Allen, Jim: Calling Of The Church ~ Richmond

A word of welcome to all. We're glad to see you all tonight again. The calling of the church. Will you turn, please, to Matthew's gospel? Chapter one. Matthew chapter one please. Verse one. The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Turn the page, please, to chapter four, verse seventeen. From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Turn, please, to chapter twelve. I'm only pointing out these marking verses. Chapter twelve please, and reading at verse fourteen. Then the Pharisees went out and held a counsel against him, that's Christ, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from them. And he continues to withdraw from the centers of Jerusalem till chapter sixteen. Chapter sixteen, please. And verse number thirteen. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, and that's on the very northern border of the land. When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, Simon son of Jonas, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Now you'd recognize that that's the revelation of the Christ. And I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, and the word Peter is petros, a little stone, and upon this rock, that word rock is Petra. There's a distinction in the words. Even though the Lord may have spoken Arabic, the Holy Spirit, Aramaic, the Holy Spirit has included that difference. I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto- unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Now turn the page, please, to chapter seventeen, Verse twenty four. And when they were come to Capernaum, you'll notice Capernaum stands in contrast to Caesarea Philippi. Caesarea Philippi was on the border of the land. Capernaum was his own city, identified like that in chapter nine. When they were come to Capernaum, they that received the tribute money came to Peter and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. When he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own children or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free? Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea in cast and hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up, and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money. That take, give unto them for me and thee. At the same time, in fact, it's closer than that, in the same hour. Came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Jesus called a little child unto the- unto him, 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, uh, as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Now look further down, please, at verse fifteen. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass, the next two words are omitted by many ancient authorities. 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 a heathen man and a publican, text gatherer. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. 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, you know the preposition is eis, it can be translated in or unto, 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 I forgive him? Until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven. Turn the page, please, to chapter twenty one, same gospel. Verse four, chapter twenty one. All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Zion, behold, thy king cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass and the colt and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. One final scripture, please, I want to look at, and that's in Ephesians, epistle to the Ephesians. I'll use this just for reference. Ephesians and chapter five, verse twenty five. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify. Now, will you notice the next, the conjunction is in italics, it's been supplied, and the next word is a perfect participle, that he might sanctify, having cleansed it with the washing of water by the word, that's conversion, please, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. God will bless his sacred word to all our hearts. Last night, we followed the timeline of the word of God with relation to the establishment of the kingdom on earth. We focused upon the prophecy of Daniel seventy seven, The prophecy of Daniel's seventy weeks. We took a little li- time last night to notice that that concerned a people, Israel, and a place, Jerusalem, and a purpose, and the purpose was enshrined in the dealing with sin and presentation of a savior that we saw led directly to Christ as the one who would be the ruler, the one who would be the revealer, and the one who would be the resident in Jerusalem. In other words, it was a timeline connected with the kingdom and its establishment in Jerusalem underground. We recognized that this timeline had arisen from a land grant that God gave to Abraham in Genesis fifteen, from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates, that was the play. Then we noticed that God had given a throne grant to the line of David, second Samuel chapter seven, and um that enshra- ensured that the kingdom would come to one of David's line. And we pointed out that in Christ, these promises would be realized at the point when he took up residence as king in Jerusalem. We noticed the commencement of that period from the going forth of the decree to build and to restore and to