Address—C. Hendricks
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Pilgrims, through this barren land we are weak with. Thou art mighty. Hold us with thy powerful hand. Dread of heaven, fetus, now and evermore. 276 Did someone raise that tune, please?
Take my way.
Home.
Turn back to the book of Deuteronomy, please.
Chapter 12.
Deuteronomy 12.
These are the statutes and judgments which he shall observe to do in the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it all the days that she live upon the earth.
Ye shall utterly destroy all the places where in the nations which he shall possess serve their gods.
Upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree.
And ye shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars.
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And burn their Groves with fire, and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods.
And destroy the names of them out of that place.
You shall not do so unto the Lord your God.
But unto the place.
Which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there.
Even under his habitation shall you see.
And thither thou shalt come.
Just want to pause here. We tried to emphasize the contrast between.
What existed roundabout Israel? Israel was set as the nation of Jehovah to be a testimony to the true God in the midst of all the idolatry of those rounded out.
And what characterizes the?
That which they were to destroy is the places.
And the nations.
And they're gods.
And the high mountains and the high hills. And the every green tree and their altars.
And their pillars and their Groves.
And their graven images of their gods, and the names of them out of there, out of that place.
They were to destroy all this. All of this was a testimony against the truth.
The truth was that there was one place, there was one name, there was one way to worship, and it wasn't left up to their choice.
I just want to read at this point the last verse of the chapter. We want to keep this before us. What things so ever. I commend you observe to do it. Thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. They had no choice in the matter. God made the choice. They want to add to the word. They want to take away from it. They were to hold it fast in all that that God had given it to them.
And they were to maintain it. That is, the will of man was not allowed.
It had no business interjecting itself into the worship of Jehovah. Here we have.
A principle that carries right through the entire Bible.
It can't be any other way. God can't have various ways to worship.
We can't have various ways to approach him. He can't leave it up to the opinions of men. He can't say it's all right if you do it this way and you do it this way, he says. This is the way.
This is my way and there's no other way, otherwise he would be denying himself.
And he cannot do that. That's one of the things God cannot do. He cannot deny himself. He must be true to himself. And so those who are his are not left to their own resources, not left to their own imagination, not left to their own thoughts or to their own ways. He has given us the instructions that we need to follow, and it's in principle we're in a different dispensation entirely.
Than the Old Testament Saints who were under law were under grace, but the principles of God don't change.
They are dispensation less, if I can put it that way. That is, they're always true. Oh, they may be carried out in a different frame of reference.
But here it was 1 nation in the midst of all the nations.
And it was the one true God that they were to bear witness to in the midst of a multiplicity of gods.
And there was just one place that he had set his name there. And they had many places where they had set the names of their gods and deities. What a contrast between what you see God gives instructions for here and what existed. Roundabout. Well, we see the same thing in Christendom today.
We're not dealing so much with idolatry and with those that worship false gods in that, but the principle, and we will get into that in the New Testament. But this evening I'll probably spend most of the time, if not all, in the Old Testament, because the principles are the same.
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You should not do sovers for unto the Lord your God, but unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose. That's the first time this is mentioned in this chapter.
Out of all your tribes to put his name there even unto his habitation.
Shall you see not his habitations? He didn't dwell in various places. He was just dwelling in one place. And thither thou shalt come, and thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices. This speaks of worship. This speaks of approaching him. This speaks of coming into his presence.
Thither thou shalt bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, that would be the peace offerings I take it, and your ties, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your free will offerings, and the first things of your hurts, and of your flocks. And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that you put your hand unto ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee.
You shall not do after all the things that we do here at this day, every man, whatever is right in his own eyes, God does not leave us to that to do what is right in our own eyes. For ye are not as yet come to the rest, and to the inheritance which the Lord He's looking on to, that when they would come into their arrest.
But when you go over Jordan and dwell in the land with the Lord, your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies roundabout so that you dwell in safety. Then there shall be a place.
Which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there Thither shall you bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which evolve unto the Lord. And ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God, ye and your sons, and your daughters, and your men servants, and your maidservants, and the Levites that is within my dear your gates, for as much as he hath no partner inheritance with you.
Take heed to thyself that thou offer not.
Notice this prohibition? Notice this solemn warning.
Take heed to thyself. Israel didn't follow this. Israel violated it. The Church has violated the principle of it. Take thee to thyself, that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest.
But in the place which the Lord shall choose, as the third mention.
First mention is verse 5, the second mention is verse 11 and now we have the third mention in verse 14.
