Why we do what we do — Joel Portman

Imitating Christ and Following Apostolic Teaching

Let's read together in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse, begin with verse one. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, please. And verse one, Paul is writing, of course, this is actually the first verse follows on with chapter 10.

Perhaps the chapter should start with verse two, but he says, PE followers, that is imitators of me. I think you'd find a number of times in the epistles that the Apostle Paul not only exhorts them to be imitators of him, but also thanks them for following him.

We have that example for instance, in 1 Thessalonians chapter one, he says, you became followers of me. They were imitators of Paul. He set the example, he showed them by his life, as well as by his teaching.

He taught by his life, by his walk, and by his conduct, as well as by his public teaching and his epistles. In chapter two of 1 Thessalonians, we find they became imitators of the churches of Judea. That is, the church of Thessalonica was imitating another church, the pattern that has been seen in that previous church, of course, in Jerusalem.

He says, be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I deliver them to you. The word ordinances here is the word traditions.

The oral teaching he had given them, that he was reminding them of, that they were keeping those things, that they were carrying them out in their life for their practices. And our brother Ike Frazier spoke on this chapter last year, last week, not last year, but last week.

And I remember it well with appreciation. Now read with me in 2 Thessalonians chapter two. 2 Thessalonians chapter two. And we'll read from verse 13. 2 Thessalonians chapter two and verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth.

For until we called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you've been taught, whether by word that is by what he had taught them publicly and our epistle.

Now down in chapter three and we'll read from verse six. Now we command you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you will withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh this orderly and not after the tradition which he received of us.

Those are three references to the word tradition that we have and what Paul has been writing to them. And I want to call your attention to that as we look at a few scriptures further. Read in chapter first, first Timothy, chapter three.

I know I'm reading a number of scriptures, but I have a reason for doing so. I hope first, first Timothy, chapter three, writing to the assembly in Ephesus, I believe by means of the of the young man, Timothy, who was there.

He is telling them in verse 14, these things, right? I under the hoping to come out of these shortly. But if I tarry long, if I wait long, that thou mayest know how one oughtest to behave oneself. It's not Timothy only, but the behavior of all the believers.

One ought to behave oneself in house of God. That is emphasizing the character of the place. The local assembly is not the house of God. It is house of God and his character. And it's expressed those characteristics that marked the house of God and God's standards of holiness in the Old Testament.

And house of God, which is church of living God. That is, has that character about it that it's the gathered company of God's people that are associated with a God who is truly living. In contrast, the dead idols that were around them.

And it is to say, he says, also, it is pillar and ground of the truth. Notice that he says these things that they might know how one should behave oneself in a house of God or in a house of God is characteristic, which is church of living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

One more scripture in Philippians chapter four, please. Philippians chapter four, just read from verse nine. Those things which you have both learned and received and heard and seen in me. Do keep doing.

And the peace of the God of peace shall be with you. And it closes the epistle. I'd like to speak to you, especially for younger believers. Excuse me, please. I'd like to speak to younger believers here, but perhaps there are older ones included.

Questions About Assembly Fellowship

That may be because of the fact you're listening to other individuals, perhaps on the radio or perhaps midway of audio recordings or other forms. And you're listening to those who cast doubt and raise questions in your mind as to whether an assembly gathered to the Lord Jesus is the right place to be.

I sympathize with you. I've been there. I remember a period of time when I was gathering or not gathering other. I was enjoying coffee times with some other brethren from I would take it in assembly, but it was a different character than what I was identified with.

It was Woodland Gospel Hall in Seattle. And while I saw their failures in the assembly where I was and I found things to criticize. And I'm sure you do the same because we're all open to criticism. These dear brethren were those who love the scripture.

And I was enjoying my time of fellowship with them. And it raised questions of my mind. Am I in the right place? Have you had those questions? I would find it very unusual if you haven't. I was thankful to the Lord that I waited upon God without doing anything.

I didn't speak to the brethren. I didn't outwardly and openly express anything that was on my mind. I simply waited and I prayed. And I searched the scripture. I would recommend that to anyone. If you have questions.