build Jerusalem, to rebuild, build the city. And we noted its time link and settled that that was the first of Nisan, four hundred and forty BC, from the going fall of the commandment in Nehemiah chapter two. Then, with the seventy sevens before us, the four hundred and ninety year period, we noticed it was broken into a seven uh year, forty nine seven sevens, and then sixty sevens that give us a total of sixty sevens. And after that, to Messiah the Prince. We noticed sixty nine sevens, four hundred and eighty three years, one hundred and seventy three thousand eight hundred and eighty days, and we did some counting. We counted down from the first of Nisan, four hundred and forty BC, and it brought us to the tenth day of Nisan, thirty AD. We asked the question, what happened on that day? And we pointed out that that was the exact day when the Lord Jesus, on the ass, moved into Jerusalem in fulfillment of Zechariah chapter nine. Behold, thy king cometh unto thee. He is just in having salvation, meek and lowly, riding upon the colt, the foal of an ass. On the tenth of December. The Gospels record that six days before the Passover, he came to Bethany. Now count back six days from the fourteenth, the Passover, that's the eighth day of Nissan. That in that year was a Friday. He came to Bethany on Friday, rested the Sabbath till after sundown, then had that feast, that supper, when Mary broke the box of ointment and the odor, the smell filled the house. And then you remember, on the Sunday morning, the tenth of Nisan, he fulfilled the prophecy. He moved into Jerusalem. Messiah the Prince had arrived, Ecrat to the dead. Then Daniel said, after the threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. We stood last night appalled under the shadow of a cross, that on the fourteenth of Nissan, I submit the Thursday evening, stood on a hill outside Jerusalem. The word of God had been fulfilled. A king had been refused, rejected by the nation to whom he came, and a cross stood there. Then we noticed at that point the clock of prophecy stopped. We're glad it did. It allowed a period between the sixty ninth and the seventieth week, of which the one event that's stated there was the destruction of the city and the sanctuary by the people of the coming prince. We recognize that Rome filled that role, and under Titus, that sanctuary and that city destroyed in fulfillment of the word of God. But that's after the clock of prophecy stopped, and then a period. We know it as the period of grace. We know it as the period of the preaching of the gospel. It's this period in which we stand, and, uh, in subsequent nights, I'll take up the seventieth week, the seventh— the s- the 7-year period of Daniel's last week that is yet to be fulfilled. But tonight, I'm going to deal with the interval. I'm going to deal with the gap between the sixty ninth and the seventieth week, and I'm going to put the question in that period, what is God doing? That's the point of the meeting tonight. That's why I have called it the calling of the church, because it's in this period that this purpose is fulfilled. And to show you the link, I'm going to take you quickly through Matthew's gospel tonight, to present to your heart the person of the king who opens to us another purpose, hidden in the counsels of God, hidden in his heart, until rejected. Then he takes his own into his confidence, and he gives them a view of that which he would do in the day of his rejection, in the day when he was refused by his own. In this period, he would do something different, something distinct, and that's why this period is different, is distinct. Why the church is different from Israel. Why the church is distinct from Israel. And the two cannot and must not and should not be confused. They stand absolutely different. Isn't it strange that Matthew's gospel is the only gospel that mentions the church by name. That rather surprises us, rather startles us, but it shouldn't, because this is the gospel that sets forth the king, the sovereign. And if the sovereign is rejected, what is he to do? What is his purpose during the period of his rejection, and that's why this dispensational gospel sets forth the truth with regard to the church. But you must follow it, please, step by step. Isn't it the fact that Christ is sovereign? Isn't that the note that struck in the very first verse of the gospel that presents his sovereignty, his kingship. He's spoken of as the seed of Abraham. Isn't that Christ? Isn't he spoke of, spoken of as the seed of David? Isn't that Christ? And the land grant and the throne grant were to be fulfilled under one, the seed of Abraham and the seed of David. And here he has arrived. Now the opening chapters of Matthew's gospel, the first four chapters present his arrival, the advent of the king. Look at the prophecy. There are eight prophecies in connection with the king. The first one of those prophecies is that one that thrills our heart and that stirs our very soul. