Assembly authority
ID
sa004
Language
EN
Total length
00:37:18
Count
1
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unknown
Description
This sermon was held on the Bible Basics Conference in November 2007. See the other sermons of this conference at Bible Basics Conference (Catford 2007).
Automatic transcript:
…
Good evening. That was good tea, wasn't it?
I certainly enjoyed it.
I hope you did too.
The subject of assembly authority and its limits
sounds a bit technical to me. Perhaps it does to you.
Maybe we think
this sounds a bit like a Brethren mantra.
Is this something that the Brethren have
thought up and blown out of all perspective, made far more important
than perhaps it really is? Well, I don't think so. I think as we go through
the scriptures we're going to find that it's a Bible basic and that's why we've
got it at the Bible basic conference. I just want though to read these verses
from Matthew chapter 18 verses
15 to 20.
Suffering from this parallax.
Right, 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 has 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 or to my name
there am I in the midst of them.
A picture on this slide is of a group of
Bhutanese believers who live in a refugee camp in eastern Nepal.
They're believers on the Lord Jesus. Now the question is
can they exercise assembly authority? Can we here in Catford exercise
assembly responsibility? Or wherever you're from can assembly
authority be exercised? Well perhaps first of all
we should ask the question what is assembly authority? Authority
is the right or responsibility and the power
to do something. The right or responsibility
and the power to do something. I think most of us would know what the
word authority means but it's just there to make it clear.
We've already heard what the assembly is we've seen the assembly
from the point of view of what it is universally
all believers on the Lord Jesus Christ
and we've also thought of the assembly as it is locally.
The representation of that assembly in a particular place a town a village
a city. The assembly has authority from the Lord Jesus to bind or loose.
We've just read that in these verses from Matthew chapter 18.
And to bind or loose really means to discipline.
To bind is to discipline and to loose is to release from discipline.
And also we saw in verse 19 that the Lord Jesus says
that if two of you shall agree on earth on touching
anything that they shall ask it shall be done for them
of my father which is in heaven. So it's not simply
a matter that's limited to discipline. There might need to be agreement with
regard to something else that should happen in a particular locality
for the glory of the Lord Jesus and for the blessing of his people.
And the assembly has this authority from the Lord Jesus on the principle
that where two or three are gathered in my name or to my name there am I
in the midst of them. It's a very important principle indeed and just one
thing to be said in connection with what Andrew was
saying to us a bit earlier on this afternoon we're going
to see that assembly authority is something that is essentially
exercised in localities by local assemblies.
Let's move on then.
Why is assembly authority important? And I'm particularly going to look at the
matter of this question of discipline which Rusty
touched on as well when he was speaking. This matter of binding
and loosening which has a particular relevance
to matters of discipline.
And it's important because it enables the assembly to deal with
sin and disorder so that these things sin and disorder do not
first of all dishonor God. Now we've already had quite a few references
to 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and you'll see that I've
referred to some verses from 1 Corinthians chapter 5
on this slide.
God must come first.
We already mentioned the verse and we're going to mention it again in 1 Timothy
chapter 3 verse 15 that the assembly universally
is the house of God upon earth and so the local assembly should be
representative of that particular truth.
So when it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 1 it is reported
commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication
as is not so much as named among the Gentiles
that one should have his father's wife. Do you not think
that what was happening in Corinth in the local assembly in Corinth was a
dishonor to God? Of course it was.
I'm being checked for viruses.
The second point here it spoils the assembly's
witness. Just that one verse at the beginning of
chapter 5 would surely bring that home to us.
It is reported commonly it was known to be the case in this local assembly
this assembly at Corinth that this sin was occurring among them
and was carrying on and nothing was being done about it.
It must have spoiled their witness. I've mentioned also verse 8
where the apostle Paul says therefore let us keep the feast.
Now that's not the breaking of bread that's the feast of Christianity if you
like. Not with old leaven. The old way of
living. Neither with the leaven of malice and
wickedness because malice and wickedness can come into
relationships between believers on the Lord Jesus.
But with the unleavened bread just in case anybody's unsure about this
because we've mentioned this word leaven a couple of times already today.
