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The Assembly as Judge
or
What Do We Learn from
Deut. 17:8-13?
Do not ye judge them that are within? (1 Cor. 5:12)
The Lord Jesus in Matt. 7:1 enjoins us, “Judge
not that ye be not judged.” By nature we are
prone to judge our neighbor’s motives. We form a
judgment of him in which he suffers by comparison with us. King Saul thus judged David when he
said: “. . . he is not clean; surely he is not clean”
(1 Sam.20:26). He did not attribute David's
absence to a good motive. Only God can look
within and know what is there -- “the Lord is a
God of knowledge, and by Him actions are
weighed” (1 Sam.2:3, also 16:7). We therefore
err in judging motives as we are not omniscient.
Clearly, Matt. 7:1 applies to individuals
judging one another and not to the assembly judging with the Lord's authority in the midst
(Matt.18:18-20). The risen Lord said to His disciples collectively: “Whose soever sins ye remit,
they are remitted unto them; and whose soever
sins ye retain, they are retained” (John 20:23).
Every time the assembly receives persons into it,
the sins of such are remitted administratively.
When the assembly acts to purge itself of evil
(doctrinal or practices) it retains (binds) in the
same way the sins of those disciplined. At Corinth
they first retained (bound) and then remitted
(loosed) the sin of the evildoer (1 Cor.5: 9-13 and
2 Cor. 2:1-11).
Divine Provision for Settlement of
Difficulties Between Individuals
Furthermore, the Lord has always made provision
for difficulties arising between individuals when
the assembly as such is not directly involved. In
Israel separate judges were appointed to make
decisions. As judges they stood alone and judged
apart from the witnesses or the accused. God is
not the author of confusion (1 Cor.14:40) and
never mixes up the witnesses or the accused with
the judge in making the decision. The divinely
given instructions are as follows:
And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren,
and judge righteously between every man
and his brother, the stranger that is with
him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as
the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face
of man; for the judgment is God's: and the
cause that is too hard I or you, bring it unto
me, and I will hear it (Deut. 1:16-17).
There are seven cogent points in this passage:
1. Hear the causes -- do not decide without
all the facts.
2. Between your brethren -- listen carefully
to both sides before forming an opinion.
3. Judge righteously -- that is, according to
established fact.
4. Without respect of persons -- not influenced by friendship, relationship, importance bribes or gifts.
5. Hear the small as well as the great -- all
should get an equal hearing.
6. Not afraid of man -- courageous judgment.
7. The judgment is God’s -- divine authority
which should be bowed to.
Difficult judgments were to be referred to Moses
who was still living (v. 17). Later, provision was
made that could be followed after the death of
Moses (Deut. 17:8-13). The judges had to act
upon adequate witness:
. . . at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the
mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be
established (Deut.19:15, see also 17:6).
The testimony of the witnesses would help the
judge in his decision, but it would be his decision,
not that of the witnesses. He alone was the judge
before God.
What confusion would result in a human
court of law if the witnesses, the counsel or attorney, were to share with the judge the making of
the decision! Their testimony and pleas would be
considered by the judge, but they would not be
part of the judge in determining the issue.
Settlement of Especially
Hard Difficulties
We have seen that the difficult cases between individuals were referred to Moses; but God in Deut.
17:8-13 makes provision for individuals with hard
problems after the death of this honored servant.
Peter could bind and loose but upon his death this
ceased; but the power continued in the assembly
(Matt.18:18-20).
It is clear that Deut.17:8-l3 applies to individuals with difficulties, not to the people collectively. The passage reads:
If there arise a matter too hard for thee in
judgment, between blood and blood,
between plea and plea, and between stroke
and stroke, being matters of controversy
within thy gates then shalt thou arise, and
get thee up into the place which the Lord
thy God shall choose; and thou shalt come
unto the priests the Levites, and unto the
judge that shall be in those days, and
enquire: and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment. And thou shalt do
according to the sentence, which they of
that place which the Lord shall choose shall
shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do
according to all that they inform thee:
according to the sentence of the law which
they shall teach thee, and according to the
judgment which they shall tell thee, thou
shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the
right hand, nor to the left. And the man that
will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister
there before the Lord thy God, or unto the
judge, even that man shall die: and thou
shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all
the people shall hear, and fear, and do no
more presumptuously.