But in the place which the Lord shall choose, and one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
Notwithstanding thou may his kill, and eat flesh, and all thy gates, let's whether thy soul lusteth after according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee the unclean, and the king may eat thereof. As of the Roebuck, and as of the heart, only you shall not eat the blood, You shall pour it upon the earth as water.
Thou mayest not eat within my gates. And here's another restriction.
He had just said they could eat some things there within their gates, But now he says, I mean it's not equal in my gates. The tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil, or the first things of thy herds are of thy clocks, nor any of thy vows which thou valus, nor thy freewheel offerings, or heave offerings of thine hand. But thou must keep them. This is the 4th mention.
Now must he stand before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.
Thou and thy son, and my daughter, and my manservant, and my maidservant, and my Levite, that is within my gates, And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, and all without put his thine hands unto.
Take heed to thyself, that thou forsake not the Levite, as long as thou live us upon the earth.
Then in verse 20.
Here we have in verse 21, the 5th mention, when the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longest to eat flesh.
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Thou mayest be pleasure whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, If the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be tooth far from thee, when thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord hath given thee as I have commanded thee. And thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lust the factory, Even as the robots eaten, so thou shalt eat them. The unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike.
Only be sure that thou eat not the blood for the blood of the life. And thou mayest not eat the light with the flesh. Thou shalt not eat of it. Thou shalt pour it upon the earth as well as thou shalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee. And thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord only thy holy things. Now this is the 6th mention of the place, only thy holy things.
If thou hast and thy vows, thou shalt take and go unto this place.
Which the Lord shall shoot? And I shall offer thy burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God. And the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altars of the Lord thy God. And I shall keep the flesh. There was only one altar. Notice there was only one place. There was only one altar.
And so it is today. In principle, we don't have an altar, but we have that cable, the loose table, and there's just one. And he would have us all, all his own around himself at this table, just as he would have all of Israel bring their offerings to the place which he chose.
And I shall offer thy burnt offerings of flesh, and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God, and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God. And thou shalt eat the flesh, observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with me, and with my children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God.
When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goes to possess them, and thou succeedest them and dwellest in their land, take heed. Here's another solemn warning, which is you didn't didn't heed take thee to thyself, that thou do not snared by following them after, that they be destroyed from before thee, and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods?
Even so, will I do likewise?
Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God, for every abomination to the Lord which he hated.
Have they done unto their gods? For even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
And then this last verse again. What things, whoever I command you observe, to do it, I shall not add thereto, nor diminish.
But what if one lived in one of the northern parts of the land, way up a long way from Jerusalem, where the divine center was? In the southern part of the land, what was?
Were they to bring their offerings down to Jerusalem, that would have been rather cumbersome. Well, there's provision in the 14th chapter for that, and I'll read it to you.
In the 14th chapter.
Verse 23 And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose to place his name there the ties of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first things of thy herds, and of thy flocks, that all may have learned to hear the Lord thy God always. Now here's the provision. And if the way be too long for these, so that thou art not able to carry it, or if the place be too far from thee, which the Lord thy God shall choose to set his name there.
When the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, then shalt thou turn it into money and bind up the money in thine hand, and shall go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. You see, being a long way off did not relieve them of the responsibility of going down to Jerusalem 3 * a year. They had to go. All their males had to appear before the Lord. You'll see that in a moment in chapter 16. So here's the provision. How could they do it? How could they bring their cattle, their lands, their sheep, their goats?
All that way, well, they sold them up there at home and then they brought the money down.
And verse 26 says, Thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lesteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desire it. And thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice thou in thine household.
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And the Levite that is within my gates, Thou shalt not forsake him, for he hath no partner inheritance with thee at the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shall lay it up within my Greeks, and so on.
That's how the Jews had developed the.
The practice that the Lord was very severe against when he went into the temple and he overthrew the money changers tables.
They had set up business.
To take the money from those that came from the northern parts and to receive their money and to sell them whatever animals they required for their sacrifices, and also to eat down there at the divine center. And the Lord was very angry at what they were doing, and he drove them out of the temple. And he said, make not my father's house and the House of merchandise.
It wasn't wrong for them to turn it into money, to bring it down to Jerusalem and turn it back into animals, but not using the temple for that purpose. And that's what the Lord was.
A disturbed about and.
So we understand the the practice that they have come into.
Youth have always been noted for being good businessmen and so here they turned a provision of the law into a profit making business and they set up business right in the temple.