Leaven in the scriptures is always connected with what is bad,
what is evil. Sin. So here in this verse we're told
but with the unleavened bread without any of that leaven
of sincerity and truth. Now that's good for us as believers but
it's also important for our witness that believers should see these
characteristics among us. Sincerity and truth.
Furthermore when these things come in they defile the fellowship.
This has already been mentioned in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 6 we're
told know ye not that a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lamb. Yes this particular believer was sinning
in a particular way but the fact that he was
with the other believers in close fellowship surely is always the
case in a local assembly meant that they would be affected
defiled dirtied by his sin.
And we've already seen haven't we from what we've heard already this
afternoon that this question of leaven
is not just a moral matter it's a doctrinal matter as well
and in Galatians chapter 5 verse 9 you'll find in connection
with the doctrinal error that was creeping in
among the assemblies in Galatia that the apostle Paul uses the same verse
or the same words know ye not that a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lamb.
But there's a fourth reason why we need to
exercise assembly authority in matters like this
that's because not to do so leaves those who have gone wrong
in spiritual danger. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 5 says
that the apostle Paul had decided that action should be taken in this matter
remember he did that in his apostolic his apostolic capacity and we've already
heard that apostles we no longer have apostles with us but
because of the inaction of the believers in Corinth
the apostle Paul took the lead but he didn't take over from them
he took the lead to encourage them to take up their responsibility
and he said to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh
that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus it had in view
the blessing ultimately of this particular
person
let's just cover a couple of those four points that
I put up on the earlier slide the honor of God and the assembly's witness
and it's good perhaps to remember what the apostle Paul says
about the assembly in 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 I've already mentioned it
he says that the assembly is the house of God
and in my house there's a particular order a particular
way we do things
generally speaking anyway
now when you come to my house I hope that you will
you'll fit in with our order however disorderly you may feel it to be
but you know what I'm saying I hope when I go to your house that I won't say
no that's not the way you should lay the table you should lay the table this way
it's not my house there's a particular order to be followed
the assembly is God's house and there's a particular
order to be followed and furthermore it's called the pillar and ground of the
truth and here we've got a light house and the reason why I've used
that because that brings out the thought I think a bit of a
pillar we're not used so much to having pillars
today as they did at the time the apostle Paul wrote
but one thing about pillars then was that on the top of a pillar was often
an inscription there was a display of a statement
something perhaps in tribute to an emperor or a great man
here we've got a light so the assembly should be a display of
God's truth and it should also be the stay the
support the maintainer of God's truth we've got that as the
base of the lighthouse in this picture
when we see things from that point of view we see that the assembly has a very
important part to play for God's glory in this world in fact I
would say to you that it's the only place
where God's will is going to be done in this world who
else apart from Christians who else apart from those who love the
Lord Jesus can be expected to be the pillar and
ground of the truth and I think this brings before us our
responsibility to maintain things for God in this world
if we don't who will if we don't who will
no one else will and going back to our earlier verses from Matthew 18
I think this will start to make us realize more and more
the responsibility of practicing things according to God's word
in our local assemblies if we in our local
gatherings are representations of what the assembly
is as a whole then don't we see our need to practice what God says in his
word this has already been said quite a lot
today
that we're here to do what God says God speaks to us in his words
we may be affected by the fashions and ideas of those around us
and sadly very often we are in our minds
in the background of our minds we're affected by the ideas
that are all around us but really we should base everything on God's word
and it's not negotiable there's not one bit we can say well that's true
I believe it that's something that I'm going to do
that's important but this bit well no I'm not
it's all God's word so it's important we practice it where we are and that
brings before us a certain dignity that we have
in the local gathering where we are if you remember when Hugh spoke earlier
he spoke about the Lord's words in Matthew chapter
16 there we see power there we see greatness
there we see no failure the Lord Jesus says on this rock
I will build my assembly he goes on to say the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it there's no failure there but in the