That's the best place to get the answers. And all of a sudden. The expression is out of the blue. Somehow. There are two simple thoughts. I'm a simple person. So there were simple thoughts that settled the whole question of my mind.

One was. If I were to be in fellowship in that place where I'm enjoying such a nice enjoyable time. With these dear brethren. If I were to go to where they go. Can I really truly be in fellowship with everybody that's there?

Because I knew what they did. And I had to answer no. I couldn't do it. And the other question. The other thing that came to my mind. That was very simple, but it still sticks with me today. And that is that if the principles of a gathering are right.

According to the scripture. Then you could do something about the practices. But if the principles are wrong. What can you do? Now they may not appeal to you. Those things may not be very important in your thinking.

But they were a tremendous help to me at that stage of my life. I was in my 20s. Not very long married. And I wanted to know for sure. Where does the Lord want me to be? During the time I was in the Navy.

I was in Naples, Italy. And I was also stationed in other places. Where there was no assembly. So I attended other gatherings. Sometimes I went to a Southern Baptist place. And I got to know some very good Christians.

I knew a preacher once. And one of them that was outstanding. And the company of people that gathered in that church building. Were warm, hearty. They were enjoyable to be with. They just made you welcome.

And he was a good preacher. And he taught the scripture. And that had a tendency to make me think. Maybe. Maybe. That's the place where I want to be. But I can tell you there are things that kept coming to my mind.

And there were things that came. Not from what people said. It's from what the word of God said. And I knew that I couldn't be there. And the time came in my life. And I don't want to talk about myself very long.

Because I don't have much to say. But the time came in my life. Where I was in a place over in Italy. Naples, Italy. And there was no assembly. And after that period of time. The Lord had been dealing with me.

And all I can say is. That I became so hungry. For a place where I could enjoy participation with the believers. And fellowship. Just based on the simplicity of the word of God. One thing I learned. Is that there became such a hunger.

And a desire for. A simple gatherings of the believers that seek to carry out the word of God. Though with much to say in terms of shortcoming and failure. I made up my mind. If the Lord ever made it possible for me to be back.

I wasn't going to sit in a seat and just warm it. I hope you have a love for the assembly. It's a place where the Lord's honor dwelleth. It's a place where his word is being carried out. And what I want to speak to you for a little while this afternoon.

Why Assembly Practices Must Return to Scripture

Is very simply why we do what we do. And I'm not going to give you all the reasons. But the basis of it. Has to bring us back to the word of God. I remember being one time with Mr. Slavo back in Ohio.

In a gathering of young people in his home. And someone raised the question of whether there weren't other places to go. Where the word of God was being carried out that way. And I said to them. Tell me where.

And I knew there was no other place. I'm looking at this because I want to. Seek to encourage our younger believers. That the study of the word of God will always bring you back to an assembly of believers.

That are simply gathered in assembly capacity. Scriptural simplicity. On the solid ground of what the word of God teaches. Times have changed. And of course conditions are not the same as they used to be.

But the word of God is still the same. And it's still valid today. You know some and perhaps you yourself. You want a chapter and verse for everything that we do. It's wonderful if we could give you a chapter and verse for everything.

But the word of God makes it very clear to me that Paul. Taught by example and by the practices that he maintained. And by what he inculcated in their lives and their mind. From oral teaching. That is not written in the word of God.

That doesn't go beyond it. It's certainly in concordance with it. But nevertheless some people want a chapter and a verse for everything. They say well you can't give me a chapter and verse for that. I guess not.

But we can certainly point to other sources of teaching. And form a solid foundation. For what we do. Why we do what we do. And then on the other hand there are some that insist that there isn't any such thing as a.

Pattern that's seen in the scripture. For how we should gather and what we should be doing. In our life and in our practices. So far as an assembly is concerned. And all around there are churches. Church gatherings that.

Essentially just decide what they want to do because it seems right. It seems to work. I remember reading something that A .W. Tozer wrote. Who of course was not ever in an assembly. But he said I've been in many many church gatherings or many gatherings in which.

There were elders and deacons and so on that were. Seeking to decide what we should do in certain cases. And he says I have never ever been in one such gathering where they simply asked. What does the word of God teach?

