Spender, Jack: CMML Our Assembly Heritage Conference 1983-02 ~ 2 Timothy 2

We'd like to call our first speaker for the afternoon to come up and share with us what God has on his heart as we deal with our topic this afternoon, our assembly heritage. Our brother Jack Spender, as introduced on the panel this morning, commended from assemblies up in the New England area, namely Hampden and Groton, about ten years ago. Jack's been working in the New England environs in a church planting and discipling capacity. Uh, we've invited him to speak to us here this afternoon on the subject of our assembly heritage at work today. And so, without further ado, Jack, would you speak to us? Thank you. It's a real privilege for me to be here today with you. I'd like to ask you please to open your Bibles to... excuse that, uh second Timothy chapter two. Second Timothy chapter two. I'm very thankful for the term that was chosen for our topic at this conference. The word heritage is a lovely word, and it brings before us the idea not only of something that is precious and something that has for been handed down, but also it should bring before our hearts the idea of something that is lasting. And we certainly have a great debt that we can never repay to those who have gone before us and who have given their lives, uh, to seize onto and to teach us out of the word of God these things that pertain to our assembly heritage. And I believe that they are very much a part of the whole subject of the growth and the spread of the work of God in the world today. Now, I just want to read one verse here because we will be reading a number of verses throughout the talk. Second Timothy chapter two and verse five: And if a man also strives for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strives lawfully. Let's read that again. And if a man also strives for masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strives lawfully. May we just look up to the Lord for a moment. Our Father, we thank thee for the precious word of God which thou hast committed to our trust. We thank thee for answering our prayers and challenging us earlier today through thy servant, our brother, and through thy word. Lord, let us not forget the things that we have heard. We thank thee too for the privilege that we have to go from this place and live in a free land to apply these great truths. We pray that each one who is here today may go home encouraged with the things that he has heard and received from thyself, for we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Now, if you're fortunate to live in a place where the work of God is increasing and growing and expanding, I know that you are rejoicing. I don't have to ask you that, I know you know that. But if you should be here and be involved in a work or in an assembly that is not growing, uh, it's been my prayer right along that there may be some things to give you encouragement as you go. Some of the suggestions that I make, and I do want to make some practical suggestions. I feel that's important in a practical subject like we have. Some of them you may not feel are useful, and just do forget them, and other ones we trust will be of help. Now, before we look at our main, uh, topics for the day, and you'll see the outline there in the little booklet that was given to you, I'd like to just spend a few moments of introduction and just remind us of some of the things that I think we need to bear in mind, uh, as we read in the scriptures. As we go through the New Testament, I'm sure all of us have been challenged as we've read the book of Acts. Certainly, if one thing that the book of Acts brings before us is the importance of, of growth. We expect to see growth. Growth is a necessary byproduct of life, and we just seem to have a expectation, where is the growth that, uh, demonstrates the life that we claim is within us? Some assemblies seem to grow, and some works seem to spread and and increase, and other ones seem not to grow, and we ask ourselves, why is this? Well, I'm convinced that more perhaps than ever before, we need to go back to the Word of God, and we need to look at those things that we have called assembly principles, and we need to look very carefully at them, not to take them for granted, and to see, are we rightly understanding what the Master has intended for us to understand here? Are we faithfully applying them in the work in our area? In other words, to allow the Word of God to judge our own selves, and not for us to judge it, which of course would be very wrong. Now there's a danger of selective obedience, and I think looking on ahead to the, the judgment seat of Christ, Paul speaks here about the crown or the reward. I was interested to notice when I was in school that during a cross-country race, if a man tried to cut a corner and he didn't obey the rules, the judge, you know, didn't run down in the woods somewhere and find him and say, you don't have to run anymore, you cut a corner there and you're disqualified. Uh, he would just let the man finish the race, and when he came in at the end, he would go over to him and say, I'm sorry, you're disqualified. And so then the man who was number two would be given the crown, so to speak. And this verse has always spoke to me that as we strive to put into practice those things that the word of God has reminded or taught us, we must strive according to what is written and not according to our own con- concepts and ideas. And I'm very thankful for the reminders that our brother brought to us in the earlier meeting, uh, that our inheritance, that our heritage is not based on tradition, but squarely and soundly upon the Word of God. Now, just two brief reminders, one from the New Testament and one from the Old Testament, uh, where perhaps this was not observed as it should have been. I was reading in Mark chapter sixteen, and I found there that the angels said to the women who came to the tomb of the Lord Jesus early on the resurrection morning, uh, they told him that the Lord would go before his disciples into Galilee, and I was brought up by that little expression, as he said. You know, as you go back and you read about the Lord Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, uh, there were the disciples, and they seemed to be caught up with the