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear, shall be with child and shall bring forth a son. Thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, God with us. That's the first of eight. Tick them off as you read through, and you'll recognize that down to verse sixteen of chapter four, that's a section that, uh, deserves investigation. The prophecies concerning the king that are fulfilled in one person and in one person alone. The person of our Lord Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham, and there he has come. He has arrived. When you turn to verse seventeen of chapter four, you find this one with all the authenticity of the prophecies behind him. He moves out onto the public stage. From that time began Jesus to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven hath drawn nigh, hath arrived in the person of the king. The kingdom was here, and you see him moving on to that public stay. And then what do you find? You find from chapter five to chapter seven, not the prophecies of the king, but you read and listen to the principles of the king. He's going to set out what's true of the subjects of the kingdom. He's going to give something of their character, their conviction, their conscience, and their conduct. And please, brethren, don't refer that to the millennial kingdom. It's true wherever subjects of the king are found, wherever citizens of the kingdom are seen. This is the standard expected because he is king. So from chapter five to chapter seven, you have the principles of the king, and you go through the Sermon on the Mount. Then logically, what would you expect to see of a king? What would you expect him to demonstrate? Well, as I ask it, your mind will be turning to the next chapter, chapter eight through to chapter eleven. And what do you find? Well, you find the power of the king, the power of the king. How could the king deal with these situation? You have a record of ten miracles, three cycles, three, three, and four. And in that those cycles, the king deals with every situation that can pertain on earth. Whether it comes from the physical, whether it comes from the spiritual, whether it comes from the infernal, the king can deal with it. And the king moving with majestic step, he demonstrates his sovereignty in every line, in every area, in every circumstance. And you would expect, wouldn't you, as you come to the end of that section, you would expect men to bow before the claims of such a mighty king, and that's what happened in many instances, in many of the country districts, as his claims were accepted and acknowledged and admitted, there was a bowing of the knee, and multitudes pressed around him. But there was another part of the nation. There was the powers that be, the religious, the political, the social, centered in the Pharisees and in the Herodians and in the Sadducees. When you come into chapter twelve, startlingly, surprisingly, you get the reaction of the Pharisees, and what's that reaction to Christ? It's very strange, isn't it? It says, then the Pharisees went out. You might say, take counsel to accept him, to acknowledge him, to admit his claim. Haven't they s- read the prophecy? Haven't they listened to the principles? Haven't they seen his power? They went out and took counsel to gather to destroy him. Wouldn't have him. They rejected his claim. They refused that which he presented to their heart. You can see that's the turning point in the gospel, when they had reached that decision officially, they took counsel together. Now, it's only a matter of time until he will hang on a tree. They have repudiated, they have rejected, they have refused. You'll have to turn some pages till you find Calvary, till you find the cross. But here's the council that resulted in Calvary, that resulted in a cross. The nation in the Pharisaic leadership had decided against the Christ. That's the turning point. You turn to the next chapter, and what do you find? You find that it's in this chapter that the Lord begins to talk about the mysteries of the kingdom. Isn't that strange? Mystery in your New Testament means not something mysterious, but something not previously revealed. And that revelation coming from God. Now the Lord takes them into his confidence. And he says, there's a phase of the kingdom that's about to break that you have never seen outlined in prophecy. I'm going to tell you this. There's going to be a period of rejection when the kingdom goes into mystery form. That's where you get the seven period, the seven parables of the mystery form of the kingdom, and it begins with a sower. Now that's surprising. Why did he begin with a sower? That was in contrast to what the Pharisees expected of a king. They were brought up on Daniel. They saw Daniel's image, the mighty Gentile power. They saw that head of gold. They saw Babylon. They saw down through the silver of the Media Persian, down through the other metals, down through Greece, down through the legs, down to the clay, the pottery. But they were taught to understand, and they, it had gripped their heart, that when Christ the Messiah came, when the king would take his throne, he would come as a stone, cut out of the mountains without hand, to smash the image. He expected Christ as a stone to come and smash the Gentile power, bring down Rome at one fell swoop, destroy it absolutely, introduce the ki- the land and the ki- the throne to Israel. They expected a stone type kingdom. They misunderstood. The Lord came. What did he bring? He brought a seed type kingdom. A seed as a sower he would sow, and all the fruit would depend upon the soil, upon