Baker, Jim: Four Pictures Of Local Assembly Matt 18 ~ Lurgan

We read for the night, please, from the Gospel by Matthew, chapter eighteen. Matthew chapter eighteen. Reading from verse one. Matthew eighteen verse one. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off and cast them from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life, halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven, for the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. How think ye, if a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. 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 unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 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. Then came Peter to him and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me and forgive, and I forgive him, till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents. But for as much as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him a hundred pence, and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me. Shouldest not thou also have compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee? And his lord was rough and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. Now we know that God will bless the reading of his word. As Mr. Paisley implied yesterday, we should not apologize ever for reading a lengthy passage from the word of God, because it is true that it is more important than anything that we can ever say about it. Now tonight, as we turn to the gospel by Matthew, we would all know, I'm sure, or most in this meeting would know, that this gospel is the gospel of the king and of the kingdom. But when we think of the kingdom, it is spoken of in this gospel as the kingdom of heaven. And when we think of that kingdom, we might say, now, what part do we have in that kingdom? Is the church in the kingdom? That is a, a suitable and appropriate question to ask at the outset as we turn to this chapter, because you may have noticed, you will have noticed, that as we commence to read, the Lord Jesus begins immediately to speak about the kingdom of heaven, and he speaks of it as we go on through the chapter. So is the church in the kingdom? Let me illustrate it for you tonight like this. If you have looked across in the land of Israel in the days of Solomon, you would have seen that the whole of that land that God had given to the nation formed part of the kingdom. It was all the kingdom. But within the kingdom, there was a particular spiritual part. In Jerusalem, there was a part that was the temple complex. Now, the temple was in the kingdom. The temple was unique within the tem- within the kingdom. It was a spiritual entity within it. So you could say the kingdom is not the temple, but the temple was within the kingdom. So it is when we turn to the Gospel of Matthew, we find that the church, the truth that we speak of in the New Testament as the church, is seen to be part of God's kingdom program. It's part of the kingdom of heaven. Now, another thing we notice when we come to this gospel is, you know, some people say, well, I often hear you speaking or, or hear the brethren speaking about the truth of the church and the truth of the churches. And they speak about the church as being the dispensational aspect of the church, that great company that commenced on the day of Pentecost, that will conclude at the time of the rapture. The people that God is taking out from the nations today are people for his own name, the church. And then sometimes we hear our brethren ministering about the churches. I can't remember who it was, but someone pointed out in these meetings over these days that the Bible only speaks of two aspects. I g- I believe that with all my heart. The church and then the churches, that is the companies, the assemblies, the local assemblies. So that when we think of the churches, we're thinking of different assemblies, different local churches in different towns, planted through the preaching of the gospel. Now, some people say, when we hear you teaching about that, you always turn to the epistles. Well, of course, because there is much doctrinal truth in the epistles about those matters, but those people say, well, the Lord Jesus never talked about the local assembly the way you seem to be always speaking about it. But that's not quite true. Because you notice when we come to this great kingdom gospel, the gospel of Matthew, that in two chapters we have reference to the church. But when we turn to them, we find that there are differences between the two chapters. So if we turn tonight to Matthew chapter sixteen, we won't do that now, but if we turn to chapter sixteen, we would hear the words of the Lord Jesus when he said, I will build my church. And that is that great company that we just alluded to, commenced on the day of Pentecost, and will conclude at the time of the rapture. The church dispensational, some people call it the church universal, the church which is his body is a scriptural expression for it found in the Epistle to the Ephesians. The Lord Jesus did speak about it. He spoke about the truth of the church. But you say to me tonight, did the Lord Jesus ever speak about the local assembly? Well, he did. We've been reading about it tonight in Matthew chapter eighteen. You know, did you notice that in the chapter tonight we read, we'll come back to this later as the time permits, but did you notice that when we came to a