glory of the place and Moses and Elijah, and there came that voice out of the cloud, this is my beloved son, hear ye him. And oh, if only they had done that. The Lord Jesus had been talking about things that were very necessary for them to hear. One of the things he said is, after I have risen, I will go before you into Galilee. Can you imagine the delight of the heart of the Lord Jesus if on the resurrection morning he had known that the disciples were all up there in Galilee waiting, as he had said? Well, uh, it wasn't, it wasn't that way. We read that they still didn't believe, and uh, yet he had been talking to them, but you see their hearts were taken up with other matters, the matters of their place in the kingdom and so forth. And then another example, a very pointed one, has always been to my life in the Old Testament. We read the story of Moses going through the wilderness journey with the people of Israel, and we read there in the seventeenth of Exodus how they cried out for water, they were thirsty, and we read that God told Moses to take the rod in his hand and to smite the rock, and he did, and as you know, the water flowed out. And then sometime later, they were in the same situation again, and over in the twentieth chapter of Numbers, uh, they again cried out for water, and God said, now take the rod in your hand, but speak to the rock. And you all know the story so well. Moses was angry with the people, and we read that he smoked the rock again, twice, I believe. I've often thought if I had written that account, I would have put, and no water came out. But we know what happened. God was gracious, and the water did come out. And yet the thing that was most important to Moses in his life, to go into that good land, well, he didn't get to do it. He was denied that because of his disobedience. And to me, that speaks very forcibly, because today we see many people who seem to be willing to trade temporary results for a lasting heritage, for a lasting blessing. And I'm sure there were some who probably would say, why split hairs? The people were thirsty, you wanted water, you got water, who cares? What difference does it make whether you speak to the rock or smite the rock? But it made a great deal of difference to God and to his servant Moses because he lost something that was very precious to him. So I think then that we need to be careful, uh, to take heed to these things that are written for our learning. Now I want to come to a question and then move into the other material. The question is this: how can we have a growing and spreading work and still maintain a lasting heritage? And that little part on the end there, the lasting heritage, that's so important because not everything that grows is good. We all know about the dreaded disease of cancer. Now there's a growth, and yet it leads to death. So not everything that grows has necessarily got the stamp of goodness on it. Or to use a more scriptural example, you remember in First Corinthians chapter three, Paul spoke about those who build, and he says, let every man take heed how he builds. I have laid the foundation, let every man take heed how he builds. And we need to remember that those who are building with wood, hay, and stubble, the building is still going up. In other words, there is a structure that's being erected, but it will not stand the test, and that's the important part. And if you've ever had part in doing any building, you know that sometimes it's quite a bit faster to build with wood than it is to build with stone. And so, as far as outward appearances go, uh, sometime the stone builders may be, seem to be a bit slow, and yet we know that the important thing is the fire that will try. So we want to ask this question then, how can we have a growing and a spreading work and still maintain and base it upon the heritage that God has given us, the precious principles of his word? I think, to put it very simply, uh, before we can talk about a work, an assembly that grows and spreads, we need to talk about an assembly that has health. There's no point in talking about reaching out or reproducing until we have a healthy work established. And so I'd like to suggest that there are three areas for our purposes today. Really, there are many, but there are three areas that we might think about the healthy assembly, with a view then to seeing growth and a spreading work. First of all, I'd like to think about the nature and purpose of the assembly. Secondly, the important place of leadership within the assembly, and finally, the individual place, the priesthood of the believer. So, first of all, the nature and purpose of the assembly. Now we need to be clear on what the assembly is and what it does, and I think that's something that we tend to overlook in our ministry. How many of the young people really understand what the assembly is and what it is to do? I suggest that it may be a wonderful and healthy thing for an assembly to dedicate some time, possibly in the midweek meeting or at other times, sometime when perhaps the saints can get involved in a, in a question and answer or so forth. We like to do this in our work with tables and notebooks and pencils so we can encourage discussion, and to go over some of the terms that we find in the New Testament that are used to describe the church. Now, I want to talk about a few of them just in the moments that we have today. We find such terms used as the field, the church is likened to the field, the temple, the flock of God, the body, and the building, and the bride, and so forth, many of these terms. And I wonder how many times we've ever examined those and asked ourselves the question, why did God choose to liken his church to that particular term? Why did he choose that term? And I believe there's a wealth of information that is behind each one of these terms. Now, someone might say, well, those terms really describe the universal church, the whole body of Christ, but isn't it true that our local assembly is really to set forth in a visible way the truths of the whole universal church? I think that's true. So I think then to look at these words and glean the truths is very important for us. Let's just make a few suggestions about each one. First of all, what we think in Corinthians is Paul speaks about