the response of men. That would be a period that would overrun the church age of which he hasn't yet spoken. Commence before it, close after it, cover it, the intervening age, the age of the mystery form of the kingdom. The Lord takes them through it in chapter thirteen. You ponder it. You study it, and see what the Lord has in mind. Ah, but there's something more. As the Lord speaks of that period of mystery, recognizes that he is the rejected one. From that time forward, he's moving away from the political center. He's moving away from the religious center. He's moving away from the social center. He's taking his little band back, back, back, until he has them on the very borders of the land, until he stands at Caesarea Philippi. And at that point, and that's significant, he turns to that little company, and he puts to their heart a question. Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Here's the key question. It hasn't to do with program. It hasn't to do with purpose. It is to do with person. Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? Can you feel the stillness? Peter answering said, well, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, some Jeremias, one of the prophets. The Lord becomes more direct. Whom do ye say that I, the Son of Man, am? And we would say you could hear a, a pin drop. And Peter looks up into that face. Thou art the Christ, son of the living God. Bow our hearts, fellas, say. Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. The Lord says, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, son of Jonah, flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee. You didn't get that by intuition. You didn't get that by education. You got that by divine revelation. That's the revelation of the Son, the revelation of the Christ. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You're sure tonight? Remember the Ethiopian eunuch. What does hinder me to be baptized? Water there. Philip says, if thou believeth. What's he believe? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. There it is. Save tonight, you bow the knee as a trembling sinner to understand upon the cross of Calvary, the very Son of God died for sinners. You can be saved on that seat. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. It's all revealed in the person. Here's the revelation of the Christ. Consequent upon it, the Lord turns to Peter, makes the tremendous statement, says, Thou art Peter. John one, when he first met him, three years before, he said, thou shalt be called Peter. Now the rock character comes out. Thou art Peter, Peter. It's Petra. It's a little stone. Thou art Peter. Yeah. But upon this rock, he's making a clear distinction between Peter and himself. This, the demonstr- demonstrative adjective, makes the difference. And the word rock is the great massive bedrock, the Petra, distinct in Greek. Even if the Lord is speaking Aramaic, that doesn't make any difference, because the Holy Spirit has recorded the difference, made the distinction. Peter grasped it. Thou art Peter upon this rock, his person, his deity, the confession of that. There's the rock on which I will build my church. First mention, the church. That word church is ecclesia. The called out, the summoned out. Nothing to do with a building, an organization. Everything to do with the people summoned or called. I will build my church. You look back and you see the tabernacle of Moses. That's gone. You look back and you see the house of David, except for Christ, that's gone. You look back and you see the temple of Solomon, great man, great name. But here the Lord says, I will build my church preciously, peculiarly, personally my own. Owing nothing to another, I will build my church. He says this, the gates of Hades, that speaks of the powers of darkness that guard that unseen realm. The gates of Hades. What's it mean? Well, Hades was the unseen world in which men expected to move. Christ said, the gates of Hades shall not prevail, overcome, not be able to hold, is the idea. What happened to Moses? He died. What happened to David? He died. What happened to Solomon? He died. But this Christ, even through death itself. He's the one that will rise from, from out of death. He's the one that will carry the gate, the keys of hell and of death at his girdle. He's the one that will rise triumphant. It will be built upon a risen Christ and the gates of Hades. Death won't make any difference. Death won't make the slightest bit of difference to the church. Death may reap the individual members down the years. But the Lord in resurrection in Hebrews chapter two destroy him. How did he do it? Didn't do it in the battle of the cross, please. That's a misunderstanding. He did it in the resurrection, coming out of the grave, destroyed him, rendered powerless him that had the power of death, delivered them who through all their lifetime, saints were subject to bondage. We've been set free. We're linked with the living Christ, the one on the other side of the grave. And every saved one is in the great ecclesia, the great congregation, the great company of the say, I will build, notice the future, the simple future. I will build my church. It lies in the future. Then he turns to Peter, and he speaks to Peter alone, and he says, I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom. What's he saying? He's saying that the kingdom will be opened in connection with the church. How will that happen? Well, Peter will use a key in Acts two to the, to the, to the Jew. He'll use a key in Acts ten to the Gentile. Those keys don't need to be used again. The doors stand open, and I will give unto thee, singular, the keys of the kingdom. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. There you have, in this very passage, the revelation of the Christ and the revelation of a church built upon his person and upon his power as the risen Christ, that will span the dispensation. This will be the company out of this great period between the sixty ninth and the seventieth week. It will run, as we'll see in later scripture, from Pentecost right to the rapture, comprising every saved one. Are you in it tonight? Back to the moment when Christ was revealed to your soul, when you trusted him, when your sin was forgiven, when you were put into it? If so, you are linked to the great purpose of the ages, the church of the dispensation, but the Lord has something else to say. The chapter of the revelation of the Christ. Second, the revelation of the church. Third, the revelation of the cross. From that time. This is the first time the Lord has taken them into his confidence, that when he moves to Jerusalem, he's going to die. Teach them, must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and raised again the third day. Why did he delay telling? Because, remember, chapter twelve is his rejection, repudiation, refusal. He's opened his heart. He's told them of his purpose. As his person has been revealed, now he tells them of his pain. If there's ever going to be a chance, there must be a cross where Jesus died. We bow our hearts before the truth, that's through the cross. This purpose would be worked out, the church would be called the church of the dispensation. Now see the Lord's movement in the opposite direction. He's moved away. He's moved away back to Caesarea Philippi. He's open to their understanding his purpose during the period of his rejection. Now he moves back, and he moves back to the very center where he was known, where his presence was known, where his preaching had been heard, Capernaum, exalted to heaven, and where his power had been demonstrated in numerous occasions. Right back to Capernaum. And when they come into Capernaum, the very first thing that meets them are the tax gatherers. And they come to Peter. They say, Peter, your master paid tax. Peter caught off guard. He said, yes. Yes. Peter, don't you understand? As he goes to the Lord, puts the matter to him, the Lord says, Peter, let me ask you a question. Of whom do the kings of the earth take tribute? Of stranger or of their own children? And it dawns on Peter, we would say the penny dropped. Oh, they're treating us as stranger. Obviously, the Lord had never paid the tax before. Rabbis accepted, didn't pay the tax. Now they were showing. He wasn't any longer one of their. Peter, if you belong to him, you're outside this community. You don't belong to this nation. Where's your tax? That's the point. Don't you get this the picture? Those who would be linked with Christ in the dispensation of his rejection, in the period of his refusal, in their very own country, in their very... in the period of his refusal, in their very own country, in their very own nation, they would become stranger. They'd be a new community. They'd be totally different. They'd be totally distinct because they belonged to the person rejected. They were outside that nation. That's the point. Can you get the principle? The moment you trust Christ, you become citizen of another country. You're linked with another sovereign, and you are thus distinct and different from the culture and the country in which you were brought up. Whatever the nation, whatever the race, whatever the people, identification with Christ makes you a stranger. He called me out the man with garments dyed. That's the picture, stranger. They're outside their own company. You come to the immediately following that, those who were associated with Christ, the disciples come to him, say, Lord, who's going to be greatest? Our culture tells us that you need possession, position, you need power, you need possessions, and to get them, you strive and you energize and you go as far as you can in getting qualifications and making your presence felt, you become the greatest in your community. Who's greatest in this community? A new community has been established. Who's greatest now? The Lord says, let me teach you a lesson. And he puts a little child in the mix. He said, look at that little child. Except you become as little children. Be converted, become as little children. You're not even in the kingdom. What's he telling them? You're not only a new community, that stranger is associated with him, but you're have got a new culture. A new culture associated with. The old culture is gone. That culture that depended upon personality, prestige, progress, power in the worldly sense. Now you're just like a child. Humble's not the idea. Teachable is the idea. Associated with Christ, there's a completely new culture. I could develop that down the passage, but I want you to study it on your own. Associa- associated