Open—Robert Boulard
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Would you turn with me please to 1St Kings chapter one?
Just want to read a couple of verses there. Chapter one first Kings verse 5.
Then at Niger, the son of Haggith exalted himself.
Saying, I will be king. And he prepared him Chariots and horsemen and 50 men to run before him. And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? And he also was a very goodly man, and his mother there him after Absalom. I'll have a burden on my heart to speak.
Perhaps in a little more detail, something of a similar character to what our brother just took up.
Have a burden because, beloved brethren, there's many here that are younger, and your older brethren, myself included, have to apologize to you.
Because we have not delivered the truth.
In the same manner as we received it when we were younger.
We haven't taught it to you.
The way we should have taught it to you.
And so when there is an act of discipline in the assembly, there's confusion because you don't know how to respond and why the response should be what it is.
And it's our fault.
And I just read these verses of scripture in connection with.
This man at Niger, because he had a very good father, a good king, his father was a good king, a man after God's own heart, but he was a very poor father because he didn't exercise discipline in his family.
But God in his grace, he loves us and he exercises discipline in his family and he exercises discipline in the assembly. Let's just turn to, umm, Revelation chapter 3. It really has to do with the day that we live in. I'm not going to read the entire portion in connection with lazy. I'm just going to read.
Verse 19.
Revelation chapter 3, verse 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
He zealous therefore and repent.
The Lord allows discipline in your life and mine because there is a purpose of love on His part and there's a needs be on our part. He never does anything without a divine purpose of love.
And so he has a desire that we might be holy. Peter says. He quotes the Old Testament. He says be therefore holy even as I am holy.
And there is a principle in the Word of God that if the Saints will not judge evil, God will judge the Saints.
Let me repeat that.
If the Saints will not judge evil, the Lord will judge the Saints.
I just read you this verse. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. Who was he talking to? He was talking to the assembly at Laodicea, and those who were in oversight in that assembly were responsible for the state of the assembly and what was going on in the assembly.
So let's just turn and, umm, look at First Corinthians chapter 5 very briefly.
I'd like to just read this passage, It's not very long.
And just comment on a few verses of Scripture in connection with the details of what takes place at an assembly meeting, A meeting of the assembly in the presence of the Lord.
It says in chapter five, First Corinthians chapter 5, verse one, it is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife, and ye are puffed up.
And have not rather mourned that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already as though I were present concerning him that hath done so, done this thing. The.
00:05:07
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we are gathered together in my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, or with the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the Spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?
Purge out, therefore the old leaven, that he may be a new lump.
As ye are unleavened, for even Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. I wrote unto you in an epistle or in the epistle, not to company with fornicators.
Yet not all together with the fornicators of this world.
Or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters. For then must your needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company. If a man that is 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.
For I 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 judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. Now there was an assembly meeting. Paul says you need to have an assembly meeting. You need to be when you're in the presence of the Lord. An assembly meeting is when we are gathered by the Spirit, and it's a meeting where the Lord is in the midst. So He's in the midst.
At the remembrance of the Lord.
He's in the midst at the assembly prayer meeting. And I believe he's in, if the meeting is conducted in such a way, he's in the midst of the his people in the assembly at the reading meeting, and he's in the midst of his people at a prophetic meeting like this one. Let the prophet speak two or three, let the other judge. And so he's in the midst. And so the assembly, he said when you're gathered.
Together in my name, it says in verse four. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together.
Always an apostle, he had special power, special authority and whatsoever he bound on earth was bound in heaven. But he says I'm going to be there in spirit with the power, with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. While you and I don't the assembly today doesn't deliver someone to Satan.
In the same way as the apostle could. But we, in a sense what we do.
Is we put someone out from among ourselves as a wicked person?
Because they've proved to be a wicked person in what they've done, and we put them away into Satan's realm.
We put them outside of the circle of Christian fellowship of those that are gathered to the Lord's name on the ground of the one body.
And we take them and we put them outside that circle of fellowship, and if they really do love the Lord, they really do belong to Him.
Oh, there's nothing more that they want. They want to be back into that circle of fellowship. They want to be in the presence of the Lord. They want to enjoy the fellowship and the communion of the Savior without any hindrance, and they want to appreciate and have the, umm, fellowship of their brethren. It's evidence that there's life and there was a life in this year one here. That was a case that Paul brought up.
