Assembly responsibility

Could you turn in your Bibles, please, to 1 Timothy, in chapter 3. What I have in my mind this afternoon, it wasn't on my mind when I came to this conference, but it has been laid upon my mind being here, and it's not anything that I saw here or anywhere else, just something that I believe the Lord maybe just placed it on my mind and a burden to share some thoughts with you in this regard. We've heard today in the conference about the assembly and the truths of the assembly. I want to focus for a little while on our individual place and responsibilities in the assembly.

I want us to focus on the assembly and all that we do from the meetings throughout the week and the conference or whatever it might be, and to think of it as we heard yesterday in Nehemiah, this is a great work. And every one of us that are in the assembly, we're involved in a great work. But I want to challenge our thinking today as to just how well we're functioning with what God has put in our hand in this great work.

In the work that it was referred to in Nehemiah's day, they had a trowel in one hand and they had a sword in the other. Well, you know, it's a little like that today. We need to have a trowel in one hand.

We need to have a sword in the other. And we need to be faithful with what God has put in our hand, use it for God, honor God with it, walk in his ways and seek to please him where he has placed us. And to look at everything with a desire and with a consciousness that this place, this assembly that I'm associated with doesn't belong to me, it belongs to the Lord.

And I happened to be by his grace in that assembly for him to use me to further his purposes, his cause, his work in the assembly. That's why I'm there. I'm not there to see what all I can get out of it.

I'm there because he is there. I'm there because I belong to him. I'm there because the assembly belongs to him.

And if we really get a hold of this, we're not going to be running around and going to, getting dissatisfied and going to other places. If we really understand that God has placed me where I am and he wants to use me there, and there's a real desire on my part that God might use me. And if that is my focus, he will use you.

And so I want to look at our whole, for the little time that we have, we won't, there's a lot of things that we'll definitely not be able to cover, but I would like to just think about a few things in a way. In a way, I don't want to liken the assembly to a business at all, but there's men here that are in business and they likely know how to run a business. And I sometimes say, and maybe I shouldn't say it, that if I ran my business like the government runs their business, it wouldn't do so well.

Well, we're not really supposed to criticize those that rule over us, but in the assembly, it's a little like that as well. Now, the way I'm functioning in the assembly, if everybody functioned the way I do, what state would the assembly be in? Am I concerned about its welfare, about building up one another in the things of God? Am I concerned about in some little way being used of God to further his great work? Before we go any further, there's a lot of verses that we could read, but I want to read these verses in 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. Allow me to read it and just make a few changes as we read these verses to get the impact of what they're really telling us.

1 Timothy 3 and 15, But if I tarry long, that men may know how they ought to behave themselves in house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground and stay of the truth. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was, has been manifested in the flesh, justified in or by the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles or the nations, believed on in the world, received up in glory.

Look at chapter 5, verse 21. Chapter 5, verse 21. I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that thou observe, that thou guard these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.

Lay hands suddenly, lay hands suddenly, and no man neither be partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure. Verse 21 to in all your dealings.

I'm paraphrasing the really the meaning of this verse in all your dealings. Never listen to a one sided story. That's what verse 22 is telling us.

If you do, you might find yourself a partaker of that brother's error. So lay hands suddenly on no one. And if you keep that in mind in the context, you'll see how well it fits.

Now, as I say, many verses could be read and focused on in what is on my mind and what is before me. How much do we value what God has given us? How much do we appreciate the fact that God has saved us? He has indwelt us by his spirit. He has given us new life in him.

He has shown us his truth from his word. And to some measure, we have been obedient to it and we have walked in it. We've enjoyed it.

We've appreciated it. To what extent is he using you and is he using me in the furtherance of his word and his truth? We just heard that Jeremiah was chosen. Well, every Christian here is chosen by God to be faithful with the trowel and with the sword.

God has chosen every one of us. He has placed us in the assembly, chosen vessels to be used of God to further his kingdom. And so, focusing now on the functions of the assembly that you and I are associated with, have I got a desire in that assembly to maintain unity in all that I do? And in the maintaining of that unity, being used of God in a wise way to build and maintain the welfare of the assembly for the glory of God.

If that's my desire, I need to look at everything that I do in the assembly and ask myself, is there something that I could do better here? Is there something that I could do that would improve a situation, a need? Is there something that I could say to a brother or sister or help them in some way to overcome a difficulty or whatever it might be in their life? Overall, in general, every part of our gathering, is this a desire that I'm working at, that God might use me to teach his word, to teach his truth, whether by example or by word, whatever the occasion, that it might be done in such a way as to encourage others to be faithful to the Lord and faithful to his word. So just in a very practical way, as we think of this for a while, start at the very beginning. We've already looked at us being brought to the assembly.

