CHRIST IS THE CENTER

OF GATHERING

If the "kingdom of heaven" is like an OUTER CIRCLE of profession and honor to God and His ways, as we un- derstand, and the "kingdom of God" is like an INNER CIRCLE of possession of Christ and the new birth, then we might well look for a CENTER CIRCLE within of believers gathered around Christ and His Word for obedience and submission. This page speaks to those who value the following G.R.E.A.T.W.A.Y: Gathering with other saints to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ alone in love;

Receiving "all the counsel of God" and "rightly dividing the Word of truth";

Expressing the "one body" of Christ in the world;

Acknowledging the priesthood of all believers;

Trusting the Lord and keeping His Word;

Worshipping in devotion as pleases God;

Appreciating God's assembly, order, and government;

Yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

In anticipation of those who might have some objections, one ought to say: no one should presume to boast of being in a center circle; nevertheless, it remains and that should be the object and desire of faithful saints.

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MINISTERS OF THE WORD

This subject speaks of a scriptural New Testament assembly, for such exercise and liberty as stated here would not be approved in the traditional denominated sects. There are a number of such N.T. gatherings in the world. Does one know about this? One ought to refer to the Epistles in the Word of God to see what the early churches were like. - R. DeWitt, 9/95; rev. 4/08

If a faithful brother in Christ feels moved to minister a subject to other saints, either in a personal and individual way, or in regular assembly meetings to the gathering, he might well do that in love to some profit. This is properly exercising his priesthood (1 Pet.2:5 & 9). He ought to wonder, too, if it is the leading of the Holy Spirit, so the exercise ought to be brought before the Lord so the flesh may be judged. One might express his understanding and make an application of the Scripture, but should make a distinction between his views and the clear Word of God.

Brothers are given the liberty (or should be) at regular assembly meetings to exercise their priesthood, and one must not presume upon the saints. Our liberty should not put others in bondage; that is, pressing our own conscience on them. We also need to be mindful of what type of meeting it is (e.g. remembrance for worship, prayer time, reading and study, etc.). One must be especially careful when visiting another assem-bly. We do not know the circumstances there or the mind of all the brethren. The conscience of many may be wounded unwittingly. Cer-tainly we always need humility.

As concerning a brother going about to minister fulltime as a servant in the Lord's work, many saints seem unclear. Do we have some respon-sibility in this? I believe it requires carefulness. I believe the brother must have a calling of God, knowledge of the Word, a servant character, and fellowship in the work with all the gathered saints (Matt.20:27; Acts 14:24-26; Phil.1:3-5; 2:2). It is not his work, and as a vessel he should be empty of self and not press personal thoughts. The saints look to the servant to minister something of the mind of God.

Some brothers take independent ground and believe they are answer-able to none but God, and others hold to unity in the fellowship and the expression of "the one body". The Scripture teaches that the servant is called, and ministers the things of God as a bondservant to Christ, and as a servant to all. Perhaps in the past we have allowed conditions to develop that were bound to cause trouble.

Some of us have known cases where brothers with some gift in searching and comparing the Scriptures, have gone out to minister to the saints, and sowed discord or otherwise were found in error or unprofitable after a time. One older brother was bold to exclaim: "I don't need their ordination", referring to his home assembly. At one time a young brother going forth told me he did not need a letter, and also said he would not accept it if it were given to him. About that time another brother went out and told his brethren he was not obligated to report on his activities. This is independency and a wrong spirit (Eph.4:1-6). Both of these young brothers eventually left the fellowship and took a following of untaught young saints with them. I believe that while one may feel liberty to go forth, the home assembly needs to speak, and also other assemblies have responsibility in what they allow to come in.

We must put a difference between those fulltime servants, I believe, and visiting brethren who might minister at regular meetings with the same liberty as others. My understanding is that those sent forth by God are sent in fellowship with the saints. The Word of God does not support independency. It is, therefore, not a good practice for various brothers to go about offering to hold special ministry meetings, for it tends to presumption and leads to a general allowance by default, and opens the door to discord, leaven, and problems as we have seen. We do not make rules, but we should not ignore God's safeguards.

A saint having a desire to labor fulltime, might first be an elder locally (I Tim.3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9; Heb. 13:17; I Pet.5:

1-6; Rev.2 & 3), or have much of that same spirit (Acts 20:28; I Thess.5:12-13; I Tim. 5:17). The apostle, Paul, sent forth "a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord" (Col.4:7). One does not decide this for themselves---they are commended and confirmed with "the right hands of fellowship" (Gal.2:9) by the assembly, that the saints might be "like-minded".

Certainly a servant going forth to help other assemblies must be known to have the leading of the Holy Spirit, though we would not expect perfection. We should see more than some gift. Oratory is not a prerequisite. The local or home assembly owes it to the members of the body of Christ to carefully approve the servant. This is in addition to a letter commending one as a saint in fellowship. This provides others the opportunity and confidence to have fellowship with the servant. If one goes about among the gatherings they need a commendation from home that attests to this leading of God. That is not the responsibility of other assemblies.

When the exercise to go forth continues over an extended period, and the local assembly and those nearby have had opportunity to pray over it and consider it, the Lord will make known to all if this is a calling of God (I Sam.3:8). Those qualities of an elder will be known, the gifts of pastor, teacher, or evangelist will be shown, the manifestation of the Spirit will be evident, and the saints will be of "one mind" and happy about it. We have an example in Acts 13:2-4, where the Lord calls the servants forth, and the brethren are led of God as to a commendation. This is unity. Without the anointing of the Spirit to the work one is not suited as a laborer among the saints of God.

If the home assembly will not commend the servant, should others presume to usurp their judgment? Should the visitor be given special meetings and thus encouraged to continue? Would we not also then be guilty of indepen-dency? "Let all things be done decently and in order" (I Cor.14: 40). We value gift, but let us not give it undue prominence. Surely we want the leading of the Spirit, and not just our preference. We will leave this matter with the reader for prayerful consideration. - R.L. DeWitt, 9/95; rev. 4/08

One will hear teaching and diverse ministry along our pathway from many sources . One should always test it by the Word of God (see John 5:39; Acts 17:11; II Tim.2:15; II Tim.3:16; Titus 1:9). Whether it is profitable often depends, too, on our state of soul. This paper is prepared with much care and prayer to be a help and honor the Lord. Comments and questions are welcome.