Here there are three things mentioned as to judgment:
1. Blood and blood -- or quarrels between
those closely related (Luke 12:13-14).
2. Plea and plea -- a dispute as to the boundary of property, or other possessions. The
landmark might have been removed (Deut.
19:14).
3. Stroke and stroke -- a question of injury
between two persons, or the measure of penalty for the guilty (Ex. 21:18-19 and 26-27,
Deut.25:1-3).
None of these pertains to assembly issues as such,
but to difficulties between individuals. Judgment
is then referred to Gods center -- the place in
which He chose to place His Name (Deut. 12:5).
Shiloh was later designated as this center. There
was but one such center in all Israel. Now every
company gathered to the Lord’s Name is God’s
center (Matt. 18:20). There is no one assembly
today that is more God's center than another. Two
or three, or two or three hundred, thus gathered
have the Lord s authority in the midst. If brothers
in a local gathering have problems between them,
they do not have to go far for God s center. In
Israel it was different -- Shiloh was God’s center
when they entered the land; later Jerusalem
became that center.The individuals involved
present their case and the judge hears all on the
basis of Deut. 1:16-17 and he (the judge), in this
instance aided by the priests the Levites, pronounces final judgment which is binding on all (v.
12). Judgment being thus given at God’s center
with His authority (v. 12), it was a serious matte
not to abide by it.
Today this authority is in the assembly as
gathered to the Lord’s Name, the Lord being in
the midst. In Deut. 17 it is not one assembly
appealing to another assembly, but rather individuals looking to God s center for judgment.
Responsibility Between Assemblies
The responsibility between assemblies is rather set
forth in Deut. 13: 12-18:
If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities,
which the Lord thy God hath given thee to
dwell there, saying, Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among
you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of
their city, saying, Let us go and serve other
gods, which ye have not known; then shalt
thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the
thing certain, that such abomination is
wrought among you; thou shalt surely smite
the inhabitants of that city with the edge of
the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that
is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the
edge of the sword. And thou shalt gather all
the spoil of it into the midst of the street
thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city,
and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the
Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for
ever; it shall not be built again. And there
shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to
thine hand: that the Lord may turn from the
fierceness of his anger, and shew thee
mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and
multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy
fathers; when thou shalt hearken to the
voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his
commandments which I command thee this
day, to do that which is right in the eyes of
the Lord thy God.
Here we have “thy cities” which represent what is
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collective instead of what is individual. If evil is
thought to be harbored in a city (or assembly),
other cities (or assemblies) were to make diligent
search, and if it be so, judgment was to follow. In
Israel any city from Dan to Beersheba could make
inquiry and bring the conscience of the whole
nation into exercise This was done with much failure and weakness in Judg. 20:1-48. But if a city,
or assembly, did purge itself of the evil in its
midst, it would be evil to try to make that city, or
assembly, revert to the previous state in which it
allowed the evil in its midst.
Similar order we have in the New Testament.
First individual matters -- “blood and blood, plea
and plea, stroke and stroke.” Matt. 18:18-20
makes full provision for this by referring all to
God's center where Christ is in the midst. Other
instructions are given in 1 Cor.6:1-8. The difference between the Israelite and the Christian is that
the former had to go to Shiloh but the latter has
immediate recourse to his local gathering. The
judgment in Matt.18:18 is as final as that of Deut.
17:9-12 and must be bowed to as the Lord s
authority. It is rebellion against this authority to
weaken the discipline by consorting with and
helping persons put away by the assembly.
Our Present Danger
We are now in danger of giving up these Scriptural principles. It should be clear by what has
been seen so far that brethren called in by an
assembly to help it have no authority to judge the
matter, as this rests entirely with the assembly.
These brothers form no part of the “judge” and
when they have given advice their work is done.