the field, and certainly that would bring before our hearts the idea of fruitfulness. But you know, in the context there, he speaks in the first four chapters of First Corinthians about the, the Lord's servants and their relation to the, to the, to the work. And he's seeking to bring not division, but unity among the people of God. And he said, whether Paul or Apollos or whoever, all things are yours. There's no need to arrange yourselves behind different ones. And this is a precious principle that we have. We feel very sorry whenever we hear a professed servant of God use such a term as my church. There's only one who can take that word, my church, and that's our blessed Lord. And so then the, the fields, and Paul says one waters, one sows, another waters, but it's God who gives the increase, and all of the Lord's servants are to strive together in this, and we should certainly encourage those who do. And then we read in Corinthians of the temple, and this certainly brings before our minds a thought of holiness. But there is another thought, as you go back into the Old Testament, and by the way, I would say that a study of the Old Testament temple, just to glean some principles as to what God intends. Now, we're not under the law, and we don't have a building called a temple in this age, but there are precious principles that we can see illustrated in the Old Testament. You know, in the Old Testament priesthood, the priests were occupied with worship and service, and you can never separate the two things. The Lord Jesus said, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And it always makes me a little nervous when I hear someone say, well, you know, worship is for every believer, but ministry is only for a few. Now, that is not correct. Maybe we could just turn to First Peter chapter four. Several verses speak to this matter in the New Testament. I think what brethren mean when they say that is perhaps not everyone can get up on a platform and engage in ministry, but actually every child of God has a responsibility to be involved in the work of the ministry. First Peter chapter four uh and verse ten: as every man hath received a gift, please notice a gift, not the gift, but a gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. This is a responsibility that we have to serve one another because we are stewards of God's manifold or many-sided grace. We could think a great deal about this matter of the temple and all the things that go to it, but just let me say one thing, and then we'll move on. I believe every child of God has an inborn need not only to be served, but also to serve. And we need to ask ourselves that question in our assembly. Are we providing opportunity for every Christian to serve in a meaningful way? Not just doing something to keep them busy, but in a way where they really sense that their gifts and abilities are being discovered and cultivated. Now, this is elders work, and very important work it is. We also read about the flock. In John chapter ten. the Lord Jesus, in speaking about the flock, he says, there shall be one flock and one shepherd. Here we come to another thing that is precious in our assembly heritage. As we know, you never find any man in the New Testament ever takes to himself the title of the pastor. There's only one man who can take that title, and that's the Lord Jesus again. He is the shepherd. He said there shall be one shepherd. Now we have a spiritual gift, and we thank God for those many who have that pastoral gift and are able to go in and out among the Lord's people in visiting and counsel and encouragement. But how thankful we can be that it's part of the heritage in which we've been taught, that the plurality of leadership are called elders, always in the plural. And so God says not feed your flocks, he says feed the flock of God. We also read about the body, another great term. And by the way, let me say, if you ever do a study like this, there's a little, a little precious bonus that comes along with it. For every one of these terms that you find, you also find a corresponding term for the Lord Jesus. If you're studying the body, you need also to study him as the head. If you're studying the building, you need to study him as the chief cornerstone. If you're studying the flock, then he is the good shepherd and the great shepherd and the chief shepherd. So that should certainly be included in our study. We find the expression the body. You know, as you read the book of Acts, you realize that the growth that took place in the early church was not the result of some outreach project. It was the result of normal, healthy life. And where there is normal, healthy life, you are going to see reproduction. You're going to see a multiplying. And this is all the way through the book of Acts. Now, certainly there was an individual exercise of heart, but it seemed always to come from those who had their feet firmly planted. They were grounded, and they were taught, and they were taught, and then they went out to share the message. Let's look at Ephesians chapter four. Some of these things are well known to all of us, but I feel a little reminder is helpful. In Ephesians chapter four, uh we find a verse there that ends with the expression, Ephesians chapter four and verse sixteen speaks about the increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Now, how is that self-edification going to take place? Well, as you read the verse, you find that Paul again and again stresses the whole idea of the whole body. He says, from whom the whole body, not some of it, but the whole body. And he says every joint of supply. Every single part is important. There is no part of the body that is unnecessary, and we need to study that in our assemblies, and we need to challenge, especially the young people. What are you doing? And they're going to ask us back, what can I do? And we better be ready with an answer. Now, we also read about the building, not only the body, but we read about the building. And here we come not so much to the, the principles of life, the joint ministering supply of nourishment to one another, but here we find the, the matter of the house of God, the order, the assembly principles that are so important. And there are two mistakes that are sometime made. I just