That's really the final authority. What does the word of God say? So the practices that we carry out should have a basis in scripture. Because if Christ is Lord and the spirit of God is guiding that is always going to be the case.

And what I realize at times and change as changing conditions of life are not what they used to be. In the New Testament times we don't wear clothing like they did in the New Testament. We don't wear robes with tassels on the bottom of them.

Fringes and all the rest of things like that that were so important and symbolic. And yet we find that the spirit of God who has given us the word of God. And get this in your mind. The spirit of God who gave us the scripture is omniscient.

And he knows what conditions exist in 2025. And what he has given us in teaching is sufficient to guide us right to the end of the church age. I believe that. I believe that the spirit of God knows what you and I are facing in the world today.

And the different changes that have taken place so far as society is concerned. Now I know that many leave assemblies to go elsewhere. I remember a brother and his wife who left the assembly in a certain place in Iowa.

And they went to another gathering, another place. And they wrote a letter to the elder saying we found a place that is more scriptural than where we were before. And that was nonsense. And I know it was.

It was only giving an excuse for what they were doing. Which is because of the desire of their own human heart. So there are many other reasons. There are many reasons why people might leave an assembly.

And many because of conflicts. Many because of failures. Many because they feel that there are things that are not right. You know it's an amazing thing in the New Testament. The word of God never tells a believer in Corinth to leave that place and go somewhere else.

You ever notice that? It never tells us that just because we have modern transportation we should be going to an assembly a long ways from where we are. Those believers were responsible to seek to function in the place where God had put them.

And where they could do something perhaps to bring about changes. But we look at other churches today. And many of us do perhaps. Many of you do. And they seem to flourish. They have a good dynamic preacher.

They see results. They see great numbers brought in. Increasing buildings. Larger places. And you say, well maybe that's what we ought to do too. Is that right? Listen, that's a tendency of the human heart.

To think that way. It's not very easy to gather sometimes with five believers or eight believers. I have a heart for that because I grew up as a boy. In Mississippi. In a little assembly that had about ten or twelve old folks.

Besides me. I was the only young person in the whole assembly. Just about ten or twelve that were there. Big churches all around. And just a little gathering of believers that met in a little room. In a building.

And didn't have very much. It's not very easy. It's easy to look over the fence. And see some other place to be. And I needed to get away from that because I could talk about that for quite a while. Because I knew what it was not to enjoy fellowship with other young people of my age.

It's difficult. But there are methods that the word of God uses and gives us to guide us in our practices. And many different ways that brethren might employ to try to determine what a believer ought to do.

What an assembly ought to do. The first thing sometimes I encounter is legalism. They make the rules. Man decides. You have these rules. You have these different requirements. You have these different standards that must be met.

I can tell you about an assembly where they were threatening to put a brother out of the assembly. Because he didn't feel like he was required to wear a white shirt to the meeting. That was legalism. That's not what the word of God teaches.

That was going beyond the scripture to invent or to impose man-made rules. Or simple personal convictions on the entire body of believers. I don't believe God intends for us to function on the grounds of legalism.

That was under the law. We have something far better than that in our day to day. We have the principles of grace that would draw the heart out in a longing desire to obey the word of God and to keep it.

And to do so not because of obligation but because of a love for the Savior. Legalism. Those convictions may be personal but they cannot go beyond scripture or be imposed upon other people. Then the second thing that might be the grounds of practices is what has been done in the past.

You know I attended an assembly once and he said we do it this way because my daddy did it that way. Well if your daddy did it that way that's a good thing to keep going but you need to have a better reason than that.

He said if my daddy would have been here he would have done this or this or the other thing. I was glad he wasn't there. But what has been done traditionally is not necessarily a solid ground for what we do.

It's not what Jay and Darby practiced. It's not what Conan did and all the rest of these old men. Or you go back to Caleb Baker or different men that have long passed off the scene. It's not a question of what they did, brethren.

It's what the Word of God says. It's a teaching of the Word of God that must be the basis. I have high respect for older men that I grew up listening to. I oftentimes refer to Sidney Maxwell. I love that man.

I still do even though he's long gone. I learn more from him than I can remember from any other man. Thank God for that. I do men in my young days who were very influential in me, in my life, and I'm thankful to God for them.