problem that occur- that will occur, the Lord Jesus said, if a brother trespasses against another and the fault cannot be remedied, eventually, going through a procedure, it comes to the point where it says, tell it to the church. Now, there's no way, if you have a difficulty with another brother, there's no way in which you can tell that problem to the church, which is his body, the dispensational church. You cannot do it. Many of the saints of the present day who are in the church, and many of the saints who are in the church are in heaven already, probably most of them. You can't tell that to the church universal, but you can tell it to the local assembly. So can you see that when we turn to Matthew chapter eighteen we have the local assembly. Now let me be brief, because I want to look with you generally at this chapter, at four pictures of a local assembly in this chapter. That's what I want to talk to you about. But before we do so, let me point out the differences that do really exist between the two that we have in one, in Matthew sixteen, the dispensational church, in Matthew eighteen, the local church. Well, the first thing we've noticed is one is the church, and the other is the churches, because there are many assemblies, but only one dispensational church. The second thing is that the church, which is his body, is mystical. It can't be physically seen at any one time. It's mystical. But the local assembly is local, it's tangible, it's literal. Here in Lurgan, there is an assembly of God's people. And if you came to this gospel hall on the Lord's Day morning, they'll be gathered to break bread. And if you come on, I don't know the nights of all the meetings, but you come on, you've had the Bible reading announced on Saturday, and you know that there'll be the gospel meeting on Sunday, and the church, the local church, the local assembly, it gathers together here in Lurgan. And then if you went to another town, you would find that there's a local assembly gathered. It's literal, it's tangible. So the church universal is mystical, but the church lit- the church local, the assembly local is tangible, it's literal. It gathers together in a physical way. Then again, you'll notice that the church, which is his body, it commenced. We know when it commenced. Commenced on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came down. And we know when it's going to conclude. It's going to conclude at the rapture, when the Lord comes and takes the saints away, and the living and the dead will be caught up together, and all the saints of the present day will be taken to heaven, so we know when it commenced, and we know when it concludes. But I can't tell you as easily about that with a local assembly. I know, for instance, that there were seven local assemblies in Asia Minor. You read about all seven in Revelation chapters two and three. But as far as we're aware, there's not one of those seven exi- in existence today. They commenced not on the day of Pentecost. Now listen carefully, they did not commence on the day of Pentecost. They commenced through servants of God going into a given area. Think of the one in Thessalonica, I'll go out of those seven. And Paul went into Thessalonica in Acts seventeen with his companions, and he preached the gospel, and some souls were saved, and Paul taught them the truth, and they gathered on the, they gathered together as an assembly on the first of the week to break bread, and they had their gatherings together, and they became a local assembly. I don't know when it was, but it was around the time of Acts seventeen. I had the privilege only once in my life of seeing a little assembly planted, and that was in Renfrewshire, and I remember on the first of May nineteen seventy seven in a little village there, for the first time, a little company of twenty six believers sat down to break bread, and that was the commencement of the local assembly in Bishops, and it still, it still stands today. Now, we know that those assemblies I've mentioned to you in the No- New Testament are not there now. If you go to Thessalonica, there's no local assembly there. If you go to Corinth, there's no local assembly. And when you turn to the book of Revelation, you'll find the Lord did give a warning to one assembly, and he said, if your behavior continues to be such as it is, I will remove the lampstand. So it's, it's through the preaching of the gospel that a local assembly is planted, and it can be removed. You follow the point now? The local assembly, the, the church universal or dispensational, started on the day of Pentecost, will conclude at the rapture, but the life of an assembly is variable according to many circumstances. Then again, you'll notice in Matthew chapter sixteen the Lord Jesus says, I will build my church. I will build my church. And we find that statement is corroborated when we come to Acts two, the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. The Lord said, I will build my church. But when you come to the local assembly, you turn to First Corinthians chapter m three um and the Apostle Paul is saying, I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon, and God has given responsibility to servants in local places to build into their local assembly. I want to pause and say this tonight. Don't forget now, every believer has a responsibility to build into the local assembly. That's the responsibility you have in the