want to remind us of them today so that we can be sure to steer clear of them. As I say, two mistakes, let me just say them this way. The first one is that, that God will accept a perfect assembly order in place of a right heart. And the other mistake is that if our hearts are right, assembly principles are not important. Now, those are two errors I think we have to be careful not to fall into. Let me say them again. The first one is that God will accept a perfect assembly order in place of a right heart. And the other one is that if our hearts are right, assembly principles are not important. Now, those things are, are mistakes, and we should seek to avoid them. But in the building, as I mentioned before, Paul says, let every man te- take heed how he builds. Sometime it's so easy if we don't see things going, if we don't see growth, instead of judging ourselves, we seek to justify ourselves. We're going to speak a little bit more about that in a few minutes. Let me just mention a couple others. We also find the bride, and our, our brother Hamilton mentioned that earlier. The bride, a lovely term bringing before us the, the tenderness and the affection that the Lord has for his people. But it also reminds me of something else, that as we wait for his return, we are to keep ourselves pure. Can you imagine a young man who has become engaged to a girl, and they're in love with one another, and he has to go away for a year or so, and he says to her, now when I return, we'll be married, and until that time, you, uh, keep yourself for me, and I'll keep myself for you, and then I'll return, and we'll be married. And so he goes away, and one day he comes back, and he finds his bride-to-be, and he says, now how have you been? And she says, oh, everything's fine. And he said, I understand you've taken another man's name. And she says, well, you know, that's just to, uh, that's just to help carry out our work while you were away. Now, I'm sure you can tell what I'm driving at. One of the precious principles that we hold dear as Christians, we have a name, and it is the name Christian or believer or saints or brethren or anything that binds all children of God together. Let us be careful not to take any sectarian names. Let us not have the Lord Jesus return for his bride and find that we have called ourselves by the names of other organizations and groups. Now that's something that we need to teach and to hold on to today, and we thank God for it. And so we have the bride. And then finally, we find the family. In Ephesians chapter three we find mention of the family, and of course, all the way through, you find God represented as the Heavenly Father, and John in First John chapter two speaks about the older men and the young men, and then he talks about the babes, and the idea is a family atmosphere, a family life among the people of God, and we'd like to develop that out a little further in a few minutes. So then, the first thing that we need to do in the assembly is to make sure that the saints understand what is the nature and purpose of the assembly, and I suggest some good, hard, back-to-the-book study will answer those questions. Now, secondly, we need to understand the place of leadership in the assembly. How we thank God for every faithful servant of God and every elder, perhaps many, many elders even here today, laboring quietly behind the scenes, laboring in the word of God and in doctrine and teaching and prayer, visiting the flock. We don't know all the things only the chief shepherd knows. But you know, if you've traveled around any and talked to people, you soon realize that in some places there is a leadership crisis, and there are those who, it seems, don't really want to lead, nor will they step down and let others lead. And we need to be very much in prayer in these days that God will raise up men who have a heart for his work and for his people. As you read the book of Acts, you are, I'm sure, struck with the fact that the Holy Spirit was free to work in mighty power. So many times I've asked myself, why is that? And I'm aware of the fact that there are many who believe that he just doesn't work that way anymore today, and all I can say on that is I disagree. Uh, if I had to have that view, I wouldn't be in the Lord's work another day. I don't think we would have seen what God has done in our area if we had that view of the Spirit of God and his work today. And I thank God that I do believe that he is ready and willing to work in a, in a, in a mighty way. But there were some things you read about in the book of Acts that I believed opened the door and allowed him a freedom. He was not grieved, he was not quenched, and he was free to work in a mighty way. If I could just suggest three things that come out of the book of Acts, just let me suggest them quickly and, and possibly open them out in a few minutes. First of all, we read about that there was a oneness of mind. We read again and again the expression of one accord. Now, being of one accord in the assembly is work. It does not come naturally. It is not easy. It is effort. It is work, and I might say it's the work of the Holy Spirit. So often people have said to me, well, you know, that's a wonderful ideal, but it's too idealistic. You wouldn't get anything done. And may I say, and I'm sure many of you have found it to be true, God is able, if we will be exercised in our hearts in prayer, he is able to bring the believers to oneness of mind. And I think that is a great principle that we should lay hold on. The Lord Jesus, in John seventeen, four times he prayed that they may be one. Twice he said, that the world may know that thou has sent me. So our unity then is very much bound up with the fact of our oneness and the agreement in the, in the letter to Philippians, Paul again and again appealed for a like-mindedness and a oneness. Sometime I think that the assembly business meeting, as it's been called, if you look in the book of Acts, I think that was pretty much the assembly prayer meeting. They came together and they prayed, and they prayed until they could move as one, and I think we need to see more of that today. Among the believers. There was one accord. I think six times over in the first half of the book, we find this expression of one accord. And then