But I don't do things because that's the way they do it. We do it because that's what the Word of God says. The third reason might be the practices might be dictated by simple license. Just do it because it seems right to us.

An introduction of what fits the occasion, what I feel is right, or what I think, or what I long, or what I desire. That's not a solid basis. We don't do things in the assembly because that's what I want to do or you want to do.

It's what does the Word of God say? And I'm trying to emphasize that again and again. I'm going to keep on going more quickly, but we need to go to what the Scripture teaches. That's why I encourage you younger believers.

Study the Word of God and get it in its context in your heart and mind and comprehend its truth of what God is telling us in our day. It's so essential for preservation and stability. The Word of God never changes and you and I can depend upon it entirely.

Traditions, Patterns, and Principles for Assembly Life

And sometimes we have direct teaching from the Scripture, direct teaching that tells us what we ought to do. I'll come to that in a moment. But we also have principles. We have the patterns of the New Testament.

Those are also important to guide us in our practices. So Paul wrote three times about the traditions he had taught. Those traditions, some of them were bad. He talks about the traditions. We read about the traditions of the elders.

We read about those things were wrong. They were just based upon the the teachings of the rabbis that the scribes had given them. But they were so contrary to the Word of God, but they were only what man had taught.

But we find that the body of teaching Paul had given, it's based on the Word that he had given to them, as well as the epistles that he had written to them. And we find that all of that was important to guide them in their practices and their principles that they would carry out.

That's why I read in Philippians chapter four. He said, those things which you both learned and received and heard and seen in me do. Everything was consistent in his life. What he had showed them in his practices, what he had showed them in his example, what he had carried out in his life personally before them, along with his verbal teaching and the epistles he had written.

He says, those are the things I want you to do so you might be preserved. And the same is true today. So our practices should be based on direct teaching of the Word of God. That is, of course, indicating that we have direct teaching that makes very clear.

For example, the plurality of elders in the assembly is directly taught by the Word of God. The priesthood of believers is a direct, definite teaching of the scripture. And the priesthood of believers is not just a private thing in which we are all priests.

They function publicly. A brethren is a function of priesthood. And this is the only place where you could function, dear brothers, in your assembly life. So the plurality of elders, the priesthood of believers, the teaching concerning the Lord's Supper, is the loaf and the cup more emphasized than the bread and the wine.

It's not the content so much as the cup that is emphasized in scripture. And so those two emblems that speak to us of the Lord Jesus in his perfect life and his precious blood that he shed are so essential and taught very clearly in the Word of God.

And we find as well, not only that, but head coverings of the sisters that our brother Frazier spoke on in Blue River last week is so explicitly taught and important in the same context. Their silence in the gatherings of the saints, those are direct teachings of the Word of God.

And we're responsible to carry them out, as well as the standards for fellowship in the assembly and reception, the principles of discipline and baptism and all those other things. I'm not trying to enumerate them all, but I'm saying that there is direct, definite teaching that would guide us in the scripture.

And dear brothers and sisters, that is obligatory. That is a responsibility. But there are also, in addition to that, there's the pattern of the early assembly. We go back to the New Testament, we see how do they practice, how do they gather?

You see, there are those that say that you don't have to have the Lord's Supper every Sunday morning. Doesn't say so. It says as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup. But we have the pattern of the scripture that they gathered on the first day of the week to break bread.

I have no difficulty saying that they did that as a regular practice. They didn't do that just because Paul was there in Acts chapter 20 in Troas. They did it as a regular practice. The pattern of New Testament assemblies should be followed as much as possible, recognizing the difference so far as the transition in those early days.

And of course, not only that, the meetings that should be carried out for prayer, for ministry, the word of God, and the things that are taught us and exemplified in the word of God. Those are all to be carried out.

Those are the basis for our practices. We don't go to a constitution that a denomination is written up for us or some kind of a written document that would tell us outside of the scripture what we're to do.

We go to what the word of God shows us and teaches us so clearly from the scripture. And third thing, there are preaching principles who would guide us. That is taking typical applications of the Old Testament as it bears upon the house of God and bring them into the assembly and recognize the importance of maintaining reverence in God's presence and the holiness that becomes God's house and the conditions that are imperative in so far as maintaining the dignity of all that is connected with assembly testimony.