with Christ, strangers, new community, because he's the center. Associated with Christ, a new culture. Now it doesn't depend upon race or education, or any of the things that men put value on. There's something greater in this community. It's a completely new culture that shows that life is developed within the saint, just like a little child growing up, and it draws its culture from its surrounding. Thus you draw your culture from the one with whom you're associated, the one who took the lowly place, became little, that others might be blessed. That could be developed. But I must come to the third note, because when you come down to verse fifteen, there's something more, because he's dealing with them now, not as strangers, that's a new community, and now not just as children, a new culture. He sees them as brethren, with a small B, brethren. And what's associated with the b- the family? It's the, a sensitivity, a moral sensitivity, and that moral sensitivity leads to certain action for a reason I'll come to, and it's this. If thy brother trespass, and I'm inclined with the weight of authority to leave it at that point, makes it rather more searching, more solemn. If thy brother trespass, trespass against God, what do you do? Shut your eye to him? Cover it, conceal it, compromise with him? No. You can't do that. Well, what am I to do? If thy brother trespass, right, here's the instruction. Go to him, tell him his fault, between him and thee alone. If he listens to you, the matter can be resolved, action can be taken, and the matter's settled, and you've gained your brother. Good. If he doesn't listen, step number two, go with, go to him again. Take one or two more, and in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word could be established. Repeat the exercise. Tell him of that fault. Let him deal with it. That's the second step. Now, what if he don't listen, if he won't listen? You have one third step, the final resort, and that is tell it to the church. Now you say, is that possible? How could I tell it to the church that was spoken of in chapter sixteen? The church built throughout the dispensation, and now the majority are in glory. How could you tell it to the church? But this context will show that this word church is used in another connection, to show you that this church is not of the dispensation, but in the district. And it's a church that can hear, that can judge, that can decide, and that can pray. That's the point. And tell it to the church. Let them reach a decision on the matter. And if the man doesn't listen to them, then he's to become like a heathen man that is a Gentile and a tax gatherer, not on love, but not one of your community, not one of your fellowship, one that's clearly outside that fellowship. They don't belong there. The community, the culture, the church is different. Oh, but you say, listen, how could a company of people on earth have such authority as that, to deal with that brother and to deal with his sin? The Lord says, I'll tell you how such a company can have such authority. And he says, it's like this. For where two or three— that's the composition, are gathered together, it's passive. That is, they gather under the power of another, by the action of another. It's not they gather together, it's they are gathered together. That's passive voice, being acted upon. There's the congregation, gathered together unto my name. The preposition it translated onto speaks of authority. They have gathered to that name. Obviously, the Lord is speaking to a p- uh, uh, of a period when he'd be absent. Unto my name attraction. Maybe into my name or in my name is authority, both attraction and authority. Name speak of the person, represent, reflect, reproduce the person onto my name. There's the constitution. And then he said, there am I. There am I. That's the character. There am I in the midst of them. And the heart bows before its sweetness, its simplicity, its security. Look again, two or three composition, gather together congregation, unto my name, constitution, the only one in the New Testament. There am I, character of that gathering, I presence myself with you. But somebody says, surely we could refer this to a higher authority. If you were in Anglicanism, you would refer it, uh, to the bishop. You would take it to the archbishop, and you would go to the highest authority. If you were in Rome, you would pass it from the priest to the bishop, and then to the cardinal, and to the highest authority, then to the pope himself. If you were in Presbyterianism, you could take it right through to the synod, to the general synod, the moderator. Authority. This little company has the authority to refer the matter to a higher authority. Where's the higher authority? It's not on Earth. There's no higher authority than the local assembly on Earth. So where do you refer it to? You refer it to heaven. You refer it to headquarters. That is heaven itself. Two of you on Earth shall agree as touching the matter. They shall ask, and it shall be done. Here's the authority that stems from that association with Christ in testimony and his person, and you can see the dignity and the divinity, yes, indeed, the deity of a New Testament assembly. I put it to the hearts of all saints. I put it particularly to the hearts of young