And it was an abomination to God. Now let's go to the 16th of Deuteronomy, where again, we have strong emphasis on the truth that I'm looking at tonight.
Deuteronomy 16.
Before I read this, I'll read verse 16.
Three times in a year.
Shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose?
In the Feast of Unleavened Bread that's connected with the Passover, and in the Feast of Weeks that was the Day of Pentecost.
And in the Feast of Tabernacles, which celebrated the establishment of the Kingdom.
And they shall not appear before the Lord empty. So three times in a year the males have to come down. And now this chapter deals with that. Let's go back to verse one. Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover unto the Lord thy God. For in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.
Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the Passover unto the Lord thy God of the flock and of the herd, in the place which the Lord shall choose to place his name there first mention of that truth, thou shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, therewith even the bread of affliction. For thou canest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste thou that thou mayest remember the day, when thou cameest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life.
And there shall be no leavened bread seen with thee, and all thy coast seven days. Neither shall there be shall there anything of the flesh which thou sacrifices the first day of, even remain all night until the morning. Alma is not sacrificed, but Passover within any of our gates, which the Lord thy God you to be. But this is the second mention at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his nameless in there thou shalt sacrifice the Passover at even.
At the going down of the sun, at the season that thou comest forth out of Egypt.
Do we have anything that answers to that in Christianity? Or, yes, Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the peace not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 1St Corinthians 5 So we have that which answers to this. And that, of course, would be the remembrance of the Lord and his death.
And that's to be at the place it was for Israel. They couldn't celebrate the Passover where they lived. They had become to Jerusalem.
And verse 7 is the third mention of the place. And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose.
And thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents. 6 Days thou shalt eat unleavened bread. And on the 7th stage there shall be a solemn assembly to the Lord thy God. Thou shalt do no work therein.
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So there you have the first piece. Three times in a year, in April, a bib the month able. They came down and they celebrated the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days the two were connected and they remembered.
Deliverance from Egypt. And so we come together on Lord's Day Morning. And what answers to that in the New Testament for the Christians?
And we remember the Lord and He was dead. And where do we do it? At the place which He chose, which he chooses, Just like it was in the Old Testament. So it is today. He hasn't left the choice with us. This idea of going to the Church of your choice is absolutely contrary to Scripture. The choice is not yours. It is not mine, it is His. And it's simply a matter of obedience to the word of God.
Well, they had to obey the word of God. And so it is with us now we come into verse 9, where we have the feast of weeks.
And we know that is the Pentecost. It's interesting that there were three feasts. The first feast was the Passover Feast of Unleavened Bread. That's the foundation for all blessing, whether it's through the Church, which is represented in the Feast of Weeks, or whether it's to Israel, which is represented in the Feast of Tabernacles.
The foundation for all blessing and also the Feast of Tabernacles not only celebrates Israel's predominance in that day, but the blessing of all the nations under the reign of the Messiah.
And the foundation of it is the first feast, which is the Passover Christ in death, at the foundation for God to bless, whether in in a heavenly way the feast of weeks, or in an earthly way, the feast of Tabernacles that all flows from the death of Christ.
Now, verse nine, we have the feast of weeks, and we're especially interested in that, because that's what sets before us the formation of the Church, the Church which is His body. Seven weeks shall thou number unto thee, begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou begin us to put the sickle to the court which speaks of the resurrection of Christ. So seven weeks after His resurrection, plus one day was the feast of Pentecost, 50 days.
And we'll see how that is spoken of here.
From such a time as thou beginners to put the sickle to the corn, and thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the Lord thy God, with a tribute of a free will offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God, according as the Lord thy God have blessed thee. And thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and my maidservant, and the Levite that is within my gates, And the stranger and the fatherless, and the widow that are among you.
In the place This is the 4th mention in the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to place his name there.
And thou shalt remember that thou was a state bondsman in Egypt, and thou shalt observe and be these statues.
That's the second piece that the males had to come down to Jerusalem. They weren't at the same time of the year. They were at different times and.
They had to come three times a year, the males. Then in verse 13 we have a feast of Tabernacles, which is the third feast that's mentioned in this chapter, celebrating the time when the Lord Jesus will reign over this scene for 1000 years and Israel will be the head.
Of the nations, and all the nations will be blessed on earth.
Thou shall observe the feast of Tabernacle seven days after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine, and thou shalt rejoice in the feast. Thou and thy son, and my daughter, and thy manservant, and my maidservant, and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless, and the widow that are within thy gates. Seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the Lord thy God in the place. This is the fifth mention in the place which the Lord shall choose.