town where you live. Then again, we notice that the church, which is his body, is indestructible. It cannot be destroyed. The Lord Jesus said, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It can't be destroyed. But when we come to the New Testament epistles again, we find, as we've said, a local assembly can be removed. Can I say another thing? You are in the church, which is his body, through conversion. When God saved you, you came into that. But you don't come into the local assembly when you get converted. God's ideal is that you do come into it, but you must be received into a local assembly. You must be baptized. There must be evidence that you have the life of God in your soul, and there are elder brethren who would want to interview you. And then had we the time, we could look at other passages of the New Testament and show that that is scriptural. That is how the word of God teaches the local assembly should operate. So a person must be received into the assembly. And, and by the way, there's another thing. You can never be put out of the church, which is his body. It just is impossible. Providing a person is truly saved, then they're in that great company that comprises the body of Christ. They can't be put out of that. But we know there was a man in First Corinthians chapter five to whom the apostle, uh, and the apostle said to the assembly about him, he said, put away from among yourselves that wicked person. He had committed moral sin, and he must be put away from the assembly. Now, I know these are very simple things to teach to you in Northern Ireland today, but I'm not sure that we're always teaching them as much as we should today, so it's going to do no harm me going over these truths this evening. So a person can't be put out of the church, which is his body, but they can be put out of the local assembly. Well, I better not talk anymore about the contrast. What I want us to do now is to notice those verses that we read in the middle of the chapter first, and then I see the fingers going around very quickly, so I have to be brief. Did you notice when we came down to those verses where the Lord Jesus speaks about the matter of prayer? He says in verse nineteen, if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything, they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. And then this remarkably important statement. Our Lord Jesus said, for where four, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. That is one of the fundamental truths that is associated with the gathering of a local assembly. We gather in and onto the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was mentioned the other day in ministry. I don't want to take too much time now talking about it again. But you'll remember that in the epistle to the Corinthians, First Corinthians chapter one, Paul speaks of that assembly, and he talks of their relationship to other assemblies. He says, with all that in every place, listen to the language now, all that in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both they. So the assembly owns no other name, according to the New Testament, but the name of Christ. We gather to the name of Christ. Now, bearing that in mind, what I want to do for the remainder of the meeting is to ask you to look at this chapter with the assembly in mind, because it does shine out, as we've already seen. We've given an illustration of tell it to the church. So first of all, will you look with me at the first eleven verses? And in the first eleven verses, we have this, uh, incident that took place when the Lord Jesus took a little child, and he set him in the midst. Now, what are we going to learn here? Well, I want to talk to you for a few moments about the fact that in every assembly, we must be able to observe the fact that the spirit of a child should characterize all our relationships. The spirit of the little child, and I want to talk to you about that for a little time. We're going to go back to it. The spirit of a child. He takes a child, and he uses the child as an example. And then we're going to look briefly at verses twelve to fourteen. We're not going to go down every verse of this chapter, but in verses twelve to fourteen, the next thing I want to talk to you about is not a child, but a sheep. For you see, sometimes God's people are looked upon as children, and other times there's another figure used. Here's another figure, a sheep. And there we want to consider the fact that in every assembly there must be a readiness to take account of the tendency to wander. For any of the saints, you know, we've got to admit it, we've got a tendency to wander. And God wants us to remember that there's a sense in which we're like sheep when we're in the assembly, and the overseers must take care of the s- of the flock of God and keep an eye on those who have a tendency to wander. You see what's the truth that I have in mind? And then if you look next at verses fifteen to twenty, we're going to turn away from the example of a child and away from the example now of, uh, of a sheep, and we're going to look at a brother. And we think of our brethren. You see, we're brethren in Christ, and this includes the sisters. It's a sort of generic term that we're drawing your attention to, and we're going to see in that section that we've got to also learn how to deal when trespass comes in, when difficulty comes in between brethren, and they don't all