And so we go back to the word of God. We have the entirety of the book to guide us. And I'm trying to encourage that in our hearts. But I want to leave that. I just want to touch on one distinction that I believe is needing encouragement in local assemblies.

Public Participation and the Need for Spiritual Exercise

It's a distinction of the assembly fellowship. That is a public participation of all of our brethren in assembly gatherings. I'm disturbed. I say that I'm disturbed by the quality of ministry that oftentimes is heard and given in local assemblies.

And you say I'm being critical. Well, perhaps I am. But dear brethren, the Lord's people deserve more than they're getting most of the time. I'm disturbed by the amount of silences that are the normal practice at the Lord's Supper.

I'm disturbed by the fact that sometimes we come together for prayer meetings and nobody wants to get up to pray. What's wrong? What's wrong, brethren? The privilege of taking part publicly is not only a privilege, it's a responsibility.

And we do not believe in a one man ministry. We don't believe in a restricted ministry in that sense. We don't believe in having paid pastors. I want to give you seven reasons why we don't. The first reason why we don't believe in a one man ministry is because in the scripture it always teaches about a plurality.

Plurality of elders, plurality of pastors, shepherds, plurality of overseers. They're always seen in the plural. The Apostle Paul didn't call for the preacher from Ephesus. He called for the elders to meet him in Troas, in Miletus.

It's always a plurality. There's a reason for that. And that's an important thing because it's very important regarding the leadership of the assembly. So it always teaches a plurality, never singular.

The Seven Reasons for Rejecting One-Man Ministry

The second reason is we don't believe in that because it brings about the potential for one man's domination. One man having control. It also will prevent the introduction of heresy and wrong teaching.

One man has that place. It's a preservative. The third reason we do not believe in a one man ministry is that one man ministry dampens spirituality and exercise among the brethren. It makes every believer a spectator.

And the assembly is not intended to be a spectator activity. It's calling upon every believer, every part, every individual to come prepared for whatever capacity of participation the spirit of God gives us in the scripture.

I'd love to think that the local assembly was intended by the spirit of God from the very beginning to be a place that is marked by simplicity and by spirituality. And both of them go together in the public function of brethren in their assembly capacity, as well as sisters and her requirements.

So a dampened spirituality, spirituality and simplicity. The fourth thing is that limits the liberty of the spirit of God to use whom he would. I would go to First Corinthians chapter four, where we find that when every one of you, he says, you come together.

One has a hymn, one has a song, one has a word, one has a tongue, one has other activities. So it teaches that every man, every brother should be exercised to take part when you come. And one man in ministry limits the liberty of the spirit of God to do so.

We find in First Peter chapter four, verse 10, that Peter says to the believers there that if any man speak, let him speak as the oracle of God. And so we're responsible to give the word of God and all his clarity as much as possible.

The reason is that it quenches the spirit. One ministry quenches the spirit because there may be others that have the, that the enable the power of the spirit of God has been given to them. They have a word for the spirit of God.

They have a exercise and they cannot give it. First Thessalonians chapter five, verse nine says, quench not the spirit. The sixth reason is that it assumes that one man possesses all the gifts. One man is expected to possess all the gifts in order to function.

And the seventh reason is that it undermines divine authority and the spirit's control in assembly gatherings. We don't believe in a one man ministry. And I would tell you that most brethren who are in assembly fellowship today would absolutely oppose a one man ministry.

But let me ask you, dear brother, you come to meetings silent. You come to meetings not intended to take part. You don't even have an exercise to pray week after week after week. Do you have any right to oppose a one man ministry?

Because by silence, you're encouraging one. Because if brethren do not take part, somebody will. Am I right? If you don't come to assembly gatherings, exercise to take part, you're encouraging somebody to do so.

I know a brother. He's gone home to heaven now. They had an open gospel meeting on Sunday nights in the assembly where he was. And nobody would get up to preach the gospel, so he would. And then he was criticized for doing so.

Somebody will do it. Somebody will recognize the need. But brethren, if you come to assembly gatherings and you have no thought, I shouldn't point fingers. I've been there. I've done that myself. And you come to assembly gatherings and you have no thought or exercise or week after week after week.