And so.
There's not. Paul doesn't outline A5 step process of how this takes place. He doesn't say you do this first, you do this next, you do this, you do this Now why doesn't he do this?
He just says simply in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. He doesn't give any details because dear brethren.
What we have learned and what we learned in the Word of God as to the flesh is that the flesh is corrupt. And when you're dealing with rebellion, it doesn't matter what you say or how you say it or when you said it, how you acted. The rebel is going to rebel. And you and I all have rebellion in our own hearts.
00:10:12
And So what the apostle Paul was saying when you come into the presence of the Lord.
You have that assembly meeting.
You make a decision in the presence of the Lord.
Then he's going to bind it, and let's look at that again in chapter 18 of Matthew.
It says verse 20.
Let's read 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. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
They were gathered at assembly in Corinth and they took an action.
In the presence of the Lord, I'm going to give you an example.
You'll forgive me if I mention a couple of names. It's absolutely no one here knows these individuals. Maybe some have met them in the past, but I was brought up in a division among the Lord's people called the McDowell Division. Dear Brother Stanley McDowell.
Was a a wonderful gospel preacher. He was gifted gospel preacher.
And umm, I have to confess that he was like a grandfather to me when I was, when I was a little boy. I have fond memories of him. But you know, he got into a rebellious state of soul and umm, he had a disagreement with his brethren in Montreal. That was his home assembly.
And umm, he got himself involved with a problem that was taking place in another city, and his brethren spoke to him and he wouldn't receive their admonition.
This went on for some time and finally they dealt. They felt that they had to deal with him.
This was in 1942. And so on in morning on the Lord's Day morning, there was an assembly meeting after the breaking of bread in the presence of the Lord.
And there was a brother that stood up and he read a few passages of Scripture in connection with the case and the rebellion that had taken place.
And umm, the lack of submission of Brother Stanley.
And then you read a letter that they were gonna send out to the brethren to just notify them because he was a laboring brother.
He read that letter before the assembly.
And then he prayed and he asked the Lord. He said we are binding this action on this brother. We're silencing this brother, and we're asking the Lord to bind it. We're binding it on earth and we want him to bind it in heaven.
And you know it was bound in heaven before he sat down.
And all of the other assemblies. What was the response? What was the response that should have been to that action that took place in the presence of the Lord? Our brother mentioned a letter of commendation signed.
We receive those.
There were those that rebelled against that assembly action.
Those that were supporters, those that were relatives.
And they went out in division. The next Lord's Day, Mr. McDowell and all of his supporters in Montreal broke bread. They had a nice table, had a white cloth on it, cup loaf. It looked like the real thing, but it was an imitation.
They rebelled against the Lord.
Our brother used the term wickedness.
With wickedness against God, it was setting up something that was in opposition to what the Spirit of God had raised up originally, a fellowship of those that were gathered to the Lord's name on the ground of one body. I'm telling you this so that you understand the details. I was brought up in that division, that rebellion had formed, and so I was brought up as a young boy. My dad was saved out of Roman Catholicism.
Through the preaching of Stanley McDowell.
But after that man died, he went to be with the Lord, and the Spirit of God was free again to gather.
The thing started to fall apart.
And then the Saints.
Spirit of God was working and the Saints were gathered. One by one they came back and repented. Some had never known what it was to come into the Lord's presence at the divine center, and they came into the presence of the Lord.
00:15:14
I was a boy, almost thirteen years old, the first time that I came into an assembly of those that are gathered to the Lord's name.
I was in an imitation of the Lord's Table. It was a very good imitation.
But it wasn't the real thing. And when I came into the presence of the Lord that Lord's Day morning in Ottawa where they had the little meetings in an old building that had Waverly St. I think it was that, an old building. I think maybe it had been a Pentecostal church or something like that before our little family. Perhaps my father had called ahead. I don't know.
He climbed the stairs.
We opened those big doors and we walked into that meeting room.
It was probably 200, two, 150 people. I've never seen so many people at a meeting before, ever.
With just a handful of little farmhouse.
And I walked past the front row and there was a brother, Nicolet, and he was sobbing as we walked by, tears in his eyes. He was sobbing. He just saw a little family coming in out of division.
And coming back to the vine center, what it was to be gathered to know what it was to be gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus on the ground of one body. A previous generation had rebelled against the truth, had rebelled against the authority of the Lord.