second mention because that's the first mention
as Hugh said of the assembly in the second mention of the assembly which is
in Matthew chapter 18 the verses we read we see weakness we
see sin we see smallness and yet the Lord Jesus
still refers to it by that word assembly
there may just be two or three gathered together under the name of the Lord
Jesus but they have a dignity because they're
gathered together by him to his name
to represent him in this world where they are
to be the sample to be the representation of the assembly
in their place where he has arranged for them to live
and furthermore there's another beautiful touch following this verse in
1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 that is
the Lord Jesus is set before us by the apostle
in verse 16 of that chapter in all the perfection
of his life here in this world and sometimes we forget that
the Lord Jesus has gone back on high and we are here in his place
to represent God here in this world as he so perfectly represented God
when he was here it's called the mystery of godliness or the mystery of piety
it was seen in perfection in him when he was here in this world and now
we are as it were to fill out the place which he filled
where we are in our localities there are other verses here which i
haven't got enough time to refer to but 1 Corinthians 14 40 is that verse
which we've had before let everything be done
decently and in order 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 17
refers to the assembly as the house of God
again 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5 tells us that we are a holy priesthood
we're here to give praise and glory to God and
1 Peter chapter 2 verse 9 tells us we're a royal priesthood
to show the excellences of our God and of our Savior
to those around us yes we're here to be for the honor of God in this world and
we're to be a witness to those around us
but we also thought about discipline assembly authority is preserving the
fellowship and restoring those who go wrong
if binding does not take place if we do not exercise authority
the sin or disorder will defile the fellowship and those who go wrong will
not realize the seriousness of what they have
done and those two references refer again to the need of that man
in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and again certain people
in Thessalonica who needed discipline in order to bring home to them
the seriousness of what they had done
and if loosing does not take place releasing from discipline
when those people repent then the assembly will lose the benefit of their
fellowship they will be discouraged and there
will be no testimony to the restoring grace of God we had a question earlier
on from a brother concerned that we were
mentioning discipline and not restoration
discipline is always in view of restoration
and you'll see that Paul was concerned that that man who had committed that sin
in Corinth now that he had repented he would be swallowed up by his grief
if he was not restored to the fellowship of the saints so we see that loosing
is as important as binding
well we read these verses the assembly has the authority to bind
and loose and agree what should happen on other issues even when it numbers
only two or three believers in a place this is the dignity we have as those
who are gathered by the Lord Jesus to his name
and to exercise it we must be gathered together to his name
why do i emphasize this it's easy perhaps for
some of us sometimes who've been brought up in in in meetings which have
treasured verse 20 to say oh i gather with with believers to the name of the
Lord Jesus
but do we really think about what those words mean
to be gathered together to his name
that means to speak in complete submission to his will
to be ready to hear his voice to us and to be ready to do his will
yes to be living my life in accordance with his will
yes it's not just a formula it's not just an outward thing it's an
inner thing it's a moral thing it affects
me in myself am i really when i meet with my saints gathering to the
Lord Jesus with my brethren gathering to the Lord Jesus
submitting to him if we are then he can be in the midst
he can be in the midst he can presence himself amongst us
and that's what makes it a meeting and assembly he's in the midst
he's directed and as a result we can hear his voice and we can carry
out his will and this is what gives it all
the dignity that we've been speaking about because
the Lord Jesus says
that when we're like that and we take decisions
then the decisions we take are recognized
by heaven itself
you might think boy that's a lot of authority you've got then
just two or three of you can get together and make decisions and heaven
recognizes them boy that's powerful it is it is powerful that shows the
dignity of being gathered in this way being
gathered by the Lord Jesus to his name to his name
and to have him in the midst
and yes it has this implication as well if the action of an assembly
is recognized in heaven all local assemblies
should be united in recognizing it as well
if it's recognized by heaven how could any other gathering
of God's people say no I'm ignoring that I'm going to look into it myself first
of all no we can't possibly say that and I've
given you some examples there of cases where assemblies made decisions
and they were recognized by other assemblies we've already quoted
the example of Phoebe she was commended to the saints in Rome
they didn't have to look into her life and say now can we really receive this
