficulties that they brought upon to the people of God.
Every man did that which was right in his own eyes because God has his ways that He wants us to follow. So here, when the plead is too great for them to deal with, they are to bring them to the judge or to the Levites.
And then?
Here they are told that they are to do according to the sentence which were given by them. I do not believe anything here that talks about if you don't like what the decision is, then do this.
I believe the words here are very plain.
It tells us that that thou according. It says that according to the judgment which he shall tell thee, thou shalt do.
If you think about this in this land.
We spoil in a way here in this land, if you're not happy with somebody, you can take them to court.
And if the court sent passed upon a sentence that you do not like, then you can challenge it and go to another level, a higher court. But really, if you think about that, even in this land when it gets to the Supreme Court.
That is final, isn't it? If the sentence by the Supreme Court is handed down, there is no more appeal. Whether you like it or not, that is the sentence. But for Israel of old, they are to obey.
Here I believe the proper phrase is that authority was delegated to them. And I believe today, brethren, authority has been delegated to the assembly.
In these passages that we read, I believe the Assembly have a few things that are in common to what they have in the days of old. We found that in the 15th chapter, as in the Assembly, we have the obligation to take care of one another, do we not?
We find that in the 16th chapter, as an assembly, we see the principle here that is not a place or any place we can go. It's not that other places are no good.
Is that not a place which the Lord has chosen, the place where He chose to place His name? It's interesting that a few weeks ago we were at Hammer Bay conference in the Book of Ruth.
Was suggested and it was nice to see in that book Ruth was told not to glean in another man's field. What was wrong with the barley that she could have gleaned from another man's field? It was probably the same Barish. You could have tasted it the same, but she wouldn't have found the blessings that she would have had in Boaz Field. So here in the 16th chapter, I believe the place was chosen by God to be His.
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In the 17th chapter, we have to recognize the fact that authority is given to the assembly.
Let's go over just briefly to Matthew chapter 18.
Let's see if we can draw some parallel in here.
Matthew chapter 18. Let me preface this before I read this.
I remember.
Prior to 1992, some of you may remember there was a big problem in 1992. I was much younger than.
I remember brother came up to me and said, you people.
You people took this one verse. Matthew 1820.
And you made a doctrine out of it. The rest of the chapter had nothing to do with assembly truth.
And you use one. And he left angrily. As a young person, I did not know how they answer that. Not that I know it that much better, but I see a little bit more from the Word of God. Let's take a look at this here. Let's start reading some of the verses beginning at verse 15.
Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee.
Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee, as in heath, and man and republican.
You may not find that the way the Lord know there could be disputes coming and that we have a order of things that we are to follow. Is not interesting to see that in the 17th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. If you read through that carefully, you find that the principle that God had laid out remain the same.
Let's go on verse 18. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Isn't it interesting? Now whatever is bound on Earth, authority is vested in the assembly to bind on Earth.
You may say but.
These brothers don't know what they're doing.
Well, who is part of that assembly?
It's you and I.
Does the law know that you and I?
And are not very good as judging right from wrong.
But yet.
The authority is delegated.
Do we believe that we are part of the one body, that each one is a member of this one body with the Lord Jesus being the head in heaven?
If a decision was wrong.
Do we have the confident that our blessed Lord being the head of it all?
Will take care of that matter.
Do we need to complain that the judge was wrong? No, we need to have that full faith that He will take care of that, do we not, and learn to submit to His authority? Verse 19. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven.
I failed to mention something in the Old Testament time. We mentioned that it was a place for care one for another. But there was also another important things about the assembly. It is a place where prayer.
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To be offered up, let's go to 1St Kings Chapter 8.
When Solomon built that house for God.
There was something interesting that he said.
First Kings chapter 8 verse.
Verse 30.
Phoebe will start at verse 29. That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place at which thou hast said My name shall be there, that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place, and hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray to what this place?
And hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, when thou hearest.
Forgive. Oh, how precious to know that here is a place, a place of prayer, here in Matthew 1819, a place that we can ask.
To know that.
He is the one in charge of all this.
The following comment is not meant to be pointed at anyone, but I find it amusing sometimes that when we have problems in the assembly.
We would like to have a special prayer meeting.
So only until recently that it occurred to my heart that why do we need a special prayer meeting? By the way, I'm not against special prayer meeting, but the question is why do we need a special prayer meeting when there is a regular prayer meeting, assembly, prayer meeting in our home assembly?
I have visited a number of the assemblies.
Not as many as I would like to, but from what I understand.
The common problem is.
The prayer meeting evening.
Do not have very many people coming out.
Some have said.
The prayer meeting is the powerhouse of the Assembly.
Could it be because we need a special prayer meeting? Because, and I say this with shame, brethren.
That we're not there to have our regular prayers. OfferUp.
I leave that with you. Let's go down to verse 20, Matthew 1820.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name.
There am I in the midst of them.
This is not my own thought. I have enjoyed someone printed this out on a pamphlet.
So that written down where? Where?
A divine place.
Two or three.
A divine testimony.
Are gathered.
Divine separation If you are gathered to the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, what other names can you take? What other associations can you have?
Oh, how precious to think of that whose name unto my name, the Lord's name there is the divine authority for us, gathering together.
And because of that we have a divine, divine presence of our Lord Jesus Christ saying, Here am I.
There is the divine center.
In the mist.
Together.
The Divine Oneness.
You know, it's real old had a physical center today. No, we found a woman of the well questioned the Lord, she said she's at Jerusalem is the place we ought to worship.
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And we know the answer from that, do we not? When that time come, he said, you will not be worshipping here.
And that worship the Father should worship him in spirit and in truth. How precious brethren, to think that God has laid out these divine principles for us that we here in the assembly that we have and be able to have the care one for another. A place where where prayers can be offered collectively, a place of worship and above all.
A place where authority was delegated and a place where we know that our blessed Savior is in our midst for 59 five dollars.
It was thirsty like the everlasting son before the 1St who always worked the Asian.
59.
They were laughing.
For the world.
Time in time.