At Corinth the assembly as such was called
upon to act as the assembly, although Paul as an
apostle had already judged the case. He would be
satisfied with nothing less. He calls on them to put
away from “among yourselves” (not 'ourselves')
that wicked person (1 Cor. 5:13). They were to
judge them that are “within.” This discipline (not
interfered in by other assemblies) wrought repentance, and then restoration was by the Corinthian
assembly as such (2 Cor.2:6-10 and 7:11).
Brethren who are called to give advice to an
assembly have no permanent status over that gathering but are responsible in the unity of the body
(Eph.4:2-4) to accept the decision rendered by
that assembly.
Some time ago the writer and another brother
were called in to help a gathering in a local matter. At our final meeting with responsible brothers
from that gathering, the brother with me made a
statement to this effect: “We can only advise you
as brothers and if you feel that our advice should
be acted on you must submit it to the assembly for
approval, as the authority is there.” Wholesome
words indeed! The assembly did take our advice
and acted on it. When we left our work was finished; we had no more to do with it unless called
again. If further exercise led the assembly later to
reverse its action, we would have no scriptural
ground to force them to return to the original decision. This would put “brothers” above the authority of the Lord in the midst. If another assembly
tried to reverse it, then the unity is denied! It is
rebellion!
Lack of Discernment Is
Due to Our Low State
Why is it that we have difficulty in discerning evil
doctrine in our midst? Why is it that we do not
hold Matt.18:18 as firmly as the gathered saints of
yesteryear? Have the Philistines put out our eyes,
by worldliness and lack of subjection to the Word,
as they did to Samson?
“There is one body.” A believer received by
one assembly is received everywhere, and if put
out he is out everywhere. We do not eat an ordinary meal with such (1 Cor.5:11). The apostle did
not need to tell them not to eat the Lord s supper
with such, for they were to “put away from
among” themselves that wicked person. But Paul
did not want the discipline of the assembly weakened by social activities where the person so put
out would be treated as though nothing was
wrong. “. . . With such an one no not to eat.”
JND points out that if such were hungry he could
in grace feed him, but would not sit down and eat
with him. Where is this faithfulness today? We
have become as Samson, blinded to what is so
clear in the Word. Evil doctrine, because it undermines the Person and work of Christ, is more
serious than the heinous crime at Corinth.
There is a mistaken thought that a person can
hold “error” and remain at the Lord s table.
While an error can be a mistake, it becomes evil if
persisted in after the offender has been warned.
One meaning of error is “false doctrine, which is
not agreeable to the Word of God.”
Can anyone hold that the “error of Balaam”
was not evil? Did not God s wrath fall on Balaam?
(Num. 31:8, Jude 11.) Paul delivered Hymenaeus
to Satan because of blasphemy (1 Tim. 1:20). In
2 Tim. 2:17-18 this same man is associated with
“error” (gone astray, missed the mark). He did
not deny the resurrection; he only held and taught
that it was past already. He seemed to have a semblance of Scriptural support for this in Matt.
27:52-53. It is clear to the simple that to say that
the resurrection is past already is a subtle denial
of resurrection. This error is against the Lord
(Isa.32:6).
When erroneous doctrine is set forth it also
produces consequences. The Corinthians did not
deny directly the resurrection of Christ, but the
apostle infers or concludes that by denying the
resurrection of the dead they are in result denying
the resurrection (1 Cor.15:12-13). From this we
learn that the consequential inferences of a doctrine demand the same attention as a direct statement of evil. Based on these principles we must
recognize as evil the inferential consequences of a
doctrine which, although it claims to maintain the
a-toning value of the blood of Christ, nevertheless
teaches that “all was finished before the soldier
pierced His side.” Thus the only blood of His
cross identified by Scripture as shed for sins is set
aside. Another has aptly said:
The teaching of a teacher must be judged by
the teaching itself, not by what the teacher
says about it.
If the assembly cannot purge itself of “error
against the Lord” (Isa.32:6), it is in a pitiful state
and position. If one assembly disowns the action
of another in so judging evil, it sets aside the
authority of the Holy and True One in the midst.
How then can it expect others to honor its actions
when it has rejected the very authority it claims
for itself? The true path is:
If he neglect to hear the church [assembly],
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. For
where two or three are gathered together in
[unto] My Name, there am I in the midst of
them (Matt.18:17-20).
Adrian Roach