secondly, we need to have a clear purpose. One of the things that strikes me about the early church is the clarity with which they proceeded on their things. There didn't seem to be a hesitation. There didn't seem to be a continual apology of what they were doing. They seemed to understand what their mission was. I think that the assembly should have a twofold mission, and it should be very clear in the minds of all of the saints what that is. First of all, you read in Acts chapter two and verse forty two the things that the church continued in steadfastly, and these are four things that should be very prominent in each assembly. There was teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. Now, you don't read anything there about anything for the unbeliever. And if you go out into the book of Acts and you study, you'll find that whenever the Christians evangelized, they always went out into the world to do it. And so when they came in together, they did those things that were for believers. When they went out, they went out with a testimony. Did you ever notice of all the people who were saved in the book of Acts, there wasn't one saved in an assembly meeting? I think that's significant. Nor do you find ever teaching given about what we call a gospel meeting. Now do let me say, in every opportunity that we get in the work where we are, we thank God for the opportunity to bring out the gospel, to preach the gospel in homes, in Bible studies, in colleges, out on the street, wherever it is, we preach the gospel. But in the assembly, we're there to edify and feed the flock. Not too long ago, I was at a certain place, and one of the, I was actually at lunch, and uh, one of the elders' wives leaned over and said to me, uh, some of our folks have been talking about uh, the gospel meeting, and what are your thoughts on that? Well, now I didn't want to get into a subject like that over lunch, not in the few minutes that we had, but I just said this, and I think she was a bit surprised. He said, you know, in ten years of the work in our area, we have seen over five hundred people saved and baptized, and we have never had a gospel meeting in the assembly. All of it is done by the saints being equipped to go out and witness to those who are in the world. Now, there are some I know who don't agree with that, and I do want to state again, we thank God for the gospel and for every opportunity, whether it be special meetings, whether it be in the homes or whatever it is, we thank God for that opportunity to, to share the way of salvation. But today there is a great need when the Lord's people come together in the assembly for edification and for upbuilding, for prayer and fellowship and worship, and these great things that are going to equip the saints to go out and do the job that we've been given. So, first of all, there was a oneness of accord. Secondly, there was a clear purpose. And thirdly, and so important, there was strong leadership. Now, just a word about that. As you read the book of Acts again, and I'm using this as an illustration because this is where we find the early church at work. We find it historically recorded for us. We can compare what we do today with how they did back then. We find that the leadership back then was prominent in some things that I wonder if they're prominent in today. They were prominent in receiving persecution. They were the first ones to be persecuted for their strong stand and for their faith. We find also that they took the lead in problem solving. As you read those great chapters, Acts chapter six and Acts chapter fifteen, you find there that there was very great problems confronting the local church. And so the leadership got down and they wrestled with it, and with the help of God, and then when they got done, they said, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. And we know that the results, that the fruit of their decisions were greatly blessed of God. If we're told that in the word. So we saw- see strong leadership wrestling with and solving the problems, and then we see leadership that has goals and visions. We read without vision, the people perish. I think it's so important that elders, and I say this with love, be men of spiritual vision, men who are interested in and committed to seeing growth. You remember when word came that a work had been started up there in Antioch? Why, they sent one of the best men they had, Barnabas. He was a good man, and he went up there, and he was used of God. We read about the encouraging things that happened. And so these men back in the early church, they were not afraid to make an investment. There are with me here today, uh, some young men who have come down from the work in Connecticut, and the assembly in Cheshire is not yet four years old, and that assembly has grown, and God has blessed it in a mighty way. Now, four years is not very old for an assembly, and yet next month, in the will of the Lord, the new assembly, uh, will commence up in Bristol, about a half an hour's drive away from Cheshire, and that work is sponsored by the assembly in Cheshire, is a four-year-old work, and already they have a burden to see a new work started. And I rode down this morning with one of the elders from the work in Cheshire, and I said to him, how do you feel about the work starting up there in Bristol, knowing that some of the best people are going to be leaving and going up there? And he said, oh, we're very excited about it. Why, we're just thrilled that the Lord can use us in this way. Now, that's an attitude that we need to see more of today. It's not my work, and my work is going to suffer, but we have the opportunity to make an investment, and God always pays the best of returns on his investments, and we can thank him for that. But then there's a final area in which we need to see leadership, and here I want to speak very lovingly and not at all critically, but I think we need to see leadership today in many assemblies in the area of repentance. Where we see no growth, and there has been no growth, I was interested to notice in the letters to the seven churches, five out of the seven, the message of the risen Lord to that church was repent, repent, repent. And sometimes when we see no growth over a period of years, there needs to be some