So Sunday morning comes and we get ready and we're going to the meeting. Is there a concern on my part to make sure I'm there on time? Or does it not matter too much to me if I'm there just at the hour or a few minutes late? If what I have just said would be my concern and my desire in the assembly, I'm going to do everything in my power to be there ahead of time, not just on time. We form habits.

Some habits are very good habits, and it's good to have good habits. But sometimes we form habits that are not good habits. And once we form them, they're hard to break.

They're hard to change. And I've noticed that individuals that maybe have a habit of coming in at the very hour or just a few minutes too late, and I have talked to some of them about it, but not in any scolding way, but just ask them a few questions about it. And it's always the same.

Oh, we try so hard. We try so hard to be in time. We try so hard to get here.

Well, just set your clocks back 15 minutes. Do that for a while. It might work.

Well, that's just a very simple thing that it's good to work at. Those kind of things, and there's a lot of those kind of things. Let's think about the different functions in the assembly, whether it's the prayer meeting or whether it's the Bible reading, whether it's the worship meeting.

And all of us have a responsibility there. We should all be contributors. We should go there with a serious thought about how I might be able to contribute.

And if there's that thought, I want to contribute to be an encouragement to someone in what I have to say or what I do. I'm not going to be too quick to find fault with things or details of that gathering. My focus is going to be, how can I do something to encourage another? We have to remember from the youngest to the oldest here, every one of us is being followed by someone else.

Just think about that for a minute. Every one of us has someone else that is following us. What kind of example am I? Am I leading a path? Am I conveying an attitude that is good to be followed? Or is there a bitterness and a hardness on my part, a critical attitude? And the list goes on and on.

Even if that is the case, someone is following us and it's not good. We're not being a good example. Paul could say, be followers of me to the extent that I follow Christ.

That's what should be the desire of every Christian. I want to be an example. I want to live and do my responsibilities and my work in the assembly, whether it's with the trowel or the sword, and to such a way as to be a blessing to all that might be following me.

So, in these gatherings, we always need to remember that when a brother gets up to pray, the whole assembly is praying. I sometimes hear brethren say, well, the sisters are silent and they can take their own part silently. That's good if there is a silence.

But if it isn't, when a brother gets up to pray, you pray with him. God wants from that gathering to hear one voice that is raised to God in unity, and that there's a unity amongst the saints with that brother that may be worshiping or may be making requests in prayer, whatever it is. That oneness that should characterize the gathering in what I do and what I say.

And so, having just mentioned prayer, do we ever ask ourselves, is there a difference in my prayer now? Is it different than it was 20 years ago? Or do I pray the same as I did 20 years ago? Is there a lot of fill-in phrases, a lot of words used that have no point? Or am I to the point? Am I developing an ability to lead this company to God in such a way that there is no wasted words? There are no wasted thoughts. That takes effort. It doesn't happen on its own.

But again, too often, we get ourselves into habits. And we pray because of habit. We say things because of habit.

We might say, Our Father, in a prayer 80 times. I hear it often. I'm not criticizing the brother that does that.

I'm not saying it to criticize anyone here that might do that. I only want to encourage you to change that. And remember that you're leading a company of saints that are listening to you.

And they, with you, are addressing your Heavenly Father. And you want to do everything and be conscious to do everything in a way that will be upbuilding and encouraging to all the saints there. So whether it's in a prayer meeting and my participation in it, or whether it's in a Bible reading, do I come to the Bible reading with a desire to learn something from my brethren? Now, I've been involved in many, many Bible readings and have lots of private Bible readings with neighbors and things of that nature.

And I'm always impressed with this, that that participation of others in the Bible study, how it awakens thoughts in your own mind and helps you to contribute to the value of that study. The Lord preserve us from coming to a Bible study with an attitude of wanting to change someone's mind about something. Come to the Bible reading with one attitude and one desire that you want to learn the way of God and the truth of God from others and as the Spirit of God would direct you yourself.

And come with a desire that you might be of some assistance to someone in that Bible reading. Now you might not even, you might leave a Bible reading and think, well, I really didn't accomplish that. Well, you might be surprised.

If your attitude is right and your desire is right and you are faithful with God's Word, that cannot but happen. That will happen, whether you see it now or not. And the fruit of a good Bible study is often seen many years later as individuals that have been in the Bible study and the things they've learned and the impressions that have been made upon them.

And so how important, come prepared, study the passage, know what is being talked about, and those that have the ability to lead a Bible study, lead it in such a way as someone said to me one time, well, you make it come alive. Oh, thought, well, never thought of that. That's what we should desire and aim for.

Make it come alive. The Word of God is a living Word and it's life-giving. It's powerful.