come in between the brethren, sometimes it's between the sisters. You see why I'm saying it's a generic thing, it's a general thing. So Paul beg- uh, the Lord begins to deal. You see, brethren and sisters, how you would think that this sort of truth always comes from Paul, you see. But the Lord Jesus is showing in this chapter the fact that we must remember how to deal with, deal with each other. Humility is going to be the big truth that comes out when we think of the child, isn't it? Who shall humble itself as a child? You see, we're going to look at that. And then when we look at this idea of the sheep, well, we've already seen it's the danger of wandering, so it's care that's going to be thought about. And then, you see, when we come to the brother, we're going to see the importance now of short accounts in our relationships and the danger of things coming in between. Many an assembly has been ruined, not by wrong doctrine. Now, what surprises me today is this. I have a burden about this as I think about the Lord's people in so many places, and I realize the danger is in my own heart. It's in all our hearts. But my burden is this, that so often in assemblies that would hold every tenet of divine truth, they've still been divided. And the brethren who are on one side and the brethren who are on the other side, if you ask them, they believe everything that the other believes. They're absolutely happy with all of God's truth. It's personal, and there's a personal thing in our chapter tonight, and it's ruined many an assembly. I know an assembly in my hometown of Liverpool, and I don't say it to be amusing now, but it was a big, thriving assembly when I was a young man down there. And you know how all the problems started? Someone wanted a window opening, and others said the draft would come through, and that started bickering and argument, and it ended with the whole assembly being divided. And it's just down to a shadow today. It's hardly an assembly I'd be happy to be, even go to visit now. You see how the devil so often uses personal things. But you see, you see what I have in mind? I want to get the lesson over, even we don't get looking at it in detail. And then finally, we notice as we come to the last part of the chapter, verses twenty one through to thirty five, it's a bond servant now, the child, the sheep, the brother, the bond servant. And there we want to think about how to deal with others, always remembering we must be have a sense of our own debt. You see, brethren, our problem so often is that we forget that we've been forgiven. And when you forget that God has forgiven you, then you start, you, you stop forgiving others. Now the, this is the Lord Jesus who teaches this, but if we turn to the writings of the Apostle Paul, we find that's just exactly what he says in the Ephesian epistle. He tells them to forgive, even as Christ have forgiven us. Now these are the sort of things that are upon my heart, but I realize that the time is going by. Let's come to the first one for a few moments. Let's look at the first eleven verses and notice the Lord Jesus. You see, they said, isn't it interesting how from time to time we notice this in our Bible readings, that from time to time there came into that apostolic band, those disciples who had been so near to Christ, there came that sense of rivalry. It's a big problem amongst God's people. Who will be the greatest? You see what it's saying here? Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? You know, brothers and sisters, there's a great danger in assembly life. It's a great danger in preaching life. It's a great danger amongst God's people. Who is the greatest? And there it was in the very band that the Lord himself led. We saw the other day that there was a traitor in the very band that was led by Christ for those years, and we now see there was a spirit of rivalry in the others as well. Who is the great? I want you to notice how beautifully the Lord Jesus deals with this. It says in verse number two, he called a little child. Now, this isn't a little boy with his tantrums. This isn't a little boy or a little girl, you know, who's got to that age where they're doing naughty things. He takes... He says, verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as... Do you notice I tried to emphasize that in the reading tonight, as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, look at verse four— whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest. You see, divine values are entirely different to human values, and Christ is saying God's estimate of greatness is marked by the measure of humility. Are you listening to that? The Lord is more interested in the humility of my heart than he is by the sense of my own greatness. Who is the highest example of this? I don't need to tell you tonight. The one who took that little child is the one who, in John chapter thirteen, with the disciples gathered around him, that beautiful statement has been penned by John concerning him, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands. That is, of course, in a sense, a figurative term. But what does he do? He set- lays aside his garments, puts upon him the servant's apron, and takes the water, and into his own literal hands, he takes the defiled and the dirty feet of his disciples, and he washes them. He was the man that was marked by humility. Paul writing doctrinally, he says, who being in the form of