And so in grace.
Mercy and grace, the Lord has acted as ye, when he has liberty, can gather through his center once more. You know, let's just look at Nehemiah chapter one. I want to just point this out.
In connection with these principles.
Chapter one of Nehemiah.
Let's read from verse 7.
We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments which thou hast Command us, thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandest thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations. But if ye turn unto me and keep my commandments, and do them, though there were of you, cast out unto the uttermost part of the.
Yet will I gather them from thence, and we'll bring them under the place that I have chosen to set my name there?
I just wanna point out in this little passage of scripture when there is rebellion against the word of God and the will of God.
Then the Lord acts in discipline. It says in verse eight, I will scatter you abroad. He may use an instrument. He may cause that. There's something that comes up among the Saints and that needs to be judged and there's something but if the Lord is behind it.
He may use an instrument.
But the Lord says I will scatter them. But isn't it wonderful as we read in verse nine? I love this little verse.
Yeah, will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
Why are you here this afternoon?
You may not know it and you may not never have thanked the Lord for it. I just want to say this.
Some of us here are first generation at the Lord's Table.
Brother Walt brought up in the world.
1St generation at Flora. He knows what it means to be outside and to come from the outside into the assembly the first time and he remembers how it feels.
Why are you here? This afternoon was an act of God. It was an act of God's intervention in the person of the sun to save your soul. He quickened you. He gave you life so that you could hear His voice.
And then when you did hear His voice, He gave you the faith to believe, and you receive Christ as your Savior. And then He has been working with you, working with you more than you think, to give you the desire to learn the truth and to buy the truth for yourself. To lay aside everything that would hinder you from walking in it and enjoying it.
00:20:21
And then he himself, the Lord Jesus.
Wrought in your soul.
And gave you the desire to ask for your place at the Lord's Table. And one day, perhaps I don't know how many here are at the Lord's Table. Some I I trust all.
The Lord said this do in remembrance of me.
And it touched your heart, touched your conscience, and you said you wanted to do it, and you approached your brethren, perhaps an older brother or so on, and you asked for your place at the Lord's table. It was an act of God.
You're responsible to ask for your place at the Lord's table and to be there, and to remember the Lord Jesus in his death.
But it's the sovereignty of God. Have you ever thanked them for it?
I say, have you ever thanked the Lord Jesus?
Or interfering in your life, intervening in your life and saving you and giving you the knowledge of the truth, and then bringing you into His presence and gathering you personally, individually, under His precious name. Let's just turn to Isaiah chapter 27.
It's a principle in the Word of God.
We find that oftentimes little principles given to us in the Word of God and in the Old Testament we'll find them.
Isaiah chapter 27 and just at the end of verse 12.
And ye shall be gathered 1 by 1.
God doesn't save certain crowds.
He doesn't save certain families, he saves individuals.
He loves you individually, He died for you individually, and He's working with you individually and He gathered you by His Spirit individually.
And it's a principle with God that he does this work in an individual.
And so the apostle Paul could say to the Corinthians and such were some of you, but now he says we are clean now you are clean individually. And so there's a principle at work often times among the people of God. And there was at the early time of the, the recovery of the truth. And there were there was a a group of individuals and our brother Steve mentioned them yesterday in connection with the.
A whole company of individuals, a whole company of believers received to the Lord's Table at one time. There was in the 1800s a movement in England and in the English speaking world, we might say. And the truth was recovered of what it was to be gathered to the Lord's name. So it was a popular movement, we might say, and so.
There were godly men in the church systems, and George Mueller was a godly man.
And Henry Craig, I think that was his name, his assist assistant pastor in a Baptist Church. And they decided, they put the church to the vote and they voted that they would leave the Baptist system and that they would hold as a whole company, be received to the Lord's table and become an assembly gathered to the Lord's name.
But it was a false principle.
God doesn't gather a whole company all at once.
He gathers individuals 1 by 1.
And so later that principle was tested, that whole company was tested, and they acted in such a way as they didn't understand the principle of what it was to be gathered to the Lord's name. And that they were to they were members of the body of Christ, and that they should be recogn in recognition of authority of the Lord in the midst when there was an action of the assembly.
So what are you to do when there is an act of the assembly?