sister is she really serving the Lord no on the basis of what the brethren
could say from centuria from the words of the apostle Paul
they could receive her because they could have confidence
in their brethren elsewhere another important thing about local assemblies
is that they all call upon the name of the Lord
you know that's a defining fact about a a local assembly it's marked by this
calling upon the name of the Lord dependence on the Lord
if we truly believe that we're dependent on the Lord where we gather together to
his name surely we will recognize decisions that
we take as led by him
2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 10 the apostle Paul could say he
had confidence he would go along with what the brethren decided in Corinth
that meeting where there'd been so much disorder in the first letter
the apostle Paul is saying I've got confidence now in what you're going to
do I will accept the decision you make
and in Galatians chapter 1 the apostle Paul looks back to his life
and he says you know the meetings in Judea
that I who have been an enemy of the church
I was now a believer
they didn't try and work out that for themselves they accepted what the
brethren had had witnessed themselves
further up the coast in Damascus and elsewhere where he had
been received among the brethren so actions of an assembly
should be recognized by other local assemblies because they are recognized
in heaven now why have I got this strange picture here
well it's really to emphasize this second point the assembly exercises
authority within take that little house as a picture of
the house of God if you like we're responsible for exercising
authority within the assembly Acts chapter 6 where there was a
problem between the Grecian and the Hebrew
widows was dealt with by the assembly probably there were other kinds of
problems going on among believers in among people in
Jerusalem the assembly wasn't responsible for sorting those out
and the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 that you're
responsible for dealing with those who are within
not those who are without we've already had that point
emphasized by Andrew yes people in our community may say they're Christians
but we're not responsible for ordering their lives
reminds me a bit of what the servants said when they discovered that tares
have been so within the field of their master they
wanted to pull them up but we can't put the world to right
we're responsible for those who are within the assembly
not for those without that's a limit on our responsibility and sadly a limit
that has not been recognized down the history of the church
and that's why the church has got itself involved in all sorts of things
it's amazing sometimes when you hear those in
organized churches spouting at great length
about environmental matters and economic matters
political matters and yet seemingly at a loss to be able to say anything
certain about things to do with the word of
god
the assembly should not try to control the exercise of spiritual gifts
we've already seen earlier on that the lord jesus gives the gifts he's the
head of the assembly the holy spirit apportions gifts
according to the direction that we might say of the lord
that's in those two scripture references they're given to the whole
assembly however there should be a readiness to
have fellowship in service and to give and take counsel
in acts chapter 13 you'll remember that there were several
ministering in the assembly and the holy spirit said separate unto me
paul and barnabas for the work yes that shows the lord directed by
his holy spirit but it shows that the people there the
brethren there they had fellowship with paul and
barnabas in laying the right hand of fellowship
upon them before they went out on paul's so-called
first missionary journey what happened at the end of that journey
the apostle paul and barnabas came back reported to the brethren all the things
that the lord had enabled them to do so we must be careful to keep these
things in balance the servant is responsible to the lord
but he or she should serve the lord in fellowship
with their brethren but the assembly should discipline those who exercise
gifts and those who exercise oversight nick
was speaking to us about uh such uh brethren
if they go wrong you'll find that in one timothy chapter 5 verses 19 to 20
and in galatians chapter 2 verse 11 the apostle paul
censured peter didn't he when peter went wrong withstood him to the face
peter was a gift he was an apostle but he had to be put right when we go
wrong it doesn't matter if we're gifted or not
we need to be put right
we don't read of assemblies exercise and authority over
other assemblies if there's an issue between assemblies
they should seek the lord's mind together andrew spoke
of the fact that he didn't think what happened
between antioch and jerusalem can be taken as a model
for today they all went up to jerusalem that's true
but i think it does illustrate to us that when
uh two uh two assemblies have a difficulty
they should try and remedy matters together
in that particular case teachers have come from jerusalem to antioch
they've been teaching that the gentile converts had to keep the law
what did the believers in um antioch do they didn't split away from
the brethren at jerusalem they sent paul and
they sent paul and barnabas to um seek to um sort sort the matter out
am i right or is it paul and silas silas sorry
if a problem in an assembly persists it may not be possible for other assemblies