God has put it into our hand and, yes, that's exactly what He wants us to do. He wants us to make it come alive because it is the living, powerful Word of God. As well as in the remembrance, come prepared to contribute.

Come with a desire to worship. And in your worship, again, don't fall into ruts. Don't fall into bad habits in worship.

Develop it. Grow in worship. Worship is such a vital part of our very Christian fellowship and existence in the assembly.

If we really are worshipers, the many difficulties and problems that can so easily come along will fall by the way, will not be a problem if we're really worshipers and are focused on the worship that God desires to come from that gathering. So whether it's in the remembrance, whether it's in a Bible study, whether it's in a prayer meeting, if we come to all of these gatherings with an earnest desire to do things in a way that will be to the furtherance of the presence of God and the power of God in our midst, I think if we are really conscious of this, this will make quite a difference in our gathering. We have to remember that the gatherings that we are associated with in the assembly, God has designed them to be spiritual gatherings.

In the Old Testament, what took place there and what takes place in a lot of churches today is not so much spiritual, but it's quite physical. And again, we have a tendency and a proneness to be drawn to something that is physical because we can see it, we can hear it, we can touch it, we can be involved. Now that's true in some degree in the assembly, but primarily, first of all, keep this in mind, it's a spiritual gathering.

It's a spiritual gathering in that it's intended, first of all, for the Lord. It's He wants out of it what you and I bring to Him. And it is spiritual in that it is for the brother next to me or the whole gathering what might be contributed by myself or other brethren in that gathering.

And if we get a hold of this, that this is spiritual, a spiritual gathering, a spiritual focus, and that the Lord is that focus, we're going to find that a lot of difficulties and a lot of things that can come amongst us won't be the problem that they could be if we don't have that focus. Too often we aren't satisfied, people may leave the assembly, and if that's the case, very often they're attracted to something that maybe isn't spiritual or that is not as spiritual. And our focus should be on the spiritual.

Now in all the gatherings of the assembly, it's the Lord's presence that we need to think about a lot. He is present. We are doing everything in that gathering to bring glory to Him.

And He wants us to be very conscious of His presence. And if we're always very conscious of His presence, we'll be more careful with what we say and how we say it. So often, I find that we say things and they might be true, but the damage is done in how we say it.

There's a big difference in our participation in the assembly in how we say things. There's a spirit that comes across in how we convey things and how we say things. If there's the right spirit, it's amazing what you can convey to someone or to a company.

But if there's the wrong spirit, it is conveyed in many different ways. And it just doesn't work, causes difficulties, causes problems, division. Now, everything that we do in the assembly, we have to, there's other practical things to keep in mind.

We've heard, we hear about some of them. So, I'm not one to convey or to give the idea that of any kind of rules, the rules in the assembly is what we have in our hands, the Word of God. And this is what should guide us and this is what should lead us.

But, you know, there's a responsibility in all of us and whatever aspect of the gathering, there needs to be a modesty that is conveyed in everything that we do. A modesty in our dress, a modesty in how we do things. You know, modesty, I'm thinking of it in this way, that which draws attention to myself and not to Christ.

Now, that can be in how I participate. Don't draw attention to oneself. Don't dress in such a way as to draw attention to yourself.

When we gather on the Lord's Day morning, the whole purpose and intention of that gathering is our focus on Christ, our worship of Him. And so, the Lord doesn't want things there that draw away the attention that He wants to have. And so, the sister's glory is covered, her hair.

There's a second covering that the sister wears. And so, there's two glories covered, the glory of the man. What's the purpose? The glory of Christ alone should be seen in that gathering.

And that should be our focus. And anything that I do or anything that I say or what I do in that gathering to take away from that glory is what I'm thinking about when I use the word modest. So, my dress can take away from it.

I can make a long list of things that could take away from that, but I think you understand what I'm saying. And so, the functions of the assembly. Now, a brother made mention about the attendance in some assemblies on Wednesday night is only 50 percent of what it is on the Lord's Day morning.

That shouldn't be. Something is wrong. I'm doing something wrong in my assembly if that's the case.

And there's something that is lacking to make that be the case. And whether it's Lord's Day morning or whether it's the Bible reading on Wednesday night, the attendance should be the same. Now, I'm not saying anything against reasons, true reasons why we might not be there.

That's all legitimate. We might not be well. One of the children might be sick, but that's the same on the Lord's Day morning.

But we should not make a difference. The Lord is at the prayer meeting and the Lord is at the worship meeting. He's at the ministry meeting.

And He wants you to be there. And He wants you to participate. He wants you to be involved with Him in His work.

We could go on. We won't. Just to leave this with you.

This is a great work. Take the trowel. Take the sword.

Use what God has placed in your hand. Be faithful in His work.