Submit to the truth, submit to the authority of the Lord, because when the assembly acts, acts and discipline makes, uh, some sort of a decision, not, not all are, umm, negative, uh, decisions. Sometimes an assembly might decide to put on a conference. That's a positive act of the assembly to, to do that.
00:25:16
But when there's an act of discipline.
In the assembly.
It takes place in the assembly that it took place in, but it takes place at the same time in every other assembly of those that are gathered to the Lord's name at the same time.
And so the the Lord desires that we would submit to it. Let's just turn to Deuteronomy chapter 17 and we'll get that teaching of it.
Deuteronomy 17. Let's read from verse 8.
Yes, there arise a matter too hard for the end, judgment between blood and blood, between plea and plea, between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within my gates and natural horizon. Get the unto the into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.
And thou shalt come into the unto the priests, the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire.
And they shall show thee the sentence of the judgment, and thou shalt do according to the sentence.
Which they of that place which the Lord shall choose, shall show thee, and thou shalt observe to do according to all.
That they informed me, according to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do, thou shalt not decline from the sentence.
Which they shall show thee to the right hand, nor to the left. And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth the minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die. And thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear and fear, and do no more presumptuously.
You know, the Lord desires that we don't judge things individually.
What was done in His presence was done with His authority. We are to submit to, and the principle of submission is the principle of blessing, the principle of submission and obedience. Do you know what is to govern the word of the your life and my life and the assembly? It's the Word of God and the will of God.
The Word of God and the will of God are to govern your life and mine, govern our homes, govern us and govern us socially and so on. But that's what governs the assembly is the will of God and the Word of God. And there's no place for individual rebellion and for every man to do that which is right in his own eyes. It's a, you know, it's umm, that's a passage that's used, I think.
A quotation from Judges, and it's used in my recollection five times in the book of Judges.
Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
The consequence under the law was death.
To exercise your own will and exercise your own judgment and not submit to the truth of God and through the act of discipline of the act and the in the presence of the Lord in the Old Testament times the consequence with death.
Well, that's not what it is today, but it might be really, umm, being put away from among ourselves as a wicked person yourself. That could take place, or the Lord would could deal in some other way, but He will not tolerate rebellion against His authority.
He will not tolerate rebellion.
Against his authority.
Its wickedness in his sight.
You and I all have rebellion in our hearts, brethren, every one of us.
But he will not tolerate sin in his presence and he will judge. He does allow a time, a space for repentance. He says I gave her space for repentance. She repented not but he judges. Now I just want in the a very quickly to look at perhaps 4 little points.
00:30:01
Why do we have a hard time submitting? Why is there a question that comes up? Let's look at Umm Nehemiah.
Again, Umm.
Write the last chapter our brothers spoke and mentioned. I think it was 4 passages of Scripture brother Steve yesterday in connection with this, but I'll just look at the Nehemiah chapter 13 verse 28.
One of the sons of Giada, the son of Eliaship the high priest.
Was son-in-law to sanballat the horror night, therefore I chased him from me.
There was an unequal yoke in this man Elias Ship, the high priest family he had allowed his son to marry.
Agenda.
It was a wicked thing in the sight of the Lord in connection with the children of Israel and Elias Ship, the high priest had allowed an unequal yoke.
To come in, and not only that, but he defended the unequal yoke, and he perhaps umm, instead of dealing with in a holy manner in connection with the putting and setting up gates and bars at the gate that he raised up in the section of the wall that he repaired.
He let things slip.
And you may need an exception for his family. So that's the first reason. Often times that we have a hard time with an assembly action that takes place is because there's some family member that's involved, some relative that's involved.
And let's face it, brethren, we're intermarried quite a bit, aren't we?
I'm probably related more to more people now than I ever was.
When we came in among the gathered Saints in 1969 in June.
I wasn't related to a single person. I didn't know a soul in that place.
I thank my brethren in Ottawa.
People say you know there's no love among the gathered Saints and you know there's no love. I disagree 100%.
I never felt so loved in all my life.
When I came in among the gathered Saints.
I felt the love of the Lord in that place.
I thank God today for every memory of the homes that I was invited into.
And we were treated like the Saints of God. I think one of the brethren early writers says, you know, hospitality is a divine luxury of the Saints.
I was loved.
But family interferes and we could read in Luke's Gospel Chapter 9, you can read, I think it's three times there. It says me first, let me first go bury my father.
Me first.