to continue to have fellowship with the believers there but it would be wise
for two or three assemblies that are able to take responsibility
for trying to resolve the issue to do so before deciding
and announcing this is the case this is the way in which
matters should be dealt with
things to bear in mind we need to be prayerful
careful and humble when we exercise assembly authority
why because we're doing it in the name of the lord jesus
we cannot claim today even to be the local assembly we've already had this
laid before us here in catford there are many groups of
christians it's the same in ipswich
it's the same in nepal
believers are divided into different groups
that's one of the reasons why christians haven't got the same power today
they had before but we can act on the basis of god's word
and for the whole of his assembly act in the interests of the
whole assembly
and we also ought to be prayerful and careful and humble because we can make
mistakes and sadly i think all of us in this
hall well nearly all of us in this hall would have to say over recent years yes
we have made mistakes
even though we have the holy spirit in dwellings and even though we have the
word of god we have to make sure we keep close to the
lord jesus because it's only as we do that that
we know his mind and will this brings us back
to the question of being gathered to his name
and to having him in the midst of us we also ought to take responsibility for
sin and disorder we've already had this chapter mentioned
daniel chapter 9 daniel in all respects as far as the
biblical record is concerned we don't see any sin in his life
he was a sinner of course but we don't see any sin in his life and yet he took
responsibility for the sin that occurred and you know in the old
testament when the sin offering was offered
the priest had to eat the sin offering they had to
identify with the sin that had been committed they had to
have a sense in their hearts of the failure that had occurred
it was a sad thing in Corinth that the believers didn't realize how serious the
matter was if they had done perhaps they would
have acted and maybe the situation would not have
been as great as it was and in revelation chapter 2 and
i've over over over overgone my time so i will
be very quick now revelation 2 there's this uh there's this
sin in this church here and the apostle the the the
john writing on behalf john the lord jesus writing
by uh the apostle john says repent put the matter right
you're responsible for it we should deal with local issues locally rather
than at a distance but we should be willing to seek and
submit to inquiry and counsel look at those new testament
scriptures and you'll see they were all dealt with locally
and in deuteronomy chapter 21 and chapter 13 you'll see a couple of
old testament examples first of all of dealing with a matter
locally and in chapter 13 of seeking or of
taking counsel together in order to deal with
matters we should always seek the witness of two or three
before making a deliberation on a particular point
where there's any doubt about it and no one should take assembly authority to
himself earlier on somebody said there's no case
of just one person being responsible for an assembly but
there is one case but it's in reverse it's diatrophies
and he's censured by the apostle john for taking
the preeminent place among the believers in a particular place and uh that's a
warning to us and peter says we're not to lord it
over god's people we're to be in samples to
the flock we're to be marked by humility
and not by pride so assembly authority exercised according to god's word
honors god 1 thessalonians chapter 4 verse 1 says we should please god
in our local assemblies it promotes the assembly's witness in this world we're
to be lights in the midst of a dark generation
it preserves the fellowship ephesians chapter 4 verse
verses 1 to 3 tell us to endeavor to maintain the unity of the spirit
we've heard about the truth of the one body that's god's side
god's made us one body but there's our practical responsibility and that's the
fellowship putting the truth of the one body into
practice is the matter of the fellowship and that
involves our responsibility we have to endeavor to maintain that
fellowship that unity needs to come out in a
practical way we have to endeavor to do it
and that may involve assembly authority assembly decisions
it preserves the fellowship and it seeks the restoration of those who go wrong
in ephesians in in hebrews chapter 12 verse 11
the writer says that no chastening is anything that we enjoy
but when it takes place when we need it and it's exercised he's talking there
more about the father exercising this uh this this discipline
it yields what does it yield the peaceable fruits
of righteousness it blesses us it's for our good
it restores us and it strengthens us and it enables us to go on
and be more effective for our lord's glory now no
chastening for the present seems to be joyous but grievous
nevertheless afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness
unto them which are exercised thereby i may have spoken about assembly
authority more from a disciplinary point of view
but it is quite important i think we have seen earlier on
that the assembly today lacks from the fact that there isn't
this discipline exercise today everyone can do what they want
but that's not for god's glory or for the blessing of those involved
may we be able to put these things into practice …