You've never taken part, perhaps over a year or never. You are encouraging a one man ministry or a limited man ministry. I just say that because it's been on my heart and mind for some time. And so the other side of that rejection of one man ministry is that it does require from each one of us, dear brother, a realization I have a responsibility.

Preparing to Participate in Assembly Gatherings

You say, how am I going to take part in that way? I can only tell you by my own example that when my wife and I were first married, I was a student at the University of Washington. I was studying microbiology.

I was taking a heavy class load. I was working 30 hours a week in a hospital. My wife and I made the purpose of heart that on Sunday and Saturday nights, we would not do anything so that we might be prepared for the Lord's Day.

On Tuesday night, we put everything else aside so that I could be prepared for the Bible reading on Wednesday evening. Because if you're going to be responsible, you have to make time. Time to prepare at home in worship, as well as something to give and contribute to the assembly.

Do you make time for that? You fill up your Saturday evenings with activities. I came to believe that the Jewish way of time keeping time was right, that the day starts the evening before. And because what you do that evening is going to have its effect upon the day following.

So that there's a personal preparation, the exercise that is needed for us to be prepared. I remember a brother. He's long gone home to heaven. The longer I knew him, the more I had respect for him. He was one of the elders of the assembly.

I came to realize that that man was prepared for every meeting that he attended. Every time we came together, he was prepared to take part. It didn't mean he was ready to jump on the platform, but if nobody else got up, he did.

If nobody gave ministry, he did. If nobody would preach the gospel, he did. He was a man that showed me what it was to be prepared for every gathering of the assembly. I came to appreciate him more and more as I came to know him.

I knew a man. I still know him because he's still living. But he told me that when he preached the gospel on a Sunday night in the assembly, as soon as the meeting was over, he began preparing in heart for the next time.

So he'd be prepared wherever he was asked to preach the gospel. You see, brother, we need to take this responsibility seriously. We can stand up for principles and the teaching of scripture, but it demands a responsibility on our part.

We need to participate. We need to realize that I have a part to play in this if I'm going to carry it out. And so it involves a responsibility, but it also involves the expectation that when I come to an assembly meeting, I'm coming there to take part as the spirit of God directs me.

I was at one conference gathering. It was amazing. I didn't get a chance to even get up to worship until the end of the meeting. There was no time. The brethren were just up. And it's a wonderful thing to experience.

I wouldn't recall we see that all the time. And so is a realization of my own responsibility. And there's encouragement that can be given to younger believers. I remember distinctly seeing West Woodland Gospel Hall in Seattle.

I was just a young man in my 20s. And our normal practice or pattern of meetings was that on Wednesday night, we had a prayer meeting that was followed by a ministry meeting. 30 minutes. I remember when Brother McNichol, one of the elders, spoke to me.

He said, I'd like to encourage you to get up and give us a word of ministry on Wednesday night. I still remember what I spoke on. It was amazing. I've already gotten more out of it than anyone else did.

I spoke on Amalek in Exodus chapter 17. I still need to preach the same message to me again and again. But there were brethren in the oversight that took us in, and they encouraged us. And we need to do that for our younger brethren as well.

Spiritual Gifts, Oversight, and Appropriate Ministry

And so that doesn't mean that everybody should get up on a platform. I'm not one that believes that every brother should take his turn. I hope I say amen for that. Here, amen for that. Not every brother in the assembly is suited to stand on the platform.

And there's many times I don't believe I am. Not every brother can preach the gospel. It's not a matter of taking turns. It's a matter of simply of seeking to encourage those that have a gift in any way to participate and to be involved in carrying on the responsibility of the assembly.

But neither do I believe that the assembly platform should be restricted beyond what the scripture says. I was sad to hear about an assembly and announce what was made in this assembly that only elders and visiting preachers can speak on the platform.

That was done to keep a couple of brethren silent. That was not the way to do it. That was not right. It was very discouraging. And so that's not the right thing to do for a man to do that. But nevertheless, what our brethren announced, and so far as those who have some exercise and capability to speak, that is an important pattern that we see in the word of God.