real heartfelt repentance. And who can better lead the assembly in that than the leadership, the elders? If you ever get the opportunity, make a study of the prayer of Daniel in the ninth chapter of the book of Daniel. You know, Daniel was a young man who was carried away captive when he was quite young, and as far as I know, we don't read a single thing recorded against him in scripture. He has a, a lovely record, and yet as you read that prayer again and again, he identifies himself with the sins of his nation. He says, our sins, our iniquity, to us belongs shameness of faith. And of course, the angel comes and he says, oh, Daniel, thou art a man greatly beloved. Well, I should think so. What, what faith and what vision this man wa- had to be able to identify with the sins of his nation, even though personally he hadn't committed a one. And so I think repentance is sometimes very much in order. And sometime we may be reluctant to do this, because, you know, there's a little verse here that says, take heed to thyself and to the flock of God. And before one can take heed to the flock of God, he's got to pass that first phrase, take heed to thyself. Sometimes men, you know, they're very, very stringent in the areas where they themselves don't seem to have any problems. Now, we've seen this, some men who seem to be very stringent in matters like head coverings and, uh, proper dress and things, but some of the weightier matters they, they won't deal with because it says you have to think of your own self first. So we need to see leadership then, and we do pray that God may raise up real men of God to give strong leadership, that there may be oneness of accord, clearness of purpose, and a strong leadership. And then we come to our final topic, the place of the individual, the priesthood of the believer. Now turn, if you would, to First Peter chapter two. In First Peter chapter two. we read about the priesthood, and our brother was mentioning that to us earlier. In verse five we read about the holy priesthood, and in verse nine we read about the royal priesthood. And these are lofty subjects. We don't have time to study them in detail, but I want to make a couple of suggestions here in connection with this passage. As you well know, we have the spiritual priesthood first. Now, the, the priest was able to go in, and it says able to offer up spiritual sacrifices which are acceptable to God. The priest is able to go in, and here we think of the privilege that we have, and we were speaking about earlier, to come in before the Lord at the Lord's Supper in time of worship. And there we have the opportunity, the priceless privilege, to offer the worship of our hearts to him. This meeting in the assembly will never be attended by large numbers just naturally. These things need to be taught and encouraged without ceasing. And in the work where I am, we have tried over the years to really do this in such a way that the saints can see the great value. You know, we were talking also about financial pri- priv- uh, financial matters practices, and do let me say that financial matters, giving, and worship are giving, they have that in common. And I think if we will be faithful to teach the believers about worship, giving to God his first place of our hearts, a lot of these other givings will come into line. That worship is a giving too. Sometimes people come up to me and say, I'm sorry, I'm not able to stay for your message at eleven o'clock. I have to work, and I just wanted to be here and break bread. And I always answer the same way. I always say, it's much more important for you to meet with the Lord Jesus at nine thirty than to come and hear what I have to say about him at eleven. You know, it's a delight to my heart that there have been a number of times when we have seen more people at the Lord's Supper than at the teaching service at eleven. Now we have to keep on emphasizing the place of worship in the life of the believer. But the holy priest, he goes into the presence of God, and he, his heart overflows in worship and praise and thanksgiving. But then we read the royal priest, and he goes out, and he can show forth the praises or the excellencies. Do we know anything about showing forth the excellencies to those around us in the world? I think a vigorous assembly testimony on the part of each and every believer is something very important. You know, as far as I can tell, there's only one place in the New Testament where the work of an evangelist is divi- defined for us, and that's in Ephesians chapter four and verse eleven and twelve. And I was surprised to see that the evangelist is mentioned with others who are said to be responsible to equip the saints. Can I make another suggestion here? How long has it been since you have invited a servant of God, an evangelist, to come to your area and equip the saints so that they are more able to share the gospel? Now, I think perhaps many an evangelist, if that ever happened, he'd fall over. And I think we need to do more of that. The evangelist is a gifted man to share the gospel, to preach the gospel, but he also has a responsibility to be able to equip the saints. And if ever before we needed to have every saint, and we go over this again and again with the young people, when you find someone who is lost, please don't tell them, come to the meeting with me. That's not a biblical witness. Learn how to say, may I introduce you to someone who has changed my life? And sit down in your own words and tell them about the Lord Jesus and what he's done for you. That's a biblical witness, and they need to learn that, and they need to be taught it. Now, we've been talking about the holy priest and the royal priest, and as I said, these are lofty terms, these are great terms. But remember, somewhere in the Bible is an expression about babes desiring the sincere milk of the word. Where is that found? Well, it's right here in the same chapter. In fact, he's addressing the same people, and if you look up in verse two, he says, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby. And so I want to put forth another question to you. Does your assembly have a nursery? Now, I don't mean a physical nursery for physical babies. I mean, do you have a spiritual nursery? Are you intentionally gearing things