No, brethren, that in all things he might have the preeminence, and you and I will not help our brethren, will not help our relatives if we support them in rebellion against the authority of the Lord. We need to be faithful.
Then we read, and we'll just turn to it again in uh, uh, First Kings.
Make this point first Kings chapter one.
Verse six. His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done done so? He also was a very goodly man.
You know, brethren.
We live in a day and age where we don't want any discipline. No discipline.
No.
No discipline.
No discipline in the assembly, no discipline in the family, no discipline in society. But that's not according to the mind of God. It says chasing my son betimes. It means chasing thy son early, while there is yet hope.
Or if thou be just him with the rod.
That's so fair. Yeah. Well, what's the quotation? S shall not kill him.
00:35:06
Many times.
It speaks of discipline.
But in love.
My father never disciplined us if he was angry with us.
I thank the Lord for that memory. If He was angry with us, He would not discipline us.
But when his anger abated that he was calm, he would talk to us about what we did and we were together spanking. There was discipline in the home.
We live in a society that despises discipline. We need to exercise self judgment rather than in connection with.
Discipline in our own lives, self-discipline, self judgment, and in connection with our homes that there might be. Discipline, Godly discipline and love. David failed on this part.
This part.
There are other reasons why.
We refuse discipline.
We get confused. Our wheels get in the way. Let's look at the first Second Corinthians chapter six. It was read yesterday. I'm not going to read the whole thing. Second Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14.
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers? For what fellowship, what communion hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
Verse 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, sayeth the Lord, And touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
We will not bow.
To an assembly action that takes place.
The way we ought to.
We will not submit through the authority of the Lord.
Oftentimes, because we're linked to something in this world that we shouldn't be linked to, we have allowed something, some entertainment, some pleasure, something in our lives, and it clouds our discernment.
Oh brethren, we need to judge those things in our lives.
What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
Be separate, saith the Lord. Touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.
So we need to judge those things that our judgment, our discernment will be clear.
We need to walk in separation.
Moral separation.
Practical separation.
Ecclesiastical Separation.
You know what ecclesiastical separation is.
Ecclesiastical separation is not walking in fellowship with those that defy the authority of the Lord.
Brethren, oftentimes we walk in fellowship.
With open brethrenism.
We walk in fellowship with the different UMM, the KLC brethren and so on. I I don't want to say that we shouldn't enjoy some of their companies sometimes and so on.
But we need to be careful.
And not imbibe the doctrines that have they have umm developed to support the systems, their ecclesiastical systems.
So they allow the principle of democracy in open brethrenism. Every assembly in the open brethren system has a right to choose whether or not they will be in fellowship with the assembly that has acted in discipline.
It's a false principle. Rather, you and I have no right to choose if we're gathered on the on ground of the one body and there's an action that took place.
In an assembly it is bound. In your assembly it is bound in heaven.
With the authority of the Lord.
And the assembly in Hammer Bay has no right to choose.
Myself, as a member of the body of Christ, I have no right, no authority to choose.
To defy the authority of the Lord in the midst.
00:40:02
Forgive me for speaking so clearly, but I say again, your older brethren are guilty. I'm guilty for not speaking the truth in love as clearly, as succinctly as what I am saying this afternoon.
I'm guilty of it. Please forgive me.
I don't want to see another generation tested and individually decide that they have the right and the authority to choose for themselves. I mentioned the quotation that Mister Norman Berry gave many years ago.
And I heard him say it personally many times. When you took Christ as your Savior and you acknowledged him as the Lord Jesus Christ, you gave up your right to choose.
You relinquish that right, You gave it to the Lord.
And so will you look to the head in glory? Will you look to the Lord? Will you? And I look to him and say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And so this question of ecclesiastical separation comes in. And if you do not walk in ecclesiastical separation, if I do not walk in ecclesiastical separation, I may imbibe some of those principles of democracy, the democratic principle of choosing for myself and deciding.
Myself, whether or not I will accept an assembly action.
It's rebellious, uh, rebellious spirit.
In the presence of the Lord.
It's sin in the presence of the Lord. It's wickedness in the sight of God. May God give us the desire and the humility and the submission of heart to acknowledge His authority in the day that He lives in, and own His Lordship in matters of the assembly, matters of discipline that come in among us, and that there might be.
Restored a proper spirit and a proper response.
Through what takes place in these assembly meetings?