God, thought he not robbery to be equal with God, he made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. Oh, the wonder of it tonight. And brothers and sisters, I want you to see with me now, let us continue in the, in the little text. Notice how that he says now, whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, marked by simplicity and humility, the same is greatest. And so you see, what we're learning is this, the Lord Jesus, they say to the Lord Jesus, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? The Lord Jesus says, the man that's marked by a spirit of humility. Now, it's not a very well-known commodity, we've got to be honest. This place, the platform, is a dangerous place, but it's not the only place that's dangerous. Any service that brings the servant before the people of God, and any work that distinguishes someone from the other servants of God, is a work that carries the danger of pride, and God hates pride. And my little message tonight in Lurgan will be well worthwhile, and although you've gathered from different places tonight and been kind to make the journey to come, your journey will be well worthwhile if only we could learn afresh in God's presence tonight the value of humility, of being humble as the Savior was. He says, whoso shall humble himself. Now, this is important. It's not deep ministry, but it's very important ministry. Now, I want you to see now that that's I must, verse four is essentially saying I must be humble. But look at verse five. Verse five says, and whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. This is not saying I must be humble, but it's saying I must learn to appreciate the humble. Do you see that? Whoso shall receive one such little child. Do you know we, do you know the attitude of the world is? You know what the world does to someone who's humble? Tread them down. You know that, you've seen that. Many places I've been in professional life and so on, you'll know in your own experience. Someone who takes a low place, a humble place, the world just want to tread over them. But God says that's the man that I should learn to appreciate. That's the sister that I should learn to regard and esteem in love for Christ's sake. If I see a humble spirit, I see someone that's like Christ. Do you see, brothers and sisters, what they are sa- you- I don't know anything about your assembly, not even here in Lurgan, very little about it. Very artificial, our spiritual life when we gather at conferences, that's no reflection of what the assembly is like. But I want to say this tonight. If I'm proud before my brethren, that will grieve God, and it won't help the saints. And if I'm arrogant towards those who are humble and simple in their approach, that will be harmful too. Let's learn to be humble, and let's learn to appreciate those who have that likeness to Christ. Now, it's simple, but it's important. The, the importance of humility amongst the people of God. And we'll not go on with that now. I think that's all I'm going to say about that because the time is going to go by, has gone by very quickly. But can you see in verse six? whoso shall offend? That word offend, it means to stumble. Are you listening to that now? Stumble. Whoso shall stumble one of these little ones. He's not talking about little children. You see, that's been the picture. Hope you're getting the picture now. The picture is to talk to about the humble, the humility, the man or sister that's marked by humility. Whoso shall stumble one of those little ones, it were better for him that a millstone be cast about his neck, and he be drowned in the depth of the sea. And he talks about the fact in verse seven that the world is marked by that. That's the marks of the world, as we've been saying to you. Now let's come. And by the way, do you notice in verse eight he talks about the hands and the feet, and he shows that our very faculties can be employed in doing despite to these truths. But now I want you to come to the next, uh, section. And as we do, just notice as we pass it by in verse ten, take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. Now come to the next section, verses twelve to fourteen, And I want to talk to you about sheep just for a moment or two. I don't know much about sheep, really. I want to talk about spiritual sheep. Will you notice with me in those verses that the Lord Jesus says in verse number eleven, the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost, not to seek and to save. This is a different treatment of the, of the story that the Lord Jesus told in the gospel by Luke. Each gospel has its own character, and when we read things that are similar, we must look at them in the context and see if we can read why the reason is that the difference is there. Now, when we come to this section, can you see now that the Lord Jesus is not thinking so much, it seems, about the sinner? He's talking about the saints, and I want you to see the picture for the saints in the assembly now, because God looks upon his people as a flock. And you know that, don't you? Paul writes, says to the elders of the assembly at Ephesus, take heed, he says to the, he, he, he speaks of the flock of God, which he hath purchased with the blood of his own. That's the value that God places. Do you know that? I don't know how big your, your assembly is. Might be a small one, maybe a big one, but you know this, God places great value upon