so that a babe who comes in, a person who gets saved and is brought in, or someone who is there as a young Christian, what are the chances that they're going to stay and after several years become a solid, well-grounded believer? What are the chances that they're going to be easily offended and leave? See, these are the things that have much to do with the matter of growth and outreach. Now, let me just make five suggestions in the time that remains about this matter of relating to babes, because I have a real burden about this. I think this is where we get into the, the down-to-earth matters of an assembly that is growing in a healthy way, the matter of how we relate to the babes. Let me just make five suggestions, if I might. First of all, we need how to learn to keep it simple. And I don't know how to say that in any other way. In Romans chapter fourteen and verse one, we're told to receive, uh, one another. We should receive the babe, but then a word of warning, don't involve them in disputations about doubtful things. Don't them get them all mixed up in arguments over, uh, old historical things and so forth. They need the pure milk of the word desperately. Gone are the days, I've told the young people, gone are the days where I will teach the book of Revelation to everyone who asks. I've learned the hard way. Long about the time you get into chapter seven and eight, things begin to get a bit dry, and young babes, they begin to choke on it, and the attendance begins to drop off, and the Lord had to deal with me over that. Oh, it's nice to show off our knowledge in some of these advanced matters, but the babes need the simple things, and that's the responsibility of elders to make sure that the babes, uh, are able to take what is being brought forth in the assembly. Remember Barnabas? He went up there, and it says when he perceived the grace of God, he was glad. He saw that there was a work of grace, and he was glad. And what did he do? It said he exhorted them with purpose of heart to cleave to the Lord. Can't you hear Barnabas now? Simple message. Hang on to the Lord. Hang on to the Lord. The other day I was talking to one of the young men while I was away. He was counseling with a brother who's kind of gotten away from the Lord, and, uh, the brother said, you know, I think I'm going to read such and such and study such and such a book, and, uh, I think that'll help me get back with the Lord. And this young brother said to me, I said, what'd you tell him? He said, well, I told him he ought to also read the Gospel of John so he could fall in love with the Master again. Isn't that good advice? That's what he needed to hear. Secondly, provide good food. We have the time, let's just take a moment, if we can, and turn to some verses in the book of Acts. I'm not going to dwell on this. You can study it on your own. Just want to leave these verses with you and study them on your own. I think the conclusion is inescapable. We look at the assemblies that Paul raised up, or that God raised up through Paul, we said, man, how did he do it? How did Paul go into Thessalonica and in three weeks leave and see an assembly that was rooted and grounded and able to go on? How did he do it? Let's notice his method. In Acts chapter fourteen, I'm just going to skip around here and go very quickly. Here we are on the first miss- missionary journey. Verse seven, there they preached the gospel, and there sat a man at Lystra or Lystra. Now here they were in a city called Lystra, and Paul was there for his first time, and he preached the gospel, and it says so. And then we read over in verse twenty, he departed, the end of the verse, and went to Derbe, and they preached the gospel there. First time at Derbe, and Paul is giving them the gospel message again. But then we read in the end of verse twenty one, it says they returned again to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples. Now here he is still on his first missionary journey, comes back through, and he's confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith. Let's go to Acts chapter fifteen. What did Paul do in the places where he had already been on his second missionary journey? Well, in chapter fifteen and verse forty one it says he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches. Same word. Verse 6, chapter sixteen and verse one, then came he to Derbe and Lystra. And, uh, you read about the dealings there with the young man Timothy. In verse five it says, and so were the churches established in the faith and increased in number daily. So here's Paul now on his second missionary journey, his third visit to this city, and he's still confirming and establishing, and we read about growth. Turn over to chapter eighteen. What did Paul do on his third missionary journey? Well, we have it in verse twenty three. And after he had spent some time there, he departed and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order strengthening all the disciples. There it is. We need to feed the flock. Someone has said, if you want more sheep, feed the ones you have. And that's a great need today. And I do believe if there's ever a day in which we need good consecutive expository ministry of the word on a week by week basis, with the elders checking the diet of the flock, now is the day. You know, God has very graciously, um, given us a blessing in the past year that I never expected at all. When the work in Cheshire was started, we gave a series of tapes on the New Testament church, a series of talks, and they were put on tape. There's a brother up in the Boston area who got a hold of a set, and he has been distributing those all over New England area, and many of them have gone to clergymen of every denomination that I could name here or think of today. And of course, after they listen to these things, I get phone calls and letters from them, and always it's the same thing. We are tired of man's system. We are tired of man's ways. They do not work. The clergy is not a scriptural principle. It is not working. One man is burned out, and the rest are sitting idly by. We're interested in these things. Now, to them, it's an eye-opener. To us, why, it's what we've been raised with. We ought to thank God for it and cherish it. Thirdly, allow time for growth. If we're ever