believers. You grasp this principle, see this in practice, something will have gripped your heart that will be a power to control and for conviction in days to come. And you'll never lose it. The truth of the gathering of the assembly in the district to the person of Christ, under the power of the Holy Spirit, uh, to practice the scripture of truth. There it is. And you can see how that company reflects Christ, reproduces him in the day of his absence. So you see the parallel? Chapter sixteen, the church of the dispensation. Chapter eighteen, the church in the district. And this is the period of his rejection until he come, until he keep the promise of his coming. I want you to think of it. Ponder it. Allow its truth to grip your heart. Peter was stirred. Peter comes to the Lord. He says, Lord, I catch your, I catch your, your, your teaching. I understand. Now there's a company reflecting Christ in conduct. He says, Lord, I'll, I'll demonstrate that. My brother sins against me. I tell you, I'll forgive him. I'll forgive him. The rabbis said you could only forgive three times. You could only forgive three times. They based on Amos for three transgressions and for four. and they said Jehovah can forgive for four, but mortals only forgive for three. Peter says, I catch your point. Lord, I tell you what, I'm, I'm so spiritual, I'll forgive him seven times. Do you ever hear the like of it? Forgive his brother seven times. Wasn't it McNemesis? Lord says, Peter, you haven't really understood. You forgive your brother seventy times seven. You, what does that mean? When he sins four hundred and ninety one times, you don't forgive him anymore. No, that's not the idea. You don't keep a record like that. It means that forgiveness is inbuilt into the one who's associated with. Now please, don't talk about repentance. Please, don't set qualifications. God didn't set any qualifications when he offered forgiveness to the whosoever will. Oh, but you say repent- repentance is necessary. Just a moment. Repentance is necessary to enjoy forgiveness. Get the point? Necessary if I'm going to enter into forgiveness. But the forgiving one doesn't set conditions. Forgiveness is open to the heart. If I could take you through that parable, but time is gone. You could see two servants, please, and they're both in trouble. One's in trouble to his lord with a debt that he could never pay, and the lord forgives him. And he has a, a, a, a servant beside him, and he's in his, he is in debt to him, and he won't forgive him. He won't forgive him. What happens? The Lord steps in, and one of those men ends up in the hands of the tormentor. Go through Matthew. Tormentors indicates the physical pain that come, that is allowed to come, that when things are not right spiritually, and you can see the picture. Maybe a lot of our ills are due to an unforgiving spell. I think you'll see that if you go down that parable of forgiveness, that should be the full free thank forgiveness of a God who met us in our sin and forgave us fully, freely, and forever. I haven't time to dwell. I meant to t- to dwell a little on Ephesians chapter five to show that the calling of the church in the dispensation has a climax and a culmination when Christ comes and takes home the church, and then he presents it to himself, a glorious church in a marriage ceremony in heaven, and the bride is linked to the Christ. She was one during the period of his rejection on earth. Tomorrow night, I'll deal with the promise of his coming for the church, and perhaps we'll have time to deal a little with events that follow that tremendous moment that we're expecting to happen, possibly tonight. If I- if I wasn't saved, I wouldn't sleep tonight. We are very close to the Lord's coming. May the Lord bless his word. Our God and Father, we ask thee to bless thy holy word. Use it to our upbuilding. Use it, our Father, to our strengthening. Use it, our God, to our spiritual education, that we might be the better fitted to live for thee and to serve thee until the Savior comes. We know just a little of the problems, the pressures, the pains that thy people meet along the pathway of life. We ask that thou wilt apply the balm of thy counsel and the balm of thy presence and the balm, our God, of thy word, that we might be bound up and that we might indeed have that support and strength that we need at this time. We pray that thy truth will so guard and guide, that we'll be governed by it, and that our testimony might be true to the one who is rejected now, but the one who's coming back to reign. Add blessing to the word tonight. Remember thy people. Remember their problems. Remember their needs. Remember those sick tonight, and names have already been mentioned before thee. Have mercy upon them. Put thy hand upon the saints. Graciously bless, we, we pray. Part us with divine blessing. We give to thee our thanks in the Lord Jesus' precious name. Amen. Thank you for your patience. We'll sing in closing, please, a little hymn, number twenty nine. Number twenty nine. Bride of the Lamb, there is for thee one only safe retreat. Where Jesus is, thy heart should be, thy home at his dear feet. When Satan tracks thy lonely way, there his temptations meet. In Jesus' presence, watch and pray, ye conquer at his feet. Number twenty nine, please.