Address—C. Hendricks
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Verse three if the foundations be destroyed.
What can the righteous do?
Verse 7.
For the righteous Lord.
Loveth Righteousness.
Psalm 45.
Verse 6.
Thy throne, O God.
Is forever and ever.
The scepter of thy Kingdom is a right scepter.
Thou lovest righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
And then the 9th and 3rd Psalm.
Verse 5.
Thy testimonies are very sure.
Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord forever.
And in the 94th Psalm, verse 20.
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee?
Which famous mischief by law?
One of the most common questions that has been put to me.
In my travels is based on a statement that is often made.
Amongst that, an assembly decision, right or wrong, is to be vowed to.
And that has to be explained.
And sometimes the answer is.
Well, hard to answer.
I read these verses that speak of what is essential to God's nature. He is holy. He is righteous.
And the reason that he has delegated authority to man in the various spheres is to maintain order.
Order and righteousness.
Take for instance.
Romans 13.
Just cites this as one instance.
Romans 13 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God.
Is this Whoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive judgment.
Or rulers are not as terrorists good works, but to the evil. That's why they've been set up to judge the evil.
Not to punish good works.
Will thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same, for he is the minister of God to thee for good.
If I do that which is evil, be afraid beareth not restored in vain. Every government has been established to judge the evil and to reward the good.
Every delegated authority.
Is set up by God, who is righteous.
Return to second Timothy move.
Very well known Scripture, Second Timothy 2.
Verse 19.
The firm foundation nevertheless the foundation of God and is sure the firm foundation of God standards having this deal. The Lord knows them that are his and that everyone that name is the name of Christ or Lord be heart from iniquity. That word iniquity means unrighteousness.
So the whole basis for the assemblage is established on the footing of righteousness.
God was righteous, the righteous Lord loveth righteousness.
And he wants that maintained his assembly, and if that wasn't so, if he had not delegated authority to those who were devoted to the name of the Lord Jesus.
00:05:05
And given them power to deal with evil, the assembly would be the greatest iniquity on the face of the earth, because it would be the place where the Lord was and the place where it would be impossible to judge evil.
So he committed this authority into the hands of men.
And they are responsible, a father is responsible to administer the authority that has been committed to him righteously.
A husband has authority over his wife to exercise that righteously.
Every delegated authority is to be done in righteousness.
Assembly is to come down with righteous decisions. Now that's God's thought and that's God's purpose and desire. But all delegated authorities are fallible. They're all made-up of sinners made by grace or sinners.
Like you and me and so their failure.
In the exercise of authority.
And sometimes an assembly will take an action. We have discussed this a little in the reading meeting, but I think it needs more clarification, an action which you may judge is wrong.
What are you to do?
Well, you're to submit to the action. You should submit to the authority of the Lord in the midst of His Father Saints, whether you think it's right or wrong.
And that's really what that statement means.
But it doesn't mean that the assembly has the authority to commit wickedness.
Doesn't mean that I as a father have the authority to punish my child unjustly, knowingly, willfully to do such. And I know as a father I've made mistakes in the punishment of my children. I've made mistakes, but I've never done it to my knowledge, To my conscious knowledge, I've never done it unrighteously, that is, with evil intent to punish one that I knew was.
There's the difference between unrighteousness and a mistake because we're fallible.
The only authority there is in the universe that is infallible is that of God.
He never makes a mistake. He knows the thoughts, the motives, the purposes of the heart that you and I don't. So we can make mistakes. And when the authority under which we live makes a mistake, in our opinion, we may be wrong, you know.
And we may find out that they were right after all. But even if I think I'm right in their wrong, or even if I know I'm right and they're wrong, I will submit.
Through the authority under which I live.
That's the way of peace.
But we're never called upon to submit to known wickedness.
I'm talking about now in the assembly spirit.
In fact, is, as an assembly permits itself to, a course of wickedness.
Than it would forfeited right to be considered an Assembly of God, but that would only be arrived at after much.
Earnest prayer and looking into the matter. Because we're fallible. There is a guard against the setting up.
Of any independent local authority, and that's in the truth that there's one body.
Now it's not ever right for another assembly to come in.
To an assembly that has rendered the judgment to overturn that judgment, that's never right.
Because the authority of the Lord in assembly be can never be used to overturn the same authority in assembly A at the same authority.
The truth of the one body is to be seen and acted upon by all other assemblies, bowing to what an assembly has done.
Primus issues.
If the Lord makes manifest that there is more than just maybe a mistake, and that we can bear with because we are all fallible and prone to that, but there is absolute wickedness, that's another matter.
00:10:14
The problem that consensus is not bad at all. It's not a question of wickedness. It's not a question of unrighteousness. It's the question of opinion as to.
Whether a mistake was made or not, in that case I set my own opinion aside and submit and vow to the authority of the Lord in the midst of the assemblies.
If we follow any other chart, there are hopeless confusion and division and.
Great distress.
The way of peace is submission on the part of the one who's under the authority.
But I think it's important to see.
The question is put, is an unrighteous action on the part of an assembly bound in heaven? Well, if it's an act of wickedness, no it's not.
It is not found in heaven, that is wickedness.
Because God is venture and He is given that authority to be carried out for His glory.
That, some said, shall be.
After reading again, it's in the 94th Psalm.
Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee? But we're not talking about that and the problem that consensus today.
We're talking about judgment having been executed with regards to one who is local in an assembly, and that assembly made a decision. And in the unity of the body of Christ, we accept it, we bow to it, the authority of the Lord.
Elsewhere is the same authority. That is, in that assembly there's only one authority.
I have the authority of Christ in the midst. We are not talking about the committed wickedness, but I think that it is a question that troubles so many.
Now in the world, he's given authority to the government, and oftentimes they use their authority in a very evil way. What are we to do or to submit to it?
We can't expect the world to act upon Christian principles.
We have the right to expect better things in the Church of God.
And so the Church of God is to exercise.
The authority committed to it righteousness, it may fail in a mistaken judgment that that can be born with and labored with questions so on because we're all members one of another Church of God is 1. God is 1.
And we're not a group of independent churches that have no responsibility one to another. And what's done here has waste and force and is accepted everywhere.
It's a complete denial. That's complete refusal of the system of independency and independent local churches that exist throughout Christendom.
There's a precious principle.
To see that we're gathered.
On the principle of separation from evil, let everyone, the name of the name of the Lord, be part from iniquity, unrighteousness. The very position that we occupy is founded upon that fundamental principle of separation from evil, that God's principle of unity.
And if it be not that? If it be not that.
You don't have.
Anything.
Our coming together must be on a righteous footing. That's why given authority so that evil could be dealt with and put away, because it's not compatible with the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ in midst.
Depression, this holiness is incompatible with known and allowed evil, and that's why Cuban authorities and in the exercise of it, there could be a mistake.
00:15:04
But let's not call a mistake iniquity.
There have been, there's been that mistake made.
Serious charges against the assembly that has acted with all good intentions for the glory of the Lord, and there have been those that have labeled it iniquity, and that's very sharp. Most serious charge. So let us be very careful.
And how we speak upon about an accident which has been taken in the fear of the Lord may not be perfect. I don't know if an assembly action has ever been perfect because it's composed of imperfect people like you and me.
It's still done in the fear of the Lord. Courtney Glory speaking his mind according to the words. We can bow to it and if mistakes have been made, look to the head.
Step right? Any mistakes that have been made?
Well, may the Lord exercises and keep us in the path of righteousness. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness, or his name says, wonderful path to being. May the Lord keep us in that path.