the assembly. You know why? He purchased it. It, it doesn't belong to you and I. We talk, you know, so often, that's brother such and such a body's assembly. I'm sure you talk like that over here. We do in England sometimes, in Scotland. But it's really the Lord's assembly, and he purchased it with the blood of his own. Never talk about the blood of God. The Bible doesn't do that. The blood of his own brings before us the one who is his own, the darling of his heart. He purchased the assembly with the blood of his own. That amazing thing. And that's the context of sheep that's used there. Now, do you see what we have as we come? The Lord Jesus says, how think ye, verse twelve, if a man have a hundred sheep and one of them be gone astray, and doth he not leave the ninety and nine and he goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is astray? And if so be, verse thirteen, that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Now the Lord Jesus doesn't condemn that. Look what he says next. Even so, this is the important verse. It is not the will of your Father, which is in heaven, that one of these little ones, it's the same subject, can you see it running through? The little ones are still in view, that one of these little ones should perish. The Lord Jesus takes that lovely example that we preach the gospel from in the gospel by Luke, and he talks about the importance of understanding that sheep have a tendency to wander. Are you listening to that now? Can I say a word humbly, very humbly, to our dear brethren? Because many of you, I'm sure, in the meeting tonight, and God has given to you particularly a responsibility in the assembly to feed the flock of God. But listen, feeding isn't the only thing. It's not the only aspect of overseership. We must feed God's people. It's very important. But do you ever look across the flock of God and think about those and the spiritual condition they're in? You know, God has given to you, dear brethren, a responsibility to watch God's people. I sometimes like to illustrate this aspect of the overseer's work because we're usually doing it when we're on a platform. Now, you know, this is a good high platform here, and I can see, it's a bit difficult because of the sides, but I can see everybody. You see, if I take the trouble to look around. So providing I look, I can see everybody. You're going to sleep, I'll be able to see. You know, you wouldn't be able to hide too easily now, because I've been given a place here just tonight, just for this purpose, that allows me to look over the flock, to look over the company. Do you see? Now, God has put the overseers into the assembly, and he's given them this work of overseership. I'm just using the English word to illustrate at the moment, to see over the flock. And that's one of the works that God has given them to do. Now, you dear young believers, listen to what I'm going to say. If someone comes to you, a brother comes to you, and he's one of the elder brethren, and he says, we haven't been seeing you recently at the meetings. Oh, how is it you're not taking part of whatever it is if you're a brother? Don't you get angry with him now. He's doing the work that God gave him to do. That's what he's got to do. And if he doesn't do it, he'll answer for that at the judgment seat of Christ. For Hebrews thirteen says, they watch for your souls as they that must give account. So the elder brethren are going to have to give account at the judgment seat for the way that they watch the saints. So they're watching whether the saints are going astray or not. You see the point? And here we're learning the Lord Jesus is teaching it. See, the Lord Jesus taught the scriptural principles of the local assembly in this chapter, and the Lord Jesus is saying in this verse, he's saying, oh, he said, if so be that he find it, he goes and he seeks. He leaves the ninety and nine, so to speak, and he goes away into the mountains, wild and bare, but this time to seek an erring saint. Did you ever do that, dear brother? Did you ever knock on a door where there was a great need for someone to visit? There's a great need for that. I can remember years ago, one of my relatives who was a godly overseer, when the Lord took him many years ago now, someone told me in the assembly years after, an assembly a long way from here, they said, you know, some people feel this, it's been years since they had a visit. It's a man who visited them, it's the saints. I was once in a part of Scotland, a brother in assembly in Scotland, one place, and the brother said to me, you know, he said, I can't understand how people always talk about the elder brethren visiting. And he said, I can't find it in Timothy, and he said, I can't find it in Titus. Well, you know, I was a much younger man, but I have to show him that the very word that is used for overseer in one of its contexts, it's the very same word that is used, I was sick and he visited me. Implicit in the very term is the work of visiting, caring for the people of God. Have I said enough? I, I will have to have said enough, but what I want you to see is the importance of seeking. You know, maybe I'll just read you a verse. You've often heard this referred to, I'm sure, in the Old Testament, the, the book of E- Ezekiel, when God speaks about the shepherds of Israel, and they were failing. And you know what God says about his own sheep? Because they had failed, the shepherds