Because the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hand is therefore thou shalt surely rejoice.
Now we have the 6th mention in verse 16. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place.
Which he shall choose in the Feast of unleavened Bread, and in the feast of Weeks, and in the feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the Lord. Empty, every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee.
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And then we have judges and officers.
Shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee?
Throughout thy tribes. And they shall judge the people with which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Throughout thy tribes. And they shall judge the people with judgment.
Thou shalt not rest judgment.
Thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift or deprived.
For the gift just blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth.
Thou shall not plant thee a Grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee.
Neither shalt thou set things up any image which the Lord thy God hated. Those were of course, forbidden, because they would tend to lead away from the one altar and the one place that the Lord had established.
Now in the next chapter 17, we have a very interesting.
Section and I'll begin with verse 8.
Deuteronomy 17/8.
He had just mentioned at the end of Chapter 16 about the judges and the officers that were to render just judgment.
But now it says in verse 8 of chapter 17 if there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment between blood and blood.
That could be a family problem.
Between plea and plea that could have to do with.
Maybe some argument that sprung up over the inheritance or over ones land we read in Proverbs. I shall not remove an ancient landmark which the father suspect, so plea and plea.
And between stroke and stroke, some may have gotten into a fight.
And hit someone else and injured another person. And so on. And so conflict among brethren.
So we have things that blood and blood might speak of family trouble and.
Three and three might speak of.
Property problems.
And stroke and stroke of life speak of arguments and conflicts amongst things.
If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment of these things, being matters of controversy within thy gates, then shalt thou arise and get thee up into the place.
The Lord thy God shall choose. These matters were so serious that they couldn't be resolved just in the locality where one resided, but they then were given instruction. Go to the place, go to Jerusalem, and there you will receive just judgment.
And I shall come unto the priest.
The Levites.
And unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire, and they shall show these a sentence of judgment.
So here we have an authority vested in those at the divine center.
To resolve these matters that were weighty and too hard for them in judgment.
I shall come under the priests to Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire, and they shall show thee the sentence of justice, and thou shalt do according to the sentence which they of that place which the Lord shall choose, shall show them.
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 shall do.
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That I should not decline from the sentence if they shall show thee to the right hand, not to the left.
And the man that will do presumptuously.
And will not hearken under the priest that standards diminish the bear before the Lord has God.
Or under the judge even that man shall die, and thou shall put away the evil from Israel.
And all the people show fear and fear and do no more.
So there was provision made.
In the law, first of all in the selection of judges and officers.
Within thy gate.
To handle matters of.
Rabbit here.
Unimportant, not, not major problems. But then when they arose, there was a place that the Lord had chosen. It was the place where they had three times in a year the males had to go, and their offerings passed over each week. The Pentecost Feast of Tabernacles, celebration of the establishment of the Kingdom.
And they had to come to that place and offer all that they had. And then there was provision made that when controversies difficulties arose amongst the Israelites, that there was a place that was the same place. It was the same place where there would be just judgment rendered. And those that brought their problems down to that place, they were instructed very carefully that they were to adhere to the judgment that was rendered.
Every delegated authority and mortgage delegated.
Has to answer to him. Whether it's parental authority, whether it's governmental authority, whether it's assembly authority, whether it was the authority here, the priests and judges down at Jerusalem, they had to answer to him for the judgment that they rendered. And if they render a judgment, and many did this, all of these things were abused. All of these things were.
There was failure in carrying them out.
There has been in the church.
Anything committed to man has failed, and we have to face that. But the principles of God remain the same, and there's always a resource in the Church of God. The resource is the presence of the Lord in the midst of His gathered Saints with Israel. The resource was the Lord's presence found in Jerusalem, where he had set his name.
And it's wonderful to see and just to trace carefully the the principles.
Of Scripture.
Now let's turn to Matthew chapter 18 for a moment.
You will notice that there are differences here.
Because now the Lord is introducing a new order of things.
And we are very familiar with the chapter, I believe, so I'll start with verse 15.
More moreover, if my brother shall trespass against thee.
There's a case of a personal trespass between brother and brother. Go and tell him his fault between Z and him alone.
If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. The whole purpose of going to the brother that has trespassed against you is to gain him. And you want him to hear what you have to say, to bring before him the trespass that he is committed, and how it has injured you, offended you, and grieved you. And if you hear these, Palestine, thy brothers.
The purpose of going is not to put him down, not to make yourself feel superior, but to gain him. That's the energy of grace. This whole chapter is the energy of grace going on.