going to get anywhere with babes, we've got to learn this lesson. It takes time for them to grow. I have a little daughter who's two years old, and she's a delight of my heart. But, you know, if you came to our home to visit us, you might see some things that might be a little unsettling, perhaps even embarrassing. She makes some noises and does some things, uh, that you wouldn't expect of an adult. But, you know, when you come to visit me, I don't hustle her into the room and lock the door and embarrass. I say, this is my daughter, and I'm so proud of her. And if she has a rattle or a little doll, in time, if I feed her and nurture her, she'll put away the rattle, and I know that. We have a Bible study where every week forty or fifty people, uh, assemble together in the city of New Haven, and some are here that attend that group. And some of the people who come up, many Roman Catholics attend that, and some of the people come up just a couple of weeks ago, a fellow came up to me and he said, you know, I had never been reading my Bible, and I can't understand all those hard words, and I just discovered this thing, and he pulled out and it said the Living Bible. Now, suppose I'd have said to him, well, brother, you know, that that's that's no good. He would have gone out the door, and we'd never see him again. Now, I know he can't read that the rest of his life. I know that. But as I teach the Word of God, a time is going to come when his feet are grounded, and he's going to come up to me, as many have, and say, you know, this doesn't meet my needs anymore. What are you using there? Can you suggest something else? And I say, oh yes, let me make a suggestion to you. And in time, the spirit of God is going to speak to his heart, and he's going to grow. And so I say again, we need to be very careful then about involving babes in a lot of disputes over a little small picky things. That's not how to run a nursery. Number four, we need to cultivate the gifts that are present. Turn with me, if you would, to Romans chapter twelve. You know, this is a touchy subject today, and many people are afraid of it, and I wouldn't be a servant of the Lord if I, I was embarrassed to speak about it. I thank God for this subject, spiritual gifts. As a child, I was raised to memorize Romans chapter twelve and verse one and two, and perhaps many here today could recite that passage. It's a very important portion of the word, that we are to present our bodies a living sacrifice to God, that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. But I wonder how many have ever considered what immediately follows this. Immediately after those two very important verses, Paul takes up the subject of the gifts that are given by the Spirit of God. And so in the assembly, then, we need to cultivate these gifts. Look at what he mentions. Prophecy. We're told in First Corinthians chapter fourteen and verse three, the one who prophesies speaks to men to edification and exhortation and comfort. These are things that are needed today. He speaks about ministry. My, if there wasn't that gift of the Lord given to us, we wouldn't even be here and have this conference today. Thank God for the Holy Spirit's gift of ministry or serving. Teaching, exhortation, giving. What a great gift this is, giving. Ruling. Twice over, the word that's used here for ruling is found in connection with the leadership in the assembly. Showing of mercy. Dorcas in the book of Acts was a show of mercy. The word is used of her. A great gift and a necessary one. If we're ever going to be able to counteract some of the exotic and far out and erroneous things that we find all around us in our day to day in connection with a gift, it's not going to be by denying that they all exist, but it's going to be by getting back into the word and seeing what God can do and what God has given us, and then putting them to work in order that the young people and others may be able to prove what is the good and perfect will of God. And then finally, we should expect maturity. It's so important not to plan to fail. Remember that the same individuals that you work with, that the individuals that you work with have the same Holy Spirit that came to dwell in the people that Paul worked with. Some people tell me that we can't expect to see God work today the way he did back then. You know, I think it's just the opposite. The darker things get around us, the more opportunity there is to have a message, to he- win a hearing for the gospel. People need it, and so we ought to expect maturity. We ought to plan to succeed. We ought to, in faith, pray and thank God for what he's going to do as we follow these things in obedience. It's always easy, you know, to pass it off and say, well, it's the last days. Another expression I've heard is to say the church is in ruins. It's just to excuse us and say we don't have a responsibility to grow. I believe we do. And I want to close by leaving with you a verse that could very well be a theme for a conference like this. Paul in Acts chapter twenty, in speaking to the Ephesian elders, in verse thirty two, I believe he says, and now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance, and we might read it, to give you a heritage among them that are sanctified. Shall we close in prayer? Our Father, we thank thee for the opportunity to look into thy word, and we humbly ask thy forgiveness today and any time in our Christian walk that we have taken for granted what we think to be our great knowledge of certain principles. Lord, may we go back to our knees and back to a careful study of thy word. May we be very willing and very quick through thy Holy Spirit to judge ourselves where we have not seen clearly. Give us a love for the leadership and a pray for them. Give us a love for the babes among us. Father, we pray that among each assembly there might be a real encouragement and moving of thy Holy Spirit in these last dark days. We pray that everyone here may see such a mighty work of the Spirit of God as, as they wrestle with the things that are written in faith, believing that this word was given to us and it is profitable. Now we thank you for the time together, and we commit our continued conference to thee in the worthy name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.