had failed. God says, I will search my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so I will seek out my sheep and deliver them out of all the places where they've been scattered. Brethren, God has given you a responsibility to seek the sheep from the pla- to the places where they've been, where they've been scattered. I remember our dear brother, many of you, you know him, Malcolm Radcliffe, Mr. Malcolm Radcliffe. He told me, you know, he was, he d- he was a farmer, and he had sheep. And he told me before he went out into the work in Ayrshire there in Scotland, he said he was going away for a few days. And he said there was a man down the, along the lane who was another farmer, and he went to me, he said, will you keep your eye on my sheep, he said, for a few days. He said, I'm going away just for so many days. Certainly, said the man. And then he said to him this, he said, how many have you got? So he named the number. I can't remember the number. Now listen to this. He said, how many? So he told him the number. And then said Malcolm, the next morning, he said, before I went away, he said it was about five o'clock in the morning, he said, I heard a noise, and it was this man had come on, and he just went away and into the fields, and he was away for about an hour or so, and he came back, and he said to Malcolm, you are right. Say it was one hundred and sixty three. I don't know what it was. He said there's one hundred and sixty. He wanted to know how many, so that when Malcolm came back, he could give an account. You know, the Lord Jesus said, of all that thou hast given me, I have lost none except the son of perdition. Now, well, overseers tonight, you see what I'm trying to tell you tonight in the humbly, in the fear of God, and that's a work that God has given you to do, to take care of the flock of God. Do you see the principle of seeking out the lost? It's not the sinner, it's the saint that's in view in this little section. Well, now we've five minutes left. Let- let's just look at the next section, very. I want you to see now, it's the brother that comes to view now. Many a problem occurs, as we've said, between brethren and between sisters. You know, sadly, we find that so few use the formula that the Lord Jesus left in this chapter. Do you notice that it says in verse fourteen— let me just leave the principles with you very briefly. It is not the will of, sorry, verse fifteen: if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his faults between thee and him alone. A long time ago, I circled the word alone. The more problems we can deal with in secret from the eyes of others, the far better in every circumstance. You know, brothers and sisters, we so often push under the shelf, you know, things. You- you- you've seen it in your work life sometimes. I've seen it in professional life. You get into a management job, you find sometimes problems come, and people just say, we'll sit on it for a time. And they sit on it so long, but things are erupting underneath them, things are getting worse. You're far better to deal with problems when they come. And if you've got a difficulty or you feel someone's got a difficulty against you, remember, brethren and sisters, it's good to go alone and to deal with that matter. And if you can settle it before the Lord and pray about it together and come away happy again, the harmony of the assembly will be, be maintained. We, how can we expect the blessing of God in our assemblies? How can we expect it if there's difference between brother and brother? It's important. Now, you see, that's the first thing. But then it says, if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more. That in the mouth of two or three witnesses, if there's going to be dispute, and if there's going to be arrogance and hardness, then there'll need to be witness. And I want you to see with me now, brothers and sisters, when you come to this, do notice that it says that every word may be established. But before we do that, I- I forgot to say one thing at the end of verse fifteen. If you've got it open, look at it with- for a moment. Do you notice at the end of verse fifteen it says this: Tell him his fault between thee and Hillel. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. I didn't want to forget, and I nearly did, to say that. Thou hast gained thy brother. This procedure was never to cut your brother out and get him disciplined. This procedure is so that you will gain the brother and harmony will be reestablished. Do you see the point? God wants us to go in for unity in the assembly. God never teaches peace at any price, but things must be aired and cleared, but better if they can be done alone. And if not, then two or three witnesses so that every word can be established. And if that fails, then, said the Lord Jesus, it must come before the church. Now, there is a divided view on this passage. I personally believe that it can come to the part, to the place where there is a need for excommunication if there is a hardness of heart that may demand, because it's gone so far, that the brother be put out. I understand that in the statement that is used. He shall be unto thee as a heathen or a publican. Now, I realize there are difficulties with the text, but that's my judgment on it. I'd have to be honest before I pass it by. Now I want you to come lastly. Oh, by the way, do you notice in verse eighteen, if you accept what I've said about the assembly's action here, the church is involved now. Do you see what it says in verse eighteen? Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Do you know this? Heaven is very interested in the decisions of the assembly, and in fact, the, the decisions of the assembly should really be heaven's decisions, and the assembly decisions is are honored by God. What an important thing. Brethren and sisters, it's the highest court on earth at the moment. Are you listening to that now? It's the highest court. The the Corinthian saints were told, why should they be going out to the world? God has established a judicial system, a divinely imposed one. It's the assembly of God's people. We forget the dignity and the importance of a local assembly. Now, if you'll forgive me just for two minutes, I'll close. I want you just to look at the close now of the chapter, and notice we come to the bond servant. What should my spirit be in all these things? Peter said, well, Lord, how many times will this go on? You see, that's really, it's coming out of the teaching. It's all a thread right through. Do you see it in verse twenty one? Peter came to him. How often shall my brother sin, and I forgive him? Would seven times be enough? Oh, said the Lord Jesus, not seven times, but until seventy times seven. Isn't that remarkable? Seventy times, four hundred and ninety. Isn't that amazing? Now listen to what it said, the Lord Jesus said. The kingdom is heaven, therefore is the kingdom of heaven like unto a king, and he takes accounts of his servants, and when he's begun to reckon, he finds one brought the ten thousand talents that were owed. One was brought unto him who owed ten thousand talents, and he could not pay, and he commanded that he must be sold, and his wife sold, and his children sold, and payment to be made. And the servant just begged for forgiveness and begged more time, and he got it. Do you remember that? That's what the Lord Jesus said. The Lord was moved with compassion. Now, what the Lord says now, look, that same man had a fellow servant, and that fellow servant, just a servant like himself, he owed him far less than he owed his Lord. And he goes to that man and he takes him by the throat. He said, pay off, or I'll get you into prison. You see what the Lord is saying? A man that's been forgiven much, he should learn to forgive. Are you listening to that now? I don't know anything about your life now. I only know my own. God knows my heart, and I know it, but you know yours. And I don't know who you're at variance with. Maybe you're not with any, we trust that's so. But if there's a problem, can I remind you tonight, you're a forgiven sinner just like me, and forgiveness demands that my heart be tender towards others. I remember God has forgiven me. It will give me a forgiving spirit. May the Lord bless his word to all our hearts tonight. Shall we pray? Our God and Father in heaven, we desire again to come to thee at the close of our time together. We thank thee for hearing prayer, Father, and for hearing the voice of God again tonight. We thank the good word of God, Father, that is given to us in our own mother tongue, and we thank thee for hearing it again, open up to our, to our understanding. We'll give thee thanks again tonight. We thank thee for thy son, Father, the one about whom we have a gala on the Lord's Day morning. We not only for, not only for saving us, Father, then this is that blessed one with bones that are eternal, but we thank thee for amongst thy people, gala to his name alone, Father. Uh, I say all names of men, Father, and gala alone the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. We thank thee for the privilege of this all, of this, Father, and for preservation amongst thy people. We thank thee for all this. We need to preserve daily. We pray the prayer of the psalmist continually. Preserve me, O God, for in thee do I put my trust. So we ask thy blessing upon the good word of God, Father, again, for these simple yet important truths, Father, are impressed upon our mind again. I trust that those in a company, maybe human faith, may be guided in ways that please thee, Father, to find their way amongst thy people, if not yet already gathered to his name. So we ask thy blessing on the good word of God, even the days that are past, for these days of holy convocation, Father, around the word of God we give thee thanks, and first we seek to hide it in our hearts, that we might not sin against thee. Hear us to this end, Father, bless the gang, the company. We think of each, each one who's gathered tonight in, in, in building, Father, some little con- little small companies that are small in number, but we trust that they be blessed of thyself and might see fruit in the gospel, Father, and others added to the companies, God, to the Lord's name. So we ask thy blessing, part us with thy blessing, Father, and take each of their homes in safety. And we give thee thanks for every mercy and every blessing in thine days. In the precious name of thy Son, we'd ask these things. Amen. Sing a short hymn to Galat number one hundred and sixty eight. One hundred and sixty ah eight. O Lamb of God, still keep me near to thy wounded side. 'Tis only there in safety, in peace I can abide. What foes and snares around me, what lusts and fears within, the grace that sought and found me alone can keep me clean. Standing again, number one hundred and sixty eighth.