But if you will not hear thee, and I want you to notice that the second personal pronoun that's used is always in this package, right now singular.
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Thee if he will not hear thee, it's just an individual that's in view here. Then take with the one or two more. Now you have several that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
That's another very fundamental principle of Scripture, that one was not to be put to death in Israel on the testimony of one witness.
There had to be two or three witnesses. There had to be adequate testimony.
And if there wasn't adequate testimony, they were not able to render a judgment.
And in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
What does that fail? We have the energy of grace going to the one individually, seeking to gain him, then taking one or two more. These are all from the local assembly there. This has to do with the local assembly, and we'll see that in just a moment. Well, in verse 17 we'll see it. And if you shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church.
Now we have the whole assembly locally involved. It's not it's not Jerusalem any longer.
We saw the provision that God made in Deuteronomy 17 for problems that would arise.
Among the Jews, among the Israelites, they had to go down to Jerusalem, the divine center. But God also has a divine center. And what is that today? It's where two or three are gathered together to his name, and so this now has to be carried to the assembly if he neglects to hear the church.
Let him be unto thee as in heathen, man, and republican now, right through verse 17. It's it's the it's singular.
I want to just make this comment one of the one of the strong pluses for the King James translation and Mr. Garvey's two in favor instead of the modern translations where they just use you, which you can't tell when you're reading you in the modern translations, whether it's the singular you or a plural you.
Whereas the King James translation Every second personal pronoun, second personal pronoun that begins with a key is singular.
Val. V thyme. Those are the pronouns that start with this. Either all singular and every second personal pronoun that begins with AY is plural.
You your, yours.
So every time you read AV in the King James translation on Mr. Darby, these oldest translations that that keep with Elizabethan English, you have a precision that you lose in modern English.
So every time you read of thee or thou is singular, and when you read of ye or you, it's Pearl, always. And you can James Barber. And that's helpful. There's some that don't know that they haven't realized that, and they haven't sensed the difference. When there's a change from singular to plural, when he's talking, the Lord is talking to one person or to many.
Well, I mentioned that because in verse 15 it's thy brothers shall trespass against thee. That's still that's all singular, telling his fault between Z and him alone, if he shall hear Z, thou hast gained thy brother, It's all singular. But if you will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more than in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if you shall neglect to hear them, that plural, of course, tell it unto the church which would be plural.
But if you neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee still a word to the individual as an heathen man and republican. Let him be unto thee as in heathen man in the public. And that is the one that that committed this personal trespass, that would not be reconciled to you when you entreated him, when you took one or two more, and you took the assembly itself, and he would not hear the assembly. That's the final Court of Appeal. There is nothing beyond that.
Just as there was number Court of Appeal beyond going to the divine center at Jerusalem in Deuteronomy 17, that was the final Court of Appeal.
So if he doesn't hear the church, then the words of the individual let him be unto theism. He the man in the public. And just as though he wasn't even saved, that's been saying now he changes to the plural verse. 18 Verily I say unto you, Plural.
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Whatsoever ye plural shall bind on earth, shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven. Now he's talking about an action taken by the assembly itself to bind or to loose. That's a that's a that's a valid action that is taken by the assembly itself. And then it goes on to say in verse 19 again I say unto you.
Any speaking to in the plural, 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. And here you have the smallest number, the smallest plurality, 2 of you shall agree, and that word agreed. The thought is to to synchronize. The thought is to harmonize. It's not two brothers coming together and say we're going to agree on this matter, but is that God has placed a burden.
Upon the one and the other, so that they come together for prayer and they are in agreement. It is not praying to cross purposes. It's not one frame, One Direction, and one praying another direction. But there is agreement, and that agreement has been produced by the power of the Holy Spirit operating in the heart, and the conscience is of the same. I think the number 2 is really symbolical of competent testimony if there's a competent testimony in agreement.
That a problem is there, and they look to the Lord for it. We have the promise in that verse. It shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
Then verse 24, where two or three are gathered together in or unto my name, there mine the mist of them. Do we have anything in Christianity? Do we have anything that answers to Deuteronomy 17, where the Jew would go down to Jerusalem to have the more difficult problems resolved in several yes. What answers to it? Where is the divine center in the New Testament?
Two or three are gathered together through my name. There am I in the midst of them. It's Christ in the midst, His presence there that constitutes the authority, And that's the reason why the judgment rendered there is to be vowed to.
Just as it was at Jerusalem.
For where two or three?
Adequate testimony and abundant testimony. Two or three are gathered together.